- Gilbert Mitchell is the only Missing in Action (MIA) soldier from Tehachapi. He has never been publicly recognized in the city, until now
- American Legion Post 221 prepares to honor him with a bench and plaque outside of the Legion. The official unveiling ceremony will be on Veteran's Day at 2:00 p.m.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
A group of veterans are preparing to remember a local man missing in action from Vietnam.
The memorial will offer people a place to sit and learn more about his sacrifice.
"It was like I was being called to make this known," said Lynn Eckert, Commander of American Legion Post 221 in Tehachapi.
Commander Eckert visited the Portrait of a Warrior Gallery in Bakersfield hoping to find somebody to sponsor from her home in Tehachapi.
"I looked around and I saw Gilbert Louis Mitchell's name and he's MIA. So I'm like, 'I've never even heard about that, nobody in the town has mentioned anything about him, so it really piqued my interest,'" Eckert explained.
What she found changed everything.
"A lot of people here have forgotten, some have not, but just too many people have. I wanted to do something special," said Eckert.
Just as Eckert was searching for a way to honor Gilbert Mitchell, the city of Tehachapi got a donation.
"This company based in Cleveland, Ohio, Canvus, they re-manufacture wind turbine blades. These are very expensive benches that were paid for by the renewable industry to come here, but I wanted them to go in special places," said Tehachapi Community Engagement Manager Key Budge.
The city received six benches from Canvus.
"The first thing we thought of was our veterans. We see our vets standing around. We thought, maybe, some of these benches, they might be able to use," said Budge.
The timing worked out to get the project started and honor Mitchell during this year's Veteran's Day celebrations.
"I'm really excited to finally have something to do for that," Eckert shared.
Eckert says she doesn't want her neighbors to forget Gilbert Mitchell.
"We have one here. Please remember him because we're always going to remember and never going to forget," Eckert said.
The Legion hopes to have a ceremony at 2:00 p.m. on Veteran's Day to officially unveil the memorial.
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