By Kathleen Leese

For Miami Valley Today

TROY — The Miami Valley Veterans Museum (MVVM) celebrated patriotism and service while honoring the sacrifices of those who died on 9/11 during a Patriot Remembrance Ceremony held on Wednesday, Sept. 11 at the museum.

The event centered around the enlistment of a 2024 Newton High School graduate as well as honoring three new Miami County Veterans Hall of Fame members.

The program began with retired U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Mitch Fogle, who also serves as vice president of MVVM, addressing the crowd. He recalled 9/11, noting that those who were killed had no idea on the night before what they would face the next day.

For the families he said, “Life will never be the same. We want to honor the families still suffering from that day.”

On display at the museum as guests entered was information about 9/11 including a piece of steel from one of the towers that fell in New York City on 9/11.

The Miami County Veterans Services Office were represented at the event with the Miami County Veterans Board of Commissioners Vice President Keegan Miller and Marketing Service Officer Kyle Kuta inducting the first veterans into the inaugural Miami County Veterans Hall of Fame class. The men, who were already inducted into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame and were present included U.S. Air Force veteran Michael E. Jackson, the National Aviation Hall of Fame Executive Director; U.S. Army veteran Michael L. DeHart, a highly decorated veteran having served in Vietnam and a member of Echo Company 2/5 Cavalry and United States Marine Corps and U.S. Air Force veteran John F. Bankowitz, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War and deployed in the U.S. Air Force Reserves for Operation Desert Storm and Enduring Freedom.

Other veterans who were named to the Miami County Veterans Hall of Fame include United States Army Air Corps veteran Don Gentile (posthumously); U.S. Army Air Corps veteran Norman H. Duhn; U.S. Air Force veteran and Medal of Honor recipient William H. Pitsenbarger (posthumously); U.S. Army veteran Kenneth N. Sprecher; U.S. Navy veteran and longest serving member of the Ohio House of Representatives Robert E. Netzley and U.S. Army veteran Eugene L. Inman, Sr. (posthumously) who was a Korean prisoner of war.

It was announced that those wanting to nominate veterans for the Miami County Veterans Hall of Fame will be able to do so beginning around the first of October by going to the Miami County Veterans website where they can find the criteria and forms for the nominations. The honorees will be announced at the 2025 Miami County Fair.

Retired U.S. Army Colonel and Chaplain Robert Lewis gave the keynote address, sharing the story of a soldier who did not quit in the midst of training after his fellow soldiers began singing to cheer him on and when told to stop, Lewis said the soldiers sang louder, encouraging the soldier to keep going.

“You can apply that to anybody, everybody,” Lewis said. “Just the right words spoken to the right person at the right time can make the difference. Be the one that encourages.”

Lewis shared that at the end of September, he will have been retired one year from the military and spoke about his uniform jacket.

“I thought about the stories this jacket could tell.” He said it has taken part in many events including having “worn this jacket to tell a mom her son is not coming home. I’ve been the caretaker of this jacket, (it is) not (about) anything I have done.”

Lewis added that being a part of the military from the greatest country on earth has “been a great privilege.”

The colonel addressed new U.S. Army recruit, Zoe Kesling, telling her veterans and others present are “proud” of her as she follows her family into the military. He said the military is in need of recruits like her, noting they are “almost two battalions short” every year.

During the event, Lewis gave the Oath of Enlistment to Kesling, a 2024 Newton High School graduate, as her parents, sister, veterans and others looked on. Kesling, who plans to become an airborne combat medic, will go to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for basic training on Nov. 18.

Kesling comes from a military family, with her maternal grandfather having served in the U.S. Air Force in Vietnam. Her dad, Jacob, served with Army Transportation 88 Mike as a motor transport operator in Iraq and later as a 2nd Lieutenant with the U.S. Army National Guard as a chaplain. Her older brother, Lane, is currently serving with the U.S. Army in Alaska with the 11th Airborne Division Arctic Angels and is in sniper school and her sister, McKenna, who will graduate early from Newton High School in December of 2024, plans to join the U.S. Coast Guard. Her brother, Gage, a Newton sophomore, plans to join the U.S. Air Force or the U.S. Army following graduation. Zoe’s cousin, who is a U.S. Navy veteran, also took her Oath of Enlistment on 9/11.

Zoe Kesling’s mother, Sheila, spoke about their family’s desire to serve their country.

“My husband is a pastor at a church in West Milton. From the time they (their children) were little, they served. We instill in them to serve,” Sheila said.

She noted that daughter McKenna wants to serve in the Coast Guard because “she heard about human trafficking. It broke her heart. She heard they (Coast Guard) can intercept human trafficking boats” and so she wants to help that effort.

Jacob Kesling is proud to see all of his children looking at military service.

“(You) learn a lot about yourself,” he noted that serving in Iraq, he had to “trust God” and hopes their children will do the same.

Sheila added that seeing Zoe take her oath at the museum on 9/11, “I don’t know how to put (it) in words. It will be a day she never forgets.”