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Looking back with.* *m eLloyd Mathews«Pulliam was truefhero from county■• * . i %Celebrations like the Pulaski County Sesquicenten-nial awaken us to the fact that the making of this county, state, and nation did not come easy,. Besides all of the physical barriers standing in the way of the settlers there has al ways been the conflict between America and other countries lurking out there to threaten our security.Since the wresting of the country from the domineering rule of the British, Americans have been called pn to fight wars to hold onto what we have.Pulaski County has had many thousands of men and -women who served courageously in several wars. Some were unsung heroes and some highly decorated. Some were high ranking officers, and some were ordinary enlisted people. The true story I want to tell today is about one of the latter; one whose brief encounter with the enemy created a story that filled the four pages of the May 16,1914, edition of The South west Times.William Henry Pulliam was born on Feb. 6,1882, in a modest home on Maple Street in the village of Martinis Tank. He was the son of Mollie and George Pulliam, the latter being the village blacksmith. His parents nourished Henry and watched him grow into a six-foot tall handsome and fearless young man.As a youth Henry tried his hand at various trades in the thriving little village that by this time had become the Town of Pulaski, but there was a restlessness in hissoul. Stori es of great adventure were, pouri ng i n from the west; and the same spirit that had brought his par-, ents and grandparents west to the mountains now pulled young Henry like a magnet until finally in his late teens he left home to seek his fortune in the wild west.After almost 11 years of working in several western states he gave way to the lure of the sea, and joined the U.S. Navy1. In 1911, two days before his 29th birthday he was ordered to go aboard the USS Utah, and in a short ^ time he had proven himself and was made a Fireman . First Class.. * . *During the trouble between the United States andMexico the American Fleet was ordered to the Mexican. . • • • . 1 i waters. Henry Pulliam was one of the “lucky twelve” s.ai-: lors chosen to go ashore with theLMariries for the occupation of Vera C ruz. Fi ghting wasfurious and'Pulliam and his comrades were ordered to pull back to more secure quarters, a move that would have meant retreat and would have endangered the success of the operation. The young man from the mountains of Southwest Virginia, who had already manned a machine gun, chose • to disobey the order. His purpose there was to fight, and he stayed behind his gun, his only purpose to direct its lt;deadly fire at the enemy up ahead** Repeatedly ignoring the order to abandon his gun he stood at his post allowing his comrades to withdraw, Standing alone in a foreign land, Henry Pulliam in his first combat experience, became a hero. Unaffected by the first’burn of enemy fire he continued to battle. Thencame the second wound and he continued to fire. Not■ ■ • . .* *until the third bullet pierced his breast did the moun- . tain man from Count Casimir Pulaski’s namesake fall■ 9away from his guri. , v. Having dared and dpne the utmost, Henry Pulliam* ’ ■ ■ „ * ■ ■ ’ *fell to the ground, a bleeding hero. Aboard the hospital ship, Solace, he gained the reputation of being one of the“best patients ever on the shi p ” As Henry lay there, he . must have lived and relived the coming happy reunion with his a^hg parents iri Pulaski, but it was not to be:On May 5 th, 1914, before ever again realizing the touch of American soil, Henry Pulliam died.On Friday evening. May 15,1914, as the old court-i , house clock was striking seven, the train bearing the body of Henry Pulliam rolled into Pulaski to be met by more than a thousand people. This elaborate hero’s wel-. come would be followed by two days of honor such as never before or since came to a Pulaski County warrior.- The body was'removed from the train and placed on ahorsedrawn caissori; dr aped in the American flag, andremoved to the Armory on Valley Street. \ , ■Ori Sunday morning the body was moved to the corridor of the courthouse, and future mayor E.W. Calfee was . put in charge of the guard which watched over the body while citizens passed to view the closed oak casket. I am quite sure that this is the only time a body has lain instate in the courthouse corridor. ■ . lt;• • . •• ■ ■ • • ■ • ■ * r 1 - - ,■ * ■ • ■ ■ .The funeral procession consisting of Boy Scouts, citizens and digiiitaries from far and wide stretched all theway from the courthouse to Oajcwood Cem etery. Flags . throughout the town flew at half mast, arid houses along the^ay-to Oakwood-wereTittinglydecorated withthewas held, waited to witness the interment... Henry Pulliam, Fireman First Class was buried with lt;full military honors and on his casket was a wreath ofSago palin and laurel leaves, tied with a white ribbonbearing a card of White House stationary sighed, “The President.” What* an honor for the son of the blacksmith,... . • ... . ^ * fGeorge Pulliam, whose remark to the press was “He gave his life for his country. He was my son.”Henry Pulliam sleeps in an honored grave in the south west corner pf Oak wood Cemetery.
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NA, 20 Sep 2021
Other Publications Near ,
The Pulaski News
Pulaski Times Journal
Pulaski News Review
Pulaski Staunton News Leader
Pulaski Southwest Times
