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Father-Homer Harland Stewart |
Died On |
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| Homer (left) and his father. |
Homer Harland Stewart |
Home (left) and his mother. |
He was born July 25, 1892 in
New Albany, Floyd Co., IN.
He graduated high school from
New Albany, IN.
in 1916. He was in the U.S. Army from May 1917 - Sept. 1919. He was attached to
the
33rd Infantry Division,
131st Regiment, Company "M" from Chicago.
He was a Sergeant in WWI. He was in the
Battle of Meuse-Argonne
in France. About one of every ten was killed or
wounded in this battle. From The World Book 1963, World War I p.376 he had
underlined certain sections and wrote "I was there HHS." The underlined sections
were: On August 8, the Allies, led by Canadian and Australian troops, attacked
the Germans fiercely at A miens. and the Allies swept toward Saint Mihiel and
the Meuse-Argonne region. American soldiers took over a large portion of the
battle line. He was wounded and received 3
Purple Heart
medals ( 2 shell shots & 1 for being gassed with mustard gas); also received the
WWI Victory Medal with three battle clasps: Somme Defensive March 21 - April 6,
1918,
Somme Offensive
August 8 - November 11, 1918, & Meuse - Argonne September 26 - November 1918.
The soldiers that carried him out of the battlefield used him as a human shield
to get out. He was stationed in France. On March 14, 1919 he was at
Camp Lee, VA.,
after he was wounded in the Battle of Argonne. He also received a silver lapel
button for being wounded in action.
He used to love to tell old war stories about how the Germans would
abandon a tank that would get stuck and they would come along and use the law of
leverage to get them out. ( I wish I had paid more attention to these stories.)
He returned home from the war to Chicago, IL. where he went to college at the
Armour Institute of Technology
where he received his Mechanical Engineering Degree
(B.S.M.E. in 1924).
He was Supt. of Steel Mills of which U. S. Steel was one. The plant in
Chicago was known as
South Works. He
worked for the
Atomic Energy Commission
during WWII and also War Assets
Administration. He lived in New Albany, IN., Chicago., IL., Birmingham, AL,
Fontana, CA, Provo, UT., Idaho Falls, ID., Pontiac, MI., Waverly, OH., Paducah,
KY. and later where he retired with his wife on her family land in Glasgow, KY.
Part of his wife's family land was sold in 1963 and he bought a tract and
subdivided it, known as Beaver Creek Subdivision. It was located off of
Lexington Drive; the road is named after him, Stewart Drive in Glasgow.
During his retirement he loved to fish and hunt. He owned a boat dock, Dale
Hollow Marina, which he changed the name to
Sulphur Creek Marina
in Burkesville, KY. It is now known as Sulphur Creek
Resort. He was founder of Barren River Rod and Gun Club in Barren Co., KY. He
was a
32nd degree Mason,
belonged to the Windsor-Blackstone Lodge No. 1124 in Chicago, IL. He was also a
Shriner, but in later years he wasn't as active. He attained the 33rd degree,
but dropped it make to 32nd because of obilgations to it, that he didn't have
time to commit to. He was a very intelligent man and very congenial. He was 83
when he died and had only immediate family, but the funeral home was filled with
flowers from everywhere. He never met a stranger.
I remember one time when we were going to Louisville, he picked up a hitch
hiker (this would have been in the 60's when you didn't consider it as
dangerous). He drove this man 30 minutes out of our way and then when he let the
man out, he handed the man some money. My father was always kind to everyone,
and he always had time to speak to people. At the time of his death on April 19,
1976 he was the oldest living veteran in Barren Co., Ky. He was a very active
member in the D.A.V.
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