Decatur Newsletter for the boys in Military service.

News about you and your friends--about the Decatur Community High School and Decatur County.

March 10, 1943, Volume I, Issue 12.      
Edited and compiled by Marian E. Cathcart, Oberlin, Kansas.

Made possible by the courtesy of the Decatur Community High School Oberlin, Kansas

Someone has wondered if Italy still really likes her “duces” wild...You have missed lots of fun, excitement and skepticism the last few weeks. First, the rumors flew about that a real showing of oil had developed at the McCue No. 1 wildcat test drilled led by the Stanolind Company in Grant township.  Rumors continued to fly during the two weeks the company spent in completing the test. The results of the test have not been disclosed by the company though it is abandoned, at least for the present, “and just what may be the result of the showing still remains the knowledge of the Stanolind Officials.”  Drilling is being continued in the Northeast section of Decatur and the Northwest corner of Norton Counties....Lt. Glen W. Gierhart Jr. who recently received his commission as a Second Lieutenant at the Infantry School at Ft. Benning, Ga., spent a furlough here en route to Indiantown Gap, Pa. where he reported for duty….Pvt. Max Jones of the Marines “somewhere in the Pacific” has indicated in letters to his parents that he has done considerable traveling and will have plenty to tell upon his return.....Edward Smith, now of Colorado Springs, was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers recently at Ft. Belvoir, Va.  His wife and he visited in Oberlin en route to Ft. Claiborne, La.... Six grandsons of Mr. and Mrs. S. N. Logue all of whom have attended here at different times, are now in the service. Floyd Craig is now overseas, and his brother Farrel is at Camp Campbell. Robert Logue is in Panama, and Gerald Logue and Merlin Lynch are both in San Francisco, while Bill Lynch is stationed at Ft. Leavenworth… W.O. Ray Votapka returned to Atlantic City from his Oberlin furlough but has since been assigned to the Army Air Forces Technical Training Command at Gulfport Field, Miss. where he is in charge of the band...Pvt. Stanley Mazanek, a mechanic in the Signal Corps, is in Hawaii. Pfc. Frank Mazanek is with the Military Police and stationed at Ft. Douglas, Utah.....Capt. Ted Addleman took a group of soldiers to Camp Carson, Colo. and stopped in Oberlin, en route back to Camp Grant. While in Oberlin he sang for and talked to the high school student body.....Mark Cleland recently commissioned a Second Lieutenant at Kirtland Field, N. M. as a bombardier in the Army Air Force is now assigned to training in navigation at Hondo, Texas… Pvt. Roy Schmitt, Marine, is located at San Diego. He visited with Gerald Rezner and Johnnie Richards.  Johnnie is now “somewhere in the Pacific.” …It is now Camp Edwards for S/Sgt. Wm. Pryor and for Pvt. Edward Martin, recently of Camp Crowder.... Jay Fawcett of the Merchant Marine reported for duty at Baltimore early this month.  He spent his leave in Kanona while recovering from surgery. After seeing a picture of Jay with the full blown whiskers acquired in a ten month voyage, one wonders if the pious expression of family portraits were not the result of the facial adornments rather than of piety,---at any rate Jay looked as solemn as any I have seen… Pvt. Russell Jenkins, Jr. of Ft. Benning is in the Armored Division.  In a recent contest with a group shooting a .37 caliber gun, he tied for first three times in succession.....Cpl. Harry Unger its located at Camp San Luis Obispo, Calif. where he is a second cook…T/Sgt. James Young, in writing his mother of a change in address, said, “A pleasant trip and a fine station in which to live. It is a new country, different climate, and conditions as well as added responsibility that makes life interesting.”…Major Joseph D. Roberts, in a recent letter to his mother from North Africa, told of his ship being torpedoed in the Mediterranean some seventy miles from shore. All his personal possessions were lost…It is now Camp Shelby, Miss. for S/Sgt. Silver Chambers ….It was a greatly surprised and pleased Dwight Chambers when he received a telephone call saying Pfc. Lester Chambers was home on furlough from Canada where for the past year he has helped with the construction of the Alcan Highway. He flew out a part of the way. He will report back to Edmonton, Canada on March 26......Three Oberlin boys met en route to stations from the induction center. They were:  Gustave Lippelmann, of the Signal Corps at Clearwater Florida; Eddie Purdy of an Aerial Photography unit also at Clearwater, and Virgil Hughes of the Army Air Corps, located in Miami...Lt. Jack Dryden of the Ferry Group recently returned from an overseas trip of considerable duration and much interest.  He visited T/Sgt. James H. Young, was kept circling over a landing field until the plane carrying Mr. Roosevelt departed, and went monkey hunting. Paul Harry Tacha is in training in the Service School for aviation ordnance men at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center…Mr. and Mrs. Ted Garrett of Sheffield, Ala. visited here briefly and then returned to Wakeeny to visit his mother until time for Ted to enter the service…. Elmer Leitner,  located somewhere in South America, was visited also by Jack Dryden recently…Floyd Lotker of the Merchant Marines is now at Ft. Rumbull Officers Training School at New London, Conn…Earl Raymond, who has been employed in the ship bui1ding industry on the Pacific Coast, is visiting in Oberlin, prior to reporting for service. Lt. Marvin 0. Barrett is now assigned to the Eagle Pass Army Air Fie1d in Texas for duty as a flying instructor…T/Sgt. Jimmie O’Toole, located in or adjacent to Australia, is both a radio operator and gunner in the Army Air Force…Pvt. John Petracek of Camp Butner, Pvt. Ernest Rydquist, of Las Vegas, Nevada, Pvt. Paul Simons of Ft. Leonard Wood, and Pvt. Frank Solko are included among those given an honorable discharge as they are above the 38 year age limit.  All have returned to farm work except Simons who has resumed work at the Cessna Airplane Factory in Wichita.   

