Honoring those who have served: Veterans Day 2024
World War I has been referred to as “The Great World War” and “The War to End All Wars”. The end of the fighting in that war of more than four years in length came November 11, 1918 when an armistice was signed to end the combat hostilities in the war, with that November 11 date still being observed to this day as Veterans Day each year.
As a means to honor the many Veterans who have served the United States - whether in war time or in times of peace - as this year’s Veterans Day observance approaches this coming Monday, November 11, The Standard is reprinting below a listing submitted by rural New Albin resident Max Marzen of Allamakee County residents or natives who served in that “Great World War,” the war that ultimately led to the modern day observance of the day that the people of this nation officially honor those who have served it - Veterans Day.
Marzen, himself, is a U.S. Navy Aviation Veteran who served during the Korean War from 1950-1954, and who also speaks proudly of his two daughters who have also served. Colleen (Marzen) Phillips served as a 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps from 1985-1988, and Jean Marzen retired in 2022 as a Captain after serving for 30 years of active duty with the U.S. Public Health Service (see Page 19 for their listing in this year’s “Salute To Their Service” feature in the November 6, 2024 edition of The Standard).
The listing submitted by Marzen and printed below and throughout this newspaper was originally published by one of the Allamakee County newspapers and includes more than 600 names (not necessarily in exact alphabetical order) of local residents who were on the service rolls during World War I. Among those 600 names are some listed with an asterisk(*) signifying those who made the ultimate sacrifice in losing their lives during that “Great World War”.
The list was submitted in an eight-page booklet that Marzen said someone from Veterans Affairs helped him put together from the original newspaper listing, which Marzen said was so tattered that the newspaper name could not be made out. An original copy of the newspaper edition the list was first published in was discovered by one of Marzen’s granddaughters, Ashley Courneya, when she stopped by a yard sale in Rochester, MN several years ago and happened to spot the old newspaper among the items for sale, purchasing the old publication knowing it would be of great interest to her grandfather and his family.
Much like the different shades of these reprinted pages, along with the slanting or ink density of the names, or perhaps even the spelling, these names represent differing walks of local life that all came together for a unified, very honorable purpose that many lessons could be learned from.
