State gathering online bios for veterans

CHARLESTON (AP) — They live on through names engraved in granite, but a memorial dedicated to the West Virginia men and women who died in military service during major 20th century wars reveals nothing of their personal stories.

A self-taught artist, the cover girl of a nursing booklet and an All-American center in football are among those who sacrificed their lives.

State archives and history officials hope to collect more of those kinds of details as they work to develop online biographies for all 11,427 soldiers whose names are carved in the West Virginia Veterans Memorial.

The research began about five years ago, and as of last week the state had 47 biographies completed and three more nearly ready.

Lately, efforts have been focused on re-carving names on the Veterans Memorial to correct errors and add missing names. That project recently was completed, so staff members of the state Division of Culture and History plan to put more time into the biography work and are seeking the public’s help.

“We just want families to know we are doing this and we welcome any information they might have,” Veterans Memorial Assistant Constance Baston said. “It means a lot to them.”

Childhood friends and surviving veterans also may be good sources of information for the biographies, which recognize West Virginia soldiers who died either in combat or from accidents or disease during periods of recognized conflict in World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

State archives officials inherited files of information about those veterans in 1998. Some files included names of family members, but others had very little information. Some veterans were unmarried. Others had no siblings. Many names were pulled from casualty lists.

“It can be difficult to track,” said Joe Geiger, the acting director of archives and history.

While there is enough information about many veterans to write short biographies now, archives officials want to go further in remembering who each person was.

Archives officials are seeking photos of soldiers in uniform, family photos and school pictures. Other materials could include medals, articles and letters, as well as information about student activities or athletics.

“Those biographies are very sensory,” Baston said.

Capt. James Fields Mayenschein of Malden and Pvt. James Junior George of Belington were among those who gave their lives during World War II.

Because of information passed on by family members, those who read their names also can learn that George was involved with the Civilian Conservation Corps and that Mayenschein played football and rode a motorcycle.

The U.S. War Department wrote that George was killed in action in 1945 near Schelden, Germany, and a fellow Barbour County soldier wrote that George was said to have been “a brave kid and a good soldier,” his biography said.

Because of a misunderstanding regarding another soldier named James George, family members initially thought he was coming home. But George’s sister, Juanita Kyle of Belington, said she remembers her father returning from the coal mines after a co-worker received a letter from his son telling him about George’s death.

“It’s important that people around us know that our brothers and sisters and husbands and fathers have given their life for their country,” Kyle said. “It’s important for the generations to come to know the sacrifice that has been put there for them.”

Mayenschein was married and had two children, including Patricia Duncan of Belle. Duncan was just a baby when her father died in 1945 at Iwo Jima.

He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for saving his company while in combat, and one of his men wrote about “how much we liked our Captain, how we admired his courage and leadership,” his biography said.

Families, friends and veterans who have information can set up appointments with archives officials and bring their materials to the state Culture Center, where researchers can take photos or make copies and hand those original materials right back to them, Geiger said.

Archives and history officials have developed a form to collect information about veterans that includes nicknames, family members’ names, education, extracurricular activities, prewar jobs, marriage and children, duty assignments, death and burial.

Biographies already on display can be found at the division’s Web site, www.wvculture.org/history/wvmemory/vets/vetbios.html.

“They gave up the life they had at the time and the life they could have had,” Baston said. “They had plans and they had a family. We just don’t want them to be forgotten.”

Information from: Charleston Daily Mail, http://www.dailymail.com