| To
most everyone, Bernard Layton was known as "Barney", although many of his
nieces and nephews called him "Uncle Layton". Bernard and his brothers
grew up in an area of Washington, DC, known as "Swamp Poodle" behind the
old Sibley Hospital on North Capitol Street. They were part of a pretty
rough Irish ethnic gang and had many run-ins with a rival gang in an area
called "Foggy Bottom."
Bernard
learned to play a horn, possibly the French Horn or Sousaphone, and at
the age of 17 he joined the U.S. Army as a member of the band. Subsequently
he was transfered to active duty as a combat soldier in World War I, where
he saw action in France. He sustained perminant injury there when he was
caught in a mustard gas attack. The gas ruined many of the nerves
up around his forehead, and he had trouble with his eyes. Upon returning
from the war, it is assummed Bernard married Corrie and lived with her
and her father in northern Virginia, where they became the parents of Willard
Layton. Unfortunately Bernard's war injuries precluded him from finding
gainful employment, and his marriage suffered as a result. In the
early 1920's, Bernard lived with his mother in Perry Point on the Susquehanna
River in Havre de Grace, Maryland. That area had seven to ten different
hospitals, most of which served as rehabilitation clinics for war veterans
suffering from what was then called "shell-shock." The clinics offered
many services and activities, including moving pictures, bowling allies,
band concerts and job training. Bernard played the horn in the concerts
and taught landscape gardening to the patients.
Bernard's
second marriage produced a large legacy seeded in the Bel Aire, Maryland,
area. Today they are spread from Maryland to Oklahoma and Texas.
Bernard died in 1948, having finally succumbed to his war injuries.
As far as we can tell, he is the only Wannall interred in Arlington National
Cemetery.
Last
updated: May 25, 2009 |
