Monday, October 10, 2016

PFC Cooper Crawford Lightbown Jr.

from the 1929 Greenbrier Military School Annual
PFC Cooper Crawford Lightbown Jr. was born 11 Nov 1912, probably in Palm Beach, Florida.  His parents were Cooper Crawford and Dyoll (Prather) Lightbown.  His father was a builder who worked with his own brother in Maryland and Florida.  The brothers built Mar-a-Lago (currently owned by President Trump) and the Everglades Club in Palm Beach, Florida.  The senior C. C. Lightbown was Mayor of Palm Beach in the 1922.  Cooper's parents divorced in 1920 and would each re-marry other people. Cooper attended Greenbrier Military School in Lewisburg, West Virginia. After graduating, he would attend Princeton University. Cooper's father died in 1941.

Cooper was drafted in October 1943.  He was already married to Mary Fay Stuart.  After basic training he was sent to the European theater and transferred from the replacement depot to I Company 116th Infantry on 3 Sep 1944. He was promoted to PFC on 14 Sep 1944. PFC Lightbown fought with the unit as a rifleman until killed in action on 10 Oct 1944.

PFC Lightbown was repatriated in 1947 and re-interred in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. 


No comments:

Post a Comment