Town Of Clearview Honors Fallen Veterans With Memorial Wall

For more than a decade, photographs of Clearview veterans have been placed on a Memorial Wall recognizing the veterans of one of the few remaining historic all-black towns in Oklahoma.

96-year-old World War II Navy veteran Otis Davis is one of them. He says he remembers being drafted to serve in the military like it was yesterday.

“I wanted everybody to know that I was in the Navy representing the United States of America. That’s what it’s about those people right there I know every one of them,” said Davis.

Davis had one of the most dangerous jobs, transporting and unloading artillery in the South Pacific as the United States fought against Japan.

“Everybody can’t be on the front line but somebody got to get the ammunition to the guy on the front line. I would rather be on the front line than haul ammunition because if they drop a bomb on that truck while you’re driving you are just gone,” Davis said.

As Davis reflects on his time in service, it still hurts remembering the inequities African Americans faced during that era, despite the fact they were putting their lives on the line for their country. He also believes more resources should be given to help all veterans after leaving the battlefield.

“You go overseas and you don’t get hurt, you and your buddy fighting together. When the war is over because you didn’t get hurt you say you aren’t service-connected,” said Davis.

Historian Shirley Ballard Nero was led to start the memorial wall shortly after the Clearview War Memorial was dedicated in honor of the town’s three soldiers who never made it home; James Black, Leonard Mayberry and Anthony Grundy.

Grundy’s brother Alpheus, a 92-year-old Korean Army Veteran, says it’s painful that his brother’s life was cut short after serving in Vietnam as a corporal in the Marine Corps.

“He was 19 when he got killed. It hurts me but I don’t like to talk about it because I don’t know why a man would kill someone else on account of war,” said Grundy.

To this day Grundy, who was also drafted, still relives the memories of his time serving in Korea. He says he thanks God that he was given the gift of life.

"I go to sleep, wake up and shake up and then I get up and then I sit in the chair. It bothers you and it’s coming back to me you know,” Grundy said.

Alpheus and Otis hope the men lost at war are never forgotten and will work to honor their memories for the rest of their lives.