Weekend events honoring Memorial Day culminate with ceremony Monday (2024)

ENID, Okla. —Vietnam veteran Kenneth Johnson is a firm believer in miracles, and Saturday afternoon, May 25, 2024, he accepted the keys to one from the board members of Woodring Wall of Honor and Veterans Park.

“I'm a Vietnam-era vet,” Johnson said. “went through the war and came out, and in 2003 I got carjacked and a kid ended up shooting me, paralyzed me instantly. Bullet is still in me. It’s up against my spinal cord … so I’m a T-4 paraplegic, paralyzed from the chest down. And … went through rehabilitation and learned how to start living on my own, which I do now.”

A few days ago, the Perkins resident learned Woodring Wall of Honor and Veterans Park was giving away a 2000 Honda Accord that was equipped with arm controls for the driver during its Memorial Day open house at the OK Military History Exhibit at Oakwood Mall.

The donor, who was not named, wanted the car to go to a veteran who could use the arm controls with which it was equipped, said Elaine Johns, executive director of Woodring Wall of Honor and Veterans Park.

A few weeks ago, Johnson’s car with similar hand-control driving aids was rear-ended.

“And so here we have a veteran who is now homebound, with an inability to get around, and no finances to purchase another car,” Johns said. “He will now be able to go back and forth to church. He will now be able to go back and forth to pick up his grandchildren from school. He will now be able to be mobile …”

While Johns was speaking, Johnson nodded his head in agreement beside his gifted car and in front of a “Remember the HEROES” sign at the entrance of the OK Military History Exhibit.

“I am honored,” Johnson said, with his sister, Billie Johnson, or “the boss” as he called her, by his side. “I’m honored. Thank you guys so much. So I was without a car and then this came about, so God is good. God is good. Miracles happen.”

Medal of Honor Ride of Valor

The official transfer of the car at 3 p.m. capped a day that started with the Medal of Honor Ride of Valor registration at Woodring Wall of Honor and Veterans Park. The event mainly attracted motorcycle riders but was open to participants of any vehicle, Johns said.

After registering, Ride of Valor participants visited the gravesites of three area Medal of Honor recipients and laid down carnations and pennies, an ages-old symbol that a military veterans grave was visited that was popularized in the Vietnam War era.

The riders can continue in the next several months and visit all 25 Medal of Honor recipients graves across the state by Veterans Day.

Participants still can register to complete that statewide ride/quest and receive certificates and patches if completed. Those showing they visited all of the sites by the designated date will be entered into a grand prize drawing for $1,000, Johns said.

Information and rules are available at the Woodring Wall of Honor and Veterans Park, Inc., Facebook page, facebook.com/WoodringWall.

Jays walk

Also at the airport’s Veterans Park Saturday morning, Jay Chambers and Jay Smith readied themselves to once again walk in the annual Red Dirt Run, an event that began about 2010, Johns said, but officially ended a few years ago with the condition of the road near the airport and COVID.

The run honored the military service members and veterans. Chambers, 86, who is fighting cancer and legally blind, said he will continue to walk as long as he can to honor the men and women who protect the United States.

“We owe them that honor,” Chambers said. “They’re heroes. I'm proud of these kids, what they've done today. Our military has been depleted for about … quite a bit. We're still the strongest one in the world, and the kids are the ones that make it that way. They're determined, and I'm proud of ’em. I’ll be glad to serve with ’em, any one of them. They're all, they're all in it for the right reasons.”

Smith, an area firefighter, dons full gear during the walk, and takes Chambers hand to lead him, as he has done many years before. The two are “in it together” for the military and veterans.

Fern and Doug Boyer also continued the walk this year at an earlier time, Johns said.

Open house event

The OK Military History exhibit open house attracted 400 to 500 in about four hours, Johns said.

The exhibit was made possible through a vast donation from the Kansas Museum of Military History: a collection including hundreds of uniforms from various military branches, vehicles, soldiers’ personal effects and more. The exhibit is dedicated to honoring the history of America’s fights for freedom, and tells the story of multiple eras of military history, Johns said.

Located in Oakwood Mall, the exhibit is open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.

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