Pike County GA Memorial to the Fallen

Private Charlie H. Tidwell Charlie Hollis Tidwell was born on 18 April 1925 and raised in Meansville, Georgia; the second child of 10 children of Claud Franklin and Saddie Howard Tidwell. He attended the Meansville Elementary school and helped his father on the family farm. On 11 June 1943, at the age of 18, Charlie enlisted in the United States Army and processed through Fort McPherson, Georgia. He completed basic training at Camp Wheeler, Georgia and then was assigned to ...Fort George G. Mead, Maryland in preparation for his travels overseas. Private Tidwell was assigned to Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, VI Corps, of the U.S. 5th Army supporting the European theater of operations. In late November 1943, he joined his unit in Italy as the 3rd Infantry Division was training south of the Gustav Line in preparation for Operation Shingle. The Anzio plan (Operation Shingle) required the American Forces of VI Corps to land at Anzio, Italy and drive inland to seize the Alban Hills. Control of this objective would sever Highways 6 and 7 and all rail lines to the German forces on the western end of the Gustav Line. The 3rd Infantry Division and a brigade of the British 1st Division boarded ships and landed near the little resort towns of Nettuno and Anzio on the morning of 22 January 1944. Operation Shingle achieved barely 14 miles wide and 10 miles from sea to front at its deepest penetration. The final main thrust of the German counter-offense started on 16 February when the Wehrmacht again tried to remove the thorn in the side of Italy. During the German counter-offensive, the 15th Infantry Regiment was positioned at the northeast portion of the pocket. The main German attacks were along the northwest portion; however, intense fighting was experience throughout the entire pocket. On the third day of the German counter-offensive, 19 February 1944, Private Tidwell, as an ammunition handler, was laying in an anti-tank mine field just forward of the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment front line position in the vicinity of Cisterna Di Littoris, Italy. During the operation, a mine exploded near him which caused the explosion of several other mines killing Tidwell. In only 8 months of service, Charlie Tidwell gave all he had for his country. Private Tidwell is buried in Plot I, Row 6, Grave 4 at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery in Nettuno, Italy only a few miles from where he died. He is also memorialized on the Veteran’s Memorial on the Court House Square in Zebulon and at the Pike County Memorial Annex in Zebulon, Georgia. A huge acknowledgement is owed to Bryan D. Richardson, American Legion Post 197 Commander. He has been an integral part of ensuring that these men are not forgotten. His research, outreach to the community, and publication of this and several other stories are greatly appreciated.

I Company, 311th Infantry Regiment, 78th Infantry Lightning Division of the First U.S. Army

Technician 5th Grade Virgil L. Middlebrooks Virgil Lamar Middlebrooks was born on 12 December 1921 in Macon, Georgia and raised in Meansville, Georgia. He was the youngest of three children of Thomas Jackson and Ethel Mae Rogers Middlebrooks. He attended the Meansville Elementary School. In 1937, Virgil was a member of the State School Boy Patrol and was selected Georgia’s Outstanding School Boy Patrolman. He worked briefly in 1938 at the Holloway Canning Company in Meansvill...Continue reading