Doddridge County Roots

A West Virginia Genealogy

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Ernest Gentsel KNIGHT

Ernest Gentsel KNIGHT

Male 1918 - 2000  (81 years)

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  • Name Ernest Gentsel KNIGHT 
    Born 1 Aug 1918  Rock Run (West Union), Doddridge Co, WV Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2] 
    Gender Male 
    Military ENLISTED 12/13/1939  [3, 4, 5] 
    US Navy (6 yrs) in World War II, US Army in Korea (20 yrs total svc, retired as SFC) 
    Census 1930  West Union District, Doddridge Co, WV Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Census 1940  Rock Run (West Union), Doddridge Co, WV Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Education West Union H.S. (1936)  [1] 
    Occupation bank teller (West Union Bank, 12 yrs)  [1] 
    Residence Sunnyside (West Union), Doddridge Co, WV Find all individuals with events at this location  [1] 
    Died 19 Apr 2000  Parkersburg, Wood Co, WV Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2] 
    Buried Freeman-Coleman Cemetery, Rt 18 N (Crystal Lake), West Union, WV Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 6] 
    Person ID I85150  Doddridge County Roots
    Last Modified 23 Sep 2012 

    Father Milton Oris KNIGHT,   b. 29 Aug 1890, Doddridge Co, WV Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Aug 1972  (Age 81 years) 
    Mother Oda Effie FREEMAN,   b. Dec 1894, Doddridge Co, WV Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F36473  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 1 Grace Elizabeth WILLIAMS,   b. 20 Jun 1924, Tyler Co, WV Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 25 Nov 1990  (Age 66 years) 
    Married 10 Dec 1944  West Union, Doddridge Co, WV Find all individuals with events at this location  [7] 
    Children 
     1. Living
    Family ID F36474  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 2 Lulu W. DOTSON,   b. 16 May 1920,   d. 6 Feb 1997  (Age 76 years)  [8] 
    Family ID F36477  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Photos
    Freeman-Coleman Cemetery, Crystal Lake    		Freeman-Coleman Cemetery, Crystal Lake

  • Sources 
    1. [S14] Obituary.

    2. [S15] Social Security Death Index.

    3. [S2580] U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010 [database on-line], (Ancestry.com).

    4. [S1978] U.S. Veterans Gravesites, National Cemetery Administration. Nationwide Gravesite Locator, (www.ancestry.com).

    5. [S14] Obituary.
      He was serving aboard the battleship USS Nevada on Dec 7 1941 when it "was hit by one torpedo during the last part of the Japanese torpedo planes' attack. This opened a large hole in the ship's port side below her two forward turrets. Her anti-torpedo protection, of a type back-fitted to the Navy's older battleships, resisted the warhead's explosion fairly well. However, serious leaks were started in the inmost bulkhead, allowing a considerable amount of water into the ship.
      The damaged Nevada got underway at 0840, about a half-hour after she was torpedoed, backed clear of her berth, and began to steam down the channel toward the Navy Yard. The slowly moving battleship was an attractive target for Japanese dive bombers, which hit and near-missed her repeatedly, opening up her forecastle deck, causing more leaks in her hull, starting gasoline fires forward and other blazes in her superstructure and midships area. Now in serious trouble, Nevada was run aground on the Navy Yard side of the channel, just south of Ford Island.
      As her crew fought her many fires, the ship twisted around until she was facing back up the harbor. With the help of tugs, Nevada then backed across the way and grounded, stern-first, on the other side of the channel. Her old, much-modified structure proved itself to be anything but watertight, and water traveled inexorably throughout the ship. By the following day, she had settled to the bottom, fortunately in fairly shallow water. There she was to remain for over two months, the subject of one of the first of Pearl Harbor's many demanding salvage projects. Of USS Nevada's crew of nearly 1500, fifty officers and men were killed in action during the Pearl Harbor raid."
      <http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/pearlhbr/ph-nv.htm>

    6. [S934] Findagrave.com.

    7. [S1554] Doddridge County Marriage Records, West Union, WV.

    8. [S110] Obituary of husband.