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An effort is underway to tell the stories of four Lafayette County men whose actions helped shape World War II in a more substantial way, with 6-foot-tall granite monuments at the Lafayette County Veterans Memorial.
The Friends of the Lafayette County Veterans Memorial hopes to raise $120,000 to add the monuments, which would flank the existing memorial that was originally built 20 years ago.
Eventually, the nonprofit's president, Allan Lee, envisions transforming an entire city block “from Main Street to Franklin Street into a military honor walk.”
But the first phase aims to shine a light on the heroism of Gen. William M. Hoge of Lexington; Lt. Col. Harold Schrier of Corder; Capt. Leonard B. “Tuck” Smith of Higginsville; and Sgt. Joe C. Specker of Odessa.
"I'm not sure how many people in Lafayette County knew these four gentlemen were from Lafayette County," Lee said.
But Lee believes their stories should be remembered and celebrated. His interest was sparked when he learned one of the four men, Schrier — who was from Corder, Missouri, and attended high school in Lexington — led the charge up Mount Suribachi and raised the first flag on Iwo Jima, one of the fiercest and bloodiest battles in the Pacific Theater.
"I start thinking that there ought to be a memorial to him somewhere," Lee said.
So, he got to work and found support from Lexington Mayor Tom Hughes.
The other honorees include Hoge, who helped end World War II early by ordering the capture of a key bridge across the Rhine River in Germany, and Captain Leonard "Tuck" Smith, who spotted the German battleship Bismarck while training British pilots.
The fourth is Joe C. Specker, who is Lafayette County's only Medal of Honor recipient. Specker was a 22-year-old from Odessa in January 1944 when he charged alone with his machine gun up an Italian hillside to take out an enemy machine gun placement. He was mortally wounded by sniper fire before silencing the Axis position, dying to save the lives of others.
Greg Specker, Joe's great-grandnephew, never met his great-uncle but has heard stories of his valor.
"They would have lost a huge battle there and lost a lot of men there," Greg Specker said.
He loves the idea of expanding the Lafayette County Veterans Memorial.
“The bigger the better,” Greg Specker said. “... Anytime you can remember a sacrifice of bravery like that — to me, anything that marks that — is incredibly, incredibly important.”
A stretch of Interstate 70 near Odessa was renamed in Joe Specker's honor, something that never fails to make Greg reflect.
“Every time,” he said of driving past the sign with his great uncle’s name on it. “It's a little bit of a sense of pride, but it also kind of kind of makes you feel like there's a little bit of responsibility, if that makes any sense. ... You always ask yourself — well, at least I do, anyway — ‘Are we worthy of this? What would he think of me? What would he think of how I live?’”
Greg Specker hopes the expanded memorial can inspire that same reflection in others.
"No matter where you're at in life, you don't know what the impact that you're going to have," he said.
Lee hopes Joe Specker’s story and those of other Lafayette County veterans can inspire future generations.
“I hope that one day all the schools around the county will bring their kids in and let them walk down the walk and read about people from Lafayette County who made historic contributions to the military,” he said.
Hughes expressed support for the project, which has a long way to go toward its phase-one fundraising goal.
"We'd like to get that enthusiasm level up a little bit," Hughes said. "... There's a lot of history here, a lot of great military history."
Lee hopes to have the project completed in time for a dedication on Memorial Day 2027, especially as the nation closes in on its semiquincentennial — or America 250, which celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding.
“We are looking for a title sponsor, so if anybody out there wants to be a title sponsor, have their name associated with a project honoring the military during the country's 250th anniversary celebration, this is a good opportunity to have your name attached to a project honoring our veterans,” Lee said. “... I can't think of a better project around this area right now to have your name attached to.”
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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