"Each headstone represents a story to be told, a past to be remembered."
The above is part of the engraving on the headstone of a United States Navy Commander, Charles E. Bigler, who was killed in action in 1942 and buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
I saw a picture of the headstone, either in a book or a magazine, some years ago, and made a note of the words without any idea as to how or where I might use them. Recently, I came across them again, several times, on the Internet and realised how well they fitted this section of the story and what I was trying to do.
So, I′ve included them here because that's exactly what I am trying to do - tell their story as much as I am able and, in doing so, remember their past - and I′m sure that Commander Bigler would have no objection to that.
I have tried to show the connection between the family of these men and the village of Hooe, but it's been far from easy. In some cases I've never really found a good, solid connection though I have spent more hours on the research than I. perhaps, I should have.
I'm still processing the information that I have on each of these men and still searching for more wherever I can find it, but it will, however, take time. So, if there is anyone who can add to, or modify what I have written, I shall be more than pleased to change the appropriate pages because I want to get the story as accurate as I can, for the sake of these men and their familes.
Just one last word; when I started this section it was to be all about those named on the memorial plaque in the church. Since then, however, I have come across young men who, perhaps, only lived in the village for a short while, weren't born there, and didn't enlist there - men who had emigrated to Canada or Australia but whom the newspapers reported, and referred to as, "Hooe men" I felt I could do nothing less than try to include them, and their stories, here.
