Allen Nation of Orange last week went with two high school buddies to visit a special man in Kirbyville. He ended up with what he describes as “Twilight Zone episode” experience. It’s a strange episode, but a good one.
Nation and his fellow Little Cypress-Mauriceville classmates Jeff Jones and Craig Taylor wanted to commemorate the son of their friend James Vaughn. Vaughn’s son, Richard, was killed by hostile fire in Iraq.
The trio of friends donated to the Staff of Honor project by craftsman Robert Wilson in Kirbyville. Wilson carves and decorates walking sticks to honor veterans. The sticks include the name of each veteran and the dates served. They are trimmed in colored paracord representing wars served and with the military branch insignia. Purple Heart Wood is used on the staffs for those who died in action.
Nation said Taylor was in Orange for Thanksgiving and they had wanted to visit Wilson to thank him for making the walking stick for their friend.
This past Friday they went to Wilson’s shop to meet him and look. Nation recalled the workshop had 30 to 40 walking sticks against a wall. Four of them wrapped in red, yellow and green paracord attracted his attention.
Taylor is the only veteran of the three. He explained to Nation the colors represent service in the Vietnam War. The two began looking at the details on the sticks. Nation said the third one he picked up had the name Lowell Nation. “I was surprised to see my uncle’s name. I didn’t know anyone had submitted his name,” Nation said.
Lowell Nation is now deceased, though he did not die in the war.
He phoned his mother and father, who were on their way to Atlanta, Georgia, to visit Uncle Lowell’s son. Nation said his father told him he had submitted Lowell’s name to the Sticks of Honor project two years earlier.
“Would you like to see a picture of it because I’m holding it in my hand,” Nation told his father.
Nation told Wilson he could save him money on the postage by hand-delivering the walking stick to his father. The carved stick is now in Orange.
“How crazy is all that?” Nation asks.
Social Media