BG William James Perry

BG William James Perry was born 20 Jan 1866 in Baltimore, Maryland. He was the 1st of 4 children born to the Reverend William James and Harriet Ruff (Martin) Perry. His father was a minister of the Baltimore conference of the Methodist Church (south) and moved the family to Staunton, Virginia as part of his work. However, Reverend Perry died at age 39 in 1878 after a protracted illness. William attended local public schools before attending Dunsmore Business College. He was a bookkeeper for Augusta National Bank in 1885 when he decided to leave banking for the insurance business. He saw opportunity in providing insurance for southerners who apparently wouldn't buy insurance from northern agents. Successful, he became the agent for the Maryland Life & Land Insurance Company. When the Spanish-American War began in 1898 he enlisted in the local militia unit and was soon a 1LT in K Company 2nd Virginia Regiment. After the war he was made CPT and commander of K Company. He began a general agency in West Virginia in 1900. He was also soon promoted to MAJ in the 2nd Regiment and then LTC by 1903 when he married Maude St. Clair Conrad of Richmond, Virginia. The couple would soon have 3 children, a son in 1904, a daughter in 1905 and another daughter in 1907. William continued to build his business, changing office locations as the business expanded. He was also active in local civic and business interests including real estate.

He participated in the Army maneuvers near Chicamauga, Tennessee in 1908. COL Perry deployed with his regiment to Brownsville, Texas in 1914 and was discharged when the unit returned in 1916. He returned to duty in 1917 when the unit was mobilized for the First World War and commanded the newly formed 116th Infantry Regiment at Camp McClellan, Alabama for a short time. William and Maude welcomed a 2nd son in 1916. William retired as BG Perry in 1920 and the next few years were devoted to his civilian life. However there were several tragedies. Son, James Martin Perry, died age 11 of pneumonia on 26 Oct 1926. Then daughter, Mary Frances Perry, died of pulmonary tuberculosis at age 20 on 24 Jun 1928. This must have had a toll on Maude and she died of pulmonary tuberculosis at the age of 56 on 31 Jul 1931. 

BG Perry never remarried but lived in his home at 16 Washington Street in Staunton, Virginia until his death at age 77 on 20 Apr 1943. He was buried next to his wife in Thornrose Cemetery in Staunton. 

Note: this memorial was published on the 50th anniversary of his passing.

BG Hierome Lindsay Opie Sr.

BG Hierome Lindsay Opie Sr. was born 6 Oct 1880 in Augusta County, Virginia. He was the 2nd of the 7 children of John Newton and Ida Walton (Fletcher) Opie Jr.  Ida was John's 2nd wife, he had previously been married to Isabella (Harmon) Opie who had died in 1877 and Hierome had 4 older half-siblings. 

Hierome would spend nearly all his life in Staunton. He first enlisted in the Staunton Rifles a company of the 70th Regiment of the Virginia Volunteer Infantry in 1899 as a PVT. As such he participated in the unit's service in civil action in the Richmond street car strike of 1903. He founded the Evening Leader newspaper in 1904. Hierome was first commissioned as a 2LT on 13 Jun 1905 and promoted to CPT on 4 Jun 1906. 

Hierome married Mary Eleanor Ranson on 28 Sep 1910. Her father was a prominent local lawyer. The couple would have 4 children of whom the 3rd would die in infancy.

He commanded the Staunton unit then known as I Company 1st Virginia Infantry and in 1916 took the company to service on the Mexican border. Mobilizing with the unit for the war in France, he at first commanded the newly formed A Company 116th Infantry Regiment He was promoted to MAJ on 5 Mar 1918 and assumed command of the 3rd Battalion of the 116th Infantry Regiment. He departed with that unit for France aboard the USS Finland in June 1918. While in France he was wounded on 15 Oct 1918 and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for refusing to be evacuated but continuing to lead his battalion taking the unit objective and consolidating its position. He spent several months recovering from his wounds before he was assigned the command of 1st Battalion 113th Infantry Regiment and returned with that unit aboard the USS Floridian in May 1919.

