PVT Curtis LeRoy Yeager

PVT Curtis LeRoy Yeager was born 24 Sep 1896 in Terre Haute, Indiana. He was the youngest of 6 children born to James A. and Barbara Berry (Grindle). His mother had lost 3 previous husbands before she married James Yeager. His father worked as a common laborer and about 1900 he lost his right arm to a minor injury which had caused blood poisoning which required amputation of the arm to save his life.

After entering the Army on 28 Mar 1918 in Terre Haute, Indiana, Curtis was sent to Camp Taylor, Kentucky and was then transferred to Camp Gordon, Georgia. Curtis was assigned to L Company 116th Infantry and transported with his unit to France. The unit sailed from Hoboken, New Jersey aboard the USS Finland on 15 June 1918.  He died on 19 Oct 1918 of wounds suffered on 12 Oct 1918. PVT Yeager was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his efforts in that fight.  The citation for that award best tells the story of his final hours and days.

Private Curtis L. Yeager (deceased) - Company, One Hundred and Sixteenth Infantry (A. S. No. 2003864). For extraordinary heroism in action near Verdun, France, Oct. 12, 1918, Private Yeager, in an exposed position, under heavy machine gun and artillery barrage, kept up an effective fire from his automatic rifle until severely wounded. After waiting seven hours with a comrade for a stretcher, and only one arriving, although practically unconscious, he insisted on his comrade leaving first.

PVT Yeager is buried in the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery.

Paternal grandfather, Nathaniel Yeager, had served as a CPL in I Company 16th Indiana Infantry in the Civil War. Maternal grandfather, John Corneal Grindle, served as a PVT in D Company 43rd Indiana Infantry.

1LT John Lyon

John Lyon's 1915 passport photo

1LT John Lyon was born 2 Apr 1893 in Ballston, Virginia.  He was the 2nd of 3 children and only son born to Frank and Georgie Hays (Wright) Lyon.  John's father was a lawyer and real estate speculator/developer.  He had worked for the Southern Railroad Company, as personal secretary for a commissioner of the Interstate Commerce commission. He was a stenographer for the Constitutional Convention of Virginia. He founded the real estate firm of Lyon and Fitch, Inc. (later Lyon Properties and Lyon Inc.) and developed land in Arlington County including Lyon Park.

John attended Western High School, the University of Virginia and Georgetown Law School. He also worked as an associate editor for Field and Stream magazine. John applied in 1915 for his passport so that he could go to Great Britain and "do hospital work" but drove ambulances for the Red Cross in France.

After 6 months in France he returned to the U.S. and joined a local National Guard unit and served in the Mexican Border service.  It is likely that he was the most combat experienced of any in his company. He was still a member of the unit when it was federalized in 1917 and then assigned to Machine Gun Company 116th Infantry.  After participating in the training at Camp McClellan, Alabama he traveled with the unit aboard the USS Finland to France.  The ship docked at the port of Saint Nazaire on 28 Jun 1918. After the unit went through the trench warfare training and a period of  acclimatization in a "quiet" sector on the front lines it was part of a major offensive in the vicinity of Verdun. On 16 Oct 1918 the unit was involved in fighting when the commander of the 3rd Battalion, MAJ Heriome Opie was wounded. 1LT Lyon was killed in action when he tried to help MAJ Opie. 

1LT Lyon was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in 1919. This is the citation:

John Lyon, first lieutenant, Machine Gun Company, 116th Infantry, Twenty-ninth division. For extraordinary heroism in action near Damogneux, France, October 15, 1918. During the attack on the Bois De La Grande Monagne, Lieut. Lyon left a place of comparative safety to cross an open space, exposed to direct observation and fire from the enemy, to attempt the rescue of a wounded officer. He and the two men who accompanied him were killed in this attempt.

He was repatriated and re-interred in the Blanford Cemetery in Petersburg, Virginia.

Grandfather, John Lyon, was CPT of B Company 12th Virginia Infantry 1861-1862.

Links:
- Remembering Arlington's John Lyon 
- John Lyon VFW Post 3150

1LT Floyd Lowell Cunningham

1LT Floyd Lowell Cunningham was born in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota on 1 Apr 1886. He was the eldest of the five children born to George William and Itasca Ann (Sherman) Cunningham. His father was first a farmer. After his mother died in 1897, George moved nearer his maternal grandparents and worked as a butcher while Floyd was made the ward of Huston and Helen Hays in Brown County, Minnesota near Sleepy Eye. George remarried in 1902 and after farming some in Minnesota he moved with his new wife and their young son to Perry, New Mexico and Dallam, Texas. 

What Floyd was doing in this time is unclear but he may have enlisted in the Minnesota National Guard and did duty as a Second Lieutenant on the Mexican border in 1916 and was discharged in January 1917. However, he was soon back in service and departed for France in June 1918 aboard the USAT Finland as a First Lieutenant in K Company 116th Infantry. 1LT was killed in action on 15 Oct 1918 north east of Consenvoye, France in the vicinity of Molleville Farm. 

Posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the citation is as follows:

"The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to First Lieutenant (Infantry) Floyd L. Cunningham, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Division, A.E.F., near Brabant, France, 8 October 1918. Lieutenant Cunningham displayed rare courage in voluntarily going to the assistance of a wounded comrade, under heavy machine-gun and shell fire."

1LT Cunningham was among the soldiers repatriated aboard the USAT Wheaton in July 1921. He now rests near his immediate family in the Home Cemetery in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota.

2LT Henry Rysdyk Blackham

2LT Henry Rysdyk Blackham was assigned to A Company 116th Infantry.  Born 15 Dec 1891 in Jersey City, New Jersey he was one of 3 sons of David and Clara A (DeWolfe) Blackham.  His father's parents were Irish.  In 1900 his father was a clerk for the telephone company and by 1910 was a stenographer for a lumber company (name unknown).  It doesn't appear that either of his brothers served in the military.  2LT Blackham was killed in action 11 Oct 1918 near Brabant, France.  For his actions that date he was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross (Posthumously) to Second Lieutenant (Infantry) Henry Rysdyk Blackham, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Division, A.E.F., near Brabant, France, 11 October 1918. Although severely wounded by machine-gun fire, Lieutenant Blackham refused to go to the rear and continued to lead his company until he was killed.
General Orders: War Department, General Orders No. 20 (1919)

 

PVT James R Dunn

PVT  James R. Dunn was born about 1895 in Richmond, Virginia. He was the only son of Thomas Berison and Victoria Maude (Swan) Dunn. His father farmed but died in 1899. His mother remarried to a distant cousin of his father's, James Cary Dunn who was also a farmer.

After entering the army James was sent to France with B Company 116th Infantry aboard the USS Finland departing Newark, New Jersey on 15 Jun 1918. PVT Dunn was wounded and died of his wound(s) on 11 Oct 1918.

He received the Distinguished Service Cross in 1919. The following is the citation:

PVT James Dunn, Company B, 116th Infantry, (ASN 1287216). For extraordinary heroism in action near Bois Brabant-sur-Meuse, France October 8, 1918. PVT Dunn, with four other soldiers, fearlessly attacked eight machine-gun positions and succeeded, after stubborn resistance, in capturing both guns and crews. Home address Mrs. James F. Dunn, Richmond, Virgnia.

We are certain that PVT Dunn was repatriated and re-interred in Virginia but do not know where.

CPT Robert Young Conrad

Robert Young Conrad was born 30 Dec 1884 in Winchester, Virginia to MAJ Holmes and Georgia Forman (Bryan) Conrad. His final resting place is in the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery.

The following was posted by Cenantua on CPT Conrad's FindAGrave memorial:

Class of 1905, Virginia Military Institute; Class of 1910, University of Virginia law school; became a partner in the law office of his father. On June 19, 1916, Conrad was called-up as a captain in the Virginia National Guard, and went to the Border with the Second Virginia Regiment, and was stationed at Brownsville, Tex., for eight months. The Second Virginia was mustered out of Service in February, 1917, but was called into Federal Service again in a few weeks. Captain Conrad, as commanding officer of Company "L," then did guard duty on the Southern and Norfolk and Western Railroads for five months, after which the Second Virginia was ordered to Camp McClellan, Anniston, Ala., and there became a part of the Twenty-ninth, or "Blue and Gray" Division. After nine months' training, the regiment sailed for France, June 15, 1918.

He was wounded on the Verdun front Oct. 8, 1918, and died the next day. Posthumously, Conrad was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for "extraordinary heroism in action near Samogreux, France, on Oct. 8, 1918," according to archive information. Although Conrad was buried at Verdun.

From the Washington Post 10/10/1920: Honor Capt. Conrad's Memory Special to The Washington Post. Winchester, Va., Oct. 8. - Services in memory of Capt. Robert Y. Conrad, the only commissioned officer from Winchester killed in the world war, were held yesterday in Mount Hebron Cemetery by officers and members of Company I, First Virginia regiment, known locally as "Capt. Bob's" company. Capt. Conrad was mortally wooded October 8, 1918, while leading his men at Malbrouck Hill. Taps was sounded by the company bugler at the foundation of a monument to be erected in the cemetery in memory of Capt. Conrad.

[Letters from two of his Lieutenants:

"Captain Greenlee D. Letcher, Battery 'F,' 111th F. A., A. E. F.

"At your request, it gives me pleasure to write of my C. O., Captain Robert Y. Conrad, Co. 'I,' 116th Inf., A. E. F. I was one of his Second Lieutenants, and was from Newark, N. J., of the 'Blue and Gray' Division. I either served immediately under him, or with him. in the 116th Infantry, from May 1, 1918, and I knew him well, and admired him greatly. A fine big fellow, and every inch a man and a soldier. Loved by all his men who expressed their confidence in him by saying they would follow him through Hell, and they would, and they did.

