Clarke County Veterans by Fern Underwood

NEWS OF OUR CLARKE COUNTY YANKS
A SECTION OF THE OSCEOLA SENTINEL-TRIBUNE
IN THE MID-1940s
SAVED BY MRS, DALE (DOROTHY) JONE

"HAPPY TO SEE AMERICANS," SHOUTED FILIPINOS AS YANKS CAME ASHORE; JACK TILLOTSON in Crew of Landing Party; Aboard Coast Guard Assault Transport in Philippines, October 22 (Delayed)

"It was worth a year's pay to watch those tired, happy little people come down out of the hills at Leyte, most of them in tattered rags, with salutes and smiles for their American liberators," crewmen of this Coast Guard-manned assault transport agreed today. A member of this crew was Coast Guardsman Jack Tillotson of 205 N. Park St., Osceola, Iowa. During the invasion he served with the ship's damage control crew. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Pearl Tillotson.

"They kept saying 'Happy to see Americans!' in their school room English, the first they had spoken after nearly three years of Japanese oppression," the men said. "We were treated like visiting royalty. In the joy of these Filipinos, we began to see in a very personal sense what we were fighting for. They had suffered cruelty under Jap mle. They received starvation wages and rations, lost most of their valuables and were subjected to unspeakable humiliations. Most of them looked very thin and poorly clothed. But the Army soon had them housed and fed. All of us gave them food, tobacco and candy.

"The Coast Guardsmen described how Filipino guerillas came down to the beaches with the civilians to exchange old rifles for modem carbines. Then they disappeared up the mountain trails, some of them packing hand grenades. The battle for them had just begun. The Coast Guardsmen related some of the experiences told by the liberated nationals: "A Filipino merchant related that the Japanese paid such low wages, and charged so much for even such staples as rice, that most of the people were able to afford only one meal a day. A former Filipino officer, passenger in a small American naval vessel that had been sunk near Leyte at the start of the war, described how he managed to escape detection by staying in the water behind a raft. Then he swam ashore and joined the guerillas."

The Filipinos told their liberators how the Japs used to taunt them by saying the Americans had "deserted" them. But the happy throng that welcomed the American troops and sailors said the "fatalistic" Nipponese defenders - some of them among the troops that seized Bataan - fled in terror at the approach of the invasion fleet October 20. They said the history of their own transport symbolized the speed and force with which the Americans returned to the Philippines.

A year ago this month she was finishing trial runs. Extensive maneuvers followed and on February 1 of this year she participated in her first invasion, in the Marshalls. Operations in the Bismarck Sea, at Saipan and Palau, brought her to the Philippines at the same time that General MacArthur's forces moved up from the southwest. She crossed the Pacific in less than 10 months! During each invasion, they said, dozens of new ships joined the fleet.

"By the time we got here," they commented, "we had so many ships one couldn't have fired a gun across San Pedro Bay without hitting a half dozen of them. Our battleships and planes made certain there weren't any Jap guns left in those hills to do that!"

Surgical dressings made in the Red Cross rooms in Osceola have already reached the Philippines and are being used in the advanced hospitals set up close to the fighting front. The Osceola chapter received a letter this week written on the Islands on Nov. 15 by S/Sgt. Lloyd Grage of Cedar County, Iowa, which is published below:

Just a few lines to let you know that some of the Surgical Dressings you have been making have reached the Philippines and you can be sure that they are being put to very good use.

If it were not for you women giving part of your time in making these dressings it would put quite a task on us up here at the front, making them, and we do not have time for it.

It saves a lot of time just to open a package of surgical supplies which are all ready to use.

Several months ago I wrote a letter and received a swell letter in return - so when I got this package of 4x8 from supply I decided you would like to know that some of your work is also helping to win the campaign. The natives here are altogether different than the ones on the other islands where I have been. They speak very good English - in fact some speak better than I. They also are very willing workers. The women do all our hospital laundry which is a great help, because us boys are not very good laundrymen.

Most of the natives are farmers and raise mostly rice and some corn. Quite a lot of fntit, in fact I never tasted better bananas than I have here. They let them ripen on the tree. There is another fruit which I can't spell. Some not pronounce. Besides those there are also cocoanuts, which are on all the islands.

The weather is always warm and damp - it rains quite a lot - even in winter time it is like summer in Iowa.

As for the things which happen here - it would do no good to write since we get our news through the radio as you do.

T/Sgt. DONALD K. JUDKINS described a bombing mission over Borneo, to an appreciative audience of Rotarians at their weekly luncheon last week. Don, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Judkins is home on furlough after completing 60 combat missions in the Southwest Pacific.

The mission he described was selected because it was the longest he made during his long overseas service. The bombers were in flight 17 hours, leaving their base at 2 a.m. and flying alone until daylight when the big ships met and went into formation. His account of the raid was both interesting and informative.

A news release from Fifth Air Force Headquarters to The Sentinel says: "Sgt. Judkins is a radio operator and aerial gunner in the crew of a Liberator bomber of the famous Jolly Roger heavy bomber outfit, a part of the bomber command of the Fifth Air Force. He has been awarded the air medal and three oak leaf clusters.

"The Jolly Roger bombers have shot down nearly 400 Jap planes in the air and destroyed hundreds more on the ground, sunk half a million tons of Japanese shipping and struck opening blows of Philippines and other major campaigns to become the Allies' aerial spearhead in the Southwest Pacific."

A 7th AAF Heavy Bomber Base in the Marianas: With two engines gone and the 7th AAF Liberator bomber, "Umbriago" losing altitude at the rate of 600 feet per minute, Staff Sergeant Robert Ogden of Oakland, California won a race against time to avert a crash into the ocean. Working in the darkness with a tropical storm raging outside, Sergeant Ogden tore out the damaged amplifier of one dead engine, and replaced it with an amplifier he freed from the second dead engine — all accomplished while the bomber plummeted down toward the sea.

Navigator on the Bomber was Lt. ROBERT S. PASCHALL, son of Mrs. Emma Paschall of Osceola. He made a perilous trip to the rear of the plane to tell the crew to prepare for a crash landing and then assisted in cutting away the equipment to lighten the load.

Bob arrived in the Central Pacific area in September, 1943, and had completed 26 missions when the flight was made.
Lt. Frank Angel Jr, of Las Vegas, New Mexico, pilot of the bomber, returning from a pre-invasion assault against Iwo Jima , told how the Liberator was saved by the ingenuity of Sergeant Ogden and the fast work of crew members who jettisoned enough equipment to slacken the falling speed.

Our number two engine went out just after we'd bombed the Iwo airfields," Lieutenant Angel said, "Heading back to the Marianas we hit a severe storm. The oil pressure went down so much that the turbo amplifier in our Number Three engine burned out. Dropping rapidly we realized that we couldn't stay aloft in that storm with only two engines. Sergeant Ogden, our engineer, grabbed a screwdriver and climbed to the flight deck to repair the damage. I fought to keep the plane under control. "Sergeant Ogden found that the amplifier in the Number Two engine was undamaged. It had to be removed and installed in the Number Two engine if we were to stay in the air. Our lights were gone and he was forced to work with only the glow of a small flashlight. I sent word back to the crew to jettison all loose equipment." When a crash landing at sea seemed imminent, Technical Sergeant John M. Simian of Corsicana, Texas, radio operator, sent an S.O.S. call back to the Marianas headquarters giving the position of the bomber. Then he rushed back to assist the crew in throwing the equipment overboard. Sergeant Sirman revealed that ammunition, flak suits, and all other loose materials had already gone over the side.

"I knew we would crash unless plenty of weight was lost in a hurry," the Texan said. "Then I remembered a heavy hand-axe Lieutenant Angel had insisted we always carry. I grabbed it and chopped through the metal legs of the radio table, Sergeant Vessell (Sergeant Luther B. Vessell of Florence, Alabama) tore the wiring loose and pitched it all overboard. I hacked off an ammunition box and tossed it out.

By this time the flames five feet long were streaking from the exhaust of the over-strained number one engine. We thought it might go out any minute." Sergeant Ogden, working faster than he had ever worked before, made the last connections on the transplanted amplifier. Then he raced back to help unload the equipment.

"Lt. Angel turned on the number three engine," Sergeant Simian continued, "and for a few seconds that seemed like a year, nothing happened. Then the engine started. He yelled back that if we could get rid of the ball turret, we might make it. I went back to work with the axe, cutting through bolts and electric wiring of the turret. Sergeant Ogden got back in time to help shake it loose."

By this time the bomber was near the water. But with the weight gone and one damaged motor repaired, Lt. Angel managed to pull the plane out of the 16,000 feet plunge. "We made it back to our base safely," said Sergeant Simian. "That engine repair was the most amazing thing I have ever seen and if it hadn't been for that hand-axe we would never have been able go get rid of enough weight in time."

SOPER, Howard M, 21, Seaman 1st class U.S.N.R. of Van Wert, Iowa, aboard an escort carrier in the Pacific, helps cook for the crew. He entered the Navy in September 1943, and served a short time on a destroyer escort before coming aboard this ship in May, 1944. He has taken part in the invasion of Leyte, Luzon and Iowa Jima. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Soper, live on Route 1. They have another son serving in the Pacific, Wayne, a private in the Marine Corps. Soper attended school at Lucas and Woodburn, and before entering the Navy, worked on his father's farm.

SOPER, Pfc. Wayne (Pete) is home 13 months after his induction in the U.S. Marine Corps. Wounded on Okinawa last May, he has been in hospitals ever since and will spend many more before his recovery is complete. Pete was a guest of the Osceola Rotary Club Wednesday noon and told of his experiences to members of the club. Pete was a member of the class of 1944, of the Osceola high school and entered the service soon after his graduation. He went through hurried boot training at Parris Island and then was shipped overseas.

His group of Marine replacements sailed from California and went directly to Guadalcanal where they were attached to the Marine Division that had made the initial landings on that island early in the war. For the next four months they trained in jungle warfare and then loaded onto transports for some new invasion, no one knew where.

Five days before the landings on Okinawa, the Marines were transferred from their transport to LST boats and finally loaded onto Higgins boats for the final run to shore. They hit the beaches about 8:30 a.m. and found little opposition and for the first few days had comparatively easy going. The Marines went north and the Army south after cutting across the island and the north part was soon cleared of Saps. They were then shifted south to join forces with the Army which had met up with the main defending forces.

Famous Sugarloaf Hill was their toughest spot. Wave after wave of Army and Marine fores stouued the steep slopes only to be hurled back. When the hill was finally taken, Pete's company of some 200 men had 85 left, the others were all dead or wounded. It was not until several days later that he was hit. A machine gun slug struck his right leg above the knee, severing the main nerve.

The wound itself was not serious in that the bone was missed but it was several days before he received adequate surgical attention and by that time gangrene had set in. He was flown at once to Guam where he remained for several weeks, then to Pearl Harbor and then to San Diego where he arrived on June 6, just 30 days after being wounded and just 40 hours actual flying time from the battlefield to the hospital in the United States.

Treatment for the severed nerve will require many months, he says, but doctors have assured him he will eventually be all right.
Rotarians were interested in his description of Okinawa and its people. The natives are a sorry lot, he said. All are diseased and not very high mental or physical types. The Marines were able to get few military prisoners but many of the civilians tried to give themselves up.

The island appeared to be reasonably fertile and there were many fields of wheat and vegetables. The Americans were unable to eat the vegetables, for, like most of the Orient, the ground is so saturated with disease germs that eating the food leads to serious illness.

ATLEY ELMORE received a letter from his nephew, Virgil Elmore of the Navy, telling of his experiences in France. He is stationed on the front and calls himself a "land sailor." He says cigarettes are very scarce where he is stationed.

VIRGIL ELMORE WITH NAVAL FORCES ON RHINE; FERRY TROOPS ACROSS RIVER With U.S. Naval Forces on the Rhine:

It's another D-Day for our amphibious Navy— this time 200 miles from the nearest ocean. The "small boatmen" unsung heroes of every landing from North Africa to Normandy, are here again to help carry Allied Armies across the last great water barrier to the heart of Hitler's Germany. Among them is Virgil W. Elmore, 20, Fireman 1st class, USNR, Osceola, Iowa.

Elmore and his fellow amphibians are making Naval history, for never before has the Army called on the Navy to help it across an inland river. Their mission is to supply a fast "build up" of men, weapons, and ammunition to support the first assault troops and they are performing their mission — gloriously. Their presence wrapped in the closest secrecy, Elmore and the other Navy men have been training for months with Army combat engineers in smaller rivers of France and Belgium. To disguise themselves completely they have worn Army field uniforms and helmets and have slogged through mud with the dough-boys. Even their boats have been camouflaged — blue hulls, which bore the proud white "USN" giving way to the Army's olive drab.