                                                       March 1, 1943,  page 2.

Louis Lorenson, Y 3/c, completed his training at Boston, where he ranked as one of the ten highest in a class of 145, and has been transferred to Arlington, Va. for a month’s training in the personnel department.....It is the photographic division of the Army Air Corps for Pvt. Daughn Avery at St Petersburg, Fla…Cloyce Pelkey, A A F, has been called to active duty and reported March 2 at Kansas City and then on to Liberty, Mo....Pvt. James McKisson, of the Army Ordnance Training Corps, drew Camp Santa Anita, Arcadia, Calif.  Once the Santa Anita race track, it later was developed as a Japanese detention center and then developed into an army camp…Pvt. Clyde Gage writes from Hawaii of attending a Kansas Day picnic where he met Ross Reeves and Pvt. Stanley Mazanek.  A few days later he spent Sunday with Joe Metts of the Coast Guard and Rex Gill of the Navy….It is the early morning shift at Lowry Field for Pvt. Lee Waldo where he is in Armor Schoo1... Rudolph Weidner is located at Camp Shelby, Miss. where he is on night guard duty…Pvt. Ralph Stowell of the Signal Corps, is now in Sacramento, Calif. after eight weeks training in Salt Lake City…Laddie Pilnacek, Y 3/c, is now in the office of the Naval Construction Corps at Davisville, R I., but would prefer outside training. In the same group is Premsyl Ruzicka…Sgt. Enoch Matheny landed in England last October…Pfc. Clarence Johnson did a fast transfer shifting from the Pacific Coast to North Africa, where he is a driver attached to the 12th Air Force… Pfc. Darrel Haas is in the Coast Artillery at Ft. Bliss, Texas....It is Los Angeles for Pfc. Vearl Claar where he is a truck driver attached to the Coast Artil1ery… Pvt. Max Brooks and Pvt. Harold Robinson are stationed at Ft. Benjamin Harrison, Indiana in the finance training schoo1...T/Sgt. Wayne Ridpath is now located at Hamilton College, Clinton, N.Y., where he is helping with the administrative work connected with a group of young trainees…Cpl. Kenneth Schmoker is continuing his technical radio training at Camp Pickett….Cpl. Bryce Cody of Camp Gordon Johnston, Florida was looking forward to locating Pvt. George Carver at nearby Camp Carrabelle.  Byrce’s description of the training he is now undergoing makes me says “No, thank you! I’ll pass that by.”  It is now Fort Ord for Pvt. George Wade of the Corps of Engineers…Pvt. Leo Neff is now located at Scotts Field, Il1…Pvt. Kenneth Thiringer, located at Camp Crowder, started out properly by leading his company on the rifle range where he, fired a score of 173 out of 200 for record in their first tryouts…Quoted from the Herndon Nonperil: “One of the unusual incidents of this war concerns two boys from this locality--Erie Holmdahl and Eric Erickson.  Both boys grew up in Laing township of Rawlins County.  A year or two ago they moved to California and were employed in the shipyards--until the draft came along and both were inducted into the Army. Both are mechanics--Holmdahl a welder and Erickson a general mechanic of some sort, or he, too, may be a welder. At any rate, they were separated when inducted and had not met for over a year. A few weeks ago they were ‘shipped over’ and--met on the boat, on their way to Africa.  