Thursday, May 26, 2011

Remember the service members who didn't come home on Memorial Day

Monday is Memorial Day, that is, the day that our country has set aside for citizens to pause and remember U.S. service members who died during military service.

All of us enjoy, and often take for granted, the freedoms that have been secured for us by members of the military, many of whom made the ultimate sacrifice on our behalves to protect our way of life.

A number of service members from Conecuh County have lost their lives during our nation’s wars, and local Navy retiree James Leon Windham has spent the past several years compiling a list of county residents who died during military service.

He sent me this somber list earlier this week, and I’m reprinting it here with his permission. Take a few minutes to read the names on this list and remember that these men were once living, breathing individuals, just like you, with a lot of life left in front of them. In the end, it was not to be because their lives were cut short in the service of our nation. Without further ado, here’s the list.

World War I: Benjamin F. Arant of Belleville, Mack Autry of Brooklyn, James Atkins of Flat Rock, Newton Blackman of Evergreen, Jodie Booker of McKenzie, James W. Brown of Owassa, Robert A. Christopher of Flat Rock, Jim Crosby of Evergreen, Fletcher Darby of Castleberry, Dentley Daw of Evergreen, Will Dickson of Repton, George K. Ealum of McKenzie, Edward E. English of Evergreen, William H. Harris of Flat Rock, Jeff Holloway, Charlie Johnson of Repton, George Jones of Cohassett, George Lee of Evergreen, Joshua Lowe of Repton, Wily Marshall of Burnt Corn, Almer M. Martin of Castleberry, Archie D. McCrory of Repton, Bryant W. Price of McKenzie, Lazarus B. Rabb of Castleberry, Emmett N. Richburg of Castleberry, Raymond L. Seale of Repton, Carl B. Smith of Belleville, Roy I. Smith of Evergreen and Amos Weatherspoon of Evergreen.

World War II: Daniel W. Baggett, Edward C. Ballard, Ennis R. Bennett, William Dawson Booker, William Dawson Caro, Willie S. Cook, Elly H. Cowart, Neadie Crawford, Ben Crum Foshee of Cohassett, James E. Freeman, Earl M. Fussell, James Cecil Gaston, John W. Gibson, Fredrick Butler Heaton of Castleberry, Grady H. Johnson, Sommer S. Kelly, Walter S. Kelly, Laula M. Middleton, Judson C. Murphy, Carl Leroy Nall of Repton, Donald E. Oliver, Alex Pettis, James Reeford Reaves of McKenzie, Marvin M. Ross, Mason M. Singleton, A.C. Smith, Douglas Smith, Robert L. Snowden, William E. Stinson, John E. Stringer, Dempsey Stuckey, Fred L. Stuckey, Oscar Wilsey, Martin L. Young and Ralph Edwin Boggs of Repton.

Korean War: Robert L. Booker, Robert H. Hart, Elven J. Hobbs, Joel R. Martin and Leonard E. Worrell.

Vietnam War: Armstead Johnson of Castleberry, Billy Wayne Pettis of Castleberry, William Michael “Mike” Fields of Evergreen, James Robert “Bobby” Hammonds of Evergreen, Bruce Dale Jones of Evergreen, Dwayne Lamont Salter of Evergreen, Frank Demon Salter of Evergreen and Joel Kenton Brown of Evergreen.

War in Iraq: Troy David Jenkins.

If you know of any other county war casualties that aren’t on this list, please contact Windham at 251-230-1507 or jandtwind@bellsouth.net, so that he can add that person to the list.

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