Southampton County-Portsmouth City Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Darden, 1LT Alfred C. Jr., 1942 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/vafiles.htm ************************************************ LT. ALFRED CARLYLE DARDEN, JR. LT. A.C. DARDEN, JR., IS REPORTED KILLED Lt. A.C. Darden, Jr., was reported killed in an airplane crash this morning as the plane was taking off from Columbia, S.C., for Augusta, Ga. An Associated Press dispatch reported the accident, although the United States government had not notified Lt. Darden’s people of the tragedy this afternoon at 2 o’clock. It was reported that there were two other men in the plane besides Lt. Darden, and that when the plane crashed it caught fire and all three were burned to death in the wreckage. Lt. Darden was a graduate of V.M.I. and had been employed at the Merchants and Farmers Bank here for several years before entering the Army. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. A.C. Darden of Old Point, where his father is postmaster, and besides his parents is survived by two sisters. He was a cousin of Governor Colgate W. Darden, Jr. ****************************************************************************** DARDEN DEATH IS FIRST CASUALTY - Death of 1st Lt. A.C. Darden, Jr., is First War Casualty of Southampton - RITES CONDUCTED HERE Southampton’s first casualty of World War II occurred last Friday morning near Columbia, S.C., when First Lieut. Alfred Carl Darden, Jr. of this town was instantly killed while riding as an observer in a plane which failed to take off in attempting the return trip to Daniel Field, Augusta, Ga., and crashed, killing Lieut. Darden and the other two occupants of the plane, 2nd Lieut. G.F. Hayman of Tampa, Fla., and Sergeant C.D. Fisher of Little Rock, Ark. The body was brought home Sunday morning accompanied by Captain Elwood Dampsey of Daniel Field, Augusta. Funeral services were held from Emmanuel Church Sunday afternoon at 5 o’clock by the Rector, Rev. John A. Gray, where Lieut. Darden was a communicant and vestryman. In the presence of a throng of people, burial was made in Poplar Spring Cemetery here and accorded full military honors by the local Virginia Protective Force Company, Captain Franklin Edwards commanding, with the traditional three volleys fired over his grave and the sounding of "Taps" by E. Lee Peterson, the company’s bugler. There was a profusion of beautiful floral designs, the universal sympathy of the town and county going out to the bereaved family. Lieut. Darden, or "Daddy" as he was affectionately known here, was born in Portsmouth, Va., 29 years ago, the son of Alfred Carl Darden and Mrs. Bessie Peters Darden, Mr. Darden, Sr., now being postmaster at Fortress Monroe, Va. Besides his parents, he is survived by two sisters, Mrs. Adam A. Koscielniak of Fortress Monroe and Miss Elizabeth Darden of Fort Devens, Mass., who is a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army Nursing Corps. Graduating from V.M.I. in 1937, Mr. Darden came at once to Franklin to work with the Merchants and Farmers Bank, living with his uncle, C.W. Darden, Sr., at "Marle Hill" near Franklin. Entering the army in December, 1940, he was stationed at Fort Benning, Ga., as a Lieutenant in the Army Mechanized Forces at that post. Volunteering last fall as an observer in the air forces, he trained for that work at Brooks Field, Texas, until January of this year. "Daddy" was universally popular, of an unusually congenial and affable temperament, and numbered a wide circle of friends wherever he was known. This, Southampton county’s first loss, is most keenly felt, not only through the tragic nature of his death but even in a larger degree because of his many likable qualities. Besides the member of his immediate family here for the funeral were two uncles, W.H. Darden of Windsor, N.C., and J.H. Darden of Mapleton, N.C.; the Governor of Virginia and Mrs. Colgate W. Darden, Jr., besides other relatives and friends from many places. The pallbearers were: Captain Adam A. Koscielniak of Fort Leavenworth, Kan., Lieut. William V. Rawlings and Lieut. R.B. Allport, Jr., of Fort Bragg, N.C. , Sergeant R.N. Darden, Jr., of Camp Lee, Va., L. Pretlow Darden of Norfolk, J. Fenton Matthews, G.G. McCann, R.A. Pretlow, Jr. and Jesse L. Sinclair. 1LT Alfred Carl "Daddy" DARDEN, Jr., Army Air Force observer, Portsmouth native, killed on take-off 3 Apr 1942, near Columbia, SC, age 29, interred in Poplar Spring Cemetery (Annex 2, Plot 2B*), Franklin, 5 Apr 1942, "The Tidewater News" (Franklin, VA), Apr. 3, 1942, p. 1; "The Tidewater News" (Franklin, VA), Apr. 10, 1942, p. 1 *Southampton County Historical Society {SCHS} Cemetery Project, Poplar Spring list: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/cemeteries/psanx2.txt His father's obit ("Tidewater News," Oct. 22, 1948, p. 5) is posted at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/obits/d635a2ob.txt His mother's obit ("Tidewater News," May 16, 1963, Sect. I, p. 6) is posted at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/obits/d635b4ob.txt Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Mrs. Bruce Saunders (bs4403@verizon.net), and re-formatted by File Manager. file at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/obits/d635a3ob.txt