Neither had any idea the other was on the boat. Both were headed for different ports, and they were again split up somewhere in North Africa. A few weeks later they bumped into one another again and last reports were that they were still near each other.  One story has it that they saw the Pyramids off a camel’s back- -but, that may be fiction. Anyway, it took a boat ride and encampment in North Africa to bring two old friends together.” ....The first group of Army Air Force men to be assigned to the McCook Air Base arrived there a few days ago. The base is being enlarged considerably…Major Francis S. Drath and family recently visited in Herndon en route from Ft Warren, Wyo. to Camp Custer, Michigan…Cheyenne County unveiled its roster of boys now in the armed forces. Over five hundred names appeared….Wheat marketing quotas are out, probably for the duration. Released along with the suspension of marketing quotas is all “ Penalty” wheat stored on the farm or in commercial warehouses.  This also releases volunteer wheat stored on the farms… A coyote hunt over south of Hoxie netted exactly 28 coyotes. Over six hundred hunters took part in the drive and even though the bag of 28 looks large, a few coyotes escaped through the lines early in the hunt. Proceeds from the sale of coyote hides taken went to the Red Cross and one of the promoters--a farmer who raises lots of turkeys, offered to match each coyote killed with a five-dollar donation to the Red Cross.  He paid $140 and said it was worth it to see the rascals killed.” ....It is now Second Lieutenant Viscount Francis of the Army Air Corps. He was recently awarded a Commission in the Physical Education group at Miami…..Lt. (j.g.) Vorris Reist will visit in Oberlin before reporting for active duty in the Navy.  He has completed his intern training at a hospital in Des Moines, Iowa….And we have a lady Marine--Alice Coldren of Washington, D. C.   She is awaiting orders to report for Officer’s Training School.  How about a running commentary for us?....For “Know Your Neighbor” Week I suggest James Young and Bud Raymond; Raymond Adams, Clyde Gage, and Billie Schweitzberger; Bill Stowell and Arthur May….It is Australia for Harry Brown;  Egypt for Eric Erickson… “Some of us have been with this war like we’ve been with everything else, says the Hays News. We supposed we could charge it.”….Among those who have or are visiting in Oberlin prior to reporting for service are:  Fred Vavroch of Denver; Dwaine E1ler of Junction City; Bill DeKnight who has been studying photography in a Nat’l Youth Administration School in Topeka; Rex Diehl of Lawrence who has reported to the Army at Ft. Leavenworth; and James Betts, Jr. who left tonight for the Naval Air Corps, to be stationed in Dodge City, Kansas.  Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Hamit have also been here.  Gordon has been manager of the Foster Lumber Yard in Holly, Colo. Both he and his wife have received their calls——Gordon has gone to Ft. Leavenworth and she will leave soon for duty as an army nurse.

