PROGRAM AT LA GRUA CENTER TO REMEMBER FALLEN WAR VETS

Stonington — For 16 months the town’s former chief of police searched for photographs and information about the men whose names are engraved on three of four war memorials at the Stonington Town Hall.

At 6 p.m. Thursday at the La Grua Center in the borough, David Erskine will share his findings in a program called “Lest We Forget, Stonington’s Bravest Who Gave Their Lives in World War II, Korea and Vietnam,” sharing 64 photographs of the town’s casualties in those wars and snippets about their lives and deaths.

He is presenting the program in conjunction with the Stonington Historical Society, and it is expected to attract a full house. Erskine is already planning an encore presentation to accommodate any overflow audience.

Working with Suzanne Matteson, a local genealogist, and Bob Suppicich, a volunteer lecturer and technical assistant for the historical society, Erskine has prepared the presentation honoring the lost souls whose names are on the granite markers. Both Erskine and Suppicich are historical society directors.

Since December 2015, Erskine and Matteson have visited municipal and newspaper libraries, historical societies, used online tools including Ancestry.com, scoured military websites, and reached out to local and distant relatives of the war dead to put a face to their names and hear their stories.

They persisted until they got all 64 photos and learned at least a few details of every man’s life. Some were born and raised in Stonington or Mystic, worked locally, and at least a dozen graduated from Stonington High School.

As Suppicich uses a computer program to display the photographs, Erskine will speak briefly about each man, what branch of service he served with, and a little bit about his life and demise.