The sounds of taps and the singing of “Amazing Grace” served as a backdrop Friday to a solemn memorial service as some of the nation’s surviving World War II Army Rangers remembered and paid tribute to those who have gone before them.

More than 200 people gathered in Kansas University’s Dole Institute of Politics for the service, held during the second day of the Ranger reunion taking place in Lawrence. More than 50 of the old soldiers are attending the reunion, many accompanied by wives or other family members.

In addition to remembering comrades who died in battle, a list of 33 names was read of those who died just since the last reunion about a year ago.

“Every year the list grows longer,” said Frank South, who was a member of the 2nd Ranger Battalion and who served as the convener for the memorial service.

Members of a small contingent of today’s Rangers from Fort Benning, Ga., served as the color guard. The Rangers have been attending the reunion, talking to their predecessors.

“What they did was build a foundation for us,” Sgt. Major Rick Hairston said earlier at the Lawrence Holidome, 200 McDonald Drive, where the reunion is being held. “We love talking to these guys.”

Dole Institute director Bill Lacy said it was a “tremendous honor” for the Institute to be the site of the memorial service.

“This is exactly in line with what our mission is,” he said. “It fits perfectly with what the Dole Institute is all about.”

The 512th Army Band from Lawrence performed outside the Dole Center as the Rangers arrived by bus.

Following the service, the Rangers and others were served a buffet dinner. They also were treated with World War II era carillon music at KU’s World War II memorial, the Campanile.

A history of KU’s World War II memorial was related by university architect Warren Corman. But he also added, “You fellows saved the world for democracy and freedom and I’ll never forget that.”

Today is the last day of the reunion.

Ranger profiles

Richard Bendix

WWII Ranger Richard Bendix, of Phoenix, was a sergeant with Battalion 5 Company D.

The war was short for Richard Bendix.

Bendix, 81, of Phoenix, joined the Rangers “because I thought I was gung-ho.”

During the training, Bendix was given combat jump boots in preparation for undergoing paratrooper training.

“They never got around to it,” Bendix said. “They sent us into combat.”

Only a couple of days after the D-Day invasion of France, however, Bendix was wounded fighting with the 5th Rangers in the thick hedgerows. A bullet cut an artery and a vein in his left leg.

“I didn’t get too far,” he said.

Bendix was sent back to the U.S. to recover. For a long time he had to rely on painkillers but said he made sure the drugs didn’t become a habit. The leg wound seldom bothers him now.

Bendix tries to go to all the Ranger reunions and was enjoying his stay in Lawrence.

“I just like to see these fellows from all those years ago,” he said.

Though he survived a severe wound that forced him out of the war early, Bendix regrets that he was unable to take part in more of the fighting.

“Most of these guys here went through a lot,” he said. “I really regret not being able to do some of the things they did.”

Jane Herring

Not all of those attending the World War II Army Ranger reunion in Lawrence this week are Rangers.

Jane Herring, Charlotte, N.C., is the widow of WWII Ranger Thomas Herring, who was a private first class in Battalion 5 Company C. Jane Herring is a longtime secretary-treasurer of the Ranger Battalion Assn.

Some of them, like Jane Herring, are Ranger widows.

Herring’s husband, Tom Herring, died more than a year ago after not only surviving the war but also serving for years as secretary-treasurer for the Ranger Battalion Assn. The couple frequently attended reunions. Now Jane Herring continues to attend them.

“These are my friends, too,” the 84-year-old woman from Charlotte, N.C., said. “We met these people long ago and we are really close.”

Jane and Tom Herring met during high school. She didn’t know what he was doing during the war because letters were censored. She didn’t know until later that her husband had participated in the D-Day invasion of France.

Tom Herring returned from Europe because he developed lung problems after multiple bouts with pneumonia. They were married in June 1945.

Jane Herring said she thinks her husband’s and other Rangers’ legacies will live on, thanks to the Sons & Daughters of the World War II Army Rangers. The organization supports the Rangers and helps organize the reunions.

Lewis Haight

WWII Ranger Lewis Haight, Swannanoa, N.C., was a private first class with Battalion 5 Company E.

Lewis Haight wasn’t interested in being an Army military policeman. All he wanted to do was be a Ranger.

Haight, 82, of Swannanoa, N.C., was a World War II Ranger sent back to England after being wounded by the Germans. When he recovered, the war was winding down and the Army sent him to an MP training school.

“I didn’t want to be an MP, but what can you do?” Haight said.

Once he completed the training and was sent to join an MP unit in France, Haight went AWOL (absent without leave).

“I just packed up my stuff and walked out the door,” Haight said. “I was going to find my old Ranger unit.”

For several days, Haight hitchhiked through France and Germany trying to find his 5th Ranger comrades. He never did find them. And ultimately he ended up back at the MP headquarters in France where he’d started.

On a bulletin board Haight found his name listed as going AWOL and a notation “armed and dangerous” by it.

“I wish I’d pulled that damn thing down and kept it all these years,” Haight said with a laugh.

Although Haight said he got into trouble for other things, he was never specifically punished for going AWOL because the war ended, he said.

Haight earned a Silver Star for trying to rescue a soldier.