A tale of two Davids

Since I began writing this column, I have been amazed by both the geographic distance that the columns have reached, and by the links that are created by many of the columns. This month I received two emails, one about a former Tryonite named David and one from a David who lives in a country thousands of miles away.

The First David:

On June 13 of this year, I received an email from Tony Boyter. Tony had recently bought a house owned by the late Dr. David Prince. Dr. Prince was the coach of the men's and women's basketball teams at Tryon High School from 1947 until 1954. Tucked away in the recesses of the house, Tony found ten game scorebooks and other historical items from Dr. Prince's coaching days in Tryon. The player names and game statistics are still legible. After leaving Tryon, Dr. Prince worked as a professor of education at Wofford College. He was the head of the Education Department when I attended Wofford in the early sixties. Dr. Prince passed away in 2005 at the age of eighty-three.

The Second David:

Six days later, I received an email from another David who lives near Massa, Italy some 5,400 miles from Tryon! David Del Giudice is an Italian author who has written several books on World War II. Amazingly, a friend of David's sent him a link to my Tryon Daily Bulletin blog. David read one of my columns entitled, "Three Patriots," in which I pay tribute to three of my uncles who died in World War II. One of my uncles, Rufus Gosnell was killed near Massa. While doing research for a book, David came across a picture of the tank that Rufus was in when he died near the Massa railroad station on April 9, 1945.

The Link:

In less than a week I had received two emails - one about David Prince - one from David Del Giudice about my Uncle Rufus Gosnell. David Prince and Rufus Gosnell were both born in 1922. Both David Prince and Rufus Gosnell served their country in the Battle of the Bulge. Both David Prince and Rufus Gosnell received numerous metals including the Purple Heart. Dr. David Prince was my education professor at Wofford College. I never met my Uncle Rufus Gosnell but I learned about the circumstances of his death through another David who lives across the sea. What a strange world!
s.hefner@comcast.net.

Postscript: If anyone is interested in viewing the old basketball scorebooks that once belonged to Dr. Prince, you may reach Tony Boyter at 757-749-8538 or tony.boyer@noaa.gov.