Sybil Garner Knox

SYBIL GARNER KNOX Five branches of the military are officially recognized: Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, and the US Coast Guard. Albeit, this journalist is of the opinion that two other groups should be recognized as service related: the Merchant Marines and the Homefront. Sybil G. Knox epitomizes the Homefront as a family member of a southern clan steeped in military tradition. Born Sybil Garner at home in Atlanta on Feb 8, 1923, the Girls High graduate married Ben Knox on July 28, 1941. “We lived on Memorial Drive," she said. “Ben returned from buying milk one Sunday and said, 'the Japs have attacked Pearl Harbor,' so we knew war was upon us. Our biggest concern was Ben's brother, Robert, stationed on Hickam Field in Hawaii." On Dec 7, 1941, Sybil's brother• in- law, Robert Knox, slipped on his pants and stepped out of his tent to enjoy the beautiful morning blue of Hawaii. Sybil relayed Robert’s story. “Nurses had arrived that week and moved into the men's barracks. The guys had to set up tents. As Robert stepped out of his tent that morning, he spotted planes overhead and thought, 'the Navy carrier pilots sure are out early this morning,’ until one of the airplanes dropped what he thought was a wing tank. But then the explosions started and Japanese planes started strafing the field." One of Robert's buddies was cut in half by the vicious strafing. Sybil continued, “The poor boy was cut in half. He was missing his body from the waist down. Robert took the boy's last request, 'tell my momma I died a good boy'. Robert relayed the boy’s last words months later to the parents. He said it was the toughest thing he'd ever done." A lot of good boys die in war. An uncle of Sybil’s mother, a man called Kenney, fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War. He died on the bluffs of Kennesaw and is buried atop the mountain. On February 15, 1898, an explosion blew apart the USS Maine in Havana Harbor with the loss of 260 sailors. The effect was a lopsided conflict known as The Spanish-American War. The second USS Maine, BB-10, a modern battleship, circumnavigated the glove as part of America’s Great White Fleet, so-designated due to their stark white hulls. Sybil’s father-in-law was aboard the battleship. Her father, Roy Garner, served in WWII after attending Officer Candidate School at Fort Gordon in Chamblee, GA. During the Great Depression and into WWII, Sybil’s father put bread on the table as a fire fighter. On December 7, 1946, five years after The Day of Infamy, Fire Captain Roy Garner’s unit responded to a blaze that entered into Atlanta history: the infamous Winecoff Hotel fire. She recalled, “My father’s unit was the second unit on scene. It was tragic; 119 dead and so many people hurt. My father stayed all day and all night, entering the hotel the next day to search for victims. On the top floor, he found five people in one room playing cards. They had used wet blankets and sheets to seal the doors and windows. They had no idea of the scope of the tragedy on the bottom floors. That miracle really got to my father; he broke down and cried.” After Pearl Harbor, with the world once again at war, Sybil's husband donned the uniform to serve his country. "We discussed his options," she recalled. "Ben didn't want to wait to be drafted so he enlisted in the Army Air Corps. He and his boss at the Georgia Power Company joined on the same day in April of ’41.” Ben Knox trained at Kessler Field in Alabama then tested cadet pilots at several locations, spending his final 14 months in El Paso. Sybil said, “By then Ben’s acute sinus problems caused him to receive a medical discharge. Our first child was due in two weeks and there we were in EL Paso, TX facing a train trip back to Atlanta. I figured our first child was destined to be born in a Pullman car, but we made it home and I gave birth less than two weeks later.” Sybil's kid brother, James Garner, saw the horrors of war in the Pacific. I talked with James via cellphone. "I served with the Merchant Marines for five or six months then joined the Navy," he said. "I was in charge of a five man landing craft aboard the AKA-84 Attack Transport USS Waukesha. Later in the war we picked up Marines on Saipan then sailed to participate in the invasion of Okinawa." Off Okinawa, the Waukesha's 20mm and 40mm guns kept the Japanese suicide planes (Kamikazes) at bay. James recalled, "They came at us night and day so we had to remain at our combat stations. I saw the Kamikazes hit several ships." The war won, the Waukesha was one of the first American ships to sail into Tokyo Bay. "The Japanese gun emplacements at a narrow channel were all marked with white flags," James said. "Good Lord, I'd never seen so many white flags in my life!" After dropping off Marines and telecommunications gear, the Waukesha set sail for Nagasaki, the target of the 2nd atomic bomb dropped on Japan. James recalled, "I'll never forget the sight. The devastation was total, nothing but a few smoke stacks left standing. Bodies were everywhere, the stench overwhelming." Sybil's two grandsons are serving today. She said, "Brandon's been in the Navy for 15 years serving with or supervising catapult crews. He's served on the carriers USS Eisenhower and USS Stennis. My other hero, grandson Aaron, graduated cum laude from North Georgia College. He was the highest ranking cadet in the nation. Aaron is presently as an officer with the Army. Commenting on "The Greatest Generation", Sybil said, "Well, I read the book. It was a nice tribute to our generation, but all of us did what we had to do. You know, as a kid I didn't realize the horrors of the Great Depression. I was fed, stayed warm, and I was loved. We didn't have 'things' but 'things' don't make you happy, your attitude does." "I'd like to say one more thing. During World War Two I worked for the H. G. Hastings Seed Company. We sent Bermuda grass to the occupied islands in the Pacific but I never knew why. And I remember riding the trolley to and from work and seeing all the Army convoys loaded with young men on their way to war. They'd smile, whistle at the girls, they seemed cheerful, but I always wondered how they really felt. I'd say a prayer for them." Throughout America’s history the military has touched the families of every generation, until now. Ask a gathering of 200 to 300 folks if anyone in attendance has a relative or someone they know in the military; the response is shocking: perhaps 5 to 10 attendees will raise their hand. The role of the US Military is a void in most present-day American lives; the respect is normally omnipresent, but a genuine understanding of what they do, their sacrifices, their training, and their loyalty to friends and country is not. Not a good omen for the nation. .

Load more