When Henry Lewis Gantt was born on July 28, 1918, in Roseland, Virginia, his father, Henry, was 27 and his mother, Evelyn, was 22. He married Helen Sheringham Wilson on June 26, 1948, in Arrington, Virginia. He died on April 4, 2011, in Lovingston, Virginia, at the age of 92, and was buried in Arrington, Virginia.
With the outbreak of WWII, Lewis joined the Army at Ft. Knox on July 21, 1942. He was 23 years old. With letters of recommendation from several sources in Nelson County, he was accepted for Officer Candidate School at Fort Belvoir after he completed basic training. With OCS successfully completed he received his commission as 2nd lieutenant.
After several months of training stateside including special driver training geared to preparing him to train the troops which would be assigned to him, he shipped out from Camp Sutton, near Monroe, NC to the south Pacific with the 773 Engineering Dump Truck Company. His unit was landed in New Guinea after a trip of 23 days and served to support the war effort in that theater. The type of dump trucks they were using were fairly primitive by today's standards. They had no hoisting mechanism but instead the bed balanced on a pivot with a hinge that was moved by a cantilever trying to use gravity to do most of the work rather than hydraulics. You did not carry big loads and sometimes had to rake the "no dumps" out. Most of the troops assigned to this take were blacks.
Lewis arrived at his New Guinea posting where he was picked up in the middle of the night and driven to the company headquarters to report to duty. The next morning the first sergeant, who was black as only the officers were white, called the company to attention and addressed the troops, "We got ourselves a new 2nd lieutenant and I don't know where he's from but I do know he's from the South and he ain't going to take no back talk from no likes of you and if you don't believe it you are going to have to answer to me." With this introduction Lewis and his soldiers had an understanding with one another and got the job done. Lewis' willingness to work along side the enlisted men as he did once to repair a generator also helped them to accept him.
Time passed and finally in August 1945 Lewis found himself waiting on a beach in Luzon, Philippines for a jeep to pick him up as they were preparing to move out. There was great concern because they knew that in the near future their assignment was to be part of the third wave to invade Japan at Sasebo, 50 miles north of Nagasaki. It was there on the beach at Luzon that he and his men learned that the first atomic bomb had been dropped on Japan and that shortly thereafter Japan had surrendered. His unit was deactivated in the demobilization that followed and he was to be transferred to the 576 Engineering Dump Truck Company to help with the clean up of Manila. He would automatically have to serve at least six months after the surrender. While Lewis had the necessary service time to qualify for discharge, he did not have enough overall points since he was not married yet and had no dependents. After 3 years of war he was ready to return to the mountains of home so he encouraged his family to write anyone they could think of to lobby for his return. They did so with eagerness. During this time an order came in for a supply of light bulbs to be delivered to Okinawa, but they had to have a commissioned officer accompany the shipment. He was chosen and this was the closest to Japan he got during the war. He returned to Nicholas Field, Manila before being moved to the new Clark Field but no sooner had his company arrived at Clark than he received his separation papers and orders sending him home. After a slow return aboard ship, he arrived at Oakland, CA on May 7, 1945 after a trip of 15 days at sea. He boarded a train for the cross country trip. His train eventually took him back to Fayetteville, N.C. where he was thanked for his service to the company and given has bus tickets to Richmond. There he was met by Gin and Ralph Allen and finally by brother Don who drove to Richmond to bring him back to the farm. He ended his service to his country with the rank of Captain.
With the outbreak of WWII, Lewis joined the Army at Ft. Knox on July 21, 1942. He was 23 years old. With letters of recommendation from several sources in Nelson County, he was accepted for Officer Candidate School at Fort Belvoir after he completed basic training. With OCS successfully completed he received his commission as 2nd lieutenant.
After several months of training stateside including special driver training geared to preparing him to train the troops which would be assigned to him, he shipped out from Camp Sutton, near Monroe, NC to the south Pacific with the 773 Engineering Dump Truck Company. His unit was landed in New Guinea after a trip of 23 days and served to support the war effort in that theater. The type of dump trucks they were using were fairly primitive by today's standards. They had no hoisting mechanism but instead the bed balanced on a pivot with a hinge that was moved by a cantilever trying to use gravity to do most of the work rather than hydraulics. You did not carry big loads and sometimes had to rake the "no dumps" out. Most of the troops assigned to this take were blacks.
