Documenting the American South

Monument Name

World War Two Memorial, Oakdale Cemetery, Hendersonville

Type

Column

Subjects

World War II

City

Hendersonville

County

Henderson

Description

The memorial listing Henderson County World War Two dead is a tall narrow tablestone on a triple base. It stands roughly 11-feet tall with the tablestone holding the list of names being 8-feet by 30-inches. The tablestone has step like shoulders leaving a square at the top which holds a deeply incised Cross of Malta, the emblem of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Directly beneath this emblem are the words LEAST WE FORGET and then two columns of 114 names total.

Images: List of names | Rear view | Wide angle view | View with flag

Inscription

Top: LEAST WE FORGET

Left Column: ADAMS, UDELL I. / ALKEN, TALMADGE A. / AKERS, CHARLES, JR. / ALLEN, GLEN L. / ANDERS, CHARLES / ANDERSON, GEORGE E. / ARNETT, KENNETH R. / BRADLEY, LEE R. / BROTHERS, WALTER E., JR. / BURGESS, JACK L. / CANTRELL, JAHUE R. / CAPPS, EDWARD O. / CATE, ROY D. / CECIL, CHARLES P. / CLAYTON, JOHNNY W. / COCHRAN, JESS W. / COLLIER, ROBERT B. / CORN, WID R. / COSTANZA, CHRISTIE P. / COX, EVERETT I. / DILL, JOSEPH G. / DILLARD, THOMAS E. / DODSON, JAMES L. / DRAKE, HAROLD B. / DUNCAN, CLARENCE A. / DUNCAN, MARVIN M. / GAMBS, GILMAN E. / GIBBS, GLLEN P. / GIBBS, HORACE J. / GIBBS, JAMES A. / GREEN, CLLEO / GREENWAY, JULIAN T. / GUY, GEORGE F. / HAMILTON, CLARENCE J. / HANEY, MONROE I. / HARBERSON, CHARLES, JR. / HARTNETT, THOMAS M. / HEATHERLY, ROBERT V. / HEATON, WILLIAM M. / HEDGE, CHARLES R. / HEDRICK, PAUL / HEFNER, CHARLES M. / HEGGIE, RICHARD L. / HENDERSON, GLEN W. / HENDERSON, JERRY M. / HESTER, CHARLES M. / HIGGINS, ROBERT E. / HILL, JOHN F. / HOLLINGSWORTH, JOE P. / HOWARD, THOMAS D. / HUDSON, JAMES C. / HYDER, HUBERT J. / JACKSON, FLOYD H. / JACKSON, GEORGE E. / JACKSON, GLOVER E. / JOHNSON, LEWIS F. / JOHNSON, MORRIS L., JR.

Right Column: JONES, JOSEPH N. / KING, JUDGE D. / LAMB, JENNINGS G. / LANNING, B.M., JR. / LEDBETTER, EDWARD H. / LEVI, J.C. / LEVI, ROBERT G. / LONG, GRADY E. / LOVE, LOWELL E. / LOWE, NOEL L. / MATTHEW, ANDREW W. / MIDDLETON, WILLIAM W. / MCCARSON, ALVIN S. / MCCARSON, ROY M. / MCCARSON, PATRICK A. / MCCRAW, BRACK B. / MCGINNIS, BILL M. / MCGRAW, RAY W. / MCKINNEY, SAM W. / MCMINN, GEORGE R. / OSTEEN, CHARLES H. / PACE, MARION H. / PERTILLER, WILLIAM G. / PRAYTOR, HOWARD / PRESSLEY, VANCE M. / RANET, CHARLES P. / REED, JAMES C. / REED, JOHN H. / REESE, FRANK / RHODES, LUTHER L. / RHODES, MARK A. / RHYMER, HARRY C. / RHYMER, JOSEPH H. / RICE, CLAYTON D. / ROGERS, THEAWELL / ROGERS, THOMAS R. / RYMER, ANDREW M. / SHERMAN, HORACE / SHORT, LLOYD H. / SHYTLE, CHARLES F. / SHYTLE, JOSEPH E. / SMITH, CHARLES R. / SMITH, MARVIN P. / SMITH, RALPH C. / SPIEGEL, MORRIS / STATON, ROY E. / STEPP, GORDON J. / TATE, JULE / THOMPSON, ROYAL W. / THOMPSON, WILLIAM B. / TIDD, GEORGE W., JR. / WARD, WILLIAM J. / WATTS, JOHN W. / WILLIAM, ROY J. / WILLIAMS, AARON E. / WILLIAMS, FRED T. / WORLEY, WOFFORD G.

Rear: DEDICATED BY / HEDRICK RHODES / POST 5206 / 1951

Custodian

Oakdale Cemetery, City of Hendersonville

Dedication Date

1951

Decade

1950s

Geographic Coordinates

35.319860 , -82.476610 View in Geobrowse

Supporting Sources

Dirks, Mike. “What Is That-Angel In Oakdale Cemetery, BlueRidgeNow.com, May 6, 2015, (accessed November 27, 2016) Link

National Park Service. National Register of Historic Places Program. “Oakdale Cemetery,” www.nps.gov, (accessed November 27, 2016) Link

“Oakdale Cemetery War Memorial - Hendersonville, NC,” Waymarking.com, (accessed November 27, 2016) Link

Public Site

Yes

Materials & Techniques

Granite

Sponsors

Hedrick Rhodes Post 5209 Veterans of Foreign Wars

Subject Notes

Oakdale Cemetery in Hendersonville, NC, is home to a marble angel statue which may have served as inspiration for Thomas Wolf’s first novel Look Homeward Angel. Historians have documented almost a dozen angels carved at the monument shop owned by Wolf’s father. The Oakdale Cemetery angel is the one that most resembles the angel described in the novel.

Oakdale Cemetery is a historic city of Hendersonville cemetery. In December 1885, the city purchased 5.5 acres and physically established the cemetery, devoting the larger portion for the white section on the south side of Shaw's Creek Road and the African American section on the north side.

Location

The memorial stands in Oakdale Cemetery that is located at Old US Hwy 64, Hendersonville, NC 28792.

Landscape

The memorial is surrounded by gravestones and shady trees.