Memorial Day
In 1942, my father's first cousin Gano H. "Sonny" Jewell was attending Cornell in the pre-med program. However, he felt he wasn't doing enough for the war effort. So, even though he was an only son, he quit school and enlisted in the Army. They made him a medic and assigned him to the HHC 2-116th Infantry, 29th Div. and Sonny participated in the D-Day landing on Omaha beach and the drive in-land. He was killed August 7, 1944 at Vire, France while caring for wounded (he himself was wounded on August 6th) in the 2d BN aid station.
Two acquaintances of mine were killed August 7th, 2004 in Afghanistan.
SGT Bobby E. Beasley and
SSG Craig W. Cherry had served together for several years in the 3d Battalion 116th Infantry and were close friends. At the armory on departure day they were taking some final photos with friends and family when Cherry's wife said she wanted a photo of the two of them together. As they stood with their arms on each others' shoulders, Bobby told Craig, "I'm afraid I might not come back." Craig said, "I won't leave you there by yourself." They died together in the same IED explosion.
When I was the Readiness NCO for Company A 3d Battalion 116th Infantry I had one PFC John Robert Teal as a Platoon radio operator. A Virginia Military Institute cadet, PFC Teal was a good radio op and an interesting person with whom to have a conversation. He even designed the company T-shirt which we sold for both espirit and to raise funds for the family support group. On October 23, 2003 Army
CPT John R. Teal was killed by an IED in Iraq. His convoy was on a humanitarian mission, attempting to help a sick Iraqi girl.
Of course, the 116th Infantry Regiment served in
WWI and
WWII as well as every other conflict since formation of the Augusta County Regiment in 1742. While many of those serving in this regiment were neighbors and friends it is particularly true that during the world wars many others from all across the country were assigned to the Regiment.
My family has had many who served including CPT George Richtmier in the Revolution, PVT Henry Parslow and his son 1LT Alonzo Barney Parslow in the American Civil War, SGT Donald F. Parslow in WWII and Korean war.
