McKinney, Texas -- The North Texas Fallen Warrior Portrait Project will present six portraits of Collin County young men who died while in the service of our country, in a ceremony, Monday, June 6, at 11:00 am, at the Russell A. Steindam Courts Building, 2100 Bloomdale Road, McKinney. The portraits will be added to the 82 already on display in the “Hall of Heroes” in the courthouse. There are 431 names engraved on the “Wall of Honor” at the Collin County Veterans Memorial Park in McKinney, and the goal of the project is to put as many faces as possible with those names. The five heroes to be honored are:
JASPER T. SMITH, 25, Blue Ridge. US Army Air Corps, Tech/Sgt. Radio Technician with 702nd Bomb Squadron. KIA 1 April 1944 after bombing mission, when his heavily damaged plane went down near the village of Long Stratton, a few miles short of his home base of Tibbenham, in Norfolk England. One of six crewmen who died. He was reburied at Pecan Grove Cemetery in McKinney in 1948. WWII.
JERRAL W. DERRYBERRY, 23, Frisco and McKinney High School class of 1937. US Army Air Corps, Capt. Pilot B-17 Flying Fortress, 391st Bomber Squadron, 34th Air Group. Saw action over North Africa. Killed in B-24 crash 12 June 1943 two miles west of Soledad, California. Had a wife and was the brother of Lee Derryberry. Buried at Pecan Grove Cemetery, McKinney. WWII.
HAROLD LEE DERRYBERRY, 22, Frisco and McKinney High School class of 1938. US Army, Cpl. Troop A, 5th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division. Wounded at Los Negros in the Pacific. KIA 29 November 1944 on Leyte Island in the Philippines and was buried there. In September of 1948 his body was returned to McKinney and reburied at Pecan Grove Cemetery, McKinney. The brother of Jerral Derryberry. WWII.
GUYNN L. ANDERSON, 19, McKinney High School class of 1942. US Navy, Coxswain. KIA while serving on the USS Franklin CV-13. On 19 March 1945, the Franklin was the closest ship to the Japanese mainland securing a position 50 miles from Japan to launch strike missions. While on station the ship was struck by a single Japanese bomber plane, “Kamikaze attack”, killing 807 of her crew and wounding an additional 487. The USS Franklin had the highest number of casualties of any warship that survived in WWII and was second only to the USS Arizona that was sunk at Pearl Harbor. Name listed on Tablets of the Missing at Honolulu Memorial. Missing in action buried at sea. WWII.
MARTIN LEROY, RODGERS, 18, Prosper, McKinney High School. US Army, SP4. Helicopter Crewman. D Troop, 3rd Squadron, 5th Armored Cavalry Regiment, 1st Aviation Brigade, known as “Lighthorse”. Killed 26 July 1970 when his helicopter went down in the Mekong River, and he drowned while waiting for rescue. Youngest Army helicopter crewman to die in Vietnam. Buried at Ridgeview Memorial Park, Allen. The Vietnam War.
HOWELL LLOYD (BUD) LACY, 23, Altoga, McKinney. US Army, Tech/Sgt. 23rd Infantry, 2nd Infantry Division. Landed at Normandy on D-Day. KIA 13 July 1944 in France. Buried at Restland Memorial Park, Dallas, Texas. WW II.
The “North Texas Fallen Warrior Portrait Project” is privately funded and sponsored by American Legion “Bill Bryan” Post 110, VFW “Lone Star” Post 2150 and Collin County Freedom Fighters.com. The portraits are created by McKinney artist and US Air Force veteran, Colin Kimball, who donates his time and talents to this historic project.