In the warm glow of streetlights along the Friendly City’s thoroughfares, a quiet tribute has taken shape over the past few months. The Military Banner Program, launched under Mayor Dennis Magruder’s administration, now colors the city’s skyline with faces of the brave — each one a story, a sacrifice, a reminder. It’s time we reflect on the power this program holds for a community that must never forget the sacrifice made by its native sons.

This past week, Wheeling raised a banner honoring John Stanley Duplaga who died aboard the USS Forrestal in July 1967. Duplaga’s story — nicknamed “Germ” as a boy for his slight frame, yet a man of towering courage, according to family members — resonates in the reading of his own words: “If I would get killed … it will be for you, Mom, so you can liv

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