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A long-awaited World War II and Korean War Memorial, to be located on East Broadway Street, was approved by the Winchester City Commission over the summer, and now, local residents have the chance to help.

Members of the Clark County Veterans Council and are seeking input from community members who have information about veterans – whether relatives or otherwise – that could contribute to individual plaques.

“We felt that if we could get some publication of this effort to identify all these World War II and Korean War deaths from Clark County…there might be some family living here that could give us more information so that we can include that on the memorial plaques,” said Chuck Witt, a member of the Clark County Veterans Council who has played an essential role in establishing the memorial. “That’s what it’s all about.”

Witt is one of three primary researchers – along with Harry Enoch and Andy Gary – working to gather information on each veteran.

For each veteran, specific information is sought.

“Bits of information that we’re after, of course, are the name of the individual, his rank at the time of his death, the military unit that he was in…we will hopefully be able to go from his company to his battalion to his regiment to his division…and then of course what service he was in [and] the date of his death,” Witt said. “I’d like to be able to include all of that information on these plaques.”

Thus far, research has yielded some successful results.

Enoch and Gary noted that information about multiple veterans has been obtained by using several resources – including Newspapers.com.

“We’re using military files from the natural archives. There’s a bunch of different sights that we use,” Gary said. “There’s also…the [Clark County Public] Library.”

However, the research has its challenges.

For one, with the deaths having occurred at least 70 years ago, finding textual, photographic or other information is not as readily available.

Perhaps, most challengingly, there are some discrepancies.

The Doughboy Memorial, directly behind the Clark County Courthouse, displays the names of 17 Korean War veterans and 70 World War II veterans.

Yet the number of World War II veterans has fluctuated, and – in at least one case – a man listed as a Korean War veteran, although he was in the armed services, died in a non-service related manner.

Time has also been a concern as the research, while rewarding, has been consuming.

“I’m taking a little break, because it took two weeks just to get [all my information] on Korea,” said Enoch.

Like the other researchers, Gary hopes the information will reach others.

“In small towns like this, a lot of times, families are still around. There are a lot of families here that are still connected,” he said. “I know I would feel that if someone asked me to help [with] a project to honor my father [or] grandfather, I’d be pleased to help. We’re hoping that will help fill in gaps.”

The names listed on the Korean War section of the Doughboy Memorial or to be included with the World War II and Korean War Memorial are Raymond E. Barnett, Clifton Brandenburg, Wendall F. Byrd, John J. Clemons, Anthony Combs, Russell G. Davis, James O. Lambert, Henry P. Lewis, Carl Dalton Logan, Billy Palmer, Jack L. Prewitt, Arnie Pritchett, Joseph L. Rogers, Willie Smith, John W. Spurlock, Carl C. Steele, Leon S. Stewart, Marion Hisle Todd, and Gene E. Wood.

The names of World War II veterans listed on the Doughboy Memorial are found directly behind the Clark County Courthouse and are subject to future release.

Individuals interested in learning more can contact Chuck Witt at wittc1940@gmail.com, Harry Enoch at henoch1945@gmail.com, or Andy Gary at tgraytee@yahoo.com.