POWERGRAMS

3 That's the closest Daughtry said he came to being killed during his three-year stint in the war that saw the Allied powers of the United States, Great Britain and the Soviet Union battle around the globe against the Axis powers of Germany, Italy and Japan. "I didn't see any action," he said in a monotone. But he did, helping establish vital communications across the island that was American headquarters for the Eighth Army that seized back control of the Philippines two years after MacArthur had been forced to leave, promising "I shall return." Daughtry felt certain he would have met his demise fighting on the Japanese mainland, if not for the atomic bombs dropped by the U.S. on Hiroshima on Aug. 6 and Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945, which caused Japanese Emperor Hirohito to surrender six days later. "We had our equipment ready to put on a ship to invade Japan," he recalled of what was to be called Operation Downfall. "I didn't think we would have stood a chance invading the Japanese mainland. They had thousands of Purple Hearts made (to present to the wounded or families of soldiers who died). They knew it was going to be a slaughter. I don't think I would have made it. When they dropped the atomic bomb, that was the best day of my life." Daughtry was from the Shellhorn community, 8 miles northwest of Troy, where he grew up hunting and fishing. "The best way to describe me was an outdoorsman," he said. His father was a section foreman for Atlantic Coast Railroad, maintaining tracks in the area. Daughtry wanted to work on the railroad after high school but was too young. Instead, he was hired by Alabama Power as a tree-trimmer in July 1941. Once the war got into high gear, he joined the Army as a 20-year-old, doing basic training at Camp Crowder in Missouri, then being stationed at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, where he learned to scale poles and string phone wires. "I was just like a telephone lineman for South Central Bell (now AT&T)," he explained. "It was me, a truck driver and a helper. We pulled the wire," which means they not only pulled it up to the pole but connected it. Asked if he could recall any positive or interesting memories of his service overseas, Daughtry was quick to answer with a straightforward "no." Still, he waxed philosophical about his time in the military. Daughtry wanted to ensure that his family knew what happened to him as a young man. "I'm proud I was able to serve my country during World War II. The way it turned out, my 32 months of service didn't help win the war, but it helped me in several ways that have lasted until now." After discharge, Daughtry returned to Montgomery and used his Army skills to become an apprentice on an Alabama Power transmission crew. He climbed the ranks as a troubleman, a district crew subforeman, a line crew foreman and finally as a line supervisor in the Montgomery district, which was a position he kept 17 years until retiring in 1987. Daughtry and his wife, Ethel, were married while he was on furlough before he deployed overseas in WWII. She died in 2011. They had three children, five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. By Gilbert Nicholson Golf was a favorite Daughtry pastime. Daughtry with family. Daughtry and brother Nelson.

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