Cousin William Round - Army Ranger

William D. Round (1949 - 2006), son of William & Bonnie (Garrett) Round.

[Photo courtesy of Bill's sister]

In a Memorial Day 2007 post (revised):

My cousin, Bill Round, a Vietnam veteran, died last December, and so I’m also thinking of him on this Memorial Day. Even though Bill was my first cousin, our paths rarely crossed. Genealogical research spurred me to contact Bill and his wife, Penny a few years ago.

I heard from Bill shortly after he finished marching to Washington, D.C., protesting the 2001 Army directive issuing the traditional Army Ranger black beret to all soldiers (the Rangers have since adopted the tan beret). C-Span has a video of Representative Walter Jones of North Carolina on the floor of the House of Representatives noting Bill's protest. An Army Ranger history is found here.

A moving tribute (with pictures) to Bill was found here.

Related To The Round Family

My aunt, Bonnie Garrett (1925 - 1996), met William F. Round (1926 - 2004), a student at GMI (General Motors Institute) in Flint, Michigan, and married him on 21 August 1948. Pictured below is Uncle Bill and cousin Mike Round (1951-1998). The Rounds moved from Michigan and briefly lived in Ohio before moving to Houston, Texas. When Bill moved to Houston, Texas, he was joined by his mother-in-law, Katie (Johnson) Garrett.

[Photo courtesy of Bill & Bonnie's daughter]

William Finley Round was born in Columbiana Co., Ohio, on May 10, 1926, to Harry C. Round and Mae Elsie Daugherty. Harry Round's parents, William & Alice (Cartwright) Round were both born in England. Harry was the 9th of nine children; the eldest was born in New York. Mae was the daughter of Finley & Elizabeth Daugherty, both born in Pennsylvania.

Wordless Wednesday - Aunt Bonnie

[Photo of Bonnie (Garrett) Round courtesy of her daughter, K. Round]

Grandpa, We Hardly Knew Ye - James Herschell Garrett

From the Jonesboro Sun, September 17, 1970 - 2:


As the story goes, my grandmother, Katie (Johnson) Garrett left my grandfather, James Herschell Garrett, the day after my parents were married. Grandma Katie moved to Houston, Texas, where her eldest daughter, Bonnie and Bonnie's husband, GMI graduate Bill Round, were living. Visits with Grandma Katie were few and visits with James Herschell Garrett were non-existent. What do you say to a man who sends his daughter and her family a Girlie Pinup Calendar as a present? Only had one chance to find out. He was terminally ill when I drove with my mother to Poplar Bluff, Missouri, and joined my Aunt Bonnie for a reluctant bedside vigil.

What is remembered from that visit is a very frail man who was ravaged by cancer. It was difficult to reconcile his reputation as a handsome, h---raising ladies man with the person who was lying in the hospital bed. For someone such as I who rarely left Michigan (actually who rarely left the Flint area) the trip to southern Missouri was an exotic adventure. We also visited the family of Joe Garrett, my grandfather's brother, and wish now that I had a better memory of who they were.

James Herschell Garrett was born in Lake City, Craighead Co., Arkansas. His father, Dr. John Joseph (J. J.) Garrett was also born in northeast Arkansas (Aug 1868), as was J.J.'s father, George Washington (Wash) Garrett (abt. 1843). Wash Garrett's father, Joseph C. (Cas) Garrett, was born ca 1814 in South Carolina. Wash Garrett's siblings were born in Alabama and Arkansas and even possibly Tennessee.

James H. & Katie (Johnson) Garrett moved to Flint, Michigan, sometime between 1925 and 1930. Katie's sisters Pearl, Marie, Blanche and Ruth also moved to Michigan (primarily Flint; Ruth went to Pontiac) as did Mabel for a short time. Katie's brother James moved to the "downriver" area in Wayne County, south of Detroit. Where James went to live in 1951 after his wife left him and they divorced I do not know.

Thoughts on Memorial Day 2007

After leaving Proud Lake State Park last Thursday, we headed for the Wayne County Fairground campground in Belleville, Michigan. An added Memorial Day bonus was a glimpse of historic aircraft flying overhead as they headed towards the Yankee Air Museum.

While watching as President Bush spoke at Arlington National Cemetery, I remembered my visit there when I was about ten years old. At time we also visited my Dad’s cousin, Jim Powers, whose father, Ward Powers, who died in 1953 and was buried in Arlington.

Ward Stanley Powers, born in Michigan in 1893. After serving as a soldier in World War I, Ward returned to Flint, where he was a salesman in 1923. He had married Rose Love in 1920 in Rose's native Leroy, Indiana. By 1930, Ward was a U.S. Deputy Marshall living in Lake County, Indiana, with wife, Rose, and children. The family moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where Ward worked as a publisher (among other things). In 1946 Ward S. Powers made a very interesting career move -- he was the Republican candidate for the U. S. Senate in Arizona. He lost to the incumbent, Senator McFarland. Of course in the next election cycle in 1952, Barry Goldwater managed to bump McFarland.

My cousin, Bill Round, a Vietnam veteran, died last December, and so I’m also thinking of him on this Memorial Day. Even though Bill was my first cousin, our paths rarely crossed. Genealogical research spurred me to contact Bill and his wife, Penny a few years ago. In fact, I heard from Bill shortly after he finished this. A moving tribute to Bill was found here. An Army Ranger history is found here.