TSGT Sheppard John Wohlford

TSGT Sheppard John Wohlford was born in Bland County, Virginia in or near the town of Mechanicsburg on 17 Aug 1917. Named "John Sheppard Wohlford" on his birth certificate he probably went by Sheppard all his life to distinguish him from his father which is how he came to enlist by that name. Sheppard was the 3rd of the 4 children born to John Samuel and Nannie May (Sheppard) Wohlford. His father owned a farm along Walker Creek Valley Road in Bland County which he farmed before selling and moving to Pulaski county where he rented a farm in the Newbern district. The family moved to Frederick county, Virginia in 1932 where his mother bought a home valued at $6000. Sheppard graduated from Handley High School in 1937 and began working. His father died in 1934 of thyroid cancer. By 1940 his older brother managed a feed mill, his older sister worked as a stenographer and Sheppard was a clerk at the A&P store in Winchester, Virginia. His younger sister worked as a technician in the local hospital. So the children worked to support their mother earning a combined income reported as $2800 for 1939. 

Sheppard enlisted in the local National Guard unit, I Company 116th Infantry and rose to the rank of PFC which is the rank he held on 3 Feb 1941 when the unit was federalized, supposedly for 1 year. The whole regiment was sent to Fort George Meade, Maryland for processing and training. During that time it was often possible for soldiers to get passes or leave to go home. The unit then participated in the Carolina Maneuvers near Fort Bragg, North Carolina and in training at Camp Blanding, Florida. Sheppard then sailed to England with his regiment in September 1942. Once in England he trained with the unit for the planned amphibious assault that was to be a major part of the liberation of northern occupied  France. It was during this time period that he rose to the rank of TSGT, a platoon sergeant of one of the infantry platoons in I Company. Sheppard was leading his platoon when they crossed the beach on the morning of 6 Jun 1944. His group was taking fire from a sniper and he moved with SGT Douglas Ordorff moved to eliminate the threat. The pair were about 75 yards off the beach when TSGT Wohlford was killed. 

TSGT Wohlford is buried in the Normandy American Cemetery. 

Grandfather, George C. Wohlford, served as First Lieutenant in F Company 45th Virginia Infantry (CSA) in the Civil War.