John Wesley Sorey

Submitted by: Chris Mulholland

John Wesley Sorey served in World War 1 with the United States Army. The dates of service are: Known 1917-1918.

 

John Wesley Sorey was born in the Fentress section of Chesapeake on December 28th, 1896 and was working as a “Mate” on the Albermarle & Chesapeake Canal in 1918.

He joined the Army in 1917 and was assigned as a Private with Company D, 35th Engineers. Engineers were among the first US forces to arrive in France in 1917.

In December of that year, he caught measles and was hospitalized in Base Hospital #101 in St. Nazaire, France where he then developed pneumonia and died on January 13th, 1918.

Many years later, his father, Howard, applied for a veteran’s stone memorial which was approved and is located in Chesapeake Memorial Gardens.