Owen James Dew, Sr.

In November of 1918, the World War I Battle of the Argonne Forest had been going on for some time. It had been raging since the 26th of September in 1918. It is a largely forgotten battle despite the fact that it was one of the bloodiest in U.S. history. One of the "Doughboys" fighting there was our grandpa Owen James Dew. At the time he was twenty-five years old. Some of the letters from home had been blacked out by military censors telling him that his mother Jennie Lovette Dew was suffering from breast cancer. The only news the censors did not block out was generalities and not the news that grandpa may have wanted to know about his family back home in Bladen County, North Carolina. From stories that have been shared about him by relatives he was a crack shot with a rifle like his brothers. The Dew boys had to be since their hunting skills helped put food on the table at their parent's home. On November 11th of 1918, Granddaddy was in his foxhole with his best friend engaged in battle against the German troops. On that day in the hours before the Armistice would be signed his best friend was killed instantly after shot in the head by the Germans. After the treaty was signed, Granddaddy along with other American and allied soldiers found that the German soldiers had nothing to eat and were starving. Maybe it was his nature or his upbringing but Granddaddy shared some of his rations with these defeated soldiers. Maybe he remembered times when he did not always have enough to eat and knew what it was like to be hungry. Maybe his parents had taught him to live by the golden rule - not just know about it. In spite of later serious health issues that had him bedridden and unable to protect his children from his second wife's abuse, I have been told he was a kind and decent man. I see that reflected in the lives of the Dew cousins who continue to carry on the family name. Unfortunately Granddaddy died when my mother was sixteen and Uncle Sonny was fourteen leaving them orphans. I hope that we can reflect upon his service to his country and the heritage he left us that was passed down to him by his own father William Lias Haywood Dew known was Reuben