Faces of war: Who are the men in soldier's WWII sketches?
) Stan Dube
SARATOGA SPRINGS  N.Y. (AP) — Before the Army's 27th Infantry Division was decimated in a bloody World War II battle   Stan Dube  sketched portraits of  his  fellow soldiers. The 17 drawings were forgotten after the war and stashed in an attic for decades before being found a year ago by  his  son.
Because the 27th was a former New York National Guard unit   Dube  believes most or all of the other 15 men also were New Yorkers.  He  recently donated the original sketches to the New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center in hopes its artifacts and records could be used to help identify more of the soldiers. It's not known whether any of the men depicted in the artwork are still alive.
In this Dec. 8  2017 photo  World War II veteran Wilfred “Spike” Mailloux looks through a series of sketches of U.S. Army 27th Infantry Division soldiers while visiting the New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center in Saratoga Springs  N.Y. They were done in Hawaii by Stan Dube in 1943  a year before the 27th Division fought in the Battle of Saipan. Now  his son  Ira Dube   is hoping to identify the men  so  he  has donated  his  late father’s 15 sketches to the museum. (AP Photo/Chris Carola)
 Stan Dube   who died in 2009  was drafted into the Army while studying architecture at Syracuse University  and  he  put  his  drawing skills to use by sketching pencil- and charcoal-on-paper portraits of  his  fellow soldiers while the 27th Division was stationed in Hawaii in 1943.
The sure-handed sketches mostly show young men looking pensively into the distance  though a few crack a smile.  Dube  drew no backgrounds and barely sketched out  his  subjects' shoulders  but  he  took care to capture  his  subjects' eyes and faces.
On all the drawings   Dube  put the month  year and  his  signature in the lower right corner. Three of the soldiers signed their names next to  Dube 's: Kenneth Reid  Joseph Joner Kratky and Joe Orbe  who added his nickname  "Solid Jackson."
Using information he found online   Ira Dube  was able to track down Kratky and Orbe's relatives in upstate New York. Kratky was killed on Saipan in 1944. Orbe  a New York City native  survived the war and died in 1974.  Dube  hasn't definitively identified the soldier in the Reid sketch.
This undated family photo provided by  Ira Dube  shows  architect Stan Dube .  Stan Dube  sketched members of the U.S. Army's 27th Infantry Division in 1943  a year before the division fought in the Battle of Saipan. Now  Ira Dube  is hoping to identify the fellow soldiers  so  he  has donated the sketches to the New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center. ( Ira Dube  via AP)
SARATOGA SPRINGS  N.Y. (AP) — Before the Army's 27th Infantry Division was decimated in a bloody World War II battle   Stan Dube  sketched portraits of  his  fellow soldiers. The 17 drawings were forgotten after the war and stashed in an attic for decades before being found a year ago by  his  son.
Because the 27th was a former New York National Guard unit   Dube  believes most or all of the other 15 men also were New Yorkers.  He  recently donated the original sketches to the New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center in hopes its artifacts and records could be used to help identify more of the soldiers. It's not known whether any of the men depicted in the artwork are still alive.
In this Dec. 8  2017 photo  World War II veteran Wilfred “Spike” Mailloux looks through a series of sketches of U.S. Army 27th Infantry Division soldiers while visiting the New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center in Saratoga Springs  N.Y. They were done in Hawaii by Stan Dube in 1943  a year before the 27th Division fought in the Battle of Saipan. Now  his son  Ira Dube   is hoping to identify the men  so  he  has donated  his  late father’s 15 sketches to the museum. (AP Photo/Chris Carola)
 Stan Dube   who died in 2009  was drafted into the Army while studying architecture at Syracuse University  and  he  put  his  drawing skills to use by sketching pencil- and charcoal-on-paper portraits of  his  fellow soldiers while the 27th Division was stationed in Hawaii in 1943.
The sure-handed sketches mostly show young men looking pensively into the distance  though a few crack a smile.  Dube  drew no backgrounds and barely sketched out  his  subjects' shoulders  but  he  took care to capture  his  subjects' eyes and faces.
On all the drawings   Dube  put the month  year and  his  signature in the lower right corner. Three of the soldiers signed their names next to  Dube 's: Kenneth Reid  Joseph Joner Kratky and Joe Orbe  who added his nickname  "Solid Jackson."
Using information he found online   Ira Dube  was able to track down Kratky and Orbe's relatives in upstate New York. Kratky was killed on Saipan in 1944. Orbe  a New York City native  survived the war and died in 1974.  Dube  hasn't definitively identified the soldier in the Reid sketch.
This undated family photo provided by  Ira Dube  shows  architect Stan Dube .  Stan Dube  sketched members of the U.S. Army's 27th Infantry Division in 1943  a year before the division fought in the Battle of Saipan. Now  Ira Dube  is hoping to identify the fellow soldiers  so  he  has donated the sketches to the New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center. ( Ira Dube  via AP)