Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Local History topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Judge Welke recounts local 106th Infantry history, urges residents to read his new book
Summary
Judge Brian Welke presented a photo-filled history of the 106th Infantry Division and highlighted Lake County veterans at the Board of County Commissioners’ July 22 ceremony, urging residents to preserve those stories.
Judge Brian Welke, a circuit judge in the 5th Judicial Circuit, delivered a presentation to the Lake County Board of County Commissioners on July 22 recounting the service of soldiers from the 106th Infantry Division and encouraging residents to read his book "Boys Just Boys." The judge described visiting the grave of Umatilla native Johnny Webb in Belgium and said the book grew from five years of research and interviews.
"I enjoy talking about these men of the hundred and 6th Infantry Division, particularly the men who are connected with Lake County," Judge Welke said during the presentation. The board’s historical-museum president Ray Powers introduced the judge and noted Welke’s military history work and his long ties to the community.
The judge traced the division’s training, its December 1944 combat operations and the division’s heavy losses, and named several Lake County veterans, including Fred Parks and John Glenn Bevel. Chair (speaker 1) and other commissioners recognized those who served; the county urged residents to purchase the book to support local history efforts.