"In the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, Captain Conrad's Company was in the thick of it, being assaulting Company, the first day. "Captain Conrad was shot through the head, leading his men, on the morning of October 8, 1918, between nine and ten o'clock, at the Enemy's third line trenches.

"In the violence of their assault, they (his Company) had swept beyond the objective set for them, and, at the third line trench, met a murderous machine-gun fire, and Captain Conrad fell mortally wounded.

"His men gave him first aid, and German prisoners (captured by his Company) carried him to the rear.

"Private I. Auemange of his Company told me that the Captain urged his men to go forward, saying: 'Don't bother with me. Go ahead!' He died the same day at Gloneux, in sight of Verdun, to the South-west.

"He was shot in the Bois Brabant-Sur-Meuse. I write these details as they were given to me. I was at the time on Detached Service at Grondue Courts. With this letter I give you a photograph of Captain Conrad's grave, made by me on the 24th of March. And I also give you the negative, as you desire to have an enlargement made, to present to the V. M. I. where Captain Conrad received his military education. The School should be proud of him, and it is a pleasure to me to write this remembrance of my Captain Conrad.

Yours, &c.,

Harky a. Douglass, 2nd Lt., 116th Inf., 29th Div.'"

"Our Captain, Robert Young Conrad, commanding Company I, 116th Infantry, a man's man, beloved by all who knew him! Time after time, his men spoke of him, saying they would follow him through Hell. With his face to the foe, he fell upon the Field of Honour, mortally wounded, while leading his men forward toward the Enenay's third line trenches, the morning of the 8th of October, 1918. His Company was the assaulting Company, on the right. As the hour approached, he was among his men speaking words of cheer.

"At the first gun, the shrill blast of his whistle started the men forward across 'No Man's Land' toward the German lines. He was like a boy at a picnic, going hither and thither, encouraging here and driving there. On and on he led them, until the objective was almost reached — when a murderous stream of machine-gun fire from the Bois-Brabant-Sur-Meuse temporarily haulted his men. Undaunted, fearless, he passed among them; gathering them together, he led them forward, until he fell mortally wounded. Hurriedly, he was evacuated to the rear by German prisoners captured by his men, and a noble effort was made to save his life.

The Supreme Sacrifice was made, and an American Hero sleeps on the sunny fields of France.

Harold R. Dinges, 1st Lt., Co. 'I,' 116th Infantry."

His young wife wrote: ''It makes me so happy to hear of his beautiful deeds; he was always helping some one and mostly by the example of his happy, trustful nature. His mother sent me the last three letters he wrote her, and in one of them he says: 'All old people will have me for a friend forever. I never saw one that I remember who couldn't teach me something, and very, very few were not very kind and very generous.' Isn't it strange that he should write that, just as you tell me about his stand for General Shipp?

"He only taught me 'the glory of the trenches,' and, so, that is all I have ever been able to see, and I know he is content."

The "Distinguished Service Cross" was awarded to him, posthumously, by direction of the President, tb rough the Commanding General, A. E. F., with the Citation as follows: "Robert Y. Conrad, Captain. 116th Infantry. "For extraordinary heroism in action near Samogneux, France, October 8, 1918. "Captain Conrad led his Company in assault, capturing many prisoners and machine-guns. He continually inspired h's men by utter disregard of danger, and was mortally wounded, while leading a charge on a machine-gun nest."

A daughter was born to Captain and Mrs. Conrad, after his death, and has been named for her father, and will be called "Robbie."

1LT Verne Vosburg Morse

1LT Verne Vosburg Morse was born 24 Oct 1918 in Oil City, Pennsylvania. He was the 4th of 5 children of Wycomo Edward and Ethel Cornelia (Vosburg) Morse. His father worked as a conductor on the Pennsylvania Rail Road for many years. The family lived at 107 Allegheny Avenue in Oil City and 512 Jackson Street in Reynoldsville. Verne was able to graduate from high school. While his father earned $2000 as a conductor in 1939, Verne only earned 1/10th of that or $200 as a grocery clerk in 1939. When he registered for the draft in October 1940, Verne was employed by American Stores Company in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. 

