In the basement of a very normal upper-middle-class home in Coshocton, Ohio, there is a world-class, one-of-a-kind collection. To call it jaw-dropping would be an understatement. A letter from King George III. Two letters from Abraham Lincoln. A French Bicorne, with a cockade, from the Napoleonic Wars. At least five Medals of Honor, including a Tiffany Cross. More swords, sabers, and daggers than you can shake a stick at. A smattering of uniforms, from Revolutionary to modern. And more than enough other random militaria to spend at least an entire day admiring.
Bill Given's journey into the world of military memorabilia began when he stumbled upon a box of relics from World War II at his uncle’s house in the 1970s. Filled with mementos and captured trophies, Bill describes it as a treasure trove, an Aladdin’s Box of wonders. This box, gifted to him by his uncle upon his college graduation, marked the beginning of a lifelong love affair with military history and memorabilia.
Bill was born in Spokane, Washington, an Army Brat. When he was about five years old, the family moved to Cleveland and then to Coshocton in the late 1950s, where his dad set up shop as a funeral director. Bill headed off to college at Ohio State in Columbus, where he studied a hodgepodge of things: philosophy, astronomy, and history, among others. He graduated and then headed to Cincinnati for graduate studies at the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science.
After getting all the requisite education, Bill headed back to Coshocton to join the family business and put down roots. He married Lori – a local girl – in 1973, and they got to work starting a family. Two kids, Jason and Allison, three grandkids, and a full life & career later, Bill and Lori are now enjoying their retirement years.
What began with the mysterious box from his uncle many years ago has blossomed into a passion for collecting, driven by Bill's love of history and his understanding of the pervasive violence throughout human history. “The American Civil War was devastating, but it ultimately brought us together,” he says. “I think it’s important to both enjoy and learn from our history.”
Bill is active in the community outside of collecting militaria. He still works a bit (let’s call him semi-retired). He’s a Rotarian. He plays guitar in a rock band. He’s doing his best to stay as young as he can, to “not let the old man in,” he says with a charismatic grin. “I try to live each day as if it’s my last.”
He also serves on the Board of Directors for the SABA Trust – a local philanthropic organization that gifts funds to other tax-exempt organizations in the community to further each of their missions. Over the past 20 years, they’ve donated a bit more than half a million dollars, all unrestricted. “We feel that those folks best know how to spend the money to carry out their plan and accomplish their goals,” Bill says. 
“You always have to have a plan,” Bill says. Each of the community organizations he works with has a plan. He has a business plan. He’s got a plan for the collection. Dan has been instrumental in the vision and implementation of those plans, both personal and professional. “It’s been a pleasure being with the LaMacchia family for the past 20 years. Being with a family business is comforting and provides stability.”
But it’s the collecting and the collection that Bill loves the most. He says that both he and Lori are collectors. Antiques, Americana, a smattering of things. But obviously, it’s that little museum in the basement that is the centerpiece.
When asked which is his favorite piece in the collection, Bill laughs a bit and says it’s like trying to declare a favorite child. But after a moment’s thought, he turns to a display on the wall. “Probably the H.P. Boon Medal of Honor.”
Hugh P. Boon was a Captain in the Union Army, the West Virginia Calvary. He fought alongside the likes of George Custer and was at Appomattox when Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant, ending the war. But it was at the Battle of Sayler’s Creek in 1865 that Boon earned his Medal of Honor when he captured the flag of the Georgia 10th Infantry while protecting the Union flank. Boon saw that the enemy was approaching the flank, directed his men toward them, and in the process, “cut down” the Georgia flag bearer.
That Medal of Honor, with its accompanying certificates, is now on display in Bill’s basement. In 1904, the Medal of Honor was redesigned, and the new version was given to Boon—and it is beside the original on display in Bill’s collection.
Bill occasionally takes parts of his collection on the road, visiting schools and clubs and other shows with various pieces to bring to life for awestruck audiences. “It’s a thrill to watch people experience the past,” he says. “Especially young people.”
His enthusiasm for collecting the memorabilia of our military history is infectious. Bill’s son, Jason, has started his own collection. There are a few other young collectors around the small town of Coshocton who were inspired by Bill – he jokingly refers to them as his “annexes.” Bill himself is considered a young collector, relative to the average. He’s very well known in the hobby’s community, though. Others call him, looking for advice and inside information. He’s even on speed dial for some of the most well-known buyers and sellers in the country.
As for Bill, though history is his passion, he’s not ignorant of the future. That, to Bill, is the key: ensuring that our future is secure from the atrocities of our past.
“We’re all just caretakers of these things,” Bill says. “I am certainly not celebrating the Confederates or Nazis but rather making sure that we don’t forget about them. We must make sure that we show people these things so that we don’t ever let them happen again.”