Memorial Day Observed at Cooper Cemetery
By John Earp
This past Monday at Jal Cooper Cemetery, the annual Memorial Day Ceremony was observed in honor of those who died in the service of the United States Military. The Jal Historical Society, presided over by Mr. Brian Norwood, spoke of the significance of the occasion, highlighting the individual soldiers who had given the ultimate sacrifice in service of their country, three of whom are buried in the Cooper Cemetery. The event also showcased the newly completed Jal Veteran’s Memorial Monument that has been recently constructed at the Cooper Cemetery, with the bulk of the financial assistance for completing the project coming from the Woolworth Trust, according to Norwood.
Sheriff Corey Helton led the gathering in the Pledge of Allegiance. Chief of Police Mauricio Valeriano led in the opening prayer, thanking the Heavenly Father for those gathered and for the price paid for freedom by those being remembered. Norwood then thanked the Jal Historical Society Board of Directors, including Brian Norwood as president, Van Myrick, vice president, Karen Norwood, treasurer, Alice Sappington, and Mauricio Valeriano, noting their goal of preserving the history of Jal.
Norwood then gave a brief history of the Cooper Cemetery, saying, “This is Jal’s first cemetery. It seems that a family from Georgia was driving a covered wagon through here on their way to Arizona. And it seems very much like an old western movie, and it could be. They were driving their wagon to Arizona in hopes that the climate there would help their daughter, who had tuberculosis. They got somewhere right around here, and she passed away. They buried her here, and that was the first known burial. It was in September of 1912. And if you go to the back fence back here on the south side, you can find that first grave with Caddie Lucille Scruggs.” He continued, “That was the first known burial out here, although there may have been others prior to that. Certainly, there were cowboys that were in this area, that met with accidents and may have died and been buried near here. We know there were other graves here already when Sam Cooper and his family homesteaded here in 1914. And he donated the land for use as the cemetery; hence its name, Cooper Cemetery. It wasn’t until 1950 that the City of Jal decided that they needed a cemetery. So many people were being buried in other places; some in Kermit, Carlsbad, Hobbs. So, they erected a water tank next to the windmill out here to provide water. They planted trees. They attempted to locate all of the graves that were unmarked.”
Norwood continued, “I can tell you that each headstone out here has a story to tell…There are some great stories here. There are teachers here, business owners, and just plain people who made Jal what it is today. And then, of course, there are the heroes. And that’s what we’re here for today, Memorial Day, to honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, who laid down their lives for their country. Among those that we know that are from Jal who were killed in action, the first was Reginald Edwin Rex Baird. Rex was born in Texas in 1889. His parents lived at Ocho, and those of you who are local know approximately where that was. When Rex registered for the selective service, he registered in Carlsbad because Jal was still part of Eddy County at that time. Very sadly, Rex was killed in the final hours of World War I. The Armistice went into effect at 11 o’clock on the 11th day of November, and Rex died on the 11th day. Rex had the distinction of having not one, but two of American Legion posts named after him. The Jal Post was the Rex Baird post, and there was another post. I’ve heard two stories. I’ve read that it was in Monahans, but I’ve also read that it was in Kermit, so I’m not sure which is correct. Then, before the attack on Pearl Harbor and America’s entry into World War II, the New Mexico National Guard had been sent to the Philippines to protect the islands from possible Japanese attack, and those New Mexicans made up the bulk of two US units, the 200th and the 515th Coast Artillery Batteries. That’s why when Bataan and Corregidor fell in April of 1942, many New Mexicans were captured and suffered through the infamous Bataan Death March, a forced march of Filipino and American POWs over nearly 70 grueling miles. Among the approximately 11,000 dead were three Jal residents; O.C.E. Brown on 1st June 1942, Harmon E. Boyd on 19 October 1942 and Paul A. Walsh on 27 November 1942. One other victim of Bataan was Corporal Larry A. Loggins. Corporal Loggins survived the march and imprisonment in the Philippines, only to die while being transported to Japan. He was aboard the Japanese trader, the Arisan Maru, one of the so-called Hell Ships, when it was sunk by an American submarine on 24 October 1944. The ship bore no markings that it carried prisoners, as was required by international law.
