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Remember...Kenneth Oakley Garrett
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Kenneth Oakley Garrett was born at Duhring, Mercer County, West Virginia, on April 28, 1912, to Edward Russell and Edith Wall Garrett. According to a family tree found on Ancestry.com, Kenneth's large family included older siblings Spencer Russell, Atworth I., Eunice Gladys, William Edward, and Edward R. Garrett. [It's possible that William Edward and Edward R. are the same person, as the compiler might have been confused by the similarity of names; Edward R.--the son--does not appear in any census listing.] Kenneth's younger siblings were Lora L., Charles Melvin, Harold Ashley, and Mable Virginia. Federal Census listings for 1920 and 1930 indicate that the family lived on Duhring Road in Rock, Mercer County. The proximity of the family's residence to the state line meant that Kenneth would attend Grundy, Virginia, High School. According to the census, by 1940, he was living in Roanoke, Virginia, and was working as an electrician.
However, in October 1940, Kenneth registered for the draft, as required by law. His draft card states that he was employed by the Pocahontas Corporation in Amonate, Tazewell, Virginia. It should be noted that the Pocahontas Coalfield is present in the contiguous counties of Mercer and McDowell and West Virginia and Tazewell in Virginia. That fact explains why it would have been easy Kenneth to slip across the state line and attend Grundy High School as well as obtain employment in the neighboring state. Kenneth's brother Charles Melvin attended Bramwell High School in West Virginia, while William Edward attended McComas High School. (Harold Ashley attended Concord College.)
Kenneth enlisted in the U.S. Army on May 29, 1942, at Huntington, West Virginia. At that time, he stated that he had had four years of high school; was single, without dependents; and was an electrician by trade. He was assigned to the 66th Bomb Squadron, 44th Bomber Group, Heavy. Staff Sergeant Garrett became a waist gunner on a B-24 (Serial Number 41-23811; nickname "Fascinatin Witch".) A record in the U.S., World War II Hospital Admission Card Files, 1942-1954, indicates that, though he was taken to a hospital, he was killed in action in line of duty.
Information on the Fields of Honor Database: Ardennes provides an account of the operation in which S/Sgt. Garrett lost his life. The bombing mission took off on October 1, 1943, with a destination of Wiener Neustadt, Austria, and his plane was downed near Pilgersdorf, Austria. Richard W. Bridges, pilot of the first 66th Squadron plane, writes of the mission:
Our aircraft, which had been temporarily assigned to me...was identified as 811 K, and had two engines (the inboards) which were using so much oil that the Squadron Engineering officer had grounded it. I persuaded him to release it for any mission briefed not to exceed ten hours. As the Group started it [its] second climb somewhere over northern Italy or Yugoslavia, my aircraft suffered a sudden and severe loss of power on the two inboard engines. From that time on, I was unable to achieve power settings of more than 18 to 20 inches from those two engines. We saw the Group climb away from us, but continued on below them and ahead, because we were flying faster, straight and level, while the others were climbing.Finally, the Group leveled off at the briefed bombing altitude and I was able to nurse 811 K back into its proper spot in the formation, which was #2 on the element leader of the third element. On the bomb run, as a pilot, I was mainly concerned with maintaining formation and I did not see very much of what was going on except to realize that the flak was very heavy and accurate.
Shortly after bombs away I just happened to look up at about 2 o'clock, high, in time to see four ME 109's diving on us. I decided later that they had already finished shooting when I saw them. In any event, I believe it was this fighter attack which knocked out the two inboard engines and started a fire in the bomb bay.
We had two 425 gallon spare fuel tanks (Tokyo tanks) in the forward bomb bay, so this fire in the bomb bay left no alternative for us—we bailed out. All but three of the crew successfully bailed out. The tail gunner, Mercer, and the well gunner, Garrett, were killed in the aircraft, probably by the figthter [sic] attacks. These two men were replacements for my regular crewmen, Sgt Rice and Sgt Abrams, who had been grounded due to illness. ("Garrett, Kenneth O.," accessed 28 January 2022, https://www.fieldsofhonor-database.com/index.php/en/american-war-cemetery-ardennes-g/51420-garrett-kenneth-o.)
| S/Sgt. Garrett is interred in the Ardennes American Cemetery in Neupre, Belgium, at Block C, Row 5, Grave 118. He was awarded the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster and the Purple Heart. His unit received the Presidential Unit Citation. |  |
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Edward R. and Edith Garrett had to live with the fact that four of their sons were scattered worldwide during World War II. Charles Melvin (b. 1919) was in the Army and entered service in November 1943, just a month after his brother's untimely death; he was dispatched to the South Pacific. Harold Ashley (b. 1921), a Navy man, was married to Mildred Ownbey Garrett, and was stationed in the Panama Canal Zone. It appears that William Edward (b. 1910) never went overseas but was stationed at various times in Kentucky, Florida, Texas, and California. |
Article prepared by Patricia Richards McClure
January 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.
