Woman researching hundreds of WWII veterans for "Reading's Boys" project
READING - An Endicott College graduate is on a mission to learn and write about every World War II veteran in her community. It's already connecting people who never would have met.
"I did not really consider myself a religious person when I started this project. But I think this project has made me spiritual in many ways," Autumn Hendrickson explains. Standing in Reading's Laurel Hill Cemetery, she acknowledges that she often feels surrounded by ghosts.
Hendrickson is researching and writing about every WWII veteran in Reading and North Reading. It is an enormous, emotional undertaking. Nine hundred residents joined the war effort. Thirty-two made the ultimate sacrifice. She hopes that her work will preserve their stories and pique readers' interest in the important-but less dramatic-aspects of military service.
"The community only goes on because they're there," Hendrickson said. "They all contributed. And I think that's a message that sometimes can get lost. I also hope that, in a way, my project can keep alive some of these individuals who have passed. Because I remember when I started it-when I learned the names of the men who lost their lives, I was shocked that I had never heard their names before. These are people who were part of my community."
"Reading's Boys"
What's surprised her most, since she started the "Reading's Boys" project in 2020, is the level of interest. As a teenager, Autumn was most interested in World War I, the war in which members of her family served. No one in her family served in WWII. But after graduating from Reading High School at the height of the pandemic-and getting a job writing for The Reading Post-she decided to take readers back in time. She wanted to take their minds off COVID, however briefly and write about an event with a definitive ending. She had no idea how consuming-and gratifying-it would be.
In 2024, the first chapter became her senior thesis at Endicott College. She plans to write five books-one for each year of the war-driven by the stories of Americans determined to defeat the enemy. Grants and donations, including a GoFundMe page, help cover research and travel costs.
What is most challenging about Autumn's work is finding information about people whose stories are incomplete. There are gaps--sometimes errors-in the service records. Because so many members of The Greatest Generation have died, she is rarely able to get a firsthand account of their experiences. But that is not stopping her from pursuing their stories.
Historian and detective
Hers is the work of a historian and a detective. She has traveled to the National Archives at St. Louis to find reports and records. She has spent countless hours scanning Reading High School yearbooks for information about the plans and dreams of Reading's boys. She searches articles, preserved on microfilm, for information about battles, hospitalizations, and funerals. "The number of stories that I have found in these papers in insane," she says. "I often wonder what they would think of me... what would they think of a young woman researching their lives and saying, 'I'm going to find you! I'm going to find the unit you served in! I'm going to figure out what you were doing!'"
In tracing the sometimes-hidden histories of the veterans and talking with their families, Autumn has also made peace with her own complicated history. "Learning about these individuals helped me understand myself better," she says.
The earliest seeds of the project grew as she researched her genealogy. "It started there because I'm adopted, and I have a lot of different family," she said. "Knowing where I came from helped me build my own self-identity and self-confidence." In 2003 she was living with two foster moms-Carol and Judy-in Reading when a birth relative formally adopted her and moved her to Florida. Autumn was two years old at the time. Eight years later, her adoptive family decided that Autumn would, indeed, be better off with Carol and Judy. She moved back to Reading, the town that she says feels like home.
She remembers, fondly, the encouragement she received from middle school teachers Andrew Spinali (English) and Bill MacIndewar (Science). Their guidance left an impression. One of Autumn's goals is to educate future generations of about the often-quiet heroism of World War II veterans. As a graduate student at Norwich University, she also gets a chance to teach.
As a student of history, she has immersed herself in the lives of men whose legacies continue to have an impact. Autumn helped Army veteran Jason Kaffenberger when his search for information had hit a dead end. Kaffenberger served in the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Afghanistan and with the 10th Mountain Division in Iraq. One day, passing through the cemetery, he noticed Richard C. Austin's grave and the date on which he died. "When I saw the date, I realized there was more to the story," he said.
Kaffenberger was a paratrooper in Afghanistan. To know that Austin, one of the Army's first paratroopers, was buried just blocks from his home felt like serendipity. Austin jumped into the Normandy invasion and into the Netherlands where he was killed in Operation Market Garden. "He is a god among men in the eyes of other paratroopers," he explained. But searching for information about Austin turned up exactly one article: Autumn's story about Austin from The Reading Post. Kaffenberger could hardly contain his gratitude. "It is just incredible to see someone take an interest in all the men and women from an era and how they served from one specific town because it takes a village. And in that time, it was!"
Kaffenberger and his wife planted tulip bulbs that they hope will bloom around Memorial Day. They currently look after Austin's grave and plan to leave tulips on his stone every year. Asked whether connecting with Autumn's work has changed his feeling about Reading, the Ohio-native nods. "It definitely gives me a deeper connection to the town," he said.
Bridge between past and present
It's had the same effect on Autumn. "Nowadays we don't always gather in large groups the way that we used to. And a lot of people don't know each other," Autumn said. Her project and in-person presentations (like one we attended at the American Heritage Museum in Hudson, MA) offer a bridge between the past and present. "At least you get to know your community and get a sense of emotion and connection in your community."
She is also building connections with veterans' families. Autumn has interviewed roughly a half-dozen WWII veterans, a special privilege given how few are still alive. Between 20-30% of the veterans she has researched so far have family members with whom she has spoken or met. One, in particular, has become a friend.
When Chip Jones received Autumn's call more than a year ago, he wondered, "Is this for real?" He reached out a friend, State Representative Brad Jones (no relation) who was familiar with Autumn's project. Jones encouraged Chip to contact her. They met for a meal and talked for hours. Chip's dad, Charles Warren Jones, was a decorated Army veteran, a First Lieutenant upon discharge, who died in 1995.
Chip is proud of family's military service and the role it has played in protecting the nation's freedom. He applauds Autumn's tenacious dedication to finding and sharing the veterans' stories. "Our culture, our society needs this." Chip said. "We need to appreciate what we've been given."
Standing in front of his father's grave, Chip says wistfully, "I miss him every day." Autumn's work and their friendship has been an unexpected gift. "It's given me the opportunity to give back to him the importance of his service," Chip said.
Chip gave Autumn his father's uniform; jackets that she treasures. He knows that his father would want her to have it.
"It is so important that somebody looks back and says 'Thanks.' It took a lot to get where we are," Chip said. He pauses and adds, "To see someone at that age who's bringing back history that old is incredibly important."