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Soldiers of World War ll by Tracy McCoy
ccording to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs it is estimated that there are around 300,000 WW ll vets still living in the United States. This number is down from 939,000 in 2015. The young men who volunteered and were drafted were really boys, many of whom had never been outside of the county where they were born and raised. In the early 40s the economic state in Appalachia was still reeling from the Great Depression. Times were very tough and families were large and jobs were scarce. A trip into town was rare so a ride to the local draft board to register under the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 was not easy to find. Young men were required to register and if drafted must serve on active duty for at least 12 months. A national lottery was how future soldiers were chosen and a letter was sent and the young man had days to report for duty. I have had the privilege to interview two WW ll veterans about their service to our great nation. The picture that was painted in each scenario was one of boys sent to war. They didn’t know what to expect and were not told, they didn’t have knowledge of where they were headed or what would become of them. Barely time to say good-byes. Recently I was granted an interview by two local gentlemen who also served our country during World War ll.
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Mr. Coyl Justice oyl Justice was born, raised and has spent the majority of his life on Betty’s Creek. He lives with his bride of 72 years, Mildred (Norton) Justice. The couple raised three children, Gary Justice, Mickey Justice and Julia (Justice) Taylor. They have 8 grandchildren, 23 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great-grandchild Here is where his story begins... Coyl was born to Alden and Naomi Justice in 1926. Coyl was the youngest of seven children. He went to school until the fifth grade and then he quit going. In those days every hand was needed to run the farm and keep food on the table. “My dad was a worrywart like I am now. When I turned 18 he asked if I’d been to register and I said I had not. He said he’d take me up to Franklin to get that done. I didn’t much want to do that but my Dad made the rules and I followed them.” Mr Justice told me. The father took his son to the courthouse in Franklin to sign up and the woman who took his information assured him he’d get a letter in the coming week. “She said it’d come and sure enough it did and I had to go,” he said. I asked Coyl if he had ever been outside of Rabun or Macon Counties and he said, “No, goodness no, but I got on a bus in Clayton headed for Asheville, North Carolina. When I arrived I got a good haircut and they sent me to the shower. I didn’t know what a shower was. We didn’t have one at the house.” Within 2-3 days Coyl was headed to Fort Bragg for basic training. As most would tell you, basic training for the United States Army is not for the weak. We’ve all seen the movies where the drill instructor is screaming in the soldier’s faces. “It was pretty rough. You see I didn’t know what was wrong but I had a lot of pain in my stomach and I was told to get on another soldier’s back for training and the drill instructor told me to lean back and I said I can’t sir. Well you didn’t say ‘can’t’, he cursed at me and pushed me back down. It hurt me real bad. My stomach bothered me all the way through. I wouldn’t know until I much later what was wrong. Once he finished basic training Coyl was sent to Camp
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GML - November 2020
Gladwinm, Florida for more training. The war was near its end but he would be part of the clean-up crew in the 4th Army. They called to say he’d be shipping out and they put him and the others on a Troop Train to Blanding, Florida. Next he boarded a Troop Train headed for California. I asked if he had any say in what job he’d be given and he said, “Whatever they needed you to do, you did. When we got to the Philippines we got on the QS boat and the Skipper said ‘I need a cook’. Well I was a good bit taller than the other guys and when he said that they all ducked down and there I stood. ‘You are the cook’, Skipper said pointing to me. I’d never done any cooking really, just a little when camping but I was trained and got pretty good at it,” he said smiling.
