Linda Harris READY TO BEGIN — Steubenville is ready to launch its Military Banner Program. Shown with a sample banner are Mayor Jerry Barilla, left, and 5th Ward Councilman Willie Paul. Also volunteering for the committee were Sandi Rue, Jeffrey Hawkins Sr., Joe Holliday, Ray Saccoccia and former mayor Domenick Mucci Jr.
STEUBENVILLE — After months of planning, Steubenville is ready to launch its military banner program.
“We’ve seen this program implemented in other municipalities,” Mayor Jerry Barilla said Friday. “It was the consensus of council that we should also do it in Steubenville to honor men and women who served this nation and were willing to sacrifice their lives for the freedom we enjoy today. That’s why the push to have this done here — in light of what we’re seeing happen in the world today, with the people of Ukraine willing to put their lives on the line for their country … These men and women have done that (for us) in the past, and it’s our honor to display these people of valor on our city streets.”
Steubenville’s banners will be double-sided, measuring 24-by-36 inches and feature the veteran’s name, rank, service branch, division and conflict in which he or she served. Banners also will list any medals earned and whether the honoree was a prisoner of war, missing in action or killed in action.
The one-time fee — $150 per banner — includes the bracket and mounting hardware. Yard banners measuring 12-by-18 inches are available for an additional $15 each.
“There’s a possibility if a family has brothers, we might be able to put one on each side,” 5th Ward Councilman Willie Paul said. “They can do that as well. And we’re going to see if we can do some also side-by-side, in certain areas, but that’s all at the discretion of AEP.”
Orders will be routed through the Steubenville Visitor Center. Applications will be collected, the information checked, and processed, then forwarded along with the photograph to the vendor who will do a mockup.
Submissions should include a good quality printed photo or digital photos scanned at 600 dpi or higher.
They said the first banners should be up in time for Memorial Day. How many are in place depends on how fast orders come in, are verified and approved.
“All the record keeping, all the bookkeeping will be done here, at the visitor center,” Barilla said. “The application form, the photographs — probably 8-by-10 is the largest size they can bring to us — we’ll take it and scan it, get it back to them.”
Since the banners will list any medals the honoree was awarded, those requesting a banner will have to submit a DD214 so the information can be authenticated.
“It’s kind of like a biography of their service to this country,” Paul said, adding requests for banners must be submitted in groups of at least 12 at a time.
“We’ll send them what we have, then in a couple days they’ll send (the proof) back to us,” he said. “They’ll want the family to approve it, fine tune it and make sure they like the picture — they won’t do anything until the family approve it, so when we ask you for an OK, we need you to reply back as soon as possible. The longer we wait, the longer they get behind.”
They said the banners will fly from Memorial Day through Veterans Day with a pair of city workers providing the labor.
Pole locations cannot be reserved in advance.
“We’re not putting them on specific poles,” Paul said. “We’ll put them up as they come out of the utility truck. We cannot put them in front of (a specific) house. We have designated areas where we’re going to put them, so if you’re one of the first 12, you’re one of the first 12.”
Paul said they’ve taken their time putting the program together, “We didn’t want it to be haphazard, we wanted to make sure we did everything right.”
“To be honest with you, the one who really brought this to us was Bob Villamagna,” Barilla pointed out. Villamagna, former 6th Ward Councilman, had first pitched the idea, telling council he felt it was important to remember the sacrifices of those who served their country.
“You brought it up, too, a couple times,” Paul reminded the mayor. “You and Eric (Eric Timmons, 3rd Ward Councilman).
“We talked about it but never did anything. COVID really put damper on things,” Paul continued. “For a year we didn’t meet in person, it was all done through the telephone for a while, but we’ve got it moving now and a lot of people have already contacted me — some are calling for (multiple family members).”
Volunteering for the committee were Sandi Rue, Jeffrey Hawkins Sr., Joe Holliday, Ray Saccoccia and Domenick Mucci Jr., former mayor of Steubenville.
Applications will be available at the library, the city building and the visitor center.
He said one of the nice things about the program is that, once the website is up-and-running, “you’ll be able to go to www.troopbanner.com/steubenville/ and see your banner on their website.”
“You don’t have to be a resident to request a banner,” Barilla added, “but the person you’re requesting the banner for has to have been a resident.”
For information, contact the visitor’s center at (740) 283-1787
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