D. C. Wimberly
| Duvall Cortez "D. C." Wimberly, Sr.
(Educator and former president of American Ex-Prisoners of War) | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 14, 1917 Ringgold, Bienville Parish, Louisiana, USA |
| Died | January 27, 2007 (aged 89) Springhill, Webster Parish, Louisiana |
| Spouse | Inez Gamble Wimberly (married 1943-2007, his death) Children:
|
Duvall Cortez Wimberly, Sr., known as D. C. Wimberly (September 14, 1917 – January 27, 2007), was a United States Army soldier taken prisoner of war in the European theater of operations in World War II and a past national commander of American Ex-Prisoners of War, a veterans organization based in Arlington, Texas. He was an educator and school administrator for thirty-seven years in Bienville and Webster parishes in northwestern Louisiana.[1]
Background
Wimberly was born to Dempse Wimberly and the former Arvie McGinty in Ringgold in western Bienville Parish. He graduated from Ringgold High School in 1934 and received a bachelor's degree in 1940 from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches. He obtained a master's degree in education from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge in 1946 and post-master's instruction thereafter from Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama.[1]
Wimberly first taught in Bienville Parish and then in neighboring Webster Parish; he was a principal in four different schools: Sibley High School (1947–1949), Shongaloo High School (1949–1954), and thereafter Springhill Junior High School and Browning Elementary School, both in Springhill.[2] Wimberly retired from professional education in 1975. While he was still a principal, he ran unsuccessfully for the Springhill City Council. In a heated contest for the Louisiana State Senate in 1967, Wimberly signed a public letter of endorsement of Springhill native John Willard "Jack" Montgomery, Sr., who unseated incumbent Harold Montgomery of Doyline in south Webster Parish.[3]
In 1943, Wimberly married the former Inez Gamble (born 1921), a native of Grand Cane in De Soto Parish. They had three children: Sandra (born 1949), Duvall, Jr., (born 1952), and Virginia "Bess" (born 1955).[1]
Wimberly was a cousin of Lorris Wimberly, a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for Bienville Parish who also served on three occasions as the state House Speaker between 1936 and 1956. His brother, Lucian McDade "Dade" Wimberly (1922–1990), was a Louisiana state trooper from Minden, seat of Webster Parish, who ran unsuccessfully for chief of police in 1970.[4]
Wartime service
Wimberly recounted his wartime exploits: "On Thanksgiving night 1944 in Luxembourg, the members of the German Army counterattacked my battalion. Companies E and F were wiped out. I was the Third Platoon sergeant. ... I lost forty-six men from my fifty-man platoon. Three others and myself were captured. That night and the next few months [we were] starving, freezing, walking over lots of Germans from southwest Germany to northeast Poland and back to south of Berlin. I felt, and to this day feel, [that] I am living on borrowed time. I have assisted my fellow Americans as a school teacher, administrator, Mason, and Shriner, [having] dedicated my life to the Christian effort of 'helping those who cannot help themselves.' This is also the motto of American Ex-Prisoners of War."[1]
Wimberly was confined to Stalag XII and several other camps. He was liberated by the Russians on April 22, 1945, escaped on May 9, and was discharged from the military on December 12, 1945. He received the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and two Battle Stars.[1]
Wimberly was named in 1971 as the Louisiana chapter commander of the American Ex-Prisoners of War.[5] In 1974-1975, he was elected national commander of Ex-Prisoner of War at the annual convention held that year in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was involved in budgeting, membership, publicity, and as judge advocate [1]
Wimberly died in Springhill, where he had resided since 1954, of a blood disorder at the age of eighty-nine and is interred at the Wimberly Cemetery south of Ringgold in Bienville Parish.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "D. C. Wimberly", The Shreveport Times, January 29, 2007. Retrieved on ?.
- ↑ "School Principal Changes Are Made by School Board," Minden Herald, March 5, 1954, p. 1.
- ↑ Minden Press-Herald, December 14, 1967, p. 2.
- ↑ Minden Press-Herald, August 19, 1970, p. 1.
- ↑ The Shreveport Times, September 9, 1971.
