Memorial Day is this coming Monday, May 26.
In today’s column, I want to share with you a Heritage Days grand marshal nomination letter I wrote in 2007 for longtime Alliance resident Bob Watt.
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When I think of Alliance’s Heritage, a lot comes to mind.
First and foremost, it is Alliance’s contribution to the efforts of World War II when the Army Airbase housed thousands of soldiers between 1943-1946. Most of the soldiers came to Alliance from all 48 states. A few of them stayed, but most left when the war ended.
Alliance is grateful for those that stayed.
Among them; Bob Watt.
Bob, 85, a native of Redding, Pennsylvania, graduated from high school in June 1942. His draft notice arrived at his home on December 24, 1942; however, the notice didn’t ruin his Christmas because his mother hid it until December 26.
Bob was sent to Alliance by the United States Army to assist in opening the Army Air Base’s finance office. He arrived in Alliance on March 29, 1943. He knew no one, other than the army men he had ridden with on the train to Alliance.
Bob got off the train and began searching for a restaurant. He walked across the street from the Burlington Depot to the Alliance Hotel at First and Box Butte and peeked through the restaurant window. Noticing the beautiful white clothes that adorn the tables, he determined it would be too expensive to dine there. So, he walked up the street to Bill’s Café and ate his first Alliance meal in that long ago demolished establishment.
By his own admission, Bob’s only World War II fighting instrument was a typewriter, as he wrote payroll checks and kept records of other finances. However, despite his unassuming contribution to the War, it should be noted that Bob went where the Army sent him and fulfilled his duty with dignity and honor.
Bob began attending the Alliance Episcopal Church at 7th and Cheyenne in 1943. It wasn’t long before some of the women parishioners became concerned about Bob not dating. Bob proclaimed he was waiting for a beautiful red head to come along. One of the parishioners called Bob’s bluff and arranged for him to meet Debrah E. Whelton of 415 Platte Avenue, and Bob was immediately smitten by this lovely red head.
Bob proposed to Deb in Alliance’s Central Park and the two were wed on November 12, 1944. It was a marriage that lasted for over 55 years, until Deb’s death at age 82 on July 26, 2001.
Bob and Deb were the parents of one son, Ralph, and Deb worked several years in the Emerson Elementary School Library.
After being discharged from the Army in February 1946, Bob was a call-boy, now known as a crew-caller, for the Burlington Railroad for two years, before taking a job as a clerk with the Railroad Employees Credit Union. Bob stayed with the Credit Union for 41 years, retiring in 1989.
Bob also is a longtime member of the American Legion.
Bob has been a member of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Alliance for 64 years, serving in a variety of church offices. His most important position has been filling the space of a pew every Sunday.
If you don’t believe a single watt casts much of a light, you need to spend some time with Bob Watt, who allows the light of Christ to illuminate from his soul daily.
As Alliance celebrates its Heritage in 2007, Bob Watt should be the festival’s poster child. He defines the word heritage.
Respectfully submitted,
Kevin Horn
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Unfortunately, and not surprisingly, Bob declined the nomination. He felt there were others who were more deserving.
Bob passed away on April 29, 2019, at the age of 96.
His inurnment is in St. Matthew’s Columbarium.
Alliance was his home for 77 years.