The heroes on Port Jervis' monuments, each has a story of service & sacrifice!

PORT JERVIS, NY -- Richard Kenneth Allee's name is listed on the Vietnam War Monument in Port Jervis' Orange Square/Veteran Park, along with many dozens of other local heroes. Allee made the ultimate sacrifice while taking part in a four-plane escort mission over Laos in 1968. His remains were recovered decades later from his plane's Laotian crash site and returned to his wife and son.

It is our honor to share some of this fallen hero's story this weekend, in advance of Monday's Memorial Day service in Port Jervis. While remembering people like Col. Allee on Memorial Day and always, we also think of the sacrifices of the loved ones each leaves behind in service to our country.

In Col. Allee's case, his widow, an Air Force nurse, never remarried. She raised their then-two-year-old son on her own, always keeping a glimmer of hope that some miracle might have brought him home alive.

The Allee Story will be shared on midhudsonnews.com this weekend, with others to follow.

By the way, this Air Force hero made history in his Port Jervis hometown, even as a child. He was in Port's Soap Box Derby in the late 1940's and was the champ at 14 in 1950. He also had an incredibly special item as a child that may have hinted at his future military ambitions.