Documenting the American South

Monument Name

Four World War Two Aviators, Ivanhoe

Type

Marker

Subjects

World War II

City

Ivanhoe

County

Bladen

Description

The marker to four aviators killed in a World War II plane crash is a simple tablestone with a smooth front, rusticated sides and a flat arch top. Above the inscription, incised into the stone, is the Army Air Forces Troop Carrier Command insignia used during the war. This insignia shows an eagle in flight holding a soldier in its talons and the moto “VINCIT QUI PRIMUM GERIT" meaning “He Conquers Who Gets There First.”

Inscription

IN MEMORY OF / LT. RICHARD G. SHIPLEY / AGE 23, FRESNO. CAL. / LT. HOWARD R. JOHNSON, JR. / AGE 23, SHEFFIELD. TEX. / SGT. ROBERT M. ANDERSON / AGE 23 SAN YSIDRO, CAL. / SGT. ROGER H. KNOWLTON / AGE 22. ROCHESTER, N.Y.

TROOP CARRIER COMMAND OF THE UNITED / STATES ARMY AIR CORPS, WHO WERE KILLED / IN THE LINE OF DUTY WHEN THE ARMY AIRPLANE / IN WHICH THEY WERE FLYING CRASHED ON / THE NIGHT OF AUGUST 27, 1943, TWO AND / ONE HALF MILES WEST OF THIS POINT.

THIS MARKER IS ERECTED IN THEIR MEMORY / BY THE RESIDENTS OF THIS NEIGHBORHOOD / AND THE SURROUNDING VILLAGES.

Dedication Date

Circa 1950

Decade

1950s

Geographic Coordinates

34.626010 , -78.328040 View in Geobrowse

Supporting Sources

“Insignia, Unit, 1st Troop Carrier Command, United States Army Air Forces,” Smithsonian Air And Space Museum, (Accessed July 25, 2017) Link

“Memorial for Four World War II Aviators,” The Historical Marker Database, HMdb.org, (accessed July 25, 2015) Link

Public Site

Yes

Materials & Techniques

Granite

Sponsors

Residents of Ivanhoe

Location

The memorial marker is located at the intersection of State Highway 210 and Old Whitehall Road, on the left when traveling north on State Highway 210, in Ivanhoe, NC 28447.

Landscape

The marker is surrounded on all sides by pine forestland.