Riding in to the future

Statue latest tribute to founder of Army Rangers

Sculptor Kevin Kresse created the statue of Gen. William O. Darby astride a Harley-Davidson, shown here in progress. It’s based on an image from Newsweek during World War II and will be unveiled Saturday at Cisterna Park in Fort Smith.
Sculptor Kevin Kresse created the statue of Gen. William O. Darby astride a Harley-Davidson, shown here in progress. It’s based on an image from Newsweek during World War II and will be unveiled Saturday at Cisterna Park in Fort Smith.

The cover of Newsweek on Jan. 4, 1943, shows a dashing soldier astride a Harley-Davidson motorcycle chatting with French Gen. Henri Giraud. Even though he was born in Fort Smith, his hand-tinted image probably wouldn't be easily recognized by many in the region.

photo

Courtesy Leisa Gramlich, director of the Fort Smith Museum of History

William O. Darby (right) was featured on the Jan. 4, 1943 cover of Newsweek along with an unidentified aide and a French soldier. The article erroneously said he was from Little Rock instead of Fort Smith.

But Army Rangers everywhere know William O. Darby's name. And they regularly visit the Fort Smith Museum of History to learn more about the early life of the man who founded their elite military company during World War II.

Go & Do

Darby Weekend

Friday

• Steel Horse Rally begins

• Revamped Motorcycle Memories exhibit, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Fort Smith Museum of History

• Revamped exhibits in the Darby Memorial Room, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the museum

• Hamburgers, hot dogs, beer and live music, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the museum

Motorcycle Memories program, noon at the museum

Museum admission is $7 for adults, $2 for children 6 and older.

Saturday

• Motorcycle show, 9 a.m.-noon, outside the Fort Smith Museum of History

• Unveiling of the Darby statue, 10 a.m., Cisterna Park

• Revamped Motorcycle Memories exhibit, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., at the museum

• Revamped exhibits in the Darby Memorial Room, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., at the museum

• Hamburgers, hot dogs, beer and live music, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., at the museum

• Motorcycling in Arkansas with Grady Spann, 1 p.m., at the museum

Museum admission is $7 for adults, $2 for children 6 and older.

This weekend, they'll get to see Darby as he was depicted on that magazine cover. A new statue -- commissioned by former Army Ranger Joe Armstrong and his wife, Liz -- will be unveiled at 10 a.m. Saturday at Cisterna Park, and updated exhibits on Darby will debut at the museum. The timing coincides with Fort Smith's Steel Horse Rally, which expects to draw more than 25,000 bikers and fans in its second year.

"After last year's rally, a disabled veteran thanked me for the opportunity to volunteer at the Steel Horse Rally," says Karen Snow, secretary of the nonprofit organization. "He said that volunteering at the rally was the first time that he felt like he had a purpose since he had been injured and could no longer serve his country or work. This meant so much to me to be able to help a veteran who simply wanted to be able to give back to his community.

"The Steel Horse Rally is dedicated to all who serve -- military, veterans, law enforcement and first responders," she adds, and this year, the rally will benefit five charities: Fort Smith Children's Emergency Center Independent Learning Program, Hannah House, Earthbound Angels, the Gregory Kistler Treatment Center and the Fort Smith Museum of History.

Darby's legacy

Darren McKinney is chairman of the General Darby Legacy Project, the organization founded by the Armstrongs, and principal at Darby Middle School in Fort Smith. Although he knew the Armstrongs -- who had helped raise money for a marquee for the school -- he didn't expect to lead their effort to fund and place a statue. Then the couple walked into his office.

"I told them I had no clue about how to do this, but they didn't either," McKinney remembers, chuckling. "So we started on Feb. 8, 2013, which just happened to be Gen. Darby's birthday. We had an idea, a concept: We wanted Gen. Darby riding a 1942 WLA Harley-Davidson. We had documented evidence of him riding a motorcycle from that magazine cover. That's the inspiration."

Finding an artist was the next step, and after several interviews, the organization settled on Kevin Kresse, a Little Rock sculptor whose work has been seen in New York, Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Memphis, Tenn.

Three years and $160,000 later, the statue was trucked in Tuesday, complete with motorcycle escort, and is ready for its debut on the 71st anniversary of Darby's death. It will be placed at Cisterna Park, created at North 10th and Garrison streets in honor of Fort Smith's sister city, Cisterna, Italy, where Darby fought in the World War II Battle of Cisterna. The statue will face east, McKinney explains, indicating the direction from which Darby defended Fort Smith in the European Theater. A statue of lawman Bass Reeves on horseback faces west, the direction from which he defended Fort Smith from outlaws in Indian Territory.

Darby's history

Leisa Gramlich, executive director of the Fort Smith Museum of History, knows Darby's story by heart.

William Orlando Darby was born Feb. 8, 1911, in Fort Smith, to Percy and Nell Darby. Remembered as a "natural born leader," he always wanted to be a soldier, and following graduation from Fort Smith High School in 1929, he received an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Darby graduated from West Point in 1933 and was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery of the 1st Cavalry at Fort Bliss, Texas, until the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was then assigned as aid-de-camp to Maj. Gen. Russell P. Hartle and selected to train an elite combat unit known as "Darby's Rangers." The first U.S. Army Ranger battalion was activated July 9, 1942, and its members distinguished themselves in combat in North Africa and Europe.

Darby was killed in action April 30, 1945, at Torbole, Italy, and was posthumously promoted to brigadier general on May 15, 1945. He was buried in a military cemetery outside of Cisterna and reinterred at the Fort Smith National Cemetery in 1949. During his career, Darby received three Purple Hearts, two Distinguished Service Crosses, the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, the Russian Order of Kutuzov and the French Croix de Guerre.

Army Rangers of today honor the legacy of Darby with the Army troopship USNS Gen. William O. Darby, the USAT Gen. William O. Darby and Camp Darby in Italy. Many Army training fields, the 1958 Warner Brothers film Darby's Rangers and numerous civic clubs and organizations carry his name. Cisterna and Fort Smith are sister cities in memory of Darby and his Rangers.

Gen. Lucien K. Truscott, 5th Army Commander, said of Darby following his death, "Never have I seen a more gallant, heroic officer." Gen. George S. Patton called Darby "the bravest man I ever knew."

Darby's memorial

Gramlich explains Darby's family donated his memorabilia to the museum in 1982, and the Darby Memorial Room has existed since the early 1990s.

"We constantly have Army rangers who travel to the museum to see the exhibits," she says, "but there have been complaints they don't change. Now they have."

Updated exhibits include all of Darby's medals in the possession of the museum -- including two of his three Purple Hearts -- and new photos, all supporting three themes: education and his early years in Fort Smith; his time as a soldier; and his legacy. A cell phone audio tour will feature Presson and Darby Watkins, nephews of Gen. Darby.

"He is still very much admired," Gramlich says.

Also back for the weekend is a previous exhibit, Motorcycle Memories, first presented in 2008.

Reconceived to fit in the museum's lobby, the exhibit features vintage motorcycles and photographs exploring the "art of the motorcycle" in Fort Smith and the region from the 1940s through present day, Gramlich says.

Also in conjunction with the Steel Horse Rally, there will be a motorcycle show in front of the museum from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, and Grady Spann, the director of Arkansas State Parks, will present Motorcycling in Arkansas at 1 p.m. Saturday. An avid rider himself, he will talk about motorcycle routes in Arkansas.

Gramlich also points out there will be hamburgers, hot dogs, beer and live music in the parking lot of the museum from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday and Saturday. All proceeds benefit the Fort Smith Museum of History.

NAN Our Town on 04/28/2016

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