Lyle Veterans Memorial Was Decades in the Making

(ABC 6 News) -- While we frequently talk about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a small group of people have been planning a memorial for an old friend who fought in a different time.

 "This happened in '69, the year I was over there, and I got a letter from my mother and I remember that letter because she started it out that she had some bad news, that Roy had been killed over there," said Marly Anderson. He's a Vietnam veteran himself.

“Our classmate Roy Maas was killed over in Vietnam and then Marly thought we should do something for Roy," said Lonnie Delaney. Both Delaney and Anderson were good friends with Roy Maas. The news that he was killed overseas was devastating then, and it's still even hard to talk about now. "I had been waiting for someone to step forward and do a memorial, but no one had stepped forward. After 43 years, I just decided that it was time and that’s why we did it," said Anderson.

With the help of Delaney's wife Linda and a few community members from Lyle, they finished the memorial this summer. Maas's name is painted on a large rock, along with two other veterans who went missing or were killed in war. "We didn't want to leave anybody out if there was anybody else so we did the investigating and we just came up with those three," said Delaney.

Though some may have never known Maas or the others who are being recognized, it's what it represents that's a good reminder for everyone. "We don't want to forgot some of the sacrifices that some of them made," said Delaney.

"I think it’s really important. I think it’ll instill in people just what sacrifices it’s taken to be where we are today," said Lyle resident and Vietnam and Desert Storm Veteran Robert Kvam.

They've gotten nothing but high remarks for the memorial. "They're very happy we did it, and that's all we ask," said Anderson.

Both Delaney and Anderson say they plan to have a dedication ceremony for the memorial, hopefully this coming Veterans day in November.