(Tribune News Service) — Seventy-eight years ago, a young Army master sergeant who had served his country overseas stopped at the Bluefield Train Station and asked a clerk if he could leave his satchel while he got something to eat. The clerk agreed, but when the soldier came back, his satchel was gone.

One item in the satchel that 17-year-old Master Sgt. William Gillespie of Mercer County lost in 1947 was a camera and some photographs that were taken while he was in Japan. One image of him standing in his uniform was unseen for 78 years, but now it’s on display at the Those Who Served War Museum in Princeton, W.Va.

For years, Gillespie searched for a copy of that picture, but he said nobody could find one. Eventually, a niece living in Ohio found one that her mother had kept.

Now that photograph has joined the photos of other veterans at the war museum located in the Memorial Building near the Mercer County Courthouse. Many of the artifacts on display there — ranging from weapons, uniforms, and memorabilia brought home by veterans — were donated by veterans and their families.

Tony Whitlow, the museum’s founder, said he once worked with Gillespie on the old Virginian Railroad. Now Gillespie’s photo is on the museum’s Wall of Honor.

Gillespie, now 96, served in Osaka, Japan, from 1946 to 1947 with the 25th Medical Battalion Motor Pool. He said that he’s glad that the photograph that was stolen with his luggage so many years ago was now among the photos of other veterans who served their country.

“What a nice surprise for me,” he said. “My photograph is now in the museum with all the other veterans on the tribute wall.”

The Those Who Served War Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Memorial Building is located at 1500 West Main Street in Princeton, W.Va.

gjordan@bdtonline.com

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