The Germans surrendered on his 21st birthday, but he didn't stop serving. He went to both Korea and Vietnam twice -- leaving both times on a stretcher. "It was pretty rough," said Dover, who was raised in the Bethany area but now lives in Martinez, Ga.

When his grandchildren ask what Dover did in the wars, his answer is short: "I did what I had to do -- and survived."

Bethany resident Ann Pursley wants people to remember the contributions of Bethany veterans like Dover. With the help of her niece, Beth Covington, Pursley created a historic calendar so each month, locals can see and read about that history.

About 60 local veterans will be featured in the calendar, which will be introduced at 2:30 p.m. Sunday during a program at Bethany Elementary School. Veterans, including Dover, will speak.

Historical calendars are nothing new for Pursley. As a member of the parent-teacher organization when her children were in school, she helped organize three historic calendars for fundraisers.

This time, she took a fresh approach.

"I thought about concentrating just on the veterans, because I know several of them personally and they're getting up in years," she said. "If we're going to remember them, we better do it now."

Gathering the information was tedious, but enjoyable, she said.

"It's taken a lot more time and a lot more research and a lot more running to Wal-Mart and scanning pictures than I ever thought it would, but it's going to be well worth it," she said.

The calendar will have several pictures for each month, and will include a little history, said Covington, who is doing the design. It also will include excerpts from the school newsletter "The Bethany Blab," which students used to keep up to date with peers during WWII.

One thousand copies of the calendar are being printed and will be sold for $15. It should be available after the May presentation, Covington said. The money raised from calendar sales will go to the Bethany Elementary Historical Fund.

For the project, Pursley requested information from local veterans and the school. For several months, she has been knocking on neighbors' doors to make sure their stories are included.

"Cathy McCarter, the principal, allowed me to remove all the old material up there and take it home with me," Pursley said.

McCarter said she looks forward to seeing the calendar published.

"There'll be a lot of people that people here in the community know because a lot of the people here have been here for a long, long time," McCarter said.

Charles McGill, whose family has run McGill's Store at S.C. 55 and 161 since the 1880s, is one of those people. He carried 100 fellow soldiers' service records in his pack when he went from New York to Grenock, Scotland to serve. He wrote in each record the day the soldier arrived in the United Kingdom.

He eventually handed the records over to officials in Le Havre, France, he said in an account that he wrote for Pursley. His company protected bridges and dodged shells as they made their way toward Germany, he said. They walked for miles each day.

Then one day in April 1945, while McGill and fellow soldiers were heating their rations, a shell exploded outside and shrapnel broke through the wall and pierced his leg. He was transferred to a hospital, then later worked for a Post Exchange in France, which is a store for military personnel.

There used to be a board in the Bethany school that listed those who served in the war, McGill said. He's not sure what happened to it, but Pursley's calendar may serve a similar purpose.

"It's just so children and grandchildren can read about them," McGill said.

He thinks that's an important reason.

For information or to order a calendar, call Bethany Elementary at 222-4093.