I was out traveling around and found this Veteran’s Memorial at the Holly Hills Memorial Park. I can find absolutely nothing about it! But its striking memorial and I’m glad to have seen it. The flag photo is from somewhere else (now where was I?)
There I was at the Granbury Post Office mailing some paperwork to my niece. Looking for something else to do, I stopped at the firefighter’s memorial and from there I could see a plane! OK, that’s cool. I backtracked down the road and through the open gate of the US Veteran’s Museum. Just past the building, which was closed, I found the plane. A gentleman in a riding mower came to check out my intentions and told me that the museum had been closed for about a year. I found out later it had moved to nearby Glen Rose. I let him know that I was harmless and just wanted to snap a couple of photos, which I did while circling the plane on foot. The google map showed the plane complete, however, the wings had been removed and were next to the rest of the plane on the ground and the tail was missing. Since the museum is closed, I won’t suggested anyone else going to visit though a locked gate and/or no trespassing sign would have prevented me for seeing this kind of great plane. The riding mower man made sure I actually left and good for him for watching out for the property.
I find the arrangement of the Roslyn Cemetery to be fascinating. It is actually 26 different cemeteries that reflected the town’s citizens in the late 1880s. The cemeteries include: Memorial Gardens, New City Cemetery, Lithuanian, Dr. Starcevich (Croatian), Veterans, Moose Lodge, Eagles, Selvio Pellico (Italian), Red Men Lodge, I.O.O.F. Lodge, Slovak, New Knights of Pythias, Old Knights of Pythias, Foresters, Mr. Olivet (African American) Old City Cemetery, Foresters, Druids (Italian), Cacciatori DAfrica (Italian), Serbian, Sokol Lodge (Croatian) and St. Thomas Masonic. Each of the 26 cemeteries has a slightly different look to it. Pictured above is the Veteran’s Cemetery. Some of those buried in these various cemeteries were coal miners who lost their lives through accidents in the mines. One of the photos below (with the swan) commemorates four young firefighters who lost their lives in 2001 fighting the Thirtymile Fire. More information about the cemetery and Roslyn can be found here.
Today’s new place is the Tom Schuster Memorial Park, located on the southeast corner of McKinley Avenue East and East Division Lane. The original marker says Ray C. Roberts Post No. 969 V.F.W. and over that is a newer sign that says Tom Schuster Memorial Park. This is a relatively small park with some benches, a marker dedicating the park to veterans and a flag pole. It is nicely landscaped and well kept.
Information on the history of V.F.W. 969 can be found here http://webspace.webring.com/people/dv/vfw969/HistoryPost969.html
and their facebook site is here
http://www.facebook.com/pages/VFW-Post-969/450529600007#!/pages/VFW-Post-969/450529600007
Tacoma Public Library Northwest Room was kind enough to provide the following information. “The park was renamed in honor of Thomas M. Schuster, after his death on Nov. 5, 2000. According to his obituary, Tom Schuster was a lifetime member of the Ray C. Roberts Post #969 VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) and had been very active with fundraising and numerous leadership duties within the VFW. His obituary states that he was “instrumental in acquiring the mini park near the post home, which is being renamed in his honor for the many accomplishments achieved with distinction as a #969 Comrade.”
http://www.tpl.lib.wa.us/Page.aspx?nid=7
