EMMETT -- Memorabilia from an Idaho World War II Veteran will be on the auction block in a week. His relatives want to keep it in the family or in a museum.
The late Colonel Charles Wesley Sawyer has deep roots in the Gem State. He was born to homesteaders in Emmett, went to school in Emmett and studied at the University of Idaho before volunteering to serve in the military.
"He was one of a handful of American volunteer group people, also known as Flying Tigers," said his only living child, Charles Robert Sawyer.
Colonel Sawyer returned to the U.S. in 1943. In 1970, he married Edith, his second wife. Sawyer died just eight years later.
"[Edith] received all his assets according to his will," said Charles Robert Sawyer.
Age and illness eventually got the best of Edith.
"She became an indigent ward of the State of Idaho, which provided her services because it was determined that she couldn't care for herself," said Charles Robert Sawyer.
Charles and his uncle Larry, Sawyer's brother, tried to buy the Sawyer's relics from Edith. When she died, they tried to buy them from her estate, but couldn't.
"The state has stepped in to take control of the estate because Edith benefited from the State Department of Health and Welfare, which is now trying to recoup its costs," said Charles Robert Sawyer.
The state plans to do that by selling the family heirlooms at auction. Sawyer said the items are worth, at most, $20,000 or $30,000. That's just a small portion of what he said Edith owes the state. The Sawyer family wanted to give Col. Sawyer's flight jacket and framed flag to a museum. The rest, they planned to keep in the family.
"It's particularly painful because this is Memorial Day, when we're supposed to honor our veterans, and what's happening is a gross dishonor," he said.
Charles and the Sawyer family just want to honor their decorated family member.
"I think on one hand he would be outraged," Charles Robert Sawyer said. "On the other hand, I think he would be proud that we are putting up a fight to preserve his legacy."
The Sawyer family said they will have a representative at the auction next Saturday, and they will bid as high as they can.
