By Jake Feil
HAVEN, Kan. — A dedication for K-96 signs memorializing a soldier from Haven, killed during the Vietnam War, will be held Oct. 26.
The Kansas Department of Transportation will install the two signs along K-96 at Haven in honor of Army Pfc. Henry Lee Fisher. He died in combat on June 18, 1967, shortly after he turned 20.
The dedication will be from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, in the Neal Family Learning Center at the Kansas Cosmosphere, 1100 N. Plum St., in Hutchinson. The event, hosted by Fisher’s family, is open to the public but space is limited.
Jake Feil, Fisher’s nephew, noted that his fallen-soldier uncle had already been memorialized in less noticeable ways around Haven. But Feil felt inspired to find a “bigger, better way to memorialize his service and sacrifice, and that’s how the sign came to me.” Feil contacted his state legislator, Rep. Joe Seiwert, so legislation to allow for the signs could be introduced. Soon, after a KDOT crew installs the two memorial signs, countless K-96 motorists will see his uncle’s name at his hometown.
Fisher was one of four children. After he graduated from Haven High School in 1965, he decided to join the military with two buddies, Feil said.
“He was dead set on serving his country,” Feil said. Fisher fought in the 16th Infantry- 1st Infantry Division, also known as Big Red One.
