Remember...
Jennings Basil Huffman
1916-1945
James Lawrence Huffman
1919-1945
"Time will not dim the glory of their deeds."
General John J. Pershing
|
Remember...Jennings Basil Huffman |
Jennings Basil Huffman and James Lawrence Huffman were three-year-apart brothers who lost their lives just two months apart in the last days of World War II. Private Jennings Huffman was born on September 25, 1916, at Diamond in Kanawha County, West Virginia. His parents were Harry Homer Huffman and Chloe A. Vankirk Huffman. 1920, 1930, and 1940 Federal Census records show the growth of the family; in 1920, Harry and Chloe had two sons -- Jennings and James -- and the family lived in Diamond. A half-brother, John, was the son of Chloe. By 1930, two more sons -- Charles and Clarence -- had been added, and the family lived on Selby Road at Cooper in Mason County. And in 1940, the record shows that eight-year-old Eugene had joined the Huffman group of sons. The family continued to live in Cooper, where Homer was said to be a farmer.
Jennings enlisted in the U.S. Army at Huntington, West Virginia on November 18, 1941. At that time, he indicated he had a grammar school education, and his civilian occupation was that of farm hand. This concurs with his listing in the 1940 census, where he is noted as a farmer and his education level was eighth grade. An earlier enlistment document indicates he might have been an automobile serviceman. On November 6, 1942, Jennings married Elizabeth Emma Laute in Gallia County, Ohio. Private Jennings Huffman was assigned to M Company, 3rd Battalion, 318th Infantry Regiment, 80th Infantry Division.
| While its history dates from World War I, when it was dubbed the "Blue Ridge Division" because its members came from the states of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia, the 80th Infantry Division was instrumental in the declining days of World War II in the liberation of concentration camps, including Buchenwald and Ebensee. However, by that time, Jennings was no longer with the 80th. According to the Fields of Honor-Database, he was killed in action by artillery shell fragments while fighting in the vicinity of Kruchten-Hommerdingen, Germany, on February 18, 1945. |  |
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website gives this brief summary of the role of the 80th Infantry Division:
The 80th Infantry Division was formed in September 1917, several months after the United States entered World War I, and served in military campaigns in France the following year. In 1942, the "Blue Ridge" division was reactivated for military service and deployed to Europe, where it landed on Utah Beach on August 3, 1944, less than two months after the Allied invasion of western Europe on D-Day (June 6).Soon after arriving in France, the unit engaged German forces in combat in Argentan and other locales in Normandy. It subsequently drove eastward and reached the Saar region of Germany by early December. Later that month, the 80th was diverted to Luxembourg to blunt the German offensive into the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge. In January 1945, the 80th returned to the offensive and in the following months drove deep into Germany. After crossing the Rhine in late March, the division advanced through Thuringia, reaching Erfurt, Weimar, and Jena by mid-April. By war's end, the "Blue Ridge" division had advanced south through Bavaria and into Austria. ("The 80th Infantry Division During World War II," accessed 10 November 2022, https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-80th-infantry-division.)
 |
A Purple Heart recipient, Pvt. Jennings B. Huffman rests at Plot G, Row 8, Grave 9 in the Luxembourg American Cemetery. |
As was his brother Jennings, James Lawrence Huffman was born at Diamond in Kanawha County. Harry and Chloe welcomed their second son on November 7, 1919. James enlisted in the U.S. Army less than a month after his brother, on December 5, 1941, but his place of enlistment was Fort Hayes at Columbus, Ohio. According to the 1940 census, he was at that time considered a "new worker," and he was classified as a wage or salaried worker in government work. His enlistment record indicates that he had a grammar school education, but it should be noted that these records often do not show that the subject had completed or nearly completed high school. He was assigned to the 10th Tank Battalion, 5th Armored Division.
The following summary recounts the operations in which the 5th Armored Division participated after D-Day:
The Division landed at Utah Beach on July 24, 1944, and first saw combat on August 2. The Division moved south and seized the city of Le Mans on August 8. Turning north, the Division surrounded the Germans in Normandy and then advanced to Argentan. Turning Argentan over to the 90th Infantry Division, the 5th continued east, passing through Paris on August 30 and reaching the Belgian border on September 2. It liberated Luxembourg City on September 10, and its patrol was the first of the Allies to cross the German border, which occurred September 11. In October, the Division held defensive positions in the Monschau-Hofen sector, entering the Huertgen Forest in late November. Later in December it was withdrawn to Verviers and placed in 12th Army Group reserve. The Division crossed the Roer on February 25, 1945, and spearheaded the XIII Corps drive to the Rhine. It reached the banks of the Elbe at Tangermunde on April 12. ("5th Armored Division [United States]," Wikipedia, last edited 1 September 2022, accessed 15 November 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5th_Armored_Division_(United_States).) While the 5th continued operations in the area of the Elbe through VE-Day, James Huffman was no longer with his unit.
| It is at this point we find Private First Class James Huffman in the U.S. World War II Hospital Admission Card Files, 1942-1954. It appears that, despite his being listed as a hospital admission, he was "not in medical installation prior to death." That is, James was killed in action on April 10, 1945, at Edemissen, Germany. The Mason County State Gazette provides the following account: "A member of a medical unit, Pfc. Huffman had been in service for the past three years and was awarded the Bronze Star last summer for meritorious achievement when he removed seven wounded comrades and a German in addition to rescuing a sergeant from a burning tank, under heavy fire during the engagement at St. Mignon, France. He had also been awarded the Purple Heart [with Oak Leaf Cluster]." ("Second Huffman Son Killed in Germany," 3 May 1945.) Ultimately, James would be laid to rest in the same cemetery as his brother Jennings. He was interred the Luxembourg American Cemetery in Plot G, Row 8, Grave 8. Born into the same family, the brothers were again reunited in death. |  |
Article prepared by Patricia Richards McClure
November 2022
/ 
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.