Ralph Waara Ralph Waara of Sun Lakes, Arizona, formerly of St. Ignace, was inducted into the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame in recognition of honorable military service and continued community service. Mr. Waara was honored October 28, 2005, at a ceremony in Phoenix.

Aretired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, he is a Vietnam veteran and a Purple Heart recipient.

Before retiring to Sun Lakes, Mr. Waara worked as an insurance agent in St. Ignace for 21 years.

He started a chapter of the Disabled American Veterans in St. Ignace, serving as the first Commander, and served as Commander of the American Legion post in St. Ignace. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary for 21 years, attaining the rank of Division Captain.

Mr. Waara served 20 years on the Mackinac County veterans’ service commission and 12 years on the city’s Planning Commission. During his service, the commission developed a one-mile walkway around Moran Bay, with plazas and seating, and it conducted initial planning for the city marina. Mr. Waara was the keynote speaker at the opening of Veterans Park, a project of the city and leaders of the American Legion.

Mr. Waara served as a spokesman for St. Ignace in an effort to determine whether service of the railway ferry would continue, a proposal that did not succeed.

He was instrumental in helping to found a Red Cross chapter, with his wife at the time, Carolyn Lou Waara, providing ambulance service and emergency medical technician training in St. Ignace. He worked to develop disaster shelters.

After moving to Sun Lakes in 1994, Mr. Waara joined Sun Lakes Suaharo Chapter 1958 of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, holding several offices. He served as the State and National Western Region Commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart.

As Regional National Commander, Mr. Waara was in charge of the effort to establish the Purple Heart Trail, which spans the nation from east to west, and establishing signs for Interstate 40, with a memorial placed at the capitol grounds in Arizona. Mr. Waara secured funding for the memorial project and ordered the monument for placement at Wesley Bolin Plaza. While he served as Regional National Commander, the Order succeeded in establishing the Purple Heart U.S. postage stamp.

Mr. Waara has served as an admissions participant for 12 years for the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.