That’s what it’s all about — honoring service men and women — the grandfathers, fathers, sisters, brothers, uncles, neighbors and friends who donned a uniform to defend America the past 250 years.

“These are the people that we need to be mindful of and remember every one for what we have today,” Hometown Hero Flag Committee member Jenny Rukenbrod said.

That was the goal all along when U.S. Army veteran and committee member Glenn McMillan first broached the subject of veterans flags in Lisbon. He travels sometimes for work at Sandy & Beaver Insurance and saw the banners in other communities and wanted to bring the idea to Lisbon.

“Both my grandfathers served. I thought that was important,” he said.

This Lisbon Area Veterans banner honors the service and memory of Robert O Huffman, a U.S. Air Force veteran of the Korean War who was the sole survivor of a plane crash on July 7, 1953 in Korea. A lifelong Lisbon area resident, he passed away in 2023. (Photo by Mary Ann Greier)

Initially, the Breakfast Club at Sandy & Beaver was starting and was going to raise some funds toward the project, but then the direction changed. According to fellow committee member Carly Brock, McMillan was coming up against a wall so she decided to try to get the project going, then committee member Cheryl Mills came to her, they secured some pricing, formed a committee with McMillan, other veterans and interested village residents and approached village council for use of the poles. Council agreed, the committee advertised the application process, fast forward a few months, a huge response and now they’re finished.

Committee member Tracey Wonner called McMillan the driving force.

“What means the most, I’ve never ever gone to work and seen my family’s faces, I’ll see both of my grandpas,” McMillan said, getting emotional at the thought of seeing them every day as he goes to his office.

Some of the banners were being placed in specific locations where honorees have a connection, such as Private John J. Welsh, a World War I U.S. Marine and namesake for Lisbon American Legion Post 257 and U.S. Navy World War II veteran Wilfred Clunk, namesake of Lisbon Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4111. Rukenbrod said the banner for Judge Charles Pike, who served in the U.S. Army during World War II, will hang near the Columbiana County Courthouse where he served on the Juvenile Court bench.

McMillan served in Iraq and will see his own face and those of his grandpa Lloyd, who served in World War II, his grandpa John Reese, who served in Korea and his uncle Bryan, all U.S. Army veterans, in the area near Sandy & Beaver.

McMillan recalls some of the stories about his grandpas, how Lloyd was a member of the 82nd Airborne Division and was operating a glider with another local soldier named McFarland from East Liverpool on D-Day, they crashed behind enemy lines and linked up with a group from the 101st Airborne Division. His other grandpa, John Reese, served in the 7th Infantry Regiment and used to tell Glenn about having the same patch as him. McMillan also served in the 7th Infantry Regiment, Second Battalion.

Those were the kinds of stories committee members kept hearing as family members submitted photos of their loved ones for the banners, wanting to talk about them. All the veterans photos and information were submitted, at a cost of $60 per side per banner paid by family members, The only one not submitted was one that Brock submitted herself with a photo she secured from the family of Robert O Huffman, a U.S. Air Force veteran of the Korean War who was the sole survivor of a plane crash on July 7, 1953 in Korea. She knew him.

She said they decided to put a different veteran on each side so they could honor as many veterans as possible. They also wanted to reach out to other areas around Lisbon.

Some of the photos were poor quality, but reproduced well thanks to Brock’s editing.

Mills spoke with pride about her father, Emil Mills, a World War I U.S. Army veteran. saying she wanted to honor all veterans, not just her father, but added “my dad was special.”

When asked about the amount of interest the project generated, Brock said, “I think it’s hitting home for a lot of people because of the 250 celebrations.”

Wonner talked about the World Cup for soccer, with all the people from other countries coming here and how sometimes “we take things for granted. We’re a great country,” adding that patriotism’s making a comeback.

All committee members said they’re expecting emotions to run high on the square this weekend as people come to see the banners.

Two men were in two different services and will each have both sides of their banners.

In talking about the Breakfast Club, McMillan said $89,000 has been raised so far for different projects through donations and they’re hoping to hit the $100,000 mark. The next two breakfasts are July 17 and Aug. 14.

To learn more about the banners, visit the Facebook page for Lisbon Area Veterans.