The article below was written for Around Kennesaw magazine, but the magazine closed before it could be published. It is about the veterans of Kennesaw, and was planned to be released around Veterans Day 2023.
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In honor of Veterans Day, I wanted to share the stories of a series of veterans who have lived in our community over the past century and a half.
The oldest war veteran known to have lived in Kennesaw was Hiram “High” Sherman, who served in the Seminole Wars. Newspaper accounts do not specify which of these conflicts (which were spread out over forty years) he served in, but it was likely in the 1840s. Sherman also fought in the Mexican-American War and for the Confederacy in the Civil War. During the Mexican-American War, a unit called the Kennesaw Rangers or Kennesaw Invincibles was one of the original ten companies from Georgia to volunteer in 1846. The group was named after the mountain, as the city would not gain its present name until 1887. The men of the Rangers were from across Cobb County. A list of their names was published in the July 7, 1846, Federal Union of Milledgeville, but it does not specify if any were from our community.
There were several notable Confederate veterans who lived in Kennesaw, including James A. Skelton (an Andersonville prison guard) and Sylvanus Baldwin (who was wounded at nearby Kennesaw Mountain). Because of the nearby Battle of Kennesaw Mountain and Camp McDonald, a Civil War training camp in today’s downtown, North Cobb was once a popular site for reunions of veterans from both sides of the war. Local legend claims that a single Union veteran, James Stanley of Indiana, once called Kennesaw home but was thrown out of town. It is known that Stanley moved to Downtown Kennesaw in 1889. His family grew connected to the area, but Stanley himself moved back to Indiana in September 1895, and he passed away in 1896. I have not yet found a record of any Civil War service. Newspaper accounts do indicate he was respected by the community.
While the Spanish-American War did not have a major impact on Kennesaw, at least one resident served overseas in the late 1890s. In the war’s aftermath, the United States had a strong military presence in the Philippines, and George Williams was a telegraph operator in Manila during 1899.
Kennesaw was home to many men who served in World War I. According to contemporary Marietta Journal accounts, Charlie Brown of Kennesaw was our county’s most decorated veteran of the war, serving across all of Europe during his months overseas. His gravestone at the Kennesaw City Cemetery lists every battle he served in from October 1917 to November 1918. Men from Kennesaw did not just serve overseas as soldiers. Some, like local resident Charlie Guess, were engineers. (More information about Kennesaw in World War I can be found in the August 2023 edition of Around Kennesaw).
World War II also saw many men from Kennesaw serve our country, including Alfred Jackson. He was drafted in 1944, and his story is the best documented of all African American soldiers from Kennesaw. Jackson was in the South Pacific aboard the USS Portland. In an oral history interview with Dr. Tom Scott of Kennesaw State University from 1987, Jackson recalled his ship was part of a fleet ready to attack Tokyo when they learned of Japan’s surrender. Jackson also recalled that the ships were segregated and that he worked as a steward.
Jesse Hilderbrand Jr. served in a tank battalion during the final year of World War II and was at the Battle of the Bulge. Both his father and uncle served in World War I. After the war, Jesse Jr. worked as an electrical engineer and helped build the C-5 Galaxy and C-130 Hercules military transport planes.
Boyd Burrell served in the Army from May 1943 until October 1945. During this time, he served in Yugoslavia and France. He later ran a grocery store near Kennestone Hospital and was tragically killed in a 1963 car accident on Cobb Parkway.
There are several Kennesaw residents who served in both World War II and Korea, including William Boring, Fred Breed, Houston Adams, Thomas Sweeney, and Lewis Watson. Both Raymond Clackum and J. W. Ellis were in Korea and Vietnam.
One of our city’s most unique veterans was Esther Roberts, who joined the Army in 1958. She served as an Army Guidance Counselor and according to her obituary was once the highest-ranking female officer in the military.
From before the Civil War until the present day, Kennesaw has been home to veterans with countless stories. If you or someone you know is a veteran with a Kennesaw connection and would like to share information, please reach out by emailing ajbramlett@outlook.com.
Andrew J. Bramlett 