Starting this week and running throughout November, Milford Times is celebrating Veteran’s Day by providing information on Milford’s fallen heroes – those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country. Names were taken from the memorial in Bicentennial Park, but we are aware there may be additional names that are not included on the stone. There are also those we were unable to find a significant amount of information about. If you have information or photos of any of those in this article, please send them via email and we will edit the story. What follows are stories about eight heroes from our town.
Francis C. Dill – World War II
Private Francis Dill was 30 when he died near Messina Cerami Sicily on August 3, 1943, while serving with the 39th Engineering Corps. He entered he service in 1942. Francis was employed by the J.C. Penney Company in Milford but later became a nautical engineer working on the Wilson Line. Francis is survived by his mother, Mattie C. Dill, and his father, Walter G. Dill, who was an active member of the Grange and an overseer at Fort Miles.
Francis had two brothers, Captain Graham Dill, master of the quartermaster’s boat at Fort Miles and W. Glenn Dill who lived at home.
Oscar Warren French – World War II
Sergeant Oscar W. French, the son of Howard Joseph and Ruth Mary French, was killed on April 19, 1945, in Iwo Jima, Japan. Oscar lived in Lynch Heights, just north of Milford and was with the 77th Medical Division. He had been in the service since 1942 and overseas since March 1944.
Oscar attended Milford high School. He had three brothers, Private First-Class James French and George F. French, a machinist mate second class. His brother Leonard was still at home. His sister, Mary Evans French, married Jehu Davis. Before entering the service, Oscar was a “cutter” at a button factory in Milford. He also assisted his father with farm work.
After his death, the 302nd Medical Battalion of the 77th “Statue of Liberty” Division honored his memory by naming a 200-bed hospital in Asahikawa, Hokkaidō, Japan the Oscar W. French Memorial Hospital. The hospital was operated by his unit and the story of the memorial published in the Army newspaper, Liberty Torch, published in Japan.
John W. Fullman – World War II
Corp. Tech. John W. Fullman, 29, died of wounds he received on December 20 in Belgium at the beginning of the great German counterattack. John, who was African American, was unhurt when his “Lucky Seventh” Armored Division rushed through France, covering 600 miles in 21 days and liberating towns in that country. John, married to Olivia Russ in 1942, lived on Southeast Second Street in Milford. He entered the Army in 1943 and received his basic training at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. He had been overseas about a year. He attended Milford schools but likely only received an elementary level education. John was the son of John Wesley Fullman Sr., who died in 1943, and Mary Elizabeth Pettyjohn Fullman.
The third child of 10, the family lived on Columbia Street in Milford. On February 5, 1924, his younger brother, Isaac, died of pneumonia when he was only eight days old. Another younger brother, Frederick, was shot after an argument and died three days later in 1936. His sister, Anna May, died of tuberculosis in 1939. Before the war, John worked at the Vineyard Shipyard.
Initially, John served with the 3967th Quartermaster Truck Company, but was then assigned to Company “G,” Battalion, 518th Quartermaster Truck Regiment in 1943. The Truck Regiments were crucial in Germany as the German military still depended on horsedrawn transport. John was in the service when his father died in 1943, but he did not take a furlough. He was promoted to Private First Class in April 1943.
On March 2, 1944, John was promoted to Technician Fifth Grade and was likely a light truck driver at this point, a job he held permanently by December 1944.
A written report from December 20 stated “After being under fire for five and one half hours, this unit was finally forced to evacuate and did so without the loss of a single vehicle. As the convoy moved out down the road, the road was shelled; when it reached Deschamps, about one and a half miles from Samree, a mort[a]r barrage was laid on the town, causing one casualty from this company.”
That casualty was John. He suffered shell fragment wounds to his thorax and ribs. He was transported north to the 307th Airborne Medical Company’s clearing station at Werbomont, Belgium. Despite treatment, he died of his wounds the same day. He was the only fatality that the 3967th Quartermaster Truck Company suffered that year.
Fullman’s personal effects included a cigarette lighter, a guide to Great Britain, two newspaper clippings including one from The Stars and Stripes, and souvenir coins and paper money, including bills from France, Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.
John was buried in the Henri Chappelle Cemetery. After the war, families were offered the opportunity to reinter the loved ones lost in the war locally. Olivia requested that Oscar’s body remain in the military cemetery overseas. She never remarried.
Donald L. “Donnie” Gibson – Vietnam
Specialist Fourth Class Donald “Donnie” Lee Gibson was killed in action at the age of 23 as the result of an explosive device in the Gia Dinh Province in South Vietnam. He served with C Co., 2nd Bn, 27th Infantry, 25th Inf. Div, USARV as an infantryman. On November 27, 1968, his family was awarded a posthumous Silver Star in his honor.
Donnie had been in Vietnam just five weeks when he died. The award recognized his bravery in crawling through intense enemy fire and destroying an enemy bunker. Although he was killed while assaulting another enemy position, his “valorous actions contributed immeasurably to the defeat of the enemy force.”
Donnie was also awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Combat Infantry Badge, National Defense Service medal, Good Conduct Medal and Vietnam Service Medal.
He is buried in the Milford Community Cemetery. Donnie was the son of Byron and Florence Jester. He had one brother, Byron Gibson Jr. who died at just six days old in 1931. Another brother, Robert Byron was born in 1932 and a sister, Doris Evelyn in 1935. Donnie’s father was a veteran of World War I.
