| By Bob Weaver
PART THREE
 Today, the memory of a native son comes home to
Calhoun County. Sgt. Bernard Pius Bell, whose life became more rooted in Mason
County where he spent his adult life, is a genuine hero who crashed through the
barrier of fear and accomplished more for his cause than most can ever imagine. His
World War II bravery was awarded with a Congressional Medal of Honor. He became
one of WWII's most decorated soldiers. See Uncommon
Deeds
The Grantsville bridge is being named "Bernard P. Bell Memorial Bridge" at 4 p.m.
today, November 9. VFW Commander of Post 5959 Paul Whytsell is encouraging
everyone to take a few minutes of their day and attend the ceremony, which will be
followed by the Second Annual Veteran's Appreciation Day at the Senior Center.
Born in Calhoun County at Henrietta in 1911, the son of Perry Paris and Lora Roberts
Bell, he shortly moved with his family to Point Pleasant, West Virginia, where he
graduated from Point Pleasant High School in 1929. Among his other Calhoun ancestors, grandparents William Edgar and
Rachel Rebecca Ferrell Bell and George H. and Vashti Wilt Roberts. Great-grandparents are Samuel and Susan Stevens Bell,
Hiram and Matilda Knight Ferrell, Tunis and Keziah Roberts and Mary Wilt.
Entering the Army in 1942, he
took part in the African Landing at Oran, Algeria and was involved in the African
campaign, the Salerno landing and the Italian campaign.
Beyond the description of his heroic efforts, see heroic
combat deeds , that earned him the Medal of Honor, after the landing of
General Patton's 7th Army on the shore of southern France, Bell was captured by the
Germans near Lyons, and while being transported on a prisoner of was captured by the
Germans near Lyons, and while being transported on a prisoner of war train, he
escaped by leaping from a train car. French underground channels helped him return
to his company in thirty days after his capture.
Efforts by the local VFW Post to have the new Army Reserve Center at Big Bend
named after Bell have been stuck for over a year.
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