Veterans Memorial Committee Tours Former Carnegie Library

Members of the Shawnee Veterans Memorial Committee and a few others toured the former Shawnee Carnegie Library - and most recently District Attorney's Office - on Sept. 5 in consideration of turning it into a Veterans Museum. Shown, from left, are Gordon Richards, Jr., Barbara White, Al Brase, James Bryce, Price, Bob Winchell, Ford and James Wear.
Members of the Shawnee Veterans Memorial Committee and a few others toured the former Shawnee Carnegie Library - and most recently District Attorney's Office - on Sept. 5 in consideration of turning it into a Veterans Museum. Shown, from left, are Gordon Richards, Jr., Barbara White, Al Brase, James Bryce, Price, Bob Winchell, Ford and James Wear.

Korean War veteran Tom Smith had a dream which has grown into the Woodland Veterans Park with several monuments, including the Oklahoma Veterans Wall and most recently, the Gold Star Families Memorial.

And beginning about five years ago, Smith began to dream of a veterans museum in the former Shawnee Carnegie Library, right next door to the park.

The two-story library building was home to the Pottaw…