Interesting and notable Wayne Veterans

Wayne has had thousands of veterans over the years from various conflicts, and while by no means a complete list, here are some stories of interesting men from our files.
Did you know we have a War of 1812 veteran buried in Wayne? Calvin Stephenson was born in 1782 in Massachussetts and was the son of a Revolutionary War veteran. He fought in a New York Militia during the War of 1812 at the age of 30. In 1837 he and his wife bought 40 acres of land in Wayne to have a farm. He died in 1850 at the age of 68 and is buried in Old Wayne cemetery.
Other notables are the Houston brothers, sons of the local blacksmith. William and Almon joined up for the Civil War in 1862 and both ended up at Gettysburg. William, only 20, was killed the first day, and Almon was taken prisoner. Almon ended up enduring 19 months in Confederate prison camps at Libbey, Belle Isle and Andersonville. He lived and ended up being a postman in Detroit the rest of his life. He named his son William.
Moving on to World War I, Robert Guy Robinson is definitely an interesting story. Born in Wayne, Guy was a carnival plane stunt flyer in his teens.

World War I Gunnery Sergeant,
Robert Guy Robinson, USMC

Somehow, he ended up flying planes for the British Royal Air Force and when the US entered the war he was a gunner in the 1st Marine Aviation force. He ended up in a dogfight against 12 German planes over Belgium taking three bullets in the fight. His gun jammed and he ended up shooting his personal pistol at enemy German planes, taking one down. His plane went down in a field and he was saved by friendly locals. He received Michigan’s first congressional medal of honor and spent 11 years in and out of the hospital for his wounds. He did not like the “Hullabaloo” and hero talk and attention he kept getting so he retired in the 30s to the UP and lived quietly. He died in 1974 and is buried at Arlington Cemetery.
An interesting WW2 story is that of Irv Courtney and Robert Engle of Wayne who were part of the First Special Service Force. This elite commando unit was specially trained in paratrooping, skiing, mountain climbing and outdoor cold weather survival. Their goal was getting in behind enemy lines in cold and mountainous areas to sabotage the enemy. In 1943 at Monte la Difensa in Italy the unit scaled a 1,000 foot cliff in freezing rain to surprise and push back the Germans. In 1968 a not so historically accurate movie was made about the raid called “The Devils Brigade”, which you can find on many streaming services. Irv and Robert both returned to Wayne after the war.
One final interesting story is that of Sgt. William J. Canaday of Wayne. Canaday, only 24, was a crewman on a B-24 bomber that went missing flying over the Himalayas in 1945. Nobody ever knew what happened to the plane and he and the crew were listed as MIA. 28 years later in 1974 the wreckage of the plane was found on some barren mountain slopes in northern India. The five-man crew’s remains were brought home and laid to rest at Arlington, including Canaday.