Military Wiki
Woodrow Wilson Barr
Born (1918-06-08)June 8, 1918
Died August 7, 1942(1942-08-07) (aged 24)
Place of birth Keyser, West Virginia
Place of death KIA at Tulagi
Allegiance United States of America
Service/branch United States Marine Corps
Years of service 1942
Rank Private First Class
Unit 1st Raider Battalion
Battles/wars World War II
Awards Silver Star
Purple Heart

Woodrow Wilson Barr (June 8, 1918 – August 7, 1942) was a United States Marine with the 1st Marine Raider Battalion. He was killed in action at Tulagi, Solomon Islands, August 7, 1942 — and was posthumously awarded the Silver Star medal for his "conspicuous gallantry and intrepedity in action" during the action at Tulagi.

Biography[]

Woodrow Barr was born on June 8, 1918 in Keyser, West Virginia. He graduated from Parsons High School; and following graduation worked for four years before enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps on January 13, 1942. He completed his recruit training at Parris Island, South Carolina, followed by training at Quantico.

He was deployed to the Pacific Theatre as a part of the 1st Marine Raider Battalion. Barr was one of 45 Marines who were killed in action during the U.S. recapture of Tulagi from the Japanese on August 7, 1942.[1]

Awards and decorations[]

Barr was posthumously awarded the Silver Star and the Purple Heart.

Namesake[]

The USS Barr (APD-39), a United States Navy Buckley-class destroyer escort commissioned in 1944, was named for Woodrow Wilson Barr. In 2012, legislation introduced to the West Virginia House of Delegates by Representative Gary Howell of Mineral County, named a bridge on US Route 50 in Burlington in honor of Barr.

References[]

  1. "Conquest of Tulagi".
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
  • Woodrow Wilson Barr, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy. Retrieved on 2006-07-17.

Further reading[]

All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at Woodrow Wilson Barr and the edit history here.