Age 28. 612 Upper Street, Danville, VA (local address: 410 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA). Born 10/15/1914, in Danville, VA. Died of burns (death certificate). First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Coast Artillery. His wife Catherine, age 23, also perished. Couple was reported present at the club for a farewell to a detachment of men in his regiment, others were not identified. Was living with his family in Wakefield, VA (at age 15), as of the 1930 federal census. Was a graduate of Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, VA, 1935 (college nickname: "Ducky"). Employed at Virginia Electric and Power Co., Norfolk, VA, prior to entering military service the past December. Was previously based at Camp Stewart in Georgia. Was misreported on early published casualty lists as being attached to the U.S. Coast Guard, error was later corrected. Surname (with his wife) was misspelled "Abernathy" (with an "a" on the third syllable) on their death certificates and on the final official November 1943 Boston Committee on Public Safety master list of casualties (correct surname spelling in published death notices). Parents Rev. John H., Sr., and Mrs. Emma W. (Wynn) Abernethy, same Virginia address. The Bee, Danville, VA, 11/30/1942: "Word of the tragedy, quite unexpected by the father and mother, reached them at half past two o'clock Sunday afternoon when the colonel of Lieutenant Abernethy's regiment brought the heavy tidings." Survived by an 8-month-old daughter Catherine, to be raised by her paternal grandparents: "The baby arrived last Thursday, having been brought from Boston and has come to soften the tragic blow touching the lives of Rev. and Mrs. Abernethy" (The Bee, 12/07/1942). Burial with his wife at Oakwood Cemetery, Richmond, VA. Middle name Howard.

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