Verne voluntarily enlisted in the U.S. Army on 27 Jan 1942. It was probably during his initial training or first permanent assignment that he was identified as being "officer material" and sent to officer candidate school. He also had to deal with family tragedy as both of his parents died at separate times in 1943. Sometime after commissioning he was sent to England and on 1 Jun 1944 was assigned to D Company 116th Infantry as part of the "plus up" of officers for the amphibious assault. Whether or not he ever had an opportunity to train for the event is unknown but he performed his duties very well indeed and he was promoted to 1LT and awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

MORSE, VERNE V. Citation: The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Verne V. Morse (0-1292044), First Lieutenant (Infantry), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as a Platoon Leader in an Infantry Company of the 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division, in action against enemy forces on 6 June 1944, at Normandy, France. In the initial assault upon the cost of France, First Lieutenant Morse landed with his platoon in the face of heavy enemy rifle, machine gun and artillery fire. This intense fire pinned the men down on a narrow beachhead, inflicting numerous casualties with resultant disorganization. In the reorganization and preparation of his platoon for attack, First Lieutenant Morse fearlessly and with complete disregard for his own safety, on numerous occasions exposed himself to the direct enemy fire. He then led his platoon in a successful assault upon the enemy positions. The personal bravery and superior leadership demonstrated by First Lieutenant Morse exemplify the highest traditions of the military forces of the United States and reflect great credit upon himself, the 29th Infantry Division, and the United States Army. Headquarters, First U.S. Army, General Orders No. 29 (June 29, 1944) Home Town: Jefferson County, Pennsylvania.

 

His  heroics did not end and on 1 Jul 1944 he received the Bronze Star. Just 5 days later, on 6 Jul 1944, he was wounded and evacuated to hospital in England where he spent the next 3½ months recuperating. He was returned to D Company on 4 Nov 1944 and in actions in November and December 1944 earned 2 more awards of the Bronze Star. On 18 Jan 1945 he was sent on temporary duty to the replacement depot returning to D Company on 7 Feb 1945. He then continued to serve in D Company as a Platoon Leader until transferred to C Company 116th Infantry to serve as Company Commander effective 12 Mar 1945. The last action C Company saw was on 3 May 1945, at the Elbe River. Some time after that 1LT Morse contracted meningitis and was sent to hospital where he died of the disease on 5 Jun 1945. 

 

1LT Morse rests forever in the Netherlands American Cemetery. 

Both of Verne's brothers also served in the U.S. Army in Europe during the war.

2LT Emerson Marvin Visch

home on leave before OCS

2LT Emerson Marvin Visch was born 11 Nov 1915 in Zeeland, Michigan. He was the only child of John Garrett and Carrie (Riemersma) Visch. His father worked as a foreman in a furniture factory operated by the Zeeland Furniture Company and, beginning in 1927, for the Wilcox-Gray Corporation in Charlotte, Michigan. Emerson lived with his family at 503 Lovett Street and 404 Warren Avenue in Charlotte while attending Charlotte High School. He graduated in 1934. He also worked for Wilcox-Gray before he found work at Miller-Jones Shoe Store in Charlotte and became an assistant manager there. Unfortunately, his mother had heart disease and died in January 1936. Emerson reported a 1939 income of $400 and was still living with his father in 1940. 

Emerson was drafted in January 1941 and initially went to Fort Custer, Michigan. He was then assigned to Jefferson Barracks in Missouri where he was promoted to SSG in the US Army Air Corps. He was assigned there when the photo shown here was taken while he was home in Charlotte on leave. SSG Visch had been identified as a possible officer and was sent to the officer candidate course from which he successfully graduated and he was commissioned as a 2LT. After several stateside assignments he was sent to England in April 1944. We don't know where he was in the interim but 2LT Visch was transferred from the replacement depot to I Company 116th Infantry to serve as a platoon leader. He was wounded in action on 13 Jul 1944 and evacuated to hospital in England. 2LT Visch was returned to his unit, transferring from the replacement depot on 30 Oct 1944 to again serve as a platoon leader. 2LT Visch was killed in action on 24 Nov 1944 at Koslar, Germany. 2LT was reportedly posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for "extraordinary heroism" on 24 Nov 1944 in staving off a German counterattack while armed only with a sub-machine gun. The citation says that "so vicious were his actions that 50 of the enemy threw down their arms in surrender." European Theater of Operations, US Army, General Orders No. 52 dated April 5, 1945. From 29 Let's Go - A History of the 29th Infantry Division in World War II had this to say about the incident in the muddy of trenches before Koslar:

"Lt. Emerson M. Visch, of I Company, had one of these normally operating guns - a submachine gun. When his company became engaged in a fire fight with the enemy in the trenches, the small-arms fire the men were able to deliver with their poorly working weapons was light and ineffectual. Aware of this, Lieutenant Visch assumed a daringly exposed position and sent a demoralizing volume of fire at the enemy position with his own gun. This was apparently all that was needed to break the enemy spirit. They called 'Kamerad!' Then fifty of them came over and surrendered. for this action Lieutenant Visch, who was later killed in the Koslar battle, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross posthumously."

2LT Visch was repatriated in 1948 and re-interred in the Zeeland Cemetery in Zeeland, Michigan.

