A Park to Honor All Veterans

In response to a request from a veterans’ organization, the City of Sheridan decided to partner with them to establish a “pocket park” along a popular walkway that will provide a small area to contemplate the sacrifice of all military veterans. The initial stage of the design phase proposes a granite monument, two granite benches, one flagpole and trees and shrubs in an area that is roughly rectangular in shape and has about 3,000 square feet of space.

The Oregon Veterans' Motorcycle Association (OVMA) is the veteran's organization that we are partnering with. They are spearheading the fundraising for this memorial. The memorial is a remembrance of all veterans, but will highlight the three veterans who entered service from Sheridan who were listed as MIA (Missing in Action). We have the names and some information on three MIAs.

Memorial with Flowers from the Oregon Veterans Motorcycle Association.

Dedication of the Veterans Tribute Memorial, June 25, 2016.

A dedication ceremony was held at the Veterans' Tribute Memorial on Saturday, June 25, 2016 (the 66th anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War).

Missing in Action (MIA) from Sheridan.

We know of three service members who entered the military from Sheridan, Oregon and were listed as Missing in Action (MIA). They are

Grant W. Teats, Navy, MIA June 4, 1942
Clifford T. Francis, Navy, MIA, July 27, 1945
Robert W. Altus, Air Force, MIA November 23, 1971

Grant Wayne Teats

Ensign Grant Teats was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions as a pilot flying a Douglas Devastator with VT-8 on June 4, 1942 during the "air battle of Midway." He went MIA that day. The Navy Cross is the second highest award for valor in combat.

Raised in Sheridan, his father was the principal of the high school. Grant graduated from OSU in 1940 and was a noted track star for the university. He entered the Navy for flight training in 1940.

Clifford Tillman Francis

Clifford Francis was a Motor Machinist Mate Third Class in the Navy and served in the Pacific Theater. He is listed on the wall of the Honolulu Memorial as Missing in Action. He went missing on July 27, 1945 during the combat to take the Ryuku Islands. That battle is more familiar to us as the Battle of Okinawa.

He was born in Oregon. He attended Sheridan High School and we know that he has relatives in Oregon. Bob Lampert from the Oregon Veterans' Motorcycle Association has talked with his niece. The Francis Family has a facebook page.

Captain Altus at Da Nang Air Base, 1971

Robert Wayne Altus

Robert "Bobby" Altus was born in Waco Texas. His family moved to Sheridan, Oregon and he graduated from Sheridan High School in 1964. We believe he attended Western Oregon University and took his Air Force ROTC training with the unit at Willamette University. He was a fighter pilot who flew the F-4E Phantom. He was stationed in Da Nang Air Base in Vietnam and was lost during a mission over Laos on November 23, 1971.

His parents are buried in the Green Crest Memorial Park in Sheridan next to a plaque in his memory.