Middle Tennessee coach, other World War II veterans memorialized in new sculpture

Two years after his death, World War II veteran, biology teacher and championship football coach James “Jimmy” Gentry was memorialized with a statue at the place where his war journey first began.

About 250 family members, veterans and Williamson County residents gathered at Five Points in downtown Franklin April 29 for the unveiling of the new monument honoring Gentry and the other lost heroes of Williamson County.

“While he was in high school, dad saw his brother go off to war, but he never returned,” Jimmy Gentry's son, Alan Gentry said. He noted that his father felt a duty to serve not only his community, but the nation, and that's why he decided to join the Army and fight in World War II.

Jimmy Gentry enlisted in 1944 at 18 and left Tennessee for the first time in his life, his son said. He was placed in the 42nd Rainbow Division, and on April 29, 1945, helped to liberate the Dachau concentration camp in Germany.

Gentry died in 2022 at his beloved Gentry Farm in Franklin. He was 96.

During his life, he made a significant impact on the people around him, as evidenced by the seven speakers who came to the podium to remember him during the unveiling.

Many recounted countless pieces of advice he gave them and how he constantly went out of his way to make others smile.

“Coach Gentry was my wife’s biology teacher,” Franklin Mayor Ken Moore said. “They had a friendship for many years, and when we moved back to Franklin in 2004, he made an effort to continue that friendship.”

Gentry's influence was particularly felt in Williamson County Schools, speakers noted.

Not only was he an educator, but he was a "legendary" football coach, winning more than 10 championships during his tenure at Battle Ground Academy, Brentwood Academy and Franklin High School.

Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and Kennedy Center Honoree Amy Grant was among the speakers and shared that Gentry gave her life-changing advice when she was raising her kids.

"'I've got five phrases,' he told me. 'I want you to hold up your hand, and we're going to do the phrases by how many fingers you're holding up. The first being, I am proud of you. The second is, may i help you? The third, I love you. The forth, thank you. And the last, we,'" Grant remembered. "I have spoken Jimmy's name from one end of the county to the next. And, I am so grateful for his advice and honored to share it with you all today."

The Leadership Franklin project, led by Executive Director Paula Harris, came up with the project to honor Gentry and the other heroes in 2019 and enlisted the help of well-known Clarksville-based Sculptor Scott Wise to see it through.

Wise, also a firefighter, has worked on several projects around Nashville, including the Pekka Rinne Statue in front of Bridgestone Arena.

The Franklin sculpture shows Gentry sitting on a bench with his cane with empty seats on either side of him.

A plaque reads, "This statue is in the likeness of Franklin, TN native and World War II U.S. Army Veteran, Jimmy Gentry as he reflects on the rock wall and the memories of waiting there for the bus that would take him and many others off to war to fight for our country. These empty seats are in honor of all the heroes who fought for our nation, many of whom never returned."

The sculpture faces Williamson County Veterans Park, where servicemen who fought in American wars from the Revolutionary War to Afghanistan are honored.

For Wise, the Franklin project was personal. His father was a Vietnam veteran and his grandfather was a World War II veteran, just like Gentry.

“Men like Coach Gentry truly prove why they are called the greatest generation," Wise said.

The new memorial can be viewed in Franklin across from the newly opened Five Points Post Office at 510 Columbia Avenue.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Amy Grant remembers Tennessee coach, WWII vets in new statue