Wiles, a Ringgold native, could have avoided going into the service during World War II. He drove a truck for E.H. Clark Dairy, and, in this capacity, he performed a vital service for the community.

However, Wiles wanted to serve his country and see a bit of the world. A new book by John M. Bauserman tells how Wiles earned his footnote in history.

"Vester was one of 82 American soldiers who were killed at the Malmedy Massacre," said Kenneth Wiles, Vester's nephew, who makes his home in Ringgold.

The Malmedy Massacre happened during the Battle of the Bulge December 17, 1944. A portion of the elite German 1st Pazner Division ran into Battery B of the 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion.

In Bauserman's book, "The Malmedy Massacre," the Virginia author tells how the Americans were overwhelmed in the surprise attack by a superior German force. The Germans took more than 100 prisoners in the assult.

What happened next caused a spark to be lit in the hearts of thousands of GI's. Bauserman writes that the Germans were moving so fast that there wasn't time or provisions made to take prisoners of war.

The American soldiers who were taken were lined up in military formation and machine gunned. A few dozen men were able to escape the massacre, but 82 men lay dead in a field outside the Belgian town of Malmedy.

Those soldiers who weren't killed by the machine-gun blast received a single shot in the back of the head execution-style. Bauserman's book goes into detail using formerly sealed government records where each man fell and how each one died.

"After what happened at Malmedy, we were told by our superiors not to take any SS or paratroopers as prisoners. We killed them on sight," said Ed Buckner, Vester's brother-in-law who saw him two days before he died in a chow line.

Wiles was originally buried at a military cemetery in Belgium. However, the government asked the family if they desired his remains be brought back home.

That wasn't a tough choice. Wiles is buried in Mountain View Cemetery a few yards away from the grave of Staff Sgt. Archer T. Gammon, who won the Medal of Honor.

Wiles would probably be glad to know his family hasn't tried to forget his service to ease their own pain. His nephew has dug around to find out exactly what happened to his uncle.

He has gone so far as to write the government to get his uncle's military decorations. A small box nurses the personal effects that were mailed back after the war. No dollar value could be placed on the leather wallet, tarnished cigarette lighter, a lucky Silver Dollar that was struck in 1922, the year he was born, the remains of a watch, a few photographs, including one of his mother and dog, Butch and a few foreign coins.

The family also considers a death certificate signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Purple Heart citation penned by Secretary of War Henry Stinson as other prized possessions.

Vester's death was hard for the family to take. It was especially hard for his father, Hugh Henry Wiles, who mourned for his son's death for the remainder of his life.

"Daddy never saw these medals or his personal effects," said Katherine "Rene" Wiles Buckner. "It just would have made him that much more unhappy."

During Christmas 1944, the elder Wiles went out and bought a wreath because he believed his son was dead. A few days later, Melvin Wiles, Vester's brother, opened the door to the family's home on Lee Street and received the fateful telegram.

"I just sat there and read it," Melvin Wiles said. "I read the telegram to my father and he just broke out in tears."

Bauserman's book has been more a source of understanding exactly what happened at the Malmedy Massacre. Besides providing more details about what happened, it has given the family the names of those men who served with Vester who survived.