Remembrance Memorial Park

Photo Album - #2

The Crowd, Speakers and Ceremony...

Rear Admiral Wesley Hull (NOAA, USN Retired) reading the names of deceased. (photo courtesy of John Williams Photography Studio.)

District Judge Tom Walker, moderator, presenting flag flown over US Capitol for occasion to Ardmore Mayor Bob Geurin. (photo courtesy of John Williams Photography Studio.)

Major General Harry M. Wyatt, III, Adjutant General, Oklahoma National Guard, guest speaker. (photo courtesy of John Williams Photography Studio.)
 

New Airfield Memorial in honor of those who died in training at the Ardmore Airbase...

1966 Air Crash Memorial -- General views of the site...
   

Charles Gray Memorial & Dyana Duncan Memorial Table...
   

Wanda Stonecipher Weeping Willow Tree Memorial...

Wanda Stonecipher was one of two stewardesses on that ill-fated flight in 1966 that crashed just NE of the Ardmore Air Park. Wanda was from Stratford, Oklahoma and is buried at Stratford. This is a Memorial for Wanda Stonecipher.

Beautiful Memorial Day Service - May 30th with a couple of hundred attending...
Memorial Program - (memprogram3a.jpg) - "Memorial Day Ceremony & Dedication of Monument Honoring those who died during training - Ardmore Army Air Field and Ardmore Air Force Base - Lest we forget - Ardmore Air Base, May 26, 2003 - Sponsored by Carter County Veterans Council, City of Ardmore, Gary Simmons and Butch Bridges."

Memorial Program - (memprogram3b.jpg) -- Memorial Day Ceremony, May 26, 2003 -
Master of Ceremonies - Tom Walker;
Posting of the Colors - 910th Quartermaster Company US Army Reserve;
Invocation - Reverend Arlen Fowler
Pledge of Allegiance - Girls Scouts of America
National Anthem - Honorable Charles Tate
Opening Remarks - Tom Walker
Introducation of Gold Star Mothers - Master Sargeant (Retired) Kent Tucker
Gold Star Mothers - Carmeleta Addington, Geraldine Gaines, Thelma Colston, Marjorie Armstrong, Mona Watkins, Barbara Robson
Introduction of Special Guests - Tom Walker.

Memorial Program - (memprogram3c.jpg) --
Guest Speaker - Major General Harry M. Wyatt III, The Adjutant General,
Oklahoma National Guard
Presentation of Flag and Unveiling of Monument - Honorable Bob Geurin, Mayor of Ardmore
Reading of Names of Those Killed In Training - Rear Admiral (Retired) Wes Hull, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, Girl Scouts of America
Laying of Memorial Wreath - Master Sargeant Kent Tucker, Sargeant First Class Aaron Perkins, US Army reserves
21 Gun Salute - 910th Quartermaster Company
Taps - Chase Martin and Wesley Dean, Ardmore High School
Benediction - Reverend Arlen Fowler
Retiring of the Colors - 910th Quartermaster Company
Closing Remarks - Tom Walker

Memorial Program - (memprogram3d.jpg) -- Ardmore Army Air Field & Ardmore Air Force Base - Ardmore Army Air Field was activated August 3, 1942 as a glider training facility. The Arbuckle Mountains located to the north and east of the base were considered as ideal for creating updrafts. The first commander of the base, Lt. Colonel James M. Walker, wet up Headquarters in the Wirt Franklin Building. In the Summer of 1943, the air field became a sub-base of Will Rogers Field and was designated as a training facility for bomber crews. With the end of World War II, it was closed in September 1945. Unknown to many residents, German POWs play a key role in the deactivation process.
      With the military needs created by the Korean War, the facility was reactivated September 1, 1953 as Ardmore Air Force Base. It was deactivated a second, and final, time and returned to the City of Ardmore in 1959.
      The first operational C-130 aircraft in the Air Force was delivered to the 463rd Troop Carrier Wing at Ardmore Air Force Base on December 9, 1956. It was named "City of Ardmore" and flew missions in Europe, Africa, Japan, Okinawa and Vietnam. It was retired October 9, 1989, and is now on static display at Dyess Air Force Base, Abilene, Texas. (Its photograph is on the front page of this program.)