Wilton Vesper Hughes was born in Ash, Brunswick County, NC, on January 28, 1890, according to his NC WWI Service Card (below).
This cropped photo is shown in Findagrave, circa 1911. Additional photos (below) are shared in Ancestry, including the wonderful family portrait which was used for the cropped photo. Each family member is labeled. (Click each photo to enlarge.)
Wilton was ordered to report for duty on July 30, 1918, and sent to Camp Hancock in Georgia. His service card indicates he was assigned to the 63rd Machine Gun Battalion on November 5, 1918. However, that battalion didn’t exist, and is likely meant to be 363rd Machine Gun Battalion. This assumption was made based on a fellow draftee, Newman Goodman Hewett, whose NC WWI Service Card shows he was serving at the Machine Gun Training Center at Camp Hancock, then assigned to the 363rd Machine Gun Battalion. The battalion was planned for the 96th Division. Because of the Armistice, the division was never fully formed.
Source: Historical Branch, War Plans Division (1921), A Brief History of Divisions, U.S. Army, 1917-1918
Besides Pvt Hughes and Pvt Newman Goodman Hewett, Pvt Joseph Sicero Smith, Pvt Walker Otis Smith, and Pvt Anthony Dewitt Stewart also trained at the Machine Gun Training Center at Camp Hancock.
Pvt Hughes was discharged on December 18, 1918.
Wilton Vesper Hughes passed away on January 21, 1976, and was laid to rest in McKeithan Cemetery in Ash. No military honors are shown.
To view this or an earlier profile or snapshot at any time, click on the veteran’s name on the WWI Brunswick County Veteran list, which is also accessible by the blue button on the top right of the webpage.
If you would like to help us honor Wilton Vesper Hughes or another Brunswick County WWI veteran, please use the following links:
Click here for the announcement:
Announcement: Honor a Brunswick County World War I Veteran
Click here for directions to donate and honor a veteran:
How to Honor a Brunswick County World War I Veteran
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