PVT William Warren Weaver

PVT William Warren Weaver was born 28 Jan 1919 in Rugby, in Grayson County, Virginia. He was the 5th of 6 children born to James Edward and Pearl Mae (Farmer) Weaver. His father was a farmer on Little Helton Road but died in 1922 at the age of 36 when he was thrown from a horse and his head struck a rock. Life was tough for the family although they were fortunate to own their land Warren (as the family called him), also worked at farming probably to feed the family, most of whom still lived at the home.  His education didn't continue past the 1st year of high school probably so that he could work. However, a need for money sent Warren into the Civilian Conservation Corps and he was assigned to Company 2384 at Moneta, Virginia. 

Warren was drafted in April 1941. This being early in the war he was sent to Fort George Meade, Maryland and once there was probably assigned to L Company 116th Infantry as a replacement for one of that unit's soldiers being sent to other units as cadre or for technical training. Once he was assigned he trained with the unit there, near Fort Bragg, North Carolina duing the Carolina Maneuvers and at Camp Blanding, Florida. He was then sent to England with his unit aboard the Queen Mary. In England PVT Weaver trained with the unit as it prepared for the planned amphibious operation that was to take place on the beaches of Normandy. PVT Weaver was apparently shot and was killed in action in that amphibious assault on 6 Jun 1944. 

Repatriated in 1947, PVT Weaver was re-interred in the Gideon Weaver Cemetery in Rugby, Virginia. 

There is unique story relating to PVT Weaver. Cliff Goodall served with the 7th Naval Beach Battalion on D-Day as a Navy signalman. As he tells the story, he was serving near the beach, tripped and had his helmet fall off and roll into a mine field. Abandoning that helmet for obvious reasons he went in search of another and found one nearby. He wore that helmet for the rest of the war and brought it home with him. Although he had previously tried to find out something about the soldier who had lost the helmet it was 60-years later he discovered that it had been the helmet of our own PVT Weaver. Mr. Goodall donated it to the National D-Day Memorial in 2009.