More Than A Name

Story And Photos By Harrison Tarr

Each day, citizens of Opelika, Alabama, walk into city hall to resolve issues and complete tasks of all varieties. In this day and age, it’s not difficult to imagine that these individuals waltz into the building without paying attention to their surroundings. Many are fumbling to make sure their phones won’t go off mid-conversation, others are simply on a mission to take care of the business they are there to fulfill.

For Opelika native Edna Ward, a trip to city hall includes an observation of the premise’s centerpiece: the Opelika, Alabama Veterans Monument. The historical marker captivates her interest each time she sees it, she said.

“I’ve walked by the monument many times at city hall and to see those names there from World War I and World War II, there’s more than that — that’s more than a man’s name,” Ward said.

When the COVID-19 pandemic emerged in March 2020, Ward found herself with a substantial amount of time on her hands and her curiosity for the names on the monument compelled her to compile a document to answer the questions she believes anyone should ask of their local veterans.

“Who were they? Where were they from? Where are they now? That’s what got me wondering,” Ward said.

The answers to these questions are found in Ward’s latest publication: “Lee County, Alabama’s Military Heroes. To Their Memory and Honor.”

In an effort to connect the citizens of her community with their heroes, Ward’s book provides documentation and identification of 197 veterans who hail — or hailed — from Lee County.

“I was looking for anything about them that would make them human,” Ward said. “Making people see this was a real person, they lived and they disrupted their lives to go into military service.”

Understanding and appreciating the devotion the men and women in her publication had to their country is of utmost importance to Ward.

“We’re free today because of the efforts of men like them,” Ward said. “I mean, we can’t forget this. We shouldn’t forget it. We should remember every day how important this is.”

Although the author has a profound admiration for those who have served and is committed to honoring these individuals in her community, Ward did not come from a family of military lineage.

“My family doesn’t have a military background,” Ward said. “My dad had this heart thing going through our family. So dad didn’t serve and my brother didn’t either. They were called but [the military] didn’t take them.”

Nonetheless, she makes a point to celebrate the patriotism of those who did serve by conducting her own research and attending events in these individual’s honor.

“Every Memorial Day, they have a ceremony up at city hall,” Ward said. “I usually attend it if I can.”

Although the process of compiling

research was imminently tedious, Ward said that she enjoyed the development of her publication and noted how fascinating she found military records to be.

“Military records are really amazing,” Ward said. “It’s amazing how organized they were even way back when.”

Although records dating back to World War I were immensely organized, hiccups still arose in the sifting through of records. Ward recalls one occasion in which she was unable to locate information on a Lee County veteran who had slipped between the cracks in the eyes of the military.

“I could not separate one of them,” Ward said. “They have two men and the information on the internet has them both at the same grave. I even called the national cemetery to see which one they did have. They had the one from Florida and I never did find the one from Opelika.”

The inability to locate one individual was not the only case of tragedy that Ward faced; the unfortunate reality that was the nature of draft selection showed its face when another Lee County hero’s story surfaced.

“One of the casualties from Lee County could not read or write,” Ward said. “When they asked something to do with ‘what are your skills,’ he [said he] could drive a truck. They needed truck drivers. Signed him up. It’s just so sad to me. Why did an adult in Lee County, Alabama, get grown and not be able to read and write?”

It is because of the discovery of stories such as these individuals that Ward believes her work is of value to the Opelika community; however, her efforts have not yet stopped. She unintentionally left out the 198th member of the group: Belton Thomas.

“I’ve missed one,” Ward said. “Somebody, after they picked up one of those books, called and told me I missed Belton Thomas and I said ‘Well how did I do that? Let me see.’ So I took the information down and checked on him. Well, he served in two wars but he died a natural death so he wouldn’t be in there. It turned out to be his son. His son was the first one buried in Garden Hills. It was not even open when he died.”

If and when her book is republished, Thomas’ story will sit alongside his fellow servicemen and women.

“If it’s ever printed again, I’m going to include him,” Ward said.

Copies of Ward’s book were claimed quickly from its distribution center at Jeffcoat Trant Funeral Home and Crematory. Thanks to her work, those who served from Lee County, Alabama, have become much more than just names honored in stone in front of the Opelika City Hall.

They are individuals that members of their home community can connect with. Individuals who — in the words of Ward — lived and disrupted their own lives to defend the freedom of the United States of America.