Wheeling Honors Marine Killed in Vietnam To Kick Off Veterans’ Banner Program
Eric Ayres Trending
WHEELING -- Military banners are being erected throughout Wheeling as Memorial Day approaches, and on Tuesday, a moving ceremony took place on Wheeling Island during a special dedication of one of the banners.
Mayor Denny Magruder was joined by fellow city leaders, representatives of American Legion Post 1 and VFW 4442 outside of 64 Indiana St. on Wheeling Island, where city crews were set to hang a banner for Sgt. Robert Dave Hickman, who was killed in action serving the U.S. Marine Corps in Vietnam nearly 60 years ago.
"This is a very, very special day for the city of Wheeling," Magruder said. "Last November, the city and its partners kicked off the Wheeling Military Banner Program. This is not the end of the project -- this is only the beginning. We hope that over the next year or two or three years, there will be 500, 600 or 700 banners honoring our veterans throughout the city."
Magruder credited John Larch for spearheading the project in Wheeling, although Larch said that without the mayor's leadership, the long-awaited effort in the city would not have come to fruition.
The team partnered with the local Legion and VFW, and scores of banners will be hung over the next couple of weeks honoring veterans and active duty military personnel from Wheeling.
"The city started hanging them yesterday, and by Memorial Day, there will be 122 banners scattered between Warwood, Elm Grove, the Island and National Road," Larch said, noting that the Wheeling Island banner for Sgt. Hickman currently is a unique one among the others because he paid the ultimate price while serving his country. "We have 122 banners, and this hero is the only one so far."
Larch described Hickman as a "true American hero" Hickman was born in Wheeling on Nov. 10, 1929. He graduated from Wheeling High School in 1947 and enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1953. He later re-enlisted as a U.S. Marine, served in Vietnam and was killed in the line of duty on Dec. 10, 1965 at the age of 36.
Two of Hickman's three surviving sons were in attendance during the banner ceremony Tuesday morning, and both men were very emotional about the honor being bestowed upon their late father and his family.
"We appreciate it. It's a great honor," said Rick Hickman. "I never knew my father. I was 3."
Rick Hickman noted that the family was living in a house on Wabash Street on Wheeling Island when their mother was informed of their father's passing. Military representatives knocked on the door to deliver the news in person.
"She said she knew it the day before -- she had a feeling," Rick Hickman said.
In 1972, the family moved to the house on Indiana Street, where their mother resided for 50 years.
"She wanted to be close to church," Rick Hickman said, noting that their mother, Betty Ida Hickman, showed strength through what seemed like an onslaught of tragedy. Two of their five brothers died of brain tumors during their childhood. Six-year-old brother David died in 1964 -- a year before their father was killed in action. A year after their father's death, 1-year-old Billy -- who their father never met -- died in 1966.
"Everyone tells me I look like my dad," Rick Hickman said. "My mother always told me that while I'm living, there's a part of my father because of my resemblance to my dad."
Rick and his older brother, Ron, still reside in the Wheeling area today. Younger brother Dan resides in Hawaii. Both Ron and Dan followed in their father's footsteps and served in the Marine Corps. Their mother died in 2022.
The house at 64 Indiana St. has since been "flipped" and converted into an AirBnB which is known as The Hickman House. Sgt. Hickman's military banner was installed on a utility pole right outside the front door of the house on Tuesday.
"It's going to be pretty neat to have Dad's banner up there in front of The Hickman House," Rick Hickman said.
A couple years older than Rick Hickman, Ron Hickman was old enough to have plenty of memories of time spent with their father before he went away to Vietnam.
"I remember my father used to take me to the NCO (non-commissioned officers) club and sit behind the bar," Ron Hickman said. "I was almost 6, so I have a lot of memories of my father. I'm very honored. Especially to have (the banner) in front of our house. It's amazing. I love it. It's about time that these veterans - especially ones who lost their lives - are being recognized."
Ron Hickman indicated that he had to grow up quickly in the wake of his father's passing.
"I was always told that I had to be the man of the house. I knew I was going to go into the Marine Corps," he said, noting that he enlisted right after high school at the age of 18 and served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1978-84.
Smaller replica yard banners identical in style to the Indiana Street banner for Sgt. Hickman were presented to the brothers during Tuesday's emotional ceremony.
"This is a real treat and honor for us to be able to participate in this program," said Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron. "We're very proud to do it, and we're looking forward to having banners throughout the community honoring our veterans."
Herron said city officials want to make sure the program is successful and that the banners are maintained during the time that they are up.
Those interested in honoring a loved one with a banner -- a Wheeling resident who is a veteran or who is currently serving in the military -- can visit the website at www.troopbanners.com/wheeling. The site shows all of the banners in town and provides a link to an application form for a new banner.
There is a one-time $125 fee for one of the colorful double-sided banners, which are 2-feet by 3-feet. They will be displayed between Memorial Day and Veterans Day each year.
Three application drop-off locations are available -- the Ohio County Public Library, the Howard Long Wellness Center and the Fitzsimmons Law Office in Warwood.
The Military Banner Program has spread to communities throughout the nation in recent years. It began in Castle Shannon, Pa., back in 2009 when a 20-year-old Marine was killed in Afghanistan. The program has now expanded to include more than 77,000 banners.
"We're really excited to be bringing this to Wheeling," Larch said.