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Mother — Helen Ozella (White) Von Werder was a past Royal Matron of Amaranth.

Father — Master Sgt. August H. Von Werder, U.S. Army Veterinary Corps, 1917-1944, World War I and World War II.

Was a Mason and worked at Fort Reno until its closure.

Brother — Lt. Col. Coleman Von Werder, born June 28, 1928, at Fort Reno. U.S. Army Artillery, 1946-1968, assisted Marines at Battle of Chosin in Korean War.

Brother — William Von Werder, private, USAF, 1952, medical discharge.

Dr. Bryan Blankenship, DDS

Son of Craig and Kim Mittelstaedt

Oklahoma National Guard
45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team

2002-2008.

Two tours of duty in Iraq

Ronnie Melton

U.S. Navy — Submarine

1968-71

Frank Casey

World War II
Jan. 18, 1943 – Dec. 26, 1945

Army Private

First Class Marksman Rifle
Two Bronze Service Stars
Good Conduct Medal
WWII Victory Ribbon
American Theater Ribbon
AP Theater Ribbon

Frank Welker Coit

Private, U.S. Army

Born Jan. 16, 1892 - Died Sept. 27, 1918

After his family moved to the El Reno area from Missouri, Frank Welker Coit — who like many during that era bore his mother’s maiden name as his middle name — attended grade school in El Reno.

He was among the 25 students who graduated from the El Reno Grammar School on Jan. 22, 1909, in a ceremony held in the auditorium of the El Reno Carnegie Library.

He then went on to attend El Reno High School for a time as well.

Douglas L. Brown

MSG (retired), U.S. Army
August 1986 to August 2008

Attended basic training at Fort Knox, Ky.

Advanced individual training at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Trained as a medic.

Assignments include Fort Stewart, Ga., Camp Hovey, Korea, Fort Ord, California.

Army recruiting at Boston, Mass., Fort Hood (Fort Cavazos), Texas, Bad Aibling Station, Germany, U.S. Army Central Command, Fort McPherson, Atlanta, Ga.

Evelyn Hall Baumwart

Sister of Eugene Hall

Army - World War II

1944-1946

Sgt. Eugene Hall

Brother of Evelyn Hall Baumwart

Korea — Vietnam

1949-1975

Grover Benjamin Bannister

Private, U.S. Army Coastal Artillery Corps, Company 1

Born Oct. 8, 1888 - Died Oct. 6, 1918

Grover Benjamin Bannister was the son of Judge Charles A. Bannister and Josephine Wilma (Hanks) Bannister.

He was born Oct. 8, 1888, in Pratt County, Kan., and he and his family moved to Oklahoma in 1889, first settling on a farm east of El Reno. In 1895, the family built a new home at 200 N. Barker Ave., where they lived for decades thereafter.

William Roberts “Billy” Laird

1940 graduate of El Reno High School.

Born March 16, 1921 - Died Feb. 7, 1943

Laird enlisted in the U.S. Navy on May 18, 1942, just about six months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

SM3c Laird was one of two signalmen assigned to the troop transport ship the Henry R. Mallory.

The ship was sunk on Feb. 7, 1943, by a German U-boat submarine in the North Atlantic Ocean, en route to Reykjavik, Iceland, from New York after making a stop at Halifax, Nova Scotia.

A total of 272 individuals died in the attack.