Tawas City memorial to list all Iosco war veterans
by Jason Ogden

TAWAS CITY - Plans for a war memorial in Tawas City are progressing, according to Councilwoman Sandra Brugger.

The memorial will honor all known wartime veterans from Iosco County and will be located across Mathews Street from the new city hall building.
According to Alonzo Sherman of the Huron Shores Genealogical Society, the society has identified 2,093 veterans, living and dead, who qualify to be listed.

Sherman is working with Naomi Stonehouse, who is heading the effort for Tawas City. She estimated the final name count will be at more than 4,000.

According to Sherman, this is the only undertaking of its kind in the United States.

“You’re going to have something that no one else will have in the country,” he told the city council at its meeting Monday.

Organizers are continuing to collect names of veterans who were living in Iosco County during their time in the service, ranging from the Civil War to the Vietnam Conflict. As planned, there will be a second phase which will include those who served in wars since Vietnam, he explained.

Candidates had to have been active during wartime, either home or abroad, Sherman said.

Veterans must have listed a hometown in Iosco County at the time they entered the military to have their names appear on the memorial, according to Sherman.

The names will be initially listed on a Web site, ioscovets.org, along with the war(s) in which the individuals served. Other information can be filled in by family members and photos will be able to be placed for a fee once the Web site is complete.

This, Sherman said, answering a question by Councilman Kane Kelly, will help fund the memorial.

An ad campaign will be conducted to seek information about names the group has missed, he said.

Veterans must have listed a hometown in Iosco County at the time they entered the military to have their names appear on the memorial, according to Sherman.

The names will be initially listed on a Web site, ioscovets.org, along with the war(s) in which the individuals served. Other information can be filled in by family members and photos will be able to be placed for a fee once the Web site is complete.

This, Sherman said, answering a question by Councilman Kane Kelly, will help fund the memorial.

An ad campaign will be conducted to seek information about names the group has missed, he said.

Some of the records are accessible, but others are not, he explained. Records on soldiers, Sherman said, are only released 70 years after a person dies. Many of the names which will go on the memorial will be from living individuals.

Sherman said the group has read more than 7,000 newspaper clippings in the search for names. Because individuals often used nicknames while in the service, the names sometimes have to be cross referenced to census data or vital statistics.

“We’re using unofficial data because official data is not available,” he said.

Sherman said individuals would have had to sign up for the military stating their hometown was in Iosco County to make it on the memorial.

Brugger said although the memorial design has not been decided on by the council, it will be built in such a way where names can be added as they come up.

Sherman said the research is costing money and asked the council for $806 to maintain the site and pay a fee for researching, asking for $200 up front and the rest upon completion.

He also said he was going to contact the Pepsi Cola company to ask for additional sponsorship on the project.

The council unanimously accepted the request.

Many on the council were pleased with the efforts of the group.

“A list of names is possible,” he assured the council.