Today is Memorial Day. According to
the all-knowing Google,” Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States
for honoring and mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in
the United States Armed Forces.” It is also a day for remembering our
ancestors who have passed from this life. Today, as we usually do, my wife and
I visited the cemeteries in North Ogden, Utah, where my parents, maternal
grandparents, and great-grandparents are buried; in Sandy, Utah, where my wife’s
parents are buried; and in Pleasant Grove, Utah, where my wife’s paternal
grandparents and great-grandparents are buried. My father and my father-in-law
both served in the military during World War II, one in the army in Europe, the
other in the navy in the Pacific. My wife’s paternal grandfather served in
World War I.
Earlier this year, we visited the
cemetery in Enterprise, Utah, where my paternal grandparents and many other
Terry relatives are buried. Today I would like to honor the memory of an uncle
I never knew. He joined the army after having served an LDS mission, but he
never made it overseas. Let me tell you about my Uncle Amos. The quotes from
his father (my grandfather) come from a transcript of his personal history made
by my cousin Howard Stewart. Howard has kept the spelling and punctuation as they
appear in the handwritten original.
My grandfather was Amos Franklin
Terry and went by Frank. His oldest son and the fifth of his ten children was
also named Amos Franklin, but they called him Amos. Amos was born on October
19, 1917. After apparently serving an LDS mission in Colorado, Amos took a job at
a Texaco station in St. George. At the same time, however, he applied for work
with Standard Oil Company of California and was accepted for training in San
Bernardino. After completing his training, he took a job in Las Vegas. Things
get a little fuzzy in my grandpa’s personal history, but somehow Amos ended up back
in Colorado. But on Christmas Day 1941, just eighteen days after the attack on
Pearl Harbor, his parents received a box containing Amos’s civilian clothes
because he had volunteered to join the army and was sent to Camp Ord in
California.
As he said in a letter to his
parents, “I Joined the army to help my Country in a time of need.” His father’s
account includes this strange comment: “We had much suffering in our feelings
and partly because of a statement he had made to his mother some time earlier.
Upon approaching his mother he had said (‘Mother I feel like I am going to be
Murdered’) His Mother said ‘Dont say that Amos’ Upon which he replied ‘I do. I
feel like l will meet my death by murder.’”
Apparently, he was promised furlough
a few times, but it was always canceled, so his parents never saw him again.
Meanwhile, his parents were serving a mission as ordinance workers in the St.
George Temple, and they became very concerned when all communication from Amos
ceased. Then, one day in July 1943, a letter arrived, but it was from First
Lieutenant LeRoy Radford.
Battery
A 195th Field Artillery Battalion
APO
182, c/o Postmaster
Los
Angeles, California
12
July 1943
Mr. A.F Terry Sr.
Enterprise, Utah
P.O. Box 395
Dear Mr.
Terry:
Your son Amos
F. Terry, 19011982, is absent from his organization without proper authority.
Pvt Terry left
his battery 29 June 1943, while the organization was on maneuvers.
If you know
Pvt Terry’s whereabouts, he should be notified to return to his organization
immediately, should he fail to do so severe punishment will result.
LeRoy
Radford
1st
Lt 195th Fa Bn
Commanding
Btry A
My grandpa’s personal history
states, “I at once wrote Mr Radford advising him that I knew our son had not gone
away without authority but had met with foul play or had perished in the desert
and that I wished they would scout the territory for his remains.” He received
the following reply.
Battery A 195th FA Bn
APO 182, c/o PM
Los Angeles, Calif
August 11, 1943
Mr.
A.F Terry Sr.
Enterprise,
Utah
P.O.
Box 395
Dear
Mr. Terry:
I
am writing you with regards to your son Private Amos F. Terry and will try to
answer some of the questions which you asked me in your last letter.
The
are[a] in which your son was missing was searched thoroughly for any trace of
your son and the last men to see him were questioned thoroughly. The area was
within one and one half miles of a public highway on which lighted vehicles
were traveled. There was a bright lighted rock quary within three miles of the
area set on a hill and was visible for many miles. With this evidence and the
fact that sufficient water was available at this time it is not believed that
he became lost or became sick within the camp area and was not found. In view
of the fact that it was night when he disappeared and very cool it is not
believed that he became afflicted with heat prosteration.
I
hope that I have to some degree set your mind at ease to the fact that your son
is missing and not dead. That he has merely become divorced from the Military
Service by his own action.
If
you should see your son will you please advise him that he is AWOL and should
return to his station at once.
Sincerely yours
LeRoy Radford
Capt. 195th Fa Bn
Comdg Btry A
My grandpa and others apparently
went to search the California desert near Blythe, where the company had been
stationed at the time of his disappearance, but they found nothing. Here is
Grandpa’s account of what happened next: “However on February 26th 1944 a young
man by the name of David mott while hunting rabbits about 4 miles North and a
little west of Blyth California found a skeleton of a soldier and the matter
was reported The skeleton showed that a bullet had entered the head above and
behind the right ear and had Come out near the left eye. . . . The army did not
notify us until near the fore part of June. However at the temple cottage one
week end morning before Coming to Enterprise that day to spend Sunday and
Monday I was standing at the sink washing dishes when in my mind I Visualized a
large funeral in which I thought I saw President Snow as one of the speakers
This warning Caused me to wonder if Eunetta and I might meet with an accident
on our way home I don’t remember if I mentioned this Circumstance to her or not
but all the way from St George till we arrived home I drove with the utmost
Care watching for any indication of trouble Upon arriving home folks began to
come thinking I had heard and to express their sympathies to us. our girl
[Verda, the youngest daughter] came out of the house to meet us and seeing we
had heard nothing Broke the word to us A telegram had come and it stated ‘Your
son is dead as you no doubt know and where shall we send the remains?’ We
notified them to send his remains to Enterprise Via of Modena.”
