Brownsville recognizing local veterans with book project
Brownsville officials are transforming their veterans banners into a 鈥淗ometown Heroes鈥� book so locals can learn more about their neighbors who served their country.
Resident Ed Bohna spearheaded the project after driving through town and seeing the names and faces on the banners.
鈥淵ou see their face, and you鈥檙e intrigued. You want to know more. So I thought, 鈥楲et鈥檚 put the book together,'鈥� he said.
He contacted Brownsville Councilwoman Beth Bock, who helped to make the project a reality, along with Muriel Nuttall, executive director of the Fayette Chamber of Commerce.
Bohna, who served in the U.S. Army from the mid 1980s to early 鈥�90s, said the banner project shows the history of the town鈥檚 patriotism. Banners recognize veterans who served as early as WWI.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a very humbling thing to see the names up there,鈥� Bohna said.
Bock and Bohna have been collecting the stories for the book, and they said locals have been excited to share their stories, or stories about a family member. Bohna said she has been captivated by some of the stories she has learned about local veterans.
She said one local veteran, Thomas Burchick of LaBelle, was a Navy corpsman who saved a person鈥檚 life by throwing himself on top of them in the moments before a grenade blast. Both survived, but Burchick had shrapnel in his body for the rest of his life, she said. He died in 2005. His story was also told in the book, 鈥淭he Taking of Hill 610.鈥�
Another woman shared information about her uncle, who is still missing in action from WWII.
The stories, Bock said, show the importance of the Brownsville area and its residents to American history.
鈥淵ou can drive through town all you want and look at the banners, but you really don鈥檛 know much about the person, so we wanted to elaborate more on the stories and capture more about what they did in the service, how long they served,鈥� Bock said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got several prisoners of war, several survivors of Pearl Harbor.鈥�
The project is slated for completion for Veterans Day. Proceeds will benefit the local American Legion and fire departments.
The stories are being collected through questionnaires that include information such as what branch the veteran served in, years served, job title and other questions, in addition to sharing any other information in 200 words or fewer. The deadline for submissions is Oct. 9.
Contact Bohna at ebohna@msn.com or Bock at bethbockbbc@yahoo.com for more information.