News
Below are articles that have appeared in the Woodward News.
Veteran's Memorial has room for names
Veterans recall time in service
Spirited crowd attends memorial dedication
American Legion to host pie auction
- Published: October 29, 2009 07:30 am
Veteran's Memorial has room for names
Michelle Seeber
Eighty-seven-year-old Al Williams has had many friends through the years. Some of their names are engraved on the Veteran’s Memorial that rests outside the Plains Indians and Pioneers Museum.
“I have a lot of friends on the memorial who passed away,” Williams said. “It’s not good when you think of people on the memorial. You hate to lose your friends.”
But the memorial doesn’t display just the names of people who have died.
It also represents the living, and Williams, a veteran of the U.S. Army, has his name among them.
“Everybody that’s on there is not gone,” he said. “There are people like me on the memorial.”
The memorial means a lot to the people who have served in the service, “not only to them but their families,” Williams said.
For the most part, the names on the memorial recognize veterans from Woodward County, Williams said, but “some of the names on the memorial are from surrounding counties."
The erection of the memorial was a long-term project for Williams and his fellow members of the American Legion Post 19 that became a reality in 2007. It was officially dedicated on May 27, 2007.
The names on the memorial go back as far as World War I and there is room for more.
Williams is now taking names to add to the memorial, and any man or woman who served in the military may have their name placed on it, he said.
“We charge $75 a name, because it costs us to have them come up and sandblast it,” he said.
To have a name put on the memorial, requests and a check made out to American Legion Post 19 should be mailed to Williams at 1409 Hillcrest, Woodward, OK 73801.
- Published: April 21, 2008 08:06 am
Maintaining the legacy
Rowynn Ricks
A veterans memorial is meant to be “a lasting legacy.”
“When all these guys are gone, there needs to be something to show what they did,” Lyndon Williams said.
Williams is among others who are helping to raise funds to support that legacy.
Through the hard work of veterans like Williams’ father Al Williams and other members of the Woodward American Legion and the Woodward VFW, the city of Woodward finally built its own veterans memorial last year.
“They did a lot to get it built,” Williams said.
It is now up to the community to see that the memorial is properly maintained, he said.
That is why Williams and several other citizens throughout the community have gotten together to sponsor an annual 5k charity run to help raise funds to benefit the memorial.
The charity run became known as Run for the Flag because the money raised from the first run last year was used to purchase a supply of flags to replace the flags flying above the memorial when they get worn out every few months.
When they held the first run last year, Williams said they only had three weeks to organize everything.
However, the turnout was still pretty good, with 60 to 70 runners showing up to participate, he said.
By getting the word out earlier this year, Williams is hoping to get a little more attention for the run and thus attract a few more participants.
“We’re hoping for over 100 participants this year,” he said. “The more runners the better.”
Persons interested in participating in Run for the Flag 2008 can register the day of the race, which is set for May 24, Williams said. Registration begins at 7 a.m. and the race starts at 8 a.m.
In addition to more participants, Williams said they are also looking for a few more sponsorships.
Businesses interested in becoming sponsors for the run, can contact Donna White at 334-1111, he said, noting that the sponsorship deadline is May 10. In return for their sponsorship, he said the businesses’ names will be printed on the back of the race T-shirt.
Each race participant will receive a T-shirt in return for his or her $15 entry fee.
The money raised from this year’s entry fees and sponsorships will be used toward purchasing “a bronze statue to put out there,” Williams said.
The statue will be approximately four feet high and will feature a gun standing out of a rock with a soldier hat resting on top, which symbolizes a fallen soldier, he said.
“Most memorials have one like it,” Williams said, noting that its purpose is “to show respect for guys that died in battle.”
Because of this goal to continue to develop the veterans memorial, Williams noted that the Run for the Flag is not only “a great way for people to get in shape, (but) it’s for a great cause.”
For more information about Run for the Flag or how to get involved as a participant, sponsor or even a volunteer, contact Williams at 254-0725.
- Published: November 11, 2007 09:01 am
Veterans recall time in service
Rowynn Ricks
Some veterans believe Veterans Day is important because it helps the rest of the population remember what they will never forget.
