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‘Do you know these WWII veterans?’: Missouri historical society asks for help in identifying unnamed heroes

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A historical society in Missouri is hoping to place names to the American soldiers’ faces as part of a neighborhood mystery linked to World War II.

The McDonald County Historical Society is asking for the public’s help in identifying 65 veterans — all included in a photo album created during the war, as local boys and young men left their homes in the southwest corner of Missouri to serve their country.

“There are roughly 115 veterans in the album that needed to be identified,” Hazel Sheets, director of the McDonald County Library in Pineville, Missouri, told Fox News Digital. 

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When she inherited the project — known as the “Bonnibel Sweet Album” — Sheets began submitting photos of the unidentified veterans, one at a time, to the local newspaper and posting them on social media in the hope that someone might recognize a family member or family friend.

McDonald County Museum unidentified vet

The McDonald County Historical Society is looking to identify 65 World War II veterans whose pictures are included in an album from decades ago — including this one. The organization says it needs the public’s help. (McDonald County Museum)

“As of today, 50 of the photos have been named,” Sheets said. 

“Since I started posting the photos, I have received help in identifying 21 [more] of those photos. There are still about 65 photos that need to be identified.” 

The photos are part of an album compiled by Bonnibel Brown Sweet, who helped run her family’s business, a drug store called Brown’s Sundries. It was located in the town square, according to Lynn Tatum, board chair of the McDonald County Historical Society.

“The drug store was kitty-corner from the old courthouse where our museum is housed now,” Tatum told Fox News Digital.

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“Bonnibel ran the place with her sister for, I think, 50 years,” Tatum added. 

“She was a surrogate mother to all of the kids walking to school — and became more than that,” Tatum went on. “She was like a counselor. Kids would go in and practice their speeches for school and she gave advice. She became a very beloved character in our county.”

Bonnibel Sweet

Bonnibel Brown Sweet, pictured here, ran the drug store Brown’s Sundries in Pineville, Missouri. She compiled veteran photos into an album. (McDonald County Museum)

During WWII, Sweet watched from her corner store as young men waited for a bus to take them away from the wooded hills of Pineville to basic training and then off to wherever they were stationed for service.

“Many of those kids that she had been nurturing had grown up and had signed up to go to war,” Tatum said. 

“She was a surrogate mother to all of the kids walking to school and became more than that … She became a very beloved character in our county.”

— Lynn Tatum

“They were so dear to her that when they went off to war, she gave each one of them a silver dollar to remind them that they had someone back home who loved them,” she said.

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She told them to use the silver dollar for anything they needed during their service — a phone call, a cab ride or a bite to eat. 

In return for her love and the silver dollar, many of them sent her letters and photographs, which she collected in an album.

“Some of the photographs had no names with them,” Tatum said, “but she knew their names. She also put up a great big map of Europe on her wall in the drug store. It included France and Italy and all of those countries where so many of them went.” 

McDonald County Museum unidentified vet

More than 120 men and two women mailed photos of themselves to Sweet’s drug store. Sweet knew their names, according to Tatum — but she never added those names to the photo album. Now, the public’s help is needed.  (McDonald County Museum)

Tatum explained that Sweet, after receiving word from a local serviceman, would put a push pin on the map, marking where that person was stationed.

“So people could come into the store and it was like a little news outlet for where the young men were,” Tatum said.

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Over 120 young men mailed their photos to the drug store. There are also two servicewomen’s photos in the album.

McDonald County Museum unidentified vet

Following Sweet’s death in 1996, the McDonald County Historical Society recreated Brown’s Sundries to honor the memory of those soldiers who said their goodbyes at that drug store. This is one of the many veterans whose picture was included — and who still needs to be identified.  (McDonald County Museum)

Sweet ran the business from 1929 to 1978. 

After she died in 1996, the album was passed along to her daughter, Donna Lou Sweet Goodman, who moved to the East Coast after she got married.

Members of the McDonald County Historical Society led an effort to recreate Brown’s Sundries, the drug store where so many soldiers said their goodbyes and returned home to Pineville.

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“Donna Lou was very helpful to us when we started the big exhibit,” Tatum said. “She gave us some money and some artifacts from the drugstore.”

McDonald County Museum unidentified vet

Bonnibel Sweet’s family donated the veteran photo album to the McDonald County Historical Society. Now, the society needs the help of the public to identify unnamed veterans.  (McDonald County Museum)

Today, when kids visit the museum, they can pretend to order a soda at the fountain, sit at a booth or on stools at the counter, pay at an old-fashioned cash register and listen to music on a jukebox.

