Hennon Gilbert Short Snorter
The Short Snorter Project
U. S. One Dollar Silver Certificate - Series 1935A - Serial Number Y29879242B. Submitted by Hennon Gilbert, Jr., who
writes, "Attached is a short snorter that belonged to my father. A portion of the inscription on the reverse of the short
snorter seen in the attached reads "Hennon Gilbert" and "Vila, Efate 1-21-43". My late father Major (then 2nd Lieutenant)
Hennon Gilbert, created it while posted on the island of Efate in the South Pacific in early 1943.  Lt. Gilbert had been in
theater since 12 March 1942, having shipped out from New York on 14 January - five weeks after the attack on Pearl
Harbor.   At the time, he was branched to the Quartermaster Corps, serving as a supply officer assigned to unit 'M' of
Force 9156 of the America
l Division.  He was released from this duty assignment on 11 June 1943 with orders to report
to a stateside hospital for treatment of a case of malaria. Lieutenant Gilbert recovered at Walter Reed Army Hospital,
and after postings to two Infantry Replacement Centers - at Camp Croft, SC, and Camp Hood, TX - he was redeployed to
the European theater of operations on 31 December 1944 where he was assigned to the 30th Infantry Regiment, 3rd
Infantry Division, with which he served through VE-Day.  While assigned to the 30th Infantry, he received the Bronze Star
with 'V'  device and one OLC, the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Presidential Unit Citation, and the
French Croix de Guerre fourragère. After the war, Lieutenant Gilbert remained in the National Guard, and went on to
command a battalion of the 150th Infantry Regiment of the West Virginia National Guard, headquartered at Bluefield, WV,
before resigning his commission in 1951. Hennon Gilbert (4/8/20 - 3/4/92) is buried at Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetery,
in San Antonio, TX.
2nd Lieutenant Hennon Gilbert - 1942
Major Hennon Gilbert - 1950