A service to be conducted by the Robert F. Hoke Chapter No. 78, United Daughters of the Confederacy, will honor seven U.S. Army, Navy and Coast Guard veterans with eight medals Saturday.
The ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. in the Stanback Auditorium of the Rowan Public Library. The awards honor lineal descendants of Confederate veterans who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces.
The service is open to the public, and a special invitation is extended to all veterans and past recipients of UDC medals. A reception will follow the service.
The bestowal of UDC medals to veterans dates back to 1898 when the UDC resolved that every Confederate veteran should receive a medal now known as “The Southern Cross of Honor.”
The small bronze medals were in the shape of a Maltese Cross, and they were to be worn only by Confederate veterans. Although many veterans were buried with their crosses, some remain in the hands of their descendants and others can be viewed in museums.
The first Southern Cross bestowed was in 1900, and by 1913, there were 78,761 awarded. The last was presented in 1959 posthumously to Rear Admiral Raphael Semmes.
The UDC began to honor lineal descendants of Confederate veterans who served during war periods in 1922.
Each Cross of Military Service has the color of ribbon used by the military during a particular war period, and each bronze medal is suspended from a ribbon by the entwined monogram “UDC.” A National Defense Medal was approved in 1991, and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Service Medal was approved in 1995.
Past recipients of UDC medals include Gen. John A. LeJeune, Gen. Omar Nelson Bradley, Col. Joseph E. Wheeler, Col. Warren Jefferson Davis, Rear Admiral Thomas P. Magruder, 2nd Lt. George Edward Pickett III, Lt. Gen. George Smith Patton, Jr., Maj. Alvin C. York, Capt. James Ewell Brown Stuart II, Vice Admiral Fitzhugh Lee III, Col. Edmund Kirby-Smith, Rear Admiral Beverly Mosby Coleman, and Gen. William Childs Westmoreland.
Chapter President Trudy Hall and Recorder of Military Service Awards Sue Curtis will present the medals using the UDC Ritual. Hoke Historian Sandra Boyer, member Judy Smith-Ballard and incoming member Dianne Hall will participate.
Nancy Sloop will present patriotic music on her keyboard. Government flags and ones from the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard will be among those displayed. Frank Grady Hall III, past governor of the Order of the Founders and Patriots of America, will deliver remarks.
Here’s a rundown of medals being given out Saturday:
• Eugene Morrison Adkins III will receive the World War I Cross of Military Service for his grandfather, Eugene Morrison Adkins Sr., who died November 1971 in Greenwood, S.C. Adkins Sr. entered the U.S. Army in June 1918 in Lynchburg, Va., and was in Co. A, Command Center Transportation Corps. He served in the United States and France and received the Victory Medal before honorably discharged in May 1919.
His great great-grandfather, Pvt. Green Berry Adkins, entered Confederate service June 1861 at Callands, Va., in Co. B, 38th Va. Infantry, and served until January 1865. Green Berry Adkins was married to Martha Eleanor Lawrence.
• Dianne Hall will accept the World War II Cross of Military Service for her grandfather, Perry Cameron Crowell Sr., who served honorably in the U.S. Navy, Co. A, 5th Medical Battalion, 5th Marine Division. Crowell entered service in October 1942 at Salisbury and received the Asiatic Pacific, American Theater, and World War II Victory medals. He was discharged November 1945.
His great-grandfather was Pvt. William Curtis Ennis of Salisbury who enlisted in Rowan County July 1862 in Co. K, 57th Regiment N.C. Troops, and served until April 9, 1865, when he surrendered at Appomattox Court House, Va. He took the Oath of Allegiance in Salisbury in June 1865. Ennis was married to Clementine M. Elliot.
• Hall will accept the World War II Cross of Military Service for her father, Robert Doyle Hartman Sr., who served honorably in the U.S. Navy on several ships including the USS H.A. Bass. Mr. Hartman entered service in January 1943. He received the Asiatic Pacific with 2 Stars, American Area, and Victory medals and was discharged November 1947.
His great-grandfather, Pvt. Daniel Hartman, served in Co. D, 10th Regiment N.C. State Troops (1st Regiment N.C. Artillery), known as the “Rowan Artillery.” He enlisted in Rowan County in March 1862 and was paroled April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Court House, Va. Daniel Hartman was married to Letitis L. Earnhart.
• Hall will also accept the Korean War Cross of Military Service for her father who served in the U.S. Army, enlisting in July 1952 at Camp Hakata Kyushu, Japan as a sergeant. He received the Korean Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and U.N. Service Medal and was discharged in July 1958 after serving in Japan, Korea and the United States. Robert Doyle Hartman, Sr. was a resident of Salisbury prior to his death in July 1966.
His great-grandfather was Pvt. Daniel Hartman, who served in Co. D, 10th Regiment N.C. State Troops (1st Regiment NC Artillery).
• Beauford Ray Smith of Greensboro will receive the National Service Medal for military duty during the Korean War. Smith entered service in November 1953 at Durham in the U.S. Coast Guard and was on the USCGC Iris. Engineman 2nd Class Smith received the National Service Defense Medal and was discharged in September 1957.
His great-grandfather, Pvt. Christopher Columbus Clark, entered Confederate service in May 1861 in Guilford County and served in Co. E, 22nd Regiment N.C. Troops. He was captured April 1865 and imprisoned at Point Lookout, Md., until taking the Oath of Allegiance in June 1865. Clark was married to Mary L. Gray.
• Eugene Morrison Adkins III of Cleveland will receive the Vietnam Conflict Cross of Military Service. He enlisted in October 1970 at Fort Jackson, S.C., in the U.S. Navy and was on active duty in Vietnam on the USS Joseph Hewes. He was honorably discharged in October 1974 as an anti-submarine warfare operator 3rd class. Adkins received the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal and Combat Action Ribbon.
His great great-grandfather was Pvt. Green Berry Adkins, who served in Co. B, 38th Va. Infantry.
• Steven Lee Shoe of Mooresville will receive the National Defense Medal for military duty during the Vietnam Conflict. Shoe entered the U.S. Army in August 1967 in Charlotte and served in Co. D, 19th Maintenance Battalion, Quartermaster Corps. Sgt. Shoe served in the U.S., Korea and Germany and received the National Defense Service Medal and Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal before he was discharged in July 1970.
His great-great-grandfather was Cpl. John Calhoon Wilhelm, who entered Confederate service in March 1862 in Rowan County in Co. G, 42nd Regiment N.C. Troops. He was captured March 1865, sent to Point Lookout, Md., and released June 1865 after taking the Oath of Allegiance. Wilhelm was married to Sara A. Ketchie.
• Scott Lamar Brown of Cleveland will receive the National Defense Medal for military duty during the Persian Gulf. Brown entered in October 1991 at Charlotte in the U.S. Army and served at the Tripler Army Medical Center, Co. C, until he was discharged in October 1995. He received the Army Lapel button, National Defense Medal, Army Service Ribbon, and Overseas Service Ribbon.
His great great great-grandfather, Sgt. Giles M. Shives, entered Confederate service in June 1861 at Davie County in Co. G, 4th Regiment N.C. Troops and was paroled in 1865 at Salisbury. Mr. Shives was married to Elizabeth Jorden.
Curtis, the Hoke Chapter recorder of military service awards, plans to make a list of soldiers who received military medals from the UDC. If you or your ancestor received one from the Salisbury chapter, let her know the name of recipient, type of medal and date received at 704-637-6411, or P.O. Box 5093, Salisbury, NC 28147-0088.