 March 10, page 3.

When Sunf1ower Sue wants to dine luxuriously these days, she serves beans and corn bread. “No dish for common folks any more, the price beans are,”  says Sue—now it is not only the price but the points--eight of those precious forty-eight per month for a pound. But when it comes to real luxuries, how about raisins--or prunes at twenty points a pound--or two cans of pineapple which takes the whole month’s quota?  It is only fair to warn you fellows that probably by this time your mother or your wife has decided whether you would like a can of corn, or green beans, or apricots best for your first dinner at home and has either purchased it and stored it away for your return or has earmarked the proper ration stamp. Most of us are hoarding our stamps, trying to decide whether we would rather have quantity and spend the points on six cans of tomato soup or six pounds of dried beans--or would we rather have flavor with a bottle of ketchup at twenty? As an indoor sport it beats bridge completely and is a better ice-breaker for conversation than a remark about the weather.  In the meantime the market baskets are filled with sweet potatoes, celery, and carrots,--eggs, cabbages and onions,--the meat supply is sufficient--and I’m sure you would notice no lack of any sort other than less fancy cake frostings or that the coffee percolator has a bottom. The new books were issued easily and if rationing is a step toward winning the war, and we believe it to be, we are or it. Incidentally have you heard about the Missourian who took along coupon 17 when he took his mule to be shod?....The Oberlin Post Office has been all changed about——it is the customer who does the walking now——but the increased space in the lobby was needed because of the vast increase in business….Harry Scoby of Atwood, district supervisor for the Kansas Highway Department, reported that he had received a telegram from the War Department, informing him that his son, LeRoy, is a prisoner of the Japanese in The Philippines. This is the first information the Scoby’s had received of their son’s whereabouts since May of last year. He was a Sergeant in the Medical Department ....Wilbur Kruse of Wichita is spending a few days with his parents. He has enlisted in the army and expects immediate call....Bert L. Hostinsky has received his Second Lieutenant’s Commission at Soldiers Field, Boston, Mass. His work is in the Army Air Forces Statistical School.....Bernec Terrell has been elected superintendent of the Caldwell, Kansas schools.....During the past basketball season at Kansas Wesleyan, Lefty VanPelt tallied 31 fie1d goals and 17 free throws for a total of 79 points against conference opponents.....We are proud that the students and faculty of the Decatur Community High School have purchased more than three hundred dollars of stamps and bonds each week since our drive started five weeks ago. Our goal is four thousand dollars by the close of school. During the month of February, Decatur County purchased, as a whole, $62,918.25 in bonds, Series E.... “Of the group of young men mentioned in the last letter reporting to Denver for pre-induction examinations, five were accepted—Darrel Landau, Herbert Graves, Leo Koerperich, Neil Macy, and Willis Cullison. The two latter were se1ected for a branch of the Navy while the others went into the Army. Milton Nitsch, who volunteered and went for examination for the third time, was again rejected as was Volli Magers and Leonard Shorey.” “…The fol1owing young men will leave on the bus the morning of March 9 for Induction Station at Denver where they will take pre-induction examinations for military service.  