PVT Herman Sylvester Robertson

courtesy of Jackie Stout

PVT Herman Sylvester Robertson was born 23 Sep 1911 in Spottswood, Virginia. He was the 8th of the 9 children born to Arora Davis and Evelina Elizabeth (Harlow) Robertson. His father farmed for others and did odd jobs to support his family. By 1930 both Herman and older brother Robert were working to help support the family who lived near Riverheads, Virginia. Herman did all he could to support himself. He served for 5-years in the Civilian Conservation Corps then he moved to Baltimore, Maryland and worked in a brickyard earning $400 for the 1939. He married Fannie May Berry in November 1942, she had been working as a waitress in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

After he was drafted in April 1944 he went to Camp McClellan, Alabama for basic training. He was able to come home for a furlough and visit with his wife and mother who had a farewell dinner for him on 30 Aug 1944. From there he went to Fort Meade, Maryland from which he was shipped to England arriving there in October 1944. He was quickly sent to the replacement depot in France and then transferred from there to B Company 116th Infantry. PVT Robertson was killed in action near Setterich, Germany on 18 Nov 1944.

PVT Robertson was repatriated in 1950 and re-interred in the McElwee Chapel Cemetery in Rockbridge Baths, Virginia.

Herman's older brother Robert E. Lee Robertson served in the U.S. Navy from April 1944 to November 1945.