As Memorial Day approaches, we pause to honor the brave men and women from Patrick County who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. In the coming weeks, this column will spotlight local heroes whose lives and legacies deserve remembrance. Today, we begin with the story of Master Sergeant Joseph Elisha Knowles, a son of Meadows of Dan, Virginia, who gave his life during World War II.
Joseph Elisha Knowles was born on May 10, 1898, to Charles Reed Knowles and Susan “Sarah” West Knowles. He was the sixth of eleven children. His family’s roots ran deep in Meadows of Dan—his paternal grandparents were David and Elizabeth Hill Knowles, and his maternal grandparents were Wilson Jackson West and Elizabeth Cockram. Tragedy was not unfamiliar to the Knowles family; in 1862, David and Elizabeth lost three young children — Mary (7), Susan (6), and John (3)—to a devastating diphtheria epidemic.
Elisha, known as a hard worker and devoted son, spent his early years helping on the family farm. In the 1920s, he ventured to West Virginia to work in the coal mines and on the railroads but eventually returned to Patrick County to support his father and brother with the farm.
His military journey began early. By the time of the 1930 U.S. Census, Elisha was stationed at Schofield Barracks in Honolulu, Hawaii Territory. In 1935, he departed Fort McDowell, California, aboard the ship Republic en route to the Panama Canal Zone, serving as a Corporal in the 3rd Ordnance Company at Fort Lewis.
In the 1940 Census, he was again recorded at Fort Lewis, Washington, where he was listed as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army.
On September 9, 1941, just three months before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Elisha reenlisted in the Ordnance Department of the U.S. Army as a Technical Sergeant. What followed would be both heroic and heartbreaking.
In April 1942, Sgt. Knowles was listed in a U.S. Army hospital admission file for dysentery. At that time, he was being held as a prisoner of war at the infamous Camp O’Donnell in the Philippines—a brutal Japanese prison camp known for its appalling conditions and high death toll among American and Filipino soldiers.
On April 28, 1942, Sgt. Knowles died at Camp O’Donnell from dysentery. He was just 43 years old.
His body was eventually returned to Patrick County and laid to rest in the Knowles Cemetery in Meadows of Dan. The family’s struggle to have his remains brought home lasted until 1949, and the military compiled a detailed Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF) that chronicles this process. The IDPF includes correspondence between the U.S. military and Sgt. Knowles’ family, offering a moving glimpse into their grief, hope, and determination.
If you would like to learn more about the tragic conditions at Camp O’Donnell and the brave souls from Patrick County who suffered there, I previously published a five-part series titled The Defenders of Bataan.
For those seeking records about relatives who died in service during WWII, I want to share an important resource. Thanks to a legal settlement related to the return of remains from a mass grave in the Philippines, there are now over 500,000 IDPFs available to families—free of charge. These files cover WWII, the Korean War, and some from Vietnam.
To request the IDPF of Sgt. Elisha J. Knowles or another fallen soldier, you may email idpfbataan@gmail.com. Include the full name, date of birth, and place of birth of the individual you’re researching. Alternatively, you can contact me at rockcastlecreek1@gmail.com, and I would be honored to assist you in accessing these precious records.
Thank you to Travis Knowles, Sgt. Knowles’ great-nephew for verifying my information on the Knowles family and to Jim O. for letting me know about the IDPFs!
As we approach Memorial Day, may we reflect on the courage and sacrifice of Sgt. Knowles and all those who gave their lives in defense of our freedom. Their stories must not be forgotten.
