Private Roy Cecil Aaron was born in Jay, Florida on 10-25-1915, the son of James Harrison Aaron (1889-1933) and Sarah Elizabeth Bonds (1892-1986). His father supported his family as a farmer in the northern rural part of Santa Rosa County. After growing up on a farm, Roy headed in a different direction than his father. The nation was in the midst of the Great Depression and you took a job wherever you could find one. In the meantime, he fell in love with Clara Inez Shurette (1921-1985) from nearby Pensacola. She was the daughter of Artemus Ward Shurette (1885-1956) and Elisha Johanna Shurette (1888-1926). When she met Roy, Clara and her widowed father had moved from Elmore County, Alabama to Pensacola where Artemus was working as a landscape gardener. Roy and Clara were married on October 7, 1939 and they moved in with her brother Ocie at 335 East Intendencia Street. By this time, Roy was a foreman for the Southern Tree & Landscaping Expert Company at 1640 West Cervantes Street that was owned by Alfred Villane. Roy most likely met Clara's father through this company and thus his daughter Clara.
Then came Pearl Harbor, and life changed for everyone. By 1942, he and Clara had moved into 613 North "L" Street, but it was only a matter of time before he was either drafted or given the choice of enlistment into the military. He enlisted on March 22, 1944 and was sent to Ft. McPherson in Atlanta, Georgia, which had become a reception and training center for new recruits. Following his induction, he was sent to the 15th Armored Infantry Battalion assigned to the 5th Armored Division. As America prepared for the invasion of Europe, the division was sent to England in February 1944. They would land on Utah Beach on July 24, 1944, after the initial D-Day landing and by August were fully engaged in combat with the Germans.
Roy and his battalion were thrust into the Battle of Hurtgen Forest in late November, although the fighting had commenced on the 19th of September. By December 15th, the division were fully engaged in an attack on the towns of Bergheim and Langenbroich. Two columns descended on the German towns with Roy and his battalion in the southern group. The German's fought valiantly and casualties mounted with enemy artillery and mortar fire becoming increasingly heavier in this sector. It was here that on the afternoon of December 15, 1944, an artillery round found and killed Private Roy Cecil Aaron from the small town of Jay, Florida. He and the other American dead were carried out and then transferred by truck to the makeshift mortuary who buried them in a military cemetery.
A telegram from the War Department was sent to the Western Union office at 130 South Palafox Street to be forwarded to Clara as quickly as possible. A messenger was sent to deliver it to Clara at her new place at 1106 North "S" Street telling her that Roy was never coming home. News was forwarded immediately to his parents and family in Jay as they joined an ever-lengthening group of grieving families.
His remains were disinterred and brought home by request of his family in 1947 and buried on December 16th in Barrancas Cemetery at NAS. Clara would remarry James "Jimmy" Duane Bryce (1930-1982) before passing away in 1985 followed by her burial in Barnesville, Lamar County, Georgia.
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