Fayette serviceman Robert Edward Paige was honored at the annual  Veterans Day ceremony presented at Fayette High School by the Howard County Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution on Tuesday morning.

Paige was the first man from Fayette to be killed in the Vietnam War. He was only 20 years old and had been in Vietnam for only about two months when he was killed in an ambush. Born on February 9, 1947, to Mr. and Mrs. George Barnett, he attended Fayette High School, where he played football and ran track, graduating in 1965. Following graduation, he worked for the post office department in Kansas until his induction into service. Paige took his basic training at Ft. Leonard Wood. He began his tour on January 10, 1967, as a member of the 9th Infantry Division. He was killed on March 18, 1967, in Binh Long, South Vietnam. His body was returned to Fayette, where he received burial with full military honors in the Fayette City Cemetery.

Editor John Hurt wrote in the March 25, 1967, Democrat-Leader, “That the loss of life of the Fayette boy who had just turned 20 is regarded as a loss felt by the entire community.”

Roy Skillman, who was Mayor of Fayette in 1967, issued a proclamation calling on Fayette residents to pause in their daily tasks and give recognition to the soldier who gave his life in the performance of his military duty.

Victor McCoy, President of the Fayette Chamber of Commerce at the time, issued the following statement. “Death in battle in Vietnam has come close to home. It behooves all of us who live in the Fayette community to salute the young soldier whose life was lost in a fight for freedom. We express our deepest sympathy to the family of Robert Paige.”

In 1998, the name of Liberty Park in Fayette was changed to Paige-Liberty Park in his honor.