Tag: Memorial Day

Memorial Day Appreciation

West Virginia Wesleyan College Bulletin, 1950-05

Of the 405,000 American soldiers who died in World War II, 26 were Sons of Wesleyan. Among those 26, only six were graduates – the others had their education disrupted by the war.

The plaque was meant to honor them, and to help future generations to remember them. As far as I know it may still be in Atkinson Chapel somewhere, but there have been renovations since that time and since 2009, that place has stood vacant. I can’t remember ever seeing it — or maybe I just was not very observant. However, 70 years later it has inspired me to remember (and learn about) these men.

This Memorial Day, I would like to take the opportunity to honor them once more. I will focus on those who were graduates, but the honor and appreciation extends to all of them.

John Francis Elkins ’29

He was a graduate of WV Wesleyan College and taught school in Logan County for 14 years. Although he is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, there are memorials in  multiple cemeteries in southern West Virginia as well. (WV Memory Project, Veteran’s Database)

Boggs Hall ’37

A Graduate of Sutton high School and WV Wesleyan College, Boggs Hall was employed in the land department at the State Auditor’s office in Charleston before leaving for Basic Training at Fort Bragg N.C. Boggs Hall received a Purple Heart. He is buried in Holland, where he died, but also has a memorial in his home town of Sutton. (WV Memory Project, Veteran’s Database)

Carl Robert Reger ’43

He was a graduate of WV Wesleyan prior to enlistment and in his senior year president of Kappa Alpha Fraternity. Member of First Methodist Church, Buckhannon. Recipient of the Purple Heart and the Presidential Citation. He is buried in Heavener Cemetery in Buckhannon. (WV Memory Project, Veteran’s Database)

Francis Clay Robinson ’36

A graduate of WVWC, Clay also went on to medical school at Harvard, where he graduated in 1941. Newspapers tell us that he was a resident physican in Worchester MA prior to enlistment, and WVWC Alumni publicatons indicate that he was a Clinical Instructor at the University of Vermont Medical School as well. (WV Memory Project, Veteran’s Database)

Paul Jones Rogerson ’35

He graduated from West Virginia Wesleyan College and from the University of Chicago, and taught for a year at Moundsville High School and at Linsly Institute in Wheeling before entering the service.  Paul died 5-12-1944, at the age of 31, of pneumonia in Louisiana.  (WV Memory Project, Veteran’s Database)

Loran Alexander Umpleby ’42

He graduated from WV Weslyan College in 1942. Records show that the plane crashed down at Storeton, near Birkenhead, Cheshire, England.  Their base in England was at Tibenham, Norfolk, England. The 24 crew killed in the explosion had taken war weary aircraft over to Langford base in Northern Ireland and were returning to their bases at Tibenham. (WV Memory Project, Veteran’s Database)

Memorial Day

Shortly after the Civil War, Decoration Day was a time to honor those lost in that war. Graves were decorated and people remembered the horrors of neighbors and family members fighting each other to the death.

After World War I and World War II, the holiday was expanded to include those lost in all wars. But, it was not until 1971 that it became a national holiday. In our society, holidays mean trips to the beach, parades, and cookouts.

Much respect to these, and all men (and women), who have sacrificed for us. 

Soldiers, Students, and Fallen Heroes

On this Memorial Day, it is fitting to pay tribute to the role that West Virginia Wesleyan College played in the training of troops in various wars.

In his book, A History of West Virginia Wesleyan College 1890-1965, Kenneth M. Plummer writes of the impact of World Wars I and II on the campus.  In so doing, he also chronicles the impact of West Virginia Wesleyan on the Wars.

Student Army Training Corp 1918
World War I
Student Army Training Corp., 1918

“The entrance of the United States into World War I brought to the campus a Student Army Training Corp of about 200 men. The military training program which was to have begun September 1, 1918, actually ran only from the beginning of October to the early days of December. The corps was housed in the gymnasium. The Music Hall was converted to a hospital to care for members of the corps who were stricken during the influenza epidemic.” (Plummer, p.55)

There were other impacts as well, including the process of mourning and grieving for soldiers who did not come home. President Wallace B. Fleming is a beautiful example of this. Roy Earl Parrish, class of 1908, was one of those soldiers.

Please take a moment to read President Fleming’s prayer, which he offered on January 21, 1919 at the West Virginia Legislature’s Memorial Service for one of their own members. A Prayer for Roy Earl Parrish.

 

World War II

“The impact of World War II was brought dramatically to the campus when early in March 1943, there arrived a contingent of officers and trainees subsequently organized as the 49th College Training Detachment (Aircrew). Students in Agnes Howard Hall were vacated and moved to living quarters in town in order to provide living space and staff offices for the detachment. Classrooms were provided using available space inthe music hall, the gymnasiu and by increased use of other facilities. The trainees were fed in a basement hall in the gymnasium. The college obtained sole use of the flying field on Brushy Fork for the training of the detachment. In addition to the men being trained for combat service, the college also maintained a program for training aides to draftsmen, engineers and chemists at Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio. A short, intensive course was provided for cadet nurses in training at St. Mary’s Hospital in Clarksburg. The training crew of aircrew cadets ended June 1944, the program for Wright Field aides was closed at the end of the war, the courses for cadet nurses were given during the summer terms if 1944 and 1945. Seven hundred seventy-four adircrew cadets, four hundred eighty-seven aides, and seventy-eight cadet nurses were registered in these programs. The courses offered were regular college courses modified according to the suggestions of military educational directors in order to meet the needs of the program. On February 29, 1946, in cooperation with the Air Technical Command Service of the United States Air Force, Wesleyan inaugurated a twelve-month course of training on the college level for veterans interested in placement as engineering aides in the laboratiories at Wright Field. The program was designed to train a minimum of one hundred fifty men.” (Plummer, 93-94)

Click the link below to read more about what life was like on our campus during the war years. Some familiar names are included!

Cub Flier (September 20, 1943)

Includes some interesting stories of wartime at Wesleyan, such as:

  •  Reemsnyder, Man With the Frog
  • The Song of the 49th
  • D.P. (Detachment Police) Keeps Eye on the 49ers

In memory of all who have given the ultimate sacrifice, and for those who have prepared for and fought bravely in wars long past, I offer these stories as reminders. For those in more recent years, I am also grateful.

Fear not that ye had died for naught,
The torch ye threw to us we caught,
Ten million hands will hold it high,
And freedom’s light shall never die!
We’ve learned the lesson that ye taught,
In Flanders field.