The Second World War began in 1939 in Europe. The U.S. entered the war after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941. Many men and women served from Henry County. This war was far more brutal than the First World War as many more were killed and wounded in this war. There would be North Africa, Sicily, Italy, the invasion of Europe, the island hopping from Guadalcanal to Okinawa. Iwo Jima would play a vital role. And in the advent of the atomic age with the two dropped on Japan to end this tragic war which would see millions upon millions killed by a madman known as Adolf Hitler. He sent millions to the gas chambers of the concentration camps and killed an unknown millions in the homeland of Russia.
The first of Henry Counties War dead to arrive home was on November 20, 1947.
Verna L. McCord killed in action Dec. 22, 1944 would be buried in the McDonough cemetery with full Military Honors. There would be twenty others to arrive later.
References:
1. Mother of Counties, Mrs. Rainer, 1971.
2. History of WWII, Francis Miller, 1949.
“World War II”
“Many millions would never see another day by the brutality of warfare and genocide alike. The world watched as evil walked it’s way around the globe to fill the air with the ashes of man. From the deserts of North Africa, to the islands of the Pacific, to the fields of Europe man would fight and die to try and rid this world of a mad dream. There have been many things written about that war, but no words can tell, no actions can replace, and no convictions will reduce the pain felt by this terrible war that took millions upon millions in it’s wake. As God extends his caring hand, He and only He will know the answer to why evil can raise it’s ugly head in the guise of anyone or thing to sweep across nations to make a waste land of them. May He trample the breath of such a plague from the mind of another who would try.”
The Staff of the CRG