CPT Alfred Dickinson Barksdale

Born 17 Jul 1892 in Houston, Virginia (now Halifax) to William Randolph and Hallie Bailey (Craddock) Barksdale. Barksdale graduated from Virginia Military Institute in 1911 at the age of 18, then earned an LL.B. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was president of his class, in 1915. After a year in private practice in Lynchburg, he served in the United States Army from 1916 to 1922. For his service with the Virginia-based 116th Infantry Regiment of the 29th Infantry Division in Europe during World War I, he received the Distinguished Service Cross, the Croix de guerre, and the Chevalier Legion of Honor. The VMI website has a photograph of Barksdale in uniform. His DSC commendation reads:

"Alfred D. Barksdale, Captain, 116th Infantry. For repeated acts of extraordinary heroism in action near Samogneux, France, October 8, 1918; near Molleville, France, October 12; and in the Bois de la Grand Montagne, France, October 15, 1918. Commanding a support company during the attack of October 8, Capt. Barksdale discovered that his battalion had advanced ahead of the unit on the right flank, and was suffering heavy losses from machine gun fire. Without orders he attacked and captured the guns, taking many prisoners. On October 12 he worked for over an hour, exposed to a terrific bombardment, binding the wounds of his men. On October 15 he advanced alone in a thick wood and, with the aid of his pistol, put out of action a destructive machine gun which was pouring such a deadly fire his men could not raise their heads."

After the war he eventually became a United States District Court Judge. He died 16 Aug 1972 and is buried in Spring Hill Cemetery, Lynchburg, Virginia.

MG Charles Draper William Canham

MG Charles Draper William Canham was born 26 Jan 1901 in Kola, Mississippi. He was the 4th of the 5 children born to Thomas and Helen (Moll) Canham. His father was a lumber dealer in Mississippi, After the death of his mother in childbirth in 1903, Charles' aunt Gertrude Canham moved to live with the family and help her brother raise his children. They lived for a time in Oregon where his father farmed but he then moved to Detroit, Michigan where he got a job in an auto factory. Thomas Draper died in 1936.

Charles Canham enlisted in the U.S. Army on 23 May 1919. He shipped to France on 13 Jun 1919 as a Field Artillery PVT with the 33rd Company Camp Meade Replacement Unit. Returning to the United States, he married Alma Isabelle Brayton on 18 Aug 1920. By 30 Jun 1921 he was a SGT in the 19th Field Artillery Battalion. SGT Canham tested for and was accepted to the United States Military Academy (West Point) preparatory school and was appointed to USMA effective 1 Jul 1921, graduated in 1926 and commissioned as 2LT 12 Jun 1926. Charles' and Alma's first son was born in January 1922 His first assignment was to Fort Benjamin Harrison.  It was there that his second was born March 1925 followed by a third son in July 1927. In May 1928 he was sent to Camp Knox, Kentucky as the camp personnel adjutant. He attended the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia in September 1930 graduating in June 1931. 2LT Canham  then departed New York on 19 Aug 1931 and arrived in Manial on 3 Oct 1931. He served a period of time in the Philippines and then in Shanghai, China. During this period he was pomoted  to 1LT on 26 Feb 1932 and promoted to CPT 12 Jun 1936.

CPT Canham was assigned to Fort Francis E. Warren, Cheyenne, Wyoming 1937 followed by assignments at Fort Leavenworth, Fort Devens and Providence, Rhode Island. He was promoted to MAJ on 31 Jan 1941 and assigned to European Theater of Operations (ETO) where he was made Deputy Chief of Staff of the 29th Infantry Division. He was promoted to LTC on 1 Feb 1942. LTC Canham was promoted to COL 7 Mar 1943 and assumed command of 116th Infantry Regiment.  COL Canham led the 116th Infantry Regiment on 6 Jun 1944 (D-Day) and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) for his actions in leading troops while wounded. The citation reads as follows:

"The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Colonel (Infantry) Charles Draper William Canham, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as Commanding Officer, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division, in action against enemy forces on 6 June 1944, at Normandy, France. Colonel Canham landed on the beach shortly after the assault wave of troops had landed. At the time, the enemy fire was at its heaviest and had completely arrested the attack. Though wounded shortly after landing, Colonel Canham, with utter disregard for his own safety, continued to expose himself to the enemy fire in his efforts to reorganize the men. His personal bravery and determination so inspired and heartened the men that they were able to break through the enemy positions. Colonel Canham's outstanding leadership, gallantry and zealous devotion to duty exemplify the highest traditions of the military forces of the United States and reflect great credit upon himself, the 29th Infantry Division, and the United States Army."

Promoted BG 1 Aug 1944 and assigned as Assistant Division Commander of 8th Infantry Division. 8th Infantry Division Commander. It was while he was the ADC of 8th Division that BG Canham was sent to accept the surrender of the German forces in Brest. When General Ramcke asked him for his credentials BG Canham pointed to his accompanying soldiers and said, "These are my credentials." Widely reported at the time, the phrase has become the motto of the 8th Infantry Division.

