Irving Veterans Memorial

WWI Wall Photos

2009-09-23T07:37:00.000-07:00

Claybon Wallis (left) was born in 1894 in Estelle, now part of west Irving. While fighting in France in the U.S.Army during WWI, he sustained lung injuries during a gas attack. Wallis returned to Irving after the war and married; however, he never fully recovered his health and died from the effects of the gas in 1933 at age 39.

Carl Range, who came to Irving with his family in 1910, served in the U.S. Navy during WWI. After the war, he returned to Irving where he and his brother opened a service station in 1919. In the early 1930's, he went to work for the U.S. Post Office in Irving. In 1939, Range was appointed Irving's postmaster; he held that position until 1956. The Carl Range Postal Center in Irving is named in his honor.

In 1917 Dallas's Love Field was established to train military pilots for WWI. Irving resident and U.S. Air Service member Clarence Range works on a JN-4 biplane at Love Field.

Noah Story was from a pioneer family that settled in this are in 1855. He was born here in 1895. He served as a corporal in the U.S. Army in France during WWI. Story survived the war, but he contracted influenza while he was on a troop transport waiting to return home. At the end of WWI, an influenza pandemic that swept the world killed over 50 million people between 1918 and 1920. Story was treated in France, but he died on February 5, 1919.

WWII Wall Photos

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Arthur Casey (right) moved to Irving at age ten. He won the Distinguished Flying Cross during WWII for flying more than 90 missions as a Marine pilot in the South Pacific. After the war, he returned to Irving and spent decades as a teacher, coach, and administrator in the Irving Public Schools.

Glenn Collett moved to Irving with his family just before the U.S. entered WWII. He enlisted in the Marines at age 17 and saw action in the Pacific, including Guam and Okinawa. Private Collett was killed while fighting on Okinawa in May 1945. He was nineteen years old.

Albert Sain moved to Irving with his family in the late 1930s. He served in the U.S. NAvy and saw action in the Pacific during WWII. In July 1945, Seaman 1st class Sain was serving on board the U.S.S. Indianapolis when it was torpedoed. Sain was among 300 sailors killed in the explosion. Approximately 900 men abandoned ship and spent five days in the water suffering from exposure and fighting off shark attacks. Only 317 crewmen survived.

Morgan Lyon, an Irving native, served in the U.S. Navy during WWII. He was stationed on the aircraft carrier Wasp, which supported the invasion of Iwo Jima and also sent planes to bomb Japan. On March 19, 1945, a Japanese bomb pierced the deck of the carrier and exploded in the mess area. Machinist's Mate Lyon and more than 100 of his shipmates died.

Three brothers from Irving's Crump family served in the military during WWII. Walter and Harry, Jr., joined the U.S. Army Air Corps. Walter was reported missing in action in early 1943 after a bombing mission in Tunisia. Harry was lost in August 1943 when his plane went down during a raid on the Ploesti oil refineries (above). Both were awarded the Air Medal posthumously. The youngest brother, George, served in the U.S. Army. To prevent further loss to the family, he was not sent overseas.

Irving High School graduate Fred Cox (3rd from left) and his crew stand in front of the plane he named for his wife. Lieutenant Cox, an Air Medal recipient, was shot down in 1943 during a bombing raid on Europe. The plane and crew were lost in the English Channel.

Irving native Dr. Joe Roberts served as a military surgeon in North Africa and Italy during WWII. He was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service for operating on the wounded while under heavy bombardment. After the war, he returned to Irving, where he helped establish Irving Community Hospital and served as its first chief of staff.

During the war, change came to Irving as local residents left their farms and small businesses to take jobs in armament factories. Many residents of Irving and northwest Dallas County went to work at North American Aviation, where the P-51 fighter plane was produced. Irvingite James B. Andrew (above) worked as an inspector at the plant.

Lieutant Harry Spencer, Jr. served in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He won the Legion of Merit for bravery for tending to injured crew members for months after their plane crash-landed in Greenland in 1942. After the war, Spencer opened a business in Irving and served on the city council and the school board.

Korean War Wall Photos

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Bobby Haley was an Irving native and descendent of the pioneer Haley family. During the Korean War, he was a sergeant in a U.S. Marine corps demolition squad. He returned to Irving and worked as a plant supervisor at a local steel company. In 1968, Haley was elected to the first of two terms on the Irving City Council.

Garfield Andrew came to Irving with his family in 1934. During the Korean War, Sergeant Andrew served in the U.S. Air Force as a firefighter helping provide safe landing and rescue for pilots and battle-damaged aircraft. Andrew came home and worked as a long-haul truck driver.

WWII veteran Dr. Paul Laird served as a U.S. Army physician at a forward aid station during the Korean War. Captain Laird received two bronze stars for his service. After leaving the military, he practiced medicine in Irving for 35 years. Laird was mayor of Irving from 1957-1959 and was instrumental in establishing Irving Community Hospital.