Curtis Alin Howell was a member of the JHS Class of 1942. He died in November 1944 over France as part of a bomber crew. We really don’t have any details about his death, and I’m not sure where he’s buried. Tech Sergeant Charles Arthur Toby was married in Jal on 30 June 1942. He served under the command of General George S. Patton in the 179th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division, which served in the invasion of Sicily, the drive through Italy and finally into Germany. Sergeant Toby died in Germany on 29 March 1945. He’s buried in Lorraine American Cemetery in France. Billy James Moore was a member of Jal’s outstanding 1939 Championship Football Team. As a pharmacist’s mate, he provided aid to the wounded in the fight for Okinawa, the last major Japanese-held island. He lost his life on 2nd April 1945 and is buried in Kermit Cemetery. Hudie C. Bagley was another member of the 1939 Football Team and salutatorian of his class. He became a B-29 bomber pilot and survived the war, but died in the crash of his plane following takeoff from a base in Florida in 1945. Lance Corporal Anthony Mark Cass had attended school in Jal, and he was one of 38 U.S. Marines killed on 26 May 1967 in the Que Son Valley in Vietnam. On that day, US. Marines ran into a strongly entrenched force of North Vietnamese Army. Calling in air strikes, Marines finally overran the enemy, but at a very, very high cost. Earl Davies, also a Marine Lance Corporal, died in Quang Nam, Vietnam, on 22nd August 1967. He lived briefly in Jal and was the brother of Jal resident Mrs. Melvin Whitten. He’s buried in Lovington. Marine Lance Corporal Harold Hager had attended school in both Jal and Lovington. He was active in all phases of high school sports and had been named to the all-state track team in 1966. He died as a result of wounds received from a hand grenade in Quang Nam on 5th January 1968. He, too, is buried in Lovington. Buddy Duane Pyeatt was born in Jal, although his family eventually moved to Roswell. He received his Navy wings in April 1967 and became an airborne radar intercept officer aboard the USS Enterprise. On 14 January 1969, he was in the rear seat of his F4 phantom preparing for launch when the exhaust from another aircraft ignited a rocket on his plane. That resulted in 18 separate explosions that killed Pyeatt and 27 other sailors and destroyed 15 aircraft. He was buried with full military honors at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver, Colorado. Lance Corporal Jack L. Silliman was a member of the First Marine Air Wing and died in Quang Nam Province on 3rd June 1969. He had attended Jal schools as a member of the class of 1966 and is buried in Carlsbad.”
Norwood continued, “And finally. Jal’s 3 KIAs that are buried just a few yards from here. Jimmy Mathis was a hospitalman, a corpsman in the United States Navy, a member of the JHS class of 1964. He was killed by a mine while on patrol in Quang Nam on 26 November 1967. Staff Sergeant Jackie Leisure was a team leader for a four-man long range reconnaissance patrol, or LRRP, commonly known as Lerps. While on patrol in Binh Duong, Vietnam, on 12th May 1968, his men were engaged in a firefight with a full battalion of NVA. Jackie took the brunt of the fire while out in front of the patrol. He died on Mother’s Day—the day he was supposed to begin out-processing to go home. He was a member of the JHS class of 1967. James Richard Phillips was a 1961 Jal High School graduate and a Marine fighter pilot. He was a Vietnam vet who died in a mid-air collision with a commercial airliner over the San Gabriel Mountains of South Carolina on 6 June 1971. Although his radar intercept officer was able to eject safely, Lieutenant Phillips was unable to do so because of a faulty design that prevented injection from the front seat if the rear seat ejection was activated first. There were no survivors avoid the commercial flight. This accident was determined to be the fault of both air crews and brought about a number of regulations aimed at improving safety in high traffic areas and communications between military and civilian aircraft and many of those regulations are still in effect today. As I said, each of those last three are buried just a short distance from here. and we salute them as we salute all of those who had sacrificed their lives while in uniform. Could we have a moment of silence for them?”
