Arts & Culture

This Memorial Day, Their Stories Stand Tall

They were young men caught up in tempestuous times.

A charitable organization to honor and appreciate military service members and families, ParadeRest, will honor eight local veterans killed in the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor and the June 6, 1944, D-Day invasion this Memorial Day. One of the eight, Marine 2nd Lt. Harry Hamilton Gaver Jr., was a University of Virginia graduate.

“Remembering is active rather than passive,” said Greg Saathoff, a professor of emergency medicine at the UVA School of Medicine and co-founder of ParadeRest. “I served in the first Gulf War while on the UVA faculty and we have interviewed returning veterans for our oral history project for the Library of Congress. I know that when soldiers die, we say that we will always remember. How do we help guarantee memory besides just having a day called ‘Memorial’?”

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, a conflict fought in both Europe and the Pacific theater. ParadeRest volunteers, working with property owners at the Rugby and Preston Road intersection, will post signs telling the story of local veterans.

Yard sign depicting Harry Hamilton Gaver

A sign honors Marine 2nd Lt. Harry Hamilton Gaver Jr., a 1939 UVA engineering graduate who served aboard the USS Oklahoma. (Photo by Lathan Goumas, University Communications)

Besides Gaver, the signs will honor Army Staff Sgt. James Merritt Barksdale of Crozet, Army Cpl. Emmett Edloe Morris of Albemarle and Navy Chief Petty Officer Alwyn Berry Norvelle of Covesville, all killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Also being honored are Pfc. Raymond Carver of Nelson County, Pfc. Cleo Brent Munday of Scottsville; Pvt. Richard Powhatan Hall of Albemarle; Staff Sgt. John Richard Cox of Greene County, all Army personnel, who died in the D-Day invasion of Europe.

Gaver, of Annapolis, Maryland, was a 1935 graduate of the Black-Foxe Military Institute in Los Angeles, where his father was headmaster. He attended UVA, his father’s alma mater, and graduated in 1939 with a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering.

Gaver played tennis and lacrosse while a student and was a member of the Kappa Sigma Zeta fraternity, the Eli Bananas, the German Club and the Thirteen Society. He was assigned to the Marine detachment aboard the USS Oklahoma, which was sunk in the attack.

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The Navy posthumously awarded Gaver a Purple Heart, an American Defense Service Medal with fleet clasp and an Asian Pacific Campaign Medal with a star. Gaver’s remains were not identified until 2017 and were finally returned to his family in 2019. He was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.

“We want to give people something to think about on Memorial Day,” Saathoff said. “Just raising the awareness, reminding people that Memorial Day is not Veterans Day or is not Military Appreciation Day. It’s a sacred day.”

Saathoff and ParadeRest have been gathering information on local and UVA-connected veterans for years.

“UVA students and amazing volunteers have combed through yearbooks, newspaper archives, websites, historical societies to pull together not just the names but photos and biographies when we can,” Saathoff said.

Greg Saathoff carrying yard signs about Memorial Day

Greg Saathoff and his neighbors are honoring local veterans who died at either the attack at Pearl Harbor or the D-Day invasion with signs in their yards. (Photo by Lathan Goumas, University Communications)

While hundreds of local veterans and UVA alumni have died in war, Saathoff selected the two dates because of their importance.

“In thinking how to introduce this history to a wider public, no one would question the remarkable information that these eight all died on one of those two days,” he said. “In partnership with our community, we hope to honor these and so many more of our local and UVA military heroes similarly in the future.”

Saathoff said that he would like people to be aware of the sacrifices the local community has made for the country.

“I want them to have pride in this community that gave so much,” he said. “ Those who are inspired by the signs can go to paraderestva.org to read more about these people and the Finding the Fallen project. The upcoming 5K race and festival at Panorama Farms on June 7 is an active way for our community to personally remember and tangibly honor our military fallen while showing support for our local military community.”