Moving the naval craft overland in their Rhine launching sites — a job for Army engineers — has been a miracle of modern military transport. The big LCMs landing craft, mechanized, are 50 feet long and 14 feet wide. Only the heaviest tank conveyors can move them and, when loaded and on the road, a single outfit is 77 feet long (equivalent to the height of a seven story building) and almost 20 feet high. Yet many of them were brought as far as 300 miles over blasted roads, makeshift bridges, and through narrow village streets.

Now the Navy's boats are carrying the Anny's vehicles. LCMs and LCVPs are racing back and forth through swollen waters of the Rhine. Across their lowered bow-ramps on the far shore are lumbering the tanks, the mobile guns, the loaded weapons carriers, all marked "Destination Berlin." These bluejackets and dough-boys are enthusiastic partners in a new and unique combined operation. Elmore is the son of Vern Elmore, courthouse janitor at Osceola. Before entering the Navy he worked on the farms of C.R. Harken.

The following story by an Osceola boy was received this week from the public relations office of the Ninth Air Force in Belgium. (Recently promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, CHARLES M. (MONTY) HOOD, Osceola, Iowa, a Ninth Air Force P-47 Thunderbolt pilot and operations officer, tells the following story of his participation in the historic aerial blows against German communications that opened the February drive in the Rhine river. The 404th Fighter Group, in which Hood is serving, received a presidential unit citation for attacks on rail targets east of Aschen prior to capture of that German city last fall.

(By Lt. Col. Charles M Hood): A 9th Air Force Fighter-Bomber Base: Belguim: Every available aircraft in our P-47 Thunderbolt group was sent into the air February 22 to join in the concerted attack on the entire Germany railway system. From early afternoon until dusk our squadrons attacked 42 different targets in our assigned area with bombs, rockets and machine guns. The operation went strictly according to plan. The ground crew members shared credit with pilots for a successful day's work. We didn't have a single loss. The attack continued next morning. I led a formation which was both helped and hindered by clouds over the target area 15 miles south of Dusseldorf. The clouds prevented us from hitting our briefed target, hidden under 10/10th overcast and saving the first enemy aircraft I had seen in 10 months of combat flying. It was a jet-propelled Messerschmitt 262.

On the other hand, the cloud cover made it easy for us to evade the intense flak we encountered when we bombed and strafed. The sum result was a pretty successful mission. Our ground controller took us out to the area by radio directions. The assigned target was supposed to be a bunch of railroad cars loaded with half-tracks and tanks.

Clouds completely covered the area, so I went down once to take a look, and found lower cloud conditions no more favorable. Base of the overcast was too low for dive-bombing.

We flew eastward and found another marshaling yard crowded with freight cars. Clouds were broken here, with holes big enough to work through. While my second flight attacked a nearby factory area, I led the first flight on a dive-bomb run against the railroad yard. I unloaded my three bombs and pulled sharply into the clouds to escape the light flak, which came up in a barrage. The Germans weren't "tracking" us with their guns, but were just sending up barrages over the spots they wanted to defend. There wasn't any real heavy stuff, such as we have encountered before. There were plenty of light puffs along the underside of the clouds, though I could see tracers streaming past my canopy.

We found a train on a siding not far away, and fired our rockets into it, and then went back and strafed the cars with our machine guns. There was "beau coup" light flak there, too. We zoomed up into the clouds and evaded it again.

I had the formation in a left turn when the Me262 was called out, streaking from south to north, off to our right and at about 6,000 feet altitude. I immediately turned toward him but in doing so lost the advantage of the 2,000 feet of altitude we had on him to begin with.

The jet job, flying straight and level, looked like a conventional twin-engine airplane, but was faster. I was within 1,000 yards of him and about ready to squeeze the trigger when he ducked into the clouds. The pilot must have seen me chasing him and didn't want to fight.

As we headed home, we could, see our ground forces taking advantage of the serial bombardment, which had fighter-bombers practically crowding the sky between the Rohr and the Rhine. We saw activity along the Rohr river and the smoke screen drifting along the valley. We could see artillery flashes through the haze. Air power had disrupted German reinforcement and supply, and the Armies were coming through.

It's hard to believe that a human could commit such crimes," Pfc. HAROLD DOLLING told his parents, Mr. and Mrs. E. J. Dolling in a letter home following a trip through the torture chambers at Dauchua, the notorious Nazi concentration camp, where untold thousands were sent innocently to their death.

"The boughs of trees were bare from ropes that had hung hundreds of people," he continued, "and we saw the place where prisoners were shot, then tossed on duckboards to drain the blood before taking them to crematoriums. We went through the shower rooms where unsuspecting victims prepared themselves for death by gas. Then the crematoriums where, nu-nor tells us, even some live victims were burned right along with the corpses.

"Prisoners here were forced to work 12 hours daily with but exceedingly little food. However, there were never any sick ones at this camp. If they became ill the shower room or crematorium took care of them.

"We saw the pens where vicious watch dogs were kept. Occasionally an Allied prisoner was tossed in to feed them. This procedure no doubt kept them reminded of what man meat tasted like."

Harold's guide through this honor-house was a former prisoner there. Fragments of other recent letters to his parents, that might be of interest to our readers, are reproduced as follows:

"Innsbruck, Austria — Here I am taking it easy in this beautiful city, located in a warm valley completely surrounded by snow-capped Alps. Received 18 letters today at mail call, so you can see it has been some time since mail caught up.

"Innsbruck, July 4 — They say we'll be moving into Germany soon and that the French will take over here. I hate to leave this pretty country but we've been here long enough. How many strawberries have you canned and how many do you have in the locker?

"Germany, July 10 — We got up early this morning and moved up to about 25 miles west of Munich near a large lake. The Germans call it a sea, but it's hardly that big. According to the Stars and Strips, sailing orders for the 45th Division are changed again, this time to September. I'll be satisfied if I make it home by Christmas. Incidentally, these German trains sure take their own sweet time, took 12 hours to travel 60 miles Friday.

"Friedburg, Germany, August 4 — Well, we finally got out of Dachau, and was I glad to get away from those high barbed fences. Go back and forth to our temporary assignment. Am living in a place formerly occupied by the elite SS troops so you can imagine it is pretty good.

(The following was written in Germany just 10 days before the Japs surrendered.) "Say, isn't Japan catching hell now? Perhaps it will be bombed out of existence in a few more months. Seems like they are getting so they (our ainnen) can pick their targets at will. Maybe everything will be straightened out before long. I'll be seeing you by Christmas. No telling what Christmas"

A broken promise that saved a mother and father many anxious months, and gave a Clarke County boy ample chance to repay the Japs for the loss of a brother, has been revealed in a letter from Bob Oehlert to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. H. S. Oehlert of Woodburn,. Nor was it a surprise to some of Bob's friends to whom he had confided his secret. When he was 17 years old, he wanted to join the Marine corps and his greatest ambition was to be a flier. With two other brothers in the flying service, his mother insisted that he remain on the ground and his parents' consent was gained only on his promise that he would not fly.
Soon after that, his brother Allen was reported missing after a bombing raid out of Guadalcanal. Nothing has been heard of him or his crew and it was presumed they did not survive. The letter to Bob's parents, written August 12, when it appeared certain the Japs were through, says in part: "Dear Folks: Thank God it's over with. Now I can get something off my mind that has been bothering for a long time. I do hope you folks will understand that is my breaking a promise I made back in June 1943.

"Do you remember the time I had getting your consent to come in the Marine Corps at 17? and finally it was on the condition I would never fly — at that time Allen had not been reported missing. When we did get the word, I knew my promise was no good — that was the way I intended getting back at the Japs — flying in some capacity."

He goes on to relate the effort he made to get into the Marine Air Corps and the places and kind of training he received. After many months of training he says: "The chance finally came. Replacement. crews were to be sent out. Getting 'Oehlert' spit out before the other boys could say their names placed me on the first crew and we came out of here and at least the time came I had been waiting for so long. Until censorship regulations are lifted, I can't tell of the different places we hit. Some of those I have seen, however, are Hawaii, Palmyra, Guadalcanal (where I checked up on Allen, but all records had been sent to Washington) Bougainville, Peleliu, the Admiralities, Philippines, Okinawa, and now Australia.

"Isn't it grand that it is over! Much jubilation here in Australia and too, I know, in the States. I suppose several boys will be getting home before long, but for my part I'm going to try and get occupational duty with one of the line companies. Again, thank God, it is over with!"

In October, 1939, two Jackson Township boys who grew up on adjoining farms, enlisted in the Army, sensing that war was coming and they wanted to be "in on the shooting." They accordingly went to Des Moines and joined up as privates in the U.S. Army.

Wednesday of this week, nearly six years later, the two boys, both with battle ribbons and medals, were guests of the Osceola Rotary Club where they told a few of their experiences during their years of service. They are 2nd Lt. ARLIE GILLS and 2nd Lt. JOE DUREE.

Behind them are years of hardship and some of the greatest battles the world has ever known. They have seen every important invasion made in the European area except the Normandy landing and they have met and bested the cream of the German Army in four countries, on two continents.

These buddies, close friends all their lives, were fortunate enough to be assigned to the same division and during all their battles were within a few miles of each other and had the opportunity of visiting back and forth whenever the fighting would permit.
Assigned to the light artillery and the famous 3' division, they went overseas early in the war and were on hand when the Yanks invaded Africa. Their battalions chased the Huns out of that country and right on their heels the 3" landed on Sicily where in a few days they had the island under control. Then it was to the Anzio beachhead where for four months they were pinned down within artillery range of the Nazi guns that pounded them day and night. After the breakthrough the boys pushed on north toward Rome and beyond.

Then came the invasion of Southern France and this beachhead secured the 3" swept north to Alsace where it played an important part in the defeat of the Nazis southeast of Strassburg in the Colmar pocket. The 3" division is said to be the only infantry division to receive the presidential citation. It will be recalled that this is the unit in the First World War that stood off the Huns at the Marne and turned them back on the long trail that led to their final capitulation in November 1.918.

The boys are extremely modest concerning their individual accomplishments. Although in separate battalions, each received a recognition that seldom. comes to enlisted men. They were made commissioned officers on the field without going through the usually required officers training schools.

PRETNER, Bob arrived home this week after many months overseas, the most recent of which were spent in Germany. Bob was a guest of the Rotary Club Wednesday. He said the thing that impressed him most on his arrival home is the good food, especially the fresh milk.

SANER, A.V. will leave Friday for Camp Robinson after a 15-day furlough with his family and friends here.

MC GEE, Robert left his base at Barking Sands, Hawaii, Saturday on the first leg of his trip home, his parents, Mr. and Mrs. R.K. McGee heard this week.

SHOEMAKER, Harold, overseas many months in India, will arrive home the last of this week, his wife heard this week.

SCHOLL, Pfc. Ernest Dee writes his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Scholl, he is now on Cebu in the Philippines just 10 miles across the water from Leyte where his brother, Sgt. John F. Scholl is located but he says John is on the opposite side of the island near Taclobin. Ernest left the States August 26, 1944, went first to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, then to the Marshal's, Siapan, Mariannas, Carolinas, Palu and Leyte. On Leyte he was assigned to the 77th Division, then Aka Shima where he went into battle March 29, 1945, then to Ie Shima, Okinawa and back to Cebu. He says he thinks his next move is Japan. He has his Asiatic-Pacific ribbon with two combat stars on it, Philippine Liberation Ribbon, Combat Infantryman's Badge; Good Conduct Medal, Bronze Arrowhead for beach landing on enemy-held beaches, two Overseas Service Stripes, but was lucky enough not to have a Purple Heart."

After spending a 4-week leave with his wife, Freda Reed, other relatives and friends, DON REED, RM/2c, has been assigned to duties at the Demobilization Center at Great Lakes.

Second Lt. GENE EWOLDSEN with his wife

and son Philip arrived the first of the week from McClellan, Alabama, to spend a few days in the parental A.M. Ewoldsen and Dr. A.D. Craft homes before going to the southwest Pacific where he will take charge of a machine gun platoon. He is leaving tonight for Frt Ord, CA. His wife will accompany him and be with him during his stay on the coast. Philip will remain with his grandparents.

S/Sgt. JACK E. JEFFREYS returned from Des Moines Monday after a visit with relatives then left Tuesday for Miami, Florida for reassignment in the Army Air Corps. He has spent a 3-month furlough with his mother, Mrs. Guy Painter and other relatives and friends.

