CPT Edwin L. Curtis

CPT Edwin L. Curtis was born 12 Nov 1824 in Saratoga Springs, New York. He was the eldest of eight children born to Henry D. and Electa (Abell) Curtis. His father worked as a hatter. The details of Edwin's education are lost to us now but he moved to Augusta County in 1852 and worked as a school teacher in Burke's Mill, then a thriving village north of Staunton. It seems that his wife, Adria Anna (Keppell) who was born in Vermont accompanied him on this move and that it may have been shortly after their marriage because their son was born in Virginia in 1854. He would be the couple's only child. It was in this time frame that Edwin probably joined a local masonic lodge.

When the Civil War became a seeming inevitability, Edwin enlisted in the local militia unit, the "Ready Rifles" commanded by CPT Oswald F. Grinnan who was also a teacher (professor) at the Loch Willow School headed by Jedidiah Hotchkiss (later to be famous as GEN Jackson's cartographer). Edwin was elected CPT of the Ready Rifles, now I Company 5th Virginia Infantry on 17 Apr 1862. Present for the Valley Campaign, CPT Curtis was wounded at Sharpsburg (Antietam) on 17 Sep 1862 but remained on duty. Although it was only temporary, this was the first time CPT Curtis took command of the regiment. He was wounded again at Fredericksburg on 13 Dec 1862 and did not return to duty until February 1863. He continued to command the company through the battles of Chancellorsville, 2nd Winchester, Stephenson Depot, Gettysburg, Mine Run, The Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House. It was at this last battle that the 1st Virginia (Stonewall) Brigade was nearly destroyed and afterwards the remaining 249 soldiers of the brigade were consolidated with the remnants of 14 other regiments. CPT Curtis was among those soldiers. He then was present for the the battles at Monocacy, 3rd Winchester, Fisher's Hill, Cedar Creek and in the seige of Petersburg. He is known to have been commanding the remnants of the 5th Virginia in March 1865 and is presumed to have been commanding the 8 officers and 48 enlisted men who surrendered at Appomattox on 9 Apr 1865. 

After the war CPT Curtis returned to Augusta county and resumed teaching, now near Mount Sidney, where he lived with his wife, son and widowed mother-in-law. He continued teaching and also reportedly worked as a tax collector for the Internal Revenue Service even though he continued to suffer from the effects of the wounds he suffered in 1862. His son still lived with them and also began teaching in this period. 

Edwin received word that his mother was dying and while enroute to visit her he was killed on 7 Aug 1887 in a train accident at the Greenwood Station in Albemarle county. His body was recovered and he rests forever in the Thornrose Cemetery in Staunton, Virginia. 

Edwin's great-grandsons all served in WW2. 

Note: this memorial was published on the 100th anniversary of CPT Curtis' death.

COL Philip Roy Dwyer

COL Philip Roy Dwyer was born 9 May 1900 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was the oldest of the 2 children born to Phillip Michael and Louise C. (Maute) Dwyer. His sister was born just 2-years later. His father was a first generation citizen descendant of Irish immigrant parents. He worked at several jobs to support his family including in a saloon, as a hotel manager, as a foreman in a shipyard, and as an insurance agent and died in 1942. Philip began his military career as a PVT fighting in France and in October 1918 was sent to the prepatory course for the United States Military Academy at West Point and received an appointment in August 1919 joining the class of 1923 with which he graduated. 

Philip was commissioned as a 2LT on 12 Jun 1923. Philip married Mary Cecelia Gallagher of Philadelphia the following year. The year after that Mary gave birth to their first child, a daughter, at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was promoted to 1LT on 21 Dec 1927. He was stationed with the 15th Infantry in Tientsin, China where 1LT Dwyer served until 1930. It was in China where the couple's son was born in 1929. Philip was promoted to CPT on 1 Aug 1935. He was next promoted to MAJ on 1 Jul 1940 and attended the Command and General Staff College that year. Promoted to LTC on 24 Dec 1941. Promoted to COL on 30 Nov1942 he commanded the 153rd Infantry Regiment for 18-months in the Aleutians during the campaign to eject Japanese forces from there in 1941-1943. He attended the naval War college in 1944. Soon after that he took command of the 102nd Infantry Division in the United States where he led the division when it served to end the Philadelphia Transportation Company strike. He then went to Europe where he took command of the 116th Infantry Regiment in July 1944 replacing COL Canham who had been promoted and assigned as ADC 8th Division and held that command until November 1944 when COL Dwyer was reassigned yet again, this time to the command of the 407th Infantry Regiment in January 1945. He remained with the unit until February 1946 when the 102nd Division was deactivated after occupation duties in Germany. After the Korean War began he was sent to Korea, then Served in the office of the Assistant Chief of Staff, Washington, DC 1949-51, U.S. Army aid group in Turkey 1951- Chief of that mission 1953. COL Dwyer retired in 1954 and took up farming near Malvern, Pennsylvania. He died at Chester County Hospital in West Chester, Pennsylvania on 3 Dec 1985. 

