News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Cookeville History Museum has a new exhibit that allows visitors to get a glimpse of WWII “Through the Lens of a Cookeville Soldier,” Gaskell Warren.
Warren was an avid photographer, and his grandson Curt Warren said he inherited hundreds of photographs, including those from his time as a soldier in WWII.
“There’s just so much to it that happened back then that a lot of people don’t realize, and I’ve got it all in photographs,” Warren said. “A lot of soldiers were in one area, but he was all over because he was a military police so they moved him around all over the place so he was able to take pictures of everything.”
The exhibit features 50 photos from the hundreds Warren inherited. The photos depict landscapes, local peoples, and the soldiers in their day-to-day. Warren said he hopes visitors to the exhibit will walk away with a sense of appreciation for the experiences of those in the military.
“Our freedom comes with a cost and wasn’t just with my grandfather,” Warren said. “He didn’t lose his life in the war, but before him there have been many men and women who have died just so that me and you can sit here and talk about it.”
Warren said in addition to inheriting the photographs, he also inherited a love of music. Gaskell Warren was a member of “The Melody Boys,” a gospel quartet comprised of men in the service. One photo in the exhibit depicts the quartet performing in 1945, and includes member Marshall Jones–better known as Grandpa Jones–from the long-running television show “Hee Haw.”
The exhibit “Through the Lens of a Cookeville Soldier” is open now until Friday, July 2nd. Admission is free.
