August, 2010

                                        
  AMERICA'S 
         CROSSROADS

HONORING  THOSE WE'VE LOST ALONG OUR NATION'S ROADSIDES,
THEIR MEMORIALS AND THEIR STORIES.........

 

 

   Americas Crossroads strives to honor those who have gone on along our highways and every memorial we find saddens us to know that somewhere, someone is missing this person.

   As we traveled last month, we visited a memorial that is not only sad for us, but brings a personal sense of loss and memories.  This is the memorial for one of our dearest friends.

   “Cope” was traveling from a family reunion in Texas to Las Vegas for a visit with us before going on to his home in Oregon.  After a night in Amarillo, he headed west.  Just 30 miles east of Albuquerque close to Clines Corners, his journey ended.  Cope’s vehicle rolled to the center of Interstate 40 and burst into flames. 

   One of the hardest things for those of us left behind is the unknown.  We have no idea what happened that morning.  We’ll never know how or why he lost control of his car causing a sudden and tragic death.  All the speculation in our minds will never give us the answer.   The only thing we can be certain of is that a very special person…son, husband, father, brother, best friend…is greatly missed and always in our hearts. 

 A DECORATED VETERAN
Wm. C. Cope joined the U.S. Army in 1976. His first duty station was Fort Sill OK.
Bill was also stationed in Germany, Texas, Iraq, Hawaii and Virginia. His assignments took him to 37 different countries. He was a member of the Seventh Calvary (Custer's original unit) working as a helicopter crew chief, Stinger missile weapons inspector, and in Desert Storm, an air Calvary forward scout and a helicopter inspector. He earned the Bronze Star for Heroism as well as five other medals during his tour in Desert Storm. He was a graves registration specialist in Germany and Hawaii. As part of the Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii (CILHI) 1994-1997, he participated as a recovery team leader, helping to locate, return and identify many MIA/POW remains from Southeast Asia. Bill retired from the Army in 1997 as a forensic anthropologist, proud to have served his country, especially so of his work with CILHI reuniting families with their missing loved ones.
(excerpt from Bill's obituary)


We found the memorial during one of New Mexico's
wonderful summer thunderstorms. The above photo shows the memorial before our slight restoration.

 
Everyday, America's Crossroads is traveling our nation's highways and byways searching for, finding, and recording pictures and gathering information about roadside memorials that we find.  All too often many of these tributes are  for loved ones killed because of a drunk driver or someone driving under the influence. America's Crossroads strongly supports M.A.D.D and S.A.D.D. and many other agencies working towards stopping these tragic and unnecessary deaths. Please feel free to follow the links on our link page and be a supporter.







 


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