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| Lt. James Peebles served in an artillery battalion in the 5th Infantry Division. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6814707/james-shelton-peebles https://owlcation.com/humanities/ArtilleryBattalions |
James Shelton Peebles, Jr. never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on January 31, 1918 in Oklahoma. His parents James and Elizabeth were born in Oklahoma and Arkansas, respectively. His father worked as a farmer. James had two younger brothers and a younger half sister. His parents divorced in the 1920s and his mom worked as a nurse to support the family. By 1940 James had completed high school was was attending college away from home. At some point he married Lavano Carnes Giulio.
He enlisted in the army in March 1942 and he became a second lieutenant in the 21st Field Artillery Battalion. The 21st FAB was attached to the 5th Infantry Division (Nicknames Red Diamond or Red Devils) during WW2. It was equipped with 155mm howitzers.
The 5th ID arrived in Normandy in early July 1944. It fought across France and seized Reims on August 30, 1944. It's next big assignment was the attack on Metz which took almost three months. Lt. Peebles died on November 5, 1944. I don't know if it was due to counter battery fire, or perhaps when he was acting as an artillery observer, or some other cause.
His grave is at Tahlequah Cemetery, Tahlequah, Oklahoma. His widow died in 2000.
UPDATE:
Mr. Milne,
Thank you for posting about James S. Peebles. If you bear with me until the end of the email, I’ll explain my relationship to Shelton, which was the name used by our family and my mother’s friends who knew him. I don’t know how to post, so forgive me for emailing you to fill in some of the gaps of his life. It is my way of honoring him again. You can post the pertinent information if you’d like.
The woman in the photo is my mother Lavona Carnes. She and Shelton attended Northeastern State Teacher’s College, now Northeastern State University, Tahlequah, OK. He was a member of a fraternity, worked on the 1942 yearbook and a class officer. My mother graduated from the college in 1942, and I strongly believe Shelton graduated too. Mother said Shelton wanted to be a dentist.
Shelton, a Cherokee Indian, and my mother, a Sac & Fox/Choctaw Indian, may have been married on January 30, 1943. I have a serving tray with the engraving Lt. and Mrs. James. S. Peebles from The Officers and Ladies of the 379th Field Artillery Battalion, January 30, 1943.
Shelton lost his life flying reconnaissance; I think over France. My mother, sister and I returned most of Shelton’s medals to Shelton’s brother in the 1970’s. I still have Shelton’s rosary, government correspondence of his passing and a few medals that his brother did not want in the 1970’s. I spoke with his brother around 1997. We discussed and he approved Shelton’s write up for the WWII memorial. My sister and I made a donation to the memorial, allowing us to upload the “write up”. This was when you had to donate to get something posted. I noticed the WWII memorial has since taken down the write up and picture of him that we submitted.
Why is he important to me and my sister? Shelton was my mother’s first love. She transferred that love, along with a great respect for him, to my sister and me. We refer to ourselves as his daughters-in-spirit. For years, we’d look at his pictures with my mother while she shared a little tidbit or story, like the day he was buried. My sister and I promised each other we would keep the memory of him and my mom alive. Our mother let go of Shelton physically but never in her heart.
Last year on this date I profiled John Harris, a victim of the Palawan Massacre. You can read about John here.
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| Photo provided by Janice Edmiston |
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
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