War Casualties Of Hardee County, Florida

By Spessard Stone



American Legion Monument

Inscription on Monument near American Legion Building, Wauchula, Florida:
"They, whom the inscription upon the memorial commemorated, are those from Hardee County, who at the final call, left all that was dear to them, endured hardships, faced danger, and finally passed out of the sight of man by the path of duty and self-sacrifice, giving their lives that others might live in freedom. Let those who come after see to it that their names be not forgotten."

The following honored dead appear on the mounument:

World War I

Edward Alderman                                                        Jebtha L. (Zeb) Altman                                                        Albert W. Bryan                                                        Grady Burch                                                        Leslie Collier                                                        Isaac Davis                                                        D. E. Donahue                                                        Alton Grice                                                        Fred Holland                                                        John Jones                                                        Arthur Madden                                                        W. E. (Willie) Mitchell                                                        James R. Orr                                                        Henry Thomas                                                        Joseph T. Webb                                                        Nathaniel Weeks                                                        Herger Williams(1)

Army Army Army Army Army Army Army Army Army Army Army Army Army Army Army Army Army

World War II

Merle Ballard                                                        J. B. Baucom (2)                                                        John Tol Brewer                                                        Henry G. Cejka (3)                                                        Freddie L. Chestnut                                                        Albert L. Crane (4)                                                        Herman Watson Davis                                                        Roger O. Davis, Jr.                                                        Bradford W. Dees                                                        Jack K. Dennis                                                        Robert D. Evers                                                        Donald Clifton Fussell (5)                                                        Jack H. Fussell (5)                                                        Thomas O. Gilliam                                                        Dave Clifton Jones                                                        Harold O. Lambert                                                         Frank P. Lanier                                                        John Robert Maddox                                                        Edwin Adolph Makowski                                                        Jack Mays                                                        Murrell G. McCall                                                        Malcolm E. McLean                                                        Francis J. Minor                                                        Chester Montgomery                                                        Douglas T. Moore                                                        Oscar C. Moseley                                                        Levy T. North, Jr.                                                        Stanley J. Okscin (6)                                                        James M. Patterson                                                        Roy H. Petteway                                                        J. P. Pringle (7)                                                        Halcott L. Smith                                                        W. Edgar Southerland (8)                                                        Arthur Lemmie Stanton (9)                                                        Jessie J. Taylor                                                        John S. Taylor                                                        Marquis B. Taylor                                                        Charles R. Tew                                                        William S. White                                                        Andrew J. Wingate                                                        Leslie B. Witt

Army Army Navy Army Army Marines Navy Army Army Army Army Navy Navy Army Army Navy Army Army Navy Navy Army Army Army Army Army Army Army Army Navy Army Army Army Army Navy Army Army Army Army Army Army Army

See also Hardee County World War II Casualties


Korean Conflict

Elmer G. Barefoot                                                        Orville C. Howze                                                        Jim John Ryan

Army, died April 29, 1951 Army, died Sept. 7, 1950 Army, died Oct. 20, 1950

Note: Orville C. Howze is listed in Polk County, Florida.

See also Korean War Project Casualty Databases.



Vietnam War

Boyd Timothy Adams                                                       , Raymond Lavoy Boatwright                                                        Terrel Elbert Carter                                                        Charles C. Dickey, Jr.                                                        Varl Eston Fulford                                                        Charles Edward Long                                                        Warren Larue Long                                                        Johnny Means                                                        Robert Glenn Pendley                                                        Frederick Dale Rickels                                                        Roy Edward Shaw, Jr.

Marines, died April 21, 1969 Army, died Jan. 19, 1966 Navy, died Jan. 15, 1967 Army, died March 31, 1967 (10) Army, died June 6, 1966 Navy, died July 29, 1967 Air Force, died March 8, 1969 Marines, died Oct. 26, 1967 Army, died Dec. 11, 1968 Marines, died May 12, 1968 Army, died Dec. 6, 1970

See The Vietnam Memorial Wall Page.
See Florida Casualties in the Vietnam War.

Endnotes

(1) Herger Williams, son of W. J. and Elvie Williams, was born August 8, 1897 in the Oak Grove section of DeSoto (now Hardee) County, Florida. While serving with Company B, 9th Infantry, he died in France on July 31, 1918.
Victor Irby, a nephew, related on November 14, 1988: "On May 23, 1919, the organizational meeting of the American Legion Post was held at the Simmons Hotel in Wauchula and in June of that year at the state headquarters in Jacksonville the Wauchula post was the first to present papers for charter, but during the meeting another set of charter papers was placed on the top of the Wauchula application with the results that the Wauchula post was officially chartered as the Herger Williams Post No. 2, American Legion Department of Florida, instead of Post number one.
"Herger Williams, son of W. J. and Elvie Williams of the Oak Grove section, was the first Hardee County man to give his life during World War I on July 31, 1918, at the age of 20 while serving in Company B of the 9th Infantry in France.
"In 1918, when other men, including his brother, Lester, were leaving for service, Herger slipped aboard the train headed for Camp Wheeler, Georgia, and was not discovered until the train arrived at Camp Wheeler. Since he was not old enough to enlist in the army, special permission had to be given by his father, who knowing of his great desire to serve his country gave his permission for Herger to enlist.
"Herger was an excellent marksman and was sent to the front lines due to his ability with a rifle and was killed in France and was buried at Lemonge Heights on the Marne River in France in 1918. His remains were returned home in the spring of 1921 and he was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery with full military honors. See The Herald-Advocate, November 17, 1988, page 7-C.

