Published April 7, 2005, in the Kirksville Daily Express

Story by Matthew Webber

KIRKSVILLE - Nancy Platz's father, husband and son are all military men.

But the seaman in two of her black-and-white photographs is not one of those three.

Platz doesn't know much about the man other than a name - Darrel E. Naylor - written on the back of one of two photos she found inside of a frame she bought at a yard sale last summer.

The photo with the name on the back is a headshot of Naylor in his Navy uniform.

The second photo shows him standing outside with another man, whom Platz thinks looks like he could be the seaman's brother.

Since taking the frame apart and discovering the photos, the retired Brashear schoolteacher has tried to learn more about Naylor, primarily if he or any of his family members are alive and would like to have the pictures.

"I just thought, 'Some family would love to get this photo of their father, their son or their brother in his Navy uniform," Platz said.

After failing to find any information about Naylor on the Internet, Platz hung the photos throughout the region hoping they would catch the eye of someone who knows Naylor or his family and could put them in contact with Platz.

As part of a veterans' display in Lawson Hill Sampler Shoppe in Kirksville last summer, the photos elicited at least one response from a shopper who recognized Naylor.

Unfortunately, the shopper's comment to the shop owner that he "knew these boys and they graduated from Kirksville High School and they were going to be in town for their class reunion" did not help return the photos.

"That was the end of the conversation," Platz said. "I said, 'Oh my gosh. We were that close.' No one wrote my name down or my address or phone number. I never got a follow up, and the people in the shop didn't follow up with getting more names."

Determined to contact Naylor's family, Platz hung the photos in her husband Larry's barbershop in Kirksville and enlisted the help of other veterans in the area.

"I put up the same sign: 'Does anyone know this gentleman or these brothers?'" she said. "I'd certainly like to get their photo back. It's been up a week and haven't had any clues yet."

Even though she is retired from teaching, Platz discussed the photos with a Brashear fifth grade class as part of a veterans' presentation.

Platz contacted the Daily Express on the advice of the students, who are as excited as she is to learn more about Naylor.

"The deal is they have to come with me to the fifth grade class in Brashear for the presentation," Platz said, "because that's what those fifth graders said. 'Ms. Platz, can we go with you, or can you have them come here, if you find the family?'"

Platz's family history inspired her search for Naylor. She recalled getting her late father-in-law's Purple Heart as a memento and finding a telegram in the case that announced he had been wounded in Germany in World War II.

Finding the telegram and realizing what it must have meant to her mother-in-law helped Platz realize what she had to do when she found the two black-and-white photos of Naylor.

"When I found that photo, I thought, 'Oh, I've got to find the family. I've got to find the family.'

"We have very few photos of our military husbands and fathers. I would be thrilled to death if someone would find a photo and say, 'Nancy, here's your son,' or, 'Here's your dad or husband. Wouldn't you like their picture?'

"So this is just my goal, to get this back to a family member."

Click here to read the follow-up story.