James Walter Stevens, Jr., casualty WWII

James Walter Stevens, Jr.was born October 1923 in North Carolina to parents James Walter Stevens, Sr. and Essie Thompson Stevens. By the age of 6 James W. Jr. was motherless and lived with his father, brothers and sister, aunts and uncles, and his grandparents, Charles E. Stevens & Katie P. Stevens. On the 23rd March 1943, at the age of 19, James Jr. enlisted. He was a private in Company A, 117th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division and was killed in action in WWII on 19 December 1944. In his less than two years in service James received the purple heart & combat infantryman badge. His death occured in the beginning days of the Battle of the Bulge, and he was buried at the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery in Henri-Chapelle, Belgium.

Boyce Walter Ellington, casualty of WWII

S/SGT Boyce Walter Ellington's gravestone,
taken by K. Stevens

Boyce Walter Ellington was born 1 February 1921 to Joseph "Pa Joe" Ellington and Lyda E. Skidmore in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. His family was living in South Point, Gaston County, NC by the 1930 census. Boyce would have been 8 years old then.

Telegram confirming Boyce's death to his mother,
Lyda Eva Skidmore Ellington

At the age of 21, Boyce enlisted as a private of the United States army on 11 January 1943 in Richmond, Virginia. At his enlistment Boyce's residence was Norfolk, Virginia; Military Serial Number 33522116. He became a casualty of WWII on Christmas day 25 December 1944 in France. By then he had become a Staff Sergent.