The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 45, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 8, 2001 Page: 6 of 28
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THURSDAY 8 NOVEMBER 2001
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74e &uuuUa* RECORD
Freedom Is Not Free
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THE RECENT ATTACK and
destruction of New York’s Twin
Towers and the attack on the
Pentagon in Washington, plus the
senseless death of approximately
six thousand innocent persons,
abruptly brought to our aware-
ness why the United States needs
a strong military. Those of us who
have witnessed previous wars
needed only to be reminded. The
memories of Pearl Harbor and its
aftermath became fresh all over
again.
For those who are young,
whose memories haven’t re-
corded the horrors of war, the
9-11 attack, perhaps for the first
time, brought a realization of why
we maintain a large military es-
tablishment and why so much of
our national budget goes for mili-
tary hardware. The unconsciona-
ble attack goes a long way in
shedding light on why there had
to be a costly D-Day irvasion of
Europe and why President Tru-
man chose to drop the devastat-
ing atomic bomb on two Japanese
cities to end the war in the Pacific.
Only in the heat of the moment
can such events be understood
and appreciated.
Many of us of the older gener-
ations have worried that our
younger citizens, who have not
experienced the costliness of war
firsthand, were devoid of patrio-
tism and did not share the same
deep love of our country and its
unique history that we feel. We
now know that worry can be put
to bed for good. In the hearts and
minds of young and old alike, we
are witnessing the most sponta-
neous outbreak of patriotism
since the years of World War II.
Flags are flying all over this coun-
try like we’ve never seen before.
Unfortunately, war and casu-
alties go hand-in-hand. Young
men, who in previous wars were
conscripted or who were volun-
teers for military service, were
called upon to put their lives mi
the line. Many of them never re-
turned home. During World War
II, the lives of more than 400,000
American servicemen were lost.
Hemphill County alone has lost
51 men beginning with World
W'ar I to the present. It is a loss
that multiplies through the ages
in the lack of offspring and
descendants.
The new bronze monument
next to the Hemphill County vet-
erans memorial "commemorates
the brave young men of Hemphill
County who, responding to duty
and honor, paid the ultimate price
by sacrificing their lives so their
loved ones and neighbors could
live free.”
In the likeness of three spe-
cific men who grew up in our
town, the statue memorializes ev-
ery local serviceman who gave his
all. It also commemorates their
families and loved ones. For they
paid a great price, too! The price
paid by loved ones was in ex-
tended installments again and
again over many years and goes
on even today. To personalize the
price paid by them, we need only
reflect on the joys and pleasures
of life that we, the beneficiaries of
their sacrifice, have enjoyed
Marriage, births, children, grand-
children, events, holidays, cele-
brations, realized dreams. When
viewed through our own personal
lifetime of experiences, we can
sense and appreciate what a ter-
rific cost was extracted from
these servicemen and their fami-
lies. The servicemen lost their fu-
ture; the families were left with
heartache, pain, and loneliness in
daily doses.
Many of these servicemen
never married, although some
had already chosen who they
hoped would be their mate. It was
not to be. They have no descen-
dants. Some were married, but
lost the opportunity to grow old
with their wife. Some had chil-
dren, but missed the joy of seeing
sons and daughters grow up.
Two families—the Jess
Lindleys and the Earl
Callaways—had two sons taken
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from them. How and who could
measure the true cost paid by
these families?
During World War II,
Winston Churchill, addressing
the British people, said it best
about the sacrifice of their troops,
“Never in the field of human con-
flict has so much been owed by so
many to so few.” On another occa-
sion, he praised those soldiers
“whose names will never be
known, whose deeds will never be
recorded.”
We hope Sir Winston's
thoughts concerning the British
troops will not apply to these men
of Hemphill County, who have
lost their lives in defense of their
country. We pray that as long as
America exists, as long as there is
a Texas, and as long as Canadian
and Hemphill County are here,
the lives, the names, the deeds
and the families of those who died
in the service of their country, not
be forgotten. Our challenge
should be that every child raised
and educated in this county be
told and retold of the debt we owe
those who sacrificed their lives
for their country and their
neighbors.
THE OLIVER AND
ALMA HODGES FAMILY
Bill and Theresia Hodges
Jim and Joyce Hodges
Don and Freddie Hodges
Robert and Janice Hodges
Gary and Deborah Hodges
Mary Lee and James Robert
McCaffrte
November5, 2001
Mane Killebrew and Bill Hodges stand next to a sculptural addition
to the Hemphill Counts Veterans Memorial Monument on the
Courthouse Square that armed Monday Killebrew and Hodges
headed the Monument Committee which raised funds for the ordi-
nal wall monument dedicated in IWI Hodges represented his fam-
ily. the Oliser and Alma Hodges siblings, who commissioned the
brow this sear, in memory of their parents, to honor seterans who
died in service to their country
“Some Gave All”
If you are able,
save for them a place inside of you
and save one backward glance when you are leaving
for the places they can no longer go.
Be not ashamed to say you loved them,
though you may or may not have always.
Take what they have left
and what they have taught you with their dying
and keep it with your own.
And in that time
when men decide and feel safe to call war insane,
take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes
you left behind.
Miyor Michael Davis O’Donnell
1 January 1970
Dak To, Vietnam
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Ezzell, Nancy & Brown, Laurie Ezzell. The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 45, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 8, 2001, newspaper, November 8, 2001; Canadian, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth738690/m1/6/?q=%22~1~1~1%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Hemphill County Library.