Ernest W. Allen was born on August 27th, 1916 in Shelby County, Texas to John Henry (Bud) Allen (1892 – 1973) and Lenora Ann (Nonie) Allen (1896 – 1966). Both are buried in the Sardis Cemetery. From the 1930 Shelby County census his father is listed as a farmer and it shows he had three brothers, James, Erin, and Arlon along with four sisters, Mozelle, Lucille, Francis and Nora.

In my research I found his story that was posted to the Fold3 website by his niece Marla Fikes. It is a tragedy and love story rolled into one.

"Ernest W. Allen was my uncle. He grew up in rural Shelby County, Texas and his family farmed for a living. They grew up during the depression and were very poor. Ernest worked for a time in the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC). At the time he and my father were working construction in Shreveport Louisiana. On that Sunday they went to the movies and when they came out of the movie they learned about Pearl Harbor.

Ernest enlisted on February 10, 1942. My father told me how the last time he saw his brother was when he was leaving to catch the bus to Camp Wolters where he trained before being assigned to Company A, 3rd Battalion, 35th Regiment, 25th Division in Hawaii. Ernest was assigned to the Schofield Barracks.

After December 7, 1941 the 25th Infantry Division moved to beach positions for the defense of Honolulu and Ewa Point. Following intensive training, the 25th began moving to Guadalcanal on November 25, 1942. The first troops landed near the Tenaru River, December 17, 1942, and entered combat on January 10, 1943. After the fall of Guadalcanal the 35th Infantry Regiment worked on maintaining the security of Guadalcanal. The 25th Division spent the spring and summer training and recuperating from the Battle of Guadalcanal.

On August 15, 1943 the 24th Division landed at Vella Lavella Island. They set up defense perimeters and were looking for pockets of enemy soldiers. On September 4, 1943 Ernest W. Allen was killed in action.

Ernest had three other brothers in the military. Thankfully his brothers returned home from the war safely and went on to have families.

I never met my Uncle Ernest but because of him my parents met and fell in love. In September 1943 my grandmother and my father went to town so they could purchase some hard candy for Ernest for Christmas. At the time he had already been killed but the family did not know that. The woman that sold them the candy was my mother. After my father took his mother home he came back to store any asked my mother for a date and she said yes. At that time my father was in the Army Air Corp and was stationed in Liberal, Kansas. He was on a three day leave and spent the whole time with my mother. He wrote her a letter every day. One day he wrote that he would have leave in June 1944 and wanted to get married and that is exactly what happened."

For his bravery and actions at Vella Lavella, Solomon Islands PFC Allen was posthumously awarded the Silver Star which is our country's third highest award for valor. Mrs. Mattie Dellinger had given me an envelope full of old newspaper clippings a few years back and among them was his photo and narrative. I have retyped the narrative to make it more readable.

"US ARMY HEADQUARTERS IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC. By direction of the President, the Silver Star was awarded (posthumously on January 11, 1944 by Lt. General Millard T Harmon, Commanding United States Forces in the South Pacific area) to Ernest W Allen, Private First Class, Infantry, United States Army, for gallantry in action at Vella LaVella, Solomon Islands, on September 4, 1943. PFC Allen had earlier been awarded the Purple Heart (posthumously) for wounds received in action resulting in his death on September 4, 1943. Both awards were sent to his parents.

While acting as a point for a patrol which had penetrated the Japanese outposts, PFC Allen aggressively killed two of the enemy and assisted in killing a third with quick and accurate fire. One of the Japanese casualties was an officer carrying a map completely revealing the hostile positions. Through its use, our forces were enabled to expeditiously reduce enemy resistance.

In subsequent actions, PFC Allen was killed instantly by Japanese machine gun fire. By his courage, devotion to duty and at the sacrifice of his life, he contributed inestimably to the successful culmination of the operation.

PFC Allen, 27, was the son of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Allen, Center, Texas. He entered the service in February of 1942. He has three brothers in the service, one of whom has just returned from overseas." The Silver Star was awarded per General Order Number 64, 1944.