 Mary Esther Brast Gutierrez |
Remember...Paul Harding Nuzum
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Laura Nell Nuzum Ferrell, daughter of Fred Nuzum and niece of Paul Harding Nuzum, wrote the following in an email to her classmates prior to Memorial Day in 2015:
"How is baby Laura Nell doing? I would love to see her!" those were the words penned by Paul Harding Nuzum, sent from Mindanao, Philippines, while serving during World War II. Those letters along with a few pictures and stories of Uncle Paul's life are the only recollection I have of him. Then one sad spring day, in 1944 [sic], his life was snuffed out while he was "cleaning out a fox hole." A telegram was delivered to Reverend Harry and Nellie Nuzum simply stating he was an honorable soldier killed there in Mindanao. My grandparents received this unbearable news on Mother's Day. It is with regret that I never knew him. Lewis and I, years ago, traveled to the Philippines, where we visited the National cemetery in Manila, wherein his body lies. It was sobering. He laid down his life for our freedom. Memorial Day is a commemoration for all who gave the ultimate sacrifice for this United States.
When the original names were vetted for inclusion on the West Virginia Veterans Memorial in 1994-1995, Novella Nuzum Brast, sister of Paul Harding Nuzum came forward with a wealth of information verifying his eligibility as a casualty of World War II. Thus, Paul Harding Nuzum's name is carved for eternity on this edifice. Now, all his siblings are deceased, but another generation of Nuzum descendants carry on his memory.
 Paul Harding Nuzum as a young man, perhaps his graduation photo. Courtesy Mary Esther Brast Gutierrez |
Paul Harding Nuzum was born in Wilding, Jackson County, West Virginia, to parents Harry Edward Nuzum and Nellie Esther Ford Nuzum. While the 1930 and 1940 Federal Census listings note a 1921 birth year for him, other sources, including his registration for the military (U.S. Army World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946), list 1921. Paul was one of seven siblings; five were older than he: Helen Lucile Nuzum (married name: Jones), Harry Eugene Nuzum, Mary Juanita Nuzum (married name: Cline), Orland Buhl Nuzum, and Claude Frederick Nuzum. His younger sister was Novella Maxine Nuzum (married name: Brast). Family lore notes that Paul was most often referred to as "Harding." |  The Nuzum family; Paul is in the back, second from right. Courtesy Paul Harding Nuzum's niece Karin Nuzum Blakeley |
 Paul Harding Nuzum with his mother. Courtesy Karin Nuzum Blakeley |
Harry Edward Nuzum was a minister, and the family moved several times, always within a limited area in West Virginia. Research shows the family, or individuals within the family, to be living in the counties of Jackson, Wirt, Tyler, Harrison, Ritchie, or Pleasants during Paul's formative years. Son Paul graduated from Cairo [Ritchie County] High School and then attended Salem College. Cairo, which by 1960 closed its doors forever, was the smallest of the county's three high schools (Harrisville ad Pennsboro being the other two), but it would have been the hub of the community at the time Paul was growing up.
His enlistment record indicates Paul entered the National Guard at Salem in Harrison County on January 6, 1941, and was branched to infantry (U.S. Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946). At the time he stated that "actor" was his civilian occupation and he had attended college for one year; one wonders what the market for actors would have been in Salem, or indeed West Virginia, but perhaps he was majoring in drama.
It appears that Paul Harding Nuzum went on active duty some time in 1941 and was assigned to the 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. The 24th Infantry Division traces its lineage to Army units activated in 1921 and in its earliest manifestation was known as the "Hawaiian Division." Also known as the "Victory Division," its motto was "First to Fight." The operations of the 24th Infantry Division coincide with what is known of Staff Sergeant Paul Nuzum's service.
