Pvt Robert A. Underwood
Our Hometown Heroes
Robert A. Underwood
Born: 1913 Died: May 8, 1944
Robert Underwood was born in 1913. He was one of eight children of Willie Mae and Grover Clark Underwood. A partial list of his seven siblings is thought to include Thelma, Lois, Stalling and Gene
As a small child he moved with his family from North Carolina to East Griffin.
Family legend has it that they bought an old log cabin, disassembled it, reassembled it here and lived there for many years.
As a young man he married Jewell Goen. Where he worked while a married man is unknown. They had no children and were divorced before he went off to serve his country during WWII.
Pvt. Underwood enlisted May 2, 1942 and served as a private in the 34th Division, 158th Infantry, U.S. Army.
In official records he is recorded as “missing in action” May 8, 1944 in the North African Theater of operations during WWII.
The understanding of surviving family members is that Pvt Underwood was on board a troop transport on his way to the fighting in Italy when his ship was sunk by a German submarine. His body was never recovered.
Posthumously he received a Purple Heart and Bronze Star.
During WWII enlisted men and women were provided $10,000.00 in life insurance by the U.S. Government. Times were hard, money was scarce when that money was paid to his parents. It reportedly was instrumental in enabling them to raise his seven siblings.
