HELP US HONOR OUR MIA & KIA VETERANS!

Fearless.

A message from Jim Dicus

I cannot think of anything more important than documenting the lives and stories of those from our community who gave their lives for us and our freedom. Liberty and human rights can only be realized in nations that value and can defend humanity against aggressors. These are the boys who valued humanity - our families - grandparents, parents, us, our children and those who and freedom to give the miracle of their promising young lives defending it. Researching and documenting their stories has at times been emotionally difficult because I feel like I know them and have a connection with them. And I do. Because they died for me, You, our neighbors, our town and our Country. And they died for citizens of other countries. They died for the those they'd never know. Horrible deaths.. Obviously those people weren't really "friends" but perhaps convivences or something. I don't know. And don't care. I quit my job to get this done Because THESE HEROES are my obligation and I FEEL A CONNECTION To them. NOTHING is more important than telling their stories. They were young. Some were married and had a few children; Some had gotten married just days and weeks before leaving St. Marys County. Many were teenagers and I wonder if they'd even been kissed before going off to defend this country and liberating so many millions of others who were unable to defend themselves against their oppressors. These are the documented stories of the valiant who died taking their last breaths on the sands of Iwo Jima, at Bastogne, in hand-to-hand, house to house combat liberating villages like Jebseim, starved and beaten to death at Bataan. They had the courage to ascend into the skies in B-17's and B-24's - knowing the odds of completing their missions were almost impossible. And many of our boys would indeed go down in those planes - with no trace of aircraft nor crew ever found. They were torpedoed by German U-boats and lost at sea. They liberated vast parts of Europe to be killed in the tanks. The were beaten, starved forced to march 65 miles - surviving what I can only imagine Jesus knows only to be beaten, starved and dying of thirst. They are buried all over the world in countries they died liberating - And many are missing their graves known only to God. - We should KNOW THEIR NAMES and stories. Many of them were teenagers - some still looked like boys. They WERE in fact beautiful young Americans. But they defending Liberty thy were beaten to death. Victims of War Crimes and atrocities.

Though AI is great at creating images, calculating "probabilities" and animating cats and dogs in competitive diving (we are amused by that), it's often inaccurate regarding historical queries. Documenting our veterans' authentic and true stories cannot be accomplished by aggregating popular (and often) inaccurate internet posts and cannot be left to novel convenience . It requires earnest and thorough research and documented historical reference integrity which requires significant time and expense. (Record warehouse fire. transcription errors, etc).

While there are credible online resources such as Find-a-Grave, Fold3, Ancestry, etc, none are 100% historically accurate or comprehensive. (Over the past 10 months, we have updated and corrected 261 on-line historical records. and made a few enemies who were offended when called out on their blatant historical gaffes. What you gonna do? We are on a mission). National archives, Fold3, Ancestry, Many of these require payment for access and come with limitations. Our resources comprise historical societies, subject matter experts, historic records and reference books, correspondence with military organizations, family members, and investigative research with the goal of historical truth and accuracy. Your contribution directly helps fund this time-consuming, critically vital effort.

Your contribution will help us research, document and tell the stories of Veteran Heroes and honor their memory for future generations. It will also help our forthcoming documentary, and initiatives including "Adopt-A-Hero at Home" Program and Veteran Outreach programs.