Rowan County Veterans Buried Abroad
Article by Cindy Leach
November 11, 1919: President Wilson proclaims the first Armistice Day with the following words: "To us in America, the reflections of armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations."
Nearly 130,000 American war dead lie buried on foreign soil. The American Battle Monuments Commission maintains 26 American cemeteries and 32 federal memorials scattered across 17 foreign countries. Thousands of soldiers were being buried on the battlefields in individual or communal graves by their comrades. They were often buried where they fell in action, or in a burial ground on or near the battlefield.
Graves and burial grounds situated in the area of a battlefront were often damaged by subsequent fighting across the same location, resulting in the loss of the original marked graves. Some bodies simply could not be retrieved from underground. Added to this, the technical developments in the weaponry used by all sides frequently caused such dreadful injuries that it was not possible to identify or even find a complete body for burial.
These factors were generally responsible for the high number of “missing” casualties on all sides and for the many thousands of graves for which the identity is described as “Unknown”.
Following World War I, the United States government recognized a need for a burial and repatriation policy for America’s war dead. Over the course of the conflict, more than 116,000 Americans lost their lives in Europe. Under provisions of the law, families of the dead were entitled to select permanent interment of a loved one’s remains in an American military cemetery on foreign soil or repatriation of the remains to the United States for interment in a national or private cemetery. The majority of families chose repatriation. Approximately 30 percent, however, chose permanent interment in Europe.
Out of the 209 Rowan County men in the US Armed Forces in WWI, 15 were killed and 31 were listed as casualties. These figures were supplied to the Rowan County News by Jack Cecil of Morehead. At least 56 men from Rowan County were killed in WWII.
Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial- Belleau, France- WWI
This 42-acre WWI cemetery is located in the foothills of Northern France, and is the final resting place for casualties from the Battle of Belleau Wood and the Battle of Château-Thierry, where many Americans lost their lives. The cemetery contains 2,288 burials, 251 of which contain unknown remains, while the memorial wall of the chapel (built over the location of the trenches from the battle) lists 1,060 soldiers missing in action.
Cpl. George A. Jones (Elliottville) Corporal, 18TH Infantry, First Division, Kentucky. Unknown birth – 7/21/1918 France. In addition to his burial in Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, his name is commemorated on another monument in Buzancy, France.
Cimetière communal de Champigny- Bourgogne, France
Smith, Ashpy Evans, Staff Sergeant, 60th Bomb Squadron, 388th Bomb Group, Left Waist Gunner on B-17F #42-3293 "Slightly Dangerous" MACR 3113. Killed in Action. 1/17/1905-9/6/1943. Enlistment date 9/23/1942, was employed at the Mayflower Tourist Camp at time of enlistment.
Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial- Moselle, France
Located just outside Saint-Avold, Moselle, France, this cemetery and memorial covers 113.5 acres and contains 10,489 graves, the largest number of any American WWII cemetery in Europe. Those interred died mostly in the autumn of 1944 during the drive to the Siegfried Line as the Americans sought to expel the Germans; they were mainly part of the U.S. Third and Seventh Armies.
Tabor, Bascom H, PFC, FOD (1/24/1921-9/11/1944). 11th Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division. Enlistment date 10/19/1939.
Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial- Meuse, France- WWI
This 130.5-acre World War I cemetery is located east of the village of Romagne-sous-Montfaucon in Meuse, and contains the largest number of American military dead in Europe. Most of the 14,246 interred here lost their lives during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. The walls of the chapel include tablets of the missing which are inscribed with the names of those soldiers who fought in the region and in northern Russia, but have no known grave.
Pvt. ElishaConn (Smile) Private, 23 Infantry, Second Division, Kentucky. 2/28/1893 Rowan Co, KY -10/7/1918 France.
Pvt. William Cundiff (Morehead) Private First Class, 165th Infantry, Second Division. 5/13/1895 Rowan Co, KY – 10/14/1918.
Pvt. William Matchy Jordan (Morehead) Private, 6 Infantry, Fifth Division, Kentucky 1/17/1895 Rowan Co, KY – 10/14/1918
Pvt. (William) Thomas Rigsby (Craney) Private, 6 Infantry, Fifth Division, AEF 2/8/1896– 10/14/1918
Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial- Nettuno, Italy
Established in Nettuno, Lazio, as a temporary wartime cemetery on January 24, 1944, two days after the landing at Anzio and Nettuno – codenamed Operation Shingle[1] – the site covers 77 acres. A large field of headstones contains 7,861 graves of American military war dead. The majority of these men died in the liberation of Sicily, in the landings in the Salerno Area and at Anzio and Nettuno, and in air and naval support in the regions. The site also includes a chapels whose white marble walls contain the names of 3,095 of the missing.
James, Ray, Corporal, Killed in Action. 1913- 11/12/1944. Enlistment date 5/12/1941.
Toler, Ernest Clayton Seaman 2 Class USNR, (1925-7/11/1944).
