Skiatook Woman Has WWII Journal, Author Is A Mystery

A Skiatook woman has a piece of history she wants people to know about.

"For years, I didn't know what to do with it. I didn't want it to go in the wrong hands. I didn't want it to get destroyed,” Mindy Hearn said.

She has an old journal from WWII, but the author is a mystery.

Time has weathered the pages of the old journal. But the words inside could be new, to a family member of the author, or just about anyone.

"I've always wanted this story to be told -- because it's history. It’s our history,” she said.

The stories from three years of WWII are protected by Hearn, with the pages tucked inside a yellow folder, along with a picture of her late dad, John Cleveland Burroughs.

He served in the Army's Company K, 26th Infantry, the same as the author of the journal. Hearn said her dad's war buddy mailed him the journal, she guesses, back in the 80s.

"My dad called him 'Sparky,' and he was from Texas. That's all I know,” Hearn said.

But Hearn is not sure if it was "Sparky," or someone else, who took time to document each day. The journal includes both stories away from the battlefield, and others on days that would change the world.

Like this entry from D-Day, where the author describes landing at Omaha Beach:

"As the men hit the beach they discarded their water soaked rolls. The beach itself was one great confusion. Some men were digging in, others were tending the wounded and the dead just covered the area."

"This is the real thing. This is, this is better than a movie,” she said.

Hearn isn't quite sure what to do next but believes it is time for these words to reach an audience.

She said the journal has entries nearly every day from 1942 to 1945.