Franke: Memorial Day 2026
by Mark Frank
Memorial Day is here again and much of our attention will be on those who died in service to their, our, country. As a popular meme says: All gave some. Some gave all. It is those who gave all that focus our memories now, while in November we thank everyone who served. That is a significant difference, one that is not merely conceptual.
Sometimes remembering our fallen military hits close to home. Two of my wife Tommy’s former students were killed in the perpetual mess that is the War on Terror. What makes this unique is that they were one year apart in school and close friends throughout their grade school and high school years. My wife taught them across several grades at Concordia Lutheran Grade School back in the 1980s.
Both boys went on to Concordia Lutheran High School and participated in JROTC there. One, Kevin Pape, went on to college, married and had a daughter. His schoolmate, Neale Shank, was admitted to West Point and began a military career as a commissioned officer.
After the September 11th terrorist attacks, Kevin felt the call of duty and enlisted in the Army. He was selected for the demanding Ranger school and earned several additional Army leadership badges. Kevin was killed in action in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban in 2010. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal for Valor, Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart and the Meritorious Service Medal.
Kevin’s classmate Neale graduated from West Point and was also chosen for Ranger school. He participated in Operation Iraqi Freedom where he was killed during his first deployment in 2007.
When my wife and I were at West Point several years ago, we attempted to find Neale’s grave on the academy grounds but were unsuccessful given the time our official tour allowed. Kevin was buried with full military honors at Lindenwood Cemetery in Fort Wayne.
It was a friend and former schoolmate of these two soldiers who brought their sacrifice to the forefront of my wife’s mind. State Rep. Martin Carbaugh contacted her with an idea to do a special fundraising project to purchase a bench in their memory to be installed at the Veterans National Memorial Shrine and Museum on O’Day Road in Allen County.
When my wife mentioned the Shrine bench, I immediately knew what she was talking about. My alma mater, Elmhurst High School, has a bench next to the replica Vietnam Memorial for graduates of the class of 1965 who were killed in that war.
My wife enlisted support from Angie Owen, a former colleague at Concordia Grade School who taught the two boys and is still on the teaching staff there. She also contacted Sergeant First Class Alan Conrad of the JROTC program at Concordia Lutheran High School to ask for support in the fund-raising project.
Both Concordias, elementary and high school, immediately agreed to help. The students and the JROTC cadets enthusiastically raised funds to make the bench a reality. TeamPape, a group that holds an annual memorial project for Kevin, also raised money for the project.
The initial goal was to raise $3,000 to purchase and install a single shared bench at the Shrine. Funds collected by the students at both schools and by TeamPape exceeded the goal sufficiently to allow a second bench to be purchased. Instead of sharing a bench, each fallen hero will have his own.
Eric Johnson of the Shrine board was quite cooperative in working through site plans. This got more complicated than first anticipated. A location was selected and concrete slabs were scheduled to be poured. Then Hoosier weather took charge. Excessive rain made it impossible for the concrete work to proceed and so a May dedication date became moot. The dedication is now set for Aug. 22, weather permitting of course. That shouldn’t be a problem but then this is northeast Indiana.
The dedication of the benches may have been delayed due to construction issues but many of those involved in the project, not least of which is my wife, will mentally memorialize these two young men as is appropriate on Memorial Day.
As a Son of the American Legion, I am privileged to serve as chaplain for the honor guard from American Legion Post 330. At every military burial I end my commendation to the family with these words; “He will not be forgotten.”
This Memorial Day First Lieutenant Neale Shank and Staff Sergeant Kevin Pape will not be forgotten, nor will the thousands of their comrades who gave all so that we may enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as our Declaration of Independence promises.
As we approach the 250th anniversary of our nation, we Americans should reflect on what made it possible: our military and the sacrifice of our citizen soldiers.
Mark Franke, M.B.A., an adjunct scholar of the Indiana Policy Review and its book reviewer, is formerly an associate vice-chancellor at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.
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