U.S. Army Lieut. Col. (ret.) George W. Zapf, 88, a major contributor to World War II Island lore, died Oct. 25 in Jensen Beach, Fla.

As a young officer assigned to guard and protect Island shores, then-Lieutenant Zapf one night discovered footsteps in the sand on Island beaches that indicated German spies had disembarked from submarines, rode ashore in rubber boats and infiltrated the Vineyard.

While no German agents were detected or apprehended here and the accuracy of the report has never been verified, the story of the Vineyard invasion is still remembered and retold on the Island.