Public historian Sara Jane Ruggles shows Dina Mills-Hourlland where a photo of her great uncle, Charlie Mellor, is found in a 1945 report chronicling the events of the Wake Island takeover by the Japanese military in 1941. Mellor's family connected Tuesday with another local family, the Newells, after Ruggles discovered both families had loved ones taken together as POWs from Wake Island.
January 11, 2023
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Shared links to the past
Families discover connections between loved ones held as WWII POWs
The world is much smaller than many people realize. Ron and Betty Mills, who live at Wellspring Assisted Living in Hayden, and Verda Newell, a resident of another assisted living residence in Coeur d'Alene, are complete strangers who recently discovered their families are linked in history. It all started with the serendipitous work of a local public historian who uncovered the connections.