Orville Forest Hensley was born 7 July 1919 to Richard Arthur Hensley and Amanda Elvira Foster.
He died non Battle on 13 June 1943
Private First Class
Company D, 1st Staging Area B.N. US Army
PFC Hensley died in North Africa. He is buried at Hensley Family Cemetery #3, Unicoi County, Tennessee.
The Erwin Record, September 2, 1943
Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Hensely, who received a telegram July 2, 1943, telling them of the death of their son, Pfc. Orville F. Hensley, in North Africa, received he following letter from his executive officer, August 16:
My dear Mrs. Hensley: “It is with a heavy heart that I sit down to write you this letter. I have put off writing until I could make certain that you had received the news from the War Department as per Army regulations. I am not, nor was I, Orville’s company commander, but until recently I was executive officer of Company D, which Orville had helped me make the best company in the Battalion. I am now Comppany commander of A Company, but my heart is with D Company. You see I was with Orville since he joined the battalion until he died in the service of his country. No man could have a more honorable death. It is because of his soldierly qualities that I have felt impelled to write this letter. Mrs. Hensley I can feel your loss because I know he was a soldier and I feel his loss more that I can say in words. It is without hesitation that I say that no soldier in the company was more loyal, more sincere, nor harder worker than your Orville. He was loved by all of us, and respected by all. He was buried with full military honors. He had a honor guard, Honorary pall bearers. Most all the company was excused from duty to attend the services. He was buried in the same cemetery (American) and on the same day that the King of England visited there and placed a wrerath at the base of the American flag there. Mrs. Hensley I know that you are proud of him and I can only add that we are proud of him too. I sincerely hope that some day when I return to the States I amy have the opportunity to visit and tell you personally what I am trying to say in this letter.” Frank Jerrid, st L.T.F.X. Terrio.
The Erwin Record, June 3, 1948
The body of Pfc. Orville F. Hensley, son of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur R. Hensley, R.2, Erwin, is among the 2,530 American World War II dead being returned to the United States from Africa aboard the United States Army Transport Barney Kirschbaum. Armed forces dead originally interred in temporary military cemeteries near the battlefields of North Africa are among those being returned. Pfc. Hensley’s body is being sent to the Charlotte Distribution Center.
- Rank: Private First Class
- Date of birth: 7 July 1919
- Date of death: 13 June 1943
- County: Unicoi
- Hometown: Erwin
- Service Branch: Army/Army Air Forces
- Division/Assignment: Company D, 1st Staging Area B.N.
- Theater: North Africa
- Conflict: World War II
- Burial/Memorial Location: Hensley Family Cemetery #3, Unicoi County, TN
- Location In Memorial: Pillar XIX, Top Panel
- Contact us to sponsor Orville F. Hensley
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