Military Legacy Of Virginia And Beyond

MILITARY LEGACY OF VIRGINIA 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 In Action on September 16, 1944 in World War II.

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VIRGINIA SOLDIERS, SAILORS, AIRMEN, MARINES

REMEMBER AND NAME, A - Z

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SPANISH AMERICAN WAR (1898). PHILIPPINE INSURRECTION (1899 - 1902).

PHILIPPINE MORO REBELLION (1899 - 1913). MEXICAN BORDER WAR (1910 - 1919).

WORLD WAR I (1917 - 1918). WORLD WAR II (1941 - 1945).

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JAMERSON

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JAMERSON, GEORGE HAIRSTON (1869-1960), UNITED STATES ARMY MILITARY ACADEMY WEST POINT GRADUATE, MAJOR GENERAL, U. S. ARMY, TWO SILVER STAR MEDALS FOR ACTION TAKEN IN THE SANTIAGO DE CUBA CAMPAIGN IN THE SPANISH – AMERICAN WAR, PHILIPPINE WAR, MEXICAN BORDER WAR AND A DISTINGUISHED SERVICE MEDAL FOR ACTION TAKEN IN WORLD WAR I.
HOMETOWN: Post Office, Horse Pasture, Ridgeway, Henry County, Virginia, USA.
OTHER RESIDENCE: Martinsville, Henry County, Virginia. Fort Benjamin Harrison, Lawrence, Marion County, Indiana. Fort Logan, Colorado. Fort Niagra, New York. Fort Porter, Buffalo, New York. Chickamauga, Georgia. Tampa, Florida. Cuba. Nome, Alaska. Washington, D. C. Richmond City, Richmond, Virginia.
DATE OF BIRTH: 8 November 1869, Martinsville, Henry County, Virginia.
PARENTS: Louisa Salmons and Thomas Jefferson Jamerson, Confederate States Army, American Civil War.
GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS: Elizabeth and John Salmon, the First Sheriff of Henry County, Virginia, who was appointed Captain of Virginia Military Defense. John also served on a military committee with Virginia Governor, Patrick Henry.
SPOUSE: Elsie M. Tower, who first married Francis H. Teeft “Frank” Barbour.
SON: Osmond Tower Jamerson, World War II.
1893 GRADUATED FROM WEST POINT.
1893 WEST POINT U. S. ARMY MILITARY EMBROIDED SIGNATURE LINEN TABLECLOTH: Signed, George H. Jamerson, July 4th, 1892, ’93, WSMA. Size, 40” X 43”, about 90 signatures of West Point Cadets.
1899 AIDE-DE-CAMP TO BRIGADIER GENERAL M. V. SHERIDAN.
ENTERED SERVICE FROM: Virginia.
RANK: Major General.
BRANCH OF SERVICE: U. S. Army.
COMBAT ORGANIZATION: 7th Infantry, U. S. Army, Spanish-American War, Cuba. 159th Infantry Brigade, 80th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, World War I. Headquarters, 72nd Infantry Brigade.
1908: Captain George H. Jamerson, Commandant of Cadets of the V. P. I., Blacksburg, Virginia.
26 MAY 1918, U. S. ARMY TRANSPORT SERVICE PASSENGER LISTS: Brigadier General George Hairston Jameson was aboard the ship, MONGOLIA, leaving from Norfolk, Virginia. Headquarters Detachment, 159th Infantry Brigade, 80th Division. World War I.
24 May 1919, U. S. ARMY TRANSPORT SERVICE PASSENGER LISTS: Brigadier General G. H. Jamerson, was aboard the ship, USS PRETORIA, leaving from Brest, France, Headquarters, 72nd Infantry Brigade, Mrs. Elsie T. Jamerson, wife, Washington, D. C. Arrived Hoboken on 6 June 1919, To Camp Mills.
BATTLES, CAMPAIGNS, THEATRES: 1898, Santiago de Cuba Campaign, Spanish-American War. Philippine War. Mexican Border Campaign. 1918, American Expeditionary Forces, World War I.
1933 RETIRED FROM MILITARY SERVICE: U. S. ARMY MAJOR GENERAL.
DATE OF DEATH: 31 August 1960.
CEMETERY: Arlington National Cemetery.
U. S. AWARDS, CERTIFICATES, MEDALS:
~ a Distinguished Service Medal and Victory Medal with 4 clasps, World War I Service.
~ a Mexican Border Service Medal.
~ a Philippine Campaign Medal.
~ Two Silver Star Medals, Santiago de Cuba Campaign in the Spanish American War.
~ an Army of Cuban Occupation Medal, Spanish American War.
SOURCES: A History of Henry County, Virginia, With Biographical Sketches of its Most Prominent Citizens and Genealogical Histories of Half a Hundred of its Oldest Families by Judith Parks America Hill, copyright 1925. Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U. S. Military Academy, West Point, New York, Since Its Establishment in 1802 by Brevet-Major-General George W. Cullum. Census. Cuba’s Struggle Against Spain With The Causes For American Intervention by Fitzhugh Lee and Joseph Wheeler. Findagrave # 49236379. Marriage Records. My Begetters, The Salmons by Ruth Sammons Nasser, copyright 1986. The Hall of Valor Project; valor.militarytimes.com. U. S. Army West Point Linen Tablecloth With Embroidered Signatures of Cadets, 1893; poppysvintageclothing.com. U. S. Army Transport Service Passenger Lists, 1910-1939. U. S. Mexican Border Service Medal Roll Search; omsa.org. U. S. Returns From Military Posts, 1806-1916. U. S. Returns From Regular Army Infantry Regiments. U. S. Select Military Registers, 1862-1985.
NOTE: I placed my husband’s fourth-cousin-once-removed, George Hairston Jamerson on my ~ Sammons Bradshaw Ferguson Wooton Castle Hopkins Daniel Spencer; McCoy Stafford Stanley May Rutherford Brashear Williamson Ball ~ In-law Family Tree, that I created on Ancestry.