He continued to serve with the 8th Infantry Division after the war's end and then in December 1945 assumed duties as ADC 4th Infantry Division. Sometime about May 1947, he was assigned as ADC of the 82nd Airborne Division. Late in 1949 BG Canham assumed command of the port of embarkation Bremmerhaven. On 5 Jun 1952 BG Canham was promoted to MG and assumed command of 82nd Airborne Division. Reported as being in Pusan, Republic of Korea on 26 Jan 1953 end of tour in Pusan, ROK. In October 1952 he was named Deputy Commander 3rd Army and in 1953 named for promotion to MG and assumed command of the 3rd Army with headquarters at Fort McPherson, Georgia. 

Then from December 1954 to sometime in 1958 he served as Director of the Army Council of Review Boards after which he assumed command of the 11th U.S. Army Corps (Reserve) in Saint Louis, Missouri. MG Canham retired on 31 Jan 1961. His awards include the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit with 2 Bronze  Oak Leaf Clusters, the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, and Purple Heart. 

MG Canham died of an unspecified lung ailment on 21 Aug 1963 and he was interred in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. He was survived by his wife, sons and their families. 

Note: the published date of this memorial is the 50th anniversary of his passing.

MG Archibald Alexander Sproul

MG Archibald Alexander Sproul was born 13 Nov 1915 near Middlebrook, Virginia at the old family home of Locust Grove. He was the 5th of parents William White and Katherine Rutherford (Lapsley) White's 6 children. His father farmed and then ran a general store. The family home at Moffet's Creek was valued at $10,000 in 1940 and "Arch" graduated from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia had begun working as a clerk for the unemployement office earning a reported 1939 income of $1500.

Arch enlisted in the Virginia National Guard in 1940 and was mobilized with the unit on 3 Feb 1941 and he was promoted to 2LT at the same time. He was promoted to 1LT on 28 Aug 1941 and to CPT on 18 Sep 1942. Presumably he was also assigned as Commander of I Company 116th Infantry at that time. CPT Sproul commanded I Company on 6 Jun 1944, D-Day and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions on that day. The citation reads:

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Captain (Infantry) Archibald Sproul (ASN: 0-406823), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as Commanding Officer, Headquarters Company, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division, in action against enemy forces on 6 June 1944, at Normandy, France. At a time when his battalion was pinned down on the beach due to the heavy enemy rifle, machine gun and artillery fire, Captain Sproul, with complete disregard for his own safety, exposed himself on numerous occasions in encouraging and organizing the hard-pressed troops. His fearlessness in leading the men across the fire-swept beach materially contributed in converting the disorganized troops into a strong attacking force. Captain Sproul's gallant leadership, personal bravery and zealous devotion to duty exemplify the highest traditions of the military forces of the United States and reflect great credit upon himself, the 29th Infantry Division, and the United States Army.

Over the course of war CPT Sproul would be wounded 3 times and also be awarded the Bronze Star medal. During one of his hospitalizations he met a young English woman and after the war CPT Sproul returned home and began a new life, marrying Margaret Hannah Pratt on 9 May 1946. The couple would have 3 children. He was promoted to MAJ on 29 Nov 1946 and to LTC on 20 Oct 1948. He worked for over 20 years in the insurance business as a co-owner of W. J. Perry Corporation and he founded Virginia International, a trading company specializing in oil development in Indonesia in the early1970's. He also returned to service with the Army National Guard. He assumed command of the 116th Infantry Regiment in 1952 and kept that position for 7 years. In 1960 he moved to the position of Assistant Commander of the 29th Division and later Commander of the division.

General Sproul actively participated in many community and charitable services. He served on the Trinity Church Vestry, the Washington and Lee Alumni Board of Trustees, the YMCA Board of Directors, the Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center Board of Trustees, the Virginia Military Institute Board of Visitors, and was one of the original members of the Historic Staunton Foundation. He was also one of the founders of the Frontier Culture Museum and he served as president of the Museum Foundation as well as a member of the Board of Trustees.

MG Sproul died on 2 Jul 2005 and was interred in Thornrose Cemetery in Staunton, Virginia.

Great, Great-grandfather Ezra Pratt served as a PVT in the American Revolution in CPT Aaron Stevens Company of COL Samuel Motts Battalion of Connecticut State Troops Jun-Nov 1776 in the Ticonderoga Campaign.Grandfather James Wood Lapsley served as a LT in E Company 51st Alabama Cavalry (CSA).