Those who have volunteered and will go with this group are; Charles Colton, Valentine L. Beneda, Derald Purdy and Chas. Montgomery from Oberlin, Lester I. Phelps, Dellvale; Michael Normand, John Anderson (both transfers from other areas), Roger Orr, Kanona; and Kenneth Zimmerman and Wm. C. Brock from Jennings. Those who will go as selectees are: Clem Counter Oberlin; Leslie Brown who registered at Fairbanks, Alaska but whose home is in Decatur County; Pierre Bowser, Norcatur; William J. Swisher, Garden City; Clarence Boor, Leoville; and Kenneth Earl Raymond whose home is here but who registered in Los Angeles and was transferred to Oberlin for induction.”  Reporting from Rawlins County recently were: “Leo F. Hafner, Edward Leinwetter, Harlan Cox, all of Herndon; Warren Howland, George F. Eby, Donald J. Mathes, Jas. A Kahlor, and Elijah J. Vap of Atwood; Linn Wederski, Beardsley; and Robt. L. Ridgway of McDona1d.”  It is Cpl. Alvin O. Miller of the Eng. Corps at Camp Beale, Calif....Any time that March changes from a lion into a lamb will be none too soon for us. We prefer a mean temperature any time to one that breaks a record, particularly when the mercury congeals.... Mrs. Carl Frickey (Doreen Nitsch) visited here recently en route from Denver to Camp Lee, Va. where she will join Carl, who is in officers training,....Jay Fawcett, who will soon complete three years in the Maritime service has visited nearly every island of any consequence in the Caribbean Sea, the Panama Canal Zone, the Hawaiian Islands and other islands in the Pacific, and only recently returned from a 10-month voyage which took him to Africa and India. He was very fond of Cape Town, South Africa. However he insists it will be Western Kansas for him when once again one chooses one’s place of abode...Mrs. J. P. Koehler is visiting her son, Pvt. Fred Koehler at Chickasha, Okla. where he is stationed at the Chickasha Hospital.....Mr. and Mrs. G. H. Lippelmann and Joan have returned from San Diego where they have visited Raymond for several weeks.....It is now Corpus Christi, Texas for Oren Hughes R T 3/c and A/C Bill Smick....Dean E. Hinze AM 2/c writes from the Far Pacific that they have been very busy at their particular job.  He has been advanced to the rank of Aviation Metalsmith second class.... Ed Dissinger has graduated from the special course in radio at St. Louis, Mo. and will teach at Scott’s Field.  He is hoping that arrangements will be made whereby he and other such instructors will be permitted to enlist.  He says, “We  took 34 examinations, worked out 72 experiments, wrote seven lesson plans, gave two demonstration lessons, made 8 public speeches, drew three pictures, sat in class 576 hours, heard thousands of words, studied in eleven books, burned gallons of midnight oil, and had two colds”--all of this since Dec. l0.

