Military Monday- In Memory of a High School Classmate

Navy Cross

Jerry Eugene Lineberry
Birth: 1941
Death: February 12, 1970
Home: Wadesboro North Carolina
Service: U. S. Marines
Status: KIA

In Remembrance:

From 1950 through 1960 I attended school in Anson County, North Carolina. Our Lilesville High School Class of 1960 was the last Class in the old School and it was eventually torn down and replaced with a new elementary school.
One of our classmates was Jerry Lineberry. Just prior to the Senior year Jerry transferred to Wadesboro and graduated from the high school there; but, for most of our school years we knew Jerry as our classmate.

Like most young men of that era, you either volunteered or was drafted to serve in the Vietnam War. Jerry enlisted into the US Navy as a Marine. By the time he reached Vietnam in 1970 I had already served two tours with the Air Force in Thailand. 

On 12 February 1970, while serving as a Platoon Sergeant with Company B, First Battalion, Seventh Marines, 1st Marine Division (Reinforced), in the Que Son Mountains of Quang Nam Province, the Marines came under a heavy fire.

Staff Sergeant Jerry Lineberry led a machine gun team across the fire-swept terrain to take out the enemy position. During this action he was mortally wounded but continue to direct his men until he gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country – his life. Jerry died that February day in a rice paddy while courageously fighting to protect his men and his platoon.[1]

For his extraordinary heroism that day Staff Sergeant Jerry Lineberry was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.

You can read the entire citation accompanying this award at: http://goo.gl/iA0Bc

The Navy Cross is the second highest military decoration for valor that may be awarded to a member of the United States Navy, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard for extraordinary heroism in combat.[2]









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[1]http://projects.militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards/recipient.php?recipientid=4216
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navy_Cross
[3] Navy Cross Image courtesy of Wikipedia < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navy_Cross>

Military Monday – Finding your WWII Servicemen

Searching for information on the men in your family that served their country can be time consuming if you don't know where to look.

The National Archives and Records Administration has a portal that is tailor made to find this type of information; it's called the Access to Archival Databases (AAD) .

On the home page of AAD, to the right of the search bar, there a line "Getting Started Guide" that when clicked on will bring up a guide to assist you.

Here are the different categories available on the site:

Browse by Category

Genealogy/ Personal History Casualties Civilians Military Personnel Passenger Lists Prisoners of War Indexes to Photographs Textual Records

Private Sector

• Businesses
• Foundations
• Labor Unions
• Securities

Places

• Countries
• States
• Counties
• Cities/Towns

Zip Codes

Wars/ International Relations Civil War (Records About Civil War Battle Sites, created, 1990 - 1993, documenting the period 4/12/1861 - 5/13/1865) World War II Korean War Vietnam War Cold War Diplomatic Records Government Spending Contracts Grants and Assistance

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Military records for WWII, Korean, and Vietnam includes those who served, POW's,  causalities (wounded & died) and in some cases awards and recognition.

For this Military Monday Blog posting I wanted to know how many of my ancestor with the "Johns" surname served in WWII 

The results are here:

There were four:

Luther W. Johns – My Uncle

Walter J. Johns – First Cousin Once removed

William F. Johns -- First Cousin Once removed

Willie B. Johns – My Uncle

Note: Luther and Willie are brothers, Walter and William are brothers

Click on Record by the name and you will see this document.

With Memorial Day rapidly approaching I would like to salute these four men for their service to our country. All four have passed away, the last of the four in 1989. So we say goodbye to this group of men known as – "The Greatest Generation ". 

Gone but not Forgotten

God Bless America