COL Dwyer rests forever in the Saint Denis Cemetery in Havertown, Pennsylvania.

COL Dwyer was awarded the Silver Star (twice), Bronze Star (twice), Legion of Merit, and Army Commendation Medal (then a "ribbon"). He began a tradition of military service in his family. After the war he was active in veteran associations including the 102nd Division Association, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion.

MSG David Walsh Powers

courtesy of DeLanne Randolph

MSG David Walsh Powers was born 6 Feb 1942 in Richmond, Virginia.  He was the 5th of 8 children born to Daniel Coleman and Blanche Annette (Collier) Powers.  His father was a salesman.

David married Francis Louise Murphy in Richmond on 27 Apr 1968. The couple would have 3 children. 

MSG Powers was assigned to A Company 116th Support Battalion, 116th Infantry Brigade (Separate) when, while attending Annual Training at Fort Pickett, near Blackstone, Virginia he suffered a medical emergency and died on 26 Jul 1985.

MSG Powers was interred in Mount Calvary Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.

SSG Maynard William Pitcock

SSG Maynard William Pitcock was born 21 Jun 1927 in Opequon, Virginia.  He was the youngest of 11 children of Moses Luther and Sarah Edna (Avery) Pitcock. His father died of cancer in 1928 when Maynard was only 10 months old and it was left to 2 of Maynard's older brothers to support the family by farming.

Maynard entered the Army in February 1946 and served a little more than a year before his discharge.  He married Eva Naomi Haines on 23 Dec 1947 and they would have 3 sons. Maynard enlisted in the National Guard and served with Headquarters and Headquarters Company 3rd Battalion 116th Infantry in Winchester, Virginia.  At age 58 he was no doubt looking forward to retirement and collecting his retirement pay just 2 years later.  As the 116th Infantry Brigade (Separate) units were being reorganized into the 1st Brigade, 29th Infantry Division (Light) in 1985 an attempt was made to verify the physical fitness and deployability of soldiers in the Brigade. SSG Pitcock underwent a "stress test" after initial screening indicated that he might be susceptible to heart disease. After the test he suffered a heart attack and died.

SSG Pitcock was interred in the Mount Pleasant Meeting House Cemetery in Mount Pleasant, Virginia.

CPT Philip Stuart Menagh

courtesy of Chuck Metcalf

CPT Philip Stuart Menagh was born 20 Oct 1944 in Toledo, Ohio, the son of Harry Beresford Bateman and Margaret Hannah (Long) Menagh. His father worked as an associate professor and engineer at several places across the country.

He attended Franklin High School in Franklin, Indiana and Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. 

Philip entered the Marine Corps on 28 Mar 1966 and was commissioned on 1 Apr 1967. While serving with the United States Marine Corps in Vietnam, then 2LT Menagh was awarded the Silver Star.

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Second Lieutenant Philip Stuart Menagh (MCSN: 0-103686), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving as a Platoon Commander with Company F, Second Battalion, Seventh Marines, FIRST Marine Division (Rein.), FMF, in connection with combat operations against insurgent communist (Viet Cong) forces in the Republic of Vietnam. On 22 March 1968, during Operation WORTH in Quang Nam Province, Second Lieutenant Menagh's platoon suddenly came under heavy small arms, automatic weapons and rocket fire from an enemy ambush force, wounding several Marines and temporarily pinning down the platoon. Completely disregarding his own safety, he unhesitatingly moved across the fire-swept area to the point of heaviest contact to maneuver his men into effective firing positions, supervise the care of the wounded and direct a heavy volume of fire against the hostile emplacements. He then led his men in an aggressive attack against the enemy positions. When he located a hostile emplacement that had temporarily slowed the advance, he assaulted the position single handed, armed only with a pistol and hand grenades, killing four enemy soldiers. Inspired by his heroic actions, his men successfully assaulted through the ambush, inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy, capturing numerous weapons and forcing the remainder of the hostile soldiers to flee. By his courage, bold leadership and selfless devotion to duty at great personal risk, Second Lieutenant Menagh was instrumental in the accomplishment of his unit's mission and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service.

