PFC John Lee Ensminger (WWII)


Remembering  PFC John Lee Ensminger (Watson)

July 19, 1914 - December 3, 1944

----

PFC John Lee Ensminger (Service #35375948) was born in Watson (Fairmont), West Virginia on July 19, 1914, the son of Fred and Jennie June (Hamilton) Ensminger.

Fred was a coal miner (1920 Census) and track man at the coal mine (1930, 1940 Census), with their family living in what at the time was called the "Sandy Ridge" area of Watson. John followed in his father's footsteps, working at the Virginia & Pittsburgh Coal & Coke Company together in Kingmont (Draft card).

On October 16, 1940, 26-year-old John registered for the draft. He was 5'11" and 160 lbs, with blue eyes. blonde hair, and light skin. Somewhere after the draft, and after the publication of the 1941 Fairmont City Directory, John married Dorothy Ellen Stealey.

Military Service: 

PFC John Lee Ensminger enlisted on April 7, 1942 at Fort Hayes. According to a December 29, 1944 article from the Fairmont Times, John was first stationed at Camp Grant (Illinois) with the Medical Replacement Training Corps, then at the base hospital at Fort Bliss, in El Paso, Texas, before being stationed at Camp Chaffey (Arkansas) and becoming a member of the 499th Field Artillery Battalion. When he was stationed at Fort Bliss and Camp Chaffey, Dorothy was able to live nearby, but returned home to Fairmont in January of 1944 when John completed maneuvers with the Field Artillery in Tennessee. Prior to the 499th Armored Field Artillery Battalion being sent overseas in October of 1944, John was stationed at Fort Campbell on the Kentucky/Tennessee border.


He was a member of the 499th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, 14th Armored Division, Battery A. The 14th Armored Division landed in France on October 29, 1944, and took part in such military maneuvers as the liberation of Barr, France (November 28 and 29, 1944). 

Unfortunately, PFC John Lee Ensminger was killed in action on December 3, 1944, as a result of artillery shells or fragments. The 499th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, 14th Armored Division, Battery A reported two killed, one wounded on December 3, just two days after the command post was established in Hochfelden, France. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart for his service.

Legacy and Survivors:


PFC John Lee Ensminger was reinterred at the historic Woodlawn Cemetery in Fairmont, West Virginia after the conclusion of WWII. He is honored on the "Marion County Veterans Killed in Action" Memorial at Veterans Square in Fairmont, WV, and at the  West Virginia Veterans Memorial in Charleston, WV. 

PFC John Lee Ensminger was survived by his wife, Dorothy, and his stepson, William Earl Jobes, Jr.  William went on to serve in the Army during the Korean War. John was also survived by his parents, and siblings Waneta (Amos), Blaine, and Betty (Thorne). John was also preceded in death by his one-year-old younger brother, Rexford, who died of scarlet fever in 1919. 

A December 29, 1944 article from the Fairmont Times notes that John attended "Ray's Chapel" church in Watson and was a member of the local Moose Lodge.

Sources and More Information:

  • 14th Armored Division (U.S. Army Center of Military History)
  • 14th Armored DIVISION - Liberator (Campaign Map)
  • 499th Armored Field Artillery Battalion History (14th Armored Division)
  • "Ensminger Given Posthumous Award." The Fairmont Times. 27 January 1945. Accessed with help from the West Virginia Regional History Center.
  • "John Ensminger, Kingmont Miner, Dies in France." The Fairmont Times. 29 December 1944. Accessed with help from the West Virginia Regional History Center. (Also the source of his photo)
  • KINGMONT, W.VA. (Info on the coal mine where John worked)
  • PFC John Lee Ensminger (Findagrave Profile)
  • S-3 Reports Of Fire Missions December 1944 (see page five)

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