Lewis Russell Valentine III was born on July 12, 1948 to Lewis M. and Mary A. Valentine who resided at 16 Summit Ave. in Paoli, Pennsylvania.   He was born in Altoona, graduated from Great Valley High School in 1967 and the Murrell-Dobbins Vocational School, Philadelphia, in June of 1968. He wanted to be a chef.  At Great Valley he played football and was a member of the track team.  Pfc. Valentine belonged to St. Paul AME Church in M Malvern located on Church St. and 2^nd Ave, where he sang in their Junior Adult Choir.

Pfc. Valentine was a rifleman with the 25^th Infantry Division.  This 20-year-old Paoli soldier had been in Vietnam only a month when he was killed in action on February 15, 1969, during a sweep near Cu Chi, South Vietnam.

 

 

 

On February 23, 1969, military funeral services for this hero were conducted from St. Paul’s AME Church, Malvern.  The Reverend Daniel E. Owens, pastor, officiated, assisted by the Reverend David John Burroughs, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Malvern and the Reverend Warner Shay, pastor of the Methodist Church of Malvern.  Interment was in Chestnut Grove Annex Cemetery, on Rt. 100, just north of West Chester, Pennsylvania.  All seven bearers and the seven firing squad personnel were Specialists in the U.S. Army.  In addition there were six honorary bearers. The non-commissioned officer in charge of the firing squad and salute was Sgt. Ralph Buckley.

His surviving relatives were his mother and two brothers, Richard Allen of Washington, D. C. and Thomas A., at home.  In addition, his paternal grandparents were Mr. and Mrs. Lewis W. Valentine of Malvern.