Vietnam veteran Monty Zwanziger and World War II veterans Al Williams and Robert “Shorty” Trent also believe that Veterans Day is an opportune time to ensure that future generations know what they and fellow soldiers went through to protect this country and its freedoms.
“It’s important for our children to know what we’ve done,” Zwanziger said.
However, Trent said it seems “the younger generations just don’t know.”
Williams agreed that there seems to be a stunning lack of knowledge, which is why he said he tries to participate in Veterans Day activities at local schools each year.
Trent and Zwanziger said they have shared their stories with children as well.
Generally the men will give a brief synopsis of their time in service beginning with where they trained and where they fought.
Williams, who joined the Army in 1940 when he was only 18, said his division was moved around a lot for training and spent time in Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York and Virginia before being shipped overseas.
Once sent to Europe in 1943, Williams said his division fought in Italy, France and Germany.
He spent 511 days in combat before he was sent back home in 1945.
Trent said he spent six and a half years in the Army, having served some time during the Korean War as well as World War II.
Trent was drafted in 1942. He trained in Arkansas, Maryland, California and then New Jersey before being shipped to Europe.
In Europe, he fought his way through France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany before his division met up with the Russians in Czechoslovakia. He then served for a short time during the Japanese occupation.
Zwanziger said he spent 19 months in Vietnam between the time he was drafted in 1967 and the time he came home in 1969. He spent several months as a scout in the mountains of northern Vietnam before joining a line unit where he walked point for 14 months.
But beyond just telling youth where they fought, the three men said they also think it is important to tell what conditions they fought in.
Zwanziger said he will generally tell students “how we had to live,” from “washing up in bomb craters” to only getting “one hot meal a week.”
He said he also tells about how they had to fight off leeches so they didn’t get leech fever and how they had to keep their feet dry so they didn’t get jungle rot and lose their toes.
“Either it was real hot, 110 degrees, or it was pouring down rain,” Zwanziger said.
Trent and Williams also talked about weather being a problem in Europe as well.
Trent said he remembers France as having the worst weather. He said it was always foggy or misty and just plain dreary.
Williams remembered how cold it would get in the wintertime.
“It was miserable,” he said.
He talked about how he had to “slush around in the snow and ice.” He said it wasn’t much better at night, especially when they were sleeping in foxholes instead of their tents.
But the cold wasn’t the worse thing they had to worry about at night, Williams said. He noted how some nights they were kept awake by planes that would fly over and drop bombs near their camps.
Williams said he can remember one night, when a plane kept strafing his area and he used a big tree for cover. He said the plane would fly over in one direction so he would hide behind the tree, and then when the plane would fly back over he would go around to hide on the other side of the tree.
Zwanziger said he was scared every day he was in Vietnam. Even though he went in knowing he would be in combat, he never got over the shock of being shot at by the enemy.
Zwanziger was wounded in action twice and has two purple hearts in his military medal collection.
Despite all the trials they went through, all three men said that they were proud to serve.
The three men said they are also quite proud of Woodward’s new veterans memorial, which lists the names of almost 6,000 men and womenwho have served their country.
Williams and Trent were quite influential in creating the memorial and making sure those 6,000 veterans are recognized and remembered.
Zwanziger said he is “proud that my name is on there with the (6,000) others on those stones out there.”
“They’re all comrades,” he said, “whether I knew them or not.”
Trent said to him each one of the names represents someone who made a difference as they fought for the freedom of others.
Williams said he visits the memorial often to remember and honor his fellow veterans.
“I’m out there about every day,” he said. “I enjoy just sitting out there and reading those names.” “It means a lot to me to have that memorial up there and know its going to be there forever.”
- Published: May 27, 2007 09:13 am
Spirited crowd attends memorial dedication
Rowynn Ricks
The cloudy weather did not deter a substantial crowd from attending Saturday’s dedication ceremony for the new Woodward County Veterans Memorial.
The weather also did not dampen the patriotic spirit of those who attended. Many in attendance dressed in red, white and blue and proudly waved flags handed out by local boy scouts.
Mayor Bill Fanning opened the ceremony with a special welcome, in which he gave a little history of the memorial.
