Marion County Remembers

Remembering WT1C Paul Wright (Spencer) January 29, 1922 - December 18, 1944 ---- WT1C Paul Wright  (Service Number 2661493) was born in Spencer, WV, on January 29, 1922, the son of Romeo "Romie" Wright and Eva (Parsons) Wright. Romie worked as a laborer (1920 Census) and carpenter (1930 Census) in Spencer. Their family consisted of siblings Ernest, Helen, Mabel, Charles, twins Paul and Pauline, and William. Another brother, Frederick, had died in 1918 at age 2. In 1931, tragedy struck the Wright family. Eva died April 14, 1931 of tuberculosis....soon followed by their daughters Helen (1932) and Mabel (1933), and Helen's husband, Wilbur Rose (1933). On August 27, 1933, Romie (42) married 24-year-old Evelyn Zinn. Just over six years later, Romie succumbed to blood poisoning after surgery (1938).  In that span-of-time, Paul attended one year of high school in Spencer (1938) before moving in with his aunt and uncle, Clay and Mae Wright. Clay farmed his own land in Ohio, ...

Remembering S1C Charles Walter Jeffery (Logan) October 6, 1924 - December 18, 1944 ---- S1C Charles Walter Jeffery (service number 8282188) was born in Logan, WV on October 6, 1924, the son of Robert & Carrie Mae (Hill) Jeffery. Robert (also referred to as "Jabb") worked at the Logan lumber mill, first as a laborer (1920 census), then as a shipping clerk (1930 Census). By 1935 they'd moved to the Oceana District of Wyoming County, where Robert worked in "goods loaded" at the saw mill. (1940 Census). Military Service 18-year-old Charles registered for the draft on December 18, 1942 in Cyclone, WV, two years to the day from when he'd die in a water cyclone (Typhoon Cobra). At the time, Charles was working for Jesse Maynard. He was 5'8" and 165 lbs, with gray eyes, brown hair, and ruddy skin. Charles enlisted in the US Navy Reserve on May 22, 1943 in Huntington, WV, and traveled to the  Great Lakes Training Center for training  (July 1943 Navy Must...

Typhoon Cobra: West Virginia Casualties From the National WWII Museum: "On December 18, 1944, Typhoon “Cobra” struck an American flotilla supporting General Douglas MacArthur’s invasion of the Philippines. Task Force (TF) 38, under the command of Admiral William Halsey, included seven Essex-class carriers, six light carriers, eight battleships, four heavy and 11 light cruisers, along with approximately 50 destroyers. Conducting combat operations in and around Leyte during the late fall as part of MacArthur’s return to the Philippines, many of Halsey’s vessels were running low on fuel and supplies. Planning to support future combat operations in and around the Philippine archipelago, TF 38 set sail for a replenishment rendezvous point 400 miles due east to meet with fleet oilers and associated support vessels. The planned rendezvous location allowed TF 38’s vessels to remain close to the area of operations but safely outside the range of ground based Japanese aircraft. Replenishing...