Sometimes my hubby and I like to go to Antique Malls on the weekends and just look around. Sometimes we are looking for specific items, but most of the time we are just browsing. One of our favorite Antique Malls we like to visit is the South County Antique Mall off Tesson Ferry in St. Louis, Missouri. They have quite a selection of booths filled with all kinds of different antiques. Some genuine and some... not so genuine. Some treat it like a garage sale to get rid of just random items.
A few weeks back, we were looking to get out for a bit so we went over there to look around. Mark was on the lookout for some old records and I was looking for a book for the Franklin County Historical Society. So that meant I was browsing through tons of stacks of books. Let me tell you, I never expected to find what I found. In one booth, they had a ton of military memorabilia that caught my attention, so I stopped to look. And what did I find in the back on some shelves? Yearbooks from the U.S. Army Training Center in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri dated during the Vietnam War. *gasp*
I recognized these books because I had my dad's copy in my office. I couldn't believe it! Who would get rid of these?? And there were quite a few! Some were duplicates. How did this person get these? Well, that how part didn't interest me as much as the "How much are they?" part. Only a few bucks per book. Oh, they are mine now! I just couldn't leave them behind. I didn't know what I was going to do with these yet, but I figured as long as I had them they were safe.
No, I'm not crazy I promise. I just knew that there had to be some people out there who didn't have these books and would be interested in them. I also knew Yearbooks were a hot item right now in the genealogy community, so I figured I would check to see if these were available anywhere to donate so they could be digitized.
Well, fast forward to now. I have about 8 books now, including my dad's. I have shared which ones I have in the Missouri Genealogy Group and in the GAA Group as well, offering look-ups for anyone. I had learned that Fort Leonard Wood apparently doesn't have copies of the yearbooks for anyone to look up anymore, so I knew I made the right decision getting these books. I haven't found anything in them that anyone was looking for yet, but you never know.
I'm hoping to get the pages with people on them uploaded somewhere for others to look through, but I have to research the copyright laws on this first. I don't want to get in trouble. I don't plan on putting up the whole book; just the pages with people. So be on the lookout.
Now every time I go to Antique Malls, I am checking every booth for these Yearbooks. I found more in other booths and began to wonder, "why are all these popping up all of a sudden?" Then I remember back to when I visited my dad's grave. The majority of the headstones around him had "Vietnam" written on them, my dad's being one of them. And it occurred to me, that generation is started to pass away. Just like World War II veterans, soon this generation will be no more. And what happens when people pass away? Things get donated, sold, or (even worse) trashed! So I am sure we are going to be finding more and more of these yearbooks popping up.
The Vietnam War was not like the first three wars. Americans didn't come home to a hero's welcome. Most came home to people who hated them and wanted nothing to do with them. They were treated so differently. Look, I don't care if you agree with the reasons we were at war or the politics of the war, you don't do that to those who risked their lives fighting for those who couldn't fight for themselves. These soldiers came back scarred for life. And then to get rejected by your own country, just makes it worse. The experiences these soldiers went through were nothing like anyone should ever have to face. So it's no surprise if these men didn't talk about their service with their family (my dad barely did). And then it's no surprise that these books end up being gotten rid of.
So I've taken on this project. To collect as many yearbooks as I can and upload their pictures for others to find. Because their pictures deserve to be shared. Their names deserve to be remembered. So if you are out and about and you find any of these yearbooks (or any yearbooks for that fact; I found quite a few booths that had high school and college yearbooks), I suggest you pick them up, scan the pages with faces, and names, and add them to a site online somewhere. Or if you don't want the hassle? Send the Fort Leonard Wood Yearbooks to me! I'll take them. Just send me a message through my blog or you can email me at auntiejen82@yahoo.com.
In honor of my Dad and all the others who served in Vietnam, here is a video I put together last year (2020). I compiled interviews I conducted with my dad from times he actually WOULD talk about Vietnam and put them together in a slideshow presentation. Enjoy!
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