Gilbert II, Robert L.

Robert L. Gilbert II

Richfield, Ohio

Feather Location: Row E, #20

Peter Krouse, The Plain Dealer

…Besides being a hero, Gilbert was remembered as a loving son and brother. A picture of Gilbert’s arm draped across his father’s shoulders was enlarged and placed beside the flag-draped coffin, which was positioned beneath a raised basketball hoop at one end of the gymnasium.

Glen Ross, who served with Gilbert, recalled his playful side. He told a story about the time he and Gilbert went out to a bar and how his eyes kept burning all night. Ross later learned that Gilbert had sprayed his clothes with mace so nobody would talk to him.

Steve Korn, a Christian minister married to a cousin of Gilbert’s, remembers a 9-year-old Gilbert looking lost at his mother’s wake. Korn worried the loss might derail Gilbert as he grew older, but nothing could have been further from the truth. “He found such incredible purpose,” Korn said. Korn added that the love Gilbert showed to others – and not just those close to him – seemed to him like the love of God. “He laid down his life for people in other countries who at times probably didn’t like him that much,” Korn said.

Carver:  Bonnie Stair lives in Sandusky Ohio and carves with the Woodcarvers Den in Bellevue

Wood:  Basswood