# Welborn Griffith > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Welborn_Griffith > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Welborn_Griffith.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welborn_Griffith > Source revision: 1352353861 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Infobox military person | honorific_prefix = | name = Welborn Barton Griffith Jr. | honorific_suffix = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = Welborn Barton Griffith Jr. (1901–1944) at West Point in 1925.png | image_size = | alt = | caption = At West Point in 1925 | birth_date = {{Birth date|1901|11|19}} | death_date = {{Death date and age|1944|08|16|1901|11|01}} | birth_place = [Quanah](/source/Quanah%2C_Texas), Texas | death_place = [Lèves](/source/L%C3%A8ves), France | burial_place = [Brittany American Cemetery and Memorial](/source/Brittany_American_Cemetery_and_Memorial) in Saint-James, Normandy, France | burial_label = | burial_coordinates = | nickname = | birth_name = Welborn Barton Griffith Jr. | allegiance = [United States of America](/source/United_States) | branch = [United States Army](/source/United_States_Army) | service_years = | rank = 15px [Colonel](/source/Colonel_(United_States)) | service_number = | unit = Headquarters, [XX Corps](/source/XX_Corps_(United_States)) | commands = | battles = Battle of Chartres, [World War II](/source/World_War_II){{KIA}} | battles_label = | awards = [Silver Star](/source/Silver_Star), [Distinguished Service Cross](/source/Distinguished_Service_Cross_(United_States)), [French Croix de Guerre](/source/Croix_de_Guerre), [Purple Heart](/source/Purple_Heart), [Légion d'Honneur](/source/L%C3%A9gion_d'Honneur), [Legion of Merit](/source/Legion_of_Merit) | memorials = Commemorative plaque at Lèves | spouse = | relations = | other_work = | signature = | website = | module = }} '''Welborn Barton Griffith Jr.''' (November 19, 1901 – August 16, 1944) was an American officer who served during [World War II](/source/World_War_II) in the [United States Army](/source/United_States_Army). He graduated from the [U.S. Military Academy at West Point](/source/United_States_Military_Academy) in the Class of 1925. Colonel Griffith is best remembered for being instrumental in saving France's [Chartres Cathedral](/source/Chartres_Cathedral), one of the most important monuments of [medieval civilization](/source/Middle_Ages), during the battle of Chartres (August 16–18, 1944) in World War II. As Operations Officer (G-3) with Headquarters, for [XX Corps](/source/XX_Corps_(United_States)), Griffith and his driver searched the cathedral, and climbed to the top of its [bell tower](/source/bell_tower). Finding no Germans there, he was able to rescind the order to shell the monument. Eugene Schulz, an operations officer serving under Griffith, described the event as follows: "Nobody knows why he [Griffith] personally went into Chartres. He had to go through ... a few enemy lines there; he went into the Cathedral, and he checked it out—he went through the [nave](/source/nave), he climbed the bell tower and he did not find any German snipers at all. So he immediately said to the artillery, 'Rescind that order to shell and destroy'."{{cite news |last1=Fechner |first1=Jason |title=WWII Veteran from Wisconsin Honored in France |url=https://spectrumnews1.com/wi/milwaukee/human-interest/2019/09/13/wwii-veteran-from-wisconsin-honored-in-france# |access-date=1 October 2021 |work=[Spectrum News 1](/source/Spectrum_News) |date=12 September 2019}} Later that day, he was killed in the neighboring town of [Lèves](/source/L%C3%A8ves),[http://www.leves.fr/actualites/retour-en-images-sur-la-reception-deugene-schulz Site officiel de la Ville de Lèves] 3.5 km north of Chartres. The people of Lèves set up a plaque on a building next to the spot where Griffith was killed.{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/1782711/the-american-hero-who-saved-chartres-cathedral/|title=The American hero who saved Chartres Cathedral|date=August 28, 2014 }} On October 21, 1944, Griffith was awarded, posthumously, the [Distinguished Service Cross](/source/Distinguished_Service_Cross_(United_States)).{{cite web|url=http://valor.militarytimes.com/recipient.php?recipientid=6100%257Ctitle=Militarytimes|title=Valor awards for Welborn Barton Griffith , Jr.}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} He was also awarded the [Silver Star](/source/Silver_Star), the [Purple Heart](/source/Purple_Heart), the [Legion of Merit](/source/Legion_of_Merit), the French [Croix de Guerre](/source/Croix_de_Guerre) and the [Légion d'Honneur](/source/L%C3%A9gion_d'Honneur).Eugene G. Schulz, ''The Ghost in General Patton's Third Army'', USA, 2012. {{ISBN|978-1477141441}} ==References== {{Reflist}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Griffith, Welborn}} Category:1901 births Category:1944 deaths Category:United States Army personnel killed in World War II Category:American recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United States) Category:Recipients of the Silver Star Category:United States Army colonels Category:United States Military Academy alumni Category:People from Quanah, Texas Category:Military personnel from Texas --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Welborn Griffith](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welborn_Griffith) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welborn_Griffith?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.