John Veno moved to Irving in 1949. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps at Pusan in the military court system during the Korean War. Veno returned to Irving and became a homebuilder. He was involved in local and national builders' associations and served on the City of Irving's Planning and Zoning Commission.

Ralph Smith was deployed to Korea in 1953, where he was serving as a U.S. Army platoon leader on the central front at the time of the Armistice in July 1953. After Korea, he attended seminary. Smith worked as the first full-time chaplain at the Irving Community hospital from 1980-1997. In 1988, after 36 years in the reserves, he retired as a colonel in the Chaplain Corps.

Vietnam War Wall Photos

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William Marshall, who made a career in the U.S. Air Force, served as a transportation officer in 1968 in South Vietnam, where he was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service. In the early 1980s, Marshall retired with the rank of major, moved his family to Irving, and went into social work for the state of Texas.

Charles Jordan came to Irving with his family in 1955 when he was twelve years old. He joined the U.S. Air Force in 1962 and served as an aircraft mechanic in Vietnam in 1965. Airman First Class Jordan left the service in 1966, and, upon his return home, made a career as an aircraft mechanic.

William Cain, an Irving native and MacArthur High School graduate, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1966. Private First Class Cain was deployed to Vietnam and took part in several combat operations. The 18-year old Marine was killed in action in a land mine explosion near DaNang in July 1967.

Leslie Wood, a native of Irving and a graduate of Irving High School, became a paratrooper in the U.S. Army in 1966. Wood served in Vietnam in 1968 and was awarded the Bronze Star for heroism in ground combat. After his military service, he returned to Irving to work in the family lumber business.

Larry Cox joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1968 and spent a year in Vietnam. Lance Corporal Cox's unit provided armed escort for supply convoys as they made their way along the Demilitarized Zone. After his discharge from the service, Cox moved to Irving to raise his family. He also became involved in veterans' support groups.

Jack Danford entered the U.S. Marines in 1966. For a year during 1967-1968, Lance Corporal Danford served in Vietnam in a counterintelligence unit. After the service, he moved to Irving, where he worked for the post office and became active in local veterans' organizations.

Post-Vietnam Wall Photos

2009-09-19T08:50:00.000-07:00

Trey Cash, an Irving native, graduated from Nimitz High School in 2004. He later enlisted in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper. Beginning in 2007, Sergeant Cash served in Iraq, where he provided armed escort for supply convoys. He was subsequently deployed to Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Josiah Vandertulip joined the U.S. Army upon graduating from Irving High School in 2002. After a tour of duty in South Korea, he volunteered to serve in Iraq. While on patrol in Baghdad in 2004, Specialist Vandertulip was struck down by a sniper's bullet.

Adam Garcia moved to Irving with his family in 1996. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2003. Specialist Garcia was killed by enemy fire while serving in Iraq in 2006. He was awarded the Bronze Star and promoted posthumously.

James Pippin (center) joined the U.S. Marines in 1964. A veteran of three tours in Vietnam, Sergeant Major Pippin led a Marine battalion in Operation Desert Storm in 1991. He retired from the service in 1994 and spent 15 years as the Naval Science instructor at Nimitz High School.

In 2004-2005, elements of the Texas National Guard unit in Irving were dispatched to Iraq, while others assisted with relief efforts after hurricanes hit the U.S. Gulf Coast. Pictured are members of the 4th Platoon on duty after hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Nazario Serrano joined the U.S. Marine Corps after graduating from Irving High School in 2003. Lance Corporal Serrano volunteered for a tour of duty in Iraq. In January 2005, Serrano was killed in action while engaging an enemy mortar position.

Irving, Texas Photos

2009-09-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

The following photos are of Irving as depicted in the walls above.

Irving (WWI era)

Irving Main St.-1947 (WWII era)

Irving-1957 (Korean War era)

Irving (Vietnam War era)

Irving (Post Vietnam era)

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You can visit the Irving Veterans Memorial at 644 Rock Island Road, just east of Irving City Hall and the Central Library. The memorial was built in the two acre park bordered by Irving Blvd., Sowers Road and Rock Island Road.

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The polished black granite panels in the plaza walls are each 3' wide, with the end panels being 8' tall and 4" thick. They weigh in at 1,700 lbs. each. The photos on the granite are permanently etched into the surface using a technique that involves a photo process to generate a mask. The photo is then sandblasted into the stone and color filled with a special coating to bring out the detail. The lettering and maps are deep-sandblasted into the granite using a stencil cut from a rubberized material.

The panels were then taken to the site and built into the Leuders roughback walls. This is a Texas limestone that is quarried in Leuders, Texas, which is near Abilene.

The map on the plaza floor is 2" thick flame finished black granite that has been waterjet cut to the shape of the world map and is installed in pieces in a 30" X 30" grid. Oklahoma flagstone was used to fill in the floor around the map pieces.

The five bronze statues are life size figures of soldiers from the U.S. armed forces. Each one is historically correct and is placed near the wall whose era they represent.