He left the USMC on 1 Jun 1970.  Philip married Nancy Jeanne Minor in Salem, Oregon on 6 Sep 1972. Philip re-entered military service 1 Sep 1972 to 1 Jun 1979 and again 2 Jun 1984. As with many officers from other branches, it was likely that military educational requirements for commissioned officers mandated Philip's entry into the Virginia Army National Guard as an enlisted soldier.  He served as a SSG with B Company 3rd Battalion 116th Infantry Brigade (Separate). On 9 Jun 1984 SSG Menagh was unintentionally shot and killed in a training exercise.

CPT (USMC) Menagh was interred in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.

His father served in WW2 as RT3C aboard the USS Lyon. His wife has not re-married. The couple had 5 children at least 2 of whom also served in the U.S. military.

MG Evarts Walton Opie Sr.

MG Evarts Walton Opie Sr. was born in Staunton, Virginia on 12 Sep 1893, the youngest of State Senator John Newton and Ida Walton (Fletcher) Opie's 7 children. His father had 4 children by his first wife, Isabelle (Harmon) Opie, who had died in 1877. A graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, John Opie had served in the Stonewall Brigade in the Civil War and become a farmer after the war. He supported the family on a farm near Mount Sidney, Virginia valued at $25,000 in 1870. Evarts was educated in Staunton public schools, at the Staunton Military Academy and numerous military schools, including the Army Command and General Staff College. He began his newspaper career in 1904 as a carrier and held practically every position on The Staunton Leader staff during his 72 years with the company.

Evarts began his military career by enlisting as a musician/drummer in Co. A, 2nd Virginia Infantry, Virginia National Guard in 1907 at the age of thirteen. Opie was commissioned a first lieutenant in 1911 and participated in the Mexican Border conflict in 1916. He accepted a regular Army commission in the cavalry in 1917 and remained with the United States Liquidation Commission in France following his service there during World War I.

He returned to the newspaper in 1920 as city editor of The Staunton Leader. He afterwards served as advertising manager, managing editor and general manager.

Evarts remained active in the Virginia National Guard in peacetime and assumed command of the 116th Infantry Regiment (the Stonewall Brigade) in October 1940 and was promoted to colonel. He led the regiment into Federal service on 3 Feb 1941 and expanded it to war strength and training for combat overseas at Fort George Meade, Maryland. In September 1941 he was promoted to Brigadier General and assigned as deputy commander of the Infantry Replacement Training Camp at Fort Walters, Texas. Following World War II, he returned to Staunton and again resumed his newspaper career. MG Opie retired as board chairman and editor of The Staunton Leader Papers in 1979.

Opie was active in many civic and church affairs and a lifelong member of Trinity Episcopal Church. He was chairman of the State Hospital Board, the Woodrow Wilson Birthplace Foundation and a past president and charter year member of the Staunton Rotary Club.

MG Opie died on 12 Mar 1982 in Staunton, Virginia. He rests forever in Thornrose Cemetery in Staunton, Virginia. 

Evarts older brother, Hierome Lindsay Opie, was also a commander of the 116th Infantry Regiment and commanded the 3rd battalion of the regiment in WWI.

BG Morris Thompson Warner

BG Morris Thompson Warner was born 5 Sep 1899 in Bridgeport, West Virginia. He was the 2nd of 4 children born to Clary Hathaway and Cora N. (Thompson) Warner. His father sold stoneware. The family moved to Staunton, Virginia about 1917. Morris graduated from Staunton High School before attending Penn State College. With the arrival of war in 1918, Morris was selected to attend Officers Training Camp at Camp Gordon, Georgia and so was not  drafted. He was commissioned as a 2LT after graduation. 

The war being over, 2LT Morris returned home and began a civilian life deeply involved in community activities attending dances and playing second base for the Staunton Kiwanis Baseball Club among other things. 

Promoted to 1LT, Morris was assigned on 10 Aug 1922 as the Training and Plans Officer for the 116th Infantry Regiment commanded by COL Hierome Opie. In October of that same year he joined the Staunton Acca Temple Shriners and in November became the secretary-treasurer of the Staunton Section of the Army Association. 

