William D. Bowell, or "Captain Bill", the author "Ol' Man River: Memoirs of a Riverboat Captain," visited Osage last week and shared captivating stories of his life during a book signing. Here, he chats with Marlene Ham.

World War II display honors author

In honor of his friend's visit, Osage resident Richard Townsend created an exhibit which is on display in the Osage Public Library. "I was thinking about Captain Bill's experiences and chose pieces I thought related to him," said Townsend. From his extensive collection, Townsend selected items related to World War II.

William D. Bowell, or "Captain Bill", is the author of Ol' Man River: Memoirs of a Riverboat Captain. He visited Osage last week and shared captivating stories of his life during a book signing event hosted by the Mitchell County Historical Society and the Cedar River Complex.

Included in the exhibit are pro-war posters featuring the five Sullivan Brothers who were from Iowa; pro-war American propaganda including pins and cards; "support the war" pins which encouraged Americans to buy bonds, not only to support U.S. war efforts, but also, war efforts in a variety of other countries such as Ireland, Spain and Armenia; a selection of American World War II General's plates; original, first-cover stamps from the U.S. Post Office; sweet heart pins which would have been purchased by soldiers and sent to their wives, mothers, sweethearts (some have a space to add a photo of the loved one); a selection of German photos; items of German-produced and distributed anti-war propaganda; a gravy boat and bread basket from a German Army barracks; a "C.C.C." banner; a set of USO playing cards featuring military images; a set of German Checkers; and much more.

The exhibit is free and open to the public during regular Library hours. It will be on display through December 5.

Signed copies of Captain Bill's book are available at Sweeney's On Main in Osage.

Mitchell County Press -- story created Nov 24, 2009