Lewis arrived at his New Guinea posting where he was picked up in the middle of the night and driven to the company headquarters to report to duty. The next morning the first sergeant, who was black as only the officers were white, called the company to attention and addressed the troops, "We got ourselves a new 2nd lieutenant and I don't know where he's from but I do know he's from the South and he ain't going to take no back talk from no likes of you and if you don't believe it you are going to have to answer to me." With this introduction Lewis and his soldiers had an understanding with one another and got the job done. Lewis' willingness to work along side the enlisted men as he did once to repair a generator also helped them to accept him.
Time passed and finally in August 1945 Lewis found himself waiting on a beach in Luzon, Philippines for a jeep to pick him up as they were preparing to move out. There was great concern because they knew that in the near future their assignment was to be part of the third wave to invade Japan at Sasebo, 50 miles north of Nagasaki. It was there on the beach at Luzon that he and his men learned that the first atomic bomb had been dropped on Japan and that shortly thereafter Japan had surrendered. His unit was deactivated in the demobilization that followed and he was to be transferred to the 576 Engineering Dump Truck Company to help with the clean up of Manila. He would automatically have to serve at least six months after the surrender. While Lewis had the necessary service time to qualify for discharge, he did not have enough overall points since he was not married yet and had no dependents. After 3 years of war he was ready to return to the mountains of home so he encouraged his family to write anyone they could think of to lobby for his return. They did so with eagerness. During this time an order came in for a supply of light bulbs to be delivered to Okinawa, but they had to have a commissioned officer accompany the shipment. He was chosen and this was the closest to Japan he got during the war. He returned to Nicholas Field, Manila before being moved to the new Clark Field but no sooner had his company arrived at Clark than he received his separation papers and orders sending him home. After a slow return aboard ship, he arrived at Oakland, CA on May 7, 1945 after a trip of 15 days at sea. He boarded a train for the cross country trip. His train eventually took him back to Fayetteville, N.C. where he was thanked for his service to the company and given has bus tickets to Richmond. There he was met by Gin and Ralph Allen and finally by brother Don who drove to Richmond to bring him back to the farm. He ended his service to his country with the rank of Captain.
When Henry Lewis Gantt was born on July 28, 1918, in Roseland, Virginia, his father, Henry, was 27 and his mother, Evelyn, was 22. He married Helen Sheringham Wilson on June 26, 1948, in Arrington, Virginia. He died on April 4, 2011, in Lovingston, Virginia, at the age of 92, and was buried in Arrington, Virginia.
With the outbreak of WWII, Lewis joined the Army at Ft. Knox on July 21, 1942. He was 23 years old. With letters of recommendation from several sources in Nelson County, he was accepted for Officer Candidate School at Fort Belvoir after he completed basic training. With OCS successfully completed he received his commission as 2nd lieutenant.
After several months of training stateside including special driver training geared to preparing him to train the troops which would be assigned to him, he shipped out from Camp Sutton, near Monroe, NC to the south Pacific with the 773 Engineering Dump Truck Company. His unit was landed in New Guinea after a trip of 23 days and served to support the war effort in that theater. The type of dump trucks they were using were fairly primitive by today's standards. They had no hoisting mechanism but instead the bed balanced on a pivot with a hinge that was moved by a cantilever trying to use gravity to do most of the work rather than hydraulics. You did not carry big loads and sometimes had to rake the "no dumps" out. Most of the troops assigned to this take were blacks.
Lewis arrived at his New Guinea posting where he was picked up in the middle of the night and driven to the company headquarters to report to duty. The next morning the first sergeant, who was black as only the officers were white, called the company to attention and addressed the troops, "We got ourselves a new 2nd lieutenant and I don't know where he's from but I do know he's from the South and he ain't going to take no back talk from no likes of you and if you don't believe it you are going to have to answer to me." With this introduction Lewis and his soldiers had an understanding with one another and got the job done. Lewis' willingness to work along side the enlisted men as he did once to repair a generator also helped them to accept him.
