Story posted Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Add 3 More Names To War Memorial
By DENISE FLEISCHER Lifestyle Editor
Three more names will be added to the downtown Glenview veterans monument thanks to interest expressed by a Glenview Journal columnist.
John Crawford, a Journal columnist, member of the American Legion and Glenview Navy League, first contacted the Glenview History Center.
"He was interested in writing a column about the war memorial," explained Beverly Dawson, librarian of the history center. "He assumed that we had all the details on the stories of the men. Who they were, which branch of service they served and the circumstances of when they died."
Crawford wanted to write the article in winter or early spring in conjunction with Memorial Day.
"So I went into our files and found that we had information about those that had perished in Vietnam, Desert Storm and Iraq," Dawson stated. "We knew the story about the WWI man, but didn't have the stories about the men who died during WWII and the Korean Conflict."
Dawson began her initial research through the Internet by logging on to the National Archives. She also found information on war dead of various states.
"Hometown records can lead to other states because that's where families live. I finally began to look at the microfilm in the Glenview Library. Lo and behold, I found some additional names that were not on the memorial," said Dawson.
The men whose names will be engraved on the monument are:
Major Charles Newman, 36, who served during the Korean Conflict.
Air Cadet Howard Henderson, 19, who served during World War II.
Second Lieutenant Army Air Corp Charles Gordon, 21, who served during World War II.
Names currently on the memorial were originally gathered through volunteer sources. A community-wide request, in the 1950's, asked for the names of people who served and perished during WWII and Korea. The original dedication is believed to have been in 1957, thanks to the efforts of the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and various garden clubs. A flagpole was added a year later.
"A few years after the Korean Conflict, adding memorials was a way of respecting the war dead," Dawson stated. "I believe that the families of these three men I learned about had moved out of town and there was no one left here to speak for them," claimed Dawson.
The information came together too late to be presented in a column, but it was brought to the attention of the American Legion.
"They felt we needed to add these names to the memorial and expect to do it in the spring," she said. "I believe they intend to have this in place by Memorial Day."
Members of the local chapter of the American Legion said they would cover the cost of carving the names into the marble statue. With the three added, that will bring the number to 21.
"The engravers are going to have to be creative in making room for the names," she said.
During the Memorial Day service, the new names should be unveiled.
"We appreciate Beverly's diligence in doing the research and her interest in veteran affairs," stated Commander Wm. R. Bickley of American Legion Post 166 Glenview. "She's a great supporter of our post and other military organizations."
Dawson is past president of the Glenview History Center. She has been on the center's board for 20 years and has held the position of librarian for over eight years. She is also the author of two books, through Arcadia Publishing, "Glenview" and "Naval Air Station Glenview."
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