Lost Purple Heart to be returned to Cherokee County 63 years later
Cherokee By Dwight Otwell Editor

Clyde Woods

Cherokee County native Clyde Woods died in the service of his country in WWII.

More than 63 years after Clyde's death in the invasion of Biak Island, New Guinea in the Pacific, the Purple Heart is being returned to his family in Cherokee County.

The story of how Clyde's Purple Heart was lost, its eventual discovery and the detective work that went into finding the kinsmen of Clyde Woods is a sequence of events that will lead to the possible return of the medal in Murphy between Christmas and New Year's Day.

Cherokee County resident Gary Woods is Clyde's nephew. Gary's mother, Reba Woods, read a Letter to the Editor in July from Sandra Adair asking for information about Clyde Woods from any family or friends. Eva's husband and Gary's father, Arvel Woods, died in 1987. Arvel was Clyde's brother.

Gary contacted Sandra, from south Alabama via e-mail. Gary was surprised to learn that Sandra has his uncle's Purple Heart.

Gary explained that his cousin, Mildred Stillwell, had the Purple Heart. Mildred went to Murphy High School but married and moved to south Alabama. Mildred got the medal from her mother, Elsie Taylor, who was Gary's dad's sister. Mildred died of cancer in 2003. Mildred's daughter got all of her mother's possessions but she moved and a few items were left behind.

Sandra Adair explained how the discovery came about from her end. In the spring of 1988, Sandra and her husband moved to Suwannee, GA and became close friends with a neighbor, Theresa Johnson. Sandra and Theresa formed a very strong bond, because, among other things, both of their dads were WWII veterans who both fought in the same campaign that included Anzio Beach.

Following the death of his wife in 2000, Teresa's dad, Robert H. Major, married Mildred Taylor. Mildred had been estranged from her family  for many years. Therefore, neither Robert Major nor any of his family ever met any of her family. They had no idea what her mother's name had been.

After Mildred died in 2003 Robert Major purchased her house in Salem, AL from the estate and continued to live there. Mildred's daughter removed all the personal items that she wanted and Robert Major stored her papers in a closet.

In the fall of 2006, while preparing the house to have a new carpet installed, Theresa found a small box on the floor of a closet. On the outside of the box was written "Clyde Woods, May 27, 1944, the day he was killed." Inside the box, she found a small case containing, among other medals, a Purple Heart.

Theresa took it to her dad and asked who Clyde Woods was. Robert Major said that he had no idea and that all the things in the closet had belonged to Mildred. Theresa immediately decided that she had to find the family of Clyde Woods or donate the medals to a museum.

Theresa began to research and learned that one of the medals represented service in the Pacific.

Early in 2007, Robert Major became ill, and after a very short stay in the hospital, he died.

"After the funeral, Theresa mentioned the Purple Heart, and we agreed that we had to try to find the family of Clyde Woods because we knew how we would have felt if medals awarded to either of our fathers had been misplaced," Sandra said.

Sandra began searching lists of Purple Heart recipients, but there were an amazing number named Clyde Woods. Theresa mentioned that she thought Mildred had lived in North Carolina in the past. This narrowed the search to three Purple Heart recipients named Clyde Woods. The residence of one was shown as Cherokee County, North Carolina.

From a search of the date on the box containing the medals, Sandra found that May 27, 1944 was the date of the invasion of Biak Island in the Pacific.

Meanwhile, Teresa, in Salem, AL found a box of papers pertaining to Mildred Taylor Major and among those papers was a document listing her mother's maiden name as Woods. The same document referred to Cherokee County, NC. Theresa also found some photographs . She also found one identified as Mildred at Clyde's grave. Mildred was eight-years-old when her Uncle Clyde was killed in action.

Sandra telephoned the public library in Murphy and a person from the library contacted her later and said he had found Clyde's obituary notice on the front page of the Cherokee Scout published on June 15, 1944.

"Gary (Woods) and I have been in contact with each other since July," Said Sandra. "We want to arrange a date when Theresa's family, Gary's family and my husband and I can all meet in Murphy to deliver the medals to the Woods family. Illness in the Woods family and the hectic schedules of the Johnson children have delayed our visit, but we hope to bring the medals home between Christmas and new Year's 2007."

Gary said he wants his sons, Noah, who is battling cancer, and the youngest Paul, who is a student at Appalachian State, to be presented the medals, possibly at the Veteran's Memorial in Murphy.

Gary noted that Clyde grew up in Cherokee County and he went to school in Murphy. Gary said his mother knows a woman who was engaged to Clyde before he went off to war. Clyde is buried in the Grape Creek Baptist Church Cemetery.