COL Sidney Vincent Bingham Jr

COL Sidney Vincent Bingham Jr. was born 4 May 1915 in Douglas, Arizona. He was the first-born of the 5 children born to COL Sidney Vincent Bingham Sr. and Margaret Patterson (Nix) Bingham. This is a concise biography by the United States Military Academy Association of Graduates:

"His father, Sidney Vincent Bingham Sr. was a member of the USMA Class of 1912, His grandfather, Gonzalez S. Bingham, received a direct commission in 1883. His great-grandfather, Judson David Bingham, was a member of the USMA Class of 1854. He grew up at Fort Riley, Fort Meade and West Point. He entered West Point with the class of 1937, but graduated with the class of 1940. At graduation, he received his commission in the Infantry-Air Corps. After a brief attempt at pilot training, he joined the 2nd Division at Fort Sam Houston. Soon after graduation he met Rosemary Chapman in Dallas. They were married on April 6, 1941 in Dallas. They were the parents of three daughters. After a year with the 4th Armored Division, he joined the G3 Section of ETOUSA, England in April 1943. He was soon sent as an observer with the 3rd Division during the invasion and campaign in Sicily, from June to August 1932.
In September 1943, he joined the 29th Division in England and several months later assumed command of a battalion in the 116th Infantry. He led the unit into Normandy on D-Day. His leadership earned him the Distinguished Service Cross. He was wounded in August and hospitalized five weeks, but he returned to the Division and assumed command of the 116th in December, leading his regiment until the Division was deactivated in December 1945. After the war, he was assigned to the Army Field Forces, the Pentagon, National War College, the CIA, Hawaii, Fort Polk, Korea, Fort Bragg and twice in Vietnam. In 1970 he retired with his wife to Aspen, Colorado. For a short time, he served as general manager of the Snowmass Resort. He became involved in planning for a city transportation system which involved designing routes, lobbying the City Council and searching for vehicles. He served as secretary and on the Board of Directors for the Aspen Camp School for the Deaf. In 1972 he started the Aspen Retired Senior Volunteer Program. He became chair for the Colorado Board of Nursing Home examiners, served as Colorado’s representative to the White House Conference on Aging, president of the board of directors of the Pitkin County Community Health Services and was appointed by the governor to be commissioner-at-large on aging for the state."

COL Bingham received the Distinguished Service Cross for actions on 6 Jun 1944 while serving as Commander, 1st Battalion 116th Infantry Regiment. The citation reads as follows:

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Major (Infantry) Sidney Vincent Bingham, Jr. (ASN: 0-23267), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as Commanding Officer, 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division, in action against enemy forces on 6 June 1944, at Normandy, France. When his battalion was pinned down on the beach by the heavy and intense enemy fire, Major Bingham gathered together five of his men and personally led them across the beach and up a cliff in an attempt to seek out an enemy machine gun that had been inflicting heavy casualties on his unit. Though unable to reach the machine gun, he was, nevertheless, able to discover its location. He returned to the fire-swept beach and organized a flank and rear attach which succeeded in taking the enemy position, thereby permitting his unit to advance. Major Bingham's superior leadership, personal bravery and zealous devotion to duty exemplify the highest traditions of the military forces of the United States and reflect great credit upon himself, the 29th Infantry Division, and the United States Army.

 COL Bingham died 22 Aug 1993 in Aspen, Colorado and he was cremated. 

 

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 Fitzhugh Lee Minnigerode

COL Fitzhugh Lee Minnigerode was born 10 Nov 1878 at Oatlands, his grandparents' home, in Loudon County, Virginia. He was the 5th of 7 children born to Charles Frederick Ernest and Virginia Cuthbert (Powell) Minnigerode. His grandfather was a German immigrant, professor of Latin & Greek and well-known clergyman who had ministered  to the highest levels of Virginia and Confederate States society and brought the first Christmas tree to Williamsburg, Virginia. His father had been aide-de-camp to GEN Fitzhugh Lee during the Civil War and worked as a railroad supply broker until business problems and lingering effects of a nearly mortal wound in the war drove him to commit suicide in 1888. Fitzhugh was just 9 years old. The family was then apparently supported by his grandfather. When he came of age, Fitzhugh began working as a clerk. His mother died of Bright's disease in 1899 at the family home at 414 Prince Street in Alexandria. Fitzhugh moved to live with his brother Charles (a civil engineer) at 1331 30th Street NW in Washington, D.C. and worked as a clerk for a railroad company. 

Fitzhugh enlisted in the army in May 1902. Serving in the 12th cavalry he rose through the ranks to 1SG. 1SG Minnigerode was commissioned a 2LT of the infantry in Oct 1904 at Fort Leavenworth, KS and assigned to D Company 8th Infantry. From 1904 to 1916 1LT Minnigerode served at least 2 tours with the 8th Infantry in the Philippines. On one of the unit rotations back to the Presidio of Monterey in Monterey, California, he met and married Ethel Patricia O'Brien, a newspaper reporter from Alameda, California in September 1911. After returning from the Philippines CPT Minnigerode was, for a time, Commander of Cadets at the University of Alabama but he was reassigned in 1917 in favor of more senior officer to deal with the increased number of officer candidates due to the war. Promoted to MAJ and reassigned to the 367th Infantry (a Negro unit in this time of segregated army), a position for which he was carefully selected. The regiment was among the first in the 92nd Division to leave for the war, shipping out for France aboard the USS America on 10 Jun 1918. MAJ Minnigerode's long service with GEN Pershing may have helped him get the command of the 114th Infantry in the 29th Division which he was commanding during the Meuse-Argonne campaign when he performed an act for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. The following is the text of the citation:

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Lieutenant Colonel (Infantry) Fitzhugh L. Minnigerode, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 114th Infantry Regiment, 29th Division, A.E.F., near Verdun, France, 23 - 24 October 1918. When his battalion commanders, who had gone forward on a reconnaissance, preparatory to an attack, were prevented from returning by heavy shell and machine-gun fire, Lieutenant Colonel Minnigerode personally led his regiment into position under cover. With a soldier, he then went forward for a distance of two kilometers under artillery and machine-gun fire, found the battalion commanders, and guided them back to their comrades.

At the end of the war now LTC Minnigerode was reassigned as commander of the 116th Infantry and was the commander when it boarded the USS Matsonia and departed Saint Nazaire, France for home on 9 May 1919. He had been promoted to COL on 7 May 1919. He was retired due to disability, reportedly hearing loss.

After his retirement Fitzhugh became the New York Times' London bureau representative as well as writing numerous freelance articles. He and Ethel split their residence between Alexandria, Virginia and 320 E. 57th Street New York City but often traveled to England and Italy. Their daughters were educated in England and Italy. They later moved to San Antonio, Texas.

The following is a copy of one of many obituaries written for him. 

Fitzhugh Lee Minnigerode, retired Army colonel, journalist and poet, died yesterday in a hospital in San Antonio, Tex., where he had been a patient for six months.  His age was 69. 
  A son of Charles Minnigerode, who served as aide-de-camp to Gen Robert E. Lee and before that as a Confederate officer in Fitzhugh Lee’s Cavalry, Colonel Minnigerode was a hero of the first World War.  Retired from active duty in 1920 for a service-incurred disability, he distinguished himself afterward as representative of THE NEW YORK TIMES Sunday Magazine in Europe, with headquarters in London. 
  He had won the Distinguished Service Cross and the Distinguished Service Medal for extraordinary heroism in action near Verdun in October, 1918, when he was a lieutenant colonel of the Hundred-fourteenth Infantry Battalion of the Twenty-ninth Division. 
  Well over six feet tall, slim and handsome, Colonel Minnigerode was impressive and charming.  When he was introduced to Sir Philip Gibbs, the British correspondent, in London in 1926, the latter turned to T. R. Ybarra, then London correspondent for this newspaper, and said:  “A dramatic figure, is he not?” 

A Picturesque Personality 

  The colonel’s associates remembered him as a wonderful raconteur who expressed interest in everything and everyone.  They saw him as a picturesque personality, a good writer and a graceful poet who never lost his military bearing and impeccable manner.  He was popular in America and Europe in the Nineteen Twenties, and he was closely associated with Queen Marie of Rumania,  George Bernard Shaw, Lady Nancy Astor, H. G. Wells, George Clemenceau and many other great personalities. 
  Born Nov. 10, 1878, in Oatlands, Loudoun County, Va., he was baptized in honor of his father’s cavalry chief.  His grandfather, the Rev George Minnigerode, a Lutheran minister, had emigrated from Germany to this country. 
  Settling in Richmond, Va., the grandfather accepted the call as rector of St. Paul’s Protestant Episcopal Church, where General Lee, Jefferson Davis and others high in the Confederacy attended services. 
  In May, 1902, Fitzhugh Lee Minnigerode enlisted as a private with Troop F of the Twelfth Cavalry, then rose through the ranks to become a second lieutenant of infantry on Oct. 15, 1904.  He was engaged in heavy fighting against the Moros in the Philippines Insurrection and served under Gen. John J. Pershing, then a brigadier. 

Made Captain in 1916 

  He was promoted to first lieutenant in March, 1911, and to captain on July 1, 1916.  In August, 1917, he was made a major and within a year won a lieutenant-colonelcy.  When he retired in 1921, with a mild deafness he suffered from gun firing, he was a full colonel. 
  He married the former Patricia O’Brien of San Francisco and for the next several years made his home in Italy.  Since 1920 he had contributed articles to THE TIMES Magazine. 
  Lester Markel, editor, hired him as European correspondent on Oct. 12, 1925, and Mr. Minnigerode remained in the London office until 1928, when he returned to this country.  He wrote many features on military tactics and about Army generals.  He found romance also in stories about New York, about Greenwich Village and the like. 
  He became an assistant to the late Dr. John H. Finley, editor-in-chief of THE TIMES, shortly after his return from London, and in this capacity made many after-dinner speeches before organizations here. 
  Besides his wife he leaves two daughters, Mrs. Arthur Ponsonby of London and Mrs. Rene Bouet-Willaumez of this city, and a brother, Cuthbert Powell Minnigerode, director of the Corcoran Art Gallery in Washington, D.C.

This was published on the 100th anniversary of his birth.