Changing of the guard

The last active member of the Crook County War Memorial committee, having served on behalf of local veterans since the structure now so familiar to this community was no more than the inkling of an idea, Earl Gray has stepped down to pass the torch to the next generation.

Thanks to the hard work of Gray and his fellows, the new committee members will inherit a memorial that sits proudly on the courthouse lawn, bearing the names of all Crook County's warriors.

"One of the motorcycle groups a few years ago got hold of me and congratulated us on our memorial. They ranked it the third nicest memorial in towns of less than 50,000 west of the Mississippi River," Gray says proudly.

The war memorial honored by today's Crook County residents is not the first to have immortalized those who have served from this area. The first, which was dedicated to World War II, fell into disrepair.

"At the all-school reunion – the first one they ever had – there were three World War II veterans who came back, two from Texas and one from Mississippi," says Gray.

"They saw the condition of the old World War II memorial. It was all falling apart, the names were coming off and the glass on the front doors had been destroyed."

The three veterans later submitted letters stating their concerns and asking that the old memorial be fixed up or torn down.

"One night, after a VFW meeting, we were sitting around having coffee and talking and we got to talking about it. It went from there, the four or five guys who were there volunteered to renew it instead of tearing it down, then it snowballed into putting up the new ones," Gray says.

A number of dances, rummage sales and donations from the community later, the funds were available to start work on the new memorial. "We had all kinds of fundraisers and it happened," he smiles.

The next step was to compile a complete and accurate list of the names that needed to appear appear on the memorial. Luckily, says Gray, the committee had a head start.

"Dale Ruland was on the committee and he was a World War II veteran. His mother and father owned a grocery store out at Alva and his mother was a real history buff," he recalls.

"Out of the newspapers, she kept all the names she could get. Then somebody who could use a computer also got into it as far as they could get, and that's where we got the World War I names for the memorial – and there's a lot of them."

Ray Fidler, who owned the funeral home at the time, also assisted with the work, Gray adds.

As for additional items around the memorial, such as the lights, "There were lots of things that were donated," Gray says.

"The flagpoles and the cement sidewalk and the flower beds and the base for the flagpole were all donated by different people and organizations."

Gray will miss working on the memorial, he says.

"I consider it my pride and joy. I think it's a great improvement and I hope it stays that way," he says. "I've had lots of compliments on it and quite a few headaches," he adds, laughing.

The qualifications for your name to appear on the Crook County War Memorial are simple, Gray says as a reminder. Upon your entry into the service, you must have been a resident of Crook County and have your DD2-14 separation papers. Names are generally added yearly.