1905-1929

DeVane shows mettle under fire

A stone at the Airborne & Special Operations Museum honors the memory of Duncan J. 'Dunk' DeVane.

The struggle over war and peace in the 20th century can be told through the experiences of thousands of Cumberland County residents who served their country and returned home to serve their community.

The story of Duncan J. "Dunk" DeVane in World War I is just one remarkable example.

DeVane was only a teenager when he and others enlisted in the Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry in 1916, when that militia company was called into federal service to go to the Mexican border to help chase down the notorious Pancho Villa.

The militia company got no farther than El Paso, Texas, but DeVane and others soon signed up for service as the United States entered World War I.

Some of his exploits in the war are spelled out on the citation that accompanies the Distinguished Service Cross he received from Gen. John J. Pershing shortly after the war. The citation recounted his actions on Sept. 29, 1918, as U.S. and British forces assaulted German defense positions near the French village of Bellicourt:

"Sgt. Duncan J. DeVane, Company C, 115th Machine Gun Battalion, 30th Infantry Division.

"You carried wounded men 100 yards through shelling. You immediately left your dugout and went to their assistance.

"Carrying one man to shelter and being knocked down by a bursting shell, you returned to the shelled area and helped carry the rest of the wounded men to the dressing station 500 yards away across a field which was being heavily bombarded with gas and high explosive shells."

DeVane was wounded in the attack. For his heroics, he also received the British Military Medal and the French Croix de Guerre.

After the war, DeVane worked as an accountant, was the director of the Fayetteville Housing Authority and was the first president of the Fayetteville Camellia Society.

He never talked much about what happened in the war, said his nephew, James D. DeVane III of Fayetteville, who fought in World War II and was held prisoner by the Germans for 105 days at the end of the war.

James DeVane III, who is 79, matter-of-factly reflected on his uncle's service in World War I, his own service in World War II and the service of his son, James "Jay" DeVane IV, in Vietnam.

"You do what you have to do," he said.