Pvt. Jack Shirley  

I had similar problems in researching information about Pvt. Jack C. Shirley. He was an aerial tail gunner of the ill fated plane. He was one of four children of Carlton and Nellie Shirley of Lavonia, Georgia. His family owned a general store there and they attended the Presbyterian Church. Jack volunteered in October of 1940. When I contacted the librarian, Babs Corum, in July of 1995, she admitted that she had not been at the library for very long so she did not know the Shirleys. After my inquiry, however, she asked the library visitors if they knew anything about Jack Shirley or his family. She came up with bits of information. One visitor told her that she remembered Nellie Shirley, sad at the loss of her son, but so proud that he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Ft. Myer, VA.

After receiving word of the death of their son, Mr.& Mrs. Shirley wired the adjutant at March Field. When he chose to enlist, they said they dedicated him to the service of his country when he left them. They requested that he sleep with the rest of the nation's dead in the national cemetery in Washington. The parents agreed on cremation of their son's remains.

Neighbors remembered that Jack Shirley was honored on the military honor roll at the Presbyterian Church on November 8 following his death. His sister Josephine told me that Jack had graduated from Rabun Gap Academy after his early education in Lavonia public schools. He attended Piedmont College in Demarest, GA, before enlisting in the Army where he was trained as an aerial gunner.

From the brother of another crew member, we heard that the mother of Jack Shirley and the mother of George May were in contact for many years after the loss of their sons. The Shirleys had asked for the names and addresses of Jack's crew companions and that is possibly how contact was made.

--M.S, July 1995

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