The holidays can be a time to reminisce, talk about the good ol' days and as you do that, the people at the Ft. McCoy military base ask for your help.
Ft. McCoy's Centennial celebration won't be until June 2009 but the base's Public Affairs Officer Linda Fournier says they're looking for artifacts now.
Fournier says there are probably a lot of people who have friends, family and relatives who served or worked at the base during its long history. They would like to see anything that might help illustrate that history. Pictures, letters, uniforms.
The history of Fort McCoy goes back to 1909 when Spanish-American War Veteran General Robert Bruce McCoy felt the military needed to change its training procedures and he had some land in Monroe County fit for the job.
The base was a Citizens Military Training Center and Ordinance Depot in the 1920's. It was a Civilian Conservation Center in the 1930's. And of course, Ft. McCoy has a place in the world wars, Korea, Vietnam and Iraq.
But Fournier says many people forget the fort housed 15-thousand Cuban refugees in the 1980's when Castro released thousands during the Mariel Boat Lift. Unfortunately, she says, not many people at the base kept many mementos from that period.
If you have any historical artifacts contact Fort McCoy.