Well, it may be a "noble project" associated with the American Legion,
but the genealogy route surely seems like a very inefficient way to go
about things.
I think they'd be far more likely to "find" these people if they
contacted the local newspapers, explained the project, and asked for a
small story. The reporters can then check out the project.
And then there's the point that "the government" has a wealth of
"people
tracking" ability at its fingertips, particularly with respect to
families of folks who served in the military as recently as the Korean
War.
-Sandy
On Wednesday, September 28, 2005, at 09:33 AM, Paul D. Buckley wrote:
Sandy,
Following is my correspondence with Mr. Davis regarding the message he
is sending to a bunch of us.
Regards,
Paul
----- Original Message -----
From: H G Davis
To: Paul D. Buckley
Cc: Frank Stancil
Sent: Wednesday, September 28, 2005 9:36 AM
Subject: Re: Saerch request
Mr. Buckley,
Thank you for responding to my request. Thanks too for making me aware
of the suspicions that you may have about the program. There are a lot
of people out there with a lot of schemes in all areas. It pays to be
very cautious.
I am Harold Davis from Wilmington, NC. I am a combat veteran from the
Korean War (40th Infantry Division, 224th Infantry Regiment, Heavy
Mortar Company). I am a retired project engineer with the Bell System.
As a long time member of The American Legion Department of North
Carolina I am involved in Veteran's Affairs on several levels. Locating
families of lost veterans is just one. The program to locate these
families in North Carolina is authorized by The American Legion
Department of North Carolina. I suggest that you contact Adjutant Frank
Stancil, The American Legion Dept. of NC. P.O. Box 26657, Raleigh, NC
27611-6657, Telephone 919-832-7506, Fax 919-832-6428.
nclegion(a)nc.rr.com. Adjutant Stancil will verify the The American
Legion's involvement in this program.
Futher clarification can be obtained from the Linda Baublitz, DPMO,
Repatriation of Family Affairs Division, Alexandria, VA. Tel:
703-325-3902.
Mr. Buckley, my goal and that of the legion is to locate the families.
Once we find them we give the information to the Casualty Office. They
make all the contacts and provide all the official information. This
has been a very successful program with 75% of the missing families
located in North Carolina. Local genealogist across the state have been
very helpful and the families very grateful. We are submitting our data
to the National organization and our goal is to implement a similar
program across the nation.
Thank you for your response and feel free to contact me anytime on this
subject.
For God and Country,
Harold Davis
----- Original Message -----
From: Paul D. Buckley
To: H G Davis
Sent: Tuesday, September 27, 2005 11:34 PM
Subject: Re: Saerch request
Harold,
Your project is indeed noble. But, since you have not identified up
front that it is a project of the American Legion, some of the NCGenWeb
County Coordinators are a tad suspicious.
The USGenWeb/NCGenWeb Project primary purpose is to provide
genealogical databases for each of our respective counties. As such,
we generally do not get involved in posting notices such as yours.
However, most county coordinators host an email discussion list and
provide a query facility (bulletin board) where visitors can post
notices and searches at their discretion.
My suggestion is to visit each county page, find the directions for
posting queries and subscription to discussion lists (forums), and post
your notice for the Korean War MIA's for the applicable county. I
don't think any of the USGenWeb County Coordinators will have a problem
with that action.
Keep up the good work.
Paul Buckley
----- Original Message -----
From: H G Davis
To: pauldbuckley(a)worldnet.att.net
Sent: Monday, September 26, 2005 6:54 PM
Subject: Saerch request
Paul I am Harold Davis from Wilmington, NC. We need some help in
the Gaston County area. If you can not assist in this program will you
please forward it to someone that may assist.
I have been working on a very noble project for some time. The
government is trying to locate family members of soldiers that were
missing in the Korean War. These family members are needed to submit
DNA samples for use in identifying remains that are recovered in North
Korea. You may find out more about the program by visiting my Web page:
http://nclegion.org/dna.htm#DNA
We are looking for three (3) families that the soldiers reported
Gaston County as their home of record
when entered service. I am listing below all the information that I
have. Perhaps you know of someone that will assist in the search.
Data on Soldiers;
Willie Jefferson Evans (Caucasian)
DOB 1932; Date of loss December 6, 1950 MIA
Service # RA 14345486, Rank PFC E-3
Unit; A Btry 57 Art Bn 7th Inf Div
When entered service gave Gaston County as home of record
John Daniel Smith (Caucasian)
DOB 1912, Date of loss July 20, 1950, POW
Service # RA06845783 Rank MSgt E-8
Unit; L Company 34th Inf Reg 24th INf Div
When entered service gave Gaston County as home of record.
Junior Ray Tucker (Caucasian)
DOB 1927; Date of loss September 22, 1950 MIA
Service # RA44161005, Rank CPL E-4
Unit; E Co 38th Inf Reg 2nd Inf Div
When entered service gave Gaston County as home of record
Thank you very much,
Harold Davis
hgdavis(a)bellsouth.net
910-791-2333
==== NCGENWEB-DISCUSS Mailing List ====
Family Groupsheet Project page for North Carolina
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usfgs/northcarolina/
Do you have it linked?