Marion County Remembers

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

In 2015, the Marion County Public Library was preparing for the arrival of an extensive WWII exhibit, and I decided to do research on our county in that same time frame. Imagine my surprise when reading the roll call of the dead that a name looked familiar- Paul Dawson. Looking at local yearbooks confirmed that this Paul Dawson, whose name I'd never heard at a family gathering, was the brother of my maternal grandfather. At the time, I didn't do much research into his life, but on Memorial Day, I began in earnest. Here's his story.  Isaac Paul Dawson (service number 35742383 )  was born July 12, 1919 in Farmington, WV, the son of Wilbert Howard Dawson and Olive Osa Fletcher . He had two siblings, Wilbert Harold Dawson , and Maxine Vivian Dawson Stover . It is my understanding that everyone but Maxine went by their middle names. Paul was a graduate of the Farmington High School Class of 1938. On October 16, 1940, at age 21, Paul registered for the draft. His draft card rea...