NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A dedication ceremony was held Saturday, Oct. 26 at the Cosmosphere for the signs commemorating the highway section of K-96 encompassing the city of Haven as the Henry Lee Fisher Memorial Highway.
Army Pfc. Henry Lee Fisher died in combat on June 18, 1967, shortly after he turned 20. His brother, James Fisher, said remembering the sacrifice of those who died in Vietnam is why the family wanted to see this done.
"It's very important," James Fisher said. "Those guys went over there, they were drafted, a lot of them, probably the majority of them enlisted, because they felt it was their duty to represent their country."
Fisher was one of four children. After he graduated from Haven High School in 1965, he decided to join the military with two buddies. Fisher had to have hernia surgery and could have chosen not to go, but he instead volunteered for service after the problem was fixed.
His sister, Julie Marshall, explained that it was hard to understand at the time why her brother died.
"I was 16," Marshall said. "My age group didn't really understand what was going on. We weren't in the draft stages. We just sat home and watched what was happening on TV."
The signs are at the Hutchinson KDOT office and ready to be installed in the next two to three weeks. Rep. Joe Seiwert of Pretty Prairie introduced the legislation to get the highway signs authorized and it was passed last session, but the family had to raise the money to get them installed.