Jay Letcher Duncan

Jay Letcher Duncan, MSG U.S. Army-ret., age 86, of Monroe, NC passed away on August 1, 2013 in Phoenix, Arizona. He was born Aug. 14, 1926 in Sparta, N.C. to John and Pearl Brooks Duncan. In 1944 he joined the US Navy and reenlisted in the US Army two years later. His military service spanned World War II, Korea and Vietnam. In 1948, he volunteered to go to Asia as a member of the military police battalion deploying to China. His unit, Company C, 701st Military Police Battalion, was the last American ground force to leave mainland China. Afterwards, he deployed to Kobe, Japan in 1949; the U.S. was withdrawing and Mao Tse-tung would soon come to power. U.S. government and business interests (Standard Oil had a big presence) were evacuating, and his battalion's job was to help the Marines facilitate a rapid and safe withdrawal and to guard American citizens and business interests. Mao's Communist army was defeating the Nationalist forces of Chiang Kai-shek. Jay remembered dead bodies in the street and public executions. Chiang Kai-shek and his party fled to what is now Taiwan and Mao founded a new government: The Peoples' Republic of China. Jay fought the Chinese during the Korean War. In 1954, while he was stationed at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Paris, France he met and married Jacqueline Aubin. Their daughter, Debra Corinne, was born in Paris, followed by their son, Terry Alan, in 1956. For the next 11 years, the Duncan family lived in military bases throughout the United States and Europe. In 1967 Jay left his family in Greensboro for his deployment to Vietnam. After a tour in Vietnam, Jay was ordered to Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, where he retired from the military in 1970 after receiving orders to go to Cambodia. After retirement, Jay and Jacqueline settled in Greensboro. Jay worked for Sears & Roebuck selling carpet, Four Seasons Mall as its first Chief of Security, and Powers Detective and Patrol Agency before moving to High Point in 1989. After his wife's death in 2007, Jay moved to Monroe to live with Debra. In addition to his wife, Jay is preceded in death by his son, Terry, and all of his siblings: Don, Britt, Anita Caudill, Orville and Lacy. In addition to Debra and husband John Bennett, he leaves behind a granddaughter, Ashley Duncan of Monroe (whom he called his "littlest sweetheart"), and two grandsons, Michael and Todd Duncan of Greensboro. He will be laid to rest at Sparta Cemetery next to his wife. Graveside services will be at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, August 10, 2013 with the Rev. JR Gossett of Greensboro officiating with full military rites conducted by Bruce Wayne Osborne VFW Post #7034. Family and friends will gather at Grandview Memorial Funeral Home at 1:00 pm until time to proceed to the cemetery. In lieu of flowers the family asks that memorials be made to any VFW (Veteran of Foreign Wars) Post. Grandview Memorial Funeral Home in Sparta is serving the Duncan family. Online condolences may be submitted at www.grandviewfuneralhome.comRead Obituary