Sherman County has had many men and women serve in the military.  Veterans in Sherman County range from the Civil War to Iraq and Afghanistan.  In the earlier years men formed veteran groups and women form auxiliary groups.  In town we have the V.F.W. and a memorial at the cemetery.

Many Civil War Veterans settled here, both Union and Confederate.  Veterans organized the Grand Army of the Republic or GAR and Confederate veterans were not allowed to become members.  Their wives organized the Women’s Relief Corps or W.R.C. and both Union and Confederate wives were allowed to join.  GAR was disbanded in 1922 and the W.R.C was disbanded on January 8, 1942. Future women’s groups were organized that were auxiliaries of the veteran organization.  One that was not an auxiliary however was the Daughters of the American Revolution or D.A.R. These groups always had larger memberships and were more active than the veteran groups.  There are no records of veterans from the Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection for Sherman County. 

Men in the county served in both World War I and World War II but accurate numbers cannot be determined.  Men served in both the Korean and Vietnam conflicts and while there are records to show at least five men lost their lives in Korea there are no records that show any men losing their lives in Vietnam even though many served.  Veteran groups include the American Legion which was organized after WWI on March 15, 1919. Around 1914 the Veterans of Foreign Wars or V.F.W. was founded for all who served overseas. 

The V.F.W. post in Goodland was chartered in 1934 and was named the “Lowell Coleman Post” for the first causality in WWI. During WWII Goodland was a training base for Air Force pilots including the glider pilots.  There are Veterans that served in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as men and women serving there today.  At the cemetery in town there is a section for veterans with a monument and a flagpole.  We thank you all for your service and appreciate what you did or are doing.

Last summer Ren Scherling, a son of Goodland, recorded oral histories of several veterans of global conflict including Stanley Wollak.  As those became prepared they will be posted to the blog so stay tuned!  Here at the museum we also have a display on WWI so come by and check it out!