LEWISTON — The state wants to honor local veterans who were either prisoners of war or earned a Purple Heart, but officials are having trouble finding them.
“We want to let veterans know that the state has not forgotten them,” said Peter Ogden, director of the state Bureau of Veterans Affairs. However, there are few places that gather comprehensive information about military service.
Ogden’s pursuit has proven tougher than expected. Neither the Pentagon nor the VA share such information. The only database he can lawfully access is the state’s list of people with veteran license plates. But that list only includes eligible people who sought out the plates.
“I know they’re out there,” Ogden said. He has created a tentative list of 40 or so people in the Lewiston-Auburn area who are former POWs and Purple Heart recipients. His list also includes the names of men who died in combat, going back to World War II.
“I believe the real number is 100 or 150 people,” Ogden said. “We want to reach them all.”
The awards have been given by the state for more than a year, beginning with veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq. It was quickly expanded to veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam.
Ogden is making plans for one or two ceremonies in Lewiston-Auburn this spring. He’d rather not put it off any longer, since a generation of veterans are quickly dying.
“My concern is that the longer it takes, the more we lose,” Ogden said.
Paul Bernard, who leads the L&A Veterans Council, worries that any amount of publicity for Ogden’s efforts still might leave huge gaps.
“That’s going to be really hard,” Bernard said. Most veterans are reluctant to present themselves as deserving of recognition, particularly those who lost comrades. “They’re quiet.”
In many cases, grandchildren seem to be most successful at unearthing details of war records, Bernard said.
“They want to know for the sake of their family’s history,” he said.
Eventually, Ogden hopes to create an online listing of people and awards. But that will take time and willing veterans.
“The more I can find, the more I can recognize,” he said.
To request veteran recognition for someone, call the Maine Bureau of Veterans Affairs at 626-4464.
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