By Maj. William Carraway
Historian, Georgia Army National Guard
Memorial Day
is a solemn annual observance in which our nation pauses to remember those who
gave their lives to secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and future
generations. For this Memorial Day, the Georgia National Guard History office
examines the stories of fallen Georgia National Guardsmen from World War II who
rest in Marietta National Cemetery.
About the
Cemetery
Marietta
National Cemetery is the final resting place of nearly 19,000 of our nation’s veterans.
The cemetery was established in 1866 as the Marietta and Atlanta National Cemetery
to accommodate nearly 10,000 fallen Federal Soldiers from the Atlanta Campaign
of the American Civil War.[1]
Since that time, the cemetery has served as the final resting place for those
who fell in our nation’s wars. Among them are seven members of the Georgia
Guard who fell during World War II. The lineage of the units in which these
Soldiers fell continue in service today in the Georgia Army and Air National
Guard.
Sergeant Harold
Milner Wood, Company B, 121st Infantry Regiment
Harold Wood
was born April 15, 1902. He enlisted in the Georgia Army National Guard’s Company
B. 121st Infantry Regiment based in Barnesville. The Barnesville Blues
conducted initial training with the regiment at Fort Jackson, S.C. and
continued training during the Carolina and Tennessee Maneuvers. The 121st
landed on Normandy’s Omaha Beach July 4, 1944.[2]
During the attempt to push entrenched German Soldiers out of La Haye du Puits
in Northern France, Wood was killed in action July 13, 1944. He is buried in
Marietta National Cemetery, Section K, Grave 4044 B.
Technical
Sergeant Emmett Asbell, Company M, 121st Infantry Regiment
Emmett
Asbell was born September 14, 1915 in Bleckley County, Ga. Asbell enlisted in
the Hawkinsville-based Company M, 121st Infantry and rose to the rank of 1st
sergeant before his unit was accepted into federal service in September 1940. Like
Wood, Asbell completed the pre-deployment training with the 121st
Infantry Regiment before fighting his way through the Normandy and Northern
France campaigns. He was killed in action November 26, 1944 in Germany and is
buried in Marietta National Cemetery, Section K, Grave 2008 I.
Lieutenant
Colonel William Waldo, Headquarters Company, 101st Separate Battalion,
Coast Artillery Corps
William
Slayton Waldo was born October 8, 1902. He was a long-time member of the 108th
Cavalry having enlisted as a private in April 1921. He was promoted to staff
sergeant in 1924, commissioned a second lieutenant in 1925 and promoted to
first lieutenant two years later. In 1939, 1st Lt. Waldo served as
the adjutant of headquarters, 1st Squadron, 108th Cavalry
when it converted to form a coast artillery battalion. Captain Waldo commanded
Headquarters Company, 101st Separate Battalion, Coast Artillery Corps when it was accepted into federal service
in September 1940. Waldo received promotion to major and lieutenant colonel
before mobilizing for the Pacific Theater in 1943. Waldo fell ill while
transiting the Panama Canal. He died December 9, 1943 in the Panama Canal Zone.
He is buried in Marietta National Cemetery, Section Q, Grave 57.
Private Herman
D. Brinkley, Company B, 121st Infantry Regiment
Herman D.
Brinkley of Lamar, Ga. joined the Barnesville Blues, Company B, 121st Infantry
Regiment September 16, 1940 at the age of 18. He was killed in action in the
vicinity of Isigny-sur-Mer, France July 16, 1944. He is buried in Marietta
National Cemetery Section E, Grave 6544-1.
T4 Paull Callaway, Co D, 121st Infantry Regiment |
Technician
4th Grade Paul Callaway, Company D, 121st Infantry
Regiment
Paul
Callaway joined Company D, 121st Infantry as a private January 24, 1941 at the
age of 20. Callaway volunteered for airborne service and was assigned to the
551st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division. He was killed in
action January 6, 1945 during the Battle of the Bulge. He is buried in Marietta
National Cemetery Section K, Grave 10293 C.
Private Thomas
F. Hudson, Battery F, 179th Field Artillery
Thomas F.
Hudson enlisted as a private in Battery F, 179th Field Artillery October 10,
1939 at the age of 21. He was transferred to the 110th Infantry Regiment, 28th
Infantry Division. Private Hudson was killed in action August 2, 1944 near
Saint Lo, France. He is buried in Marietta National Cemetery Section K, Grave
4002 E.
Technical
Sergeant Thomas L. Johnson, 128th Observation Squadron
Thomas
Johnson enlisted in the 128th Observation Squadron at the age of 23 on March
31, 1941. In March 1943, the 128th was redesignated the 21st Antisubmarine
Squadron and assigned B-25 Mitchells. On July 23, 1943, Thomas’ aircraft went
missing in flight from Gulfport to Tampa. Also missing on the flight were 1st
Lt. John Turner, TSgt. Edward Simpson and TSgt. J. R. Grogan, all of the Ga.
National Guard. Johnson is memorialized in College Park Cemetery and Marietta
National Cemetery, Section MA, Grave 4.
Photos courtesy of the Georgia Army National Guard Archives
[1] Marietta
National Cemetery, https://www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/marietta.asp
[2] Carraway,
William. It Shall Be Done: The 121st
Infantry Enters Fortress Europe. July 26, 2019. http://www.georgiaguardhistory.com/2019/07/it-shall-be-done-121st-infantry.html