 March 10, 1943--page 4.

Dumb Dora, hearing that 700,000 workers were frozen in their jobs, remarked that the fuel shortage was getting to be terrible...The hunters are asked to dispose of their shotguns to the government.....We will increase the total for bonds sold in this county during February to $65,618.25.  During the first period in March $19,912 with Jennings accounting for $10,650 of the total in the county. The percentage of student body and faculty purchasing stamps and bonds regularly figures 94.6% which entitles D.C.H.S. to fly a special banner…Lt. W. H. Faderberg spent a short time in Oberlin this week.  Mrs. Faderberg and Joan accompanied him back to San Angelo where he is located at Goodfellow Field….Jesse Marshall, F. 2/c who enlisted in the navy in February, 1942, has participated in several of the major naval battles..... “Official word has been received from the War Department that Cpl. Howard Mockry, son of Mr. and Mrs. Otto Mockry, is listed as missing in action since February 17. He was located somewhere in Africa. Mrs. Mockry (Maxine Heller) is in Cheverly, Maryland, where she has employment.  Howard enlisted in the Army in June 1940. Since he is reported as missing in action there is some possibility he may be a prisoner of war.”  It is now Stillwater, Oklahoma for Pvt. Wilbur Hunter of the Army Air Force.....Cpl. Robt. W. Towery is now stationed at Camp Moxey, Texas. He is in the Signal Corps.....Mrs. Florence Basye of Seattle, Washington writes that no word has been received from Pfc. Francis Noland missing in action, presumably in the Philippines, since May 7 or from Byron Noland, S 1/c, from whom she has heard nothing since the bombing of the Aleutians. The Navy Department feels however that Byron is all right though unreported for so long.....Rex Garver, S 3/c has begun a 16-week course in the school for Shipfitters at the U. S. N. T.S., Great Lakes…Ovy Vale has transferred to Atlanta, Ga. where he is now ranked as Associate Engineer (Mech.) and is in charge of Plans and Specifications for that Special Procurement District of the U. S. Army Engineers.  He and Mrs. Vale are at the Ponce de Leon Hotel. They extend a cordial invitation to Decatur County Service men in that area to call...:.. A/C. Dennis Nelson, who has completed his training at Scott Field is now at Wayne, Pa., where he is now attending the Valley Forge Military Academy.....From the Topeka State Journal of March 11—“The work of Lt. John W. Willcoxon of Topeka, in the Tunisian campaign was commended Thursday night in a broadcast by Earl Godwin, radio news commentator. Lt. Wi1lcoxen, for several years assistant secretary of the Topeka Building and Loan Association, is a former president of the Topeka Junior Chamber of Commerce and was selected as the outstanding man of Topeka in 1941. He has been in the army since December, 1941.”...John must have a flying carpet to get about so rapidly…. “It has been reliably reported that Pratt test oil well near Studley, in Sheridan county, has proved to be a producer, with potential capacity of 60 barrels an hour. Substantiating these reports were telephone calls to some local people who own land near the Pratt farm, seeking leases on their land at considerably higher lease rates than ever offered before.”  Cpl. Donald E Johnson, Hq. Det. 3rd QMTR, Ft. Warren, Wyoming would like to see you, if you visit Ft. Warren….. “Sure as hell and taxes” used to be a favorite expression of “Judge” of the Hays Daily News. Now he says, “Sure as taxes” because he is conserving on words and doesn’t see any use going into details….A government concentration camp is to be located near Concordia, it has been revealed….A group of men have been gathering buffalo grass seed in the southern area of the county. Special machines are used..... Recent deaths include: Jeretta Ann, infant daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Cletus Kelley; Mrs. Bertha Siegenthaler; Mrs. Robert Kennedy; Mr. Ben Bruggeman; Rose Marie Shine, five year old daughter of George and Myra Shaw-Shine of Riverside, Calif.; Miss Vera Deupree at Garden City; Mr.Wm. C. Van Sickle… “It was a large and very attentive crowd that gathered around the court house lawn for the unveiling of the Decatur County Honor Roll and the address of Robert Carnie”--well remembered by many of you as the Australian who has participated in a number of assembly programs. It was roughly estimated that between two and three thousand people attended the unveiling ceremony. The D.C.H.S. Band, led by the American Legion color-bearers, marched down Penn avenue as the prelude to the program, and then the band played the national anthem.  Speaking over the public address system, the Rev. Mr. Walter Austin of the Methodist church introduced Mr. Carnie. He proceeded then in a very forceful manner to encourage immediate and continuous purchase of war bonds. Pointing to the fact that everything the American people hold dear to them in the way of their sons and brothers, freedom to live and do as we like, is at stake in this great war.  Carnie pleaded that everyone invest every possible dollar they could spare in war bonds to expedite the winning of the war.  That his talk was effective was demonstrated by the sale of bonds during the afternoon and for the remainder of the week.”  Better than five hundred names are now on the honor roll and others will be added from time to time. There is sufficient room for more than seven hundred. It is really a very attractive board….Always there is someone reading the list.... Cloyd Vanover of Oak land, Calif. is now in the army and is stationed at Kiesler Field, Miss.  His brother-in-law--Silver Chambers, is only about 100 miles from him at Camp Selby but the boys haven’t met as yet.  Mrs. Vanover is remaining in Oakland for the present..... Mr.Elwood Brooks, who recently became president of the Central Savings Bank & Trust Co., in Denver, suffered a broken arm when he slipped and fell. It was said the accident happened at the stockyards in Denver, while Mr. Brooks was looking at some cattle which he expected to purchase for pasturing on some of his wheat back here.....Coach Dale Duncan was offered and accepted a position as physical education instructor  at the Kansas State College at Manhattan. His work there will be with pre-flight army and navy boys. Mrs. Duncan and Pat have joined him in residence in Manhattan.  For the present, Bob Fraker, who has been attending Kansas State College since last fall is substituting in the classroom.