In April 1923 he became engaged to Virginia Worthington, daughter of a prominent Staunton businessman. The couple was married on 19 Jun 1923. He was promoted to CPT in October 1923. Morris and Virginia had and lost an infant daughter on 24 Aug 1925. He joined the American Legion and the Trinity Episcopal Church Mens' Club. He also started the Staunton Novelty Company making pennants, banners and flags as well as a variety of other products. Another daughter was born on 23 May 1927.  In August 1928 CPT Warner was made Adjutant of the 116th Infantry. As he expanded his participation in the community he was also starting a business and was first noted as President of the Staunton Novelty Company in 1931 the same year in which he was made President of the Trinity Episcopal Church Mens' Club. Morris and Virginia had a son join the family on 4 Oct 1932.

1933 was a busy year for Morris, while he continued his other interests he joined the board of the Staunton Industrial Loan Corporation in March 1933, began a campaign for office of Staunton City Treasurer in April, was promoted to MAJ on 26 Jun 1933 and in July returned to duties as the Training and Plans officer of the regiment. More responsibilities came to Morris. In 1934 his company bought out the rival Beverly Manufacturing Company. A second son was born to his family on 30 Nov 1935. In February 1937 he was appointed as a member and then secretary of the Staunton City Electoral Board and in September he was elected to the board of the Augusta National Bank. MAJ Warner was appointed as a member of the Governor's Staff serving Virginia governor James Hubert Price.

The next decade began with the world drifting towards war and in August 1940 Morris was promoted to LTC and assumed command of 3rd Battalion 116th Infantry. His rank was federally recognized in January 1941 and he was made executive officer of 116th Infantry. He began a 3 month Battalion Commanders and Staff Officers course at Infantry School, Fort Benning, Georgia in February 1941 and resigned from Staunton Electoral Board due to his military commitment. The regiment was federalized and sent to Fort George Meade, Maryland while he was at Fort Benning. On his return to the regiment in April 1941 he assumed duties as instructor in charge of 29th Division junior officers school. As the regiment continued to train for deployment COL E. W. Opie was promoted and reassigned and LTC Warner assumed command of the 116th Infantry Regiment in September 1942 and commanded the unit as it arrived in England and began training there. He was succeeded by COL Canham in March 1943 and promoted to COL in August 1943 while commanding the 156th Infantry Regiment at the assault training center in England. He would lead that regiment onto the continent and in its mission of containing bypassed German units before making a final thrust at the end of the war. 

COL Warner returned to the U.S. in October 1945 and went into inactive status in November. Resuming his civilian life he was named to the Staunton Zoning Board of Appeals in May 1947. Morris also became active in the Staunton District of Boy Scouts of America and would be active in scouting administration for many years. In December 1950 he was elected President of Thornrose Cemetery Company, Inc. He participated in the 1954 ground-breaking for the Staunton's Thomas D. Howie National Guard Armory. 

COL Warner was made a Virginia State Brigadier General and was referred to by that rank. He suffered from Parkinson's in his later years and died of a heart attack on 17 Jan 1982. He was interred in Thornrose Cemetery in Staunton, Virginia.

CPT James Oren Jordan

CPT James Oren Jordan was born on 19 Feb 1892 in Nelson County, Virginia. He was the first born of the 5 children of Ryland Bradshaw and Nora Bell (McGann) Jordan. His father owned a store at Massie's Mill. After completing school, James took work as a clerk. He married Annie Leola Staples in 1913 and  the couple would have the first of their 8 children the following year.

James enlisted as PVT on 28 Jul 1919 and was commissioned as a 1LT on 11 Aug 1919. He was promoted to CPT (reserve rank) on 16 Dec 1920 and federally recognized effective 30 Mar 1927. He was the commander of the Machine Gun Company/D Company 116th Infantry Regiment when he organized and recruited the 116th Regiment Band in Roanoke in 1922. After clerking James went to work the Norfolk and Western Rail Road as a claims investigator. In 1925 he was able to purchase a home at 1611 Moorman Avenue in Roanoke, Virginia. The house was valued at $4000 in 1930. However, the family moved to 1401 Loudon Avenue and was living there in 1931. 

On the morning of Wednesday, 21 Oct 1931, CPT Jordan went to his National Guard office in the City Auditorium which was across the street from the Norfolk and Western passenger station. At about 10:30 AM CPT Jordan fired a single shot from a Colt 1911 .45 caliber pistol and the bullet passed just to the left of his heart, through the left lung exiting under the shoulder blade. He called CPT Fred W. Thomas who was in his basement office in the same building and CPT Thomas called an ambulance which took CPT Jordan to the hospital where he died at about 3:00 PM that afternoon. 

