About

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A Brief History

Flint Forest Sellers; Tossco Burnett Rudolph; Harry Switzer; J.A. Mace; Thomas Matthew Parker; Allie Bastine Barney; Miles Washington Meredith; Bill Grimm; Fredd Duff; John William Driskell; Alvey Guy Marshall; John Mobley Clark; John P. Murt; Marvin B. Gish; Ozzie Moses Vandergriff; Lee Roy Landon; Homer (Habart) Darden; Ora Richard Burnett. **It is unknown as to why the order is listed this way since this is not the order of service as Chapter Commander.

All of these listed early Commanders were veterans of WWI and they were all born in the 1890’s except Ozzie Vandergriff, who was born in 1901.

On April 17, 1999 the 1st District meeting for the DAV was held in Paducah, followed by another hosting on April 8, 2000.

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Request of Permission to Rename Chapter 7 After Miles Meredith

The following is an excerpt from correspondence between DAV Chapter 7 Commander Ford and Miles Meredith's daughter, Vojai Meredith Dorris, dated November 7, 1986.

Dear Commander Ford,

I am writing this in regard to the DAV Chapter # 7 being renamed in honor of my father, Miles Meredith. I feel that this would be a great honor in his memory and graciously give my permission for the chapter to be renamed for him.

Very truly yours,
Vojai Meredith Dorris

Excerpt of correspondence, Commander Ford, Vojai Meredith Dorris, November 7, 1986

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Resolution of Chapter 7 Rename Request

WHEREAS, Miles Meredith was a Charter member of Paducah Chapter 7, serving the Chapter as Service Officer and Commander, and serving the Department of Kentucky as Commander, and

WHEREAS, we wish to recognize Miles Meredith's contributions to Disabled American Veterans Chapter 7, the Department of Kentucky, and the many veterans and their dependents he served throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Paducah Chapter 7 assembled in Paducah, Kentucky on April 3, 1986 renames our Chapter as Miles Meredith Chapter # 7.

An internal note on request and resolution.

While the formal letter of approval from the Meredith family was noted on November 7, 1986, seven months after the official acceptance by the Commonwealth of Kentucky, previous verbal permission had already been established and discussed. It wasn’t until later that the Commonwealth of Kentucky requested a notarized hard-copy.

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A Recollection…

The following is taken from a correspondence between DAV Chapter 7 Commander and a close family friend of Miles Meredith.

…my father’s first job was as a vocational agriculture teacher in Western KY. He taught at Heath High School, and that is where he got to know Miles Meredith. Dad probably came to Heath in about 1936. In a few years he left to become principal at Gallatin Co. High School in Warsaw, KY (northern KY; SW of Covington area). In 1946 he returned to Heath. He and mother bought their house from Mr. Meredith. It was the second house north (?) of the railroad tracks, west side of the road, about a half mile north of the high school. I remember hearing that Mr. Meredith was superintendent of schools at the time. Mother and Dad’s next-door neighbors were “Mutt” (Willard) and Mildred Carroll. They had two children, Carol Ann and Joe, about the age of me and my younger sister. My family moved from Heath to Louisville in 1949 where Dad worked for KY Farm Bureau for the rest of his career. Former governor Julian Carroll was a student at Heath High School at the time; and he was my babysitter during those years.

Dad learned to barbecue from Mr. Meredith. Mr. Meredith used a vinegar-based sauce that my dad used throughout his life for barbecuing. I believe that Mr. Meredith would take dad, probably as his understudy, to do the cooking for community gatherings, but I don’t have detailed memory of hearing about these outings.

Anyway, I recall hearing that Mr. Meredith was in WWI in Europe. I heard that he was injured twice; and I recall hearing that he was thought dead twice but survived both injuries. I also recall hearing that after one of the injuries he was found by a couple medics who put him in their ambulance and were taking him to a field hospital but were hit by an artillery shell. I believe that this shelling killed the medics (two of them I believe) and destroyed the ambulance. Mr. Meredith, I understand, picked himself up, having survived the shelling, put his insides (which were exposed during one of the attacks he had survived that day) back in his abdominal cavity, then walked to the field hospital where, evidently, he recovered. I have not heard this story repeated in a number of years, but my memory is fairly clear with what I heard probably 65 years ago. I don’t know if the lore around the DAV chapter includes any of this information but when I saw that the chapter is named in his memory, I wondered if these acts of heroism were a factor in the naming.

I am sure that I met his daughter, Vojai, whose statement you sent me. However, she is 11 years older than I, and I did not know her well. I do remember hearing that Mr. Meredith heard her name when he was in the war, and evidently liked it and gave it to his daughter. I don’t know if there was any more story around a French “Vojai” or not.

In thinking about this more, I have messaged Julian Carroll, former governor of the state and my first babysitter, to see if he has any recollections of Mr. Meredith. I will let you know if i receive any information about this from him.

Thanks again for your response.

Name Redacted for Privacy