THROUGH
MOUNTAIN MISTS
Early Settlers of
Their
Descendants...Their Stories...Their Achievements
Lifting the
Mists of History on Their Way of Life
By: Ethelene Dyer Jones
Memorial Day
and Thoughts on Freedom
We have a valuable gift, one not
wrapped
and tied with ribbons. It is intrinsic to America and our
constitutional way of
life. The gift is costly. The gift is freedom and it has been bought
with blood
and tears, life and limbs, sacrifice and abnegation.
Memorial Day is a time of
reflection on
aspects of freedom, its cost in lives and in sacrifice, not only in
those who
bore arms and met death in service, but the families who suffer through
terrible losses.
When some casualties of military
service
were returned to Choestoe for memorial rites, I was young. But the
impression
made on me of how young men laid down their lives was deeply imbedded
within. I
remember the funeral service for James Jasper Hunter (August 16,
1923-December
5, 1945). He was a cousin who died not in battle but as a result of a
transfer
truck accident. Multiple family members and community people gathered
to mourn
on that cold, dark winter day when his casket lay ready to be lowered
into the
grave. Our pastor, the Rev. Claud Boynton, gave accolades of Jasper's
service,
of his dying young but heroically. Then later, another member of the
same
family, William Jack Hunter (Sept. 2, 1932 - August 5, 1954) died at
sea. Both
Jasper and Jack were sons of William Jesse Hunter (1886- 1982) and
Sadie
Collins Hunter (1900-1979).
Brothers James
Jasper Hunter and William Jack Hunter were in military service when
they
died. They were willing to lay down their lives for their
country, but
were not killed in battle.
Later, even after the major
conflicts of
World War II had ended or were drawing to a close, another of our
Choestoe
boys, James Ford Lance (March 14, 1927 - January 12, 1946) was returned
for
burial. We gathered at Chostoe's Salem Methodist Church to mourn with
his
family and bid farewell to yet another young man who met death while in
the
service of his country. He was laid to rest in Union Memory Gardens at
Blairsville.
There were others in what we now
call
"The Greatest Generation" who were among Union County's war dead from
World War II. Having been present for some of the funerals, my young
mind was
trying to sort out the meaning of freedom and the price paid for it.
War is no
respecter of persons. The young take up arms. Some die. The parents of
those
laid to rest grieve and wonder at the high cost of liberty.
Union County has a stately and
impressive
War Memorial dedicated in 1995. On the monument is a quotation from
William
Shakespeare (from his Henry V): "But we…shall be remembered. We few, we
happy few, we band of brothers, for he today that sheds his blood with
me shall
be my brother."
The monument lists names of
those who lost
their lives In the Indian Wars, the Mexican War, the War Between the
States
including both Federal and Confederate soldiers (a list not complete
yet, but
longer than the lists for all other wars combined); World War I., World
War II,
the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. I am not sure, but plans for the
War
Memorial no doubt include listings from the current Iraq and
Afghanistan
conflicts.
Since much emphasis is now
placed on
"The Greatest Generation," those who fought in and lost their lives
in World War II, 1941- 1946, I list below those whose names appear on
that
memorial marker. Union County lost twenty two sons in that conflict. We
pause
to salute their memory and to offer thanks for the sacrifice of their
lives for
freedom.
Akins, Herbert J.
Dyer, Tommy A.
Hooper, W. C.
Rogers, Thomas J.
Anderson, Beecher L.
Everett, Frank J.
Lance, James F.
Sullivan, John C.
Barnes, Clyde N.
Gregory, Arlie
Marr, Charles L.
Summerour, Robert L.
Burnette, Monroe, Jr.
Grizzle, Garnie L.
Owenby, H. J.
Wilson, Wroodrow L.
Davenport, James U.
Grizzle, Garnie L.
Plott, J. B.
Dover, John G.
Harkins, Waymond
Rogers, Dale C.
The honorable William Gladstone,
Prime
Minister of Great Britain from 1868-1894 wrote: "Show me the manner in
which a nation or community cares for its dead, and I will measure with
mathematical exactness the tender sympathies for its people, their
respect for
the laws of the land, and their loyalty to high ideals."
Resource: I am grateful to David
Friedly of
Blairsville for information from the Union County War Memorial and for
the
picture with this article.
c2009 by
Ethelene Dyer
Jones; published May 28, 2009 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville,
GA.
Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Ethelene Dyer
Jones is a retired educator, freelance wirter,
poet, and historian. She may be reached
at email [email protected]; phone 478-453-8751; or mail 1708
Cedarwood
Road, Milledgeville, GA 31061-2411
Updated June
30,
2009
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