Before Sweet Goodman died, she passed the album along to her son, Bonnibel Sweet’s grandson, Michael Goodman, who today lives in New Orleans, Louisiana.

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“He decided he would donate the album to the McDonald County Historical Society, so that he did,” Tatum said. 

McDonald County Museum unidentified vet

Tatum and Sheets are working together to identify all the veterans in the photo album — including this one — who are currently unnamed. (McDonald County Museum)

Tatum said that when she and Sheets got the album a few years ago, about a third of the photos had names.

She added that the society is a long way from identifying all of the veterans.

“Every once in a while we hit gold and somebody calls in.”

Still, she applauds Sheets for launching a plan to try naming them all.

“Every once in a while we hit gold and somebody calls in, and then Hazel [Sheets] will do her best to research,” Tatum said. 

“We listen carefully to the wording when people say, ‘I think this is someone I know,’ or ‘This person looks like this family.’ And we wait until we’ve got a pretty clear identification of the person.”

McDonald County Museum unidentified vet

The album filled with veterans’ photos has been returned to Pineville, Missouri, along with many of the memories and stories surrounding Bonnibel Sweet’s life. (McDonald County Museum)

With the album back in Pineville, lots of stories surrounding Bonnibel Sweet have been uncovered, Tatum said.

“A friend of mine, who now has passed, came into the museum one day and said, ‘Here’s a story,’” Tatum said. “He said, ‘Bonnibell was gone somewhere and her pipes broke. She had a flood in her house, so somebody called a handyman.'”

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“He was moving furniture around in her living room, and when he lifted the coffee table, the top came off,” Tatum continued. “The legs of the coffee table were hollow and inside were stacks of silver dollars.’”

McDonald County Museum unidentified vet split

If you can identify any of the American veterans in these photos, please contact the McDonald County Library. (McDonald County Museum)

Tatum said that a neighbor reportedly called the bank president, who safeguarded the silver dollars until Sweet returned from her out-of-town trip.

“We try to keep those fun stories alive,” Tatum added.

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If you recognize any of the service members shown in the photos in this article, please contact the McDonald County Library at 417-223-4489.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/do-know-wwii-veterans-missouri-historical-society-asks-help-identifying-heroes

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Ohio firefighters find 118-year-old time capsule buried in fire station: Here’s what was inside

A team of firefighters has uncovered treasure hidden in their fire department that’s nearly 12 decades old.

Captain Ryan Redmon and a group of six firefighters from the City of Marion Ohio Fire Department were on a mission to retrieve an old department cornerstone from a retired fire station that was about to be demolished, but they ended up finding something truly unexpected.

The Marion Fire Department (MFD) has recently been researching the history of their department, going back to 1848, by digging up some information — both figuratively and literally, Captain Redmon told Fox News Digital.

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On May 25, Redmon and the firefighters went down to the old Marion Fire Department Station No. 2, which was built in 1905, to excavate their department’s cornerstone for preservation purposes before the building was scheduled to be torn down.

MFD cornerstone 2

Captain Ryan Redmon and a team of six firefighters from the Marion Fire Department in Marion, Ohio, discovered a hidden time capsule dating back to 1905. Firefighter Andrew Niles is pictured above removing a brick. (City of Marion Ohio Fire Department)

After spending nearly 30 minutes on the excavation, Redmon and his men quickly realized the cornerstone was deeper into the building than anticipated, so they called in professionals to complete the removal.

As Redmon and his team were about to leave, they pulled out one last brick and saw a copper box fall out of the sandstone, Redmon shared.

Redmon and the other firefighters on the scene took it back to the station excited to show everyone their new discovery.

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“Obviously, everybody wanted us to open it right away, and we wanted to, trust me. It was killing us to see what was in there,” Redmon commented.

copper time capsule

The 118-year-old time capsule was hidden near the cornerstone of the retired fire station building that was set to be demolished. (City of Marion Ohio Fire Department)

The MFD has been working on the written history of their department, but nothing in their prior research led them to believe there would be a time capsule hidden in the 1905 fire station.

“We’ve done so much history work around the station and I feel like we’ve got a pretty good grasp on our past and where we’ve been, and [to] discover something like [this], there’s no written record of it,” Redmon stated.

“We scoured newspapers, we scoured old records [and] there was never any mention of a time capsule in there, so it was very exciting,” he added.

