Alderman Chenault’s Service in WWII
By Cody Berry
Hubert Floyd Chenault was born in the Bland Community of Saline County on October 22, 1919, to Floyd Nelson and Annie Maude Ray Chenault. Chenault was drafted by the United States Navy on May 16, 1944, along with fellow Saline County men Sour Green, Lloyd Howard, John Taylor and Dub Davenport. Chenault was sent to Camp Wallace, Texas for boot training then to Newport, Rhode Island for fire school. He then was sent to Virginia, where he was assigned to the USS Shangri-Lai aircraft carrier as a gunner’s mate.1
On that vessel, Chenault said that they went through the Panama Canal enroute to the South Pacific where they participated in the Philippines and Japan Campaigns. In his recollections in Arnold Wright’s book, My Country Called, Chenault spoke about seeing the Japanese suicide planes in action. After the war, Chenault was discharged at Memphis, Tennessee on January 12, 1946. Chenault worked for Reynolds Metals until his retirement in 1968. Chenault was married twice, first to Wanda, with whom he had two daughters. Wanda passed away in 1968 and in 1970, he married his second wife Margaret, who had four children of her own.2 Chenault served on the Benton City Council for 20 years under Mayors George Wagner, Rodney Larson, Jim Presnall, and Mitch McDonald.3
At the Gann Museum we have part of Hubert Chenault’s Navy uniform on display alongside an old sword and a front page from the Arkansas Democrat on December 7, 1941. That day was the beginning of the Second World War for the United States. In addition, we have a picture of Phil Byers, another local Navy veteran, wearing a similar uniform. I included that picture to show people what the full uniform would have looked like. The Chenault Reservoir in Benton was named in honor of Hubert Chenault. Chenault died on February 26, 2004.4
Citations:
1 Arnold Wright, My Country Called, 1993, p. 65.
2 Arnold Wright, My Country Called, 1993, p. 65.
3 “Hubert Floyd Chenault,” Arkansas Gravestones.org, https://arkansasgravestones.org/view.php?id=398339, Date Accessed October 1, 2025.
4 “Hubert Floyd Chenault,” Arkansas Gravestones.org, https://arkansasgravestones.org/view.php?id=398339, Date Accessed October 1, 2025.