Bill Haggard
A determined stranger recently tracked down Bill Haggard to give him some surprising news.
The man had a canteen that Haggard’s father, the late Casey Glenwood Haggard, carried as a soldier in the U.S. Army on the battlefields in World War II more than 80 years ago.
Bill Haggard, a former Herculaneum alderman and mayor, as well as a retired Herculaneum Fire chief, said the stranger, Ed Williams of Johnson City, Tenn., reached out on Facebook.
“On New Year’s Eve, I got this Facebook friend request from someone I didn’t know and had never heard of,” Haggard said. “I didn’t respond to it. ‘I don’t know who you are,’ I thought.”
The next day, Haggard said, the same person, Ed Williams of Johnson City, Tenn., reached out through Facebook Messenger.
“He told me he was sure I was the Bill Haggard he was looking for and he wanted me to call him,” Haggard said. “He said, ‘I looked you up.’ I said I still don’t know what we’re talking about.”
Williams convinced Haggard to accept his Facebook friendship so Haggard could look at photos he had posted of the canteen.
A Tennessee resident contacted Bill Haggard after finding this canteen that Haggard’s father carried during World War II.
“He had other photos of my dad that I guess he found online, as well as a photo of my dad’s military veterans banner that’s posted in Herculaneum,” Haggard said.
He then called Williams.
“He explained that he was at a knife and tool show in Johnson City and came across this canteen. He said he was a collector of knives and World War II stuff, so he traded for it.”
Haggard said that might have been where the story ended were it not for Williams’ friend, Jim Robertson, who offered to do some research into the carvings – called “trench art” – on the canteen.
The canteen included Haggard’s father’s first name and initial, his serial number and the countries he had seen action in.
“I guess from all that, he (Robertson) went through records, even cemetery records, and found me,” Haggard said.
Casey Haggard died in 2002 at the age of 80.
“He (Williams) told me that he figured that another name on the canteen, Margaret Alice, was his girlfriend at the time. I told him, ‘That’s my mother.’ But he was right; they weren’t married until my dad got back here in 1945 (after the war’s end).”
Haggard said the canteen indicated his father had served in battles in North Africa, Italy, Germany and France.
“There are also some markings on there that I’m not sure what they might mean,” Haggard said. “One says, ‘Italy on the run or bust.’ There’s also four X’s carved into it. I’ve talked with people and they say they might stand for the countries or maybe the battles he was in.”
Haggard said he’s been told it was not unusual for soldiers to personalize their canteens.
“They were in those trenches for a long time, hours and maybe days at a time, with nothing to do,” he said. “You can understand that.”
While the canteen indicates its owner hailed from Missouri, Haggard said he’s curious why his father didn’t also etch Herculaneum, his hometown, into it as well.
“That’s a little weird to me that it doesn’t say Herculaneum,” Haggard said. “I wish I knew why it doesn’t. Maybe it was too long.”
Once Williams convinced Haggard that the canteen he had could be the real deal, Haggard said he extended an offer.
“I told him, ‘Whatever you had to trade for it, I’ll pay you.’ He said it was $100, and I figured I needed to trust him. A few days later, it came in the mail.”
While Haggard said he’s not a collector of military items, he does have some items that belonged to his father, as well as a slew of photos from his military days.
“I’ve gone through the photos, trying to see if I have one of him carrying this canteen,” Haggard said. “There are a couple of him in a mess tent where he could have it, maybe down by his side, but it’s not in the photo. I sure wish it was.”
He said he’s not sure what he’s going to do with the canteen.
“I’ve got a couple of pictures of him and the flag from his funeral on my mantel,” he said. “It will probably end up there.”
Haggard said he’s eager to share his fortuitous find with several members of his family, but especially his great-nephew, Cody Steffen.
“He’s 18 and just got back from basic training in infantry school,” Haggard said. “He will want to see it.”
Haggard said he still marvels that he now has the canteen his dad lugged around with him in World War II.
“I think it’s amazing that these two men thought to track me down,” he said. “It could have ended up in (Willliams’) garage or something. I just wonder where it’s been all this time (before Williams traded for it). I talked with someone who served in Vietnam, and he told me that he chucked his dog tags into the ocean after he got back, and now wishes he had kept them. How many times has this canteen changed hands over the years? But it’s pretty cool that it’s here now.”