VETERAN OF THE MONTH– OHIO COUNTY VETERANS MUSEUM
The Ohio County Veterans Museum has chosen to honor as Veteran of the Month for September, not one , but, as many as possible of those who lost their lives during WWI, whether being killed in action, from wounds received in battle or from diseases. The war was originally known as the “Great War” or the “War to End All Wars”, but later became “WWI”. It officially started on August 4, 1914 with the US declaration to enter coming some 3 years later and lasting until late November 1918. It actually hit Ohio County as the Hartford State Guard (Company H, 3rd Infantry) was mustered into Federal Service in July 1916, and was sent to Texas to defend the Mexican border. (Germany had promised to give Texas, Arizona and New Mexico back to Mexico and to invite the Japanese into their alliance if Mexico could cross the border and take Texas). Company H lost one member, William C Liles, during that time as he died in El Paso in February, 1917 of pneumonia.
Researches found numerous lists of deaths during WWI and the following is a compilation of these lists. It was also found that most were killed, wounded or diseased while serving overseas and in France. Many bodies were sent home at later dates, as were the veterans of WWII who perished on foreign soil. Our list includes the 46 following soldiers:
Samuel Alsip, David Barnes, Walter Barnett, Malin Benton, Lee Brown, Emory Cohron, Jesse Crowe, John Crowe, Robert Davis, Cecil Draper, James Duvall, Clarence Gabbert, Carl Ira Goff, Alvin Hoops, Braxton Johnson, Lee Keith, Charles King, Virgil Kiper, Pressley Kissinger, Corbett Lake, John Laws, Eddie Lee, Wm. C. Liles, Justus Long, Charles Main, Wavie Malin, Lennie Mattingly, Herman Morris, Willie Ollie Orr, Chester Reed, Matthias Riggs (or Higgs), Rodney Ross, John Rucker, Leslie Shields, George Stevens, James E Stone, Jesse Stone, Virgil Stone, Fred Tanner, Douglas Taylor, Charles Wakeland, Aubry West, George Williams, Walter Williams, B Wilson Willoughby and Carl Wilson.
The Museum realizes that this list may not be complete. Additions and corrections are invited. The list could be ongoing as is the research and indexing of soldiers of this war. They gave so much for the country and records are not quite as available as those from more recent wars.
The Ohio County Veterans Museum is located at 415 Mulberry St. in Hartford and is operated by the volunteers of the Ohio County Historical Society. Its hours are Saturdays, from 9 to 3. There are no admission charges, but donations are welcome to help keep the museum alive.