Remember...
John Leslie Gibbs
1944-1967
"No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation."
Douglas MacArthur
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Remember...John Leslie Gibbs
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John Leslie Gibbs was born on November 1, 1944, in Hartford, Mason County, West Virginia, to his parents Charles Roscoe Gibbs (1904-1981) and Sadie Louise Kearns Gibbs (1909-1968). Charles was a coal miner and Sadie was a homemaker taking care of the children and the homestead. When John was born, he was the youngest of seven children; however, the two oldest died when they were toddlers. His older living siblings were Charles E. Gibbs (1930-1932), Cecil J. Gibbs (1931-1934), Thomas B. Gibbs (1933-2002), Kathryn F. Gibbs Warth (1935-1991), Hubert W. Gibbs (1937-2019), and Gary G. Gibbs (1939-2015). His parents would have six more children: Virginia M. Gibbs Patterson (b. 1941), Garland O. Gibbs (1942-2015), John L. Gibbs (1944-1967), Brenda A. Gibbs Warth (1946-2019), Denver D. Gibbs (b.1949), and Donna R. Gibbs Neece (1951-2016). (Family information was derived from Ancestry.com, Find A Grave, and Karen Gibbs.)
As John was growing up, there were about 24,500 people in Mason County in 1960. More than likely since Mason County is a rural area, most residents were farmers raising cattle and/or crops such as wheat, corn, and soybeans. Cities like Point Pleasant would have offered many options for entertainment, including swimming pools, movie theaters, bowling alleys, roller skating rinks, and even a livestock sale every week that drew many people to watch. Growing up along the banks of the Ohio River, John enjoyed hunting, fishing and hanging out around the river. John attended Wahama High School but did not graduate.
| When John was growing up the Korean War was taking place. The Korean war began on June 25, 1950, when some 75,000 soldiers from the North Korean People's Army poured across the 38th Parallel, the boundary between the Soviet-backed Democratic People's Republic of Korea to the north and the pro-Western Republic of Korea to the south. This invasion was the first military action of the Cold War. By July, American troops had entered the war on South Korea's behalf. As far as American officials were concerned, it was a war against the forces of international communism itself. |  |
In July 1951, President Truman and his new military commanders started peace talks at Panmunjom. Still, the fighting continued along the 38th Parallel as negotiations stalled. Both sides were willing to accept a ceasefire that maintained the 38th Parallel boundary, but they could not agree on whether prisoners of war should be forcibly "repatriated." (The Chinese and the North Koreans said yes; the United States said no.)
Finally, after more than two years of negotiations, the adversaries signed an armistice on July 27, 1953. The agreement allowed the POWs to stay where they liked; drew a new boundary near the 38th Parallel that gave South Korea an extra 1,500 square miles of territory; and created a two-mile-wide "demilitarized zone" that still exists today. ("Korean War," History.com, 9 November 2002, updated 11 May 2022, accessed 29 July 2022, https://www.history.com/topics/korea/korean-war.)
Also during John's childhood and teenage years, the Vietnam War was in full swing with the U.S. backing the South Vietnamese with full military support. The Vietnam War lasted from November 1, 1955, to April 30, 1975. In an attempt to try to prevent the spread of communism, the United States entered the War with Vietnam. North Vietnamese boats attacked two United States destroyers on August 5, 1964, giving the U.S. president new authority to declare war. By 1969, more than 500,000 U.S. military personnel were stationed in Vietnam.
In 1965 at Fort Benning, Georgia, the 2nd Infantry Division's stateside units, the 11th Air Assault Division's personnel and equipment and the colors and unit designations of the 1st Cavalry Division, now returned from Korea, were used to form a new unit, the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). The personnel of the existing 1st Cavalry Division in Korea took over the unit designations of the old 2nd Infantry Division. Thus, the 2nd Infantry Division formally returned to Korea in July 1965. From 1966 onwards, North Korean forces were engaging in increasing border incursions and infiltration attempts and the 2nd Infantry Division was called upon to help halt these attacks. On November 2, 1966, soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 23d Infantry Regiment, were killed in an ambush by North Korean forces
John Leslie Gibbs was drafted into the United States Army on August 23, 1966. His military occupation specialty (MOS) was 11B-infantryman, and he held the rank of private first class (PFC). He was assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division and was stationed in South Korea. He was part of one of the forward elements of the United Nations Command enforcing the Korean Armistice of 1953. On July 16, 1967, Pfc. John L. Gibbs was in a foxhole south of the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) when his position was suddenly attacked by North Korean infiltrators under the cover of dense fog and darkness. A furious fire fight erupted and Gibbs and two of his fellow soldiers were killed. Pfc. John L. Gibbs was posthumously promoted to the grade of corporal (CPL) and was awarded the Purple Heart on August 10, 1967, for wounds received in action in Korea resulting in his death. Throughout the year 1967, enemy attacks in the Korean Demilitarized Zone increased; as a result, 16 American soldiers were killed that year.
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Cpl. Gibbs' remains were recovered and returned to the U.S., where he was buried at Union Cemetery in Mason County, West Virginia. Unfortunately, his grave maker application was filled out incorrectly, so his grave maker has his first and middle name interchanged. He was buried with full military honors. |
Cpl. John L. Gibbs will always be remembered for his sacrifice to our country as his name is etched on the marble walls of the West Virginia Veterans Memorial located in Charleston, West Virginia. Furthermore, in 2021, the West Virginia Legislature introduced and passed House Concurrent Resolution No. 119, where it directed the Division of Highways to rename bridge number 27-62-37.01 on Route 62 in Hartford, Mason County, as the "US Army Corporal John L. Gibbs Memorial Bridge." He is also honored at the Mason County West Virginia Veterans Memorial, which is currently under construction in Point Pleasant, West Virginia.
These are some of the awards and decorations that Cpl. John Leslie Gibbs could have possibly earned: the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Marksmanship Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Republic of Korea Presidential Citation, the Republic of Korea War Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the Army Presidential Unit Citation, and the Army Good Conduct Medal. ("John Leslie Gibbs," HonorStates.org, accessed 29 July 2022, https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=11408.)
MAJ (Ret) T. Brad McGee, who gratefully acknowledges the information provided by Steve Halstead and by Karen Gibbs, daughter of Denver Gibbs. George Washington High School, JROTC
July 2022
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.