I have had a pretty good response to the request in this column a couple of weeks ago for pictures of military people in your families. I hope more of you will head straight for your family photo albums or archives (well, as soon as you finish reading this column) to find pictures of your dads, brothers, granddads, uncles, or aunts, who were in the service during any war.

We need to borrow them for a downtown window display honoring veterans at Operation Celebration during Memorial Day weekend. We would love to fill the whole window so please consider helping us with this.

The emphasis of Peabody’s Operation Celebration has always been World War II, but we are mindful of the sacrifice made by those who served in Korea, Vietnam, the Middle East, and even during the Cold War or times of peace. If your relative was in any branch of the armed forces, we would like recognize him or her and exhibit a photograph if you would be good enough to find one for us to use.

We would especially like pictures of Peabody and Marion County veterans, but we also would be honored to include the veterans whose only ties to our town are the people who choose to live here and be a part of our community. We’ll take them all. The Mister and I will put pictures of our fathers in the display and we are their only ties to the community.

We can use whatever you’ve got — color portraits, black and white snapshots, tin types, cabinet photos, whatever. And we aren’t picky about how the veterans look either. They can be playing cards in the barracks under a thick cloud of cigar smoke, lined up and mugging for the camera in front of the cockpit of a plane, dancing with your mom before shipping out, or marching in formation. It doesn’t matter to us; send us the best shot you have. We want the one that will tell everyone about your veteran’s grit, loyalty, and love of country.

How can you get your family member included?

Call me at (620) 983-2771 (home) or at (620) 983-2185 (newspaper office) and I will come get the pictures. Drop them by the newspaper office (in the back room at Jackrabbit Hollow) or drop them by the Peabody Main Street office in the city building. Be sure to label them so we can get them back to you. And please note who the veteran is, age if you know it, relationship to you, rank, tour of duty, and branch of the service.

And then come and look over our Operation Celebration: 1940s displays during Memorial Day weekend. We think you will like what you see.

— Susan Marshall