COUNTY LIFE
USS Oklahoma sailor finally laid to rest at Forestburg
By BARBARA GREEN
editor@bowienewsonline.com
A funeral is often a sad and mournful occasion, and while Saturday’s service for James C. Solomon was tinged with grief, his homecoming to Forestburg after more than 76 years after his death at Pearl Harbor was respectful and joyful as American flags flew in the morning air and sailors in dress whites snapped to in their duties.
Navy Seaman 1st Class James Cleve Soloman was buried with full military honors, remembrances and hymns at Perryman Cemetery Saturday morning. He is the eighth seaman from the USS Oklahoma whose remains were identified through modern DNA testing conducted during the last three years.
Solomon had been in the U.S. Navy a little more than a year after joining on April 2, 1940, when the battleship USS Oklahoma was bombed while moored at Pearl Harbor. A total of 429 men died on the ship that day. Due to the ship capsizing and delays in getting to those deceased seaman there were problems with identification.
Despite multiple attempts to ID the men, many were buried as unknowns in two Hawaii cemeteries. However, about three years ago Solomon’s family was contacted about providing DNA material and last September Hardy Seay, nephew to Solomon, received a call that his “Uncle J” had been officially accounted for by the Navy.
A large crowd filled the small country cemetery located at the edge of Forestburg for the service. Members of the Patriot Guard escorted the casket from Bowie to the cemetery driving through a lane lined by the local Boy Scouts troop holding American flags.
Circling the gravesite were a Navy honor teams for a rifle volley,“Taps” and presentation of the American flag. They made an impressive site dressed in their white uniforms and their gold buttons shined in the sunlight.
RDML Carol Lynch, JAGC, USN, deputy judge advocate general (reserve affairs and operations, deputy commander, naval legal service command, led the honor team and rifle team, providing the military honors.
For Lynch this was her seventh seaman to lay to rest from the USS Oklahoma and it moves her as much today as the first one in December 2016. She explained the policy is if a sailor or marine is killed in action there will be a flag officer, an admiral at the funeral and at planeside when they come home.
“It is an honor every day,” said the Admiral. “The first one I did was shortly after being promoted to admiral. It was in Mississippi in December 2016 during the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It was amazing. When I came home I thought I can retire now, it was a great memorable moment of my life to see the strong support and to honor someone who lost their life in service.”
Read the full story in the mid-week News and see many more photos from this event.
Also see the adjacent video on the flag folding ceremony.
(Top image: Courtesy photo, Jody Langston runs an informative table on Wise Hope Shelter & Crisis Center at the National Night Out Oct. 6.)
An American is sexually assaulted every 73 seconds. One in three Texans experience domestic violence in their lifetime. Statewide, intimate partner violence claimed the lives of 160 individuals in 2025 alone.
Behind these staggering statistics from organizations like Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network and the Texas Council on Family Violence are real people, and that is precisely why the Wise Hope Shelter & Crisis Center exists.
This October, during Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the agency stands as a vital resource. Originally founded on Aug. 2, 1999, following the 1997 organization of the Wise County Domestic Violence Task Force, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit was created to address violence in rural north-central Texas.
Supported by hundreds of volunteers, Wise Hope has since grown to encompass a 20-bed, 4,800-square-foot shelter, three outreach offices and a thrift store, and the agency is preparing to announce an upcoming renovation project soon.
Read the full story in your Thursday Bowie News.
There will be a community blood drive from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Nov 2 at AVIR in Bowie, 700 W. U.S. Highway 287 South.
The Carter BloodCare Bus will be present with its staff to collect blood donations. The sign- up link is: greatpartners.org/donor/schedules/drive_schedule/168764.
Carter BloodCare is offering a plush new blanket to thank local blood donors for giving in November. Carter BloodCare’s annual blanket incentive has become a popular holiday tradition. The blanket is available while supplies last.
Eligible donors can give blood starting at age 16 with parental consent; those 17 and older can donate on their own. Donors must weigh at least 110 pounds and feel well at the time.
Carter BloodCare donors help Texans with life-threatening injuries from car wrecks; children fighting cancer; burn patients; older adults with health issues; organ transplant recipients; new mothers and others in need.
For details, visit CarterBloodCare.org or call 800-366-2834.
Carter BloodCare has proudly served Texans since 1951. The independent community blood center provides transfusion resources in 59 counties of North, Central and East Texas, supporting thousands of patients in more than 225 medical facilities. Carter BloodCare is one of the largest nonprofit blood programs in Texas, delivering more than 450,000 doses of blood, platelets and plasma each year to meet the health care needs.
As the holiday near blood is often in short supply, but the need never goes away. Make time to scheduled your date to donate blood to help your community to be prepared for the upcoming season.
The Montague County Commissioner’s Court opened bids for the reconstruction of the Montague County Veterans Memorial Wall during regular session Oct. 26.
The memorial, located on the courthouse square, was heavily damaged on March 4, 2025, when a severe storm with high winds supposedly caused two large black panels containing the names of local veterans to fall over and shatter.
It was the second time a panel had fallen at the site. A single panel previously fell in November 2021, costing $16,000 to replace and raising questions regarding the monument’s structural integrity. Following the 2021 incident, it was discovered no steel rods or internal supports secured the stone panels to the concrete foundation.
Read the full story in your Thursday Bowie News.
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