(2) J. B. Baucom was born March 17, 1914 and died June 13, 1944, buried New Hope Cemetery, Hardee County.

(3) The Florida Advocate of Friday, April 20, 1945 reported:
"Just shortly before Mr. and Mrs. Joe Cejka left the first of the week for Roxbury, Mass., where they expect to visit their daughter, Mrs. Arthur Cochlis, they received notification from Henry L. Stimson, secretary of war, that their son, Lt. Henry G. Cejka, Infantry, had posthumously been awarded the Purple Heart.
"Secretary Stimson (in part) wrote: "He has gone, however, in honor and the goodly company of patriots. Let me, in communicating to you the country's deep sympathy, also express to you the gratitude for his valor and devotion."

(4) The Florida Advocate of Friday, April 6, 1945 reported:
"Mr. and Mrs. R. L. Crane, of Ona, last week were notified that their son, Cpl. Albert L. Crane, 20, was killed in action during the invasion of Iwo Jima on February 19.
"Cpl. Crane enlisted in the Marine Corps in July, 1942. He spent 16 months overseas in the Pacific area with the Fourth Division and participated in the invasion of Saipan, Tinian and Roi Nawr and was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon bar and the Blue Star for bravery exhibited while serving on Saipan.
"In addition to his parents, he is survived by his widow, Mrs. Beverly Crane, of Annapolis, who is now visiting in Ona; two sisters, Mrs. Mary Dantzler, of Orlando, and Miss Beatrice Crane, of Ona; two brothers, Cpl. William R. Crane, of the U. S. Marines, who has participated in the invasion of several of the Pacific islands, and Master Jeff Crane, of Ona.

(5) Donald Fussell and Jack H. Fussell, brothers, were aboard the USS Houston in the South Pacific when it responded to a SOS from a Dutch vessel on January 28, 1942. Neither survived the ensuing Japanese attack. See Molly Sweeney, "Soldier [Will Fussell, middle brother] recalls his frigid post in the Aleutians,"The Tampa Tribune, Heartland-1, December 5, 1991.

(6) His named is spelled "Oskin" on the monument, but "Okscin" is believed to be the correct spelling.

(7) The Florida Advocate of Friday, May 4, 1945 reported:
"Parents of Lt. Joe P. Pringle, Jr., of Fort Green, were notified April 30 by the war department of his death in Germany April 5. He is a son of Joe P. Pringle, Sr., and Mrs. Mollie B. Hancock, both of Fort Green. Two sisters, Mrs. A. E. Abbott, of Fort Green, and Mrs. Carl Reese, of Panama City, also survive.
"Lt. Pringle, 28, had been in the service a little more than four years and had been overseas 14 months. He was attached to the Field Artillery and was with Patton's Third Army. He took part in several battles, including the hard fought battle of Malo, France. His outfit was among the first in Patton's Army to cross the Rhine.
"Lt. Pringle graduated from Wauchula High School and the University of Florida. He received his commission of 2nd lieutenant shortly after his graduation and entered the service."

(8) William Edgar Southerland, son of William A. and Ella Louise (Carlton) Southerland, was born December 1, 1903, Wauchula. While serving in the United States Army Air Corps in World War II, Edgar was killed on December 6, 1944 on the island of Leyte in the Philippine Islands. He had been decorated for heroism and is buried in the American National Cemetery in Manila.
The Florida Advocate of Friday, February 23, 1945 reported:
"Mrs. Ella Southerland, of East Bay street, last week received through the War Department citations which had been presented to her son, the late Cpl. Edgar Southerland, who was killed in action during the battle for Leyte in the Philippines last December.
"Among them was the Purple Heart, which was awarded posthumously. The citation was for exemplary conduct and bravery in the line of battle."

(9) The Florida Advocate of Friday, January 11, 1946 reported:
"Mrs. Doris Sloat Stanton, of this city, received a wire and a letter from Navy, last week, informing her that the Navy Department had carried her husband, Arthur Lemmie Stanton, chief motor machinist's mate, U. S. N., on the official record in the status of missing in action as of Dec. 12, 1944, that he was reluctantly forced to the conclusion that he is deceased.
"Stanton, 31, is the son of Mrs. Ellen Stanton, of 113 West Giddens street, Tampa. He is also survived by two children, Kenneth and Alice Stanton, who live with their mother in Wauchula.
"Stanton served 12 years in the Navy and 10 of those years were with the submarine branch of the Service. He was a native of Arcadia but most of his boyhood was spent in Tampa.

(10) Lt. Dickey, prior to his death, had written Lawrence Roberts, commander of the Herger Williams post: "We believe we are right and that God is on our side, and we will do our best while we are here to further our country's aims. Of course, we don't want our friends who have died to have died in vain." See "Memorial Day Service Honors Hardee Men Killed In Wars," The Herald-Advocate, June 9, 1994, 11-A.


November 22-25, 2001, April 14, 2005