Decatur Newsletter for the boys in Military service.

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

September 10, 1942, Issue 6
Edited and compiled by Marian E. Cathcart, Oberlin, Kansas.

Another month finds many new names and new addresses on the mailing list. So straight away we will consider you men in the service.... S/Sgt. Frank Ellis now is located at Camp Atterbury in Edinburg, Indiana. For the past four years he has been at Fort Riley and Camp Funston.  Lt. Bernard Schreiber is in the Station Hospital at Camp Carson, Colorado following a recent transfer from Camp Carlisle, Penn…John Walker, H.A. 1/C, questions very much that Philadelphia is a city of brotherly 1ove. He craves submarine duty...Cadet Bill Smick is located at St. Mary’s College in California where he is in the naval aviation preflight school. He is a member of the Flying Wildcat squadron numbering twenty-two men, most of whom are former Kansas State College students.... Pfc. Fred Williams has been transferred to Ft. Des Moines, Iowa with the WAAC...Raymond Hague, S. 2/c, is taking torpedo training.... Bernie Rubendall, more recently of Denver is in training at Alameda, California.... It is Corp. Bernard Thummel down at Turner Field, Georgia.... Dennis Nelson and Dale Wickham are studying radio mechanics in the air division of the army and are located near Salt Lake City. .... Carl Haresnape came here from Oakland, Calif. to report for service August 31. Carl has been employed as a bus driver in Oakland on the city service. Genial as always he assured me he hadn’t been further than twenty feet from either fried chicken or roasting ears since his return to Kansas…Items of twenty-five years ago-- “Harwood 0. Benton was listed among those receiving 2nd Lt. commissions in the Infantry Reserve Corps at Ft. Riley.” “Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Norton are the proud parents of a son, born last week” --better known as Kenneth.... It is Ensign Herbert Dyer now located on a Coast Guard Cutter out of San Pedro, Calif. Harold Dyer, M. D., has enlisted in the medical corps of the navy and is awaiting his call. He completed his internship at Oklahoma University on July 1, and is working there.   Sgt. Enoch W. Matheny joined the army in April 1941. Following maneuvers he came to Fall City, Nebraska where he met his parents from here. He is now stationed in Jacksonville, F1orida. Pvt. Jimmie Anderson recently enlisted in the army in Denver and has been assigned to the Medical Corps and is now located at Camp Robinson, Arkansas…It is overseas duty for Chaplain John E. Stevenson…. Pvt. Ernest Rydquist is located at Fort Douglas, Utah where he is a tractor and truck driver…Mrs. Doris Shannon, Mrs. Thelma Wolfe, and Miss Agnes Dowling were the originators of the plan of serving lunch to the Selective Service inductees leaving for induction centers…. Add to the three star families The Railsbacks--Gordon of Hawaii, Cloyce and Cloyd now waiting assignment. The Fawcetts—the entire family, Jay of the maritime, Hugh of the Great Lakes Naval Training station and John, whose assignment I do not have as yet...Pvt. Dean Brown, who joined the services March 1 last, is located overseas and is in a hunters paradise. Bring us a fur coat——seal would do…Leslie Brown is in construction work in Alaska.... I had the privi1ege of meeting the charming little Mrs. Perry Macy recently.... Archie M. Vale, marine in World War I, re-enlisted at the outbreak of war and is located at the San Diego Marine Corps Base where he is a sergeant assigned to the Rifle Range detachment...Don Claussen, S 2/c, writes from overseas that recently he spent some time with Bill Eiler and Darrell Woodside. Incidentally, Bill, the censor returned your last Newsletter to me…Pvt. Gene Lohoefener tells of strenuous maneuvers in which he learned to “duck”…Don Thornburg drew radio and Hugh Fawcett, Diesel engine training at the Great Lakes Naval Station. Don spent a recent leave in Oberlin and at Wichita.... Corp. James Staley of Hollywood spent a week in Oberlin during August, his first home furlough in 14 months of army life. He is a chauffeur.... S/Sgt. Victor Lockhart, who entered the service in December, 1940, is on duty with the army air forces somewhere in Tennessee...Pfc. Gaylord Bryan and Maxine Counter were married at Waynesville, Mo. on August 13.  Their attendants were French and Lois Macy-Landau. Both Gaylord and French are stationed at Ft Leonard Wood and Maxine and Lois are living in Dixon, Mo.  Max Jones of Dresden has joined the Marines and is at the San Diego base.... It is England for Pvt. C1arence Bai1ey …It is the Station Dispensary at Fort Miley, Calif. for Pfc. James Montgomery…Louis Lorenson of Oakland, Calif. recently visited here prior to reporting for duty in the Naval Reserves at San Diego. He has been employed in the steel mills.... Pvt. Keith Lohoefener of the air corps stationed at Lincoln, Nebr. where he is studying mechanics.... The Oberlin Herald recently carried a picture of the charming little daughter, Patsy Elaine, of Sgt. And Mrs. “Bud” Raymond.  Patsy Elaine and her mother are in Georgetown, Illinois since Bud has been transferred from Savannah, Georgia…Lt. Leona Unger, formerly of Herndon, was at home recently on furlough before transfer to foreign service…An invitation is extended by Mr. and Mrs. John Laidig to service men in New York City to visit them in their apartment located at 1605 Metropolitan Ave., Parkchester Station, the Bronx, New York City, Apt. 9E.  A recent visitor was Lloyd Reist, S. 2/c.  John is in the Bell Laboratory connected with defense work in radio….It is Sgt. James Young of—your guess is as good as mine…James Coleman is the name of the son born August 10 to Pvt. and Mrs. Carol Hall.  Carol, who is located at Camp Carson, Colo. was home recently on furlough…. From “Somewhere in Australia” Kenneth Williams writes that his outfit is seeing active duty.  He is a sergeant in