CPT Jordan was buried in the Fair View Cemetery in Roanoke, Virginia. 

James Oren Jordan is the uncle of SSG James Pershing Jordan.

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 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 coyer. 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.

BG John Charles Steck

BG John Charles Steck was born 7 Sep 1911 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He was the youngest of 9 children born to August Rhinaul and Bertha F. (Melick) Steck. His father, as well as many others in his family, was a Lutheran minister. John attended Carlisle High School. His mother died in 1928. John graduated from Gettysburg College in 1934 with a Bachelor of Science degree. He intially went to work for the state of Pennsylvania highways department as a laboratory assistant with a salary of $1140 a year.

John was drafted in June 1941. Being a college graduate probably helped his selection as an officer candidate and he was sent to OCS. Assigned to the 42nd Infantry Division as it was reconstituted. Commanding E Company 242nd Infantry then CPT Steck was serving in the 42nd Infantry Division 7th Army under General Alexander Patch when he performed the actions for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross as well as the Bronze Star Medal with oak leaf cluster. The qualifying events probably took place near Hatten, France in the 42nds resistance to the German Operation Nordwind. 

Worked as reporter for Farmville Herald before becoming news manager. Elected to Prince Edward County's board of supervisors in 1958, he served as the chair of that body for the 4 years prior to his death. President Farmville Chamber of Commerce. COL Steck attended the Command and General Staff College in 1963. COL Steck took command of 2nd Brigade 29th Infantry Division in 1964 and commanded the unit until 1967.

BG Steck  was still working when he died of cancer on 28 Jun 1977. He was interred in Westview Cemetery in Farmville, Virginia.

LTC Geyser White Pulliam

LTC Geyser White "Guy" Pulliam, b. 19 Apr 1892 - d. 19 Jan 1952, son of George Washington and Nancy Ann (Cabler) Pulliam of Danville, VA. Geyser was a mechanic in C Company 116th Infantry at Camp McClellan in 1917, moved to the Army Air Corps and made a career of it eventually rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. His eldest son Carnett Washington Pulliam (by his first wife, Anne Clyde Gardner) rose to the rank of Master Sergeant in the Army. His daughter, Margaret Louanne Pulliam was a First Lieutenant nurse in the Korean War and his second son Guy Eric Pulliam was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force when killed in an A7 crash at Nellis AFB. LTC Pulliam is buried in the Fort Bragg Main Post Cemetery, Fort Bragg, NC.

SGT Peter William Smallwood

courtesy of JMB

SGT Peter William Smallwood was born 19 Nov 1922 in Weyers Cave, Virginia. He was the 6th child of Robert Franklin and Edna Christine (Hagedorn) Smallwood.  Peter was the first of the couple's 8 children to survive to the age of 18. His father was a farm laborer and the family lived for many years in the Weyers Cave area. His mother, Edna, died in 1930 and his father remarried in 1932. His only older surviving sibling, Hobart, died of typhoid fever that same year. At the time of the 1940 census, Peter was farming for and living with Mr. H. F. Meyer near Weyers Cave. He sometimes found work in Lancaster, Pennsylvania area and in 1942 was working at the Armstrong Linoleum plant there. While there he met and in 1943 married Violet Waid who was already the mother of one daughter who he apparently adopted. Whether he married before or after he was drafted is unclear.

Peter was drafted in April 1943. After his basic military training he was sent to England in July 1943 and assigned to F Company 116th Infantry. He then trained with the unit for the amphibious landing that was a planned element of the invasion and liberation of Nazi occupied France. PFC Smallwood took part in that landing serving with his unit until wounded on D+1, 7 Jun 1944, and evacuated to  hospital. He was dropped from unit rolls and never returned to any 116th Infantry unit.

However, the military life must have appealed because Peter stayed in service when he could have accepted a discharge. His father died in May 1946 at the age of 56 after a long illness. This was soon followed by another tragedy. Brother, Roy Samuel Smallwood, was still serving in the Navy and presumably home on leave when he was in an automobile accident on US Route 250 east of Staunton, Virginia and killed. Roy had served aboard the USS Intrepid (CV-11) at the Battle of Leyte Gulf but was stationed at the Philadelphia Navy Yard at the time of his death. When Roy died, Peter was a T3. In 1947 his step-mother died at age 35 of tuberculosis.

