The collection is open for research.
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Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Robert Barnes Ware Collection, 1935, 1946, Ms2024-043, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The Robert Barnes Ware Collection was donated to Special Collections and University Archives in September 2005.
The processing, arrangement, and description of the Robert Barnes Ware Collection was completed in April 2024.
Captain Robert Barnes Ware was born to Reuben Barnes and Birdie Drummond Ware on December 30, 1914, in Amherst County, Virginia. He graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1937 and earned an M.D. from the Medical College of Virginia (now the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center) in 1940. He married Martha Frances Wood on July 29th, 1938, in Lynchburg and their children include Robert.
Ware interned at the Lynchburg General Hospital before volunteering for the National Guard in July 1940. Upon U.S. entry into World War II, Ware was assigned to the 104th Medical Battalion, which was attached to the 29th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army. He was appointed Battalion Surgeon to the 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division. Ware was killed in action on D-Day at the Normandy landings on June 6th, 1944, and posthumously awarded the Purple Heart. He is buried in the Normandy American Cemetery at St. Laurent, France.
External Sources:
"CAPT Robert Barnes Ware", FindAGrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/76891976/robert_barnes-ware, accessed April 11, 2024.
"Robert Barnes Ware", in the Virginia, U.S., Marriage Records, 1936-2014, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/discoveryui-content/view/11531850:9279, accessed April 11, 2024.
Robert Barnes Ware Collection (AFC/2001/001/41351), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, featured in the digital exhibit "Serving: Our Voices", https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.41351/, accessed April 19, 2024.
The Robert Barnes Ware Collection includes a postcard from Ware to Martha Wood, Jan. 3, 1935, about life at VPI, a pamphlet for Memorial Service at V.P.I., May 12, 1946, and a program for Memorial Service, May 12, 1946.
See also the Robert Barnes Ware Collection (AFC/2001/001/41351), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, which is featured in the digital exhibit "Serving: Our Voices".
The guide to the Robert Barnes Ware Collection by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/).