PFC Berton McQueen: In Honor of Those Who Gave All

On a cold day in late November 1944 in the mountains of France near the German border, a young man’s dying breath rose into the heavens. His name was Berton J. McQueen. He was only 20 years old. He was a Private First Class US Army Infantry. It was WWII. He was over 4000 miles from his Wind Cave Kentucky home, where his mother waited for word of him.

She had already received 2 telegrams that year, one in March and one in September, to inform her that he had been wounded in action. Neither wound was life threatening, though both earned him a Purple Heart. He was returned to active duty each time to rejoin the fighting.
On that fateful day in late November, no one knew where he fell. On December 9, 1944, his mother would receive the telegram that every mother of a soldier prays will never come. Her son was missing in action, had been missing in action since the 23rd of November. How fear and hope must have battled for her heart.

But, as is the way of a mother’s heart, it was hope that won. Even after receiving word almost 2 years later that he was presumed killed in action she never gave up hope that her son would be returned to her. She never spent the money he had sent home nor the death benefits afforded her by the Army. It all remained in the bank because he would need it when he came home. How her knees must have worn with the time she spent praying in the tiny Baptist church near their home, the church Berton himself became a member of when he was not quite 8 years old.

For 50 years she never gave up holding on to that fragile hope. She kept the many letters he had sent home, asking about relatives and friends and the farm, even the animals, eager for any word of the familiar to ease his homesickness. Though the letters were often censored for security purposes, they allowed him to reach across the 4000 miles of strangeness to touch home.

Berton J McQueen was destined to remain in that foreign land, counted but unidentified, and unclaimed, for 77 years. Now, thanks to the untiring research work of his great niece, Regina Hobbs Brewer and thanks to modern DNA science and the efforts of his niece Genevieve Griffin Palm, Berton will soon begin his journey home.

Berton’s military journey began in much the same way as the journey of thousands of other young men at the time, with a letter beginning with the word, “Greeting.” He was to be drafted into the United States Military to serve in WWII. He was barely 18 years old. Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, the draft age had been lowered from 21 to 18, making thousands more young men eligible for service. Berton was one of them. He would leave Jackson County with 14 others. He was inducted into the military on April 20th, 1943 and assigned to active duty with the US Army 5th, Company D, 141 Infantry on April 27th of that year.

Before his military service began, his life had been much like that of any young man in rural Appalachia. He was born to John and Nannie McFarland McQueen on December 2nd, 1923. By the end of the 1930s the depression had taken its toll on most of the people of Jackson County. The young Berton had found work in a coal mine first and later enlisted in the Civilian Conservation Corp to earn money for the family. The draft notice hardly came a surprise. With the US involvement in WWII in its third year, more and more young men were being called up to fight Nazi’s on one front or the Japanese on another.

The story of his military service, while common to many, had its uncommon moments. Berton was a member of what came to be known as “the Lost Battlion.” At this time Berton was fighting in the Vosges mountains of Eastern France, near the German border. His unit had advanced beyond its support and had been cut off by the Germans. They had provisions for one day only but would remain pinned down for 6 days without relief. The military tried to get provisions to them by filling shells with chocolate bars but the shells were causing casualties. Another attempt to provision the unit was made via air-drop but most of the provisions fell into enemy territory. The unit was completely surrounded by German troops. With one exception, patrols sent out did not return and were presumed captured or killed.

The exception is worthy of note as Berton J. McQueen was a member of it. Staff Sergeant Jack Wilson wrote of it saying, “On the last patrol out I was told to send three of my men. I knew they didn’t have much of a chance of making it back. I sent Bob Camiani, Tillman Warren and Bert McQueen. The last two fellows were born and raised in Kentucky, in country like this. My thoughts were if anyone can do it, these boys can. And after a day or two these three did make it back, also bringing a prisoner with them. “ (Lost Battalions – Going for Broke in the Vosges, Autumn 1944 – Franz Steidl, pp.82)

Desperate to get the men out, and with previous attempts failing, the Nisei 442nd Infantry were called in to attempt to break through and relieve the Lost Battalion. The 442 was made up of second-generation Japanese Americans who had volunteered for combat. Many of their relatives were being held in concentration camps in the US at the time, their loyalty to the United States being called into question for no other reason than the fact that they or their family members were formerly citizens of Japan. These men wished to prove their loyalty. After days of fierce fighting and heavy casualties, the 442nd finally broke through enemy lines to relieve the beleaguered soldiers of the Lost Battalion on October 30th, 1944. Berton J McQueen was one of the men relieved.

The relief for Berton and the rest of his comrades at arms would be brief. The fighting in this area of France at the time was fierce and the Lost Battalion would rejoin the fight. It was during one of these battles near the town of Bruyeres in eastern France that the young Berton would lose his life. The circumstances of his final moments remain unknown.

What is known is that, after almost 78 years, the remains of Berton J. McQueen have been identified. Several years ago the US military contacted Genevieve Palm in hopes of receiving a DNA sample. Berton’s oldest living relatives, Irene Griffin Keith and Berton Griffin had asked Genevieve, their youngest sister, to be their representative. It was important to find a living male relative to make the match certain.

Lisa Hobbs Brown contacted Joyce Roberts and arranged for Genevieve to visit with her brother, Berton’s cousin, Michael Elbert McQueen to obtain the DNA sample that would end the long years of not knowing. Two weeks ago word finally came that the remains of Berton J. McQueen had been positively identified. After decades he will finally make his way home to his family, to his community and to the nation for which his life was given.

The family will meet with officials in the coming days to arrange for the date and time of his return. Services and memorials will be planned in his honor and a collective sigh will ring out when his body finally touches the soil of his homeland again.

Though it is his family members who will benefit most from finally being able to mourn their relative and celebrate his life and his service, the rest of Jackson County will join in welcoming him home. It is the way of people that when one of us is lost, the rest of us suddenly remember that our sons and daughters belong to all of us. So it is with Berton.

He will return to a county that will welcome him, mourn him, honor him, celebrate him and recall to our collective memory the life of a young man that was lost to us for so long. Thank you for your service, Berton, and for your courage, your effort and for the love you bore your family and your fellowman.

The Jackson County Sun will publish any updates made available detailing the return of our countryman as they come to be known to us.

SERVICE RECORD NOTES: For his short time in service Berton J McQueen was wounded twice and earned the following awards:
Bronze Star Medal
Purple Heart Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters
Combat Infantryman Badge
European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with Four Bronze Service Stars and Arrowhead Device
Wounded in Action: Berton was wounded the first time in Italy, Feb 1944, a deep wound to his left hip. It required 11 weeks in hospital before returning to his unit.
Berton was wounded the second time in France, Aug 1944, also on the left side, arm & hip, requiring just over six weeks recovery.