PVT Hobson Dewey Byers

courtesy of J. Stockwell

PVT Hobson Dewey Byers was born 11 Mar 1898 in Alleghany County, Virginia the 3rd of 5 children of John William and Bettie Agnes (Givens) Byers. The family farmed and later, John would work at a papermill in Covington, Virginia.

It seems that Hobson and his older brother Roy enlisted together in a unit which was reorganized as a part of H Company 116th Infantry as both were assigned to the unit. Both brothers were aboard the USS Finland when the unit was sent to France in June 1918.  The brothers were in close proximity when PVT Hobson Byers was killed in action on 23 Oct 1918.

Hobson was repatriated and is buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Covington, Virginia.

His brother Roy Kenneth Byers served as a PFC and survived the war.  He would pass away in 1960 from injuries suffered as a passenger in an auto accident.