  March 10, page 5 

Now, for the report on the ath1etic season.  We lost the game in basketball at Norton--the latter team won the League championship with no defeats, Colby second and Oberlin third.  The district tournament is this week end.  We defeated Hoxie the first night and lost to Norton the second.  Atwood pulled a fast one, defeating Goodland and Colby, so the finals tonight are Norton and Atwood.  Almena seems slated to win the Class C. The teams were rated by observers as A1mena, Norton, Oberlin…In Wrestling--first the League tournament which Norton won with a total of 46 points, Oberlin second with 43, St Francis third, 34 points, and Hoxie fourth with 12 points. 95#class--Norton. 112# class--Archer of Norton. 103# —Jader, #120—Wyatt of Norton.  127# Mauck of Hoxie l33#—Fraker.  l38#Rogers of St. Francis, l45#——Archie Vernon. l54#--Howell of Norton. l65#--Peterson of Norton, l75#--Hackney. Unlimited--Topping of St. Francis....The state tournament was held the following week at Salina. There Oberlin retained the state mat title by winning 44 points—Norton was second with 33, Wichita East third with 3l, St. Francis fourth with 21.  Newton had 20 points, Wichita North 14, Salina 4 and St. John 0.  Four Oberlin wrestlers won for themselves individual state titles. They were Bill Jader, Dennis Fraker (repeating), Archie Vernon (repeating) and Gerald Hackney. Second places went to Harold Norton, Merlyn Robertson, and Dwight Wenger.   John Montgomery and Dale Simpson won third place medals. Northwest Kansas placed four other firsts--Mason and Peterson of Norton, Rogers and Topping of St. Francis. The state tournament will be held in Salina the coming year. With this victory added Oberlin has taken the state high title four of the last seven seasons. In the League, the loss to Norton was the first time in eight years we have failed to take the League championship... An assembly was held on Monday honoring the wrestling team and its coach, Dale Duncan, who was leaving the next day for Manhattan....The report by the State Board of Agriculture, indicated the number of live stock on Kansas farms increased sharply during the year 1943. There was a new high in sheep while, cattle numbers were the highest since 1904.  The number of hogs on the farms was up 47 % over that of a year earlier. There was an increase in the number of horses while mules declined.....The Ruml plan is entirely different from the Rommel plan. The first is pay as you go. The second is to go any way you can and to hurry....Recent visitors include: Otis Harmon, employed at Long Beach; Mrs. Orval Sigwing and son of Phi1lipsburg, Mrs. C. C. Ruby of McCook and Mrs. Elmer Leitner of Colorado Springs--daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Myron Raymond; Anna Linn of Topeka and Mrs. Hilda Linn of Cleburne, Kansas; Mrs. Herman Boyer (Alice Coulter) of Nampa, Idaho; Mr. and Mrs. Cleo Fisher (Marba Jean Bobbitt) and daughter of Denver; Bob Redman and Rex Lohoefener, employed on defense work in Wichita; Ralph Stevenson of Colorado Springs; Mrs. Bob Paddock and children of Oakland; Mr. and Mrs. Oran Brown of Loveland. Colo.; Mrs. L. M. Campbell (Eulagene Gill)-- her husband is now stationed in Tennessee…The new stretch of U. S. Highway 36 from Norcatur to Reager is now open and in use. The road to have been opened months ago, was held up because of the need for transferring road machinery to certain war projects being constructed by the federal government...Addison Coulter, who recently underwent a major operation, is about again and making a satisfactory recovery.......The friends of Miss Doreen Paddock will be glad to know that she is showing definite improvement and is able to sit up some each day. She hopes to be out before long, after having been confined to her bed for the past four months with heart trouble... Pie and Isadore Winget are located in Miami and would like to see folks from Decatur County.....LaVern “Chiz” Ruzicka visited in Oberlin briefly. He returned to Troma, Calif. where he is employed by the American Potash and Chemical Corporation…Kathleen Pollnow is employed as a typist in the Gates Rubber Co. at Denver.  