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Remember...Lloyd Floyd Reed
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Army Private Lloyd Floyd Reed was born on June 10, 1896, in Gilmer County, West Virginia. In October 1917, he married Jennie Cleavenger in Taylor County, where he lived at the time. He worked for Robinson Coal Company.
| Pvt. Reed enlisted on September 4, 1918, and reported to Camp Lee, Virginia, for training. There he became part of the 21st Company, 6th Battalion, 155th Deputy Brigade (Infantry). Sadly, just over a month after his enlistment, on October 8, he died during the Great Flu Epidemic. |  Lloyd Reed's registration card |
According to a Stanford University Web site, the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 was the "most devastating epidemic in world history," killing between twenty and forty million people. Also known as "Spanish Flu" or "La Grippe," the epidemic killed more people in one year than the "Great War" [WWI], from which it sprang, or the 1347-1351 Bubonic Plague.
Lloyd Reed was buried on October 12, 1918, in the Cleavenger Cemetery at Galloway, Barbour County. In a brief death notice, the Grafton Sentinel of October 9 stated: "Lloyd was a most likeable young man and his hundreds of friends in the county will hear of his untimely death with profound sorrow."
Patricia Richards McClure contributed to this biography.
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.
