By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
A signing ceremony of House Bill 2610 by Gov. Sam Brownback at 9 a.m. June 1 will officially designate the interchange of Interstate 70 and Commerce Parkway in Hays as Chief Warrant 5 David Carter Memorial Interchange.
The interchange will serve as a memorial to Carter, who was the co-pilot of a Chinook helicopter – Extortion 17 – that was shot down on Aug. 6, 2011, killing 30 American soldiers during Operation Enduring Freedom.
The interchange of I-70 and U.S. 183 in Hays was previously designated the CW2 Bryan J Nichols Fallen Veterans Memorial Interchange in honor of Nichols, the pilot-in-command during the flight.
“It’s an amazing coincidence that two boys from Hays, Kansas, one a TMP grad, one a Hays High grad were in the same helicopter on that same expedition,” said Sue Boldra, Republican Representative for the 111 District. “I even had him when I was teaching at the junior high. He went through Hays Junior High, Hays High School and then Fort Hays State.”
The bill originated on Feb. 3 in the Kansas House, to designate the interchange, but before being approved by Brownback three other designations for memorials had been added.
“Since we started this, there were several other similar bills that were identifying other roads and so our bill has probably three or four different ones, but we were the start,” Boldra said.
The other memorials include:
• US-400 in Labette County, between Queens Road and Udall Road near Parsons, as the John Troy, Pete Hughes and Earl Seifert Highway, to honor gentlemen who were instrumental in the effort to have US-160 redesignated as US-400.
• The junction of I-235 and Central Avenue in Sedgwick County, as the Captain Chris Norgren Memorial Interchange, to honor a pilot who died in Nepal while delivering relief supplies in 2015.
• K-148 from the intersection with 23rd Road in Washington County north to the Nebraska state line, as the SGT Lavern W. Tegtmeier Memorial Highway, to honor the first soldier from Washington County to die in the Vietnam War, in 1968.
The bill also authorized the Kansas Secretary of Transportation to increase speed limits on some Kansas highways to 70 mph.
“I guess it has to do with transportation and roads so they figure anything was fair game when they start bundling,” Boldra said.
Now that the bill has passed, funds must be raised to cover the cost of the signs that will be placed at the interchange.
The estimated cost of the project is $15,750.
Boldra is now working to help secure funding for the project, contacting people from the Veterans Association and the U.S. Army, with the assistance of Operation Hawkeye – a group started by Virgina schoolboy Will Thomas – that works to raise awareness for fallen Special Operations Forces and their families. The group was formed as a way to honor the victims of the Extortion 17 attack.
“Obviously, the people of Hays will want to have a buy-in also, but they will also hook us up with some people and some organizations,” she said.
Fundraising for the Nichols interchange took over a year, Boldra said, but hopes securing funding for this newer memorial will be faster.
“We’re seeking donations. Nothing is too large or too small,” she said.