American Legion Post 44 To Celebrate 100th Anniversary Of Philippi’s Doughboy Soldiers' Memorial

On November 4, 2023, American Legion Post 44 will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the dedication of "The Spirit of the American Doughboy" Soldiers' Memorial. Post 44 plans for a 10 a.m. ceremony at the memorial on the front lawn of the Barbour County Courthouse in Philippi.

A red carnation for each fallen soldier will be placed in a Memorial Wreath as retired Circuit Court Judge Alan D. Moats reads the names of young men and women from Barbour County who gave their lives in service to the country from World War I to the present. WV Secretary of State Mac Warner, whose family roots in Barbour County run deep, will join in honoring the fallen soldiers.

"We want everyone to attend, but we especially want to invite family, descendants and friends of Barbour County's fallen soldiers," - says local Post Commander Michael Rexroad. "We know that each fallen soldier, even those long gone, still lives in the memories of family and friends. We want those folks to have the opportunity to add a carnation to the wreath as the name of their loved one is read aloud."

Information about the event is being provided to Barbour County Schools teachers and students as well as to the general public. "Many of the fallen soldiers we will honor at the ceremony were members of families whose descendants still live Barbour County", continues Rexroad. "This could be an opportunity to engage students in learning about genealogy and history by searching their family trees to find connections with those fallen soldiers."

The names of Barbour County's fallen soldiers to be honored at the ceremony on November 4 appear below. The names can also be found on the Barbour County Commission website https://barbourcountywv.org/. Click on Document Center, scroll down to History Corner and select "Spirit of the American Doughboy." The History corner entry also includes newspaper articles from the original dedication of the Soldier's Memorial in 1923, as well as information about the statue and its creator, E. M. Visquesney.

American Legion Post 44 asks all to mark their calendars for this special November 4 ceremony.

World War I

1917-1919

Oscar Granville Alexander

Clayton Bosworth Brandon

Jesse Gordon Cole

Quincy C. Dadisman

Okey E. Duckworth

James Blaine Hovatter

Everett Earl Ice

David Oren Jones

Fred E. Jones

John Irvin Kramer

Andrew L. Matthew

Lawrence L. Mayle

Charles Wayne Moore

Wilbur Simpson Moore

William Hobart McDaniel

William Myers

Nelson Newman

Carl Frederick Nitz

Lloyd F. Reed

Lawson D. Regester

Robert J. Ritter

Carl Simmons

Walter Ray Smith

Loring Carr Thorpe

Thomas Caton Wilson

World War II

1941-1945

William Draper Anglin

Denzil Ray Ashby

Cleophus L. Auvil

Monzel Barker

Richard Lavere Bartlett

Loyd Dextor Beckner

Dennis Howard Bennett

Stanley Wilson Bennett

Hayward R. Bolyard

Denzil Boyles

Lynn Jackson Boyles

Thurman Lee Boyles

Arthur Lee Burner

Walter Herbert Carr

Marion Lee Chapman

William Paul Cole

Carl H. DeLauder

Archie Roosevelt Ekis

Leonard Newton Ervine

Herman B. Evix

James Junior George

Elmer R. Grimm

Charles Ray Haller

William Henry Halterman

Richard Earl Hamilton

Oren C. Harris

Ray E. Hess

William Keith Hickman

Jess W. Hinkle

James Alvin Holt

Elwood Kennedy

John Kittle

Eston C. Kuhn

Calvin Keith Lipscomb

Victor Emanuel Kursavage

Stanley Lee Lemasters

Calvin Keith Lipscomb

Elbert Harold Lohr

Charles Junior McDaniel

John Manfreda

Charles Francis Martin

Arnold Roy Moore

John Lewis Orr, Jr.

Robert Ray Perry

William Pestotnik

Joseph Ralph Price

Dellet Junior Proudfoot

Johnnie Edward Prutsok

Woodrow Carmen Radcliffe

Kenneth Earl Ritter

Paul Porter Shaffer

Newton Woodrow Sigley

Harry H. Simon

Edsel W. Simons

Waitman George Simons

Doyle K. Simpson

Dwight P. Smith

James Everett Smith

Omer Spencer

Neeson Stemple

Robert Lee Sturm

Frank Tamus

Carl Teter

Stanley L. Turner

Hayward Wagner

Howard Porter Wagner

Clifford Ware Watkins

Cora Gertrude Hyre Webster

Sherwood Lee Wilson

Korean War

1950-1953

Virgil Coontz

James E. Crowl

Torres Sam Mercado

Joseph Serback

Allen E. Simmons

Vietnam War

1964-1975

William Lee Carr

Rex A. Bowyer

Garry L. Burgess

Roger L. Carpenter

John Charnoplosky

James R. Hickman

Isaac C. Huffman

Cecil Wilbert Kittle, Jr.

Larry Joseph Lowther

Lesley Wayne Reed

Wm. “Billy” Runner

Donald F. Schnably

Roger Lee Simpson

Iraq War

2003-2011

R. J. Jimenez II