Earl Chambers

Earl Leon Chambers (June 23, 1947 – July 5, 1969) was a soldier from Oneida who fought in the Vietnam War and drowned while home on leave.

See Also: Scott Countians killed in war

Biography

Born June 23, 1947, Earl L. Chambers was the son of Augfie Chambers (1924-1966). His mother died suddenly at age 41.

Earl was a fourth-great-grandson of Revolutionary War veteran William Chambers, who settled at Buffalo Creek in present-day Scott County after the war. He was also descended from Revolutionary War veterans Tobias Phillips, Abraham Goad, and Randolph Lawson, who were his fifth- and sixth-great-grandfathers. Phillips’ son, Thomas Phillips, married Goad’s daughter, Anna, and was part of a move to New River after the Revolutionary War. Lawson’s daughter, Katie, married Chambers’ son, Thomas. Earl was a distant cousin to James Larry Chambers, a Scott Countian killed in action during the Vietnam War.

Earl graduated from Oneida High School. He married Mary Loraine Carson on June 25, 1969.

Vietnam War

While Sp4 Chambers is listed on the Scott County Veterans Memorial in Huntsville as one of Scott County’s Vietnam War dead, he did not die in combat. However, he was a veteran of the war, having served there in the U.S. Army.

Sp4 Chambers enlisted in the Army on Oct. 12, 1966 and was assigned to the 198th Maintenance Battalion.

Death

Sp4 Chambers drowned while swimming in the Clear Fork River about 400 yards downstream of Burnt Mill Ford near Robbins on July 5, 1969. He was home on leave from Fort Knox, Ky. at the time. He was swimming with two friends, Harvey Duncan and Eugene Harmon, when the accident occurred in eight-to-ten feet of water. His body was recovered 30 minutes later.

A funeral service was held at Pentecost Baptist Church in Oneida with Rev. Robert Williams and Rev. James Jeffers officiating, and he was buried at Scott Memorial Gardens.

His death came just 10 days after his marriage to Loraine Carson.