Beth McKeown Weblog

My oldest brother

August 21, 1981

Today I will think a little about my oldest brother Arthur Leroy McKeown. He was born during the time while the Spanish flu epidemic was still blooming. My Grandmother had it - also my mother. Grandmother died February 17, 1920 from the flu and a kidney disease from which she had suffered for years. More about her later.
Many pregnant women died before or during childbirth after having been weakened by the flu.
Dr. Leroy Lewis, my father's cousin[,] was their doctor. The week before Arthur's birth he [Dr. Lewis] had lost 2 close family members during childbirth. He stayed with my mother during her labor - never sleeping although he was exhausted. He told her later that had she and her baby died he had decided to give up medicine. He later moved to a northern state (Harve Da Garce, Maryland) can't remember which at the moment and was a successful doctor.
They named my brother Arthur for Daddy's wartime [WWI] buddy Arthur King. That is all I know of him. I remember my Daddy hearing from him when I was small but the passage of time caused them to lose contact. The Leroy was for Dr. Leroy [Lewis] which was a family name also.
Arthur contracted a stomach ailment while young. They called it colitis and he almost died. Somewhere in the family there is a picture of him sitting in a high chair looking starved. However he soon recovered and grew to more than 6 feet tall. A handsome young man who saw to it that his sisters measured up. He looked after us - teased us unmercifully loved us and expected us to do our best.
Arthur was a good student, but because of the depression and 5 other children still at home there was no way for him to go to college. In fact at that time it was considered a privilege to be able to finish high school. Neither of our parents had formally finished hi school. My father having gone to school (only for a short period, probably 4th grade) Mama had finished 10th grade having done most of this independently as the teacher had little more education than that.
Arthur found it difficult to find work, except for helping on the farm - so went into the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp for 2 years (I guess it was 2 years, I can't remember). He was stationed in Winnsboro [SC] and was sent to Nevada and California. This training served him well when he was inducted into the army. I am sure it helped him to pass the test of O.C.S. [See below.]
He was drafted into the service just prior to December 7, 1941. Served at Ft Jackson - passed the exams for officer training and became a second Lt. infantry in [the] army.
He married Annie Lee Brackett [of] Rock Hill [SC] on Aug 20, 1943. Was sent overseas to Africa a few months later was[,] then transferred to Anzio Beachhead in Italy[,] and was killed March 23, 1944.
These were tragic times. So many of the young men in our neighborhood church were killed. If the phone rang at an odd hour none of us wanted to answer because it probably was bad news.
I have a flag that hung in New Hope Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in Fairfield County during the war - on it is a white star for each boy from the area that served overseas - a gold star for those who lost their lives.
Arthur was buried at Anzio and after the war his remains were returned to SC to be interred at New Hope.
This was a painful experience for us. There was a memorial service when he died and there was another when his remains were interred. However afterwards we all felt complete knowing that his final resting place was at home. (By this time I was married. His widow has remarried and had two children.)
My parents were somehow not quite the same after his death. Mama was so confident that he would live. However their faith brought them through this. Their other children are still living at this writing and my parents saw all of their grandchildren grow to young adults and when they died they had 6 or 7 great [grand]children. What a blessing for them and us.
Arthur's widow married Paul Horton and had three daughters. She remained close to my parents as long as they lived and was loved as a daughter.

Later:
History has shown that the bulk of World War II soldiers was formed from men who served in the CCC as they had a good grounding in the military. Also 50 years after the CCC history has recognized the results of their service. The Blue Ridge Parkway being one - the stone bridges and overlooks having been built by those men. 1997 Beth Miller