Peter and Violet had a daughter in 1949 but the marriage must have already been in trouble because when he applied for his Pennsylvania Veteran's bonus in 1950 they were already divorced. Peter married again in May 1953, this time to Eleanor Louise "Betty" Tankersley Brown of Staunton, Virginia. He was still serving in the Army, more than 10-years after being drafted. However, fate intervened and the marriage was not to last.

SGT Smallwood died 20 years ago today while stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. He was on a log cutting detail when he made the ill-advised decision to ride the log carriage from which he fell into the spinning sawmill blade and was killed.

Peter now rests forever in Thornrose Cemetery in Staunton, Virginia alongside his 2nd wife, Betty.

Great-grandfather, Richard James Johnson, enlisted in Company H, Virginia 7th Cavalry Regiment on 25 Mar 1862, mustered out on 21 Jun 1862. Transferred to Company C, Virginia 17th Cavalry Battalion on 21 Jun 1862. Mustered out on 05 Feb 1863. Transferred to Company C, Virginia 11th Cavalry Regiment on 05 Feb 1863.

BG Arthur Taylor Sheppe

BG Arthur Taylor Sheppe was born 2 Oct 1924 in Enfield, North Carolina. He was the youngest of 5 and 2nd son of Edwin Samuels and Elizabeth Virginia (Williams) Sheppe. His father supported his family as a superintendent of public schools in North Carolina, principal in Covington, Virginia, owner/editor of the Highland Recorder in Monterey, Virginia and taught at R.E. Lee High School in Staunton, Virginia and was editor of the Staunton News Leader. He was also the author or textbooks used in Virginia public schools. One might think that there were high expectations for Arthur. His sisters Dorothy and Ruth died young.

Arthur attended Staunton Military Academy (class of 1922), Emory University in 1923-1924 and the University of Pennsylvania in 1925-1926. Arthur and Ruby Hazel Blair were married on 16 Oct 1937.

Arthur enlisted in L Company 116th Infantry of the Virginia National Guard in 1920 and rose to rank of SGT before being commissioned as a 2LT in 1928. He was promoted to 1LT in 1933 and to CPT in 1935. He was commanding L Company 116th Infantry when the unit was federalized/called to active duty on 3 Feb 1941. CPT Sheppe was promoted to MAJ in May 1941 commanding 3rd Battalion 116th Infantry and to LTC in November 1942 and was then made Executive Officer of the 175th Infantry Regiment with which unit LTC Sheppe went ashore at Omaha Beach on 7 Jun 1944. He replaced COL Warfield (who was killed) as commander of 2nd Battalion 115th Infantry on 12 Jun 1944 and commanded the battalion throughh to Saint-Lo. He was then reassigned to command 3rd Battalion 115th Infantry for a short time before again becoming Executive Officer of the 175th where he was serving at the time Brest was captured. Commissioned as a COL in the Regular Army in 1946 he commanded a regiment at Fort McClellan in Anniston, Alabama. He resigned after 3 months to return to civilian life.  His awards during the war included the Silver Star and Bronze Star Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters. Virginia's Governor Battle asked him to return to service in 1947 to reorganize the 116th Infantry and he commanded the regiment until forced by a heart attack to retire in 1952. It was at that time that he was promoted to BG.

President of Gus Dull Transfer Company, ran for Staunton City Council in 1948, was manager of the Stillwater Worsted Mill near Craigsville, Virginia and participated in several community organizations. He was a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, Staunton Rotary Club, Circus Saints & Sinners and Country Club of Staunton.

After retirement, he worked as Veterans Claims Agent for the Veterans Administration. He was living at 1625 North Augusta Street in Staunton in 1974. BG Sheppe died at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia on 3 Jun 1974 and was interred at Thornrose Cemetery in Staunton, Virginia. 

LTC Harold Andrew Cassell

LTC Harold Andrew Cassell was born 18 Apr 1908 in Ceres, Virginia. He was the 6th of 8 children born to James Franklin and his second wife Mary Emily (Spangler) Cassel. His father had 8 children by his first wife as well and supported his large family by farming and blacksmithing in Bland County, Virginia. After 7 years of public school education, Harold left school and went to work, probably to help support his family including his aging father. His father died in March 1930 at the age of 80.

