MOUNT PLEASANT (KDKA) — Facing the World War I “Doughboy” statue in the center of Main Street, Mount Pleasant, across from the Veterans Memorial Wall in Veterans Park, Grille 31 offers up wall after wall of photos.

Each one depicts a veteran of America’s wars.

“The first picture I put up was my father’s, who served in World War II in Germany,” Restaurant owner Leo Wisniewski says. The photographs of his relatives opened the door to many more.

“There’s always someone that wants to honor one of their loved ones.”

Customers and other visitors began bringing in mementoes of friends and family who fought in wars from World War I to the present.

“They like to visit the pictures of their loved ones, and so you will see them taking pictures of themselves next to the pictures to take home with them.”

A corner wall is filled with patches, provided by the granddaughter of a local bartender.

“When the GI’s came home, his proposition was ‘Give me your patch and you get a free beer,’” Wisniewski recalls. “I was lucky enough to find one of my grandfather. He traded his patch for a beer!”

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