Jane Blevins
Jane Marcum Blevins (Sept. 1, 1922 – March 4, 1945) was a nurse originally from Oneida who was killed during World War II. She was the only woman from Scott County to die during WWII, and the only woman from Scott County who has ever died in any war.
Biography
Born Sept. 1, 1922, Jane M. Blevins was the daughter of Isaac Newton Blevins (1878-1964) and Elizabeth “Lizzie” Trammell (1882-1976). She had five siblings: Dorothy Gragg (1904-1996), Paulina Blevins (1909-1991), Elizabeth Smith (1912-1984), Virginia McDonald (1913-1994) and Howard Blevins (1915-1956).
Her paternal grandfather, William Charley Blevins Sr., was a Scott County Assessor of Property and attorney who was killed in a collision with a freight train near Oneida in 1914. He was descended from Jonathan Blevins, a prominent early resident of the Big South Fork. Her mother was descended from Revolutionary War veteran Dennis Trammell who was among the first settlers of Winfield.
Jane grew up in Scott County — raised across the road from White Pine United Baptist Church near Bandy Creek and graduated from Oneida High School, though her family moved to Somerset, Ky. after she was grown.
World War II
After her only brother, Howard, volunteered for service and went off to war, Lt. Blevins moved to Chattanooga to attend nursing school and worked at Erlanger Hospital.
On July 10, 1943, Howard Blevins was badly wounded and captured by German forces in the Allied invasion of Sicily. He was among a group of paratroopers who were to have landed behind enemy lines and attacked from the rear. For months, the Blevins family did not know of his exact fate; only that he had been killed or was missing in action.
Lt. Blevins enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps on Feb. 8, 1944. After training, she was immediately sent to the China Burma India theater of the war, where she would treat wounded soldiers. Less than a year later, on March 4, 1945, she was killed in a plane crash at an airfield in Ledo, India. She was on a passenger ferry mission and the plane crashed as it attempted to land, killing all aboard.
Aftermath
Lt. Blevins’ remains were initially interred at the American airfield cemetery in Kalaikunda, India, but were later returned to Somerset for burial at Somerset City Cemetery.
Howard Blevins was released from German custody two months after his sister’s death. He had spent nearly two years in prisons in Italy, Germany and Poland. He was liberated by Russian forces as they marched on Berlin. He received the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and the Good Conduct Medal.
After the war, Howard Blevins owned a hickory mill in Pine Knot. He died in a truck crash on May 17, 1956, at the age of 40. He and an assistant had gone to Norma to haul a load of logs to Pine Knot. His brakes failed as he attempted to negoiate a steep hill. His assistant, Darril Galimore, jumped from the truck and was uninjured. Blevins attempted to ride it out and was killed. He was also buried at Somerset City Cemetery.
Isaac Blevins died on June 4, 1965. Elizabeth died on April 28, 1976. They’re both buried at Somerset City Cemetery.