In small towns and big cities across the country, communities are honoring America’s 250th anniversary with special projects. In Murray, with guidance from the Calloway County Genealogical and Historical Society (CCGHS), children of World War II veterans and others interested in that era are researching their loved ones’ WWII service.
Sixteen million Americans fought in the war and about 400,000 American service members died. Today, less than 70,000 veterans are still living, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Around 131 of them die every day and most of the survivors are well into their 90s.
Time to gather their stories and honor their service is running out.
Recognizing the need and the urgency to address this challenge, CCGHS hosted a workshop the other day to assist in the quest for information about the more than 3000 Calloway Countians who served in WWII. (In the 1940 census, the county’s population totaled 19,041.)
Guest speaker Bradley Lynn Coleman, Ph.D., Senior Historian and founder of The Center for Applied History, reassured the audience of 50+ participants that crucial information about their loved ones’ service lies within reach. “There is a landscape of opportunities for local researchers,” he said.
He mentioned the Pogue Collection at Murray State University and complimented CCGHS for establishing an online framework to guide researchers of all skill levels.
Research begins at home, according to Coleman. Letters, medals, and other memorabilia may be tucked in dusty drawers or stashed in battered boxes. Items like enlistment or discharge papers, newspaper clippings, dog tags, uniforms, postcards, faded family photos, telegrams, and other artifacts offer valuable clues.
These primary sources, he explained, can be most useful.
“The records are everywhere, from the National Archives to your attic,” he said. “Start at your house and work your way out.”
To prepare for this presentation, Coleman did his own research on Calloway County’s contributions to the war effort. He remarked on the diversity of military experiences evidenced in Calloway County soldiers and explained the geographic scope of their service.
J.B. Bailey was a radioman at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Richard Payne was in the Laundry Company, an assignment restricted to Black soldiers in a military that was not integrated. Murray’s Geraldine Brandon was a WAC, stationed at a military hospital in Coral Gables, Fl.
Coleman provided some additional details about those three examples and also mentioned local families who sent multiple sons to the war, such as Mrs. H.H. Boggess. The historian also reported that many soldiers from Calloway County were in the National Guard’s 149th Regiment.
“These are extraordinary experiences of ordinary people,” he said.
The formal presentation was followed by a brief question and answer exchange. In the end, Coleman offered to stay and address additional questions. Finally, he complimented the efforts of CCGHS and the Society’s WWII Committee.
“This community has already done a lot of work,” he declared. ”This is work best accomplished in a collaborative fashion, he concluded.”
CCGHS President Bobbie Smith Bryant echoed that sentiment in her remarks at the end of the workshop. She reminded the group that Coleman’s presentation was possible due to the joint efforts of CCGHS with Calloway County Public Library and Murray State University Department of Libraries.
Another crucial partnership, with CCGHS and Calloway County Fiscal Court, has yielded the creation of a Calloway County WWII website. It features local resources and includes links to additional relevant sources, as well as all the information Coleman shared in his presentation.
In November, timed to coincide with Veterans Day 202a, the Murray Ledger & Times is reprinting the 1946 Heroes of Calloway County publication, featuring local veterans at the close of the war. The Society’s WWII Committee has created an index to the original, multi-part series to make it easier and faster for researchers to locate the information they seek.
Martha Andrus, Community News reporter, added that some individual stories may also be published in the paper. Efforts are underway to identify and include names that were not included in the original publication.
For more information about the Calloway County Genealogical and Historical Society and the WWII project, email cckyhs@gmail.com. The website is located online at CallowayCountyky.gov in the “Community” tab.
Constance Alexander is an award-winning columnist, poet, playwright, and president of INTEXCommunications in Murray.