Captain Isham Cason Hewgley was a member of the 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was Killed in Action while fighting the enemy in North Korea on December 9, 1951.
Isham Cason Hewgley, Jr. was born in Knoxville, Tennessee on September 25, 1918 He was born to Knoxville Attorney, Isham Cason Hewgley, Sr. and Mamie Gardner Hewgley. He graduated from Knoxville High School where he was a guard on the football team and was raised in the White Avenue community.
I.C. Hewgley, Jr., was an active member and steward of First Methodist Church in Knoxville since he was 12 years old and became a member of the church’s official board.
He attended the University of Tennessee and Cumberland University where he received his Bachelor of Laws or LLB degree in 1941.He was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the reserve while attending the University of Tennessee.
His law practice was interrupted by World War II and he was ordered to active duty service on June 10, 1942. During World War II, he served as an infantry platoon leader and Company Commander with the 5th Army in the Italian campaign. In April 1944, he was fighting in the battle for Italy and for his service in and around Casino he was awarded the Bronze Star. His Bronze Star would reach him while he was in Korea several years later. At the close of World War II, First Lieutenant Hewgley was placed in the Judge Advocate General’s office in Milan, Italy and promoted to the rank of Captain.
In 1947, Captain I.C. Hewgley, Jr., returned home from the war and entered the law firm of his father. He became active in Knoxville politics and in 1948 was the Democratic nominee for county solicitor. He later sought the Democratic nomination for Knox County Direct Representative for the Tennessee State legislature. He had served as Sergeant of Arms in the Tennessee State Senate during the 1949 legislative session.
Upon his separation from the Army after World War II, Captain Hewgley helped organize the reserve unit of the 822nd Tank Battalion in 1949. In October 1950, he was called up from reserve status and sent for further training to Camp Polk, La. and in July 1951, Captain Hewgley was sent to Korea. He was immediately sent to the front where he remained almost continuously until he was killed in action in North Korea. Captain Hewgley was serving with the Seventeenth Regimental Tank Company, Seventh Infantry Division. He was killed in action on December 9, 1951 near Sat’ar-ri, North Korea while leading his tank company in an attack on the enemy.
The notice of Captain Hewgley’s death reached his parents in Knoxville just days before Christmas on December 22, 1951. His remains were returned to the United States on the transport Enid Victory which docked at San Francisco on February 20, 1952. Funeral services were held in Knoxville and he was laid to rest in Highland Memorial Cemetery.
In addition to his parents Mr. and Mrs. Isham Cason Hewgley, Sr., he was survived by his brother, Robert Hewgley, a student at the University of Tennessee Medical School in Memphis. I.C. was engaged to Miss Beverly Taylor of Houston, Texas.
Captain Hewgley was awarded the Bronze Star medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, National Defense Medal, American Campaign Medal, Purple Heart Medal, Combat Infantryman’s Badge, World War II Victory Medal, and Army of Occupation Medal for meritorious achievement in ground operations in the European, African, and Middle Eastern Campaigns during World War II. He was awarded the Purple Heart Medal, Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation Badge, 2nd Oak Leaf Cluster to Bronze Star Medal, Korean War Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and United Nations Service Medal for his meritorious service in Korea.
Captain Hewgley was well known, respected, and has been memorialized in the Knoxville community. The US Army Reserve Training Center in Knoxville was named in honor of Captain Isham C. Hewgley, Jr. on November 12, 1957. He had helped organize the training center after his service in World War II.
His nephew, Dr. Isham Cason Hewgley, III, and his great nephew, Cason Hewgley, IV, of Knoxville proudly carry his name. Dr. Hewgley, Cason, and Candie Hewgley assisted in submitting this biography in memory of Captain Isham Cason Hewgley, Jr.
- Rank: Captain
- Date of birth: 25 September 1918
- Date of death: 9 December 1951
- County: Knox
- Hometown: Knoxville
- Service Branch: Army
- Division/Assignment: 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division
- Conflict: World War II, Korean War
- Awards: Purple Heart, Combat Infantryman's Badge, Korean Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Korean War Service Medal
- Burial/Memorial Location: Highland Memorial Cemetery, Knoxville, Knox County, TN
- Location In Memorial: Pillar XXI, Top Panel
- Contact us to sponsor Isham C. Hewgley Jr.
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