Soldier is not forgotten; Cpl. Zacek was Webster's final casualty of WW1.

Byline: Ed Patenaude 

COLUMN: SO I'VE HEARD

Webster's last World War I casualty, Cpl. William J. Zacek, died in a German prisoner of war camp Nov. 10, 1918, or on a battlefield Nov. 11, 1918, Armistice Day, the last day of the war. He was about 21 years old.

There's only a day's difference between the two scenarios, but they pose questions not advanced since the armistice between the Allies and Germany was signed at Compiegne, France, at 11 a.m. Nov. 11, 1918. The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

Sometime during those last 11 hours, those 89 years ago, before Armistice Day became Veterans Day and expanded to remember all of the American dead in all of the nation's wars, Cpl. Zacek became one of the last casualties of the first World War.

His story is presented through published reports and reinforced, as late as 1938, in special publications about the war. But it varies from "Gold Star Record," a list of men killed in the war, recorded by date and kept in a long overlooked file in Webster's Chester C. Corbin Public Library.

The Worcester County segment, researched last month by Library Director LeeAnn Amend, says Cpl. Zacek died on Nov. 10, 1918, while a prisoner of war. There's no further information, but a synopsis of his military record says he enlisted June 5, 1917, arrived overseas that October, and was promoted to corporal about a year later. A search of town newspaper files for the last months of the war doesn't indicate he was taken a prisoner of war. His promotion to corporal was on Oct. 17, 1918, meaning he could not have been a POW for more than a few weeks.

Cpl. Zacek's "Gold Star" profile indicates he was born in Poland about January 1897, a son of Joseph and Helen Zacek; that he had five brothers, Paul, Victor, John, Frank and Joseph; was a shoe worker; and lived in Massachusetts 15 years.

Whatever the date of his sacrifice, Cpl. Zacek was the last Webster soldier killed in the war, and might have been the last local victim of the conflict to be buried in his hometown. His remains were returned to Webster on Saturday, June 25, 1921, more than 2-1/2 years after Armistice Day.

Particulars to his death, whether in a POW camp or on Armistice Day itself, seem lost in time. The town Veterans Services Department has copies of discharge papers for some World War I veterans but records for military personnel killed in action were never released, says Director Donald A. Baker Sr. The same might apply to those who lost their lives in prisoner camps at the war's end.

While the exact date of his death or the circumstances aren't clear, Cpl. Zacek was never forgotten in death, remembered by his parents and siblings and, still, by their children, according to Raymond Zack of Dudley, a nephew. John Zacek or Zack, one of Cpl Zacek's brothers, was 84 years old when he died many years ago, says Raymond Zack, once owner of a Dudley variety store. His uncle, killed "right at the end of the war," as his family was told, is buried in a family lot in St. Joseph's Cemetery here. "He's right next to my father."

Veterans Day, given its current name after World War II, will be observed this Sunday, Nov. 11, with ceremonies at the Veterans Court of Honor in Dudley and at the Veterans Court of Honor in Webster.

When Donald A. Baker enlisted in the U.S. Navy before the end of World War II, his mother, Mary R. (LaChance) Baker, bought a service flag for display in a front window to the family's West Main Street residence.

"It was the thing to do at the time," says Mr. Baker. "Every home, it seems, had someone in the service."

Mr. Baker still has the flag, now about 63 years old. It has a heavy red border, a white center, a blue star centered on the white, gold tatting, and hangs on a gold braided cord. Now Webster Veterans Services Director, Mr. Baker keeps the flag above his town Veterans Home desk. It's a silent reminder than his grandson, Capt. Mark Peckham, son of Ann (Baker) and Robert Peckham of Woodstock, is on active duty with the Army in Iraq.

The World War II window pieces had a star or stars to represent sons or daughters in a household in military uniform. Homes with two stars were quite common, and there were some with three, and even more, in this vicinity. The window hangings were a mark of support and were considered an honor.