Captain Aquilla A. Calhoun (1915 – August 31, 1944)
92nd Field Artillery, 2nd Armored Division
Written by Melissa Berrios and Elizabeth Klements
Early Life
Aquilla A. Calhoun was born in 1915 to Fannie (née Newsome) and Aquilla A. Calhoun Sr.1 He was the youngest of four children, with two brothers, Lewis (1903) and David B. (1906), and a sister Elizabeth (1908). The family lived in Marianna, FL, where Calhoun Sr. owned a livery stable and later ran a café.2 In 1919, they moved to Panama City and Calhoun Sr. entered the mail and delivery business.3 There, Aquilla Jr. graduated high school and, in 1938, entered the University of Florida in Gainesville.4 While Aquilla Jr. was in college, his father passed away after a long illness in 1940.5
At the University of Florida, Calhoun was an exceptional student. A newspaper article on his achievements there stated that Calhoun received the 1940-41 James Miller Leake Medal in American History for outstanding educational excellence, and was a member of the Florida Blue Key, the “campus’ highest honorary and leadership fraternity.”6 Calhoun’s extracurricular activities speak to his charismatic and energetic nature. In his spare time, he served as head cheerleader, was “on the executive committee of the Gator Pep Club for three years,” and played basketball and baseball.7 Aside from athletics, this spritely young man took an interest in campus involvement, participating in Young Democrats, Glee Club, student government, and Kappa Sigma fraternity.8
Military Service
At the University of Florida, Calhoun prepared for military service by attending the Reserve Officers Training Corps. When he graduated in 1941, he enlisted as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Army Reserves.9 A few months later, in January 1942, Calhoun and Lillian Luke announced their marriage. Luke, an Alabama native, graduated from Alabama Polytechnic Institute and was a member of Kappa Delta National sorority. At the time of his marriage, Calhoun was an officer in the 92nd Field Artillery of 2nd Armored Division.10
In January 1942, the U.S. Army activated the 92nd Field Artillery, known as the “Brave Cannons,” at Fort Benning, GA, in response to the American entry into World War II. After training at Fort Benning, the unit shipped overseas to North Africa in December of 1942. There, Calhoun and “the Brave Cannons” took part in the Allied invasion of Sicily, but remained based in North Africa until November 1943, when they went to England to participate in the liberation of France. The 92nd trained in England for half a year to prepare for the June D-day landings on the coast of northern France. While the first landings took place on June 6, 1944, the Brave Cannons landed five days later on Omaha Beach and pushed inland across northern France to the Franco-Belgian border.11 On August 31, 1944, the 92nd reached the city of Bresles, which lay northwest of Paris. As the reconnaissance officer, Cap. Calhoun was the first to approach the city gates in his tank. As he led the way into the city, a pocket of German resistance attacked, killing Calhoun and wounding several others.12
Legacy
Captain Calhoun died in battle on August 31, 1944, at the age of thirty. For his sacrifice, the U.S. Army awarded him a Purple Heart and buried him at the Epinal American Cemetery in France.13 Calhoun left behind his mother, his brothers and sisters, and his wife. Lillian Calhoun remarried in late 1945 to James McKenzie, who had served in the Pacific Theater as a First Lieutenant.14
In 2012, the city of Bresles erected a monument to Cap. Calhoun, who gave his life liberating the city, thanks to the efforts of Christophe Clément, president of the Groupe Nationale de Recherches 39-45. Clément collaborated with Lillian Calhoun’s daughter by her second marriage, who, in coming to Bresles to view the monument, fulfilled a promise to her mother to visit the place where her first husband had died.15 Captain Aquilla A. Calhoun lives on in the memories of his extended family and the people of Bresles whose annual reenactment, expositions, and ceremonies remember his sacrifice.
1 “1920 U.S. Census,” database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com: accessed June 25, 2021), entry for Aquilla Calhoun, Marianna, Jackson County, Florida. For Fannie’s maiden name see “’Mike’ Calhoun Dies at Home in St. Andrews,” Panama City News-Herald (Panama City, Florida) June 17, 1940, Newspapers.com.
2 “1910 U.S. Census,” database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com: accessed June 25, 2021), entry for Aquilla Calhoun, Marianna, Jackson County, Florida; “1920 U.S. Census.”
3 “1930 U.S. Census,” database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com: accessed June 25, 2021), entry for Aquilla Calhoun, Panama City, Bay County, Florida; “’Mike’ Calhoun Dies at Home in St. Andrew.”
4 “University of Florida 1938 Yearbook,” database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com: accessed June 25, 2021), page 106.
5 “’Mike’ Calhoun Dies at Home in St. Andrews.”
6 “To Receive Degree from U. of Florida,” Panama City News-Herald, May 25, 1941. See image at the RICHES Epinal American Cemetery Collection here.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid.
10 “Miss Lillian Luke Becomes Bride of Lt. A. A. Calhoun In Lovely Eufaula Ceremony,” Panama City News-Herald, January 18, 1942, Newspapers.com.
11 “Unit History,” Brave Cannons, accessed June 30, 2021, http://www.bravecannons.org/History/hst1_ww2_1.html.
12 Fanny Dollé,“En souvenir du soldat américain,” Le Courrier Picard, September 8, 2012, Facebook.com , accessed January 29, 2016, https://www.facebook.com/123660597834330/photos/a.123684804498576.1073741834.123660597834, 330/123685017831888/?type=3&theater.
13 “US, Headstone and Internment Records for US Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942-1949,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed March 22, 2016), entry for Aquilla Calhoun.
14 “Announcement Made of Marriages,” The Troy Messenger (Troy, Alabama), December 11, 1945, Newspapers.com.
15 “Souvenir ému pour le captain Calhoun,” newspaper unknown, Facebook.com, accessed January 29, 2016, https://www.facebook.com/In-memoriam-Capt-Aquilla-Calhoun-Bresles-123660597834330/photos/a.123684804498576.1073741834.123660597834330/413481015518952