Veteran Memorial gets a big boost from local lender
Legacy Ag Credit board votes to donate $10,000 to memorial effort, biggest gift to date
By BRUCE ALSOBROOK, News-Telegram Managing Editor
April 30, 2008 - It's been almost 63 years -- May 4 is the anniversary -- since the bullet tore through Walter Grice's chest and left him hospitalized for seven months.
Grice was inducted into the service of his country in 1944 and a few months later found himself, an infantryman, fighting the Japanese in the South Pacific and then The Phillipines.
It was 25 miles east of Manila in the mountains, about 5 o'clock in the morning on May 4, 1945 -- you remember those kinds of details when you almost die.
I walked up on this Jap, and when I saw him, he shot me and hit me right about here," Grice said, pointing just above his heart. "It went through my lung and came out through my shoulder blade."
His second scout, a fellow Texan by the name of Roberto Alvarez, grabbed him by the collar and pulled him to safety. Fortunately -- for lack of a better word -- Grice was the first man hit that morning, so the medics were ready.
Eight months later, he would finally leave the hospital.
"Very lucky to be talking to you guys," he says with a grin.
Grice is the just the kind of man that the Hopkins County Veterans Memorial Committee had in mind when it began formulating plans to pay tribute to all the soldiers and sailors from the area who have served their country.
He's also the kind of person that inspires organizations like Legacy Ag Credit to support the Veterans Memorial to the tune of $10,000.
"I'm still in shock," said Clayton McGraw, Hopkins County Veterans Memorial Committee chairman, after Legacy Ag Credit President Lee Warren presented him with the $10,000 check.
Warren gave credit to the board of directors of Legacy Ag Credit -- a borrower-owned cooperative with four locations that has served North Texas for 90 years -- with making such a generous commitment.
"The board of directors had a discussion about it, and they wanted to be a significant part of what these guys are doing," Warren explained. "They wanted to sponsor at the highest level, and they wanted Legacy Ag Credit to be regarded as a significant contributor."
Legacy Ag Credits Board of Directors include John Powell, Chairman; Carl Swendson, Vice Chairman; Jerry Cordell, Director; Roy Dan Deen, Director; Cody Newman, Director; A. G. Sandifeer, Director; and J.L. Sustaire, Director.
The board also had a personal reason for making such a big contribution.
"They also wanted to support it because of Mr. Grice's involvement," explained Warren. "Mr. Grice spent 22 years as president of this office."
The donation is a major boost for the veterans memorial effort, which, if all goes well, should hold a groundbreaking ceremony on the southeast corner of the downtown square on Veterans Day in November.
Plans call for a memorial that will have enough space to hold monuments bearing the names of every veteran with ties to Hopkins County, along with computer kiosks containing information about and photos of the veterans.
The group recently launched a major fundraising effort, sending out some 400 letters to area individuals and businesses seeking donations.
Legacy Ag Credit's $10,000 donation makes the lending cooperative a Gold Medal Underwriter, the highest level of giving and the first one so far.
The donation will also bring an honor for Legacy Ag Credit. A model of the proposed memorial is almost being completed, and will be placed in various locations as part of the committee's attempts to gain support for the effort.
"When we get the model," McGraw told Warren, "you're going to be the first place I'm going to bring it to."
Hopkins County Veterans Memorial website:
www.HCVM.orgg
