Woodrow Sharp
Woodrow Wilson Sharp (Nov. 12, 1913 – Jan. 20, 1945) was a Winfield soldier killed in Italy during World War II.
See Also: Scott Countians killed in war
Biography
Born Nov. 12, 1913, Woodrow W. Sharp was the son of Calvin Archie Sharp (1885-1947) and Frankie Chitwood (1891-1946). His siblings included Gertrude Massengale (1909-1998), Blaine Sharp (1911-2001), Jeanetta Terry (1919-2009), Modean Chitwood (1922-2004) and Willard Cadmus Sharp (1923-2009). He also had two half-siblings, Frank Gilbert Byrd (1930-2005) and Winfred A. Byrd (1933-1973). His parents divorced and his mother remarried to Willard Elzic Byrd.
Woodrow’s mother was descended from both the Chitwood and Trammell families, the first two families to reside in Winfield, and Revolutionary War veterans James Chitwood and Dennis Trammell. James Chitwood was Woodrow’s third-great-grandfather, and Dennis Trammell was his second-great-grandfather.
Woodrow married Walen Loudin (1923-2002) in 1940. She was the daughter of Cornelius Loudin (1882-1951) and Lenora Blevins (1883-1949) of Winfield. They had two children: Alice Sharp and Sonja Wright.
When he registered for the draft, Woodrow worked for Dewey Phillips in Helenwood.
World War II
Cpl. Sharp enlisted in the U.S. Army and was assigned to the 337th Infantry Regiment, 85th Infantry Division. He fought in the European theater of World War II. He was killed on Jan. 20, 1945 in Italy.
Aftermath
Cpl. Sharp was buried at the Pietramala Cemetery at Mount Beni, Italy. Later, his body was reinterred at Florence American Cemetery in Via Cassia, Italy. He has a cenotaph at the Jonathan Chitwood Cemetery in Winfield.
He received the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster. 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.
Walen remarried to Ralph Chitwood (1922-1994), who was also a World War II veteran. They had two children, Gayle Chitwood Bridges (1956-2017) and Dave Cullins. Walen died in 2002 and is buried at Jonathan Chitwood Cemetery, as is her second husband, who died in 1994. Gayle was also buried at the cemetery when she died in a car accident in 2017.