Dedication of Veterans Honor Roll, April 28, 2014

Bonnie Jo Griffith, Vice Chair, Elders Committee
Photos by Jim Rementer and Charles Randall

A ceremony to re-dedicate the Veterans Honor Wall was held on April 28 at 11:30 am. The Lenape Color Guard paraded in the flags, followed by the Delaware War Mothers’ Princess and then the Delaware War Mothers. There was a great drum and exemplary singing provided by Dee Ketchum and his troupe of Lenape singers. The music provided just added a sense of peace to this ceremony. Pat Donnell gave a very moving and “from the heart” invocation. All veterans in attendance were presented a small token of appreciation from the Delaware War Mothers. We had many veterans on hand for this dedication and an almost full house in Forsythe Hall for the lunch that followed.

The newly-repositioned Wall of Honor was unveiled by Kenny Brown, Chairman of the Delaware Tribe of Indians Veterans Committee and Tonya Anna, President of the Delaware War Mothers. The unveiling displayed the three rows of pictures along the south wall of Forsythe Hall. These are pictures of Delawares and other military veterans. Pictures range from members of the Cavalry to currently servicing members of our tribe. Not all pictures are of Delaware veterans but includes spouses of Delawares, individuals who themselves (or members of their families) have become a part of our family here at the Tribal Center, and employees. All veterans have given so much and we are extremely happy to honor all of them.

We have approximately 15 new pictures (and expect more) which are not yet on the wall. There was some concern from some individuals that the pictures had been removed and rumors were spreading that they were not going to be put back. For that reason a decision was made to go ahead and return the original display of pictures to the wall and then start working on updating the lettering on them and adding in the new pictures as we do that.

The hard work of so many went into this project that I hope I don’t miss anyone in my thanks. The Veterans Committee, the Elders Committee and the Delaware War Mothers all contributed to this project and it surely never would have happened without them. Charles and Mary Randall put in many, many hours working on this project taking the pictures down, scanning all of the pictures, cutting new rails and staining and varnishing them, putting the new rails on the wall, decorating the room for the dedication, and helping cover the pictures prior to the unveiling. Janifer Brown assisted in getting the rails attached to the wall properly. Beth and her husband, Pat and Walt Donnell, Barbara Wallace, Tonya Anna and Keith Anna helped me so much getting the pictures sorted and back on the rails. Cy Hughes was extremely helpful in getting Forsythe Hall back to normal after the ceremony. But I also want to thank everyone who: helped decide the new wall color, choosing how the pictures would be displayed, and basically gave much needed moral support to this project. The pictures are hung in alphabetical order so when you have a bit of time, stop by and take a look at this tribute to our heroes.