Gold Star Mother Midge Beachem , left, of Ross carries.a wreath to the base of a statue dedicated to those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan during a ceremony at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum in Oakland on Monday, May 30, 2022. Beachem’s son U.S. Army specialist Robert E. Hall Jr. was killed in Iraq in 2005. The bronze monument, known as “America’s Defenders,” features two soldiers — a male and a female. (Steve Mellon/Post-Gazette)