From the Bizarre Crime to the Heroic Death of Norman J. Hollis

A Dover man, torn by rejection, planned a horrible crime only to have it lead to his heroic death. Born in 1924, Norman James Hollis (1924-1944) was the second child of Floyd James Hollis (1900-1983) and Bessie Lovett (1906-1970), who married four years earlier in Wayne County, Tennessee. Around the time of Norman’s birth, theContinue reading “From the Bizarre Crime to the Heroic Death of Norman J. Hollis”

Fallen Heroes: Staff Sergeant Wilbur R. Bailey

The hedgerows of the Normandy countryside can be beautiful, but during the days that Wilbur R. Bailey (1921-1944) spent among them in July 1944 they proved fatal. According to one newspaper account reporting his death, Wilbur was the only World War Two casualty from within the limits of Mineral City. Wilbur R. Bailey was bornContinue reading “Fallen Heroes: Staff Sergeant Wilbur R. Bailey”

Fallen Heroes: Private George H. Timmerman

Most Americans have seen still photos or film, either real or cinematic, of the Allies’ D-Day assault on the coast of France during World War Two. While those images are dramatic and informative, only those who were there can truly speak to the horror, and bravery, that occurred on those beaches. Fallen Tuscarawas County heroContinue reading “Fallen Heroes: Private George H. Timmerman”