Members of Canadian’s American Legion Zybach-Owens Post 56 are planning the inaugural presentation of the Canadian Bridge of Honor to be held on July 1-7, 2024, at the Canadian River Wagon Bridge. 

Canadian’s tribute to this area’s servicemen and women—and to others who have honorably served their country—will be brought to vivid life with a panoramic display of United States flags flying in solemn formation on the historic Wagon Bridge during the 2024 July 4th celebration.

We want a way to honor our community members who have served our community and our country.

WARREN RIVERS, United States Navy
Builder Third Class (E4)
Stationed with a Construction Battalion,Newfoundland
Amphibious Construction Battalion, Norfolk, Virginia

The Bridge of Honor event is being organized by American Legion Zybach-Owens Post 56 members, families and friends, in partnership with the non-profit Colonial Flag Foundation’s Healing Field® and Field of Honor® flag display events (https://www.healingfield.org/)—a nationwide effort intended to educate the public about these American heroes and to raise awareness of causes important to this nation’s way of life. They are enlisting the community’s support and involvement in this tribute through sponsorships that will cover the cost of at least 500 flags that will be placed on the bridge in tribute. 

Several tiers of sponsorships are being offered, ranging from $250 to $5,000 (see graphic). Individual flags may also be purchased. Sponsors may dedicate their flag(s) to any individual or group they wish to honor, including active-duty military, veterans, fallen service members, first responders, hometown heroes, or educators. 

The Field of Honor is important to the Legion and myself because it offers an opportunity to honor people who are meaningful in all our lives for whatever that reason might be. It also is a unique opportunity to honor someone who deserves recognition in your eyes because of their selflessness to you or the community. This is an event to bring people from all walks and backgrounds together to say thank you for what you do or have done. Honoring our veterans is always at the top of the list for the Legion. This event will do that and much more.

JASON BRADFORD, E6 Boatswain Mate, First Class
Served with the United States Coast Guard
Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon and Texas

The timing of Canadian’s Field of Honor event is intended to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, when North Vietnamese forces seized control of South Vietnam, and to honor those who served. This country’s involvement in Vietnam began shortly after the end of World War II in Asia, and escalated over the next two decades. The first American combat forces were deployed in July 1965, and the last combat unit left Vietnam in 1972, ending the ground war.

The Field of Honor is a great way to honor the service members who have come before us and those who will follow.

ALFRED GODINO, USMC Corporal
Served during Desert Storm

On March 29, 1973, President Richard Nixon signed the Paris Peace Accords, ending direct U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Two years later, the capital of South Vietnam was seized by communist forces and the government of South Vietnam surrendered.

More than 58,318 names of those Americans who fought and sacrificed their lives are now engraved in the black granite of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Over 150,000 Americans were wounded, and some 1,600 were declared missing in action.

I've waited for over forty years for a way to publicly honor the men and women who served with me in Viet Nam. This is a way.

JOHN McGARR, United States Army Captain
Served in the Republic of Vietnam and in the States

HOW THE FIELD OF HONOR PROCEEDS WILL BE USED

All proceeds from the Field of Honor will go to purchase flags and other needed materials. Additional proceeds will benefit the River Valley Pioneer Museum, which is considered “home base” by the local American Legion members who hold monthly meetings there. 

RVPM Executive Director Tamera Julian said she hopes to use any of those funds in the immediate future to remodel the exhibit of Native American artifacts collected in Hemphill County by Horace Rivers, who was involved in the museum’s early life, having designed and completed many of the early archaeology and geography exhibits there. Rivers’ son, Warren, serves on the Field of Honor committee. 

While that exhibit was built during the museum’s last remodeling project, it was never completed. “We want the artifacts displayed in a manner that includes interpretation, [to] help us understand the Native American people who lived here long before us,” Julian said. “We know that Mr. Rivers’ vast collection can tell us about the lives of those people.”

Mr. Rivers often welcomed groups of school children to his home for tours of the artifacts, Julian said. “We hope to honor his legacy and involvement in our community, and his focus on education,” she said. “We have decided it’s time to call in the help of a professional museum design group to help us make sure we get this project right.”

Julian said the museum board has contracted with the Dallas-based Museum Arts group to initiate the first phase of conceptual design. “We anticipate working with them through completion/installation of the final exhibit,” she said, “but they work in phases, which will allow us to fundraise in-between phases if needed.

The remodel will be an expensive one, Julian acknowledged, but one the community can be proud of. Any proceeds from the Bridge of Honor will be earmarked for the Horace Rivers exhibit, and for future expansion of the museum’s military history exhibit. They will be supplemented by the museum’s Panhandle Gives fundraising campaign in November.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

See the graphics posted above.

TO GET INVOLVED

To become a Bridge of Honor sponsor, please go to the American Legion Zybach Owens Post 56 website at https://www.healingfield.org/event/canadiantx24/.