Pfc. ELDON SHEPHERD, husband of Ivalee Karns Shepherd has returned to spend a 30-day furlough with relatives after seven months overseas. He will report to Jefferson Barracks, MO. for a new assignment. An important event since his homecoming was the arrival of his baby daughter, Constance Lee, Tuesday, September 25

KENNETH C. KENNEDY, S/1 c, in the South Pacific, is sending his wife, Darlene Kennedy a Jap bayonet off the "faked hospital ship" captured a few weeks ago off Morotal

All the prisoners on the ship did not look like troops of a conquering nation. They appeared sullen and ashamed. Taken from a daily issued by the Australian Military Forces Abroad, "Lt. Gen. Ishy, commander of the Japs in Halmaheras and Moratai on Sunday by their PT boats and the surrender was signed on Monday.

Pfc. MARVIN GREEN is concluding a 30-day furlough with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jake Green when he leaves for Jefferson Barracks, MO, enroute to a camp in Oklahoma. He spent 9 months overseas in the Eurpean theatre of operations. Marvin Green is married to the former Miss Doris McGahey of Fort Worth, Texas.

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T/4 DICK ATZ, in the service for nearly four years, arrived home last night. Dick has been in England and Belgium for many months.

ALFRED PATRICK, son of Mr. and Mrs. B.C. Patrick has received his discharge from the Navy and arrived home this week. He was in the photo- graphic section of the Navy and gained much valuable experience in his work. Some of the training included work with color photography, both in the taking of pictures and the development of the films and prints. Color photography is expected to replace black and white within the next few years. His brother, Phil, sails from Panama for home Friday.

Sgt. FREDRICK MCLAUGHLIN is spending a 30-day furlough with his family here following his recent return from Japan. He hopes to receive his discharge soon after reporting back to camp next month.

A letter from Lt. JACK GLENN to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Glenn of Osceola, tells of his enrollment in a Japanese university where he will study the language during the time he is a member of the Marine Corps occupation forces.

S/Sgt. ROBERT MCGEE landed in California Tuesday from Hawaii where he had been stationed for several months. He is expected to arrive home this weekend.

FRANK E. TOWNSEND, S/1c of the U.S.S. Dawson, APR is spending a 30-day leave with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Virgil Townsend. Frank was with the fleet when it first entered Japan. This is his first trip home in 16 months.

GERALD D. (Bud) MILLER, former Army Sgt. was home to spend Christmas with his family, after 18 months in the European theatre. He received his discharge at Camp Grant, IL. While in Europe he served as a Browning automatic rifleman with the 4th Infantry Division. He was wounded in action in Germany and assigned to the 83rd Airdrome Squadron after his recovery.

Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Scholl have received a telegram from their son, Sgt. JOHN F. SCHOLL that he had arrived safely at San Francisco from the Philippine Islands. A letter has been received by them from another son, Sgt. ERNEST DEE SCHOLL, that he would be in the states soon from Japan.

S/lc ROSS PASCHALL Jr. Concluded a 15-day leave spent with his mother, Mrs. Helen Paschall and brother, Bill, when he left Friday night for Norfolk, VA. Here he was assigned to a ship and went on today to New York. While here he enjoyed Christmas dinner at the home of his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. J.Z. Paschall and other guests were his mother, brother, and his uncle Frank Paschall and family.

RONALD BEADEL called Mrs. Beadel Saturday from Treasure Island, California, where he had just arrived on a converted aircraft carrier from the Philippines. He has been in the Philippines since February last year. He expects to receive his discharge from the Navy and be home soon.

S/lc HAROLD R. DAVISON came Saturday morning from the east coast. After being on the Pacific for nearly a year, he is enjoying a 30-day leave with his wife Velma at Pleasanton and with his mother Mrs. Irene Davison and other friends and relatives in Osceola. He will report at Ottumwa January 29.

WENDELL BEEMAN arrived home Sunday from Groton, CT with his discharge from the Navy, that he had received at Lido Beach, N.Y. His family who have been with him at Groton accompanied him here.

SGT. OLAF CRAFT arrived Friday from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas where he had received his Army discharge. Olaf spent two years in Australia, but the past few months he was in Manilla.

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CPL. PAUL ATKINSON, son of Mr. and Mrs. Don Atkinson, arrived home Christmas day for a 90-day furlough after spending nearly two years with the Air Force in England. Paul has reenlisted for a year and will return to Germany at the end of his furlough to serve with occupation forces there.

DON STROY, ARM/3c, after spending a 10-day leave with his parents and sister, Dr. and Mrs. H.E. Stroy and Donna Lou, left Monday for Burlington where he spent New Year's Eve and New Year's Day with friends enroute back to his base at Daytona Beach, Florida.

Mr. and Mrs. E.E. Vander Linden drove to Des Moines early Sunday morning to take their son MILO VANDER LINDEN MaM/lc there to catch a train for San Francisco. They have received a letter stating that he had left San Francisco and is now at Pearl Harbor.

LT. RICHARD WILDE came from Lincoln, NE. last week to spend a leave with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. S.S. Wilde. He went to Chicago Friday for a week's visit with his brother, CPL RAYMOND WILDE and wife. Richard, who expects to receive a discharge from the Army soon, will enter Iowa State College after the first of the year to continue his freshman studies in aeronautical engineering. He had two semesters of college work before entering the service.

GORDON MCVEY, a seaman on the USS Mercy, a hospital ship, writes from Manila that the ship is starting for home on the 22nd of October. He says he hopes to see friends in Osceola soon.

BERNARD LINDER has just returned home after two years in the service and will resume his duties at Robinsons about the 1st of March.

FILMORE GARNER has been transferred from Shoemaker, CA to the naval air station at Oakland CA, as a radioman. He called his parents Mr and Mrs. Ray Garner Sunday.

2nd LT. VIRGIL L. CARSON of Osceola has

successfully completed the Officers' Disbursing Course conducted by the Army Finance School, according to an announcement released by Col. L.N. Smith Commanding Officer of the School at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Harrison, Indiana.

LT. HAROLD SHOEMAKER arrived home this week after many months in the India-Burma war theatre. After a few days here he will report to St. Louis and hopes then to receive an extended furlough. He does not know how much longer he will be in the service. During his service, Mrs. Shoemarker, the fowler Daleth Collier and their son, Stephen, have made their home in Osceola.

S/S GT GEORGE PARKER of Murray, Iowa, is one of 1200 Army veterans returning to the States for discharge aboard the US S Hampton, an attack transport of the "Magic Carpet" fleet. This ship left Saipan, January 25, and was scheduled to arrive in San Francisco about February 10. The USS Hampton is a ship of the Navy's fleet which covered the Atlantic and Pacific oceans carrying men and materiel to US forces overseas.

S/S GT and Mrs. EMARY S. HOSTETLER of Sioux City are spending part of a 60-day furlough in the home of the latter's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Clair DeVore of Osceola. S/Sgt Hostetler recently returned from duty in the South Pacific. Mrs. Hostetler is the former Ea DeVore of this city. He has reenlisted in the Army for three more years and will be assigned to duty at the Des Moines recruiting station. He is a veteran of the Okinawa campaign and wears the Bronze star for heroic action. He spent 21 months in the Pacific.

MERLYN W. JONES, SF/3c, spent a 30-day furlough with parents, Mr and Mrs. A.W. Jones, after spending 22 months in the South Pacific. He reassigned in Des Moines and will again be assigned overseas duty

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T/5 GLENN A. MCKIIVIPS ON arrived home Feb. 8 after 15 months overseas duties. DWIGHT SMITH arrived home at the same time and the significant part of these boys' return is their companionship for the past several years. Glenn and Dwight entered Osceola high school together in 1936, graduated together in 1940, entered the Army together March 24, 1943, went through all training going overseas together Nov. 7, 1944, and were fortunate enough to have been able to stay together through thick and thin —returning to their homes after their honorable discharges at Camp Grant, IL. Each of them is entitled to two overseas service bars, American Medal, European-African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, W/3 Bronze Stars, Good Conduct Medal and WWII Victory Medal. The other member of the trio, JOHN GARNER, shared their companionship, until lie was killed in action in March 1945.

Pfc. ROY V. EDWARDS is spending a 10-day furlough at the home of his parents, Mrs. and Mrs. Ralph Edwards. Roy is stationed at the P.O.W. (Prisoner of War) camp at Trinidad, Colorado.

RAYMOND G. FULLER Y/3c, stationed at the Personnel Separation Center, Great Lakes, IL concluded a 30 day leave spent with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. T.G. Fuller of near Weldon, and other relatives and friends Wednesday. Raymond has spent 14 months at Great Lakes and was recently discharged for reenlistment in the regular Navy and expects to be transferred to the fleet soon.

Mrs. Lester Gray of near Osceola was made very happy Tuesday morning, February 5 when she received a telephone call from her brother Cpl. DWIGHT W. SMITH who has just reached Camp Grant, IL after arriving in the States from France. He had spent 15 months in that country and a waiin welcome was awaiting him. He arrived at his home in Osceola February 8 following his discharge.

T/Sgt. and Mrs. Marvin Wallace arrived in Osceola last week for a visit with the former's parents, Mr. and Mrs. A.S. Wallace. SGT. WALLACE received his discharge from the Army at the St. Louis, MO separation center. He was in the service three years, six months and 20 days and was overseas 31 months. He is wearing the Asiatic-Pacific campaign lapel button; five overseas service bars; the Philippine Liberation ribbon with four bronze stars and the Good Conduct medal.

GLENN HERRON, seaman first class, is home on a 27-day leave after having served many months with his ship, the USS Tennessee. The famous battleship was in most of the heavy action of the Pacific war. It was off Okinawa when the war ended and took part in the occupation of Japan. The famous old ship returned to the states by way of Singapore and Capetown, and Glenn had the opportunity of visiting many widely scattered places on the globe. His ship is in Philadelphia now and he will return there to duty at the end of his leave.

DAVID WATTS, son of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Watts of Murray, has been promoted to the rank of Captain in the Army. He is with the military intelligence division and is located in the Pentagon building in Washington D.C. Incidental to his promotion, he was made desk chief of his section.

CAPT. FRANKLIN MULLEN arrived home this week on terminal leave after nearly a year spent in the southwest Pacific. He was last stationed in New Guinea. He is spending his leave with his family and parents, Mr. and Mrs. John M. Mullen.

Scheduled to arrive in Seattle last weekwas the USS President Adams, a transport, with two Clarke County boys on board. They are CORP. RALPH C. HERRON and PFC WILLARD F. SMITH. The ship left Yokohama, Japan, December 21.

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Four Clarke County boys, each 18 years old are included in the first draft call for October. Three of the men left for service Wednesday evening and the other will report from Missouri. They are LEONARD STUBBS, BILLY THOMAS LOGAN, IVYL DWIGHT MASON AND ROBERT KEITH SHIKLDS.

PFC. LEONARD MASON landed January 3 in California from Okinawa and will return home following his separation from service.

A letter from LT. JOHN L. GLENN to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. J.T. Glenn, 216 North Main, informs them that he was on a hospital ship off the coast of Tapan and was to undergo an operation on January 8.

PFC. FRANK M. WOODS arrived home Monday December 31 from overseas duty. He had spent 58 months and 28 days in the Army. Nine months was overseas duty. Frank received his discharge before returning home.

LT. CHARLES E. PERDUE, pilot instructor in single engine advanced trainer planes, received his discharge December 25, following a terminal leave. He has now enrolled at Iowa State College at Ames.

MYRN Windland, son of Dr. And Mrs. D.L. Windland, is home for a short time following his discharge from the service. He was guest of his father at Rotary Wednesday noon. Myrn, one of three brothers in the service, is the first to receive his discharge.

LT. GENE EWOLDSEN, son of Mr. and Mrs. A.M. Ewoldsen of Jackson township, is now stationed on Honshu Island in the vicinity of Tokyo. He writes his parents that he has been named regimental special service officer. This means he is in charge of all the entertainment and canteen services for the regiment, including the officers and enlisted men's clubs, athletic events, the PX and all kinds of entertainment.

NOTIFIED SON IS OFFICIALLY DEAD

Although hope had long been slight that their son was still alive, it was not until last week that Mr. and Mrs. C.M. Carson of Woodburn gave up their last vestige of hope when they received details of the death of their son, STAFF SERGEANT PAUL CARSON on a bombing raid near Hamburg, Geimany on December 31, 1944.

His personal effects had been sent home some time ago but Mr. and Mrs. Carson decided against opening them until they had received final word that the government was sure he had lost his life in the raid. The letter, received January 8, stated their son TS/Sgt. Stanley Paul Carson had been officially declared dead. He was reported missing in action on December 31, 1944 over Germany. It was his 14th mission and had bombed Hamburg when the B-17 Flying Fortress was struck by flak and attacked by enemy fighters. It crashed half-way between Hamburg and Wisermunde at 11:55 a.m. Twelve ships out of 36 on the raid were lost in that action.

