About The Project

Telling non-traditional stories

More Than A Headstone is thematically organized, exploring topics often suppressed or forgotten in the military lexicon. These include stories of racial adversity, the service of women, relationships formed between supposed enemies, individuals re-located or interned domestically, and those who went missing in action.

Among those highlighted is Joanne Conte, who during the Korean War worked as a Morse code operator for the United States Air Force. Conte, who in 1933 was born Joseph Baione, would go on to serve in Arvada’s city council from 1991-1995, as the first openly transgendered individual to fill the position. Byron Johnson, an African American soldier serving in World War II, is similarly profiled in the More Than A Headstone project.

Johnson made forays into military officer school but was denied given his skin color. He instead served in an entirely segregated unit for the entirety of the war. Prior to his enlistment, Johnson played in the Negro Leagues as a shortstop and even toured with Satchel Paige’s team in 1939-40. John Werito, also interred at Fort Logan, was a Native American born on a reservation. Early in life, Werito was sent to an Indian boarding school designed to rid him of his culture and language. Despite this, Werito would use his proclivity for Native languages in service of the Marines in WWII.

These and other extraordinary profiles were researched and written by University of Denver history students. Each is accompanied with pictures of the subjects, families and artifacts.

The project is part of a nationwide effort on the part of the Veteran’s Legacy Program to increase education and exposure about the lives of Veteran’s through partnerships with universities, professors, schools, students and communities. By harnessing the storytelling capacity of modern mediums, VLP hopes to give new dimension to the lives of American servicemen and servicewomen throughout history.