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MEMORIAL ARTICLE
Published Assembly Jul '53
Emory Robert Wells No. 15636 Class of 1946
Officially declared dead as of Mar 10, 1951. After his disappearance
in flight in the Mediterranean area, aged 24 years. |
From his days as a Georgia school boy to the
hour he and the B-29 he commanded disappeared somewhere over
the Mediterranean, Captain Emory R. Wells was a leader.
Born on April 20, 1926, near a small South Georgia
town of Ashburn, the son of Mrs. Andrew Smith and the late A.
B. Wells, Captain Wells showed an aptitude for leadership early
in life.
This courage grew with him, from his early days as
a farm boy, as a West Point graduate and, finally, as a soldier
who made the supreme sacrifice.
His childhood years were spent on a farm with his parents.
When his father died, he took on many of the responsibilities
of adulthood while he was still a youth. Working side by
side with him was his family: his mother; his sister. Louise;
and his brother, Preston. It was in his family and his
friends that he found his greatest encouragement.
Sometime during his early life, he was given the nickname,
"Bud". The name remained with him throughout his lifetime.
The nickname exemplified the zest for life which he maintained
and his always good-natured vigor with which he met the problems,
the set backs and the successes of his life.
He had that rare combination: scholarship mixed with
generosity and humor. A quiet and determined student, he believed
in action. He was ambitious, but never demanding. He loved laughter,
but never at the expense of others. During high school, he was
a superior student. He took part in high school athletics-mainly
baseball and football-but his main interests, and great achievements,
came in academic studies where he excelled. He was a member
of his high school Beta Club: he took an active part in activities
of the high school Future Farmers of America organization. When
high schools added the World War II Victory Corps program, "Bud"
Wells was a natural choice as student commander at Ashburn.
Following high school graduation In 1942, he entered
the Citadel at Charleston, S. C., where he continued his outstanding
scholastic record. It was at the Citadel that he made his decision
to enter the U.S. Military Academy. After completion of a year
of study at the Citadel, he was admitted to West Point In 1943.
He was graduated from the Academy in June 1946.
On July 12, 1946, he married his childhood sweetheart, Miss Claire
Thompson, in his home town.
Their son, Emory R. Wells, Jr., died In September 1949.
Assigned to Walker Air Base, Roswell, New Mexico, Capt. Wells
reported for overseas duty at Lakenheath, England in February
1951.
Three weeks later, Capt. Wells and eleven others aboard the
B-29 he commanded disappeared In the Mediterranean area somewhere
off the coast of Southeastern Spain on a routine navigational
flight.
A report of faint SOS signals spurred a round-the-clock
search for the missing plane, its crew and its commander.
The Spanish Government permitted the search to cross Spanish
soil; the US Air Force was joined by the British, French and
Spanish Air Forces.
The search failed to uncover any sign of the plane or its
crew.
On February 10, 1952, in the home town he loved, memorial
services paid tribute to the 24-year old soldier who fulfilled
the pledge of allegiance to his country which he made upon graduation
from West Point.
Like thousands of others who have made the supreme sacrifice
for their country, he is remembered not as much as a hero as
a boy on a Georgia farm who rose to a high pinnacle of success,
and, along the way, made others happy.
Whatever his shortcomings, fear was not one of them.
He was immensely proud of his family, his friends and of being
a member of the Armed Forces of his country.
He leaves behind him a memory of humbleness that only the
courageous know.
Mrs. A. C. Smith, his mother, and Austin Saxon
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