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Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery
Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery is an American military cemetery located in St. Louis County, Missouri, just on the banks of the Mississippi River. The cemetery was established after the American Civil War in an attempt to put together a formal network of military cemeteries. It started as the Jefferson Barracks Military Post Cemetery in 1826 and became a United States National Cemetery in 1866. The first known burial was Elizabeth Ann Lash, the infant child of an officer stationed at Jefferson Barracks. The cemetery is administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs on the former site of Jefferson Barracks. It covers and the number of interments as of 2021 is approximately 237,000. The cemetery is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Notable interments Medal of Honor recipients * Major Ralph Cheli (1919–1944), for heroism while leading a bombing mission in World War II * George Hobday (1839–1891), for action at the Wounded Knee Massacre, 1890 * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saint Louis County, Missouri
St. Louis County is located in the eastern-central portion of Missouri. It is bounded by the City of St. Louis and the Mississippi River to the east, the Missouri River to the north, and the Meramec River to the south. At the 2020 census, the total population was 1,004,125, making it the most populous county in Missouri. Its county seat is Clayton. The county is included in the St. Louis, MO–IL metropolitan statistical area. After Great Britain took over former French territory east of the Mississippi River, many ethnic French colonists moved west. They settled the area of St. Louis County and founded the city of St. Louis in the late 1700s. The US acquired this territory in 1803 with the Louisiana Purchase. In 1877 residents of the City of St. Louis voted to separate from the county and become an independent city. In the 1960s, with growing suburban development of Greater St. Louis, the county's population overtook that of the city for the first time. Restructuring of in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Blassie
Michael Joseph Blassie (April 4, 1948 – May 11, 1972) was a United States Air Force officer who was killed in action during the Vietnam War in May 1972. Prior to the identification of his remains, Blassie was the unknown service member from the Vietnam War buried at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. After his remains were identified by DNA testing in 1998, they were reburied at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis County, Missouri. Biography Blassie was born in St. Louis in 1948. After graduating from St. Louis University High School he entered the United States Air Force Academy, graduating in 1970. He then attended Undergraduate Pilot Training, receiving his aeronautical rating as an Air Force pilot in 1971. He subsequently qualified as an A-37 Dragonfly pilot and served as a member of the 8th Special Operations Squadron, deployed to Southeast Asia. Blassie died when his A-37B Dragonfly was shot down near Battle of An Lộc, An L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indian Wars
The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, were fought by European governments and colonists in North America, and later by the United States and Canadian governments and American and Canadian settlers, against various American Indian and First Nation tribes. These conflicts occurred in North America from the time of the earliest colonial settlements in the 17th century until the early 20th century. The various wars resulted from a wide variety of factors, the most common being the desire of settlers and governments for lands that the Indian tribes considered their own. The European powers and their colonies also enlisted allied Indian tribes to help them conduct warfare against each other's colonial settlements. After the American Revolution, many conflicts were local to specific states or regions and frequently involved disputes over land use; some entailed cycles of violent reprisal. As settlers spread westward across North America ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Gentry
Richard Gentry (August 25, 1788 – December 25, 1837) was an American politician and military officer who died during the Seminole Wars. The Missouri county of Gentry is named for him. He was the first mayor and founder of Columbia, Missouri. Early life Richard Gentry was born August 25, 1788 in Madison County, Kentucky to parents Richard and Jane (Harris) Gentry. His father was a veteran of the American Revolution and had been present at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis and his forces at the Battle of Yorktown. Young Richard grew up a child of the frontier, skilled in hunting and tracking, skills that would well serve him later in life. At age 19, Richard Gentry was commissioned a Lieutenant in the 19th Regiment of the Kentucky Militia and quickly promoted to Captain just three years later in 1811. On February 13, 1810 Gentry married Ann Hawkins, also of Madison County. They would eventually have four children. War, new frontier, and politics Gentry served under General (and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), gaining independence from the British Crown and establishing the United States of America as the first nation-state founded on Enlightenment principles of liberal democracy. American colonists objected to being taxed by the Parliament of Great Britain, a body in which they had no direct representation. Before the 1760s, Britain's American colonies had enjoyed a high level of autonomy in their internal affairs, which were locally governed by colonial legislatures. During the 1760s, however, the British Parliament passed a number of acts that were intended to bring the American colonies under more direct rule from the British metropole and increasingly intertwine the economies of the colonies with those of Brit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Townsend (musician)
