From Educator to Soldier

Written by: Kelly Durham

Fletcher Oliver Senn came to Clemson College in the last years of the “Roaring 20s” and graduated into an economy that was, by 1932, on the ropes.  Unemployment for the year was more than 23%–and it would get worse.  The country’s gross domestic product declined that year by almost 13%.  Clearly, 1932 was a tough year to be looking for a job.

Senn was an agricultural education major from St. Matthews.  He was a member of the championship Junior Platoon, served as vice president of the Agricultural Education Club, and was a First Lieutenant in the Cadet Regiment.  He completed ROTC summer training at Camp McClellan, Alabama and earned a commission in the Army Reserves.

Senn’s Clemson degree surely helped him secure employment following graduation.  For several years, he taught agriculture in the schools in Furman and St. George.  Later, he took a job with the Farm Home Administration as its supervisor in Calhoun County.  Senn eventually became a district supervisor and then a state farm management expert.

With his education, experience, and reserve commission, Senn was called to active duty in March 1942.  He sailed for England that July.  Based on his newspaper obituary, Senn was among the first groups of American soldiers to land in England.  From there, he was sent to North Africa, Sicily, and then Italy, suggesting that he may have been assigned to the US II Corps.

On April 22, 1944, Captain Senn died from injuries sustained in a vehicle accident in Italy.  He had been overseas for twenty-two months.  He was buried in the National Cemetery in Bari, Italy.  In 1948, Senn’s remains were returned to South Carolina and he was laid to rest in Saint Matthews’s West End Cemetery.  He was survived by his wife the former Anne Power of Laurens, his parents, a sister, and a brother.

For more information on Captain Fletcher Oliver Senn see:

https://soh.alumni.clemson.edu/scroll/fletcher-oliver-senn/

For additional information about Clemson University’s Scroll of Honor visit:

https://soh.alumni.clemson.edu/