Note: One of the 44 young men we are honoring had ties to the former Evans Cleaners in downtown El Reno. He worked there, and his father started the business.
Served as an engineer/top turret gunner on a Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress heavy bomber.
Technician 4th Grade Melvin W. “Rookie” Jacks, one of four brothers who served in World War II, was a radio operator with the B-573rd Signal Air Warning battalion.
▶ Nov. 11, 1918, was largely considered the end of the “war to end all wars,” even though the Treaty of Versailles, which officially ended World War I, was signed June 28, 1919.
▶ While Veterans Day is an American holiday, Canada, Great Britain, Australia and France also honor the veterans of World War I and World War II on or near Nov. 11. Canada celebrates Remembrance Day, while Britain observes Remembrance Sunday each year on the second Sunday of November.
▶ Data from the Department of Veterans Affairs says there are around 19 million U.S. veterans as of 2021.
Known as a particularly bright young man, Luther H. “Buddy” Smith Jr. was a graduate of El Reno High School Class of 1941.
George Wesley Tomlins was born in Rush Springs in the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma.
Thomas Gordon Jackson was a graduate of EHS, a member of the Class of 1928.
John Leon Lucus attended El Reno schools and graduated from El Reno High School in 1938.
He served in the 252nd Quartermaster Remount Squadron and was based at Fort Reno for 14 months, so he has a doubly strong connection to the history of the city.
Clarence Finley Blanton was a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force and Commander at Lima Site 85, 1043rd Radar Evaluation Squadron, 7th Air Force.
Freddie Hobson
USAF 10/23/1961 - 10/22/1965
Served in Italy for 15 months and Texas for 33 months.
Top secret security clearance.
Honorably discharged as E-4 Sergeant.
