On November 11th, to commemorate Veterans Day, the Arlington Historical Society’s Wanda Marshall gave a presentation at the Downtown Arlington Library. The presentation, entitled “Arlington’s War Heroes: Celebrating Their Sacrifices & Achievements,” was a poignant tribute to Arlington’s hometown heroes.

Even though Arlington was a small town in the 1940s, a large percentage of our youth went off to serve our country in the war effort. Wanda knew many of the soldiers personally and has devoted years to collecting, preserving, and telling their stories.

In her presentation, Wanda had artifacts, memorabilia, photos, and maps from the Fielder Museum’s collection displayed, and she also shared personal stories about some of the soldiers. Notably, she has compiled scrapbooks about the soldiers over the years, with newspaper clippings and other information. Newspapers, in fact, were an important way to keep the community informed during the war, with them often printing information and sometimes even letters sent back home.

Wanda told stories about the Gold Star Boys, a term that involved flags, or banners, that had blue stars for every family member serving in the war; the blue stars were replaced with gold stars when one passed away in combat. The flags were presented to the mother of the family, not the wife, as most were young, unwed men without their own families. The families would often hang the flags in home windows or display them on their front porches so the community could offer their support.

She also told a memorable story about Pearl Harbor, recounting that students returned to school after the bombing. One of the young students asked their teacher—“Who is Pearl Harbor?”—thinking that it was a woman, since “Pearl” was a common name at the time. The innocence of youth and the realities of war can often be a stark juxtaposition.

“It was a different world back then,” Wanda remarked with admiration near the presentation’s end. She concluded with an audience question and answer session, and many people shared their own personal stories as well. Afterward, folks studied the artifacts she brought, with Wanda continuing to answer questions and offer insight.

The World War II exhibit at Fielder Museum began about 15 years ago, with a look at wars through the decades, starting with the 1940s. The project began with a list of 27 names listed in memoriam from a high school yearbook, and through further research, the list expanded to 50 names. Our World War II exhibit has evolved as well—it’s the largest collection in our museum—and surely the largest collection of local military artifacts in Arlington. Additionally, Wanda is truly the subject matter expert in Arlington’s military history, with a wealth of knowledge and passion for the subject. Few, if anyone, knows more about Arlington’s military history than her. She has invested countless hours of research and often meticulously studied microfilm at the Downtown Library to learn more.

Arlington has lost more than 100 hometown heroes through the wartime effort, with the majority of those coming from World War II and the Vietnam War—and with most enlisted in the Army. Arlington lost 50 youths from World War II alone, from a population of about 5,000 people. (To put that ratio into perspective, that would equate to about 4,000 lost from today’s population of 400,000 people.) As Arlington was such a small town back then, everyone in the community likely knew someone lost to the World War II campaign—a classmate, friend, neighbor, family member, or at least an acquaintance—which is partly why it remains such an important part of our history.

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Visit Fielder Museum (1616 W. Abram St, Arlington, Texas 76013) to view our World War II exhibit. Also, our World War II Memorial in Downtown Arlington has additional plaques and monuments to honor Arlington’s war effort.

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Blog post and photos by Jason S. Sullivan, 11-11-23

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This article first appeared in the Arlington Historical Society’s November 2023 newsletter.