WWII Veteran given grave marker 65 years after death

November 8, 2010 · By Jerry Castillo

Allen Jackson and Tim McKinney with the gravestone for William Jennings Brien Jr. SSMB2 US Navy WWII that will be placed at his grave in Oak Hill Cemetery. (Ron Campbell / Johnson City Press)

Allen Jackson and Tim McKinney with the gravestone for William Jennings Brien Jr. SSMB2 US Navy WWII that will be placed at his grave in Oak Hill Cemetery. (Ron Campbell / Johnson City Press)

Rex Barber of the Johnson City Press, wrote of the deeds of two extraordinary veterans that ensured a grave maker was ordered and placed where World War II veteran William Jennings Brien Jr. was laid to rest 65 years ago.

It took a while, 65 years to be exact, but everyone will finally know exactly where World War II veteran William Jennings Brien Jr. was laid to rest.

“Right now he’s laid here in Oak Hill Cemetery for 65 years without a grave marker,” Allen Jackson, local military historian, said at the cemetery on a recent cold, rainy day after securing Brien’s official military headstone.

Brien was born in Lebanon, Va., in April 1922. His father was a barber and served in the Navy in World War I. After his service in the war, he moved his family down to Johnson City and opened two barber shops. Brien learned how to be a barber from his father.

“So when World War II broke out he wanted to follow his father in the service, so he too joined the U.S. Navy,” Jackson said. “When the Navy heard what his specialty was and what his training was, they signed him on as a barber.”

He was a ships service man (barber) second class. He was allowed to take his barber chair with him to the South Pacific.

He left in December 1942 and fought with the 12th Special Naval Construction Battalion in the Russell Islands. He went to Okinawa after that, where he supposedly lost the barber chair during a typhoon.

Brien returned to the United States in November 1945. He was driving some men to an appointment only two days after landing in California — Nov. 19, 1945 — when his car was hit by a bus and he was killed.

“It mangled up his leg and he died from a blood clot that came loose from that,” Jackson said.

Jackson had to filter through government bureaucracy for about six months but finally got a tombstone for Brien. But first, he had to find out where he was interred in Oak Hill.

He found the grave of his father, complete with his World War I service marker, but not the younger Brien’s grave.

Oak Hill operator Tim McKinney suggested Jackson search the Archives of Appalachia at East Tennessee State University for information about Brien’s grave. There, Jackson found a three-by-five index card with Brien’s burial record in Oak Hill — Section Q, Row 1, Grave 2. It was right beside his father, only not marked.

On Nov. 19, 65 years since Brien’s death, a ceremony will be held at Oak Hill to recognize the placement of Brien’s headstone and his service in World War II.

For more of this story visit: http://johnsoncitypress.com/News/article.php?ID=83227

8 Responses

  1. Airhead

    November 9th, 2010 at 2:17 AM

    1

    How nice to see someone going out of their way to ensure our fallen are not forgotten??? By the way your web site is great. Sincerely.

  2. 2loss

    November 9th, 2010 at 6:34 AM

    2

    Its nice to see people still people caring for our brave.

  3. Tandarts

    November 9th, 2010 at 8:10 AM

    3

    Wow 65 years for a marker…

  4. Titus Kifer

    November 24th, 2010 at 3:27 PM

    4

    Its nice to know people still give a damn about.

  5. Rashad Muise

    November 24th, 2010 at 3:28 PM

    5

    Thanks for this great article.

  6. John sc2 player

    November 25th, 2010 at 9:54 AM

    6

    Good for them. Thank you for not forgetting those who served our country.

  7. Terrence Felix

    November 26th, 2010 at 7:42 AM

    7

    It good to see people doing the right thing.

  8. Donald Simmons

    December 4th, 2010 at 3:59 PM

    8

    God bless you all!!!


RSS feed for comments on this post

Share your comments






«
»
Easy AdSense by Unreal