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Tuesday, 11 November 2008 |
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 Staff photo/Mary Bargdill
Artifacts line a table in the New Knoxville Library as part of a display honoring local veterans.
By MARY BARGDILL
Staff Writer
NEW KNOXVILLE — Visitors to the New Knoxville Library will have an opportunity to view soldiers’ memorabilia that span from World War I to the invasion of Afghanistan.
This is the first year the New Knoxville Library has assembled items for Salute to Our Veterans Week in honor of Veterans Day. The memorabilia will be on display until Saturday in the community room of the library.
The project that has been in the works for the past few months, Library Director Ann Leffel said.
“We just asked anybody in the area if they wanted to bring pictures of anyone serving,” she said.
“We just wanted to get the community involved to honor those that are serving or served, and the POWs and MIA. The veterans have given us our many freedoms that we have.”
Residents of the New Knoxville and the surrounding area brought in memorabilia from family members who served their country during World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, the invasion of Afghanistan and the war in Iraq.
The New Knoxville American Legion Post 444 loaned a framed 1979 newspaper article about the history of the legion. The New Knoxville Historical Society loaned photographs to the library as well.
The library received a copy of a correspondence from a soldier to the home front during World War I. The hand written letter that may have taken weeks to be delivered is a far cry from the e-mailed letters that soldiers and their loved ones are able to receive almost instantly today, Leffel said.
“We also have an actual letter that was sent home and a letter from a parent that was sent back,” she said.
Some of the more powerful items from World War II include a German soldier’s helmet and a gas mask. A pocket Bible that was distributed to the American troops on behalf of President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the war also is on display.
Two local World War II prisoners of war, Homer R. Kuck and Zelotes Eschmeyer, are honored in Salute to Our Veterans Week. In “Airmen’s Chronicle,” the mission, crash and interment of Kuck are recollected. The booklet is available for checkout Leffel said.
Guests may view the memorabilia during regular library hours, from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday and Thursday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, and from 10 a.m. to noon Friday and Saturday.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 14 November 2008 )
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