Robert Barnes Ware |

Robert Ware [1942] | World War, 1939-1945
Army
104th Medical Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division
Fort Meade, Maryland; Fort A. P. Hill, Virginia; Florida; England; Omaha Beach, Normandy, France
Captain
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Unlike many who fought, Captain Robert Barnes Ware did not wait to be drafted, or enlist following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Forgoing an internship at Lynchburg General Hospital, he volunteered for the Virginia National Guard in 1940 and was assigned to the Army's 104th Medical Battalion. On D-Day, he chose to launch with one of the first waves of the invasion, instead of waiting for the beach to be cleared, and was killed while attempting to disembark from his landing craft. Official correspondence from the military about his death was slow in coming: a telegram confirming his status as killed in action did not arrive until August 5th, nearly two months after D-Day. His collection--with letters sent between Ware and his wife, as well as official military correspondence relating to life insurance and benefits--conveys the devastating emotional and financial impact on families when a servicemember is killed in action.
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