USN 1st Class Lewis William Sessions was born in Jay, Florida on February 23, 1919 to the union of Harvey Barton Sessions (1880-1970) and Susie Emma Baas (1895-1983). His father supported his family up until the 1930's as a farmer first in Coon Hill, Santa Rosa County, Florida then in the township of Henry Pierces in Mobile, Alabama. By 1940, he had moved in Pensacola and was working as a laborer at a dairy in Brent.
During WWII, his son Lewis would enlist in the US Navy on September 18, 1941 and was stationed aboard the destroyer DD-463 USS Corry in February 1942. Now a machinist's mate 1st Class, Lewis and his ship left Norfolk, Virginia in April of 1944 heading for England. The Allies were in full swing as they prepared for the huge landing in Europe that would take place at Normandy. As the American Navy weighed anchor and steamed into the English Channel, the Corry was in the lead of the entire task force carrying thousands of soldiers to their fate only miles away. Her duty assignment was Îles Saint-Marcouf, where she was to provide fire support for the troops landing on Utah Beach. On the morning of June 6, 1944 she opened up with several hundred rounds of 5-inch ammunition striking multiple German targets onshore.
As the landing craft were about to hit the beaches at 06:30, an aircraft was shot down and crashed. This aircraft was to have provided concealing smoke for the Corry so that the German gunners could not target her with artillery fire. Without this concealment the Corry began taking enemy rounds from the German shore batteries. At 0630 the ship was struck with multiple heavy-caliber artillery rounds in her engineering spaces amidships. This jammed her rudder causing her to turn in circles before losing all power. With her keel broken the destroyer began sinking and the order to abandon ship was given. The crew entered the frigid waters for several hours as the German gunners continued to fire into the sailors. One sailor raised the American flag up the Corry's main mast still visible above the water. Lewis William Sessions from Jay, Florida and 23 of his heroic comrades went down with their ship. His body was recovered and buried in one of the military cemeteries. After the war, his body was disinterred and he was returned home in December 1948 on the army transport SS Lt. James E. Robinson and buried alongside his parents in the Milton Cemetery, Santa Rosa County, Florida. He was survived by his siblings: Mary E. (1914-2002), Luther Harvey (1915-2008), and Ara Bell Sessions (1921-1995).
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