By that time Harold was working at Garst Brothers Dairy in Roanoke, Virginia. Harold married Mary Katherine Goggin on 17 Sep 1930 in Roanoke where they lived. Although he was 21 he was still living in his now widowed mother's household. In order to supplement his income Harold had enlisted in the Virginia Army National Guard on 18 Aug 1925. He rose through the ranks being promoted from PVT to PFC to CPL to SGT to 1SG and then MSG before being commissioned a 2LT on 15 Mar 1938 and being federally recognized at that rank on 28 Jan 1939. He was serving in Service Company 116thh Infantry at that time. The couple had a son in 1940. Harold was now manager of the dairy and doing very well owned the family home at 302 Guilford Avenue which was valued at $4000 and reported a 1939 income of $1540.

2LT Cassell was mobilized with his National Guard unit on 3 Feb 1941 and went with that unit to Fort George Meade, Maryland. He received a reserve commission as LTC on 5 Dec 1943 although he was not promoted to CPT with federal recognition until 18 Apr 1943. He was federally recognized as a LTC on 29 Jun 1950. After having served as regiment executive officer LTC Cassell took command of the 116th in November 1944 before command of the unit was given to LTC Sidney Bingham in early December 1945.

On 6 Jun 1944, D-Day, LTC Cassell was serving as the 116th's Executive Officer. He replaced the wounded LTC Tom Dallas as commander of 1st Battalion 116th Infantry on 5 Aug 1944 near Vire, France. On 10 Nov 1944 he assumed command of the regiment from COL Dwyer who was being transferred. He relinquished command to LTC Sidney Bingham at the beginning of December 1945 but would again command the regiment during its duties in the occupation of Germany after May 1945 and was still commanding the unit when it demobilized at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey in 1946. LTC Cassell was one of he only 50 men who had mobilized with the unit in February 1941 who were still with the regiment 5-years later. LTC Cassell was then assigned to the Fort Leavenworth where he and Mary would have a 2nd child, a daughter, in April 1949. After being reassigned in 1949 the family lived in Anne Arundel, Maryland. As a LTC, Harold was paid about $5600 in 1949. Then he had an assignment in Japan and in the Republic of Korea before returning to Fort Benning and Columbus, Georgia where he commanded the 1st Battalion of the School Brigade at the Infantry School there until 1957. LTC Cassell then served a tour  in Tuscaloosa, Alabama where he was Chief of the Tuscaloosa Military Sub-district. He was then assigned as commander of the Western Area Command, an Army Reserve unit. LTC Cassell retired from the Army on 30 Jun 1961 and lived in Columbus, Georgia.

LTC Cassell died 22 Jan 1974 in Columbus, Georgia. He rests forever in the Fort Moore Main Post Cemetery at Fort Benning, Georgia. His awards include the Silver Star, 3 Bronze Stars (BSM with 3 OLC) and the Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster.

COL Robert Franklin Leedy

COL Robert Franklin Leedy was born 28 Jul 1863 at Leedy's Pump in Rockingham County, Virginia. He was the third of six children of John Brower and second wife Sarah Ann (Mauck) Leedy. The couple had lost their first two children in childbirth. Robert also had a half-sister, the daughter of his father's first wife Lydia Margaret (McCreary) who had died in 1856. His father supported his family by farming. Robert was educated in local schools as was common at that time and continued in farming until he was about 22 years old when he left home. He then spent the next three years in mining and railroading. He married Emma Catherine Keister in 1890 and the couple would have seven children by 1915. Moving to Basic City, Virginia, Robert began to study law and work for local lawyers and then to study in the law school of the University of Virginia. He was admitted to the bar in 1893. Although twice elected mayor of Basic City in this time period, after becoming a lawyer he resigned from the office and moved to Luray, Virginia where he practiced law in partnership and alone. Robert was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1914 and held the seat for two terms. 

The law and politics were not Robert's only interests. He joined the state militia, now National Guard, and was elected Captain of the Page Rifles later C Company 2nd Virginia Regiment. He rose in rank in the regiment becoming the commander and a Colonel in August of 1905. The regiment was called up for duty on the Mexican border in 1916 and COL Leedy commanded the unit there for nine months. Shortly after returning home, the unit was recalled for duty in the first World War and sent to the newly established Camp McClellan near Anniston, Alabama where it was combined with other Virginia regiments to form the 116th Infantry Regiment. Intending to continue command, COL Leedy was found to be medically unfit for duty and relieved of command. 