After returning from France in May 1919, Hierome purchased the Staunton Daily News in that same year and combined the 2 newspapers into the Staunton News-Leader which is still published today. He was active in  establishing the American Legion in Staunton and in supporting the needs of returning soldiers. When the regiment was re-organized as a National Guard unit in 1921, then LTC Opie was convinced to take command of the 116th to be headquartered in Staunton. He worked to make it one of the finest regiments in the National Guard. Despite having a health scare in 1926, he recovered enough to continue in command of the 116th until 1933. COL Opie led the unit in aiding civil authorities in the Danville Mill Strike in 1931 until the unit was relieved. He was also a founder of the Staunton Chamber of Commerce of which he was president for 12 years. Hierome was on the original committee that started the Shenandoah National Park movement. He was a vestryman in the Trinity Episcopal Church. He wrote articles about conservation and wildlife. 

Additionally he was a member of the National Press Club, Sons of the American Revolution, Commonwealth Club of Richmond, the Army and Navy Legion of Honor, the New York Southern Society, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Virginia Academy of Science, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Also, he was a member of Staunton Masonic Lodge No. 13, Staunton-Augusta post Veterans of Foreign Wars, Clemmer-McGuffin post of the American Legion, the Woodrow Wilson post of the 29th Division Association (now Post 116), a charter member of the Staunton Rotary Club, and on the board of directors of the Staunton Industrial Loan Corporation. 

A marksman, he not only promoted marksmanship in his military units, he participated and was on the Virginia team at the national matches at Seagirt, New Jersey in 1906 and at Camp Perry in 1909, 1910, 1911 and 1913. 

Hierome was ill and did not leave home for 22 days before he died on 26 Feb 1943. He was buried in Thornrose Cemetery in Staunton, Virginia in a ceremony attended by U.S. Senator Harry Flood Byrd and Virginia Governor Colgate Darden. 

He was the brother of MG Evarts Walton Opie. His oldest son LTC (USMC Ret) Hierome Lindsay Opie Jr. served with the USMC 1st Division in the south Pacific in WW2 . His youngest son CPT Thomas Ranson Opie, was killed with 15 others when he B29 Superfortress crashed in a training flight near Clovis, New Mexico. 

Note: This memorial was published on the 50th anniversary of his death.

 

COL George Wayne Anderson

COL George Wayne Anderson was born 10 Jul 1863 in Edgehill, Virginia in Albemarle county. He was the 2nd of the 5 children of Edward Clifford and Jane Margaret (Randolph) Anderson. His father was from Savannah, Georgia and at the time of George's birth his father was serving as a Major in the 7th Georgia Cavalry (CSA) ultimately rising to the rank of Colonel and commanding the regiment. His mother from Edgehill and was a granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson. After the war his father returned to the business of banking and served for a time as mayor of Savannah dying of yellow fever in 1876.

George educated in private schools before attending and graduating from the University of Virginia and the University School of Law in 1888. He moved to Richmond to practice law and lived there the rest of his life. George married Estelle Marguerite Burthe on 19 Dec 1889. The couple would have 3 children. He joined the Virginia militia (not yet the National Guard) in 1890 as a 2LT but was already a CPT in May 1891 commanding F Company 1st Virginia Regiment resigning in March 1895 as ordered by the Adjutant General of Virginia. However, by November of that year he was a LTC and in May 1898 became commander of the 1st Virginia Regiment as it mobilized for the Spanish-American War but did not receive a command in any of the 4 Virginia Regiments sent to Federal service. He became active in politics and was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1899 where he supported a constitutional convention. Promoted to Colonel and assigned as commander of th 70th Virginia Regiment in 1900, he would serve in that position until 1906 when he retired from military service. He was then elected to the state Senate in 1901. George was city attorney of Richmond, Virginia 1921-1922 when he died of cancer on 30 Dec of that year. He was buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.

Both sons served in the first World War. 1LT Edward Clifford Anderson served in the 6th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Division and was awarded the Silver Star medal. CPT George Wayne Anderson Jr. was serving with the 313th Field Artillery 80th Division when he was killed in action on 1 Nov 1918.

George has his own Wikipedia page!