logo
Login Subscribe
Google Play App Store
  • News
    • Obituaries
    • Lifestyle
    • Opinions
  • Sports
  • E-edition
  • Calendar
  • Archives
  • Contact
    • Contact Us
    • Advertisers
    • Form Submission
    • About Us
    • News
      • Obituaries
      • Lifestyle
      • Opinions
    • Sports
    • E-edition
    • Calendar
    • Archives
    • Contact
      • Contact Us
      • Advertisers
      • Form Submission
      • About Us
VFW Ballroom dedicated to Harold Haltom
news
July 24, 2024
VFW Ballroom dedicated to Harold Haltom
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR,

July 16 was a day of mixed emotions at VFW Post 8798 – joy and sorrow as family, friends and comrades in arms gathered together at a ceremony dedicating the Post’s ballroom to the late Harold Halcom, who passed away on Jan. 29 at the age of 92.

The room has been christened the Harold Haltom Memorial Ballroom.

Haltom was a lifetime member of Post 8798. Af- ter his retirement from the Army in 1972, he passionately worked the Post, serving in many positions, including Post Commander.

He spent three years working at the state and national VFW levels, where he worked to expand membership and ensure veterans received the benefits they deserved.

Haltom enlisted in the Army in 1948 and received many honorable distinctions including two purple hearts, a Bronze Star, the Korean Conflict Medal and numerous other medals. He served in Korea, where he was wounded.

“A lot of people are deserving of this honor,” Post Commander Jeremy Owen said as he opened the dedication ceremony. “But Harold put his heart and soul into the VFW.

“He was my mentor.” Rodney Haltom, the veteran’s son and sports editor for the Eufaula Indian Journal and Mc-Intosh County Democrat, spoke fondly of his father and his father’s devotion to the Post.

“Dad was a stickler,” Rodney Haltom said. “He loved this Post. He gave everything he could to it … he spent 10s of thousands of dollars of his own money to make sure the Post did not fail.”

The Post was built in 1983. David Haltom, another son, was an excellent welder who created two big welders on behalf of his father – one for the home and one for the VFW.

Rodney recalled spending many summers during his teenage years cutting weeds and spraying along the highway to kill the Johnson grass.

“I must have painted the inside of this auditorium seven or eight times, all by myself,” he said.

He said the family always knew where to find their father.

“On Friday and Saturday nights he was at the VFW for dance nights; on Mondays it was meetings; on Tuesdays it was the Ladies’ Auxiliary meeting. That’s how it was.”

Harold Haltom cherished all veterans and ladies and their families.

“He knows exactly what you went through,” Rodney Haltom said. “We do too, in a sort of way.

“People ask me if I served. I say as long as my dad was alive, I was in the Army. That’s just the way it was. That’s how he treated us. I can still sing the Army son in the morning and so can my daughter. I sang it to her every morning when she was growing up.

“When I was growing up, the first thing you did every morning was make the bed and make it right. It didn’t matter if there were clothes on the floor or not. You didn’t go to school without having your bed made.”

Rodney thanked everyone for attending the ceremony.

“On behalf of the family we really do appreciate you. Thank you so much on behalf of my father, Harold Haltom. Thank you.”

The annual 4th of July Fireworks show
A: Main, news
The annual 4th of July Fireworks show
July 9, 2025
Eufaula’s population was swollen over the weekend as thousands of out-of-towners joined locals to watch the annual 4th of July Fireworks show, held Friday, July 4. The display took place over the Eufa...
A: Main, news
City gets more attorneys; OKs growth plan
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
July 9, 2025
New-and-former City Manager Jacob Foos continues to make changes at city hall. Shortly after being re-hired for the position he left in September, 2021, Foos issued a statement that he was establishin...
Local resident stars in U.S. Cellular ad
A: Main, news
Local resident stars in U.S. Cellular ad
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
July 9, 2025
In all of her 58 years Louana Christie, EHS Class of ’85, never thought she would appear before a camera. Movie making was for her older sister, Selina Jayne Dornan, former Eufaula mayor and who once ...
A: Main, news
Eufaula school feels the chill from Trump’s funding freeze
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
July 9, 2025
When the Trump administration announced this week it was freezing over $70 million in education funding earmarked for Oklahoma, it surprised a lot of administrators. Eufaula School Superintendent Mont...
A: Main, news
Trump freezes over $70 million in state’s education funds
July 9, 2025
States won’t receive funds from six federal programs, including after-school care and English learner support, until further notice. NURIA MARTINEZ-KEEL OKLAHOMA VOICE OKLAHOMA CITY — The Trump admini...
Noah Alexander trades football uniform for West Point uniform
A: Main, news
Noah Alexander trades football uniform for West Point uniform
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
July 9, 2025
Noah Alexander will begin his senior year at the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., this fall. It seems like only yesterday he was a stand-out running back for the Eufaula Ironheads, ...
United for Oklahoma
ePaper
google_play
app_store
Editor Picks
Bud McCombs to speak to Friends of Library
news
Bud McCombs to speak to Friends of Library
By LENORE BECHTEL 
July 9, 2025
How Eufaula happened to exist will be Friend’s speaker’s topic at the Eufaula Memorial Library at 1 p.m. Friday, July 18, When Eufaula was only an intersection, the city’s founding fathers lived in a ...
news
Annual Memorial Service planned at Honey Springs Battlefield
July 9, 2025
CHECOTAH — Honey Springs Battlefield will hold its annual memorial service on Saturday, July 19, at 10:30 a.m. to honor the 162nd anniversary of the Battle of Honey Springs near Checotah. The service ...
Calls needed to protect National Weather Service operations
commentary
Calls needed to protect National Weather Service operations
By JOE DORMAN OICA CEO 
July 9, 2025
OKLAHOMA CITY – We at the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) extend our deepest condolences to families tragically impacted by the recent flooding in Texas. Flooding along the Guadalupe Rive...
news
Jeff Starling launches campaign for attorney general
July 9, 2025
TULSA ––Jeff Starling, Oklahoma’s Secretary of Energy and Environment, has officially announced his candidacy for Attorney General of Oklahoma. Starling is a conservative, attorney, businessman, and d...
Warriors of God, ready yourselves
commentary
Warriors of God, ready yourselves
July 9, 2025
Of my 56 years of being in this world, 50 of those years I have been filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. I was only six years old when I attended my first Tiger Mount...
Facebook

THE EUFAULA INDIAN JOURNAL
100 N. 2nd Street
Eufaula, OK 74432

(918) 689-2191

This site complies with ADA requirements

© 2023 THE EUFAULA INDIAN JOURNAL

  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Accessibility Policy