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The time capsule was placed near the cornerstone of the old MFD station on July 20, 1905, according to a letter found in the capsule written by the fire chief at the time, Redmon added.

men opening time capsule

Chief Chuck Deem (left) looks on as Captain Redmon (center) and Andrew Niles (far right) pry open the time capsule during a public ceremony on May 31.   (City of Marion Ohio Fire Department)

“Firemen aren’t exactly known for being gentle, delicate creatures with things,” Redmon joked. “So we took it to the historical society in town.”

The copper box had been soldered shut on the edge and wasn’t easy to pry open, according to Redmon.

On May 31, the MFD invited the residents of Marion to be a part of a public opening of the time capsule.

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Inside the 118-year-old copper box were dozens of well-preserved memorabilia referencing the department including: nine MFD badges from the “turn of the century,” an invitation to the 1878 “Northwestern Ohio Volunteer Fireman’s Association Fireman’s Games” (which is still held today), four newspapers from July 1905 and so much more, according to the City of Marion Ohio Fire Department Facebook page.

Redmon took note of the differences between the “turn of the century era” badges that had been found in the time capsule, detailing the difference in style and size.

“There has been talk about trying to back to that style now that we know that’s our history and that’s kind of where we came from. In the future, maybe we can go back to that,” Redmon commented.

One of Redmon’s favorite discoveries in the box was the letter from Chief McFarland, the department’s fire chief for almost 40 years, he added.

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“He has kind of got his touch on everything. To have an actual letter from him was very [exciting].”

Ohio time capsule split FINAL

Redmon is looking forward to making a new time capsule for the new fire station which will include an item from the newly found 1905 capsule. (City of Marion Ohio Fire Department)

Redmon gave a lot of credit to Andrew Niles, a firefighter on his team, who has been heading up the department’s historical research and was the one to open the time capsule.

One of the biggest takeaways for Redmon is knowing that he now has a tangible place in the history of the MFD.

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“I was becoming a part of history because I was involved in this opening and this finding,” he shared.

The MFD is planning on taking an item from the 1905 time capsule, most likely one of the badges, and placing it in a new time capsule that will be buried in the construction of the new fire station, Redmon added.

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The hope is that another 118 years will pass by before the new capsule is opened and someone will be able to discover a 236-year-old badge, paying homage to the history and legacy of the Marion Fire Department, Redmon said.

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On this day in history, June 7, 1942, Battle of Midway ends in decisive US victory

On this day in history, June 7, 1942, the Battle of Midway — regarded as one of the most decisive U.S. victories in its war against Japan — came to an end.  

The Battle of Midway was an Allied naval victory and a major turning point in World War II. 

The battle was fought between Japanese and American carrier forces near the Midway Atoll, a territory of the United States in the central Pacific, from June 4-7, 1942.

On June 4, 1942, the Battle of Midway began. 

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Midway Island is a fairly isolated atoll, so named because it is midway between North America and Asia in the North Pacific Ocean, according to National Geographic.

Midway’s importance grew for commercial and military planners, says the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 

Battle of Midway

In this June 4, 1942, file photo provided by the U.S. Navy, the USS Astoria (CA-34) steams by USS Yorktown (CV-5), shortly after the carrier had been hit by three Japanese bombs in the Battle of Midway.  (William G. Roy/U.S. Navy via AP, File)

In the 1930s, Midway became a stopover for Pan American Airways’ “flying clippers” — seaplanes crossing the ocean on their five-day transpacific passage, the same source indicates.

Midway was an incredibly strategic location, multiple sources say. 

“The Imperial Japanese Navy planned to use it to secure their sphere of influence in the Pacific theater of the war,” according to National Geographic. 

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“The Japanese had not lost a naval battle in more than 50 years, and had nearly destroyed the American fleet just six months earlier in a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.” 

The American success at Midway was a major victory over the Imperial Japanese Navy. 

Pearl Harbor is about 1,300 miles east of Midway, says the same source.

In preparation, American military and intelligence forces worked together to defeat the Japanese. 

Battle of Midway Island

The Battle of Midway Island, which resulted in a major victory for the U.S. fleet. The USS aircraft carrier ‘Yorktown’ received a direct hit from a Japanese plane, which got through despite the heavy barrage put up by American destroyers.  (Keystone/Getty Images)

Code breakers were able to decipher Japanese naval code, allowing American leaders to anticipate Japanese maneuvers, notes National Geographic. 

Because of this, the U.S. Navy was then able to launch a surprise attack on the larger Japanese fleet in the area and the Battle of Midway turned the tide of the war, says the same source. 

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The American success at Midway was a major victory over the Imperial Japanese Navy as all four Japanese carriers — Akagi, Hiryu, Kaga and Soryu — had participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor, says the National WWII Museum.