As has been noted in the Sentinel, he was awarded the air medal in November 1944, "for meritorious achievement while participating in heavy bombardment missions in the air offensive against the enemy over continental Europe. The courage, coolness and skilfulness displayed by this enlisted man upon these occasions reflect great credit upon himself and the armed forces of the U.S."
Among the personal effects returned was a notebook in which he had jotted down the raids he had taken part in. Headed "Raids" the notes listed the names of the places and minor details of the action."

KENNETH KENNEDY SC/3c. Husband of Mrs. Darlene Crawford Kennedy, was discharged from the Navy in Minneapolis, MN, December 30 and is now here with his family. However, they expect to move to Des Moines soon

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GRAVE OF ALLEN OEHLERT BELIEVED FOUND ON ISLAND:

The grave of LT. HERSCHEL ALLEN OEHLERT, missing since a bombing raid in the South Pacific in July, 1943, is believed to have been found on Hare Island in the Kapingmarangi group off New Guinea, according to a letter received a few days ago by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. H.A. Oehlert of Woodburn.
According to the information the Navy now has, the plane exploded in mid-air after having destroyed its objective and shooting down one of three attacking Jap fighters.

The bodies of the crew were buried by friendly natives and articles belonging to the members of the crew have been identified.

Portions of the letter are reprinted here: "It is with deep regret this bureau confirms the telegram of December 7, 1945, in which you were informed that your son, Lieutenant (junior grade) Herschel Allen Oehlert, U.S. Naval Reserve, previously reported missing, is now known to have lost his life.

"Information has been received that your son lost his life on July 6, 1943, when the plane in which he was flying, attached to Bombing Squadron 102, which took off from Guadalcanal on a combined patrol search and bombing mission, failed to return to the base. No radio contact was established with the plane after the take-off. However, during recent U.S. Naval forces search of Hare Island, Kapingmarangi Group, a grave bearing the legend, 'Nameless American Airman, War
Dead: 6 July 1943' was discovered. According to informants, an American bomber on July 6 or 7, 1943, made six runs over the area in the course of which it released its bombs on the southern anti-aircraft position of Hare island, destroying the crew and emplacements and shooting down one of the three attacking Japanese fighters. On the sixth run the American bomber exploded in the air and crashed into the lagoon off Hare island beach. It is firmly believed the plane which crashed was the one in which your son was flying,

as articles of identification of the personnel aboard were recovered. To date no further information has been received concerning your son.

BRONZE STAR FOR KENNETH JOHNSON: For herosim in Germany during the war, a former Osceola boy was recently awarded the bronze star medal at an impressive ceremony in California. He is PFC KENNETH E. JOHNSON, son of Mrs. Lilla Johnson now of Des Moines.
The presentation was made by Maj. Gen. John W.Leonard, division commander of the 20th armored, of which Kenneth is a member. A clipping from a California newspaper says:

"It was in impressive ceremony with troops from several regiments of the division drawn up for the affair honoring one of the members of the medical battalion. Cpl.Edwin H. Moore, 1381 Ord. Bn., was reviewing commander and Maj. Wm. D. Slight of division trains was commander of troops. According to the official citation, Pfc. Johnson was awarded the bronze star for heroic achievement in action on April 29,1945 near Lehhof, Germany. Johnson dismounted from his ambulance in the face of heavy gun fire and assisted in moving wounded men to the side of the road where he gave first aid and assisted in their evacuation to the rear. Johnson, who comes from Iowa, was directly responsible for saving of several lives."

ROBERT C. SCHAFFER of Osceola enlisted in the Army on January 19 at Des Moines and will be sent to Ft. Snelling, MN for assignment according to the Army recruiting service.

Seaman DON EGGLESTON will return to Navy base in San Diego after spending a week's leave with parents Mr. and Mrs. Bert Eggleston and other relatives and friends

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PFC LYLE P. SPRINGER arrived in the States Jan. 9. He was overseas 2 years in Australia and Manilla. He is home on a 90-day furlough visiting his mother Mrs. Verna Springer and family at Woodburn.

HELEN KYTE, daughter of Mrs. George Kyte, has been discharged from the Waves, arriving home during the latter part of last week. She has been serving in a CA hospital.

PFC LOWELL W. REISH, Med. Det. 739th M.P. Bn. Camp Haan CA arrived in Ottumwa, Iowa December 16, visiting his wife and daughter Judith Ann, and then all came to spend Christmas with Lowell's parents, Mr. and Mrs. W.E. Reish, near Leslie. Lowell returned to California January 3 and Mrs. Reish and daughter returned to Ottumwa, where they reside with her parents.

HAROLD L. MCNAIR, formerly of this county, now of Arlington, CA, has received his discharge from the Navy after more than a year in the service. He saw action at Okinawa on board the USS Caliente and was in the Occupation of Japan. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Robert McNair now live at Arlington.

S/SGT. WALTER L. CARPENTER arrived at the home of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Carpenter on December 24, after receiving his discharge from Camp Beale, CA. He has spent almost 5 years in the service, 20 months of which were in the Southwest Pacific. Walter was with the Military Police until the last year which he spent with the 11th Air Borne division as a paratrooper and took part in several invasions, including the liberation of prisoners at the Cabana Tuan prison camp. The other son, T/5 JOHN T. CARPENTER, also spent the holidays in the home of his parents and with his wife and little daughter. He has been with the armed forces nearly 2 years part of which was spent in Germany, France and Belgium, as a medical technician. He is now at Lovell General Hospital in MA.

BOB SMITH, son of Mr. and Mrs. Allen

Smith of near Osceola has been recovering from an attack of pneumonia, contracted a day after he arrived home from the service last week, after having been in the combat areas of the Pacific for more than a year. Discharges appear to have been unlucky for the Smith boys. Another, LAVERE, went into the hospital within a few days after his discharge a few weeks ago, with a recurrence of a tropical fever contracted in the early days of the war in the Pacific. Another brother, WESLEY, is a lieutenant in the Merchant Marine and is still in the service.

Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Hatcher of near New Virginia, received a call from their son,CPL LAURENCE HATCHER, January 19, from Los Angeles, CA. He had just landed from the USS Pope. Corporal Hatcher has served in the Army since March 15, 1942, has been in France, Germany and then on Luzon Island. He will come to Ft. Leavenworth, ICA for discharge and be home about Feb. 1

Returning to civilian life after several years of military service, DR. TOWNSEND PAUL, formerly of Osceola, Iowa, has begun work at the Kiwanis dental clinic for under-privileged children at Palm Beach high school. Dr. Paul, a Commander in the Navy but assigned to the Marines, entered the service before war was declared and served in the Pacific. He was on Guam when VI Day was celebrated and recently returned to the United States.

HAROLD EPPERLY EM 3/c will arrive here Friday from Minneapolis MN where he will be honorably discharged from the Navy. His wife, Mrs. Virginia Epperly will go to Des Moines to meet him and accompany him here Friday.

For the past year, Harold has been in the Admiralty Islands in the southwest Pacific

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Mrs. Gerald E. Williams and Mr. and Mrs. Albert Williams of Weldon believe their husband and son, S/SGT. GERALD E. WILLIAMS, will soon be home from Japan where he has been stationed since October. He left there January 5. He has been on MP duty and very busy as they have had trouble with the Japs there. He has been overseas since May 1944, and in combat most of the time in New Guinea, Leyte and Luzon. He has a number of medals and ribbons including a presidential citation.

LT. GRENDEL MCKIMPSON is believed to be enroute home from Germany. A few days ago his mother received a copy of an official commendation from his commanding officer for the Clarke County boy's work in the redeployment of this unit back to the United States. "In spite of the fact that those positions were entirely foreign to you, the manner of your performance of duty has consistently been superior. You attacked your problems with enthusiasm and vigor. Your determination, loyalty, initiative, and resourcefulness have materially aided this battalion in the successful accomplishment of its mission during this trying period. Your willingness to cooperate is outstanding and the service you have given the Army is very praiseworthy. (Signed) M.A. Surrell, Lt. Col., MC Commanding."
LT. (j.g.) CLOYCE GRAY, after spending 13 months in the Philippines, arrived at his home in Creston Saturday night to spend a 30-day leave with his family. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harry Gray of Osceola, visited with him and his family at Creston Sunday. Cloyce expects to resume his prewar duties with the John Deere company at Waterloo soon. Mr. and Mrs. Gray report that their son, S/SGT. CLAIRE GRAY, who is in Japan, expects to return home in February.

S/SGT ELDON GILCHRIST, son of Mr. and Mrs. J.P. Gilchrist has been transferred from Neosho, MO to Camp Lee, VA.

MAJOR FRANKLIN H. MULLEN, after nearly a year spent in the southwest Pacific came to see his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Mullen, last week while on terminal leave. He left Thursday for Milwaukee, WI; stopping enroute at Nevada to visit his brother and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Morris M. Mullen. Morris was recently discharged from the Army after 19 months overseas twice in the European Theatre of operations.

JOE WELCHER surprised his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Welcher, when he arrived home early Saturday morning. However, he had warned them of his arrival from the west coast before Christmas. His discharge was issued at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Joe had to his credit six months service in the Pacific and 27 months in the European Theatre of Operations.

Mr. and Mrs. Charles Rork received a telegram from T5 ARLIE RORK Saturday evening that he had arrived in Washington from Okinawa and expects to be home soon.

SGT. WILLIAM M. MCCANN, son of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence McCann, arrived in Osceola on January 7, after more than two years overseas duty in England and Belgium. He enlisted in the John Deere Bn.on September 12, 1942, and received his discharge at Camp Grant on Jan. 6, 1946.

WILLIAM E. WILEY CM 2/c, after spending a 30-day leave with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ben Wiley, is now stationed at Great Lakes, IL awaiting his discharge. William spent 21 months on the Marshall Islands and Okinawa.

SGT. DICK MUSBURGER, formerly of Osceola, has arrived at his home in Los Angeles after spending more than a year in the European theatre of operations. His wife, the former Betty Rose Yates of Osceola, is a telephone operator in L.A. and has an apartment home there.

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The commission of Captain was recently granted to CLAIR L. COOK, son of Mr. and Mrs. Allen Cook who live 4 miles southwest of Osceola. At the conclusion of his leave which he is spending with his parents and other relatives and friends, he expects to start to Iowa State College at Ames to take up the study of animal husbandry on dairying. Captain Cook served in Europe 31/2 years, T/4 WILLARD COOK, a brother of the Captain, who has been with the Army Infantry in Korea writes his parents that he was flown to Manila just before Christmas where he entered radio school.

WILLIAM WEBSTER Sl/C who is at the Naval Separation Center in Minneapolis awaiting his discharge, came Wednesday to spend 5 days with parents, Mr. and Mrs. L.B. Webster.
JAMES A. SPENCER, boatswain mate 2/c, son of Mr. and Mrs. J.O. Spencer of near Lucas, was discharged from the Coast Guard on November 24, after having spent 3 years, 4 months in the service. He and Mrs. VIVIAN DARBY SPENCER of the WAVES, who was also discharged on November 28, have returned to San Francisco, after a week's visit with her parents in Lovington, New Mexico. James and Vivian were married on October 2.

LT. HAROLD SHOEMAKER telephoned his wife, Mrs. Daleth Shoemaker, Saturday announcing his arrival at Seattle, WA. For the past 13 months Lieutenant Shoemaker has been stationed at Karachi, India in Army communications work.

COL. ROBERT PFLFFNER called his mother, Mrs. Lucille Pfiffner from Camp Killmer saying he would go to Camp Grant, IL for his discharge and would arrive home the last of this week, Corporal Pfiffner, a member of the 8th Armored Infantry, has spent the past 13 months in the European Theatre of Operations He has been in the service 3 years.

JAMES C. PATRICK, who before the war was employed at Robinsons Drug Store, will receive his discharge from the Navy about Feb. 1 after nearly 39 months in the service. His temporary address is St. Charles.

SGT. and Mrs. DAN MARTINDALE and son Barry left Saturday night for their home in Inglewood CO after spending 5 weeks in the parental H.H. Martindale home. Sgt. Martindale who reenlisted in the Army following his discharge will leave Saturday for Greensboro NC where he will be assigned to a diplomatic school for a few weeks. The school will be in preparation for his leaving for South America where he will be an instructor of armament in the Air Force. His wife and son will join him when he is located

LT.(j .g.) WAYNE EDWARD DAVENPORT was released to inactive duty in the Naval Reserve on 15 January 1946, after serving 30 months in the armed forces. This includes 15 months sea duty in the Solomon Islands as a member of Acorn 26 and as a communications officer on board the light cruiser, USS Biloxi. Wayne will teach commercial subjects in the Afton high school for the remainder of the school year.
MARION W. MCGEE, son of William E. McGee, received his discharge at Ft. Leavenworth recently after having served in the combat areas of the Pacific for over a year. He expects to go back to work soon as clerk in the Milwaukee freight depot at Council Bluffs, Iowa.

