The search is on for veterans — specifically for information about every war veteran in Caldwell County. More than 3,000 are known to have served in World War II and thousands more when all the other wars are combined.
This particular roll call of veterans is being assembled at the Glenn Martin Genealogy Library in downtown Princeton.
Library Director Judy Boaz said that the project started about two months ago and will be an on-going effort. “There is no cutoff on this. But, we would like to have all the information we can get as soon as we can.”
Boaz said that the library is seeking information and photos for county veterans. Already, a large notebook of photos of WWII veterans has been assembled.
“We want information from all the wars, but that is where we expect the largest amount of information to come,” she said.
The wars range from Revolutionary to Iraqi including War of 1812, Spanish American, WWI, Civil War, Korean, Grenada, Desert Storm, etc.
Three tattered scrapbooks found in storage sparked a library worker’s interest and the project was born. “The pictures were getting in bad shape and the pages were in terrible shape,” Esther Haugh said.
Two of those books had been donated to the library by Bill Morgan, Boaz said.
All are now copied and assembled into a single notebook with protective plastic pages.
The current listing contains about 1,000 veterans.
Haugh said that persons who want to make sure that someone they know about is listed can call the library to see who is already included.
Boaz pointed out that Haugh has been updating the index for the books on a regular basis — every couple of days.
Haugh said that the best thing to furnish for the collection is a newspaper clipping with photo. “That tells who they are, where they were stationed and a little bit about them,” she said.
Persons who bring in clippings or photos will be able to take them back in a matter of moments, Boaz said. “We have the capability of copying them on the spot.”
Of course, anyone who wants to donate photos or other historic memorabilia to the library is very welcome to do so. “We want articles and everything. We already have more than 1,100 family files that have been donated.”
The genealogy library is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed today in observance of Veterans Day.
Specific to military history, the library has an entire shelf containing information dating from George Rogers Clark in 1778 to conflicts in 2003. More books and information are being added regularly.
Probably the most unusual piece of information provided at this point involves the case of the missing soldier who showed up later in another part of the country. “He was missing (in action) for about three months before he showed up on a (one to which he was not assigned) military base alive and well. He had been in a battle and had gotten separated from his unit, but was still in service,” Haugh said.
The collection thus far has been aided by word of mouth, Boaz said.
She has also informed the Caldwell County Historical Society, and the call for information will be announced in a historical society publication.
Haugh said that former Princeton resident Peggy Gilkey has placed word about the project on a history/genealogy oriented website that she and husband, Ken, maintain.
“The word is getting out, but, we want everyone to know,” Boaz said. “We want to honor all the veterans that we can in this way — not to be forgotten.”
