Jimmie Albright, AKA Chief Albright, was the senior enlisted man in the Operations Division of the USS Talbot County (LST 1153) when I first met him, & as such he was the senior enlisted person in my chain of command at that time. For me this proved to be a fortunate turn of events because at the time I was young & not real inclined to adhere to the regimentation of military life &, for me, Chief Albright was the right person, in the right place, at the right time. He never cut me any slack but seemed to know how, & when, to apply the rules in a manner that worked for me. He always gave me enough rope to allow me to almost get in over my head before he yanked it back & prevented me from getting in too deep. He was the quintessential Sailor & was an individual who in his personal & professional life, both during & following his military service, a young person would do well to emulate. Being stationed aboard a Navy ship we [Chief Albright & I] were often away from home while deployed at sea and his wife Pat was also a major help to us by allowing my then young wife to stay at her home at night so that it wasn't necessary for her to stay in our apartment alone, something which she has never been fond of doing. Sadly, Pat passed away from cancer after a long & happy marriage to Jim Albright. I don't believe that they ever had biological children but if memory serves they did adopt two brothers shortly before Pat was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Around the time of Pat's death Jim retired from the Navy, after twenty seven years of active service, in order to be at home & care for the children. He retired holding the senior enlisted rank possible, pay grade E-9, & at the time of his retirement he was a Quartermaster. (During his career he alternated several times between being a Signalman & a Quartermaster in order to facilitate the promotion possibilities & I BELIEVE that he was a Quartermaster at the time of his retirement.) Sometime after his retirement he met & married Suzanne & when I eventually relocated him a number of years after his retirement he was happily living on a mountaintop in northeastern Ohio & raising naturally grown produce while Suzanne worked toward her Doctorial Degree at Kent State University (I believe Kent State is the correct university anyway). Eventually they left Ohio & relocated to South Carolina where only a short time later Chief Albright was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, which eventually took his life. He died at a hospital in Spartanburg, South Carolina & as he had wished his remains were donated for medical research. Following the research for which his remains were suitable he was buried in the West Virginia National Cemetery near Grafton, (Pruntytown?) West Virginia.

(NOTE: Though I was told by Chief Albright that his retirement rate was QMCM the photo of his grave marker shown in this site states that his rate was SMCS. I cannot explain this discrepancy. I also notice a lack of religious affiliation depicted on Chief Albright's grave marker yet religious symbols are seen on all of the other markers visible in this photo. I cannot explain that either and do not recall Chief Albright ever expressing a religious affiliation of any type though I do know that his wife, Suzanne, was Jewish.)

The information below is from http://www.rootsweb.com/~hcpd/3rdinf/enlistc.htm and shows the first few entries from the muster list of COMPANY "C" SIXTH REGIMENT [West Virginia] VOL. CALVARY. (See the note below the third [& last] entry from this muster list to explain why this is shown here)

ENLISTED MEN COMPANY "C" SIXTH REGIMENT VOL. CALVARY

NAMES * RESIDENT OR WHERE ENROLLED * AGE * MUSTERED INTO SERVICE, WHEN, WHERE * DATE OF MUSTER OUT * MEMORANDA

Albright, Christian Pleasant Valley, W.Va. 22 June 28, 1861 Newburg, W.Va. Born in Preston Co., W.Va. Died in the hands of the enemy from wounds received in action; date unknown.

Armstrong, Henry H. Martinsburg, W.Va. 23 Mch. 12, 1864 Martinsburg, W.Va. May 22, 1866 Veteran, re-enlisted from Co. E, 6th W.Va. Promoted Sergeant at re-enlistment; promoted 1st Sergeant Dec, 14, 1864; reduced to ranks Sept. 1, 1865 by order of Major A.J. Squires.

Ashburn, Ephriam C. Pleas. Val., W.Va. 27 June 28, 1861 Newburg, W.Va. Carpenter, born in Greene Co., Pa. Re-enlisted as a Vet. Vol. Mch. 10, 1864, under Gen'l Order #191, War Dep't Series of 1863; transferred to Co. A by consolidation. Sergeant.

In February 1958 this contributor, John R. Ashburn (Sr.), was assigned duty aboard the USS Talbot County (LST 1153) while I was on active duty with the United States Navy. One of my shipmates, & a man with whom I became lifelong friends, was Jimmie D. Albright. Jimmie was originally from the same area of West Virginia as Christian Albright (shown above) & was reasonably certain that Christian was an ancestor of his. I know Ephraim was a 2nd great grand-uncle to me. This would mean that, through coincidence, almost a hundred years after Christian Albright and Ephraim Ashburn served in the military together during the Civil War, two members of their families, Jimmie D. Albright and this contributor, once again served together on active military service.