Hundreds of Dunedin's World War II heroes have been forgotten, their names buried in dusty binders and crumbling newspapers. One man hopes to remember them all.
By TERRI D. REEVES
Published August 1, 2004
DUNEDIN - Old age, back surgery and the pain of spinal stenosis have significantly slowed William A. Sutton's gait.
The 88-year-old, a resident of Dunedin since 1980, says his day-to-day goals are simple:
"To stay alive and be in a good mood."
But the World War II veteran and former English professor also plans to do some tidying up before he departs. He wants to set some records straight, starting with an obscure, incomplete list of World War II veterans from Dunedin.
Two years ago, he visited the Dunedin Historical Society, which was holding a year-long exhibit observing the 60th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.
One display, in particular, caught his attention.
It was a reproduction of an "Honor Roll," created in 1944, listing 263 names of local service men and women serving in the war.
The list contained only last names and a first initial. Following the main list was a separate section that read: "Colored Service Men."
The list troubled Sutton, a former military historian who is a stickler both for detail and dignity.
"I knew immediately this list was unsatisfactory," he says. "I suspected some names were misspelled. I wanted to know their first names. I didn't like the segregation."
So Sutton has spent the past six months trying to compile what he says will be a "respectable record" of World War II veterans who lived in the city or who had a close family connection to the city during the war. He aims to have it ready before Pearl Harbor Day, Dec. 7.
This isn't the first time Sutton has dug into the war as a historian. In February 1945, as a 1st lieutenant, Sutton was sent to the scene of a battle where entrenched German forces had desperately tried to keep the Allies from crossing the Rhine River.
His assignment: to write the history of a bloody, five-day battle that started with a tactical blunder but ended up making Audie Murphy a war hero. In a surprise twist, one of the officers he met arranged for him to meet the writer Gertrude Stein in Paris.
Sutton's current task requires a lot of detective work. His tools are deceptively simple: paper, pens, a telephone.
Twice a week he goes to the Dunedin Historical Society and pores through hundreds of yellowed, brittle issues of the weekly Dunedin Times from 1941 to 1946. He scans the personals, the obituaries, the war news and editorial pages.
One of his biggest discoveries in the paper was a photo of the original Honor Roll billboard, printed June 30, 1944. He learned the billboard was sponsored by the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce and erected on Main Street, near what is now the Pinellas Trail. The names had been furnished by a committee that had been keeping track of those in the service through a list posted in a window of the Dent Barber Shop.
Sutton also spends his days strolling through cemeteries reading headstones; reviewing church records, old yearbooks, and city directories; and talking to anyone who may have some information about these veterans.
"These people deserve to have it done right, which I intend to do," he says. "I want to tell their stories. I want to make a person out of an initial."
For many, the task would seem daunting. The time required is enormous. The payoffs, to some, might seem small.
But Sutton delights in the dogged detail of it all.
His suspicion about the incompleteness of the original list has been borne out. His own handwritten list has grown to about 540 names, more than twice the length of the original honor roll. Seventeen are women. Twenty-four are African-American.
Perhaps the hardest part is the inconsistencies of the reference materials.
For instance, one veteran has a last name of Masters. A 1941 Clearwater city directory lists his first name as Arthur. However, numerous references in the Dunedin Times refer to him as A.W. Masters, W.A. Masters, even Shorty Masters.
Then there is what he calls "name subversion," where someone changes his or her name for something "more foxy," he says. One example is Wilmer Cortez Williams, who apparently dropped Wilmer at some point. There are others like Howard Laursen, whose first name became Pat, evidently because that's what his schoolmates called him.
Coming to a conclusion on a name is not always easy.
"Sometimes you just have to make a call," he says, "but I don't want to be any more careless than I need to be."
Sutton relishes learning what he can about the veterans. He feels as though he almost knows some.
He discovered one Dunedin family, with the last name of Nutt, had six brothers in the war: Elmer, William, Luke, Roy, Joe and Mac.
"None were killed," he says.
When he completes the list, he plans to offer it to the Dunedin Historical Society, the Dunedin Library and the National Armed Services and Law Enforcement Memorial Museum in Dunedin.
Vincent Luisi, director of the Dunedin Historical Museum, commended Sutton's efforts. A more accurate list would be a welcome addition to the museum.
"It's very hard to find someone willing to devote that amount of time to do research," he said.
Sutton is an Ohio native. He joined the Army in March 1943, one day after he got his doctorate in American literature. A combination of his education and a misshapen cornea landed him a post as a military historian, documenting battles. He wrote 650 letters to loved ones during his 31/2 years in the war and has saved them all.
After his military career, he would spend the next 40 years of his life as an English professor, 33 of those years were spent at Ball State University in Indiana. For eight years, he served as a city council member in Muncie, Ind.
He has been married to his wife, Marion, for 65 years. For him, a trip across his living room requires a lot of effort and time, but he will gladly make it just to kiss her goodbye before he leaves the house.
"We like each other," he says. "We're very lucky."
On a recent day, in a room at the First Presbyterian Church of Dunedin, Sutton sifted through a large three-ring binder swollen with church records from 1871 to 1958.
He was searching for a mere footnote in the church's history.
"This is going to take some time to find out how this thing is organized," he says.
Three minutes into the process, he flips to a page and finds what he is looking for: an honor roll of church members who served in World War II.
Is it luck or talent?
"It may be an omen," he says. "Maybe it's telling me I don't have much time left to spend on this project."
TO HELP
Bill Sutton would like anyone with any interest in his list of residents of Dunedin who left the city in the 1940s to serve in World War II to contact him at 727 734-2138 or to e-mail him at BillS@JoyMail.com