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WORLD WAR II

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GRAVELY

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SONS OF MARY ANN COLEMAN AND PAYTON B. “PATE” GRAVELY:
ANDREW LEE GRAVELY. CLARENCE MILTON GRAVELY.

GRAVELY, ANDREW LEE (1925 – 2014), USS COCKRILL, U. S. NAVY, WORLD WAR II.
HOMETOWN: Reed Creek District, Branch Road From Figsboro, Henry County, Virginia, USA.
OTHER RESIDENCE: 3553 Longview Drive, Collinsville, Virginia.
DATE OF BIRTH: 7 May 1925 in Henry County, Virginia.
PARENTS: Mary Ann Coleman and Peyton B. “Pate” Gravely.
SPOUSE: Mary Ruth Hodges.
KINSHIP:
~ Mary Ruth Hodges was the daughter of Martha Ann Mildred “Mattie” Hopkins and John Dillard Hodges.
~ Mattie Hopkins was the daughter of Martha Mayetta “Mollie” Lawless and first husband, William Henry Hopkins. Mattie was their only child.
~ Mollie Lawless, a widow married second, James Austin Hopkins, a widow. They had 10 children.
~ James Austin Hopkins had previously been married to Elizabeth Margaret Daniel. She had died about a year after their tenth and last child, Bessie Hopkins, was born. Bessie married Ezekiel Sammons, and they were the paternal grandparents of my husband, Calvin Ray Sammons.
~ William Henry Hopkins and James Austin Hopkins were the great-grandsons of Frances Rachel Blake and Richard Hopkins.
ENTERED SERVICE FROM: Virginia.
ENLISTMENT DATE: 26 August 1943 in Roanoke, Virginia.
DISCHARGE DATE: circa 1944.
SERVICE NUMBER: 835-59-77
RANK: Seaman First Class.
BRANCH OF SERVICE: United States Navy.
COMBAT ORGANIZATION: USS COCKRILL (DE 398), U. S. Navy, World War II.
U. S. WORLD WAR II NAVY MUSTER ROLLS:
~ 31 December 1943, USS COCKRILL, Andrew L. Gravely, 835-59-77, S2c, First received on Board on 24 December 1943 from NTS, Norfolk, Virginia.
~ 31 May 1945, USS COCKRILL, REPORT OF CHANGES, Andrew Lee Gravely, 835-59-77, S1c, USNR TRANSFERRED on May 30, 1945 to U. S. N. Hospital, Charleston, South Carolina.
~ 28 November 1945, USS COCKRILL, Andrew L. Gravely, 835-59-77, S1c, USNR Transferred November 14, 1944 to R/S Navy #926 FFT, Separation Activity in U. S.
BATTLES, CAMPAIGNS, THEATRES:
DATE OF DEATH: 16 April 2014.
CEMETERY: Roselawn Burial Park, Martinsville, Virginia, USA.
SOURCES: Andrew Lee Gravely and Mary Ruth Hodges Gravely, [who shared family documents and photographs, as did I with them. Our phone conversations were filled with memories from the past, as we exchanged personal stories about our kin]. archives.gov. destroyers.org. Findagrave. navy.mil. U. S. World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949. Virginia Marriage Records.
NOTE: I placed Andrew Lee Gravely on my ~ Sammons Bradshaw Ferguson Wooton Castle Hopkins Daniel Spencer; McCoy Stafford Stanley May Rutherford Brashear Williamson Ball ~ In-law Family Tree, that I created on Ancestry.

