A World War II veteran has been honored for being among the few to have served in both the European and Asian theaters of the war.
During a private ceremony last week in Honaker, Ninth District Congressman Morgan Griffith honored the memory and service of Chester A. McGlothlin.
McGlothlin served in Company G of the 303rd Infantry, which was a part of the 97th Division. That division was one of the very few that served in both Europe and Asia.
Griffith presented McGlothlin’s daughter, Thelma McGlothlin, with a number of medals earned by her father. They include: The Good Conduct Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal and the Honorable Service Lapel Button World War II.
Griffith explained that a fire was responsible for the delay in honoring McGlothlin.
“On July 12, 1973, a fire at the National Personnel Records Center destroyed over 16 million official military records including nearly 80 percent of all records for Army personnel who served between 1912 and 1960,” Griffith said.
The NPRC has managed to reconstruct some records using multiple techniques to dry, preserve, and “read” burned records retrieved after the fire, but also uses alternative records such as final pay records housed elsewhere and records supplied by veterans themselves as they request medals and documents.
“Chester McGlothlin’s records from WW II were among those burned. Thanks to the records supplied by Mr. McGlothlin’s family and other official records available, the NPRC was able to ascertain that Mr. McGlothlin served in Europe, the American Theater and the Pacific Theater during his service.”
“It means a lot to me,” Thelma McGlothlin said. “I’m very proud of my father’s service.”
She also thanked Griffith for the role his office played.
“I am very appreciative of Congressman Griffith and his staff in helping honor my father with these medals. It was an honor having Congressman Morgan Griffith and the others at my house. I was trying not to cry as I was receiving my father’s medals.”
She added that she elected to keep the ceremony private for safety reasons. “I was thinking about Congressman Griffith and his staff and their safety,” she said. “I just wanted it to be private for that reason.”
Born in 1925 in Drill, McGlothlin was the son of the late Larkin Davis and Rosa Belle Harris McGlothlin. He passed away in 2015.
The 97th arrived in France in March 1945. The division moved into western Germany later that month and took up position along the southern bank of the Sieg River.
In April, the division was in the Battle of Rurh Pocket and Glockner.
The 97th liberated the Hoffnungstal prisoner of war camp near Munich. Approximately 800 soldiers, including 177 Americans were held at the camp.
McGlothlin’s division also liberated the Flossenburg concentration camp in Bavaria. An estimated 30,000 people were killed at that camp.
The division arrived in Japan in late September 1945. The division was tasked with confiscating and disposing of Japanese military property.
The 97th returned 198,142,046 pounds of foodstuffs, 670,226 gallons of gasoline, 8,568,857 yards of cloth and 480,343 pairs of boots and shoes to the Japanese government for distribution to civilians.
