Greetings all and a Good Day to you. May your hopes and dreams be fulfilled
by hard work and your time on Earth be a happy one.
Soldiers have always been my heroes and this bunch, from the Rockport area, is no exception. They all answered their call to duty when Uncle Sam came calling and all served honorably. Each, in some form or another, placed their life on the line and helped insure victory for the war that they served. What more could one ask from a person?
As you can see, I have reproduced some old pictures of six soldiers from the Rockport area. The time frame is World War II. Place your "Mouse Pointer" over each picture, hold it there for a few seconds, and a name should appear to identify each soldier. The identity to each soldier is just about all that I know. I do recognize a few and have all of the names, mainly due to the original owner of the picture taking the time to write in each name. Where I have a name, each soldier had a family. While the soldier was away to war, the family was waiting home for the safe return of their loved one. Most made it back home, some did not.
This stat will give each of you a chance to let me know what you know about each soldier. I have heard of each one, know some by name only, and vaguely remember some. I will tell you what I know and you can add to my knowledge or correct me in some of my thoughts and knowledge that I think that I know about each Soldier.
Leslie Hopper is pictured at top left and none-the-less a hero. He looks like Richard Hopper, Kathryn Hopper Blackburn's nephew. Although, I knew several Hopper's in the Rockport area, and in particular the area where Western Elementary School now stands, I don't ever remember knowing Leslie Hopper. You tell me.
Then there was the two Elder Brothers. I think that they are brothers and think that Margie Elder Stewart is a sister to each. I can vaguely remember the Elder Family. In my mind, and at one time, the family lived in a house behind the old bank building. It faced the same street, but on the opposite side of the James J. Reid house and up from Jamie's just about across from the Roy Deiter house. The names of Dewey and Forest Elder are well etched in my brain and I can place a face with each name, but that is just about as far as I can go. They left for service when I was only a few years old, fought for their country and returned home. The local jobs, in that time frame, were not very plentiful and most people had to go north to find work. It seems that Forest did not wait long before he left Rockport for work. Dewey tried to stick it out a while longer, but eventually followed his brother path.
It gets even worse. Charles Adcock is an unknown to me. While I have heard of the Adcock family, I have no knowledge of this soldier. Please feel free to let me know what you know about this soldier.
Neal Cooper raised his right hand when Uncle Sam said that he was needed. He picked up the furnished equipment from Uncle Sam and went to war. Now, if I have the right Neal Cooper, he returned to Ohio County and raised a family. I have heard of Neal Cooper, but just did not know him personally. You tell me. 4/26/06 Info from an e-mail buddy:
Adrian Neal Cooper was the son of Oval and Edith Fulkerson (Mary Jane Stewart's sister) Cooper. His mother died in 1921. Neal and his sister were raised by Jim Dow and Ester Milner Fulkerson, their Grandparents. After service to his country, Neal married Rudel Ward of Hartford and raised two children. Neal went to work for General Electric in Owensboro and stayed there until retirement.
Thurston Reid is a very familiar name and I have heard of him from the time that I learned to listen. Like the rest of these soldiers though, his name is about all that I can remember about him. He is the son of Rodney and Elizabeth Kevil Reid and the brother of James J. Reid. Rodney and Bert Reid were brothers. My guess is that when he returned from war, he had to leave the county to find work.
4/26/06 Info from an e-mail buddy:
Thurston was the second oldest and Jamie's older brother. He ended up in Cleveland, Ohio and did well in business there, getting married and raising a family. He has been to a few Rockport school reunions.
For starters, I am sorry that I do not have any better information about all of these area heroes. I wish that I did. I wish that I could build a memorial and honor each one, but just not able to do such. With no more information than I have, it may be better just to ignore this web page and not place it on line for the world to see. By the same token, if I have made you think about these fine soldiers, maybe their memory will never be broken. Most of you know more about a particular soldier than I have written about. Combined, there should be enough information to correct any mistakes that I have made, as I did do a lot of guessing. Appreciate any and all help.
Again, if you have reached this point, I appreciate your time in looking at what I have presented. Although the text part of the stat is limited and not very enlightening, I hope the old pictures make your time worthwhile. Thanks.