HOMER STANLEY after 4 years in the service of the armed forces has been discharged and has enrolled at Drake University for a liberal arts course. He spent many months in the European theatre of operations. Homer is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Howard Stanley of near Weldon.

ARDEN DUTTON has been released from the Coast Guard and arrived from CA to spend time with his mother, Mrs. Rose Dutton.

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T/5 ALBERT G. WHITE, son of Mr. and Mrs. Otto White, received his discharge at Ft. Logan,CO on January 13, 1946. He spent 34 months in service, of which 23 months and 16 days were spent overseas. T/5 White was with the 649th Ord. Amm. Co. He landed in New Guinea, was on various small islands, Luzon and Japan. Decorations and citations are: Asiatic Pacific Service Medal, Philippine Liberation Ribbon, World War II Victory Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Meritorious Service Unit and Bronze Service Arrowhead.

SGT. ERNEST D. SCHOLL of Osceola, Iowa is one of 1,050 high-point Army veterans whom the Navy is returning to the States for discharge aboard the US S Shamrock Bay, an escort carrier of the "Magic Carpet" fleet. This ship left Yokohama, Japan, January 11, and was scheduled to arrive in Seattle about January 27. The US S Shamrock Bay operated in the invasions of Lingayen Gulf, Iwo Jima, the Ryukus Islands and Okinawa. Seizure of these island bases was vital to the sea-air attack and blockade of Japan before the close of the Pacific war.

KEITH KETCHAM, electronic technicians's mate, 1stclass, is spending a 15-day leave with his parents Mr. and Mrs. Fred Ketcham. He will return to the Navy Pier at Chicago, where he is stationed.

Former T/5 GEORGE T. IRVING is home again after serving 4 1/2 years in the U.S. Army He was part of a Medical Detachment with the 50 1st Engineers, While in the 591st, he saw duty in the British Isles and participated in the North African and Italian campaigns. He returned to the State in August 1944, on the Army's Rotation plan and for the past year served at Ft. Benjamin Harrison, Indianapolis, IN, in a Station Hospital. He received a point discharge from Jefferson Barracks on Aug. 29.

FC. ARTHUR E. JOHNSON, son of Mr, and Mrs. George Johnson of Woodburn arrived at his home January 28 after receiving his discharge of Jefferson Barracks, MO. He had been in non-combat duty for 39 months, 16 of which were spent in the Canada and Alaska area.

His brother, T/5 GEORGE JOHNSON, arrived home on the same date, after receiving his discharge at Fort Leavenworth. He had been in the service a little over a year. His wife and children live at Woodburn.

Two other brothers, PFC DELBERT and PVT. LEO, both of whom had overseas duty were discharged in October and November respectively. And older brother PVT. ELMER, who lives at Conrad, Iowa received a medical discharge from the Army about two years ago. There being only five brothers in the family, and all having been in the service is rather unusual and proves that father and mother Johnson have done their bit in helping to win the war.

CPL. JAMES TWOMLEY, Air Flight Engineer, has arrived at Pearl Harbor according to a letter written to his parents, Mrs. and Mrs. Floyd Twombley. He went by plane and was 2 1/2 days going from the California coast to his destination

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An Air Service Command Depot Somewhere in England - SGT. ALVIN R. HAVARD, son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred S. Havard, R.R. 2, Grand River, Iowa, is now assigned to the supply section of the Air Service Command somewhere in Britain.

An Eight Air Force Bomber Station, England: STANLEY P. CARSON, 20-year-old ball turret gunner, of Woodburn, Iowa, has been promoted from the grade of sergeant to staff sergeant. S/Sgt. Carson, a farm hand before entering the Army Air Forces, and a fourier student at Woodburn High School, is the son of Mr. and Mrs. C. M. Carson, of Woodburn. Member of a B-17 Flying Fortress crew, S/Sgt. Carson flies with the 100th Bombardment Group, part of the Eighth Air Force's Third Bombardment Division.

CPL. DAN MARTINDALE came Sunday for a few days' visit with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. H. II. Martindale, leaving Wednesday night to report at Shreveport, Louisiana. He received his aerial gunnery wings Oct. 28, at Fort Myers, Fla., and will be assigned to a bomber crew in Shreveport. He came from Englewood, Colo., where he had spent 10 days with his wife and son, Barry D.

PFC. J. A. WADE arrived home Tuesday night from Camp Hood, Tex., for a two week's furlough with his family.

PFC. GAROLD DENLY, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Denly of Murray, has been seriously wounded in action in France. Word of his injuries was received in a telegram from the War department last week but after a few anxious days, his parents received a letter from their son, written at the hospital, saying he was getting along fine. Garold has been in some of the heaviest fighting in France ever since the Normandy break-through.

PVT. RAYMOND CURNES JR., after completing his basic training at Camp Robinson, Ark., came Tuesday evening to spend a ten-day furlough with his family and

his parents Mr. and Mrs. R. M. Curves.
Mr. and Mrs. Verner Paschall received a telephone call Friday from their son, SGT. W. R. PASCHALL at Sheppard Field, Texas. He also talked with his brothers, LT. (J.G.) RONALD R. PASCHALL and PVT. JACK PASCHALL who were both home on a visit.

PVT. JACK COULTER, who has been stationed at Camp Joseph T. Robinson, Ark., arrived Tuesday for a ten-day furlough with his wife and daughter, Judy. He will report for duty at Camp Meade, Md., at the close of his furlough.

PFC. WM {TICK) MORAN with the Coast Artillery at Long Island, New York, arrived Tuesday night to spend a ten-day furlough with his wife and other relatives and friends.

ROBERT L. KISTLER, 18, son of Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Kistler of Osceola R.F.D. 2, will graduate Dec. 15 from an electricans and officers training school at Farragut, Idaho, where he received his boot training. He will receive a rating of a second class petty officer and will be assigned to a ship Dec. 22. Robert graduated from the Osceola high school in May and has made rapid advancement since being inducted into the Navy last summer. It was recently announced over the radio that he won a pennant for making three touchdowns in a football game played by Navy men.

15th AAF in Italy - CLYDE W. BOWLSBY, 22, son of Mr. and Mrs. C. R. Bowlsby, has recently been promoted to the grade of sergeant while serving as a gunner with a B-24 Liberator group commanded by Lt. Col. Philip R. Hawes, Pearl River, N.Y.

CHAS. MCVEY, JR., son of Mr. and Mrs. Chas. McVey, who was inducted into the Navy in November, has arrived at Great Lakes, Ill., to start his boot training at the naval station.

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New Orleans, La. - EDWARD K. VIOLETT, gunner's mate third class, USNR, of Osceola, has returned to the Armed Guard Center here after 12 months at sea as a member of the Navy gun crew aboard a supply-laden cargo ship. Violett, who enlisted in the Navy in June, 1942, now has credit for 23 months sea duty. He has visited various ports in Australia, South and North Africa, South America and Sicily. He has seen aircraft action in Sicily, and was attacked by dive bombers. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Geo. G. Violett, live near Osceola, and he has been spending his leave there.
Hq. Tenth Air Force in Burma - Promotion to first lieutenant of

DANIEL KENT PENCE, son of Mrs. Nellie Pence, Osceola, Iowa, has been announced by Maj. Gen. Howard C. Davidson, Commanding General, Tenth Air Force, EAC. Element leader and fighter pilot for a P-47 outfit of the Red Gorillas squadron, Tenth Air Force, Lt. Pence has been in the Armed Forces 15 months, having spent four months in the Mediterranean theater and 9 months in the India-Bmoia theater. He has 18 combat missions and 57 combat hours to his credit.

Camp Wolters, Texas - PVT. WILLIAM L. WOODALL, husband of Mrs. Velma Woodall, has arrived at this Infantry Replacement Training Center to begin his basic training as an Infantryman. He has been assigned to a battalion stressing heavy weapons.

Mrs. Ralph Boggs is proud of a silver bracelet she has received from her husband who is in the Navy somewhere in the South Pacific. Her initials, A. B., carved from Australian three pence, form two links in the bracelet and another unique design is in its center.

PRIVATE R. M. WESTFALL has written

his wife and his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Westfall, that he has arrived safely overseas, and is somewhere in France.
Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Waller received a letter last week from their son, SGT. DOYLE WALLER, saying he had arrived safely in England.

Mrs. A. E. Ritter has received a card from the Women's Society of Christian Service at the Central Methodist Church at Oskaloosa stating that it had the privilege of serving her son, WILLIAM R. RITTER along with a contingent of 285 Navy men with a hot dinner, Sunday, Nov. 12. The troop was en route to the west coast from Washington, D.C.

PVT. DONALD MARKS, son of Mr. and Mrs. George Marks of Chicago, captured 40 Germans by himself in Belgium in October, his aunt, Mrs. Fred Saddoris, has just learned. Details of how he captured the Jerries have not been learned. His father formerly lived in this county.

PFC. CLEO GRACEY will leave Friday for Texas where he will spend a month training medical corpsmen in the field. He has been stationed at Fitzsimmons General Hospital in Denver for the past year.

15th AAF In Italy - 2ND LT. RICHARD D. WILDE, 19, from Osceola, Iowa, navigator in an Italian based Liberator group has been awarded the air medal "for meritorious achievement in serial flight while participating in sustained operational activities against the enemy." His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Stephen A. Wilde, reside at Osceola. He has been serving overseas since Oct. 14, 1944, and has flown missions over such targets as Vienna, Munich, Linz, Brux and Blechhammer

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PVT. LOREN WILLS REPORTED MISSING Serving in Belgium in Paratroop Division Pvt. Loren Wills, former Osceola boy, is missing in action in Belgium since January 4, according to word received last week by his sister, Mrs. Helen Lawson. He was a paratrooper and had been overseas several months. Loren enlisted early in the war and spent two years in the Aleutians. Returning to this country he volunteered for the paratroop service and received his training at Ft. Benning, Ga. No details of the action in which he was reported missing have been received here. Since it is the work of the paratroopers to jump behind enemy lines, it is the hope of friends he may still be reported safe.

Mr. and Mrs. S.H. Hukill received a telegram Tuesday afternoon from their son HOMER A. HUKILL, PH. M. 2/C, saying he had arrived o.k. on Treasure Island and would be there awhile. He has been in Hawaii for the past fifteen months. He is being discharged and will be home soon.
Headquarters Panama Canal Department - The promotion of 2ND LT. JOE D. OEHLERT, son of Mr. and Mrs. Herschel A. Oehlert, Woodburn, Iowa, to the rank of First Lieutenant is announced by a Sixth Air Force fighter squadron where he is serving as a pilot.

FORREST LOWELL ROUTH, who has been in the thick of the fighting in France, Belgium and Germany has sent his mother, Mrs. Wm. R. Routh, a box of souvenirs, some picked up on the battlefield and some purchased in Germany. Among them is a German helmet, a German knife with sheath, a German pipe, a silk tablecloth and several other little souvenirs. He has been overseas 16 months.

MANSEL WESTFALL PRISONER: "Missing" since Dec. 10; Word has been received from two more Clarke County boys who have been missing in action, that they are prisoners of the Germans. They are PVT. MANSEL WESTFALL and THOMAS DAY. Westfall was reported missing on the western front on December 10, 1944, apparently scooped up by the Huns on their break-through last month. Last week his parents received a card from him dated January 25 in which he said he was all right. The card said: "Just a few lines to let you know I am all right and don't worry. Please get in touch with the Red Cross there so you can send packages. I can write you four dines a month." Mrs. Jennie Day of Murray received a similar card from her son Thomas. It was written on January 16. He had been missing since December 23.

CPL. FRED LEWIS, former Osceola show repairman, arrived here Tuesday for a short visit. Fred had been discharged from the Army after more than two years of service, a year and a half of which was spent overseas. After returning to the states several months ago a back injury received in Africa became aggravated and he has been in the hospital for several months. He was run over by a truck during an air raid in Africa but appeared to be only slightly injured at the time. Fred says he may eventually return to Osceola but will probably have to receive further treatment at a veteran's hospital.

Pvt. and Mrs. HERALD (JACK) RANSOM and daughter Judy of Galesburg, Ill., came Saturday night to spend a 21-day furlough in the Springer and Ransom homes.