Somme American Cemetery and Memorial- Bony, France
Situated 0.5 miles southwest of the commune of Bony, Aisne, in northern France, this cemetery is located on a gentle slope typical of the open, rolling Picardy countryside. The 14.3-acre cemetery was established in October 1918 on ground that saw heavy fighting just before and during the Battle of St Quentin Canal. It contains the graves of 1,844 U.S. military dead from World War I. Most lost their lives in the assault on the Hindenburg Line while serving in American II Corps attached to the British Fourth Army. Others were killed in operations near Cantigny. An additional 333 names are listed on the wall of the chapel, in remembrance of the missing.
Cpl. Troy Mullins (Haldeman) Corporal, Company A, 18th Infantry, Ist Infantry Division. 7/1898 Elliott Co, KY – 5/14/1918.
Manilla American Cemetery and Memorial- Metro Manila, Philippines
Located in Fort Bonifacio, within the boundaries of the former Fort William McKinley, this 152-acre cemetery contains 17,206 graves, and has the largest number of graves of any cemetery for U.S. personnel killed during World War II. Many of the personnel whose remains are interred or represented were killed in New Guinea, or during the Battle of the Philippines (1941–42) or the Allied recapture of the islands. Twenty-three Medal of Honor recipients are buried or memorialized at the Manila cemetery. Also honored are the five Sullivan Brothers, who perished when their light cruiser was sunk in June 1942.
Stevens, Major, PFC, (KIA Missing in Action East China Sea, died on the ship Arisan Maru (Japanese Prisoner of War ship) on 10/24/1944, Burial in Manila American Cemetery in Manila, Philippines. Monument Fort William McKinley, Manila, Philippines). 60th Cavalry Regiment, 60th Coast Artillery Regiment (Antiaircraft), Harbor Defenses of Manila and Subic Bays.
Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial- Margraten, Netherlands
This 65.5-acre site is located along the famous Cologne-Boulogne highway, originally built by the Romans and used by Julius Caesar. Hitler's legions advanced over the route in 1940, overwhelming the Low Countries, and later used it to withdraw four years later. The cemetery is the final resting place for 8,301 American dead, most of who lost their lives nearby. An additional 1,722 names of American missing are inscribed on the walls of the cemetery’s court of honor.
Stevens, Leonard Dallas, Private First Class, Killed in Action. 9/10/1923-2/3/1945. Enlistment date 7/13/1943.
Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial- Normandy, France
On June 8, 1944, the U.S. First Army established a nearby site as a temporary cemetery, the first American cemetery on European soil in World War II. After the war, the present-day cemetery was established a short distance to the east, in Colleville-sur-Mer. The cemetery is located on a bluff overlooking Omaha Beach, one of the Normandy Invasion landing beaches, and the English Channel. It covers 172 acres and contains the remains of 9,387 American military dead, most of who were killed during the invasion of Normandy. It includes the graves of Army Air Corps crews shot down over France as early as 1942, three American women, and the graves of two sons of President Theodore Roosevelt.
Williams, Joseph Ralph (8/21/1916-6/19/1944 Basse-Normandie, France) Motor Machinist’s Mate First Class, US Navy Reserve. Missing, later declared dead June 20, 1945, Normandy and bombardment of Cherbourg, June 19, 1944, English Channel. Memorial in Normandy American Cemetery. There is a stone in the Williams –Turner cemetery in memorial to him.
It was reported that Seaman Joe Williams’ landing craft made three trips during the Normandy Invasion. The first one may have been on June 6th (D Day). The last trip was on the 19th and that’s when they hit the mine. There were behind another craft that got hung up and Joe’s vessel went around it to complete their run and hit the mine. They were transporting a load of Sherman Tanks and the 300th Army Engineers. (findagrave.com)
North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial- Tunisia, North Africa
At the 27-acre North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial in Tunisia rest 2,841 of our military dead, their headstones set in straight lines subdivided into nine rectangular plots by wide paths, with decorative pools at their intersections. Along the southeast edge of the burial area, bordering the tree-lined terrace leading to the memorial is the Wall of the Missing. On this wall 3,724 names are engraved. Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified. Most honored here lost their lives in World War II in military activities ranging from North Africa to the Persian Gulf.
Turner, George Harrison, PVT, 31st Signal Construction Battalion, U.S. Army, KIA. 10/13/1905-11/27/1943. He enlisted in the Army on December 10, 1942 in Huntington, West Virginia.
Burial at Sea
Catron, Herbert Owen, Seamen First Class, US Navy, Reported Missing.
7/28/1924-5/17/1944 Honolulu, Hawaii, Memorial in Honolulu, Hawaii. Originally reported missing, lost in Vanuatu (New Hebrides)
Sources
https://www.coffeeordie.com/military-cemeteries-foreign-soil
http://www.greatwar.co.uk/war-graves/ww1-war-graves.htm
https://www.pritzkermilitary.org/
Rowan County News, Rowan County News Centennial Edition, Find a Grave, Ancestry.com