FORT SMITH (KFSM) – The third annual Army Rangers reunion has retired rangers from all over the country in Fort Smith.
The registration money from the reunion goes toward the General Darby Legacy Project, which is working on building a monument to honor the WWII ranger.
"It's a good time, good camaraderie. And I think most people, that's what they miss when they get out of the service -- is that camaraderie and that brotherhood,” Vice President of the Sons of Mosby Motorcycle Association Danny Harrington said.
But they're here for another reason than to be together.
“Well, it's just -- history," Harrington said.
“The modern founding father of rangers is from Fort Smith -- and that's huge,"Chaplain of the Sons of Mosby Motorcycle Association and U.S. Army Ranger South Central Regional Director Scott Stetson said.
Stetson is talking about Gen. William Darby, who will soon have a statue in his honor.
The statue will be placed at Cisterna Park on April 30 of next year, which will be exactly 71 years after Darby was killed in action.
The General Darby Legacy Project said it has raised $142,000 of the $150,000 needed to build the statue.
Even though the reunions the past three years have been a way to raise money for the monument, some rangers plan to return annually.
"It's really just to come together and support where we get our roots from,” Stetson said, “Because if you don't know where you came from, you're never going to know where you're going.”