After a great deal of anticipation, the Oneida County Veterans Book was released at a celebration on Saturday afternoon held inside the American Legion building.  The event was packed with veterans, family, friends, and community members who had been looking forward to obtaining this amazing piece of local history.  The completed book is an impressive feat of compiling hundreds of archival images into a record of those from Oneida County who have served in the armed forces.  The book covers conflicts from the Spanish-American War up to the present, with hundreds of new names and images discovered during the process of putting the book together.

The project has been overseen by Kay and Gene Caldwell, and Brent Bowen. Gene was not certain he would be able to make it to Saturday’s book launch, as he had spent several days in Washington, D.C. on an Honor Flight, which he is going to sit down and talk to us about this week after he’s had time to recoup.

Gene Caldwell opened the event, following the posting of the colors and the Pledge of Allegiance.  “I’d really like to thank all of you for supporting us on this project,” Caldwell said. Mayor Joan Hawkins then spoke briefly, after which books were distributed.

Hawkins explained that earlier in the week she had attended the unveiling of a historic marker for James and Hattie Morgan, and had then gone to vote.  “Those are things I’ve taken for granted my whole life,” Hawkins said.  “But it’s because of people who are brave enough to be on the front lines and fight for those rights.  All of these rights that we have are because we are a free country, and we’re a free country because of the men and women who have sacrificed so much—sometimes their lives—to make it so.”

“When I worked at the Idaho Enterprise, there were many times we wanted to honor the veterans, but we didn’t have anything that we felt we could rely upon as a dependable source.  So this book is just amazing.  I’ve had a few chances to just thumb through it, and I see so many from my class in high school, and many of my good friends who served.  Many of my family who have served.  I’m just so thankful that because we are a free country we can gather in times like this and we can honor those who served our country, and we can honor good people who see a need and step up to fulfill it.  Gene and Kay, as you all know, as just amazing people and they’ve done that continually in our community.  They see something that’s needed and they just stand up and they do it.  They got together and enlisted the help of Brent Bowen.”

Hawkins talked a little about the effect of seeing the images in color.  Over the last year, Brent Bowen has spent countless hours transforming old, sometimes damaged images into fitting memorials to the service members in the book.  “Brent has learned a lot through this process, and to see all these photos in color…it’s just a beautiful tribute.  I wanted to take time to thank them for doing this for all of us.  History is so important—and we all need to learn as much as we can about who made our town and our state and country what it is today.”

Following the mayor’s remarks, the songs of the branches of service were sung by Bob Kent, along with the audience.

The newly minted hardbound books were given to those who had preordered them in American flag tote bags.

By the end of the event, all of the 200 books that had been ordered were gone.  The group had been unsure of how popular the book would be, but were tickled to discover that they were going to need an immediate second run.  Those who did not preorder the book and would like one can contact Kay Caldwell at (208) 766-4014 before Thanksgiving to reserve a spot for the next print run.  

Following the remarks and book distribution, guests were invited to the basement for a potato bar.  The room was filled with families and groups of veterans, who spent a pleasant afternoon talking, laughing, and catching up.