Laverne News

On a museum wall in the far northwestern Oklahoma community of Laverne is a framed thank-you. It was sent to Jane Jayroe in appreciation of a trip in 1967 to Vietnam that delivered smiles to U.S. troops but still draws tears to her green eyes.

We saw a lot, and we were forever changed. The men and women we met didn't make the decision to fight in Vietnam, they just answered the call of their country to duty.

Authors quickly find a phrase to pen when signing copies of their books. At first glance, Devery Youngblood's "Fail well!" could be taken as a slap.

Richard Smith, 51, died Sunday, July 24, 2011, aRichard Smitht the NW Specialty Hospital in Enid, Okla.

The race on this day is somewhere between 51 and 52 miles, from Balko to Laverne across the sun baked Oklahoma Panhandle.