FORT NOVOSEL, Ala. - The Alabama Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) held a ceremony to celebrate a monument to the namesake of the Alabama Society’s Penny Pines Forest and Hooper Stagefield at Fort Novosel, Alabama on Jan. 27, 2024.
Ono David Hooper was born near Marietta, Georgia on Nov. 14, 1881. He was the son of a Confederate Soldier, Thomas Marion Hooper. Hooper tried to enlist in the Army during the Spanish War but was too young at the time. He also had wanted to attend West Point, but his father had other plans for him, according to a June 12, 1941 article in the Southern Star newspaper.
The article goes on to say, “that money had little appeal to him as he was a natural student and enjoyed reading the classics.”
Hooper volunteered for and was commissioned into the Army when he was 34 years old.
1st Lt Hooper served in the 38th US Infantry, Third Division, American Expeditionary Forces during World War I. According to the news reports of the time and the monument inscription, 1st LT. Hooper fought in the battles of the second Marne, the Battle of Saint Mihiel, and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in which he was gravely wounded. He also received mustard gas wounds in the Battle of Chateau Thierry. He was awarded the Order of the Purple Heart, the Croix-De-Guerre with star, and the Distinguished Service Cross for his bravery, according to the Southern Star article from June 12, 1941.
Service records for this time period were destroyed in a fire in 1973 at the National Military Personnel Records building in St. Louis, so Hooper’s awards could not be verified.
At the initial dedication of the monument in his memory on Jun. 6, 1941, a telegram was read from two of 1st Lt. Hooper’s fellow lieutenants from the 38th Infantry, Clarence E. Lovejoy and Robert W. Doye. The telegram said, “Lieutenant Hooper, our beloved battalion comrade, was a cheerful, willing soldier and believed strongly in the complete justice of his cause and was gloriously happy in his country’s cause. In Argonne, armed only with a pistol, he singlehandedly subdued and capture a German machine gun crew.”
Dr. H.P. Huffman, from the Hinton Hollerman Post of the American Legion spoke at the initial monument dedication ceremony. He said of Hooper, “He thought war was a terrible thing, but when necessary, there was only one choice for a man to take. He predicted the present trouble in Europe and was always an advocate of national defense.”
Not much is known about his time after the war. A Dothan Eagle article from Sep 15, 1936 said that “Lieutenant Hooper was one of the leading citizens of Eufaula.”
Hooper’s wife, Mrs. Kathleen Curtis Tully Hooper, was a longtime member of the Alabama Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. According to Melanie McDaniel, the State Application Team Member, Mrs. Hooper was a member of the Lewis Chapter of the DAR in Eufaula, Alabama, her hometown. She served in numerous leadership roles within the DAR such as Chapter Regent, National Defense State Chair, and State Parliamentarian. At the time of the dedication of the Penny Pines Forest, Mrs. Hooper was serving as the State Conversation Chair.
During the ceremony celebrating 1st Lt. Hooper's memory on Jan. 27, 2024, Susan Moore, the Alabama Society’s DAR State Historian, said 1st Lt. Hooper was “a true and gallant hero of World War I.”
According to his obituary, Hooper died on Sep. 14, 1936 at age 54, suddenly at his home in Eufaula, Alabama. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Section 7. Mrs. Hooper died on Aug. 30, 1979, and was buried with her husband in Arlington.
To read about the Daughters of the American Revolution ceremony honoring 1st Lt. Ono David Hooper and the Penny Pines Forest named in his honor at Fort Novosel on Jan. 27, 2024, read the story - Years-long search ends in ceremony honoring stagefield's namesake at Fort Novosel.
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