Marion County Remembers

Remembering 2LT William Lavelle Watson (Fairmont) June 6, 1917 - May 24, 1944 ----- 2LT William Lavelle Watson was born June 6, 1917 in Elkins, WV, the son of Roy and Eunice (Kildow) Watson. Roy was a railroad conductor in Elkins, but unfortunately died on December 10, 1922 when he fell under a moving train. Eunice was left alone with their three sons- Robert (7), William (5), and George (2). Eunice married again in 1927, this time to George Raymond Smith. At that time, the family moved to Fairmont. Not much is known about Eunice's youngest son, George, but a family member of theirs on Ancestry speculates that he died around 1927 as well.*  *Note: I haven't been able to find anything corroborating or denying the information about George's death, but he did not appear on any census records after 1920. An article about William does mention that George had died in Elkins ("Lieut. Watson Dies On Raid,"  The Elkins Inter-Mountain). In the 1930 census, the Smith/Watson ...

SSGT Marion Arlie Tennant (Service #35382677) was born May 23, 1914 in Fairmont, West Virginia to Arlie and Mary (Ammons) Tennant, the younger of two sons. They were married in 1910, but divorced by the 1920 census. In 1920, Mary and the children (Herbert and Marion) were living at 1109 Pennsylvania Avenue in Fairmont. In 1930, they were renting 205 Highland Avenue in Bellview, renting part of the house to Jack and Frances Green and their son Robert. By 1940, Marion was working as a purchasing agent for the Fairmont Hotel. Built in 1916, the Fairmont Hotel stood on the corner of Jefferson and Monroe Streets. It is now home to the East View Apartments. Marion entered the draft on October 16, 1940. He was 5'11" and 155 lbs, with gray eyes, brown hair, and light skin. Military Service: Marion enlisted in the Army and served with the 712th AAF Bomb Squadron, 448th Bomb Group. He was the right-waist gunner aboard the B-24 Liberator "Chubby Champ" when it was hit by Luftwa...

While most of my posts on this blog will be about Marion County, WV, I'd be remiss to not acknowledge all 14 of the West Virginia casualties of the HMT Rohna. 31st Signal Construction Battalion: PVT Paul Dawson (Marion County) 322nd Fighter Control Squadron: PFC Howard Jenkins (McDowell County) PVT Leroy Lanham (Upshur County) PVT Glenn McClung (Raleigh County) PFC Odell Shepherd (McDowell County) PVT William Wade (Lincoln County) 853rd Aviation Engineer Battalion: SGT Raymond Bolyard (Preston County) T5 Leland Brown (Clay County) * PFC Julius Calvert (Raleigh County) PVT Denver Parsons (Boone County) PVT Harry Ridgway (Ritchie County) CPL Harry Smith (Hampshire County) U.S. Army Air Force: SSGT John Brezinskey (McDowell County) U.S. Infantry: SGT Raymond McDaniel (Kanawha County) * T5 is the equivalent of a Colonel today