Photos by Eric Ayres Family members gather Monday at Good Shepherd Nursing Home in Wheeling to honor Bob McColloch with the presentation of a new military banner, which will be displayed on National Road. Seated, from left, are Bob and his wife JoAnn McColloch. Standing, from left, are Wheeling VFW Senior Commander Chuck Ryan; son Bruce McColloch and his wife, Kathy; son-in-law Brandon Hoehn; great-grandson Jaxson Merchant; granddaughter Melanie Hoehn; Wheeling Mayor Denny Magruder; and granddaughter Kristy DeFranco.

WHEELING – A special military banner presentation took place at Good Shepherd Nursing Home in Wheeling on Monday, when 95-year-old Korean War veteran Bob McColloch was honored with a salute from his family and the community.

Family members joined Wheeling Mayor Denny Magruder and Wheeling VFW Senior Commander Chuck Ryan during the patriotic presentation in a community room decked out in red, white and blue decor.

As part of the Wheeling Military Banner Program, the new full-size banner will not only be displayed publicly, but several smaller replica “garden banners” were also ordered for family members to display at home, as well.

“This is the epitome of this program, just us thanking those veterans who allow us to be free as we are today,” Magruder said. “To be able to do this while they’re still around – to hear their stories, to see the smiles and sometimes the tears on their face when they talk about lost comrades – I think is just so important. It’s days like this that just make it so worthwhile.”

When he was introduced to fellow veteran Ryan from the VFW, McColloch stood up out of his wheelchair and offered a salute. Both men stood at attention in their garrison caps as McColloch recited his name and rank.

Cpl. Robert Alexander McColloch of Wheeling served in the U.S. Army 2nd Infantry Division on the front line during the Korean War. He shared some highlights of his service that began nearly 75 years ago.

Just a young man in his early 20s at the time, McColloch said those soldiers who went off to fight on the Korean Peninsula in 1950 were somewhat surprised to be going overseas in another battle so soon after World War II had ended just five years prior.

Nonetheless, McColloch found himself on a ship sailing across the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to Japan, where they did some training before heading to the mountains of Korea.

McColloch saw action on the front line and served a stint as a company mail clerk, helping deliver correspondence from family members back in the States to soldiers fighting on the front line. During his tour, his company was temporarily reassigned to a POW compound on an island off the southern coast to restore order there after things went awry.

“They had prisoners of war there — Chinese and North Koreans — and at one point, they got out of control, and they took over the compound,” McColloch said. “They had a problem, and we were the solution.”

McColloch was later sent back to the front line. During his time fighting in Korea, he was able to endure unspeakable atrocities of war, but he did not escape unscathed. He was struck by shrapnel from an exploding bomb.

“When the bombs burst … they explode and send shrapnel all over the place,” he said. “I got some in my hand, but the guys that got it in the back – that was the worst. Nurses or doctors had to lay them down on a cot and start picking the stuff out of them. That was something that really bothered me. I was very fortunate to only get it in the hand.”

McCollogh said he did one tour during the Korean war.

“It was enough,” he said. “There were a lot of guys that didn’t make it. They deserve to add their name to that banner. It affects you mentally and physically. People don’t realize.”

Those at home end up realizing how war affects those who serve. McColloch’s wife, JoAnn — who is also at Good Shepherd Nursing Home — said there are times at night when it all comes back.

Yet, McColloch has always carried with him a name that is notorious — at least in the Wheeling area — for heroism in the face of battle.

“My relative jumped over the hill,” he said, noting that he is a descendant of Revolutionary War hero Maj. Samuel McColloch, who etched his mark in history by riding his horse over a steep section of Wheeling Hill in 1777 to escape hostile natives. The site is known today as McColloch’s Leap.

But the true heroes of today are all of those who serve their nation with honor and fight for the people they love and the principles they hold dear.

“Any of the veterans in any of the wars — what they did was for their country, for their families, for their girlfriends … most of them understood it was important,” an emotional McColloch said. “So they served their time. Any of them — if you get them in here like me and talk to them — they’re proud. They’re proud of what they did.”

McColloch’s banner will be placed along National Road.

“The family grew up on Echo Lane in Woodsdale, and they requested National Road,” said John Larch, volunteer for the Wheeling Military Banner Program who was praised by the mayor as a driving force behind the effort, which is still ongoing.

A banner can be created and displayed for any veteran — living or deceased — or active member of the U.S. military.

Completed applications can be dropped off at the Howard Long Wellness Center dropbox, the Ohio County Public Library or Fitzsimmons Law Office in Warwood. After a draft is produced, the printing company will send a proof to the family via email. The city of Wheeling Operations Department will proudly hang the banners in the city thereafter.

For more information, visit troopbanners.com/wheeling/.