Time passed and finally in August 1945 Lewis found himself waiting on a beach in Luzon, Philippines for a jeep to pick him up as they were preparing to move out. There was great concern because they knew that in the near future their assignment was to be part of the third wave to invade Japan at Sasebo, 50 miles north of Nagasaki. It was there on the beach at Luzon that he and his men learned that the first atomic bomb had been dropped on Japan and that shortly thereafter Japan had surrendered. His unit was deactivated in the demobilization that followed and he was to be transferred to the 576 Engineering Dump Truck Company to help with the clean up of Manila. He would automatically have to serve at least six months after the surrender. While Lewis had the necessary service time to qualify for discharge, he did not have enough overall points since he was not married yet and had no dependents. After 3 years of war he was ready to return to the mountains of home so he encouraged his family to write anyone they could think of to lobby for his return. They did so with eagerness. During this time an order came in for a supply of light bulbs to be delivered to Okinawa, but they had to have a commissioned officer accompany the shipment. He was chosen and this was the closest to Japan he got during the war. He returned to Nicholas Field, Manila before being moved to the new Clark Field but no sooner had his company arrived at Clark than he received his separation papers and orders sending him home. After a slow return aboard ship, he arrived at Oakland, CA on May 7, 1945 after a trip of 15 days at sea. He boarded a train for the cross country trip. His train eventually took him back to Fayetteville, N.C. where he was thanked for his service to the company and given has bus tickets to Richmond. There he was met by Gin and Ralph Allen and finally by brother Don who drove to Richmond to bring him back to the farm. He ended his service to his country with the rank of Captain.
With the outbreak of WWII, Lewis joined the Army at Ft. Knox on July 21, 1942. He was 23 years old. With letters of recommendation from several sources in Nelson County, he was accepted for Officer Candidate School at Fort Belvoir after he completed basic training. With OCS successfully completed he received his commission as 2nd lieutenant.
After several months of training stateside including special driver training geared to preparing him to train the troops which would be assigned to him, he shipped out from Camp Sutton, near Monroe, NC to the south Pacific with the 773 Engineering Dump Truck Company. His unit was landed in New Guinea after a trip of 23 days and served to support the war effort in that theater. The type of dump trucks they were using were fairly primitive by today's standards. They had no hoisting mechanism but instead the bed balanced on a pivot with a hinge that was moved by a cantilever trying to use gravity to do most of the work rather than hydraulics. You did not carry big loads and sometimes had to rake the "no dumps" out. Most of the troops assigned to this take were blacks.
Lewis arrived at his New Guinea posting where he was picked up in the middle of the night and driven to the company headquarters to report to duty. The next morning the first sergeant, who was black as only the officers were white, called the company to attention and addressed the troops, "We got ourselves a new 2nd lieutenant and I don't know where he's from but I do know he's from the South and he ain't going to take no back talk from no likes of you and if you don't believe it you are going to have to answer to me." With this introduction Lewis and his soldiers had an understanding with one another and got the job done. Lewis' willingness to work along side the enlisted men as he did once to repair a generator also helped them to accept him.
Time passed and finally in August 1945 Lewis found himself waiting on a beach in Luzon, Philippines for a jeep to pick him up as they were preparing to move out. There was great concern because they knew that in the near future their assignment was to be part of the third wave to invade Japan at Sasebo, 50 miles north of Nagasaki. It was there on the beach at Luzon that he and his men learned that the first atomic bomb had been dropped on Japan and that shortly thereafter Japan had surrendered. His unit was deactivated in the demobilization that followed and he was to be transferred to the 576 Engineering Dump Truck Company to help with the clean up of Manila. He would automatically have to serve at least six months after the surrender. While Lewis had the necessary service time to qualify for discharge, he did not have enough overall points since he was not married yet and had no dependents. After 3 years of war he was ready to return to the mountains of home so he encouraged his family to write anyone they could think of to lobby for his return. They did so with eagerness. During this time an order came in for a supply of light bulbs to be delivered to Okinawa, but they had to have a commissioned officer accompany the shipment. He was chosen and this was the closest to Japan he got during the war. He returned to Nicholas Field, Manila before being moved to the new Clark Field but no sooner had his company arrived at Clark than he received his separation papers and orders sending him home. After a slow return aboard ship, he arrived at Oakland, CA on May 7, 1945 after a trip of 15 days at sea. He boarded a train for the cross country trip. His train eventually took him back to Fayetteville, N.C. where he was thanked for his service to the company and given has bus tickets to Richmond. There he was met by Gin and Ralph Allen and finally by brother Don who drove to Richmond to bring him back to the farm. He ended his service to his country with the rank of Captain.
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