To honor those who died while serving in the military for Memorial Day, today’s story is about a Stanly County soldier who was killed in World War II. According to information from The Citadel, Waverly Owen Skidmore was born Sept. 24, 1924, in Albemarle. He attended the local schools and then entered The Citadel in what would be the class of 1946. In 1942, the induction age to join the military was changed from 21 to 18. Skidmore registered to join the Army and was inducted in August 1943. He was then sent to fight in Europe. In 1944, Skidmore was wounded during the Normandy campaign. He was sent to England to recover and soon returned to his regiment to fight at the Battle of Hurtgen Forest. Skidmore was wounded again and later died from those wounds. Skidmore is buried at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery and Memorial. In January 1945, the Stanly News & Press announced that the members of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Albemarle, known as Stanly Post No. 2908, voted to rename their post Waverly Owen Skidmore Post 2908 in Skidmore’s honor. {Lewis Bramlett – Stanly County Historical Society}