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Each Memorial Day, community members honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice to serve their country. World War I called many young men from Grand County to fight in the international conflict.
On September 17, 1917, one of Grand County’s first contingents of soldiers gathered in Hot Sulphur Springs for a community send off. The Kremmling News wrote about it in an article with the headline “Our Warriors are off to War.” Nineteen soldiers had their photo taken in front of Riverside Garage. This was the first step on their journey to fight in the war.
“How proud of them we will be when they return home!” the Kremmling News wrote. “How superlatively proud of them we and the whole national will be if God wills that they shall not come back.”
According to historian and fifth-generation Hot Sulphur Springs resident Don Dailey, many men from Grand County did not make it back home during the course of the war. Grand County Historical Association states on its website that 151 men from Grand County participated in the war.
After bidding farewell to their friends and family, the 19 soldiers boarded the train to journey to Camp Funston-Fort Riley in Kansas. This was a training cantonment for the 89th Infantry Division of the National Army.
Grand County has a long history of honoring veterans who protect the freedom and liberty of citizens. Even today, more than 8% of the county’s population is veterans, which is higher than the national average, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
On Sept. 26, 1919, Grand County veterans were honored with a medal during the Middle Park Fair and Rodeo. More than 30 soldiers, sailors and marines were given the Grand County Honor Medal during Soldiers Day at the fair, held in Kremmling.
“I always say we have our own ways of doing things,” Dailey said of the Soldiers Day, adding that the medals given speak of the community’s values.
In 1917, the Kremmling News wrote that the community was sure the soldiers from their towns would return bearing a banner of victory. World War I was won Nov. 11, 1918.
Veterans were honored in 1919 with this medal at the Middle Parks Fair & Rodeo in Kremmling, a year after the end of World War I. Don Dailey/Courtesy photo Link to original article