Thomas Clifford Russell (1924 - 1973)

Born 2 Feb 1924 in Hawkins, Tennessee, United States

Ancestors

Son of William Aaron Russell and Nora Pearl (Newberry) Winegar

Descendants

Died 12 Oct 1973 at age 49 in Bristol, Virginia, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Barry Russell [send private message]

Biography

Cpl. Clifford Russell served in the United States Army in World War II
Service started: 1943
Unit(s):
Service ended: 1945

Thomas Clifford Russell was born in 1924 in Hawkins Co., Tennessee to William Russell and Nora Newberry. His father was a farmer. Times were tough, so Clifford was only able to attend school through seventh grade.^[1] He went to work when he was sixteen. When he was eighteen, he told the draft board that he was single and that he worked on a dairy farm.^[2] He enlisted April 9, 1943 at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia where he trained in field artillery.^[3] His diary says that he received further training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and left from the port of New York on the Queen Mary in November 1943 for Glasglow, Scotland. He finished his training in England on May 31, 1944. Then they were deployed to Normandy. His unit "hit Normandy six days after D-Day on June 12, 1944." In all the chaos, "his unit got lost and almost ran into the enemy."^[4] He fought in Normandy, the Ardennes, the Rhineland, Northern France, Central European Campaign. He was an Ammunition NCO and part of the Army of Occupation.^[5] He was promoted to Private, First Class on May 1, 1945 and made Corporal a month later June 2, 1945. His diary says that they left for the USA from Marseilles, France on the George Washington on October 15, 1945. The trip took ten days, and there were 6400 soldiers on board. They arrived in New York and he was mustered out at Ft George Meade, Maryland on October 30, 1945. In his diary, Clifford wrote: "Things I want to remember. The day I got out of the Army."^[4] This courageous man went from the life of a soldier in war time and back to a quiet life. After a while, he married and he and his wife Ruby raised their family. Clifford was a milkman for the rest of his life. "He started with Pinemont Farms which morphed into several other names but he delivered door to door for all of them."^[6] Clifford passed away in 1973 in Virginia.^[7]

DNA

• Maternal relationship is confirmed by a triangulated group on Gedmatch consisting of Paula Reed, Thomas Russell, Patrick Wright, Marianne Winslett and Ginny Winslett who share a 9.2cM segment on chromosome 11. Paula , Thomas and Patrick are all 6C, Patrick and Marianne/Ginny are 5C1R, Thomas and Marianne/Ginny are 5C1R, Paula and Marianne/Ginny are 4C1R, and Marianne and Ginny are siblings. The most-recent common ancestors shared by all five are Benjamin Wheat and Elizabeth, the 5th great grandparents of Paul, Thomas and Patrick and 4th great grandparents of Marianne and Ginny.

Sources

1. ↑ WD form 100 Separation Qualification Record.
2. ↑ Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Ancestry Record 2238 #201686690
3. ↑ "United States World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KMV5-52P : 5 December 2014), Thomas C Russell, enlisted 09 Apr 1943, Ft Oglethorpe, Georgia, United States; citing "Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938-1946," database, The National Archives: Access to Archival Databases (AAD) (http://aad.archives.gov : National Archives and Records Administration, 2002); NARA NAID 1263923, National Archives at College Park, Maryland.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Personal Diary of Clifford Russell, currently in possession of his son, Barry Russell.
5. ↑ Discharge form WD AGO 53-55 in possession of Barry Russell.
6. ↑ From Barry Russell's family history.
7. ↑ "Virginia, Death Certificates, 1912-1987," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVYG-SV2J : 16 August 2019), Thomas Clifford Russell, 12 Oct 1973; from "Virginia, Marriage Records, 1700-1850," database and images, Ancestry; citing Bristol, , Virginia, United States, entry #, Virginia Department of Health, Richmond.