Hi, Marion,
I will try to get those photos emailed as soon as possible. We will be
busy this weekend as we have company coming from out of state and are
attending the dedication ceremony. Just look through the photos and
post whatever you think is pertinent to the site once you get them.
You may not want to post everything.
I work at the local newspaper in Odessa and am in charge of the
Memorial Day Tribute page we do every year in May. It lists every man
and the one woman who gave their lives for their country from the
Odessa, Bates City, Wellington, Mayview area. It is my pet project. If
you should ever need any information on other military members from
this area, I'm the person to contact. If I don't have the information
or can't find it, I usually know who to call.
That was nice of you to post my letter. We are so very proud of Joe. I
never knew him, obviously, but his sister, my grandmother, Oneita
Specker Schreiman, spoke of him often and she is the one who gave me
the photos of him. That family is full of tragedy. Joe's father died
shortly after him, his brother also died young, Oneita's husband
committed suicide and her only daughter was mentally and physically
challenged from the time she was in her 20s. The families of Joe's
brother, George, have also had one tragedy after another. His sons all
lost children due to freak accidents and car accidents and several of
the grandchildren have suffered tragedies as well. It's like the
Kennedy curse only it's on the Speckers!
It's deadline day and a graduation issue, so I'd better run. By the
way, we have a nice story about Joe Specker on the front page this
week!
Linda Gillis
The Odessan
Proud Daughter of Walter (Monday) Poniedzialek
540th Engineer Combat Regiment, 2833rd Bn, H&S Co, 4th Platoon
There's "No Bridge Too Far"