The semester quickly wasted away and the direction of the project was still as ill defined as it was when I had begun.  Little work had been done and I decided that I would take an incomplete and carry it over to the spring semester of 2000.  A couple weeks before Thanksgiving Break, I knew that creating a site centered on Grandpa's 'Zeke Day' simply was not going to produce enough worthwhile information and research to constitute the magnitude of a Senior Honors Thesis. Nervousness set in, and I started to think of ways I could expand the project to encompass more of the vision the requirement of the Honors College demanded. Unfortunately, I was not meeting the goal with any success.

Over Thanksgiving Break, I had nothing less than the answer dropped in my lap as I sat with my family and ate a dinner of turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing.  Over the summer, my aunts and uncles had found Grandpa Parker's old Army duffle bag stashed away in the attic of the house in Versailles.  To share it with the family, Aunt Peg had brought it with her to the family gathering, and when she brought it out to show everyone, I sat enthralled, pouring through item after item.  At that moment, the ideas blossomed in my mind, and I knew I had found the direction I needed.

Unsatisfied with having just one grandfather's war mementos, I went in search of Grandpa Givan's treasure chest, which Mom had told me was somewhere down at Gran's house.   After we had returned home from Thanksgiving in Indianapolis, I head down to her house to begin my search.  Less than an hour later, I had a box labeled "Dad's Japan Stuff" and knew that my thesis was well on it way to becoming a very special piece of family heritage.

Over the next few months, I scoured everyone's homes, searching for anything that remotely related to either of my grandfather's.  I compiled my findings and through the use of the Internet, I present them here on this Web site.  By no means is the project finished, nor will it ever be.  After graduation, I hope to continue working on it; adding more stories, photographs and enhancing the technology driving the site.  As I mentioned above, I could not have completed this without the help of a number of very important people, and for that, I am very grateful.

Thank you to everyone who had been a part of Awakening the Past.

• Design and Development - This involved the creation of an original layout and design for the Web site that would feature all of the information I had gathered.  All of the graphical elements on the site were individually made using Adobe PhotoShop 5.5, and the content was produced in Microsoft Visual InterDev 6.0 and Microsoft Word 2000.  JavaScript code was used for certain graphical elements throughout the site, which was sampled from various sites on the Internet implementing similar mouseover events that I had in mind for Awakening the Past.  Using code samples from the Web, I was also able to create an online form submission for visitors to add their own stories and memories to the site.  The form used Active Server Pages and the SMTP functionality of IIS and Windows NT.
• Photographs - Using a camera borrowed from my roommate, Andy Laurent, I took the photos featured in the Still-life Gallery for both Phil Givan and Bob Parker.  Once developed, the pictured where then scanned into the computer, where I manipulated them as necessary.
• Writing - I composed all of the essays, short stories and vignettes featured on the site, drawing on both of my grandfather's personal histories, the items featured in the galleries and my own childhood memories.   A number of resources were extremely valuable in the writing of the events that transpired during the war and are all listed on the Works Cited page for the site, located at the following link...Click Here
• Research - The research for this project was one of the most challenging and demanding aspects.  The main reason was the lack of firsthand knowledge regarding my grandfathers.  I was unable to go to the source and ask both men directly since they had passed away more than twelve years ago.  As a result, I relied heavily on the Internet and my family.  Without the use of the Internet for this project, I do not believe it would have gotten off of the ground.

  Through various search engines, databases and Web sites, I was able to locate invaluable information about the battles and campaigns they participated in, the significance of the Japanese artifacts Grandpa Givan had brought home, and most importantly, I was able to locate Mr. Wallace Ralston.  The day I received his letter was probably the single greatest day since I had begun working on the project.  With the help of People Finder sites on the Internet, I located six Wallace Ralstons spread throughout the continental United States.   A day later, six identical letters were mailed, asking each man if he was the Wallace Ralston who fought in World War II and knew a fellow Marine by the name of Phil Givan.  Three days later, one of those men responded and said he did indeed know a man by that name, in fact, he knew him very well.  More about Mr. Ralston and Phil can be found throughout the Essay Gallery at this link... Click Here