Cuyahoga County Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument To Begin
New Operating Hours and Launch Exhibit for NFL Draft
(Cleveland, OH) To coincide with the NFL Draft taking place in Cleveland, The Cuyahoga County Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument will begin operating a new outdoor space for the public starting Wednesday, April 28 and concluding Saturday, May 1. The outdoor station will be located in the South West Corner of the Upper Esplanade and operated by Monument staff from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The station outside the Monument will allow visitors to commemorate the 9,000 individuals from Cuyahoga County who served in the Civil War in a socially distanced environment. A new visitors guide will also be available to the public during the Monuments’ outdoor operating hours.
NFL Exhibit
In tandem with the new outside operation hours, the Monument will launch a new indoor exhibit at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, April 28 that honors the more than 1,200 NFL veterans that also served in the military. The exhibit will feature the stories of more than 30 of these men in two displays in the Monument’s Tablet Room as well as a Table of Remembrance located in the southeast corner of the Tablet Room. The public can access the exhibit during the Monument’s 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. operating hours through Saturday, May 1. Masks are required while inside the Monument and capacity will be capped at 20 visitors at a time. Admission to the Monument is always free.
Military service members and veterans to be honored as part of the NFL Exhibit include:
Display No. 1
- Daniel Reeves – US Army Air Corps – Co-Owner – Cleveland Rams (WWI & WWII Veteran)
- Paul Brown – US Navy – Co-Founder & Coach – Cleveland Browns (WWII)
- Otto Graham, Jr. – US Navy & US Coast Guard – Cleveland Browns & Coast Guard Bears & Washington Redskins (WWII)
- Louis Groza – US Army – Cleveland Browns (WWII)
- Thomas Landry – US Army Air Corps – Coach – Dallas Cowboys (WWII)
- Edward LeBaron – USMC – Washington Redskins & Dallas Cowboys (WWII)
- Mario Tonelli – US Army -Survivor of Bataan Death March – Chicago Cardinals (WWII)
- Ralph Wilson, Jr. – US Navy – Founder & Owner – Buffalo Bills (WWII)
- Ralph Heywood – USMC – Detroit Lions – (WWII, K & V)
- Ernest Cheatham, Jr. – USMC – Lt. General - Pittsburg Steelers & Baltimore Colts (K & V)
- Woodrow Campbell – US Army – Houston Oilers (V)
- Roger Staubach – US Navy – US Naval Academy – Dallas Cowboys (V)
- Chad Hennings – US Air Force – US Air Force Academy – Dallas Cowboys (Persian Gulf)
- Alejandro Villanueva – US Army – USMA WestPoint – Pittsburgh Steelers (Afghanistan – Operation Enduring Freedom)
Display No. 2
- Edward Doyle – US Army – Frankford – Pottsville – WWII – Killed Oct. 8, 1942
- Keith Birlem – US Army Air Corps – Washington Redskins - WWII – Killed May 7, 1943
- Don Wemple – US Army – Brooklyn Dodgers - WWII – Killed June 23, 1943
- Leonard Supulski – US Army Air Corps – Philadelphia – WWII – Killed Aug. 31, 1943
- Lee Kizzire- US Army Air Corps – Detroit – WWII – Killed Nov. 1943
- James Mooney – US Army – Newark – Brooklyn – Cincinnati – St. Louis – Cardinals – WWII -Killed Aug. 12, 1944
- Chester Wetterlund – US Navy – Cardinals – Detroit – WWII – Killed Sept. 5, 1944
- Mike Basca – US Army – Philadelphia Eagles – WWII – Killed Nov. 11, 1944
- J.W. “Grassy” Hinton – US Army Air Corps – Staten Island – WWII - Killed Dec. 10, 1944
- Alexander Ketzko – US Army – Detroit Lions – WWII – Killed Dec. 23, 1944
- Young Bussey – US Navy - Chicago Bears – WWII – Killed Jan. 7, 1945
- Walter Young – US Army Air Corps – Brooklyn Dodgers - WWII – Killed Jan. 9, 1945
- Albert Blozis – US Army – New York Giants - WWII – Killed Jan. 31, 1945
- Edwin Kahn – US Army – Washington Redskins - WWII – Killed Feb. 17, 1945
- John Chevigny – USMC – Cardinals – WWII – Killed Feb. 19, 1945
- Howard Johnson – USMC – Green Bay Packers - WWII – Killed Feb 19, 1945
- Charles Behan – USMC – Detroit Lions - WWII – Killed May 18, 1945
- Don Steinbrunner – US Air Force – Cleveland Browns – Vietnam – Killed July 20, 1967
- Bob Kalsu – US Army – Buffalo Bills - Vietnam – Killed July 21, 1970
- Patrick Tillman, Jr. – US Army – Arizona Cardinals – Iraq & Afghanistan – Killed April 22, 2004
Medal of Honor Recipients
- Maurice Britt – US Army – Detroit Lions – WWII – MOH Recipient
- Joe Foss – USMC – Commissioner of the AFL – WWII – MOH Recipient
- Andrew Jackson Lummus, Jr. – USMC – New York Giants – WWII – MOH Recipient – Killed Mar. 8, 1945
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