It took some arm twisting from the
local Red Cross, but the army eventually sent Amos’s remains, which they had
identified by tags found in the clothing, which was still intact. My dad,
Orvil, was also in the military at that time, being trained as a geodetic
computer for the artillery at Fort Riley in Kansas. He was allowed to come
home for the funeral and accompanied Amos’s remains from Modena, just north of
Enterprise. The funeral was indeed very large, and President Snow did speak.
My grandfather’s attempts to learn
what had happened to his son yielded some disturbing results. In speaking with
the coroner in Riverside, California, he learned that they were able to
determine that Amos was not killed at the spot where his remains were found,
and he was not shot from close range. Here is a quote from my grandfather’s
personal history: “On this trip to California we had stopped for lunch at a Cafe
A young man eating by my side upon learning the nature of my trip informed me
that the day before seven soldiers (7) were brought in there that had been
found in the desert all had been shot in the head I also was told of Eleven
(11) others who were found on a knol[l] almost Covered in sand all shot in the
head No doubt some of those branded with desertion to swell the ranks of the
California armys AWOL list (Be it here known that I can only state these matters
as they were told to me) True or untrue I know not.”
Grandpa also corresponded with Amos’s
buddies in the army. “And this we learned from the boys who were his close
chums That Amos Franks superior officers had for months heaped upon him many
unreasonably difficult tasks after long days of endurance tests in the deserts
and upon this particular night They had come into camp after mid night and
sargeant Chauncy B Creason ordered him to take cary a heavy machine gun and its
equipment over a mountain and set it up. Amos Frank Jr Feeling this to be an
unreasonable request said ‘I will take a light truck and another man and we
will set it up.’ The Sargeant replied ‘No you go alone understand No one with
you’ Did he want to get him alone to murder him or why not be reasonable you
answer? . . . The sargeant replied ‘Terry Ill deal with you’ . . . The next
morning our son was missing and the sargeant was the first man on the ground to
announce that ‘Terry was missing’ This information from one Sanford A Perry a
buddy to Amos Frank Jr.”
A letter from the Riverside city
coroner is informative:
City of Riverside
office of
Ben F. White
Coroner
and
Public Administrator
Riverside, California
May 19, 1944
Amos
F. Terry
General
Delivery
St.
George, Utah
Dear
Sir:
This
will acknowledge your letter of May 8 addressed to me at Blythe, California.
On
the 26th of February, this year, a skeleton of a soldier was found
in the desert area approximately four miles from Blythe, California. This
matter was reported the same day to the military authorities at Blythe who made
an investigation and removed the remains to the Larsen Mortuary at Blythe. My
office was notified on February 27 and on February 29 the investigation was
conducted at the Blythe Army Air Base which was situated near by.
According
to information secured from army authorities, identification was made possible
by identification tags found in the clothing. The body was clothed in army
fatigue clothes which were in fair condition. Underneath the body was an army
rifle which was reported to contain no discharged cartridges. A canteen full of
water was also located near the body. The skull was examined carefully and
showed evidence of two bullet wounds, one on the right and one on the left
side. The skull was fractured in many places. This would suggest that the skull
was crushed following the infliction of the bullet wounds.
It
was reported that the organization to which Mr. Terry was attached was in the
vicinity of Blythe on maneuvers. They departed from that area sometime in
September of 1943. It was also reported that Mr. Terry disappeared from this
organization about one year prior to the discovery of his body. The army
authorities at the Blythe Air Base informed this office that they would
continue their investigation in an effort to clear up the death of Mr. Terry.
Since that time the Air Base has been closed and no information is available at
the present time. For your information the District Attorney of this County has
written to the Adjunct General at Washington D.C. requesting further
information concerning this matter. I[f] and when additional information is
received concerning your sons death, you may rest assured that we will
communicate with you.
If
you have any suggestions, feel free to write and we will attempt to answer them
from the meager information on hand.
Ben F. White
Coroner and Public Administrator
SLC:pk
From all of this information, it
appears that the army in California had a problem with disappearing soldiers,
who were simply labeled as AWOL until their remains were found in the desert. The
army was busy prosecuting a war in both Europe and the Pacific, and it is
likely they did not feel compelled to investigate these incidents. At any rate,
my uncle’s murder, possibly at the hands of his superior officer, was never investigated.
He remains a casualty of friendly fire. He volunteered to serve his country, but
he never got the chance.
I have been to Amos’s grave in
Enterprise several times. It is silent and offers no explanations. When we
cleaned out my dad’s house after he broke his hip and had to move to assisted
living, we found the carefully folded flag that was given to Amos’s parents at
his funeral. It is in a cupboard in my basement. I pulled it out recently and
held it in my hands. It raises many questions about the uncle I never knew and
the country he wanted to serve.
