STEARNS —
Wilburn Ross, the only recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor to hail from McCreary County, was in town last week to celebrate his 90th birthday.
Friends and family gathered into Stearns Restaurant Saturday to mark the occasion. Owner Ted Coffey had a special surprise in store for the WW2 hero and guest of honor.
Coffey, who’s particularly interested in local history, had found in a box a picture of Ross sitting with two young ladies at the restaurant counter. The picture had been snapped by a Courier Journal photographer on June 16, 1945, when more than 3,000 gathered into Stearns to see Governor Simeon Willis and Sgt. Alvin York as well as other dignitaries pay tribute to the hometown hero.
The young ladies pictured with Ross were his first cousin Anna Ross (now Wright), who was 17 at the time, and her aunt, Thelma King Shepherd, who will turn 90 later this year.
“We just happened to be there,” Mrs. Wright recalled of the event.
And so it was on Saturday, when Coffey arranged for the picture to be recreated. “It’s just neat to have them here together again,” he said.
The trio good-naturedly posed for local media before Ross was once again greeting the people who had turned out to see him. Though he makes the trip every year to mark his birthday, this 90th was special.
“I’m having a really good time,” Ross said. “There’s so many people I haven’t seen for years.”
Ross, a widower, travels with his son Greg but he lives on his own in Dupont, Washington. Ross said the key to his longevity is to keep going. He works hard on his house and yard, but enjoys going to the VFW post named in his honor every Thursday to listen live music.
“I’m a fan of Jim Reeves,” Ross laughed.
Ross was a Private when he earned his Congressional Medal of Honor after shooting 58 Germans near the French village of Saint Jacques in a one-machine gun stand after his supporting riflemen had run out of ammunition. The battle occurred on October 30, 1944.
By June of the following year, the war in Europe was over and Ross was back home becoming a State Highway Patrolman. He would eventually re-enter the Army, achieving the rank of Master Sergeant before retiring. Ross settled his family (including six children) in Washington State in 1973.
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Wilburn Ross displays a big smile after blowing out the candles on his birthday cake Saturday. Janie Slaven
Then and Now
Wilburn Ross returns home to celebrate 90th birthday
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