First WWII Military Death was a Monticello Native, Who is Buried in Oakland Cemetery, without a Military Marker
November 12th, 2016 by iPhone
Ensign Rodney Shelton Foss (May 8, 1919 – a December 7, 1941) was born in Monticello, Arkansas on August 17, 1919 to George and Linnie Shelton Foss in the home of his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. R. W. Shelton.
He enlisted in the U.S. Navy on September 5, 1940. and was a United States Navy officer during World War II. He was killed during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor while stationed at Kaneohe Bay Naval Air Station.
Ensign Foss was assigned to patrol squadron 11, and was the graveyard shift duty officer when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor at 7:52, December 7, 1941.
Ensign Foss shift was due to end in about eight minutes just as Japanese aircraft began firing on the 2 rows of the squadrons’ aircraft lined up along the ramp area.
Because they approached from the north, the Japanese arrived at NAS Kaneohe several minutes before the rest of the attack force reached Pearl Harbor, making the shots fired at Kaneohe the first fired in the attack.
Ensign Foss was struck and killed instantly by a 20mm cannon shell during the first strafing run, making it highly probable that he was the first US casualty in the Pacific Theater. Excepting those Americans who volunteered to serve in allied military forces before the entry of the United States into the war, his would be the first combat death of the second world war. When the Sunday duty officer, Ensign Joe Smartt, arrived at the hangar to relieve Ensign Foss, he found Foss dead.
His body was returned to Monticello and he is interred in Oakland Cemetery.
He was posthumously awarded a Commendation, a Pacific Fleet medal, and a Purple Heart.
His grave does not even indicate he was in the military nor that he sacrificed all for his country.
The Drew County military community has been struggling to raise the funds to get a marker for his grave that shows his service to the United States of America. Since he died before Congress passed the law allowing a veteran both a civilian and a military marker, a VA headstone is not possible.
They are now trying to get a Veterans Affairs Grave Marker for his grave in Monticello through an executive order.
The Buckley-class destroyer escort, USS Foss (DE-59), was named in his honor. The ship was christened by his mother on April 13, 1943 at the shipyards in Hingham, Massachusetts.
Information courtesy of Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs’ Sue Harper and Wikipedia.
26 more days, it will be 75 years. There is a gofundme,
Account in Ens. Foss name.