Returning home in March 1918 Robert ran for the state senate and was elected as a Democrat representing Page, Warren and Clark counties. In office he supported the National Guard but opposed both prohibition and women's suffrage. The family suffered a tragedy when, in November 1918, Robert's eldest child, Nina Coleman Leedy, succumbed to pneumonia. He then unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1920 and declined to run again in 1922. 

Robert became ill in December 1923, developed pneumonia and died on 12 Jan 1924. He was buried in Green Hill Cemetery in Luray, Virginia.

Robert Leedy was a member of several masonic organizations and of the American Legion.

His father served in several units (CSA) in the Civil War ultimately being promoted to COL. Great-grandfather Conrad Harnsberger served in CPT Thomas Buck's Company 8th Virginia Regiment in the Revolution and as a COL in the war of 1812 dying of yellow fever in Norfolk in 1814 and was a founder of Elkton, Virginia. Great, great-grandfather Wilson Cary Nicholas was a former Governor of Virginia (1814-1816) and Nicholas county, Virginia (now West Virginia) was named for him. Great, great-grandfather CPT Richard Stites was commanding a company in Hunt's Battalion when wounded on Long Island later dying of his wound(s) on 16 Sep 1776. His great, great, great-grandfather was President Thomas Jefferson.

BG George Washington Ball Jr.

BG George Washington Ball Jr. was born 16 Feb 1881 in Iowa City, Iowa. He was the firstborn son of George Washington and Estella Esther (Walter) Ball. His father was prominent local attorney, former State Senator for Iowa County and a Mayor of Iowa City.

George Jr., graduated from the College of Law of the State University of Iowa and joined his father's practice. He also was head of Johnson County and Ball Abstract Companies. In June 1905 he married Maude Hester Young. The couple would have 3 children, the youngest of which died in 1921, age 6, of polio.

George enlisted in I Company 50th Iowa Volunteer Infantry on 9 Jul 1900. He received his commission as 2LT on 3 Apr 1901. He was promoted to 1LT on 22 Jun 1903. George was again promoted to CPT on 9 May 1904 and appointed Commander I Company 54th Infantry Regiment, Iowa National Guard (apparently reorganized from the 50th). He was promoted to LTC on 10 May 1914 and was the regiment Executive Officer when the 54th became the 1st Infantry Regiment on 4 Jul 1915. The unit was mustered into service at Camp Dodge on on 26 Jun 1916 and mustered out of service on 15 Jan 1917. However, the United States would soon be involved in the war in Europe. COL Ball sailed to France as commander of the 133rd Infantry Regiment a part of the 34th Division on 28 Oct 1918. COL Ball returned to the United States in July 1919. Promoted to BG, he was assigned to the 175th Brigade of the 34th Division retiring before 1924.

BG Ball died on 3 Jan 1924 as a result of an automobile accident in which he fractured his pelvis and which, in turn, resulted in pulmonary thrombosis. He was buried in Oakland Cemetery in Iowa City, Iowa.

BG Ball was a life member of the National Rifle Association of America. 

Great, great grandson of COL George Moffett, former commander of the Augusta County Regiment (an ancestral unit of the 116th Infantry Regiment). 3rd cousin once removed of former commander of the 116th Infantry Regiment, BG George Murrell Alexander.

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!

SGT Charles Douglas Reynolds

SGT Charles Douglas Reynolds, b. 20 Jul 1893 - d. 14 Jul 1962 (of cancer). Son of Thomas Jefferson and Mollie Bell (Setliff) Reynolds of Danville, VA, Charles was a member of C Company 116th Infantry. On the roster as a CPL in 1917, Charles also served during WWII beginning in 1942. He was married to Georgia (Hoy) Dean and helped to raise her children by her first husband while living in Harrisonburg. His father was a veteran of the Civil War and his brother, Robert Glenn Reynolds, was disabled in his service with 1st Virginia Infantry in Texas in 1917. SGT Reynolds is buried in the Staunton National Cemetery in Staunton, VA.

CPL Claiborne Keister Whitt

SGT Claiborne Keister Whitt, b. 13 Dec 1891 -d 30 May 1972. Son of George W and Gabriella B (Tye) Whitt of Halifax County, VA. Married Grace B Pettigrew with whom he had 4 children. On the roster of C Company 116th Infantry at Camp McClellan as Keister Whitt. He is buried at Highland Burial Park, Danville, VA.