July 16 was a day of mixed emotions at VFW Post 8798 – joy and sorrow as family, friends and comrades in arms gathered together at a ceremony dedicating the Posts ballroom to the late Harold Halcom, who passed away on Jan. 29 at the age of 92.
The room has been christened the Harold Haltom Memorial Ballroom.
Haltom was a lifetime member of Post 8798. After his retirement from the Army in 1972, he passionately worked the Post, serving in many positions, including Post Commander.
He spent three years working at the state and national VFW levels, where he worked to expand membership and ensure veterans received the benefits they deserved.
Haltom enlisted in the Army in 1948 and received many honorable distinctions including two purple hearts, a Bronze Star, the Korean Conflict Medal and numerous other medals. He served in Korea, where he was wounded.
“A lot of people are deserving of this honor,” Post Commander Jeremy Owen said as he opened the dedication ceremony. “But Harold put his heart and soul into the VFW.
“He was my mentor.” Rodney Haltom, the veterans son and sports editor for the Eufaula Indian Journal and the McIntosh County Democrat, spoke fondly of his father and his fathers devotion to the Post.
“Dad was a stickler,” Haltom said. “He loved this post. He gave everything he could to it … he spent 10s of thousands of dollars of his own money to make sure the Post did not fail.”
The Post was built in 1983. David Haltom, another son, was an excellent welder who created two big welders on behalf of his father – one for the home and one for the VFW.
Rodney recalled spending many summers during his teenage years cutting weeds and spraying along the highway to kill the Johnson grass.
“I must have painted the inside of this auditorium seven or eight times, all by myself,” he said.
He said the family always knew where to find their father.
“On Friday and Saturday nights he was at the VFW for dance nights; on Mondays it was meetings; on Tuesdays it was the Ladies’ Auxiliary meeting. That’s how it was.”
Harold Haltom cherished all veterans and ladies and their families.
“He knows exactly what you went through,” Rodney Haltom said. “We do too, in a sort of way.
“People ask me if I served. I say as long as my dad was alive, I was in the Army. That’s just the way it was. That’s how he treated us. I can still sing the Army son in the morning and so can my daughter. I sang it to her every morning when she was growing up.
“When I was growing up, the first thing you did every morning was make the bed and make it right. It didn’t matter if there were clothes on the floor or not. You didn’t go to school without having your bed made.”
Rodney thanked everyone for attending the ceremony.
“On behalf of the family we really do appreciate you. Thank you so much on behalf of my father, Harold Haltom. Thank you.”