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From a Detroit, Mich., newspaper: "When a series of Nazi counter attacks created a serious need for ammunition in the Third Battalion, 359th Infantry, FIRST LIEUT. ALMA B. MILLER of Detroit, personally delivered ammunition to the rifle companies according to a recent report from the 90th Infantry Division of the U.S. Third Army. Lt. Miller, on his own initiative and at the risk of his life, crossed the area under heavy artillery, mortar and small anus fire to bring up ammunition in time to repel the enemy. Then, though still under continuous enemy fire, Lt. Miller evacuated 14 wounded men. His courageous and persistent efforts inspired those around him. Lt. Miller was awarded the Silver Star for his gallant action by Maj. Gen. James A. Van Fleet, commander of the 90th Division." Lt. Miller's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Miller, reside in Osceola, Iowa.

Lifting of censorship regulations has permitted ROBERT JOHNSON, RDM. 3/C, to write his father, Carl Johnson of Murray, some interesting details of his recent actions. His ship sailed from Norfolk, Va., south through the Panama Canal and then to San Diego, thence to Pearl Harbor. From there they started a search for a Jap sub that sank a merchant ship. "We spent 20 days chasing him. It was sunk," he says. They returned to Pearl Harbor for supplies and then west to the Marshals and on to Saipan, Guam, around Yap and to the Palau Islands. After the first of the year they went to the Phillippines and had an exciting time for awhile. His ship shot down three planes. They only saw a couple of planes after the landings had been made.

Frank Morgan of Troy township received a letter from their son, SGT. EVERETT MORGAN, a few days ago, telling of his being in Germany and feeling fine. Another son, FRANK, is in the Phillippines.

SGT. JOHN SIMMONS spent Monday and

Tuesday at the home of his grandmother, Mrs. C. H. Edwards, en route from Chicago where he visited his mother, Mrs. Gladys Simmons. Sgt. Simmons has been in the Aleutians for the past two years with an anti-aircraft artillery regiment. He took part in the invasion of Attu, going ashore shortly after the establishment of the beachhead.

ENSIGN and Mrs. RONALD EASTER and children left for their home in Ames Tuesday after spending a few days with their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ray Easter and Mr. and Mrs. F. M. Abbott. Ronald, a teacher at Ames, has just completed his instruction at Harvard and is assigned to duty at San Diego where he will report next week. Mrs. Easter and their children will remain at Ames.

F/1C WENDELL L. BEEMAN, who graduated from a submarine school at New London, Conn., in February, has been assigned to a school submarine. He is on the 0-10, a sister ship to the 0-9 on which LT. HOWARD ABBOTT and his crew went down a few years ago. Mrs. Beeman arrived home Monday night from a six-week visit with her husband at New London but expects to return there again soon in company with their daughters for an indefinite stay.

PFC. LELAND ROBINS arrived last week from Camp Bowie, Tex., to spend a 14-day furlough with relatives and friends.
CPL. CAROL SCHREIBER came from Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri, Saturday night for a ten day furlough with his wife at the Ed Little home, also with other relatives and friends.

DAVID WATTS, son ofMr. and Mrs. Stanley Watts of Murray, was promoted to 1st Lieutenant in Military Intelligence Service. Stationed in Washington, D. C.

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Santa Ana, Calif. - FIRST LIEUTENANT RICHARD E. TOUET, son of Mr. and Mrs. William A. Tenet, is currently assigned to the AAF Redistribution Station No. 4 at Santa Ana Army Air Base. Lt. Toilet, a pilot aboard a B-17 Flying Fortress in the European Theater of Operations, entered the service May 23, 1942, and went overseas in July 1944. He has been awarded the European Theater Ribbon with one Battle Star, the Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters and the
Distinguished Unit Citation. He has completed 24 missions serving in England.

Miami Beach, Fla. - 1ST LT. DELL E. MILLER, 28, Murray, Ia., has arrived at Army Air Forces Redistribution Station No. 2 in Miami Beach for reassignment processing after completing a tour of duty outside the continental United States. Lieutenant Miller flew 25 missions over Europe, in B-24s, winning the DFC, and the Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters. His wife, Jean, resides in Murray.

A letter to The Sentinel giving his new address was received this week from DARREL JENSEN in France. At that time he was in a hospital, recovering from pneumonia. He had not seen action as yet. "We here in the hospital wait every day to hear how far the Russians are from Berlin. We hope every day it will be over before we get out - hal"

Headquarters 11th Bombardment Group (H), Marianas (Delayed) - Second Lieutenant ROBERT S. PASCHALL, of Osceola, Iowa, navigator of a 7th AAF Liberator bomber, has been awarded the Air Medal by Brigadier General Robert Douglass Jr., Commanding the 7th AAF, for "extraordinary achievement in flight." Lieutenant Pascb.all's mother, Mrs. Emma Paschall, resides in Osceola.

PFC. FRED MCLAUGHLIN, dental

technician who has been going to a dental school in Fort Lewis, Washington, has recently moved to Ord, California.

JOHN B. HORTON, C.M.M., writes his mother, Mrs. Lizzie S. Horton of Woodburn, that he is on Iwo Jima, having gone in with the assault forces. He was o.k. and thankful for his home, a hole in the ground, although at times it hardly seemed deep enough. John B. is a chief petty officer with the Sea-Bees and has been overseas 24 months. His wife and son Richard live at Derby with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Fred McKnight.

In a letter from ROY G. HUKILL, S 1/c, somewhere in the southwest Pacific, to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. S. H. Hukill, he states he is o.k. and to tell everyone back home hello. He thinks the war news sounds good but that it will take awhile yet.

Pvt. KENNETH HARRIS, brother of Mrs. Fred McLaughlin, is visiting with his sister and family. He is with the Harbor Boat detachment at Fort Warden, Wash., and will report back there March 19 at the conclusion of his furlough.

TRURO YOUTH KILLED IN GERMANY Harold Banker In Same Unit Wounded: Pvt. GENE DODD of near Truro was killed in Germany, according to a message received by his wife. He was a grandson of Mr. and Mrs. C.W. Dodd of Osceola. His father is C. W. Dodd of Mack Creek, Mo. He was in the same unit with HAROLD BANKER, who is now in a hospital in France suffering from wounds in the face and arm. A letter from Harold to his grandfather, P. N. DeLong, said he was with Dodd when he was killed. Gene grew up in this county and lived in the Truro area most of his life. Survived by wife and 2 children

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Marianas (Delayed) - Second Lieutenant ROBERT S. PASCHALL, of Osceola, Iowa, navigator of a 7th AAF Liberator bomber, has been awarded the Air Medal by Brigadier General Robert Douglass Jr., Commanding the 7th AAF, for "extraordinary achievement in flight." Lieutenant Paschall's mother, Mrs. Emma Paschall, resides in Osceola.

REX HUSTED IS DEAD IN GERMANY Fonder Clarke County Boy Was Son of Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Rusted of Winterset REX HUSTED, former Clarke county boy, has been killed in action in Germany. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Rusted, received word recently that their son had died of wounds on March 8. Rex lived in the Hebron community most of his life. His parents now live at Winterset.

Miami Beach, Fla. - 1st Lt. DELL E. MILLER, 28, Murray, Ia., has arrived at Army Air Forces Redistribution Station No. 2 in Miami Beach for reassignment processing after completing a tour of duty outside the continental United States. Lieutenant Miller flew 25 missions over Europe, in B-24s, winning the DFC, and the Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters. His wife, Jean, resides in Murray.
A letter to The Sentinel giving his new address was received this week from DARREL JENSEN in France. At that time he was in a hospital, recovering from pneumonia. He had not seen action as yet. "We here in the hospital wait every day to hear how far the Russians are from Berlin. We hope every day it will be over before we get out - ha!"

Cpl. Carol Schreiber came from Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri, Saturday night for a ten day furlough with his wife at the Ed Little home, also with other relatives and friends.

REX HUSTED IS DEAD IN GERMANY Fanner Clarke County Boy Was Son of Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Husted of Winterset. Rex Husted, former Clarke county boy, has been killed in action in Germany. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Rusted, received word recently that their son had died of wounds on March 8. Rex lived in the Hebron community most of his life. His parents now live at Winterset.

LT. TOUET WINS AN AIR MEDAL Serving With Combat Cargo Group Out of Air Base in India; Pilot of Cargo Plane From an Air Base in India (Special to Sentinel) - The Air Medal was recently awarded to Lt. ELIAS W. TOUET, of Osceola, a pilot serving with a Combat Cargo Group which operates under Major General George E. Stratemeyer's Allied Eastern Air Command. The award was made for participating in more than twenty-five aerial flights over enemy territory. The citation read, in part: "Flying through the most turbulent of weather and over extremely hazardous terrain, in heavily loaded, unarmed cargo aircraft, these pilots and aircrew members brought equipment, supplies and reinforcement to the forward areas. Their display of a devotion to duty and a degree of efficiency, above and beyond that normally expected, reflects credit on themselves and on the Army Air Forces of the United States."

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OSCEOLA BOY ON HARBOR CRAFT Cpl. PAUL GEARHART Has Unusual Assignment for Army Man; Runs Harbor Boats With U.S. Supply Force in Europe This is a town on the invasion coast of southern England. Members of a Harbor Craft Company, stationed here with an Army Transportation Corps Port, are doing a bang-up job in keeping the flow of Allied troops and supplies to the front lines going at high speed. Cpl. Paul Gearhart, of Osceola, is a member of the company. The men operate many small craft which keep the great Port in which they work free of traffic jams. These craft, many of them tug-boats, aid the large cargo vessels and transport ships in their giant maneuvers around the docks. Over and above this vital job, they often "pitch in" when called upon and tow barges and other kinds of floating equipment to and from scattered points in the vast harbor waters of their Port. The crews of these little ships of the "Army's Navy" are made up of soldiers who, as civilians, worked as farmers and in the factories and shops all over America. Most of them had never had experience with ships prior to joining this Harbor Craft Company. In spite of that they have, with enthusiasm and high spirit, become able-bodied seamen and oilers, cooks and gun-commanders, carpenters and mates, riggers and tractor-drivers, engineers and mechanics, ship's fitters and machinists, truck drivers and welders.

MARY MILDRED LEWIS, daughter of Mrs. Nellie Lewis of Osceola, has arrived in England for further assignment in the European Theater of Operations as an American Red Cross assistant field supervisor. Until her overseas assignment, Miss Lewis served with the Red Cross at Fitzsimons General Hospital, Denver; O'Reilly General Hospital, Springfield, Mo.; and Schick

General Hospital, Clinton, Iowa. Previously, she taught in Osceola, and Caldwell, Idaho.

With the Fifth Army, Italy (Special to Sentinel) - Pfc. Chas. C. "Cliff' Coyle, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ode Coyle, recently was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service in combat. He is serving on the Fifth Army front in Italy with the 133rd Infantry Regiment of the 34th "Red Bull" Division. Coyle demonstrated outstanding services as company messenger for a rifle company, stated the award citation, displaying ingenuity, alertness and fortitude. His fearlessness, dependability and devotion to duty materially contributed to the successes of the battalion.

A photograph was received here this week of Sgt. WAYNE BLACK at an 8th air force bomber station in England. He was checking orders for repair parts for B-17 Flying Fortresses which had suffered battle damage during raids over Germany. Sgt. Black is an air corps supply technician. He is a son of the late Earl Black, well known Osceola restaurant man.

From the Fifth army in Italy comes word that Pfc. WAYNE D. SHANNON of Osceola has been awarded the Combat Infantryman badge for participation against the enemy. The decoration is awarded infantrymen who have proved their fighting ability in combat. Wayne is a member of the 350th regiment of the 88th division.

Dewitt General Hospital - Pvt. LAVERN M. FEUSNER, 21 year old son of Mr. Melvin Feusner who resides in Weldon, Iowa, is now a patient at DeWitt General Hospital, Auburn, California. Pvt. Feusner served overseas with the Infantry, and was recently returned to the United States as a battle casualty

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15th AAF in Italy - F/O VIRGIL L. CARSON, Osceola, bombardier on a B-24 Liberator bomber, has been authorized to wear the distinguished unit badge with one bronze cluster as a member of a veteran group which has twice been cited for "outstanding performance of duty in armed conflict with the enemy." The group received its original gold-rimmed blue ribbon for an attack on the Prufening aircraft factory at Regensburg, Gelinany, on February 25. The cluster was added for a mission over the Ploesti, Rumania, oil refineries on April 5.
Aviation Cadet HARRY EDGAR ANDERSON, son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Anderson ofFranklin township, today became a Second Lieutenant in the Army Air Forces after completing bombardier training at the Carlsbad (New Mexico) Army Air Field.

Ensign RAYMOND TABLER has written his father Fank Tabler a long and interesting letter that was received by Mr. Tabler this week. This is the first he had heard from his son since November. Raymond was in the Normandy invasion, also the invasion of southern Italy.

