LEWISBURG — Residents had the opportunity to see two traveling memorials on display June 14-16 on the grounds of the Lewisburg Historical Society, located at 6318 Depot Lane.

The historical society was host to the Veterans and Athletes United (VAU) “Fallen Heroes” traveling Memorial and the “Remembering Our Fallen” Memorial.

Also on display was a monument serving as a tribute to Gold Star families and relatives “who sacrificed a loved one for our freedom – the fallen heroes of the Miami Valley.”

According to the America’s Gold Star Families website, “a Gold Star family is one that has experienced a loss of a loved one –an immediate family member – who died as the result of active-duty military service.”

The monuments were the feature attraction during the historical society’s annual ice cream social and duck regatta held Saturday, June 15.

The VAU memorial arrived in Lewisburg on Thursday, escorted by the Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club’s Ohio Chapter 10.

The Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club is a non-profit organization comprised of more than 90 chapters throughout the United States.

According to the organization’s website, the major function of Rolling Thunder “is to publicize the POW-MIA issue.”

The organization’s goal is to “educate the public that many American Prisoners of War were left behind after all previous wars and to help correct the past and to protect future Veterans from being left behind should they become Prisoners of War-Missing In Action,” the website stated.

“We are also committed to helping American Veterans from all wars,” the website continued.

The motorcycle club rendezvoused with the memorial at the Walmart store on U.S. 127 in Eaton. The motorcyclists then escorted the memorial south on U.S. 35 to state Route 503 where they turned north and proceeded to Lewisburg.

Lewisburg councilmember Barb Foster said at the June 10 council meeting it is an honor to host the memorials.

“They came to us. They chose us to host this,” Foster said.

The VAU monument is created in the image of the United States flag.

According to the VAU website, the “28-foot wide by 6-foot tall American flag symbolizes the shape of the flag when draped on a fallen service members casket.”

“It is formed of over 7,000 dog tags of all those who have fallen in the War on Terror. There are 50 gold stars honoring all gold star families nationwide. Displayed in front of the flag is a battlefield cross sculpted from mahogany wood by veteran artist Alicia Dietz,” the website stated.

“Tags are in alphabetical order ranging from September 11, 2001, to December 31, 2017. Thereafter the tags are in chronological order of the date Killed in Action (KIA),” the website stated.

“Sadly, as the war continues we will continue to fill in the blank tags at the end of the flag,’ the website stated.

The National “Remembering Our Fallen” Memorial is comprised of a series of stands containing the military and personal photographs of military men and women who have died of wounds since “The War on Terror” began on Sept. 11, 2001.

According to the Patriotic Productions website, “The National ‘Remembering Our Fallen’ Memorial is an all-encompassing national memorial, a first-of-its-kind, that includes our country’s military fallen who have died from wounds while deployed in ‘The War on Terror’ since 9/11/2001.”

“Unlike brick and mortar memorials, ‘Remembering Our Fallen’ is designed to travel and includes both military and personal photos,” the website stated.

“Its legacy will be that these men and women will be remembered and their names will be spoken, while helping to lessen the grief of their families,” the website continued.

Reach Terry Baver at [email protected].