Last Saturday I had the pleasure of returning to my roots.  I went to Lawler for the dedication of the Lawler area veterans’ monument which honors veterans of all wars from the Civil War to Iraq.  Several hundred people turned out for the occasion on the nicest afternoon we have seen in weeks.
    The monument is beautiful and tastefully appropriate, the program was enjoyable and inspiring, and all the dedicated people involved deserve a big pat on the back for a job well done.
    I first learned of the effort several months ago when I received a letter from the sponsors.  The letter explained they were asking for a donation to have a name placed on the monument.  I am the only family member living in the area from the original O’Connor clan of nine boys born in Lawler, one of whom was a doughboy in France during World War I.
    With all those boys ranging from teens to twenties in 1917, it seems unlikely that Walter, aka “Moxie”, was the only soldier.  My dad, Chester, was 21 in 1917 and a prime Army candidate, but he had a goiter and failed the physical.  The rest of the boys were evidently older or younger than the years eligible to be drafted.
    Moxie was a character.  He was the typical Irish bachelor who disdained romance in favor of a bottle of Seagrams gin.  He loved life and roamed a lot in various jobs.  He worked for a local contractor who constructed a section of the Alcan Highway during World War II.  After the war he worked as the timekeeper for Eischeid Construction Co. who built many roads in the area.
    Many of the employees were college students working a summer job who delighted in playing pranks on Moxie.  The company had a job near McGregor and the workers stayed in that area during the week.
    Knowing Moxie’s lack of interest in women, the boys enrolled him in a Lonely Hearts Club.  The mail was delivered daily to the work site and the guys could hardly wait for Moxie to get a love letter from a female club member.  When a letter arrived Moxie would break out in a tirade of Army-type curse words.  This continued for a few weeks and the boys never told Moxie of the scheme.  In fact, I learned about the plot from the boys.
    Space dictates that I am unable to relate other “Moxie Tales”.  Suffice to say, he provided me with many laughs and I loved him dearly.