The Battle of Midway is often referred to as the turning point of the war in the Pacific.

“Sinking those Japanese carriers represented a resounding defeat over the enemy fleet which had wrought such destruction only six months before,” the same source says.

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The Imperial Japanese Navy would not be capable of overcoming the loss of four carriers and over 100 trained pilots — and with the loss at Midway, the Japanese offensive in the Pacific was overturned and the United States began offensive action in the Pacific, says the National WWII Museum.

The Battle of Midway is widely considered the most decisive U.S. victory of that period.

It is often referred to as the turning point of the war in the Pacific.

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Midway Atoll has since been designated as a National Memorial to the Battle of Midway, says the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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Invisible AI’s ‘intelligent agent’ cameras can see what autoworkers and machines are doing wrong

Tesla CEO Elon Musk often refers to the automobile factory as “the machine that builds the machine,” but there are plenty of human workers involved in even the most highly automated plants.

They remain a key part of the exceedingly complex process that is automobile assembly but need to operate as efficiently as their mechanical counterparts to keep cars and trucks coming off the line with a combination of quality and speed.

Weeding out issues and making sure everything is running smoothly has traditionally meant sending quality control personnel up and down the lines to get eyes on the action. But now there’s a way to automate that job with better results than ever before.

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Palo Alto-based Invisible AI was founded by veterans of the autonomous car industry who saw an alternative for the artificial intelligence-driven machine vision technology they were working on that could come to market long before the mass acceptance of self-driving cars.

invisible ai

Invisible AI’s cameras have two terabytes of storage, enough to capture two months of data. (Invisible AI)

The company designed a network of cameras that can monitor an assembly line in real time and spot even the smallest things going wrong.

“Productivity, safety and quality are always top of mind in manufacturing, especially auto,” Invisible AI CEO Eric Danzinger told Fox News Digital.

The self-contained units are equipped with stereoscopic vision and onboard processing that allows them to be easily set up in a factory without having to tap into the facility’s own networks.

Invisible AI workers

The cameras use stereoscopic vision that can monitor how workers are moving. (Invisible AI)

“Our AI is not just about watching one workstation but about getting that view across the line about where you’re hitting production bottlenecks, where you’re seeing deviations from how the work is supposed to be done and where you’re seeing issues like bad reaches that can cause physical issues for your workers,” Danzinger said.

The cameras don’t need to be programmed with the assembly process. They only have to scan a single, correct cycle, and then the system can determine if anything deviates from it later.

“Our AI system analyzes the video, from raw pixels, to understand the pattern of work that’s happening and then compares those patterns so we can tell if someone is following a standard,” Danzinger explained. “All of that is being done by an intelligent agent in the cameras so a person doesn’t have to.

“If you have 100 cameras on one section of an assembly, you are actually seeing in 3D the living, breathing line.”

invisible ai paint gif

The system can tell if a worker’s movements are deviating from the ideal process. (Invisible AI)

Pricing varies by application, but Danzinger said the cost is far less than bringing in a consulting team or trying to accomplish the same work manually, which really can’t be done given the scope of what the system is capable of. 

Since they’re self-contained, installing all the cameras can be done in a couple of days between shifts.

“Our system has become the place you can go to help frontline employees understand the work being done,” Danzinger said.

“There are a million things happening. People are sick, bad parts are coming from suppliers, machines are broken down. … To be able to know what’s going on, what’s the most crucial component to fix, how do I meet my numbers? That’s the most important thing.”

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Invisible AI has collected a roster of a dozen automotive parts suppliers and four original equipment manufactures as clients, including Toyota, which uses the system at a factory in Indiana.

Toyota declined to provide comment for this report, but Senior Engineer Jihad Abdul-Rahim said when the project was announced last year that “Invisible AI is not only helping us find opportunities for improvement on the assembly lines, but we’re also constantly finding new use cases for their technology, such as ergonomics analysis to proactively prevent injuries.”

Invisible AI dashboard

Users can use an app to get an overview or check the status at a specific point in the assembly process. (Invisible AI)

Danzinger said details about its other customers and how they are using the system is confidential and that Invisible AI can’t provide details on their behalf.

As far as privacy is concerned, the system doesn’t have facial recognition technology, and it can blur faces captured on video. But the point of it is to offer direct feedback, so it is not an entirely anonymized analytical tool.

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“Most of what we see is helping workers have a voice and raise their hand to say, ‘This is broken. We need help fixing it,’ and actually getting a response,” Danzinger said.

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