John R. Gardner

38357283 Staff Sergeant

84th Div Co A 309th Eng

United States Army

World War II

    John Randolph "Teannie" Gardner was born in Thornton, Arkanasas, the son of William and Eulalia Pickett Gardner. Teannie attended Thornton High School.

    After his training at Camp Howze, Texas, Teannie was in all of the Battle of the Bulge

and helped to liberate small villages in Belgium. One of the things he resented was that

the U. S. soldiers were ordered to wait outside Berlin so that the Russians could go in

first. In spite of it all, he never harbored any hatred for the Germans after the conflict.

   He came to Wynne and went in the lumber business with his brother. Wynne Lumber

Company was the small town business that offered advice and help. Teannie was never

too busy to cut out plywood figures for Christmas decorations or to mix paint for the third time for the confused housewife while he was also filling a contractor's huge order .

   Teannie married Julia Carter and they were the parents of a daughter, Sidney Marks

and a son, John Randolph, Jr. John R. Gardner died 11 September 1983 and was buried in

Cogbill Cemetery.