University of Virginia Library

XVI
Introduction

Here are printed four rosters of men and women from Charlottesville
and Albemarle County who served in the armed forces of the
United States during the Second World War. In accordance with
the practice used in numerous service flags throughout the community,
for both the city and the county there are Gold Star Honor Rolls of
those who died and Blue Star Honor Rolls of those who survive. Altogether,
these four rosters include substantially more than five
thousand person who doffed “civvies” and donned military or naval
uniforms. Their number is equivalent to about twelve per cent of
the total population of the city and county at the time of the last
official census in 1940—a fact which indicates that this community
furnished at least its proportional share of men and women to the
armed forces.

These rosters are admittedly incomplete, but they are as comprehensive
as it has been practical to make them. The information in
the two Gold Star Honor Rolls has been secured chiefly from records
\gathered by the Virginia World War II History Commission, which
has its headquarters in the University of Virginia Library. The information
contained in the two Blue Star Honor Rolls has been
compiled principally from an official, public record maintained in the
offices of the clerks of the city and county courts. This source of information
is known as the “Induction and Discharge Record, World
War II.” Under a statute adopted by the General Assembly in 1944
the clerks were required to put on record in appropriate volumes information
which they were to secure from the local Selective Service
boards about all residents of the community who entered the armed
forces by voluntary enlistment or by induction under the Selective
Service law. The clerks are also required to record in these volumes
without charge a copy of the separation or discharge certificate issued to
any serviceman or service woman who voluntarily presents this certificate
to the clerk for recordation. The facts concerning the enlistment or
induction of approximately 5,450 servicemen and service women from
this community are recorded in ten volumes which are to be found in

the offices of the clerks for the city and county, but only about half of
the veterans have as yet had their discharges recorded by the clerks.
Since much of the information about each person which was desired
for publication herein could conveniently be found only in discharge
certificates or in the clerks' copies of them, and since it has been
found entirely impracticable to attempt to communicate individually
with each serviceman or service woman whose discharge certificate
has not yet been copied into the record at the court house. the data
about each person in the following lists are in many instances incomplete.
However, all facts recorded by the clerks prior to 1947 have
been reviewed in the compilation of these rosters.

There were also available carbon copies of discharge certificates for
certain local veterans. These were loaned for use in this connection
by the Virginia World War II History Commission from its statewide
collection of such separation papers.

Frequently the compilers have noted inconsistencies in the division
of the community's uniformed personnel between the city and the
county. A careful check was required to eliminate hundreds of duplicate
entries, for in many instances men who were inducted through
the Selective Service Board of the city have had their discharges copied
into the county records or vice versa. Brothers who left the same
household to serve their country may be listed partly under the county
and partly under the city. If a name does not appear in the roster in
which the reader expects to find it, the corresponding Honor Roll for
the other unit of local government should also be examined.

It should be noted that the official “Induction and Discharge
Record. World War II” excludes practically all persons who were
not registrants under the Selective Service law. Many local people
served in the armed forces without having been involved in Selective
Service procedures. Typical examples of such persons were members
of the “Regular Army” and “Regular Navy,” the National Guard,
organized reserves, and servicewomen. Efforts have been made to
supplement the local court house records by adding names of this
category: these other names were discovered in the newspapers,
were sought out by personal solicitation, and were located in various
other ways.

In the following four Honor Rolls names have been printed in the
fullest form in which they have been found available, followed by
the latest titles of rank, grade, or rating ascertainable and an abbreviation
indicating the branch of the armed forces in which each person
served. These data are then followed by the date of entrance into
the armed forces or upon active duty and by the date of separation
from the armed forces by discharge or death or the date of retirement
to inactive status in a reserve unit. In the case of the Gold
Star Honor Rolls a brief phrase then follows to explain the place

and nature of the cause of death. In each of the Honor Rolls abbreviations
then indicate the military and naval decorations and medals
received by each person. Finally, in the instances of the Gold Star
Honor Rolls, the entry for each person is concluded with mention
of the relationship, name, and (for the county) the postoffice of the
nearest survivor. If any entry lacks any of these data the failure to
include all the desired information is proof that some of it was regrettably
unavailable.

A Table of Abbreviations precedes the four Honor Rolls and explains
the symbols used herein to identify the four branches of the
armed forces and various decorations and medals. Official or common
abbreviations have been used for all titles of military and naval rank,
and it has not been felt necessary to include a long list of these abbreviations
in the Table. An ordinary dictionary or common works of
reference in any library should explain any questions which may
arise from this omission.

All veterans who have not yet presented their discharge certificates
to the city or county clerk, so that these certificates may be copied into
the official “Induction and Discharge Record, World War II,” should
do so promptly. Such action, which costs nothing, may be of future
benefit to the veteran himself in event of the loss of the original copy
of the discharge certificate and, in addition, will result in making
available to the public a more nearly complete record than that which
is presented in the following pages.

TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS

                                                                                 

*	Indicates a person identified as a Negro
A	Army of the United States
ACR	Army Commendation Ribbon
ADS	American Defense Service ribbon or medal
AM	Air Medal
APT	Asiatic-Pacific Theater ribbon or medal
AT	American Theater ribbon or medal
BA	Bronze Arrowhead or Bronze Service Arrowhead
BS	Bronze Star Medal
BSS	Bronze Service Star
C	United States Coast Guard
CIB	Combat Infantryman Badge
DFC	Distinguished Flying Cross
DMB	Distinguished Medical Corpsman's Badge
DSC	Distinguished Service Cross
DSM	Distinguished Service Medal
DUB	Distinguished Unit Badge
EAMET	European-African-Middle Eastern Service ribbon or medal
EIB	Expert Infantryman Badge
GCM	Good Conduct Medal
GS	Gold Star
LM	Legion of Merit
M	United States Marine Corps
MH	Medal of Honor (Congressional Medal of Honor)
MSU	Meritorious Service Unit
N	United States Navy
NC	Navy Cross
NCR	Navy Commendation Ribbon
NMM	Navy and Marine Corps Medal
OLC	Oak Leaf Cluster
PD	Philippine Defense ribbon or medal
PH	Purple Heart
PL	Philippine Liberation ribbon or medal
PUC	Presidential Unit Citation
SM	Soldier's Medal
SOLC	Silver Oak Leaf Cluster
SS	Silver Star Medal
SSS	Silver Service Star
UCS	Unit Citation Star
V	Victory ribbon or medal
WAACS	Women's Auxiliary Army Corps Service ribbon or medal