It was February 19, 1917 when Will Dubose and Lona May Rook were united in holy matrimony; just a few months later, on June 5th, he was registering for the draft in Hardeman County. His registration card listed his occupation as a teamster with the G M & K Ry Co. The transport schedule showed him departing for Europe aboard the George Washington on June 15th of the following year after training at Camp Meade in Baltimore, Maryland. On July 4th he wrote his father saying “Listen father, I am just as happy as a boy can be, to be so far from home. Tell all of my friends I said be men don’t be boys. I very often think of times past. And I am glad for this reason when I come home I can tell what pretty trains and citys I seen, and nothing make me feel so good as my officers is so nice to me and that make me want to be a soldier more and more every day. So give my love to all.” Three months later, his father received a telegram from the Adjutant General which read as follows:

“Deeply regret to inform you that private Will Dubose Infantry is officially reported as killed in action September twenty seventh” 

It was sent at 7:41 PM. Short and to the point; his family would later learn he had been wounded in France while engaged in combat, his death following three days later on September 30th. Will was originally buried in France, as were so many of the young men who died there, but was returned to his home in Bolivar, Tennessee in September of 1921 and buried in Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery.

Cleabern Hill, Jr. had barely turned 20 when he enlisted in the United States Army on October 28, 1968. He had graduated from Michie High School that year and by April 2nd of 1969 found himself assigned to A Company of the 101st Airborne, 2nd Battalion 501st Infantry, and fighting in the jungles of the Thua Thien province of South Vietnam. On May 13—41 days after he arrived—Private First Class Cleabern William Hill, Jr. died of multiple fragmentation wounds. For his sacrifice he was awarded the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star Medal with First Oak Leaf Cluster, the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation, The Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, and was buried with full military honors in Stantonville Cemetery following a service at the West Shiloh Baptist Church. 

Years later, the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee declared a portion of State Highway 142, which encompassed the town of Stantonville, to be the “PFC Cleabern W. Hill, Jr. Memorial Highway”, their proclamation reading in part:

“WHEREAS, PFC Cleabern W. Hill, Jr. served with great courage and gallantry, giving his life for his country and for the cause in which he believed, and for that ultimate sacrifice, he deserves proper recognition; as a member of the United States Army, he proudly continued an essential tradition of American society: the concept of the citizen-soldier. . .”

PFC Cleabern W. Hill, Jr. was survived by his parents, a brother, and three sisters, all of whom lived in Stantonville at the time of his death. Today his name can be found on the 101st line of panel 25W of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D. C.

When Wilmer Lynn “Bill” Alley registered for the draft he listed his date of birth as January 21, 1928, which was odd given that the 1930 census shows him as being zero years old and every other document on record shows his birthdate as April 29, 1930. One explanation? That he was only 16 when he registered. His headstone application shows an enlistment date of 1946 . . . a date that’s lined through by someone wielding a red pencil who then wrote above it “21 October 48”, a necessary correction since his actual date of birth in 1930 was also listed on the application.

If Bill did begin his military career in 1948, then he survived longer than many who followed the same path. As a member of the 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, he found himself shipped to South Korea, engaged in combat with soldiers from the North in a conflict often referred to as the “forgotten war”. And it was there that he died on March 4, 1951, a victim of Operation Killer, the United Nations counteroffensive launched against the Chinese Communist People’s Volunteer Army and the North Korean Army. His bravery and sacrifice were acknowledged by the awarding of a Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, the Korean Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation, and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal. Today you can find his earthly remains in Friendship Cemetery in Wayne County—and his name inscribed on Panel 1 of The Wall of Remembrance, a part of the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D. C. Carved above the list of over 36,000 Americans who perished in the war, and over 7,100 Koreans who aided the efforts of the United States are the words:

“A grateful nation honors the members of the Armed Forces of the United States and the Korean augmentation to the United States Army who gave the last full measure of devotion in defense of freedom”