Military Legacy Of Knott County, Kentucky And Beyond

MILITARY LEGACY OF KNOTT COUNTY, KENTUCKY AND BEYOND

GENEALOGY ~ PHOTOGRAPHS ~ LETTERS ~ HISTORY

Written And Compiled By Waukesha Lowe Sammons

Daughter of Daskum Combs (1917 - 2005) and Technical Sergeant, Albert Roy "Jake" Lowe (1917 - 1944),

who was awarded a Silver Star Medal for Action Taken on The Fourth of July 1944 in France,

and who was Killed on September 16, 1944 in World War II.

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KNOTT COUNTY, KENTUCKY SOLDIERS, SAILORS, AIRMEN, MARINES

REMEMBER AND NAME, A - Z

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KOREAN WAR

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CHURCH

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CHURCH, RAY JR. (1931-1952), MEDICAL AIDMAN, MISSING IN ACTION, NORTH KOREA SECTOR, KOREAN WAR.
HOMETOWN: Hindman, Knott County, Kentucky, USA.
OTHER RESIDENCE: Lawrence County, Kentucky. Korea, Korean War.
DATE OF BIRTH: 31 January 1931 in Lawrence County, Kentucky.
PARENTS: Mary Clara McDowell and John Church.
SPOUSE: Lora / Laura Everage.
ENTERED SERVICE FROM: Kentucky.
REGISTRATION DATE: 17 February 1947.
DISCHARGE DATE: 14 October 1952, Missing In Action, Presumed Dead.
SERVICE NUMBER: 52084695.
RANK: Corporal. Sergeant.
BRANCH OF SERVICE: Medical Department, U. S. Army.
SERVICE OCCUPATION: Medical Aidman.
COMPONENT: AUS – 21 months.
COMBAT ORGANIZATION: Medical Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.
ELEMENT SEQUENCE: CV DIV CAV REGT INF. Unit # 0031.
GROUP: Listed as Missing In Action, while tending his wounded comrades in North Korea on 14 October 1952.
DATE OF DEATH: 14 October 1952, in the North Korea Sector, Korean War.
DISPOSAL DATE: 31 December 1953 was Presumed Dead in Korea in the Korean War.
PROCESSED DATE: November 1979.
CASUALTY COUNTY: North Korea Sector.
CASUALTY TYPE – HOSTILE: Died While Missing.
CASUALTY CAUSE: U. S. ARMY, No information available.
STATUS: Missing In Action – Presumed Dead.
CENOTAPH MONUMENT: SGT RAY CHURCH, JR., Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii, Plot, Courts of the Missing. U. S. AWARDS, CERTIFICATES, MEDALS: Purple Heart. Combat Medical Badge. Korean Service Medal. United Nations Service Medal. The National Defense Service Medal. The Korean Presidential Unit Citation. The Republic of Korea War Service Medal. SOURCES: Census. Findagrave. Cenotaph Monument. Kentucky Birth Index, Lawrence County. Korean War Veterans Honor Roll. U. S., Korean War Casualties, 1950-1957. U. S. WWII Draft Cards, 1940-1947. WWI, WWII and Korean War Casualty Listings.

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VIETNAM WAR (1955 - 1975)

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CORNETT

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CORNETT, GEORGE MAXVILLE (1930-2018), FIRST GUIDED MISSILE BATTALION, U. S. ARMY, VIETNAM WAR ERA.
HOMETOWN: Sassafras, Knott County, Kentucky, USA.
DATE OF BIRTH: 22 December 1930, Sassafras, Knott County, Kentucky.
PARENTS: Allie Mullins and Elhanon H. Cornett. GRANDPARENTS: Rebecca Hale and Jasper Cornett. GREAT-GRANDPARENTS: Adeline Brashear and Robert S. Cornett. GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS: Elizabeth Young and James N. Brashear, Sr.
SPOUSE: Leonila “Nellie” Alferez.
SPORTS: “played 1 1/2 seasons of minor league baseball for the Hazard Bombers, the farm team for the Brooklyn Dodgers.” Source, Obituary. [Note: The team was active from 1948 to 1952.]
EDUCATION: Alice Lloyd College, Pippa Passes, Kentucky. University of Kentucky Bachelors of Science in Agriculture in 1955.
ENTERED SERVICE FROM: Kentucky.
RANK: Specialist First Class
BRANCH OF SERVICE: U. S. Army.
COMBAT ORGANIZATION: “served in the 1st guided missile battalion for active duty and reserves.” Source, Obituary.
DATE OF DEATH: 10 November 2018.
SOURCES: Census. Obituary; J. C. Kirby & Son Funeral Chapels and Crematory, Bowling Green, Kentucky.
NOTE: I placed my third-cousin-one-time-removed, George Maxville Cornett on my ~ Combs Collins Sumner Adams Holbrook Caudill Kelley Mullins; Brashear Young Campbell Cornett Woods Dorton Asher Bowling Sizemore ~ Maternal Family Tree, that I created on Ancestry.