Cpl. DAVID M. PETERSON, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Peterson of near Murray, is receiving his final training at an air service command station in England, preparatory to joining one of the advanced fighter plane bases covering the advance into Germany.

Lt. ERNEST W. HOLDEN, son of Mr. and Mrs. E. H. Holden, will leave for San Marcos, Tex., Saturday after a two-week leave following his graduation and commission as a navigator of bombers. He is not sure to what type of plane he will be assigned, but will get his assignment soon after reporting back to camp.

Word has been received at this office from the Allied Force Headquarters in Italy, that T/4 RALPH E. WINDLAND, son of Dr. and Mrs. D. L. Windland, is a member of the headquarters and services company of the headquarters. The company is responsible for the servicing of the entire headquarters unit, which is the command of all U.S. troops in the Italian theater. Forty per cent of the members of the company have seen combat.

Pvt. NORRIS W. MILLER, son of Mrs. Hattie Miller, formerly of Murray, is now on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. He was in the invasion of Leyte and Luzon. He is in the General Headquarters Communication Unit and says he sees General MacArthur occasionally, but does not want his job. He is a teletype mechanic and helps to set up and keep in repair the communication lines in headquarters. He says they found the same thing on both islands, hungry and ragged Filipinos, although not as bad on Luzon; that the people are friendly and do everything to help the Yanks.

Pvt. RUSSELL BUSICK has written his wife that he has met Corp. GAILARD HANSON who is a cousin of Mrs. Busick. Gailard is the son of Mr. and Mrs. A. W. Hanson of Shenandoah, who formerly lived in Osceola. The boys are on Leyte Island of the Philippines.

Pfc. HARRY W. JONES, with the air force, has arrived in British Guiana in South America.

Cpl. PAUL SADDORIS has arrived safely in France. The first letters from him were received this week.

CHAS. JUNIOR MCVEY, has arrived at Ft. Pierce, Florida, after completing his boot training at Great Lakes, Ill. He is a son of Mr. and Mrs. Chas. McVey of Osceola

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Pfc. BELA L. GEISER, brother of Mrs. L. J. Hughston of Washington township has been awarded, along with other members of a Ninth Air Force Aviation Battalion, the Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation for constructing an emergency landing strip while under fire on D-Day. At one time the engineering equipment was working within 200 yards of active enemy artillery emplacements.

A member of the 756th railway shop battalion with the sixth army in France is Pvt. ELERY R. MCWILLIAMS of Weldon. In order that the first military railway service may transport an ever-increasing supply of war materiel to the western front, the 756th railway shop battalion has pushed up its production capabilities to 3000 cars a month, including box cars, flat cars, cabooses, gondolas and refrigerator cars and as many as ten locomotives a day. In the conversion of French coaches and baggage cars to hospital cars, the Americans have been impressed by the far-sightedness of French army and railroad officials. Cars and coaches built as long as fifteen years ago have removable partitions, when stripped, reveal holes already bored for placement of litters. This has made construction ofhospital trains a comparatively easy task. But assembling new cars and locomotives is not the entire job of a shop battalion like the 756th. The greatest amount of work comes in the repair and maintenance of rolling stock that has already seen service. In France this job is complicated by the fact that the British, French, Belgian, Dutch, German and Italian as well as American equipment had been appropriated by the Nazis and then left behind in their headlong retreat early in the southern France campaign.

RONALD W. STEPHENSON, S1/c, son of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Stephenson returned to New York Thursday after spending four days with friends and relatives.

ALDEN TAYLOR, former Osceola boy, now a Boatswains Mate, 2/c, writes from an advanced outpost, sending greetings to friends in Osceola. He is with R. L. ALLEN, another Osceola boy.

With the 100th Infantry Division of the Seventh Army in France - Staff Sergeant LEONARD ASHFORD, son of Mrs. Myrtle Connor of Osceola, was recently promoted from sergeant to his present grade. He is with a company of the 398th Infantry Regiment.

Mr. and Mrs. E. J. Dolling of Weldon received an interesting letter from their son HAROLD DOLLING in France recently. He is with an anti-tank company with the 7th army. At that time he was apparently in a rest area and told of skiing and coasting for recreation. Like most of the boys, he mentions the fox holes in the snow, the rain and thawing, but says it is "not too bad" at that.

Pvt. MERVIN THORWALD came from Camp Hood, Texas and spent a week with his parents, Rev. and Mrs. C. W. Thorwald before going on to Camp Ord, California, where he was being transferred.

GERALD OLIVER, son of Mr. and Mrs. Herman Oliver of Weldon, has recently been promoted to Staff Sergeant. Gerald is an engineer on a B-24 with the 15th Air Force in Italy.

Mrs. E. S. Vanderlinden is in receipt of a valentine from their son MAX VANDER-LINDEN sent from Norfolk, Va. Max is a first class seaman and this is the first word they'd had from him for almost two months

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Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Main received a letter from their son MANSEL MAIN in which he told them he is in Germany. His greatest thrill in a year of overseas service came when a German 88 came "and got in bed with him." Since he could tell it, it is apparent the shell was a dud.

The E. C. Lamorees had a letter Friday from their son, Pfc. BILLY LAMOREE, which was written January 28. He stated he was in France and was living in a tent.
Mrs. Leo Cartwright received word that her husband, Pfc. LEO CARTWRIGHT, has arrived safely in the Philippines. He said the Filipino girls were doing their washing for them and the boys bought two hens and thirteen eggs of them, the first the boys had eaten in two years. He said the Filipinos have fifteen and sixteen children in each family and they all go barefooted. He also mentioned the fact that he slept in a graveyard for three nights and later made him a bed out of hay in a different place. He served in New Guinea before going to the Philippines.

BOB CARPER HAS HAD EXCITING TIME IN CHINA; HAS FLED JAPANESE TWICE. Chinese Combat Command, U. S . Army: Staff Sergeant K. CARPER of Osceola, Iowa, after being twice evacuated from Kweilin in the face of Japanese advances, is now serving in a field headquarters of the Chinese Combat Command in South Central China. Carper, whose mother, Mrs. Bernice Carper, lives at 216 S. Temple street, Osceola, arrived in India in December 1943, after a month in North Africa, and three months later flew across the Himalayan "Hump"to China. He was immediately ordered to Kweilin to join a group of Americans engaged in teaching the Chinese armies the mechanics and employment of American-supplied weapons, indoctrinating the Chinese offices in the

American technique of modern warfare and advising them in their battle against the Jap aggressors. In June 1944, the approach of Jap columns toward the American base caused the evacuation ofKweilin, and Carper was sent by truck convoy to another base further west. He returned in August and. for the next two months experienced almost nightly alerts and air-raids by Jap bombers and fighters. On one occasion he was driving a truck near the airfield at Liuchow at night when an alert sounded and the Japs came in to bomb and strafe the field. CARPER turned off the light of his truck and drove blacked-out through the intricate streets of the nearby village to a Chinese compound. The Chinese, not knowing the truck was American, fired a fusillade of shots but Carper managed to identify himself before he was hurt. Late in September the sergeant was again evacuated, this time by airplane, and in October, the Japs took the city. The 24-year-old Carper was graduated from the Osceola high school in 1938 and for two years attended Osceola Junior College, where he won two letters in basketball. Sergeant Carper, who is in the Ordnance Branch of the Army is married and his wife lives at 318 South Main Street, Osceola.

Cpl. HAROLD HAVARD, son of Mrs. Jennie Havard, arrived in Osceola from Camp Robinson, Arkansas, after receiving his discharge. He has been stationed at Camp Robinson following his return from a 12-month overseas service.

Coxswain VERNE HOCHSTEIN informs Mrs. Hochstein that he is leaving the Marshall Islands where he as spent the last 18 months and expects to arrive in San Francisco. He will go to the separation center at Minneapolis, for his discharge before returning here

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FOUR LOCAL BOYS MET IN HONOLULU; Met while in transit; may have celebrated V-.1. together. Four Osceola boys met by accident in Honolulu recently and according to letters, planned to see the sights of the city early the next week. It is probable they were together for the victory celebration. The boys were E.K. JONES, JR., DICK MC GUIRE, HAL MARTINDALE AND TED MUSBURGER. Jones and McGuire were together in a USO building when they met Hal, who was en route home after two years in the Pacific. This was on August 10. On the 12th they were joined by Musburger, and a letter to Mrs. Martindale from Hal said they would have a little more time together there and planned on taking in the sights.

MARVIN SHAFFER IS STARTED HOME. Lieut. Schaffer holder of distinguished flying cross; P-38 pilot. Far East Air Forces, Philippines: A veteran of the 18th "Vampire" Fighter Group, 13th Air Force and holder of the Distinguished Flying Cross for destroying several locomotives in long-range air action over Java, Lieutenant Marvin L. Schaffer will return to his Osceola home from the Far East Air Forces 22nd Replacement Depot, Manila. Piloting a P-38 Lightning, the youthful Iowa officer has five Jap planes to his credit. He has flown 90 missions totaling 360 aerial combat hours in 10 months overseas. Lieutenant Schaffer also participated in escort, interception, and fire bombing missions over the East Indies, Philippines, Formosa and China. Aside from the DFC, he wears the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, the Asiatic-Pacific Theater Ribbon with four battle stars and the Philippine Liberation with one star. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Schaffer of Osceola.

Mr. and Mrs. Galen Benbow arrived in

Osceola Monday from Fort Knox, Kentucky, where GALEN BENBOW had been discharged from the Army after 2 1/2 years in the service. They visited with relatives at Cincinnati, Ohio and Fort Wayne Indiana en-route home.

Mrs. Guy Painter received a telegram Monday from her son ANDREW JEFFREYS, SF/3c, stating that he had arrived at Oakland, California, after a three-week voyage from Okinawa, where he was last stationed. Andrew has been overseas about 21 months and expected to be home soon on furlough.

CLIFFORD SMITH, son of Mr. and Mrs. C.Z.Smith, arrived home Tuesday morning after receiving his discharge at Truax Army airfield where he has been stationed for the past several months as an air cadet. He has accepted a position as a clerk at the J.C. Penney store until January 1, when he will enter Iowa State College for the winter quarter.

Pvt. B.P. LAMOREE called his parents, M. and Mrs. E.C. Lamoree, Wednesday morning saying he has arrived in Boston from Rouen, France. Private Lamoree left the States last Janary and his division was added to General Patton's 89th Division, which went through the drive into Luxembourg. After reporting at the Separation camp near Chicago for his discharge, Private Lamoree will return here. His family, which has been living near Omaha, will join him in Osceola.

Pvt. ELDON E. STEPHENSON, while on delayed travel time from Lincoln, Nebraska to Williams Field, Chandler, Arizona, spent a 15-day furlough with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Stephenson

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OSCEOLA BOYS SURVIVE SINKING OF DESTROYER: Two Osceola boys were on the U.S. destroyer Wm. D. Porter when she was sunk off Okinawa last spring. They were ELDON L. POND AND JOHN E. RANDOL. The story of the sinking of the warship has just been released by the Navy. The Porter was lost in action when attacked by a Jap suicide plane during the closing stages of the battle for Okinawa. Trying to crash-dive, the Jap Kamikaze pilot missed and crashed into the water close to the destroyer's port side, exploding almost directly underneath her. Officers and men were hurled to the deck and against bulkheads by the explosion, which lifted the ship from the water. For three hours the crew battled fires and escaping steam trying to save the destroyer before her skipper, Cmdr. Charles M. Keyes, USN Greely, Colorado, gave order to abandon ship. Seven minutes after he stepped across to rescue ship alongside, the Porter heeled to starboard and sank stern first. Not a single life was lost. Sixty-one crew members listed as injured sustained burns from steam, contusions, and shock. The Porter was the second destroyer bearing that name to be lost in the war. The first Porter sank with a light loss of life after an engagement with the Japs northeast of Guadalcanal in the fall of 1942. A 2100-ton ship, the Porter achieved a distinguished battle record before being lost. Commissioned in July1943, she escorted heavy combatant ships in the Atlantic until December 1943, when she was sent to join a Pacific destroyer squadron. She took part in bombardment in the Kuriles during operations in the Aleutians and steamed with a task force into the Okhotsk Sea. Near Leyte she was credited with an "assist" in an attack at Lingayen Gulf shot down a plane and rated "assists" on two more From March until her sinking, the Porter operated off Okinawa, firing more than 9,000 rounds of main battery ammunition. On their

way home, the crew was given a party by Admiral Nimitz at Pearl Harbor. The boys wear five battle stars for their part in numerous battles in the Atlantic and Pacific.

BILLY HANDLEY who received his discharge from the Army last month at Camp Carson, Colorado, with his wife, the foimer Miss Ruth Remerschied, is now visiting at the home of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. S. W. Handley. He and his wife later expect to move to one of the Handley farms.

