‘Pillar of the community’

AFTON — To the rest of the world, H. Malcolm Amos might be best known as a World War II hero, but to those who knew him best, he was a man who was all about his community.

“I do know he was devoted to his community,” said Afton Mayor Shelli Burger. “He loved people. He just cherished everything about Afton. He loved the people in it.”

The 89-year-old Amos died Wednesday, Oct. 5, at the V.A. Medical Center in Des Moines.

Amos left behind a legacy that encompasses duty to country and civil service.

Bataan Death March

In 1939, he enlisted in the United States Army and was stationed in the Philippines. His ranks were sergeant and medical corpsman. He became a prisoner of war April 9, 1942.

Amos was forced to be a part of the Bataan Death March. More than 75,000 allied forces, including approximately 12,000 American soldiers, were forced to march from the tip of Luzon Island to Camp O’Donnell, an American military base.

Men marched for six days with no food or water. If they were injured, fell behind or attempted to escape, they were killed by the Japanese. Overall, approximately 10,000 men died. Half of those casualties were Americans.

Amos survived, and devoted his life to the town he grew up in.

Civic duty

Amos was on Afton City Council for several years and served as mayor from 1988 to 1993 and again 1996 to 2003. He was also a Union County supervisor, Afton Fire Chief and East Union School Board member.

Bob Jungst, a board member for the Union County Commission of Veterans Affairs, said Amos served on the commission for more than 20 years.

“Malcolm was always really easy to look at both sides of the situation and make a decision on what should be done,” he said “It was very seldom he ever indicated we shouldn’t try to help a person.”

It was one of Amos’ beliefs that a veteran is a veteran no matter the dates and location of where he or she served, especially if veterans are in need of help.

Fond memories

According to Bill Crittenden, former commander and quartermaster for John B. Parks V.F.W. Post 8882 of Afton, Amos joined the post shortly after his military service. At one point, Amos was also a commander.

“The WWII guys were the ones that helped start it in Afton,” said Crittenden, who served in Korea. “ ... They were the founders, more or less, you might say.”

Crittenden and Amos were good friends and drank in the same coffee group for at least 15 years.

“One of the pillars of the community.” That was one way Crittenden described his friend.

Yet, there were other ways Crittenden remembered Amos. He recalled Amos’ love of animals, especially dogs.

As Amos got older and it became harder for him to walk, he would often use a scooter to get around. This didn’t stop him from taking his black dog Henry on walks.

“Malcolm would ride in his scooter and had Henry on a leash. They enjoyed one another,” Crittenden said.

Memorials for Amos are to Creston Animal Rescue Effort (CARE).

Leadership

Another way to remember Amos is he was fair and balanced.

Gary Clear, who served with Amos on Afton City Council in the late 1990s, and served a term as Afton mayor, said Amos was always trying to find ways to improve the city.

This included finding ways to bring a business to Afton or improving parks and recreation. Amos would like to explore all of the options to make the best decisions.

“I would say he was pretty easy to work with and liked to bounce ideas off of you, and then he’d want to know what do you think or if you had any ideas,” Clear said.

As mayor of Afton, Burger said she hopes she can do as well as Amos did.

Burger currently serves with Amos’ daughter, Cindy Williams, who is on Afton City Council.

“All he ever wanted to do was keep Afton to where people still recognize the town,” Burger said. “That, ‘hey we’re still here.’”

During her final statements, Burger summed up Amos as best as she could.

“He was a heck of a good man,” she said.