Cecil B. Cohernour was born December 12, 1920 in Renick, Greenbrier County, West Virginia to William C. and Bertha Cohernour. He served as a Staff Sergeant with the 31st Infantry Regiment of the United States Army in the Philippines during World War II. Cecil was taken as a prisoner of war by the Japanese and interred in a Japanese prison camp on July 1, 1943.
While being transported to Japan on the Oryoku Maru, Cecil lost his life on December 15, 1944 when the unmarked ship was torpedoed by an Allied submarine.
Cecil was awarded the Silver Star and the Purple Heart, and his body was buried at sea. In recognition of his honorable service in World War II, and for his ultimate sacrifice, Cecil B. Cohernour's name is inscribed on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in Manila, Philippines, and Cecil's was one of the original names inscribed on the West Virginia Veterans Memorial.