After last week’s column on Cpl. Richard Garland Ayers—who perished on the shores of Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944—I received an email from Buddy Dollarhite. He had recently visited Cpl. Ayers’ grave at Wayside Cemetery and scattered sand he had collected from Omaha Beach, bringing a piece of that sacred ground home. During his visit to Normandy last year, Buddy also paid his respects at the grave of another Patrick County son: 1st Lieutenant Guy Davis Mabe. His message prompted me to learn more about this brave man—and what a journey it became.
Remarkably, both Cpl. Ayers and 1st Lt. Mabe grew up on Spencer Nowlin Road in Stuart. Both answered the call to serve their country in its time of greatest need. Both traveled halfway across the world to help defeat Nazi tyranny, Cpl. Ayers in Company D of the 116th Infantry of the 29th Division and 1st Lt. Mabe in Company H. And heartbreakingly, both were killed in action in the fierce fighting that followed the D-Day invasion—only miles apart on French soil.
Guy Davis Mabe was born on November 16, 1916, to John Walter Mabe and Cora Shelton Mabe. The youngest of three children, he grew up alongside his older siblings, James Irving (born in 1906) and Gladys Mary (born in 1908). By 1940, Mabe was working as an insurance agent in Martinsville, steadily building a life for himself while the world teetered on the edge of global conflict.
On February 3, 1941, Mabe enlisted in Company H, 116th Infantry of the 29th Division—Martinsville’s own National Guard unit. The company was quickly mobilized, sent first to Fort George G. Meade in Maryland, then to A.P. Hill, and eventually to Fort Benning, Georgia, where Mabe earned his commission as a Second Lieutenant in October 1942.
An article in the Martinsville Bulletin dated October 19, 1942, reported that Lt. Mabe was home visiting his parents before reporting to a new post in Mississippi. Just six months later, he was promoted to First Lieutenant and stationed at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi, before being deployed overseas in December 1943.
By January 1944, 1st Lt. Mabe had arrived in England. In a letter to his sister, he wrote that he had endured a bout of seasickness on the voyage but was otherwise well. He mentioned the challenge of driving on the left side of the road—and lamented the absence of soft drinks!
1st Lt. Mabe was assigned to the 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, and landed in France shortly after the D-Day invasion. His unit followed the initial assault and became part of the hard-fought push inland.
Tragically, 1st Lt. Guy Davis Mabe was killed in action on July 28, 1944, during the battle near Saint-Jean-des-Baisants in Normandy.
In February 1945, the War Department awarded the Bronze Star Medal to Lt. Mabe posthumously. His mother, Mrs. Cora Shelton Mabe of Patrick Springs, accepted the honor on his behalf. Lt. Mabe also received the Purple Heart for his ultimate sacrifice.
He now rests among his fellow heroes at the Normandy American Cemetery in Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, France—Plot G, Row 12, Grave 28—overlooking the very beaches where so many gave their lives for the cause of liberty.
The Martinsville unit to which Mabe originally belonged, Company H, 116th Infantry of the 29th Division, paid a heavy price on D-Day. On June 6, 1944, four men from Company H lost their lives:
1st Lt. Benjamin Rives Kearfott, 23, one of the first Americans to land at 6:30 a.m. on Omaha Beach. Of the 165 men in the initial landing party, only four survived.
Sgt. Noel Peter Washburn, 22
1st Lt. Robert Bernard Williamson, 36
Pvt. J.R. Roach
Additionally, 2nd Lt. Dillard Martin Ford, 28, was killed on October 7, 1943, during the battle at Benevento, Italy, and 1st Lt. Harrison James Lawrence, 22, died on February 6, 1944, during the Anzio landings in Italy.
In 1964, the newly constructed $325,000 National Guard Armory in Martinsville was dedicated in honor of these brave men of Company H. Though the building now stands silent, their voices echo still—in our memories, in the freedom they helped preserve, and in the soil of France where they rest.
My deepest thanks go to Buddy Dollarhite for bringing renewed attention to these stories. Heroes like 1st Lt. Guy Davis Mabe and Cpl. Richard Garland Ayers must never be forgotten. Let us honor their memory—not only in stone or ceremony—but in how we cherish the freedoms they secured for us all.
For thoughts, comments, or story ideas, you may email rockcastlecreek1@gmail.com or call (276) 692-9626.
