Joe Edd Griffith

Joe Edward “Edd” Griffith (Nov. 23, 1943 – April 13, 1968) was a soldier from Brimstone killed in the Vietnam War.

See Also: Scott Countians killed in war

Biography

Born Nov. 23, 1943, Joe Edd Griffith was the son of Sylvester Griffith (1905-1971) and Bertha Mare Reagan (1913-2005). His siblings included Helen Griffith (1934-2023), Eloise Griffith (1936-1950), James C. Griffith (1939-2007), Russell Lee Griffith (1941-2007), Floyd J. Griffith (1946-1970) and Margie Ellen Griffith (1948-1965).

He was raised on Brimstone and was a direct descendent of Joseph Griffith, a Revolutionary War veteran who served as a bodyguard to Gen. George Washington as the British surrendered following the Siege of Yorktown. Joseph Griffith was his fourth-great-grandfather.

Edd attended Robbins High School and obtained his high school diploma after enlisting in the Army. He married JoAnn Clements on May 2, 1966. They had a son, Joseph Wade Griffith (1967-2024).

Vietnam War

SSgt. Griffith enlisted in the U.S. Army on Jan. 29, 1964 and was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry, 1st Infantry Division. He served in Vietnam for seven months, returned to the U.S. and was stationed at Fort Rucker in Alabama for a year, then began a second tour in Vietnam on Dec. 24, 1967. He was killed in action in South Vietnam on April 13, 1968.

Aftermath

SSgt. Griffith’s body was returned to the U.S. and he was buried at Meadowlawn Cemetery in Enterprise, Ala. He received the Purple Heart. He is listed on the VFW Post 5669 Memorial Wall in Oneida, the Scott County Veterans Memorial in Huntsville, and the East Tennessee Veterans Memorial in Knoxville. He’s also listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.

JoAnn remarried to Robert “Bob” Hamilton of Alabama. Joseph had two children, Jeremy and Cody. He died in 2024 in Alabama and is buried in the same cemetery as his father. JoAnn continues to live in Alabama.