Former BGA biology teacher and football coach honored with memorial statue

It was April 29, 1945, when approximately 32,000 prisoners in the Dachau concentration camp walked free after 12 years of imprisonment in a Holocaust camp. 

This liberation happened because of the efforts of 42nd and 45th Infantry Divisions and the 20th Armored Division of the US Army, and among the many soldiers present that day was Jimmy Gentry, from Franklin, Tenn. He was one of 3,500 men in Williamson County who were deployed during World War II.

Seventy-nine years later, on April 29, 2024, he and his other Williamson County comrades were honored in a special statue unveiling of the “Lost Heroes” Memorial in front of hundreds on Main Street in Franklin. Gentry, a former biology teacher and football coach at BGA in the 1960s, made an impact on many beyond the World War II as well. At the unveiling, many spoke of Gentry’s legacy – his words of wisdom, funny quips, and kind heart. Those speakers included Franklin Mayor Ken Moore; Williamson County Mayor Rogers Anderson; Alderman Brandy Blanton; Leadership Franklin team members Stacey Downs, Ondrea Johnson, Carrie Drury, and Lance Jordan; statue sculptor Scott Wise; six-time Grammy award-winning singer and friend of Gentry, Amy Grant; and Jimmy’s sons, Allen and Scott Gentry.

Jimmy Gentry died almost 77 years after the Dachau liberation, on April 21, 2022. He was a staple in the Franklin community, owning Gentry’s Farm (which his son, Allen, continues running today), and was a teacher and coach for almost 40 years.