Mrs. Wayne Herzog and David have joined Wayne in Wichita. The past several months have been spent in Almena until living quarters could be obtained.....Bob and Leroy Barrett caught nineteen coyotes this winter prior to Leroy reporting to the Army.  Master Sergeant Albert Hoffman of the U. S. Marines is back in the United States following active duty at Guadalcanal…Enlistments—Dean Vessey, S 3/c, Earl E Walton, S 3/c, both located at Farragut, Idaho. Pvt. Byron Dale Bixby, Gulfport, Miss. Harwood O. Benton, Jr. reported to the Army Air Force. He was a sophomore at Washburn College. Pvt. Paul Bixby, Camp Crowder, Mo. Pvt. Frederic C. Bond, Lansing, Mich. Bornita Franck of Clayton with the WAAC at Des Moines, Iowa.....You might find:  Cp1. Harold A. Allen in Africa; Pfc. John W. Reed at Camp Rucker, and A/C. Harold Rehm at Napier Field, both in Alabama. Amy Mae has joined Harold in Dothan; A/C Byron McCartney at Maxwell Field, Alabama; Boyd Roberts, S 2/c at Hueneme, Calif.; Pvt. John Bertram at Camp Carson; Donald L. Thornburg, RM 3/c at New London, Conn.; Pvt. Virgil E. Hughes at Miami; Pvt. Herbert Graves, T/Sgt. Wilbur Barrett, Pvt. Robt. Ridgway, and Pvt. Darrell Landau at St. Petersburg, Fla.; Cpl. Max Holber, Savannah, Ga., Eugene Guinn, S 3/c in Chicago; T/Sgt. Perry Macy, Camp Polk, La.; Pfc. Dole Townsend at Ft. Sill, Okla.; Pvt. John Lindquist, Camp Adair, Oregon; Pfc. Alvin Uehlin at San Antonio, Texas; Camp Patrick Henry, Va.--Jimmie Anderson; Camp Pickett, Va.--Ensign Kenneth Norton, Pvt. Lowell Olson;  Bolling Field, Va.—Pvt. Joe Hatch; Camp McCoy, Wisconsin—Pvt. Wilmer Anderson; Kenneth Thiringer, Camp Crowder; Cpl. Ernie Solko, Ft. Crook; Pvt. Harold Meixner in Australia; Arnold Tacha, H.A. 2/c is now on sea duty; Pvt. Harold Tacha, Vancouver, Wash.; Clair Carlton at Manhattan, Kans.; Pvt. Butch Zimmerman, Camp Adair, Oregon; Pvt. Max Dimond, Caster, Mich.; Pvt. Harlan Cox, Kearns, Utah; Pvt. Vernon Erickson, Camp Crowder; Cpl. Daniel Hess, Camp Hood; Pvt. Harlan Carlson of the Engineers at Camp Claiborne, La.; Pvt. John E. Steiner, somewhere in South America; Clarence Carpenter, S 3/c, Camp Ward, Farragut, Idaho; Pvt. Dean Van Gundy, Nashville, Tenn.; Pvt. James Jackson has transferred to the state of Mass.; S/Sgt. Kenneth Erickson, Vancouver, Wash.;  Pvt. George Votapka, Camp Butner, NC; Clarence Teater of the Coast Guard—Calif; Vincent Stroup, Goodfellow Field, Texas.

 March 10, page 6.

                                          Back to Newsletters by Marian Cathcart   

               Back to Decatur County Home Page                  

©2003 Sharleen Wurm  
This site was  established Oct 2001 by Sharleen Wurm and is dedicated to free access to records, documents and photos of historical and genealogical value. Documents contained herein may be copied for personal, non-commercial use as long as this message remains on all copied material.   These records, documents and photos may not be reproduced, published or re-published for any reason, in any format,  including electronic (web pages or CD's) and print, without prior written consent of the contributors or copyright holders.

Wednesday, October 20, 2004