For the Record

An article in the latest Veteran’s Newsletter called “For the Record” credited two men for the listing of the 731 prisoners of war in our display.  I would like to amplify and give credit where credit is due.

It is true that Mervyn Wilson in England had the largest share in preparation of the list but it was also true that our much unheralded veteran, Richard Drain, had been doing many thousands of hours of research on his own and automated such to the “Drain Data Base” which is the heart of our Research department and web site mission reporting data.  Richard had been working with Mervyn in exchange of data for several years.

Over time Richards POW data had been developed and included in the total  “Drain Data Base.” 

When it came time to prepare the POW exhibit, I got my list from the “Drain Data” - with 731 names and asked Eugene Radtke, our museum docent/research volunteer to review this list.  We had two lists from  Mervyn, an earlier one that totaled 736 and a later one at 731.  With two lists at 731, it wasn’t as simple as it may seem. Gene’s comparative review indicated several differences.  After deep research of the individuals involved and in contact with Mervyn there were 7 additions and 7 deletions and again the result was 731 names.

The point of all this is that just those two named persons, in the “For the Record” article in the Veterans Association Newsletter, are not the only ones to be credited. Richard Drain and Eugene Radtke did a very large portion of the work.

It was also stated in the article that the purpose was for our museum docents to be able to give proper credit in reply to questions “where did the 731 names come from?”   So far our museum visitors have expressed no interest in that information.

Andy Anzanos