Arkansas Military Hall of Fame lands in Fort Smith airport

The Arkansas Military Veteran's Hall of Fame has added their presence to the Fort Smith Air Museum.

On Monday, a photograph on canvas was added to the museum to honor the work of Fort Smith's John Lane, who designed the memorial.

The current hall of fame memorial is located outside the office of the state treasurer.

The idea for the hall of fame memorial began in 2010. Lane had designed similar works and worked with others to develop the memorial. It currently sits outside the state's treasurer's office.

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"It was an honor to be able to do this," Lane said. "I designed it so it could be expanded as needed, and they can change out the images on display even to show who's in the current class."

Lane is pleased with how the design for the marble flag bases turned out.

"When I told them that we were going to need eight of them, they asked me if I knew how heavy they would be each," Lane said. "But we needed them to make sure we had one for each of the military services. It will look really neat once all of them get up there."

The first class of inductees was in 2011, with 25 Medal of Honor recipients and 15 others, including Gen. William O. Darby. The 2022 hall of fame class includes the posthumous induction of Fort Smith's Lt. Commander Thurman O. Jordan.

According to Keith Greene, who is part of the hall of fame memorial board, at least 10% of the veterans already inducted are from Sebastian and Crawford Counties.

"That's a big deal, and it speaks volumes about the men and women in this area," Greene said. "We're proud of it."

The Fort Smith Air Museum offers exhibits on local pioneers and military aviators from Arkansas and Oklahoma. There are over 60 display cases honoring these aviators located inside the airport terminal of the Fort Smith Airport.