Ernest was born on Petit Jean Mountain, Conway County, AR, the fourth child of twelve and the third son born to Walter and Iva Lee Bailey Gasaway. He was drafted into the army during World War II, as a member of Co. M, 110th Infantry of the 28th Division. Deployed in France after the beachhead at Normandy had been established, his unit helped to take St. Lo, marched through Paris when it was liberated then endured massive casualties in heavy fighting at the Hurtgen Forest. The 110th was moved to the quiet Our River to recover, not long before Hitler's Ardennes counteroffensive that became known as the Battle of the Bulge. The 110th bore the brunt of the attack and was virtually destroyed on Dec. 16, 1944. Ernest was captured and remained a Prisoner of War until the German surrender.
After the war, Ernest went into farming with some of his brothers; first in northeast Louisiana and then in Lincoln and Desha Counties in Arkansas. He looked after his widowed mother until her death in 1964. He married Mary Nell "Pinkie" Partridge Fletcher, widow of Herman "Bubby" Fletcher, in 1961 and soon after had settled in a house then just outside of the Dumas city limits, where he lived until he succumbed to cancer.
After the war, Ernest went into farming with some of his brothers; first in northeast Louisiana and then in Lincoln and Desha Counties in Arkansas. He looked after his widowed mother until her death in 1964. He married Mary Nell "Pinkie" Partridge Fletcher, widow of Herman "Bubby" Fletcher, in 1961 and soon after had settled in a house then just outside of the Dumas city limits, where he lived until he succumbed to cancer.
Ernest was born on Petit Jean Mountain, Conway County, AR, the fourth child of twelve and the third son born to Walter and Iva Lee Bailey Gasaway. He was drafted into the army during World War II, as a member of Co. M, 110th Infantry of the 28th Division. Deployed in France after the beachhead at Normandy had been established, his unit helped to take St. Lo, marched through Paris when it was liberated then endured massive casualties in heavy fighting at the Hurtgen Forest. The 110th was moved to the quiet Our River to recover, not long before Hitler's Ardennes counteroffensive that became known as the Battle of the Bulge. The 110th bore the brunt of the attack and was virtually destroyed on Dec. 16, 1944. Ernest was captured and remained a Prisoner of War until the German surrender.
After the war, Ernest went into farming with some of his brothers; first in northeast Louisiana and then in Lincoln and Desha Counties in Arkansas. He looked after his widowed mother until her death in 1964. He married Mary Nell "Pinkie" Partridge Fletcher, widow of Herman "Bubby" Fletcher, in 1961 and soon after had settled in a house then just outside of the Dumas city limits, where he lived until he succumbed to cancer.
After the war, Ernest went into farming with some of his brothers; first in northeast Louisiana and then in Lincoln and Desha Counties in Arkansas. He looked after his widowed mother until her death in 1964. He married Mary Nell "Pinkie" Partridge Fletcher, widow of Herman "Bubby" Fletcher, in 1961 and soon after had settled in a house then just outside of the Dumas city limits, where he lived until he succumbed to cancer.
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