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VCU Health Sciences Library
Special Collections and Archives 509 N 12th StJody Romero
Collection is open to research.
Robert B. Ware Collection, Accession #2005/Nov/21, Special Collections and Archives, Health Sciences Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Va.
Robert Barnes Ware was born 30 December, 1914 in Amherst, Virginia. One of ten children, Ware attended school in Amherst, and graduated in 1936 from Virginia Polytechnic Institute's pre-med program in only three years. He earned his MD from the Medical College of Virginia in 1940. He interned at Lynchburg General Hospital, and then volunteered for military service with the Virginia National Guard in 1940 due to the onset of World War II. After officer's school and training at the Army's Carlyle Barracks, Ware was promoted to Captain and assigned as Battalion Surgeon for the 116th Infantry, 1st Battalion, Companies A-D. These units shipped out aboard the Queen Mary in September 1942. He served for two years in England with this unit made up of recruits from Amherst, Lynchburg and Bedford, Virginia. Debarking with his men in the initial wave of the D-Day invasion, Ware was killed along with the rest of the men in his landing craft. He died the morning of 6 June, 1944 at the age of 29. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star for valor, and buried in the Normandy American Cemetery at St. Laurent, France. Ware married Martha Frances Wood in 1935, and has a son Robert Barnes Ware, Jr. His father, Rueben B. Ware, and his brother Howard Ware also graduated from MCV. Mrs. Ware donated the flag that covered her husband's coffin to MCV in 1945. Ware's name is recorded on the National D-Day Monument and at the Virginia War Memorial.
The collection consists of memorabilia from Ware's years in medical school and wartime service.
The collection is arranged by subject.
The collection contains photographs, clippings, graduation announcements and other memorabilia focusing on Ware's time at MCV and his war service.
This folder contains Ware's college notebook. It contains handwritten and typed pages.
This folder contains a commencement program and graduation announcement for the 1940 MCV commencement ceremony. Also included is a congratulation card from 'Aunt Barbara and Uncle Sam'
This folder contains photographs of Ware. One is dated April, 1940 in front of Skull and Bones; two are wartime photographs of Ware in Uniform. The last is of Ware's tombstone in France. Others listed include: Carl B. Hall, Walter McLendon, George Ferrell, Leonard Galbraith, M. J. Hoover, Nat Ewing, Lavine, Rondin.
This folder contains several items;
Regarding the gift of an American flag to MCV
A letter from the MCV Alumni Association regarding Ware's obituary.
Biographical sketch of Ware for The History of Amherst, Virginia Vol. II