After the moment of silence, Norwood said, “And we welcome here today, one of Jackie’s good friends who makes the trip over every year to have a visit with Jackie. We thank you for being here. And now we turn our attention to this Veterans’ Memorial. It came about when Karen and I were out here placing the flags. We had decided that that was something that we could do as volunteers. We placed flags on each of the veterans’ graves that we know of on Veterans’ Day and Memorial Day. And we do that at both cemeteries, here and at Jal Cemetery. And we were out here, I think it was probably last Memorial Day, and Karen looked around and said, ‘You know what? There’s not a memorial to the veterans here.’ There is a memorial at the Jal Cemetery. There’s the large memorial on Main Street, but there wasn’t one here. And it seemed so sad and inappropriate, especially given that those three KIAs are buried here. So, we decided to try to do something about that, and with the historical society, we talked about it and got approval to start work. I’ve always been extremely fond of the military-style headstones. You walk into a cemetery and you can immediately tell where veterans rest, when those military headstones are there, and there’s just a simple elegance to them that I love. So, we came up with the idea of having a larger than usual military style headstone, white marble. And because our 3 KIAs are from the Vietnam era, we came to the conclusion that the artwork should consist of the battlefield cross from the Vietnam era. There are crosses from World War I, World War II, Vietnam, and on up to modern, and the biggest change is the weaponry that you see. We felt that would be appropriate, and eventually, Karen, with a little bit of editing help from me, came up with the wording.
“May God bless the memory of all veterans who rest here, and may God bless America.” Karen and I come to this having both had family members that served. Karen’s father and an uncle both served during World War II. Her father was young enough that he didn’t get in during the conflict, but he did serve in the occupation forces in Japan. I had three uncles who served, one who was a Marine that was on Iceland the day Pearl Harbor was bombed. Winston Churchill had asked for a group of Marines to protect Iceland from possible German attack. Another uncle served postwar in the Navy. But then my dad’s brother, his only sibling, was killed in Germany in World War II, part of an infantry unit. So, I have deep respect for those who gave their lives. So, we started the process. We talked with David Sadler at Sadler and Son Monument Works. And he assured us that he could get the stone done, and it was his idea to do the benches and on the sides of the benches, you’ll see Woolworth Trust and on the other one, you’ll see Jal Historical Society. The Woolworth Trust, Karen and I went to them. It was her idea to go ask them to make a donation. And we certainly want to thank them. I don’t believe any of the board members are here today, but they very generously paid for the bulk of this memorial. They did ask, because we had just planned to do the stone and the benches, but they did ask that we make it larger, do a little bit of landscaping around it to keep the weeds down, and just make it look a little bit better. They would like to see this cemetery and all of Jal looking a little more presentable, and we hope that this memorial will help serve that purpose. We also had L&L do the fence around it and a little bit more of the concrete work. David Sadler had people that did the large area of concrete. And we intended to have this all done for Veterans Day, which we really felt would have been more appropriate, but we all know things happen, and it didn’t get done, but now it is. So, we’re happy to be able to dedicate it on Memorial Day, even if it’s not a day set aside to honor all veterans, but those who were killed in action. Yes, we want to thank the city, and especially Sam, who came out and set up chairs for you this morning. The city has been very gracious in allowing us to do this, and we’re very pleased with the way it’s turning out, and I hope that you all will be pleased as well. We need to thank Van Myrick for getting the flagpole up, he and his crew.
Norwood then went on to honor Mr. Jim Ellison, saying, “And while we’re here, you know, Karen and I were placing flags, and while we at Jal Cemetery, you place flags on these graves, and most of them have been here a while. In both cemeteries, most of the veterans are from World War II, Korea, some for Vietnam. But this year, there was one that we placed a flag on that really was difficult. It really hurt. And that was on the grave of Jim Ellison. Anybody from Jal knows that Jim Ellison was a great friend to veterans. I think it’s safe to say that he had a big part in the Veterans’ Day and Memorial Day Celebrations that we’ve had in the past, and we honor this ceremony, for all that he’s done. He was a city councilor, I know he was on the school board for a time. He was a very active member of the community, and everything that he did for Jal was appreciated, and we hope that his memory will be one of those that stands out in Jal’s history.”
Norwood then had Mike Orr say a few words in honor of Ellison. Orr also said, “We couldn’t have done it without Roxie.”
A wreath was then laid in front of the memorial by Jal Police Officers Porras and Flores. “Taps” was then played over the PA system. Norwood apologized for the fact that though they had scheduled a live trumpeter to play “Taps” at the ceremony, “but at the last minute he had family coming in, and of course, family takes precedence. I will just say before we close that we on the historical society board intend to be more active and hopefully we can get some more things like this.” In his closing comments, Norwood mentioned the historical society’s hopeful plans to take over property that will, with the City’s help, be made into a museum for Jal. Van Myrick was asked to lead in a closing prayer. About 40 community members attended the ceremony.