By ESTHER MCCOY
Staff writer
WINTERSVILLE - Many untold stories will unfold and valuable information will be attained when the Jefferson County Genealogical Chapter delves into the two cardboard boxes of applications to the Battle of the Bulge Organization sent from the Utah Genealogical Chapter. The applications are from veterans who fought in the Ardennes Offensive from Dec. 16, 1944, to Jan. 25, 1945.
"We have thousands of applications to search through and put on a website so the public will have free access to them," said Flora VerStraten, chapter president. "And we will have answers to many questions after we go through the many handwritten letters, applications, honorable discharge papers and even papers that show dates of departure to certain locations and inoculations given. The interested public will be able to go to the master index to see if a relative who fought in the battle is listed."
"We will be giving the applications to some of our 300 chapter members all over the United States to put on a spread sheet with the name of the applying veteran, serial number, address, company, battalion, regiment and rank. This comes from the application cards sent by veterans to belong to the Battle of the Bulge Organization. The annual cost of membership was $15 at that time and there was a $37.95 charge for those wishing a framed certificate," she said.
"With World War II veterans dying at nearly 100 per day, putting these applications on record for research will be valuable for families, but it will be a pretty massive undertaking for us," VerStraten said.
"We can mass e-mail to all our members and explain what we need done and will mail out the completed application forms or they can stop at our genealogy home at 100 Fernwood Road, Wintersville, to pick them up. There are retired teachers and librarians who can do this at home. They are always precise with names and numbers," she said.
VerStraten explained that Julie Connelly of the Utah Genealogical Chapter had inherited the two boxes of records. All she asked of VerStraten was that the chapter inform them what had been done with the applications that were a big part of history.
There are personal letters from citizens or military buddies explaining they would like to order the framed certificate to give to a widow or child of an Ardennes Battle veteran, discharge papers, applications listing birth ages starting in1913 and from the states of California, Florida, South Carolina, Connecticut, Texas, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and many more.
They show the awards of Good Conduct medals, European African Middle Eastern Campaign medals, Bronze Service Stars, World War II Victory Medals, Purple Hearts and other medals.
Thousands of hours of history is contained in the two cardboard boxes sent from Utah. "It just needs to be unfolded by the many volunteers who will be putting down the names and other information of those who survived the battle and wanted to be part of the Battle of the Bulge Organization, or from friends wanting a certificate for a loved one who had been killed in action," VerStraten said.
The Jefferson County Chapter is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays and Saturdays by appointment from 9 a.m. to noon. The e-mail is jeffersoncounty1@att.net. The web site is www.jeffcochapter.com, and the telephone number is (740) 346-2820.
