Veterans Day November 9th 2025
Hall of Heroes Portrait Dedication
Collin County to dedicate five new portraits of fallen warriors on Monday
McKinney - Collin County will honor five fallen warriors in the county's Hall of Heroes during a portrait dedication ceremony on November 10. The North Texas Fallen Warrior Portrait Project will present the new portraits to the county during a public ceremony at 11 a.m. on Monday at the Russell A. Steindam Courthouse in McKinney (2100 Bloomdale Road).
This year's dedication ceremony will highlight five soldiers who died in the service of our country. This is the 12th anniversary of this project, and these five bring the total number of portraits installed to one hundred ten.
The North Texas Fallen Warrior Portrait Project was founded in 2013 by the late USMC and Vietnam veteran Ronnie "RD" Foster and USAF veteran Colin Kimball to honor the 435 fallen warriors engraved on the "Wall of Honor" at the Collin County Veterans Memorial Park in McKinney. Foster and Kimball have donated their time and talents to this historic project by researching the history, service, and personal stories of our fallen heroes and by creating the portraits that grace the halls of the county courthouse.
The project is made possible by the generous support and contributions of many individuals and organizations, including the Bill Bryan American Legion Post 110, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Lone Star Post 1250, the Collin County Historical Society, the Celina Area Heritage Association, the Jacob Hayes Chapter of the Marine Corps League, the North Texas Military Heritage Collection, the Sam Johnson Chapter of the Air & Space Forces Association, local chapters of both the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Sons of the American Revolution, and many other patriots from Collin County. Their contributions have helped preserve the legacies of our local heroes and will educate and inspire our community for generations to come.
Collin County Fallen Warriors
CPT THOMAS MCKNIGHT – Captain, US Army Chaplain. Anna. McKnight was the pastor of the Methodist Church in Anna and took a call of duty to serve after Pearl Harbor and became a Chaplain in May 1942. He served with the 1st Cav Division and lost his life while trying to save a wounded soldier during a mortar attack during the Battle of Manila. He was awarded a Silver Star.
1LT EARL WHITE – First Lieutenant, US Army. Plano. White was a Company Commander for an all-Japanese American Unit, called Nesi. He helped rescue a Battalion of the Texas National Guard troops the Nazis had encircled in Italy, but he lost his life with nearly 800 other Nesi troops. He and his unit were part of the Lost Battalion. His regiment was the most decorated regiment in the history of the Army. In 1964, Governor Conolly made all the Nesi Troops honorary Texans.
LTJG BILLY COMMONS – Lieutenant Junior Grade, US Navy. McKinney. Commons was a pilot with Carrier Air Group 3 flying off the USS Yorktown CV10. In December 1944, he flew a mission over Luzon in the Philippines and went missing in action. He was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross and he remains missing in action.
Flt O DANA MUDD – Flight Officer, US Army Air Forces. McKinney. Mudd was a Glider pilot during Operation Market Garden in Holland, one of the largest airborne operations of World War II. After landing, he helped evacuate the wounded to the rear, and as he was trying to exfiltrate to get out of the combat theater, he was ambushed and killed.
SSgt GARY LESTER – Staff Sergeant, USMC. Plano. Lester served as a crew chief on the HH-53 Sea Stallion. He was lost at Sea during a NATO exercise in the North Sea off the coast of Denmark in 1982 due to a catastrophic failure of a part on the helicopter. The entire crew was lost, and his remains were never recovered.
I will do my best to honor these great solders that gave the ultimate price for our freedom as should all Americans.