According to documents from the U.S. Army Center of Military History,
 Distinctive unit insignia for the 24th Infantry Division |
The 24th Infantry Division was among the first to see combat in World War II and among the last to stop fighting. The Division was on Oahu, with Headquarters at Schofield Barracks, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941, and suffered minor casualties. Charged with the defense of northern Oahu, it built an elaborate system of coastal defenses. In May 1943 it was alerted for movement to Australia and by September 19, 1943 had completed the move to Camp Caves, near Rockhampton, on the eastern coast of Australia. After a period of intensive training, the Division moved to Goodenough Island, 31 January 1944, to stage for the Hollandia-Tanahmerah campaign. The 24th landed on Dutch New Guinea, 22 April 1944, and smashed its way to and seized the important Hollandia Airdrome despite torrential rains and marshy terrain. Shortly after the Hollandia landing, the 34th Infantry Regiment moved to Biak, 18 June, to reinforce the 41st Infantry Division, and captured Sorido and Borokoe airdromes before returning to the Division on Hollandia in July. After occupation duty in the Hollandia area, the 24th Division landed on Red Beach on Leyte, 20 October 1944, as part of the X Corps, Sixth Army, and driving up Leyte Valley advanced to Jaro and took Breakneck Ridge, 12 November 1944, in heavy fighting. While mopping up continued on Leyte, the 19th RCT moved to Mindoro Island as part of the Western Visayan Task Force, landing in the San Jose area, 15 December 1944. Airfields and a PT base were secured for operations on Luzon. Divisional elements effected a landing on Marinduque Island. Other elements supported the 11th Airborne Division drive from Nasugbu to Manila. The 34th RCT, landing at San Antonio, Luzon, 29 January 1945, ran into a furious battle on Zig Zag Pass and suffered heavy casualties. On 16 February 1945 the 3d Bn. of the 24th Infantry took part in the amphibious landing on Corregidor and fought Japanese under a hot sun on the well-defended Rock. After numerous mopping up actions in March, the Division landed on Mindanao, 17 April 1945, cut across the island to Digos, 27 April, stormed into Davao, 3 May, and cleared Libby airdrome, 13 May. Although the campaign closed officially on 30 June, the Division continued to mop up Japanese resistance during July and August 1945. Patrolling continued after the official surrender of Japan. On 15 October 1945, the Division left Mindanao for Japan. ("24th Infantry Division," Combat Chronicles of U. S. Army Divisions in World War II, 20 May 2011, accessed 27 November 2019, https://history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/cbtchron/cc/024id.htm.) |
From this account, it can be inferred that S/Sgt. Paul Nuzum perished during the clearing of the Libby airdrome as the date of his death is May 13, 1945. A Purple Heart recipient, S/Sgt. Nuzum is buried in the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines at Plot F, Row 11, Grave 34. A brief notice of his death in the Wirt County Journal ("Nuzum, Former Elizabeth Boy, Killed in Phillipine [sic] Fighting," 15 June 1945) notes that "a brother, Sgt. [Orland] Buhl Nuzum has been serving with an Anti Aircraft unit in Europe and took part in the [D-Day] Invasion a year ago."
On 10 June 1945, Kingsley W. Hawthorne, chaplain to Paul's unit, penned a letter to the Reverend Harry Nuzum, which read, in part:
Company "C", which is a part of our first battalion, had been given the mission of going up a certain road near the city of Davao, Mindanao to clean out some enemy pillboxes. As Company "C" approached in the attack, the enemy opened with a barrage of mortar fire. In the action that followed, your son was hit by shrapnel from the exploding shells and died instantly. Your son was given a Christian burial and military honors were rendered for him. His body now rests in the beautiful USAF Cemetery at Taloma, Mindanao, P. I., row 10, grave 143. [Note that at a later date S/Sgt. Nuzum's remains were transferred to the Manila American Cemetery.] A Regimental Memorial Service will be held, as soon as the military situation will permit, for him and for the other men from our unit who have given their last full measure of devotion for their country and the cause of righteousness.The death of your son is a real loss to our Regiment, yet I know it is an infinitely more meaningful loss to you and to all those who love him. The highest and greatest sacrifice in the world is that a man should lay down his life for his friends. I know that all the fine and grand words by which we live will not bring him back to you. . . .
| When S/Sgt. Nuzum's effects were sent home after his death, one of the items was a Japanese flag that had been signed by Japanese soldiers, something like an autograph book. Karin Nuzum Blakeley writes: "My brother contacted a museum who verified that they were names of Japanese soldiers . . . . Apparently my uncle had taken the flag from a dead Japanese soldier and it was allowed back with the rest of his things." |  Verification that Paul Harding Nuzum was entitled to have Japanese flag in his possession. Courtesy Mary Esther Brast Gutierrez |
 American Flag at Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines. Courtesy American Battle Monuments Commission |
As was the case with so many World War II casualties, the family of Paul Harding Nuzum grieved tremendously, though privately. Mary Brast Gutierrez writes: "Our mother told us that her parents were so devastated by the loss of their youngest son that they put away all of his pictures and never spoke of him again." But Novella Brast Nuzum did not forget her big brother, and thanks to his nieces we are able to reconstruct the story of S/Sgt. Paul Harding Nuzum for posterity. |
Impetus for this article was provided by Paul Harding Nuzum's niece Laura Nell Nuzum Ferrell.
Article prepared by Patricia Richards McClure, who gratefully acknowledges the contributions of nieces Karin Nuzum Blakeley and Mary Esther Brast Gutierrez
December 2019
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.
