Portrait of WWI soldier dedicated to courthouse museum

The Terry Fisher American Legion Post 117 in Rockwall dedicated a copy of a portrait of Terry Fisher, the first Rockwall soldier to be killed in World War I, to the Rockwall County Historical Foundation courthouse museum on Tuesday, March 15. From left to right: Wayne Fisher (Terry's nephew), RCHF member Carolyn Francisco, RCHF President Leigh Plagens and American Legion Post 117 Historian Dick Clark.

(ROCKWALL, TX – March 17, 2016) The Rockwall County Historical Foundation received a treasurable donation on Tuesday, March 15, for its courthouse museum – a copy of a portrait of Terry Fisher, the first Rockwall soldier to be killed in World War I.

On behalf of the Terry Fisher American Legion Post 117 in Rockwall, Dick Clark presented the portrait and a plaque in honor of Fisher to the RCHF just outside the small museum located inside the Rockwall County Courthouse (1111 E Yellow Jacket Ln).

Clark, a historian for American Legion Post 117, said the original photo of Terry hangs inside the home of Terry’s nephew, Wayne Fisher, who along with his wife Joyce was also in attendance at the dedication ceremony.

“I thought the ceremony was very impressive,” Wayne said. “Dick Clark did a fantastic job in helping to put all of this together, and it was a real tribute to Terry.”

Terry Fisher was born in Royse City in 1891. His father Walter and mother Sally had five children and Terry was right in the middle, with an older brother and sister and a younger brother and sister.

When the U.S. declared war on Germany on April 2, 1917, Terry enlisted in the Marine Corp 13 days later. He was killed in action by a shell fragment in France on April 22, 1918, and is recognized as the first soldier from Rockwall to be killed in World War I. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

“We are honored to have this picture of Terry Fisher,” said RCHF member Carolyn Francisco. “We think it will make a great addition to the courthouse museum.”

Soon after World War I ended, Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. – the son of President Theodore Roosevelt and estranged cousin of President Franklin D. Roosevelt – had a vision to create an organization of military veterans, which came to fruition in March 1919 in St. Louis and became known as the American Legion. Months later, a group of Rockwall area military veterans came together and were granted a temporary charter on December 29, 1919 from the American Legion national headquarters in Indianapolis, IN, giving them permission to start a post in Rockwall. The post would be known from that point forward as the Terry Fisher American Legion Post 117—Rockwall, TX.

Tuesday marked the 97^th anniversary of the American Legion in the U.S.

Story and photos by Austin Wells, Blue Ribbon News staff writer.

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