Orlando David Greenly – World War II
American Ranger Orlando David Greenly was killed in action in Italy on September 18, 1943. The son of David Elmer and Rose Winifred Jaycox Greenly, his mother died in 1917. His parents had two other children, including Staff Seargeant Leslie Carlisle Greenly, a member of Company C, Delaware State Guard and Edith Greenly who died at the age of nine.
His father remarried Margaret W. Cocker, and they had three children, Parris Herbert Greenly, who was serving in the Merchant Marine when Orlando died; Private Mitchell Greenly, a member of the postal exchange in New York City and Norma Greenly who lived at home. He also had a stepbrother, Seaman John Nelson, an engineer on a Navy crash boat.
He was stationed at Pearl Harbor at the time of the Japanese bombing, living in the Schofield barracks. Reports were that he was thrown from his cot when bombs struck the airfield and, although shaken, he reported to his commanding officer and worked throughout the balance of the day and night.
An Acting Captain, Orlando enlisted in the Army on January 29, 1935 and sent to Panama where he served for five years. While in Panama, he received several citations for character and application of duties.
In September 1940, Orlando was assigned to the infantry at Schofield Barracks, remaining at that post until 1942 when he was sent to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was then promoted to Second Lieutenant. Six months later, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant at Camp Edwards, Massachusetts. Orlando immediately applied for overseas duty, beginning his tour with the American Rangers on April 1.
On January 17, 1942, Orlando married Betty Flanagan of Long Island, New York. He is buried in Sicily, Rome Cemetery in Nettuno, Italy.
Charles Edward Holland – World War II
James Causey Clendaniel died in Paris on February 16, 1946. A newspaper account in the Morning News reported that “Private James C. Clendaniel Jr., 30, of Route 1, Lincoln, father of three small children, was shot to death near Paris on Feb. 16 by two U.S. soldiers whose names have not been revealed by the War Department.”
Before entering the service, James had been employed by the State Highway Department. The news reported he was acting as a courier at the time of his murder. Two soldiers were arrested in the shooting. One of the soldiers, Private Edgar Jordan of Chicago, was killed April 13 in an attempt to escape following his arrest. The other, Eddy Jones, Jr. of Cleveland, stood trial for Clendaniel’s murder.
Reports indicate that Barker and Jones attempted to hold up the mail Jeep in which
Private Lee R. Barker and Clendaniel were riding. The men forced them to drive beyond the Paris city limits and, when the Jeep slowed at one point, James and Barker “put up a fight.” Jones fired two shots, wounding Clendaniel fatally.
Jones was sentenced to life in prison for the murder. James was married to Roberta Clendaniel. After the death of her husband, she moved in with his father James C. Clendaniel Sr. near Milford. James had a sister, Theresa Clenandiel Jones, as well. He was well known in the Milford-Milton-Lincoln area having lived his entire life there.
C. Donnan Holzmueller – World War II
Much like the death of Paris Carlisle was felt throughout Milford during World War I, the loss of C. Donnan “Donnie” Holzmueller during World War II had a similar impact on the town. Donnie, the son of Charles Donnan Holzmueller Sr. and Ruth Ann Sipple, was a star athlete and captain of the high school football and basketball teams. He had two sisters, Ruth Ann Holzmueller Chancellor, who worked at the War Department in Washington DC and was married to Lieutenant Colonel L. Opie Chancellor along with Margaret, was a student at Beacom College, but later married Major George Beamon.
In 1939, Donnie was designated as the principal candidate for admission to the Naval Academy by U.S. Senator John G. Townsend, Jr. Before heading to the Naval Academy, Donnie worked in the insurance business with his father. He also attended the Bullis School at Sandy Spring, Maryland.
Donnie was serving on the USS Cythera, a pleasure yacht converted into a sub chaser with Eli Erb, who was also from Delaware. On June 4, 1942, the Morning News reported that the sub chaser was well overdue and considered lost. The Holzmueller family had not heard from Donnie for more than four weeks when he went missing.
Donnie was listed as missing in action for three years before they learned his fate. Pharmacist’s Mate Carter, one of two survivors picked up and taken as prisoners of war to Germany was able to provide details. The survivors were placed in two different prison camps, and it was not until the end of the war when they were released the families learned of the sinking of the Cythera.
According to the survivors, the ship was torpedoed off the northern shore of North Carolina about an hour after it left port. The ship sank to the bottom within moments. The survivors claimed the ship was cut in two and caused depth chargers on the deck of the Cythera to explode. When the survivors were picked up, the Germans searched for more survivors, but none were found.
Benjamin Earl Hudson – World War II
Benjamin Earl Hudson, son of Clarence Niles and Blanche J. Swingle, was killed in action in Guam. Benjamin was married to Anna M. Hudson. Benjamin served as a Technician Fifth Grade with the 252nd Engineer Combat Battalion, Medical Detail in the Army.
He enlisted on the Army on June 26, 1943, and was employed as a driver. At the time of his enlistment, he noted that he was separated and that he had dependents but there is no information on children. Benjamin did have two brothers and a sister, Bruce Edward, Clarence Herbert and Doris Blanche.
Benjamin died October 12, 1944, in France. He is buried in the Normandy American Cemetery and memorial in Colleville-su-Mer, Département du Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France.
Help Us Preserve Milford’s Military History
The Milford Times is committed to honoring and preserving the stories of the men and women from our community who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country. We recognize that historical records are not always complete and that some names or important details may have been overlooked. If you have photographs, letters, newspaper clippings, personal stories, or additional information about any of the individuals featured in this series, we encourage you to share them with us. We also welcome information about Milford service members who died in the line of duty but may not be included in our records. Our goal is to ensure that every sacrifice is remembered and every story is told. Please email your information to editor@milford-times.com.
