Retire VA 24 - 30

Heroes Among Us
WRITTEN & PHOTOGRAPHED BY BRUCE INGRAM
Local WWII veterans bring history to life through
personal accounts of courage and sacrifice.
Jack Cassell, Donnie Noel (a veteran and son of Marion Noel)
Marion Noel and Louis Silcox formed a panel to speak at a Lord
Botetourt High School assembly honoring WWII veterans.
A
Louis Silcox of
Botetourt County only
served 13 days in World
War II, but later served
as well in the Korean
War.
s a high school English teacher at Lord
Botetourt, I annually do a 1940s Unit where
my students read the novel " Night " about the
Holocaust and create and present PowerPoints
on the era. As part of that unit, I also invite local
World War II veterans to give students first-hand knowledge
about the Greatest Generation. Here are recollections of the
three individuals who came this past school year.
DALEVILLE'S LOUIS SILCOX
Born in 1930 in Troutville, Louis
Silcox perhaps holds the distinction
of being the shortest serving WWII
vet, as well as one of the youngest
surviving individuals from that war.
Silcox explains why he joined the U.S.
Army on May 5, 1945, at the age of 15.
" I hated my high school principal
and felt like I knew as much as
anybody, " he said. " So I went to
Baltimore to find a job and couldn't
30 Retire-VA.com / RETIRE-VA 2025
get one. Then my cousin suggested I join the army and they let
me in. I'd seen soldiers walking around town and that didn't
seem like bad work. I went through all the processes, got my
shots and was sent to Fort Knox to get more training.
" I was standing in line there on May 18 when some officers
told me to get out of line and turn in my backpack...they were
sending me home. I served 13 days and made $8.00 - big money
in those days. "
But Silcox's initial stay in the military was not to be his last
one. He returned to high school, liked the new principal that
had replaced the former one, and graduated. And at the age
of 19, he was back at Fort Knox which led him eventually to be
sent to Korea as a transport personnel carrier, as in ferrying
soldiers to and from combat areas.
This assignment could be a dangerous one, but, oddly,
Silcox's most perilous moment came when he was on leave.
The Virginian had gone to visit Japan and displeased with the
one beer per week rule, brought back numerous fifths of whisky
in a case. While walking back to his station, he heard incoming,
hit the ground and was stunned from the blast. " But I didn't
break a single bottle, " Silcox recalled.
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