Looking into the future with the desire to have a continued source of funding, the Cross County Veterans Committee established a permanent fund with the Endowment Foundation of Cross County.

Formed June 15, 1999 for the purpose of gathering funds to erect a veterans' monument to honor all veterans killed while on active duty in the service of the United States of America, the group was able to raise sufficient funds in just 9 months to erect the monument that currently stands on the lawn of the Cross County Courthouse.  The dedication for the monument was held on November 11, 2000.

One of the unusual aspects of the Cross County monument is that it features an inscription for a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, William H. Thomas, who was killed in Leyte in the South Pacific.

Because of the superlative support of the citizens of Cross County the Veterans Committee was able to erect the monument is what seems like record time to accomplish erecting such a large monument.

The next project was to establish the Cross County Veterans Memorial Museum which is housed in the former Senior Citizens Building on the Court House lawn.  It houses memorabilia from all wars in which Cross Countians have fought.

From a historical stand point, one of the most beneficial accomplishments of the group is the compiling of written biographies of almost 2,000 Cross County veterans and 90 video tape interviews with veterans. These are available to the public at the museum and veterans can get copies by paying a small fee.  Ken Proctor has done the technical aspect of developing and maintaining these archival records.  These have played on the local channel in the summer and have been used in at least one high school in Fort Smith.

The museum also contains four purple hearts awarded to Cross county soldiers and uniforms from all branches of service.  222 C. C. have been awarded the Purple Heart for being wounded in hostile action.  Many other artifacts too numerous to name.

On entering the museum, the door is flanked by plaques naming the 222 Purple Heart recipients.  A prized new exhibit is a panel from the original moving wall, one of four obtained by the local group when the wall was dismantled.  The other three panels are in the Cross County Court House lobby, in Union Valley Baptist Church, and in Hayti, Missouri.  The mother of a veteran whose name is on that panel was pleased to have it in her home town.

Perhaps the most readily noticeable achievement of the group is the static display of the Cobra Helicopter AH-1 mounted on the Court House lawn. This h. was flown during the Vietnam War and the Cross County group attained it from the U. S. Army  2003.  Denny Hammonds provided the transportation to bring the helicopter to Wynne.  His services were given in memory of World War II veteran, Roy Long.

The Veterans' group was instrumental in changing the name of local armory to the William H. Thomas Armory in honor of the county's only Congressional Medal of Honor recipient.

The group was responsible for bringing the moving wall, the replica of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D. C. to Wynne in 2004.  The wall drew nearly 10,000 visitors from 35 states. The Wall was on display a week.

Another activity of the group is the support of those currently overseas in the service of the United States. This support has come in the form of gift boxes, telephone cards, presents for dependent children, going away and welcome home ceremonies, and EE bonds for those serving overseas.  Their efforts extended to providing toys for Iraqi children.

The purpose of the endowment is to assure the maintenance of the monument and other projects of the veterans.