GRAVELY, CLARENCE MILTON (1920 – 2005), U. S. NAVY, WORLD WAR II.
HOMETOWN: Reed Creek District, Branch Road From Figsboro, Henry County, Virginia, USA.
OTHER RESIDENCE: Route 2, Martinsville, Henry County, Virginia.
DATE OF BIRTH: 12 July 1920 in Henry County, Virginia.
PARENTS: Mary Ann Coleman and Peyton B. “Pate” Gravely.
SPOUSE: Gladys Mae Hylton (1919-2008). Gladys divorced her first husband, James Quince Young.
ENTERED SERVICE FROM: Virginia.
ENLISTMENT DATE: 12 September 1942.
DISCHARGE DATE: 12 September 1945.
SERVICE NUMBER: RANK:
BRANCH OF SERVICE: U. S. Navy.
COMBAT ORGANIZATION: U. S. Navy, World War II.
BATTLES, CAMPAIGNS, THEATRES:
DATE OF DEATH: 22 August 2005.
CEMETERY: Roselawn Burial Park, Martinsville, Virginia.
SOURCES: Andrew Lee Gravely and Mary Ruth Hodges Gravely, [who shared family documents and photographs, as did I with them. Our phone conversations were filled with memories from the past, as we exchanged personal stories about our kin]. Census. Findagrave. U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File. U. S. WWII Draft Cards. Virginia Divorce Records. Virginia Marriage Records.
NOTE: I placed Clarence Milton Gravely on my ~ Sammons Bradshaw Ferguson Wooton Castle Hopkins Daniel Spencer; McCoy Stafford Stanley May Rutherford Brashear Williamson Ball ~ In-law Family Tree, that I created on Ancestry.

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HODGES

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SONS OF MARTHA ANN “MATTIE” HOPKINS & JOHN DILLARD HODGES:
JESSE BEAMAN HODGES. JOSEPH LONNIE HODGES.

HODGES, JESSE BEAMAN (1919 – 2004), U. S. ARMY, EUROPEAN THEATRE, WORLD WAR II.
HOMETOWN: Martinsville, Henry County, Virginia, USA.
DATE OF BIRTH: 15 October 1919 in Patrick County, Virginia.
PARENTS: Martha Ann Mildred “Mattie” Hopkins and John Dillard Hodges.
SPOUSE: Ethel Lee Ramsey, daughter of Mary Alice Davis and James Henry Ramsey.
REGISTRATION DATE: 16 October 1940 in Martinsville, Henry County, Virginia.
ENTERED SERVICE FROM: Virginia.
ENLISTMENT DATE: 12 April 1941.
DISCHARGE DATE: 30 September 1945.
RANK: Corporal.
BRANCH OF SERVICE: Field Artillery.
COMBAT ORGANIZATION: 224th Field Artillery Service Company, United States Army, World War II.
BATTLES, CAMPAIGNS, THEATRES: European Theatre, Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland and Central Europe.
DATE OF DEATH: 21 July 2004.
CEMETERY: Roselawn Burial Park, Martinsville, Virginia.
SOURCES: Andrew Lee Gravely and Mary Ruth Hodges Gravely, [who shared family documents and photographs, as did I with them. Our phone conversations were filled with memories from the past, as we exchanged personal stories about our kin]. Census. Findagrave. U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death Files. U. S. World War II Army Enlistment Records. U. S. WWII Draft Cards. Virginia Marriage Records.
NOTE: I placed my husband’s fourth-cousin-one-time-removed, Jesse Beaman Hodges on my ~ Sammons Bradshaw Ferguson Wooton Castle Hopkins Daniel Spencer; McCoy Stafford Stanley May Rutherford Brashear Williamson Ball ~ In-law Family Tree, that I created on Ancestry.

HODGES, JOSEPH LONNIE (1922 – 1966), U. S. ARMY AIR CORPS, WORLD WAR II.
HOMETOWN: Martinsville, Henry County, Virginia, USA.
DATE OF BIRTH: 2 March 1922 in Patrick County, Virginia.
PARENTS: Martha Ann Mildred “Mattie” Hopkins and John Dillard Hodges.
SPOUSE: Mary Josephine Koger, daughter of Dollie Stultz and Alvin Biron Koger.
ENTERED SERVICE FROM: Virginia.
ENLISTMENT DATE: 27 October 1942 in Richmond, Virginia.
DISCHARGE DATE: 22 January 1946.
SERVICE NUMBER: RANK: Private.
BRANCH OF SERVICE: Air Corps.
COMBAT ORGANIZATION:
BATTLES, CAMPAIGNS, THEATRES:
DATE OF DEATH: 9 September 1966.
CEMETERY: Old Center Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery, Sanville, Henry County, Virginia.
SOURCES: Andrew Lee Gravely and Mary Ruth Hodges Gravely, [who shared family documents and photographs, as did I with them. Our phone conversations were filled with memories from the past, as we exchanged personal stories about our kin]. Census. Findagrave. U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death Files. U. S. World War II Army Enlistment Records. U. S. World War II Draft Cards. Virginia Marriage Records.
NOTE: I placed my husband’s fourth-cousin-one-time-removed, Joseph Lonnie Hodges on my ~ Sammons Bradshaw Ferguson Wooton Castle Hopkins Daniel Spencer; McCoy Stafford Stanley May Rutherford Brashear Williamson Ball ~ In-law Family Tree, that I created on Ancestry.

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