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GIBSON

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GIBSON, JAMES THURMAN “LITTLE DUCK” (1944-1968), KILLED IN ACTION, VIETNAM WAR.
HOMETOWN: Flax Patch, Knott County, Kentucky, USA.
OTHER RESIDENCE: Amburgey, Knott County, Kentucky.
DATE OF BIRTH: 3 January 1944.
PARENTS: Velva Rowe and Norman Gibson.
GRANDPARENTS: Adeline Combs and John Thomas Gibson.
FOURTH-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS: Nancy Harding Combs and John “Father of the Eight” Combs.
BROTHER: Hershel “Big Duck” Gibson (1941-2012), who married Arlene Haddix of Kodak, Perry County, Kentucky. SPOUSE: Carolyn Faye Ward, daughter of Louise Ellis and Calvin Ward of Bible Avenue, Vicco, Perry County, Kentucky.
RANK: Private First Class.
BRANCH OF SERVICE: U. S. Army.
TOUR START DATE: 27 June 1968.
COMBAT ORGANIZATION: Company A, 2nd Battalion, 39th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, USARV, United States Army.
DATE OF CASUALTY DEATH: 18 June 1968.
PLACE OF DEATH: South Vietnam.
PROVINCE: Long An Province, South Vietnam.
CASUALTY DETAIL/REASON: Artillery, Rocket or Mortar. Ground Casualty.
STATUS: DIED HOSTILE-KILLED, DIED OUTRIGHT. DISPOSITION: Body Recovered, Buried.
CEMETERY: Rest Haven Cemetery, Jeff, Perry County, Kentucky. His brother, Hershel was buried beside him in 2012.
NOTE: “Pfc. Gibson Comes Home”, Story and Photographs by John Fetterman, The Courier-Journal & Times Magazine, Sunday Edition, July 28, 1968. Fetterman received a 1969 Pulitzer Prize for the excellent article.
SOURCES: Census. Findagraved. Kentucky Birth Index. Personal Interviews. “Pfc. Gibson Comes Home”, Story and Photographs by John Fetterman, The Courier-Journal & Times Magazine, Sunday Edition, July 28, 1968. “The Wall of Faces – Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Photograph.
NOTE: I placed my fifth-cousin-two-times-removed, James Thurman “Little Duck” Gibson on my ~ Combs Collins Sumner Adams Holbrook Caudill Kelley Mullins; Brashear Young Campbell Cornett Woods Dorton Asher Bowling Sizemore ~ Maternal Family Tree, that I created on Ancestry.

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STONE

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STONE, JOHN L. (1942-2001), U. S ARMY, POSTED IN GERMANY, VIETNAM WAR.
HOMETOWN: Anco, Knott County, Kentucky, USA.
OTHER RESIDENCE: Amburgey on Irishman Creek and Cody in Knott County, Kentucky. The construction of the Carrs Fork Dam was the reason for the family’s relocation.
DATE OF BIRTH: 25 October 1942, in Vicco, Perry County, Kentucky on marriage certificate. On Social Security Applications and Claims Index, born Anco, Knott County, Kentucky.
PARENTS: Della Richie and Woodrow Stone.
GRANDPARENTS: Susan Marie Neely and John Henry Stone.
GRANDPARENTS: Cordelia Smith and William M. Richie.
SPOUSE: Dianne Combs, daughter of Joan Luttrell and Ulysses Grant Combs, Jr., U. S. Navy, World War II. Joan was the granddaughter of James Claybourn “Claibe” Jones (1825-1914), Mountain Feudist.
ENTERED SERVICE FROM: Kentucky.
ENLISTMENT DATE: 21 January 1964.
DISCHARGE DATE: 31 January 1966.
RANK: SP4.
COMBAT ORGANIZATION: Served in Germany during the Vietnam War, United States Army.
DATE OF DEATH: 28 July 2001.
CEMETERY: Mountain Memory Gardens, Hindman, Knott County, Kentucky.
SOURCES: Family Interviews. Findagrave. Kentucky Birth Index. U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File. U. S. Social Security Applications And Claims Index. Virginia Marriage Record.
NOTE: I placed John L. Stone on my ~ Combs Collins Sumner Adams Holbrook Caudill Kelley Mullins; Brashear Young Campbell Cornett Woods Dorton Asher Bowling Sizemore ~ Maternal Family Tree, that I created on Ancestry.

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