Henry "Mule" Townsend (born Henry Jesse James Townsend; October 27, 1909 – September 24, 2006) was an American blues singer, guitarist and pianist. Career Townsend was born Henry Jesse James Townsend in Shelby, Mississippi to Allen and Omelia Townsend. His father was a blues musician who played guitar and accordion. When Henry was young, his family moved near Cairo, Illinois. Henry left home at the age of nine because of his abusive father and hoboed his way to St. Louis, Missouri. He learned guitar while in his early teens from a locally renowned blues guitarist known as Dudlow Joe. With aspirations to earn a living with his guitar, Townsend also worked as an auto mechanic, a shoe shiner, a hotel manager, and a salesman. By the late 1920s he had begun touring and recording with the pianist Walter Davis and had acquired the nickname Mule, because he was sturdy in both physique and character. In St. Louis, he worked with some of the early blues pioneers, including J. D. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Purple Heart
The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, which took the form of a heart made of purple cloth, the Purple Heart is the oldest military award still given to U.S. military members. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York. History The original Purple Heart, designated as the Badge of Military Merit, was established by George Washington – then the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army – by order from his Newburgh, New York headquarters on 7 August 1782. The Badge of Military Merit was only awarded to three Revolutionary War soldiers by Washington himself. Washington authorized his subordinate officers to issue Badges of Merit as appropriate. Although never abolished, the award of the badge was not proposed again officially until ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Distinguished Service Cross (United States)
The Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) is the United States Army's second highest military decoration for soldiers who display extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. Actions that merit the Distinguished Service Cross must be of such a high degree that they are above those required for all other U.S. combat decorations, but which do not meet the criteria for the Medal of Honor. The Army Distinguished Service Cross is equivalent to the Navy and Marine Corps' Navy Cross, the Air Force and Space Force's Air Force Cross, and the Coast Guard Cross. Prior to the creation of the Air Force Cross in 1960, airmen were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. The Distinguished Service Cross was first awarded during World War I. In addition, a number of awards were bestowed for actions which took place before World War I. In many cases, the medal was awarded to soldiers who had received a Certificate of Merit for gallantry; at the time, this certificate was the only other ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hughie Miller
Hugh Stanley Miller (December 22, 1886 – December 24, 1945) was an American professional baseball first baseman. Miller played in Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League in 1911 and the St. Louis Terriers of the Federal League in 1914 and 1915. He batted and threw right-handed. Miller joined the United States Marine Corps during World War I. He fought in the Battle of Belleau Wood, despite having a fever and being ordered to the back by his commanding officer, and took two Germans captive, earning the Distinguished Service Cross. Later in 1918, he was wounded at the Battle of Soissons and the Battle of Saint-Mihiel, and received a Purple Heart after the war. Early life Miller was born on December 22, 1886, in St. Louis, Missouri. He was the second of four children born to John and Elizabeth Miller, who had immigrated to the United States from Scotland. Miller attended Christian Brothers College, where he played baseball. Baseball career Mil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert McFerrin
Robert Keith McFerrin Sr. (March 19, 1921 – November 24, 2006) was an American operatic baritone and the first African-American man to sing at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. His voice was described by critic Albert Goldberg in the ''Los Angeles Times'' as "a baritone of beautiful quality, even in all registers, and with a top that partakes of something of a tenor's ringing brilliance." He was the father of Grammy Award-winning vocalist Robert McFerrin Jr., better known as Bobby McFerrin. Early years Born in Marianna, Arkansas, McFerrin showed vocal talent at an early age, singing while still a boy soprano in a local church's gospel choir. As a young teenager he joined two of his siblings in a trio. The three accompanied their father on regional preaching engagements, singing gospel songs, hymns and spirituals. Reverend McFerrin did not wish his son to sing secular music, but in the end this wish was undone by his desire to give him the best possible education. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Mayberry
Walter Thomas "Tiger" Mayberry (March 14, 1915 – by March 5, 1944) was an American college football player, and later a U.S. Marine Corps fighter pilot. Mayberry was a casualty of World War II; dying in a Japanese prisoner of war camp after his plane was shot down. Mayberry was a prominent running back for the University of Florida's Florida Gators football team. A triple-threat man, he also passed and punted. When punting he excelled at placing balls in the " coffin corner." As was typical in the 1930s, he played both offense and defense, posting multiple school records for interceptions. Mayberry was selected as a sixth round pick of the 1938 NFL Draft, but never played in the NFL. He was the first Gator drafted into the league. Early years Mayberry was born on March 14, 1915, in Daytona Beach, Florida, and attended Mainland High School in his hometown. His father Tom operated a small grocery store. His mother was Helena Marie Murphy of Lewiston, Maine. He played for th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnnie Johnson (musician)
Johnnie Clyde Johnson (July 8, 1924 – April 13, 2005) was an American pianist who played jazz, blues and rock and roll. His work with Chuck Berry led to his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for breaking racial barriers in the military, as he was a Montford Point Marine - where the African-American unit endured racism and inspired social change while integrating the previously all-white Marine Corps during World War II. Career Johnson was born in Fairmont, West Virginia, United States. He began playing the piano in 1928. He joined the United States Marine Corps during World War II and became a member of Bobby Troup's all-serviceman jazz orchestra, the Barracudas. After his service, he moved to Detroit and then Chicago, where he sat in with many notable artists, including Muddy Waters and Little Walter. He moved to St. Louis, Missouri in 1952 and immediately assembled a jazz and blues group, the Sir John Tri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
