Memorial to local fallen hero has fallen to the wayside
The vehicles whiz along their way day and night, traveling to their destination. Perhaps they carry their occupants to work. Or maybe to pay an overdue call on a dear relative one more time. Possibly they are on their way to a hospital to welcome a new member of the family into the world.
Undetected by the travelers, and just off the east shoulder in the knee-deep weeds and grass, is a memorial marker. It is strewn face-down upon a rusted fence and stand of pine trees that mark the right-of-way boundary of Interstate 59 North, just past Exit 73. The huge sign is too heavy to move by hand. A faded and worn American flag is still barely clinging to the signpost, fastened on a single aluminum pipe. It is apparent that the area around it has been undisturbed for quite a long time.
The abandoned highway marker was installed several years ago. It is a memorial to a fallen Jones County hero, Lance Cpl. Roy M. Wheat, dedicating this portion of the well-used thoroughfare in his memory. Wheat gave his life more than a half century ago to ensure the freedoms of travelers on this thoroughfare and others would not be infringed upon. And yet, for at least the last year or more, the ode to his sacrifices lie in state on state property. Face down. Discarded and forgotten, on a decaying fence, covered with grass and dirt.
“Not only is this disrespectful to a Jones County fallen hero, but also shameful to the American flag,” said Larry Callahan, president of the Veterans Memorial Museum.
Local veterans were dismayed upon finding out about the sign and its current status — especially with the American flag being treated with such a lack of respect. World War II veteran Jimmy Bass just shook his head in disbelief when shown photographs of the scene.
On Aug. 11, 1967, Wheat and two other Marines were assigned to provide security for a Navy construction battalion crane and crew. Wheat returned to within just a few feet of his security post when he stepped on a well-concealed anti-personnel mine — one that is designed to launch into the air and scatter high-velocity fragments in all directions, killing everyone in its vicinity.
Hearing the distinctive hissing of the mine’s fuse, Wheat shouted a warning to his two fellow Marines, then threw himself on the explosive, smothering its blast with his body. He was killed instantly in the ensuing blast.
Wheat had been in Vietnam for just five months and was previously wounded twice before in that short period. The shrapnel of an enemy hand grenade was still lodged in his right thigh from his second wound, which he had sustained less than two weeks earlier. He had already been awarded the Purple Heart for being struck in the head by fragments of a mortar on April 10 of that year.
On Sept. 23, 1968, Wheat was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the only Mississippian to be awarded this highest honor for service during the Vietnam War, one of only three Jones County sons to receive it.
“His unselfish action saved his fellow marines from certain injury and possible death … He (Wheat) gallantly gave his life for his country,” his Congressional Medal of Honor Society narrative reads, in part.
His name can be found on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Panel 24E, Row 101.
In 2004, the Mississippi Legislature passed a resolution that a portion of I-59 near the Jones County line was to be designated as the “Lance Corporal Roy M. Wheat Memorial Highway.” It also stated that the Mississippi Department of Transportation shall erect and maintain appropriate signs along and approaching the segment of highway.
And that brings one to the present situation. A repaving project was started in July 2021 along this stretch and, according to the MDOT website, the northbound lanes from Exit 73 to 76 were paved in April of 2023. But no one can say for sure when the Roy M. Wheat memorial marker was removed.
Dunn Roadbuilders is the general contractor for the $68 million project.
The Leader-Call contacted the MDOT this week, and was told by a spokesperson that the matter would be “looked into,” and a response would be forthcoming. Two days later, the Leader-Call again contacted the MDOT for the response.
“The sign was removed by the contractor (Dunn Roadbuilders) to do some slope work,” said David Kenney of MDOT. “It will be replaced once it is safe to do so.”
He did not know how long ago the sign was removed or when the slope work would be performed. It was pointed out that several other signs have already been replaced in the construction area, and there seems to be no slope work left to complete.
“That’s all I know at this point,” Kenney said.
Dunn Roadbuilders Project Manager Garland Boleware told the LL-C that he was “99 percent sure” that a new sign would be going up in the place of the current one.
“Once the subcontractor removes a sign, it is then to be turned over to MDOT,” Boleware said. “I can assure you that no disrespect at all was intended, and I know the signage subcontractor is back on the site now to continue the work.”
Boleware also said the matter would be addressed with all appropriate parties.
“That flag is too close to the ground for me,” Vietnam veteran Mike Wright said when he saw photos of the sign in its current state. Wright even said he would marshall up a group to go to the site himself, if needed, to rectify the matter.
“MDOT should take immediate action to correct this,” Callahan said, noting the resolution from 20 years ago that puts that agency in charge of maintaining the sign.
Local veterans and others just want the situation to be fixed.
“It just doesn’t sit well with me,” said Fred Pittman of Ellisville. “There was a better way to deal with the memorial sign.”
So, while the multitude of vehicles continue along their journey, the memorial to a fallen hero keeps watch from nearby, cast off to the side and out of view. Patiently waiting to be restored once again to its rightful place of honor.