Walter Sanders
Walter Sanders was born on July 30, 1886, in Mollins, NC. Walter was the son of Joseph
and Rhina* Sanders and was the oldest of approximately five children in the Sanders household. By the 1900 census, the family had moved to Statesboro, GA. The 1910 census shows the family moved to a different location in Statesboro with the noticeable absence of Joseph, Walter’s father. On July 4, 1911, Walter married Adeline Kiner. Sometime afterward, the couple moved to Savannah. His draft registration card shows that wife, mother, and brothers depended upon him for support.
Walter Sanders registered for the draft on June 30, 1917. He enlisted on August 3, 1918, at the age of 32 and was sent to Camp Wheeler near Macon, Georgia for training. However, according to military records, it appears Sanders died on October 20, 1918, roughly ten weeks after he initially enlisted. The official cause of death listed is “pneumonia and influenza.”
*Important information, locations, and dates are primarily based on military records and may be inconsistent.
Works Cited
1910 Census, Ancestry,
Walter Sanders and Adeline Kiner’s Marriage License, Ancestry, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/discoveryui-content/view/29917:4766?_phcmd=u(%27https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/search/?name=Walter_Sanders&event=_bulloch-georgia-usa_410&location=2&priority=usa&successSource=Search&queryId=a4c8f743-eaee-446d-8046-4e8b126225bd%27,%27successSource%27)
Walter Sanders Military Registration Card, Ancestry, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/imageviewer/collections/6482/images/005150625_03968?usePUB=true&_phsrc=caf74&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=15406344
Private Sanders’ Death Card, Ancestry, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/discoveryui-content/view/2799:3129?_phcmd=u(%27https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/search/?name=Walter_Sanders&event=_bulloch-georgia-usa_410&location=2&priority=usa&successSource=Search&queryId=a4c8f743-eaee-446d-8046-4e8b126225bd%27,%27successSource%27)
Georgia Memorial Database, https://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/georgia-memorial-database.html
Camp Wheeler Fact Sheet, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, https://www.sas.usace.army.mil/Portals/61/docs/FUDS/I04GA003305%20Camp%20Wheeler%20R07H%20Benning%20Range%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf?ver=sXoahMCBPwQWnjqbgdfSbg%3D%3D