Information sought on vets who died in WWII
Trinity Standard - November 2007

TRINITY – Hoping to compile as complete of a list as possible, one Trinity man is seeking information on veterans who died during World War II.

Dan Barnes of Trinity has been working in recent years to compile a list of the Trinity area vets but is now expanding his research to include those from Groveton, Apple Springs and all areas of Trinity County.

“What I am looking for is information about the men who left Trinity County to go to war and who never returned,” he said, adding that all those included in his research need not have died in combat.

“I’m including those who died in combat, of disease, in accidents or in any manner, as long as they were in the service,” Barnes explained.

His research into the Trinity area veterans has identified 31 names of WWII veterans who died during the war.

“There is a monument on the Groveton High School grounds that lists 40 names from that community, but I believe that only 39 of them died during World War II,” he said. “I believe
that one of them actually died in World War I.”

Barnes said he is asking friends, schoolmates or family members of those listed on the monument to contact him with information about those veterans. In addition, he is asking those who know of others not listed on the Groveton monument to contact him.

He would like to know where each man was from, which school he attended, which branch of the military they served, where and how they died and where they are buried.

“Any information they have about these men would be appreciated, especially anything that will tell us who they were and what they did,” Barnes said.

Barnes also is attempting to locate photographs of the deceased veterans to include in his research.

 “I’ve found that of the names I have now, only about half are buried in Trinity County,” Barnes said. “Many are buried overseas or in national cemeteries elsewhere in the U.S.”
Barnes said a number of the Trinity County veterans also are buried in adjoining counties and several were interred in and around the Houston area.

“It also appears from the number of veterans that I have identified so far that Trinity County had a rather high casualty rate compared to its overall population,” he said.

Barnes said he was gathering the information “because it needs to be done” and plans to compile the information into book form so that it can be preserved for the future.

Anyone with information is invited to call Barnes at 662-9850.