Captain Walter Scott Nelson, JR. 

Walter Scott Nelson was the oldest of four children of Walter and Lois Nelson.  He was born in Lynchburg, VA on August 3, 1915 and moved to Savannah with his family as a child. He was confirmed at Christ Church and was active as an acolyte and crucifer. He was a leader of the young people's church group in Georgia. He was a graduate of Savannah High and studied engineering at Clemson for two years before returning to Savannah to work as a salesman in an auto parts store.  On November 8, 1941 he enlisted in the Army Air Corps in Montgomery, AL to be an aviation cadet. After flight training he was transferred to North Africa, where he served as a pilot of a C-47, ferrying paratroopers to support the invasion of Sicily. He was married to Lenoir Sanders on July 6, 1942. His daughter, Lenoir Sanders Nelson, was born July 7, 1943. 

His plane was shot down on July 11, 1943 during the invasion of Sicily by friendly fire. The chaplain at his base wrote a letter to his wife after he was killed stating:

"Captain Nelson was one of my best friends and without question, my choice of the entire squadron. He seemed to take considerable interest in my work and was present at my services whenever such was possible. The last service he attended was on the fourth of July....  You will be glad to know that he died as he lived and as you left him, a gallant American pilot who has paid the supreme sacrifice for the price of freedom."

He received the Silver Star posthumously.