Pvt William E. Bankston

Our Hometown Heroes

William E. Bankston

A Young Life Cut Short

Born just before the turn of the century, in 1896, William E. Bankston would join the U.S. Army to fight an enemy along, “the western front.” Bankston would die a short fourteen months after he enlisted as an infantry private in the U.S. Army on July 21, 1918.

Pvt. Bankston, for some reason, was not listed on the World War I Monument, forgotten until now. This changed during the Memorial Day weekend, May 29-30, 2016 as Bankston and other, “Lost and Forgotten,” World War I soldiers were honored with individual plaques and their names on the Veterans Memorial Park “Doughboy” statue. Thanks to efforts of Griffin Archivist Cynthia Barton, the Veterans Military Affairs and Honor our KIA committees, Pvt. Bankston is now remembered as one of Griffin-Spalding’s Hometown Heroes.

An individual plaque honoring William E. Bankston will be installed in Griffin’s Historic District sponsored in honor of the Griffin-Spalding County School System Elementary Honor Chorus, under the direction of Nina Williams and Laura Forehand.