Ceremony at Highground on Memorial Day 2010
Contributed by Marianne Walker
Saturday, June 12, 2010, friends and relatives of 26 Korean War Veterans gathered at Highground War Memorial near Neillsville, to mount memorial stones honoring those 26 vets. Among the names so honored was Walter E. Roder, son of John E. and Nell (Bryan) Roder, all natives of the Neillsville/Clark County area. Walter (Wally) enlisted in the 82nd Airborne Division at age 17, trained at Camp Campbell, Kentucky & Ft. Bragg. He served for five years where he saw heavy action; he was promoted to Staff Sgt. and became a squad leader. After the service, he continued working in the airplane industry; he built and flew his own planes. Two of his sisters, two cousins & a former sister in law in addition to members of the Bryan family represented his widow, Marimae, at the ceremony & in mounting the stone into the Korean Memorial wall.
L - R: Marianne Walker, Jeannine Roder Prager, Wally's older sister; Ruth Ann Roder Ruddock, Wally's youngest sister; Rita Hendrickson, wife of Wally's twin, Wendell (Wennie died of cancer and she remarried), and Margaret Roder, cousin. Jeannine & Ruth both live in Waukesha.
Didn't get this man's name, but he was the MC and then organized each group for the photos and stone placement. Ruth Ann is wearing a little red ribbon; they were given to all veterans who attended. Ruth was in the U. S. Air Force and served in Japan during Viet Nam.
The inscription was written by Marimae Roder, Wally's widow. She lives in Sun City, AZ, and couldn't be here. Wally was quite a guy.......he was an airplane engine mechanic in the war and went on to build a couple of his own planes which he enjoyed flying over the AZ desert. They never had any children.
|
© Every submission is protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998.
Show your appreciation of this freely provided information by not copying it to any other site without our permission.
Become a Clark County History Buff
|
A site created and
maintained by the Clark County History Buffs
Webmasters: Leon Konieczny, Tanya Paschke, Janet & Stan Schwarze, James W. Sternitzky,
|