“The dream of this memorial started almost two years ago,” Fanning said.
He discussed how members of Woodward’s American Legion Post 19 worked hard to make the memorial a reality.
“Their vision and hard work is commendable,” he said.
Jeff Swigart, pastor of Bible Baptist Church, gave an invocation in which he prayed that the memorial will serve its purpose as not only a proper tribute to those who have served, but also as a tool for education and a symbol of the price of freedom.
He said the memorial provides “an opportunity for us, as well, to teach our young people, our children about the (valor) of our military.”
U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Cheyenne, encouraged the younger generations to visit with veterans and “take time to gain from their wisdom.”
“Take time to visit with them about what they did in the war, what they experienced,” he said.
Lucas also talked about the importance of remembering what those veterans fought for.
“It is important that we remember those who are living and those who have passed who worked so diligently to protect the freedoms, the rights and privileges we have as Americans,” he said.
Lucas thanked the community for acknowledging the sacrifices of its veterans with the memorial.
He especially thanked the veterans “for doing what (they) did for us, so that we could be here on this wonderfully damp, green day in western Oklahoma as free American men and women.”
Lucas presented a special flag to representatives from the Oklahoma National Guard, who raised the flag to fly over the memorial between the Oklahoma state flag and an American Legion flag. Lucas said the flag flew over the nation’s Capitol on Dec. 7, 2006, the 65th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Two veterans spoke of their war experiences.
World War II veteran Al Williams said he joined the military 67 years ago and went to fight in Europe. He said he was among those who fought to seize Rome on the same day that other soldiers were invading Normandy. In addition to fighting throughout Italy, Williams said he also fought in France and eventually ended up in Munich by the time the war was over.
Vietnam veteran Monty Zwanziger said he served as a sniper for a few months before joining a line unit and serving as a point man.
Zwanziger also shared how he earned two purple hearts as he was injured twice during his tour of duty, once when he was shot in the leg by an enemy soldier and another time when a bomb dropped too close to his company and he was hit.
“I just thank the Lord I came home,” he said, after noting that many of his fellow soldiers in combat had died.
Troy White, emcee for the event, had all the veterans stand for recognition.
One of those veterans was Duane Covalt, who served in the Air Force during the Korean War.
Covalt said he is “thankful that we have people who take the leadership to make things like this (the memorial) possible.”
Of the dedication, he said, “I thought it was very nice, very appropriate.”
Taylor Miller, an Army veteran of World War II, said that he also enjoyed the ceremony.
“It was outstanding,” he said.
Miller also said he liked the memorial, noting that the eagle statue, which stands among the stones engraved with the names of Woodward area veterans, “really sets it off.”
- Published: March
11, 2006 08:00 am
American Legion to host pie auction
A.J. ButlerThe Woodward American Legion will be hosting the Great American Pie Auction April 15 starting at 10 a.m. located in the Pioneer Room.
The pie auction will be taking place to help raise funds for the Woodward County Veterans Memorial that will be placed south of the museum in Woodward.
“We invite anyone willing to come out and either buy a pie or cake or donate a pie or cake for the event or both,” said event coordinator Al Williams. “Any kind of a pie or cake will be accepted and we will have a refrigerator at the auction for those pies that need to be kept cool. We will be having the auction all day. We will start setting up around 8 a.m. so if you want to bring a cake by before you go to work we will be there to take it.”
A silent auction will be held as well during the all day pie and cake auction and, according to Williams, the American Legion is still taking items for the silent auction as well.
Also at the pie and cake auction will be memorabilia from America’s wars and stories from those who served in them.
“We will have a tape playing all day that tells several of the stories we veterans have told about our time in the service as well,” said Williams. “We will go all day until all of the cakes and pies have been sold. We will also have entertainment as well as punch and cookies for those who attend.”
Williams continued, “We will have pies from some of Woodward County’s best pie bakers. If you donate a pie or cake we ask that you please put your name on it and who they would like to honor with the donation as well.”
The Woodward American Legion has collected close to $20,000 so far but the memorial according to Williams will cost in the range of $50,000.
“We hope to see everyone there to support the Woodward County Veterans Memorial on April 15th.”
