Remembering Red Willow County's fallen

An effort is under way to record the names of the soldiers from Red Willow County who have lost their lives while serving their country. Names of those from McCook who died in service have not yet been collected for posthumous recognition and among those who need to be remembered is Randy J. Matheny, who perished Feb. 4, 2007. Courtesy photo

Gene O. Morris

McCook Gazette

BARTLEY, Nebraska -- Before it's too late, we, the residents of Red Willow County, need to record for posterity the names of the soldiers from Red Willow County who lost their lives while serving their country.

The list is long and, sadly, we may have already missed the names of county citizens who perished in the Spanish-American War in 1898 and the Philippine-American War which took place from June 2, 1899, to July 4, 1902.

Because service records have been shuffled around so much, we may also not have recorded all the names of servicemen from Red Willow County who paid the ultimate sacrifice in World War I. Time passes so quickly. The truth of this is illustrated by the fact that a little over three years from now we will observe the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I.

All that being said, it gives me great pride to announce that one of Red Willow County's most devoted historians, Patsy Redfern, has started documenting the names of the Red Willow County servicemen who lost their lives while serving our nation in the Armed Forces.

During a meeting Wednesday to discuss the possibility of establishing a Red Willow County Veteran's Memorial, Patsy shared the names of the first 20 names ascertained as "Red Willow County War Fatalities."

To begin the process, Patsy and other members of the American Legion Auxiliary Post 276 of Danbury have collected the names of soldiers from Bartley, Danbury, Indianola, Lebanon and Marion who lost their lives while serving their nation.

Patsy and her auxiliary friends are hoping that their memorial work inspires veteran's organizations and auxiliaries to start chronicling the names of the servicemen and servicewomen from McCook who died while serving.

For all who knew these men and women, and their families, the memory of their service and ultimate sacrifice produces heavy hearts and quiet reflection about how much it hurt to have their young lives cut short.

Therefore, let us remember, one by one, the war fatalities from Red Willow County. Those who paid the ultimate sacrifice are:

BARTLEY -- Shirley Dickie, World War II; Carl Fossen, World War II; Eugene Martin, World War II; Cecil Porter, World War II; Marion Schaffert, Korea; and William Wight, World War II.

DANBURY -- Griff Eno, World War II; Larry Knight, Vietnam; Daniel Thomas, Vietnam; and Donovan Walters, Vietnam.

INDIANOLA -- Francis Colling, World War I; William Dolan, World War II; Hugh Harrison, World War II; Donald Keegan, World War II; James Kummer, World War II; and James Slater, Vietnam.

LEBANON -- Jack Helt, World War II.

MARION -- Winston Galusha, World War II; and Robert Smiley, World War II.

Those of us who are getting older have been nicely referred to as the Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw, the retired NBC television news anchor. With greatness comes responsibility. Before we pass, it is incumbent upon us to pay proper tribute to the military men and women who lost their lives in service to our country.

It's time for some organization or several devoted individuals to step up and take on the task of recording the names of all the soldiers, sailors, Marines and guardsmen from Red Willow County who have died while serving.

The Danbury Auxiliary ladies have gotten us off to a great start. Now it's time to do the research and be sure we have the names -- for permanent remembrance -- of those from McCook and all other locations throughout the county who died in service,

The sacrifices of our young servicemen and servicewomen are too great to be forgotten. Let's do this in remembrance of them.