ATTENTION:  JUNE AUCTION NOTICE:

Former club librarian, U.S. Navy veteran, and beloved friend, the late Stan Rop had an interest in short-snorter notes. A note from his personal collection will be auctioned on Tuesday, June 11, 2024, at 7:00 pm.

What is a short-snorter? USarmytimes.com: A short-snorter was a single or series of bank notes upon which friends and acquaintances wrote their names as a remembrance.

This tradition was relatively wide spread during the late 1930s with trans-ocean airline pilots, as well as the military, and continued into the World War II period. It was occasionally connected with a drinking game, which the person who had lost or forgotten their short-snorter, or who had the least number of names on it, bought the first round of drinks.

Short-snorters often had the date, cities, countries, and/or the military installation where the service members were serving.

In Stan’s hunt for a short-snorter, he visited local shops, coin shows, and even traveled to Chicago where he purchased this very note. The note is in a certified holder which certifies its age, value, and authenticity. It is a quality example of military history.

From Post Commander Don Gillespie:

We are going to use any funds raised to help us relocate veterans’ remains from paupers’ graves at Mount Ever Rest cemetery to Ft. Custer. There are over 100 people buried in paupers’ graves there, and we are moving one veteran that we were told about and have confirmed.

The veteran we are already moving is Paul Nelson. Paul served in the U.S. Navy from February 1944 to January 1958 during the WWII and Korean eras. Paul passed away in 1981 at the Battle Creek VA Hospital, and his family couldn’t afford to pay for a burial.

Recently, we heard about Paul and several of our members reached out to get a copy of Paul’s DD Form 214. Ft. Custer National Cemetery and Mount Ever Rest were contacted to find out what it would take to move Paul to Ft. Custer, where he can be laid to rest where he deserves to be, with honors among his fellow veterans. Moving expenses will be about $1600 per veteran.

Tell your friends and family. Let’s support a local hero, and a good cause. You could be the owner of a piece of military history: Stan Rop’s short-snorter note from his personal collection.