The Knox County Historical Society will host its May local history program on Wednesday, May 6, at 7:30 p.m. at the Knox County Historical Society Museum, featuring volunteer researcher Debi Lehman’s presentation “Stories Behind the Stars: Remembering Knox County’s Fallen WWII Veterans.”
The event is designed to honor the lives and sacrifices of local service members who died during World War II, with Lehman presenting her research as part of the national nonprofit initiative Stories Behind the Stars.
Lehman, a Knox County native now living in California, has already documented about 70 of the county’s fallen service members, part of a larger effort to record the life stories of all 420,000 Americans who died in military service during the war. Approximately 130 of those were from Knox County.
She will share accounts of veterans whose experiences reveal the war’s impact on families and communities, including a Mount Vernon man who joined the Royal Air Force before U.S. involvement, a radio operator who stayed aboard a crippled B‑24 bomber to aid injured crew, and the only Knox County serviceman killed on D‑Day at Omaha Beach.
Lehman considers her work with Stories Behind the Stars a true honor, blending her skills as a registered nurse with her passion for genealogy to preserve the lives of fallen World War II service members.
"I’m most passionate about finding the personal details of those fallen WWII men and women that made them who they are. Not just what happened to them at the end of their lives, although that’s important, but what was their life like before going to war," Lehman said, according to the Stories Behind the Stars website.
Organizers encourage attendees to contribute photographs, letters, and memories to help preserve these histories.
“We also invite attendees to share their own stories—or those of their loved ones—who served in the conflict,” the society stated in a press release. “Supplemental materials allow others to know more about the lives of those who sacrificed so much for their country.”
The museum, located at 875 Harcourt Road in Mount Vernon, will be open before and after the program. Admission is free, with special encouragement for those with family ties to World War II service to attend.
For more information, email [email protected] or call (740) 393‑KCHS.