Sgt. RICHARD W. SHIELDS, x-ray technician who has spent the past two years in the Azore Islands is spending a 45 day furlough with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harry Shields at Murray and with his uncle and aunt Mr. and Mrs. Dell Watson of Osceola. Sergeant Shields' duties have been to x-ray wounded soldiers that were flown to the Azores from Gelman. He will be in the States until he receives his discharge.

T/5 ARDATH ELLIOTT, son of Mr. and Mrs. O.M. Elliott, arrived home Sunday with his discharge from service. Ardath has served for the past 2 1/2 years in the Iran desert with the 69th Q.M. Co.

Pfc. S.R. FLYNN will arrive Friday from Keesler field, Biloxi, Mississippi, to spend a 15-day furlough with his family.

S/Sgt JACK E. JEFFREYS expects to be discharged this week from the Army air corps after about three years in the service. He telephoned his mother, Mrs. Guy Painter, Tuesday from the Sioux City base.

Lt. Comdr. TOWNSEND PAUL has arrived in the States from Guam, according to a letter received this week by his father, Dr. E.W. Paul and will remain on the west coast awaiting his discharge from the Navy

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MURRAY BOY GETS NAVY CITATION VICTOR BROWN puts out fire on ship in face of great danger, says his Commander. A commendation for bravery in action has been received by Mr. and Mrs. C.V. Brown of Murray in which their son Victor was praised for his action off Okinawa on August 6. The citation says: U. S.S . Arcturus From The commanding officer To: Brown, Victor C Subject: Commendation for bravery. 1. On the night of August 6, 1945, while the US S Arcturus was at anchor off the island of Okinawa, during general quarters sounded as a result of Japanese planes being in the vicinity, you, assisted by Jan J. Graboski , Motor Machinists Mate, succeeded in extinguishing a fire which menaced the safety of this ship and your ship mates, 2. You were ordered to make smoke with the starboard smoke generator located on the fantail of the ship within two feet of a ready locker of 5-inch smokeless powder. A leak developed in the fuel line to the generator, and the escaping fuel ignited. Flames leaped ten feet into the air endangering the 0-millimeter gun located about the fire. Flames spread toward the smokeless powder kicked with such intensity that the paint on the locker blistered. The fire crept along the fuel dripping onto the deck. Within 25 feet of fire was a cargo of gasoline stowed in No. 5 hold. A 5-inch projectile locker was located within 10 feet of this scene of fire. Despite your proximity to extreme danger, and burns incurred about your face and antis, you remained at your post and succeeded in extinguishing the fire. 3. For this display of bravery I wish to commend you. You have displayed courage in keeping with the best tradition of the United States Navy. 4. This official commendation becomes apart of your service record. O. H. K. Miller, Commander U.S. Navy.

Pfc. DARRELL JENSEN, left Thursday November 1, after spending a 45-day furlough with his parents, MM and Mrs. Carl Jensen, and sister Joan and friends. Pfc. Jensen spent 11 months overseas, four months of which he spent in a hospital with double pneumonia. While overseas he was in England, France, Belgium, Germany, and Czeckoslovakia.

ROBERT FREY, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ray Frey, who enlisted in the Navy a few weeks ago, left Friday morning for San Diego, California, to start his training.

S/Sgt. WILLIAM TELLER, son of Mr. and Mrs. C.R. Teller, has returned here after spending more than 20 months in the European theatre of war operations.

Ed West received a telegram this morning that his son, M/Sgt. ERNEST WEST, had arrived in New York after more than a year in Europe.

Ms. Mary Jeanette Smith received a telegram from her husband, LAVERE SMITH, this morning that he had landed in San Francisco and should be home in a few days. He has been overseas 26 months.

Lt. CHARLES H. ALLISON of the military intelligence division, located in the Pentagon building, Washington, D.C. arrived here Sunday to spent a 2-week leave with his mother, Mrs. Nellie Allison. His wife and son Charles III who stopped in Ottumwa for a visit with her parents, will join him in Osceola tonight (Thursday).

Mr. and Mrs. Merritt Flesher are showing their friends a box of captured enemy souvenirs sent by their son, Second Lt. RICHARD FLESHER, the largest of which is a German helmet. It also contains a compact set of a knife, fork, spoon, can-opener and bottle-opener from Germany and some perfume and wooden shoes from Paris

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Flight officer VIRGIL CARSON, bombardier on a B-24 out of Italy is missing over Yugoslavia according to a telegram received a few days ago by his mother, Mrs, Alberta Carson. Hopes of his mother and friends were greatly increased this week, however, when she received a letter from one of the boys in his squadron telling some details of the flight. Virgil's plane was not damaged, the letter said, but ran out of gas on the return trip from the mission. It was over friendly territory and should have been able to land safely the writer said.

Lt. RICHARD WILDE, navigator on a B-24 Bomber based in Italy, is back on active duty after a crash in the Adriatic that put him in a hospital for a time with minor injuries. Letters to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. S.A. Wilde, told of the experience that occurred in February. His plane was returning from a mission when it ran out of gas and made a crash landing at sea. The engineer suffered a broken hip and others of the crew were less seriously injured. All managed to get into life rafts and after an hour or more in the water were picked up by an Italian fishing boat. They were later transferred to an English boat and taken to a Red Cross Hospital. Sgt. Wilde, who is also stationed in Italy, was able to visit his brother while in the hospital. In recent letters, Raymond indicated that he might soon be returned to the states on rotation furlough. He has been overseas 18 months with the Infantry.

GEORGE QUERY, soldier son of Mr, and Mrs. Sam Query of this county, is back in the United States receiving treatment for serious wounds received on February 3. His wife, who lives in Des Moines received a telephone call from him a few days ago from New York, saying he had arrived there from France by plane and was on his way to Spokane, Washington for treatment. He stepped on a

land mine and received a broken leg and other injuries.

Cpl. RICHARD SHIELDS has spent the past thirteen months in the North African theatre of war operations, arriving in Osceola Tuesday night and visiting his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harry Shields of Murray and his uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Dell Watson, and other relatives and friends here. He has a I6-day furlough. Richard is with the medical division of the Air Force air transport command.

Lt. (j.g.) M.W. PROUDFOOT in a recent letter to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Fay Proudfoot, states that he participated in the Lingayen campaign off Luzon, aboard a battleship.

T/5 CECIL PENNISTON, a former Osceola boy and the nephew of Mrs. Bessie Wesley, is in the Regional hospital at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, recovering from injuries received in a train wreck. Cecil with his company were being moved by train from Fort Lewis, Washington to New York when the accident occurred in Minnesota. He received a broken hip and knee injury.

SHARON FLEMING, daughter of Mrs. Everett Fleming of Salinas, Calif., celebrated her second birthday recently with a cake decorated with candles sent to her from Italy where her father is stationed. Sharon is mascot of her father's outfit, the 363rd Inf. medical detachment and the men in the outfit sent the candles. On her birthday, the cooks presented her father with a cake decorated with identical candles. Everett formerly lived in Osceola. His grandmother, Mrs. Gladys Allen, lives here.

Mr. and Mrs. I. H. Edgington received letters last week from their son, Cpl. SAMUEL A EDGINGTON, saying that he had arrived in France

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Pfc. Max E. Willadson, Military Police Platoon 1st U.S. Infantry Division, has received the badge of merit for meritorious achievement in connection with military operations against the enemy in the North African Theater of War Operations from Nov. 24, 1942 to Aug. 16, 1943. "The conscientious, energetic and vigilant manner in which Pvt. Willadson performed his duties as a military policeman, despite arduous combat conditions, contributed immeasurably to the efficiency and security of his organization during the North African and Sicilian campaigns," says the citation. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. B. P. Willadson, now of Chariton and formerly of Woodburn.

In a letter to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. R. O. Stevens, Capt. BOB STEVENS stated that he was looking forward to spending February 16 and 17 with his brother, 2qd Lt, BILLY STEVENS. The latter is in a reconditioning hospital in England after being a patient in eight other hospitals following a serious injury some time ago. Through the aid of the Red Cross Billy located his brother, who arrived in England a short time ago and called him on the telephone, at which time they made arrangements for the meeting. Lt. Stevens expects to be back on active duty soon.

Pfc. DONALD MONGAR writes his wife, the former Dorothy Loudon of Creston, he is sending the purple heart he received for wounds suffered in Germany last December. He is also sending the infantry combat badge and good conduct ribbon. Mongar was inducted into the armed forced from Osceola Dec. 17, 1943 and went overseas last September.

A Ninth Air Force Bomber Base, France —Corporal CLEO PALMER, Route 1, Osceola, Iowa, is an aircraft instrument specialist with a Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauder group

which has been commended by Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr., commanding the U.S. Third Army. His commendation follows a highly successful attack by Corporal Palmer's group on the Roer River town of Merzig, Germany. Defensive positions in the town were wiped out by the Marauder attack eliminating a serious threat to the Third Army flank during its drive to Saarlautern. Corporal Palmer, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Palmer, has been in the European Theater of Operations for more than a year.
Relatives have received word that

HAROLD L. BANKER, serving with the 1st army, 83rd Div. 330 Inf. in Belgium, has been promoted to Sgt. and also received an infantryman combat medal which he sent to his wife, Mrs. Helen Banker of Truro. Stg. Banker went overseas in Nov., 1944 and has been on the front lines much of the time. Latest word written from Belgium Feb. 10 said he was fine and was then in a rest area.

JACK STOUFER, grandson of Mrs. Dell Houston and a private in the army air corps at Keesler Field, Biloxi, Miss., writes his grandmother that he with other members of the company are under quarantine for scarlet fever. However, he is all right. Jack's parents, Mrs. And Mrs. John Stoufer, live in Council Bluffs.

Corpl. DWIGHT W. SMITH, son of Mr. and Mrs. Russell Smith of 124 Vale Street, is now in Holland, according to word received by his parents and sister, Mrs. Lester Gray. He said he had seen many holes and trenches left by World War I and had seen Verdun and Reims, scenes of battles in World War I, too. T/Sgt. WARREN SMITH, brother of Dwight, is still somewhere in India. They are the only sons of Mr. and Mrs. Smith

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With the 38th Infantry Division on Bataan — Pfc. Elmer D. Miler is serving with the 139th Field Artillery Battalion in the 38th Division's bitterly-contested battle for the dense, jungle-covered, rough, mountainous slopes of Zigzag Pass on Bataan Peninsula, which place was so long and valiantly defended by the American troops in the first battle of Bataan at the start of the war. He has been overseas for more than a year, servingin Hawaii and New Guinea before arriving in the Philippines. He is entitled to wear the Asociatic-Pacific and Philippine Liberation ribbons.

Pvt. Eldon Shepherd of Fort Meads, Md., son of Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Shepherd, is spending a ten-day furlough with his wife and parents and other relatives and friends. He will report back to Fort Meade March 4.

Edward Chesnut, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ray Chesnut of Murray and the husband of Wanda Chesnut of Osceola, has recently been promoted to Sergeant and is leader of a scout
group. He has received an expert
infantryman's badge and a special citation for his unit's part in stopping the German offensive. Edward has been overseas since August and is with General Hodges first army. He has seen his brother, Pvt. Ray Chesnut, several times as he is also with the first army but is in a heavy artillery regiment. He went across a year ago last December.

Commissary Steward Marion Cherington, who was back in the states from Pearl Harbor for a few days, called his mother, Mrs. Hattie Cherington Wednesday night from San Francisco to congratulate her on her birthday. Mrs. Cherington was made very happy by the call as she did not know her son was back in the states.

Lt. Delbert Miller's most interesting experience was that of dropping supplies to the British paratroopers at Arnhem in Holland.

They flew at a hundred feet when they dropped the supplies. The Tommies would wave at them and a few feet away would be a Jerry shooting at them, he said. Delbert said of course they weren't seared over their targets, much. But he said he could fly with his hands bare at 50 below zero with his gloves off and be sweating! "We have the best equipment and the best cause in the world, and of course with this, we can't help but win."

S/Sgt. Eugene Crawford, son of Mr. and Mrs. Milo Crawford, back from 20 months in the Caribbean area, was the other overseas veteran. He dismissed his service as relatively unimportant when compared with those on the active fronts. It is a safe guess the last two and a half years down there haven't been a picnic either!

Other men in uniform were Lt. Wally Holden, son of Mr. and Mrs. E.H. (Doc) Holden. Wally received his wings last Saturday at San Marcos, Texas, as a navigator for a bomber. Sgt. James Harsh of Camp Bowie, Texas, and Calvin White, recently discharged, were other service men present.

Men who enter the service this week are John Wesley Brand, John Galen Smith and Charles Richard Basset, of the regular draft call, and Robert Marquis