See you.......
jrd
Soldiers have always been my heroes and this bunch, from the Rockport area, is no exception. They all answered their call to duty when Uncle Sam came calling and all served honorably. Each, in some form or another, placed their life on the line and helped insure victory for the war that they served. What more could one ask from a person?
As you can see, I have reproduced some old pictures of six soldiers from the Rockport area. The time frame is World War II. Place your "Mouse Pointer" over each picture, hold it there for a few seconds, and a name should appear to identify each soldier. The identity to each soldier is just about all that I know. I do recognize a few and have all of the names, mainly due to the original owner of the picture taking the time to write in each name. Where I have a name, each soldier had a family. While the soldier was away to war, the family was waiting home for the safe return of their loved one. Most made it back home, some did not.
This stat will give each of you a chance to let me know what you know about each soldier. I have heard of each one, know some by name only, and vaguely remember some. I will tell you what I know and you can add to my knowledge or correct me in some of my thoughts and knowledge that I think that I know about each Soldier.
Leslie Hopper is pictured at top left and none-the-less a hero. He looks like Richard Hopper, Kathryn Hopper Blackburn's nephew. Although, I knew several Hopper's in the Rockport area, and in particular the area where Western Elementary School now stands, I don't ever remember knowing Leslie Hopper. You tell me.
Then there was the two Elder Brothers. I think that they are brothers and think that Margie Elder Stewart is a sister to each. I can vaguely remember the Elder Family. In my mind, and at one time, the family lived in a house behind the old bank building. It faced the same street, but on the opposite side of the James J. Reid house and up from Jamie's just about across from the Roy Deiter house. The names of Dewey and Forest Elder are well etched in my brain and I can place a face with each name, but that is just about as far as I can go. They left for service when I was only a few years old, fought for their country and returned home. The local jobs, in that time frame, were not very plentiful and most people had to go north to find work. It seems that Forest did not wait long before he left Rockport for work. Dewey tried to stick it out a while longer, but eventually followed his brother path.
It gets even worse. Charles Adcock is an unknown to me. While I have heard of the Adcock family, I have no knowledge of this soldier. Please feel free to let me know what you know about this soldier.
Neal Cooper raised his right hand when Uncle Sam said that he was needed. He picked up the furnished equipment from Uncle Sam and went to war. Now, if I have the right Neal Cooper, he returned to Ohio County and raised a family. I have heard of Neal Cooper, but just did not know him personally. You tell me. 4/26/06 Info from an e-mail buddy:
Adrian Neal Cooper was the son of Oval and Edith Fulkerson (Mary Jane Stewart's sister) Cooper. His mother died in 1921. Neal and his sister were raised by Jim Dow and Ester Milner Fulkerson, their Grandparents. After service to his country, Neal married Rudel Ward of Hartford and raised two children. Neal went to work for General Electric in Owensboro and stayed there until retirement.
Thurston Reid is a very familiar name and I have heard of him from the time that I learned to listen. Like the rest of these soldiers though, his name is about all that I can remember about him. He is the son of Rodney and Elizabeth Kevil Reid and the brother of James J. Reid. Rodney and Bert Reid were brothers. My guess is that when he returned from war, he had to leave the county to find work.
4/26/06 Info from an e-mail buddy:
Thurston was the second oldest and Jamie's older brother. He ended up in Cleveland, Ohio and did well in business there, getting married and raising a family. He has been to a few Rockport school reunions.
For starters, I am sorry that I do not have any better information about all of these area heroes. I wish that I did. I wish that I could build a memorial and honor each one, but just not able to do such. With no more information than I have, it may be better just to ignore this web page and not place it on line for the world to see. By the same token, if I have made you think about these fine soldiers, maybe their memory will never be broken. Most of you know more about a particular soldier than I have written about. Combined, there should be enough information to correct any mistakes that I have made, as I did do a lot of guessing. Appreciate any and all help.
Again, if you have reached this point, I appreciate your time in looking at what I have presented. Although the text part of the stat is limited and not very enlightening, I hope the old pictures make your time worthwhile. Thanks.
See you.......
jrd