Skowhegan's sacrifice was 'great' in war says local historian (Maine)
SKOWHEGAN -- Two-thousand, five-hundred U.S. service men from the state of Maine were killed during World War II.
Thirty-three of them were from the town of Skowhegan, an extraordinary number, given Skowhegan's population of 5,000 at the time, says local historian and retired high school history teacher David Harville.
Two of the soldiers, he said, were killed before war even was declared.
"Thirty-three boys killed from this little town," Harville said. "Skowhegan's sacrifice was great and came very, very early in the war; in fact, it came before Pearl Harbor, when a boy named Bernet Eaton lost his life in maneuvers down in North Carolina, two and a half weeks before Pearl Harbor.
"That Sunday morning at Pearl, we lost John French."
And so it went, the United States declared war on Japan after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S. three days later...
... Harville, 59, said it is important to remember the many men killed during the war and as Veterans Day approaches. He said he collects ideas for stories, memorabilia and newspaper clippings about local men who went to war and never came back to preserve their memories.
"By doing these projects, we are keeping their names and their faces in front of the public, in front of the people of Skowhegan so the people of Skowhegan will never forget," he said. "Can you imagine giving your life for this country and years later no one even knows your name?"
Harville said as a historian, many families have given him artifacts from their long-ago war heroes.
"Many of the families of these boys had these artifacts and they were so willing to give them to me so I could keep the memory of these boys alive," he said. "World War II becomes a nation's history, the state of Maine's history and we can look at Skowhegan's sacrifice in World War II and then percolate this to the family histories, they all interface."
Harville said that no matter where the United Sates fought during the war, there were Skowhegan men on the front lines -- Iwo Jima, Okinawa, the Battle of the Bulge, Pearl Harbor, Normandy Italy, Saipan.
"We had Skowhegan boys in all of those places," Harville said. "Skowhegan boys were not only there, but they gave their lives."
Read entire article at Kennebec Journal
Thirty-three of them were from the town of Skowhegan, an extraordinary number, given Skowhegan's population of 5,000 at the time, says local historian and retired high school history teacher David Harville.
Two of the soldiers, he said, were killed before war even was declared.
"Thirty-three boys killed from this little town," Harville said. "Skowhegan's sacrifice was great and came very, very early in the war; in fact, it came before Pearl Harbor, when a boy named Bernet Eaton lost his life in maneuvers down in North Carolina, two and a half weeks before Pearl Harbor.
"That Sunday morning at Pearl, we lost John French."
And so it went, the United States declared war on Japan after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S. three days later...
... Harville, 59, said it is important to remember the many men killed during the war and as Veterans Day approaches. He said he collects ideas for stories, memorabilia and newspaper clippings about local men who went to war and never came back to preserve their memories.
"By doing these projects, we are keeping their names and their faces in front of the public, in front of the people of Skowhegan so the people of Skowhegan will never forget," he said. "Can you imagine giving your life for this country and years later no one even knows your name?"
Harville said as a historian, many families have given him artifacts from their long-ago war heroes.
"Many of the families of these boys had these artifacts and they were so willing to give them to me so I could keep the memory of these boys alive," he said. "World War II becomes a nation's history, the state of Maine's history and we can look at Skowhegan's sacrifice in World War II and then percolate this to the family histories, they all interface."
Harville said that no matter where the United Sates fought during the war, there were Skowhegan men on the front lines -- Iwo Jima, Okinawa, the Battle of the Bulge, Pearl Harbor, Normandy Italy, Saipan.
"We had Skowhegan boys in all of those places," Harville said. "Skowhegan boys were not only there, but they gave their lives."