VIDEO: Memorial Correction Brings Peace to Veterans' Families

The unveiling of the war memorial in downtown Highland Park was meant to be momentous occasion for the city. But when family members of three veterans saw their relatives' names on the black, granite monument, they weren't happy.

, which since 2006 has sat at the corner of Central and St. Johns, displays the names of 88 Highland Park natives killed in battle.

Until June, the names of George Schwalbach, Lyman Benson and Joseph Detmer were misspelled.

"I came out to look in 2006 and just assumed it would stay that way," said Judy Schwalbach, one of George's cousins.

Fixing the mistake

Getting the spellings corrected wasn't easy. Without , a Highland Parker who moved here after Hurricane Katrina forced him and his wife out of New Orleans, it might never have happened.

"I did in my heart feel we owed this to the families," Wallace said. "It's important that we recognize the sacrifice of these men."

With the help of Morris Robinson, , former City Councilman and Bertucci's restaurant owner Bruno Bertucci -- a group Wallace calls his "heavy hitters" -- Wallace spearheaded the effort to get the names corrected.

"Even if you're a nobody," Wallace said, "If you have friends like that you can get it done."

Wallace said the process to get the monument changed wasn't an easy one, but Bertucci, who went to high school with Benson and Detmer, sent encouragement in the form of postcards and telephone calls.

"Joe was ready to give up and I said, 'Joe, you're a marine, you can't give up,'" Bertucci said.

Rededication

The change to the wall was made in June, and the wall was rededicated in August. said a few words, as did Wallace, Bertucci and family members of the veterans with newly corrected name spellings.

"We're just pleased," Judy said about the correction. She described George endearingly as her redheaded, green-eyed relative who "went to war and didn't come home."

Schwalbach, who died in Vietnam, had his name originally inscribed as "Schwalback." Detmer, who died in World War II, had his name originally spelled "Detner." Benson's first name was originally spelled "Lymon."

"He was a hero to my dad," said Dave Detmer. Joseph was Dave's uncle, though the two never met. "It means a lot to all of us."

The changes, which were done by Patten Monument Company, cost the American Legion $2800 -- an amount that Wallace at one time considered splitting with Bertucci when it appeared the Legion might not be willing to pay.

"My wife told me that we'll take the money out of our savings and pay for it, and Bruno [Bertucci] was going to pay one half of it and I would pay the other half."

Rotering thanked Wallace at the ceremony for "undertaking this tremendous project," but Wallace stressed that the attention should remain focused on the veterans.

"I want this to be all about them and not me," Wallace said. "This is just something that any veteran who's ever served would want to do for another man."