On Saturday, April 30, Darby’s life was commemorated in Fort Smith, Arkansas, the town where he was born.

The beloved hometown hero was honored with an unveiling of a memorial bronze statue of Darby on a 1942 Harley-Davidson motorcycle. The sculpture was based on a photograph taken by fellow Ranger Phil Stern just after the invasion of North Africa on Nov. 8, 1942. The photograph was later published on the January 1943 cover of Newsweek magazine.

Accompanied by a police escort and a motorcycle brigade of rangers, the Darby statue entered town with grand fanfare. In the crowd was veteran Kenneth Vaught who was overcome with emotion as he recalled escorting Darby’s casket to Fort Smith cemetery 65 years ago from Cisterna.

“[He was] my idol,” Vaught told Channel 5 KFSM-TV in Fort Smith. “I was in the military too, but nothing equal to him.”

Read the Remainder at Task and Purpose