September 10——page 2.

the army air corps....Herbert Koepplinger is a candidate at the Officers School for Ordnance at Aberdeen, Maryland....Pvt. Blaine Hagadorne is now in Philadelphia after being stationed at Chanute Field and special school work at Indianapolis. In the latter city he briefly saw Frank Ellis, located nearby…Pvt. Clyde Gage has been located in California the past few weeks.  While at Stockton he and Lyman staged a reunion after sixteen and a half years. Lyman has a chief yoeman’s rating and is located at Long Beach.  Clyde’s wife, the former Joan McMahan, is living in McCook during his absence...Pvt. Adolph Koepplinger describes most interestingly the desert during maneuvers.... It is now Camp Atterbury, Indiana for S/Sgt. Bernard Pankaskie. His wife, the former Irma Kasper, is living in nearby Columbus…August 31st was the date on which a group of boys left Oberlin for training and actual service. The Herald carried this story, “Those leaving Monday are:  Floyd Brown, Cletus Kelly, Donald Lauver, Cloyce Railsback, Cloyd Railsback, Robert Brown, all of Oberlin;  Ivis Hanson, Jennings; Vernon O. Miller and Wilbur Hare, Clayton; Duane D. Huff, Norcatur; Earl A. Jackson, Alma, Nebr.; Alfred Wade, Hernden; and Carl Haresnape, former Oberlin resident and who come back from California to enter service. And a free lunch will be served the boys in the waiting room at the court house before their departure. Local women are handling this lunch program. Four of the boys that took the pre-induction examinations with this group two weeks ago failed to pass and are now at home. These were Warren Claussen and Elmer Miller, Oberlin, and Raymond Ritter and Joseph Welton, of Dresden.” Home on leave: Ted Pettis, Signalman 1/c, who seems to have quite an intimate acquaintance with the Atlantic Ocean.  He will be calling on some of you fellow seamen if you will just remain “put”.  Clarence Shuler of Ca1ifornia. —Corp. Neil Nicodemus, Pvt. William and Willard Carter, all of Camp Barkley, Texas, on a week end leave. —Pvt. Eugene Lohoefener of Ft. Leonard Wood. Pvt. Keith Lohoefener of Lincoln, Nebr.— Pvt. Carl Frickey of Denver. ——Marlin Kruse of Camp Ord, ——Pvt. Lawrence Urban of Ft. Knox. --Arnold Tacha of the Great Lakes Training Station. ——T/Sgt. Perry Macy also of Fort Knox. ——Robert Riley of the regular navy located at the Great Lakes Training Station. He is expecting immediate transfer to a radio training school. Sgt. Edwin Robertson of Ft. Rosecrans, Calif....Pvt. Dale McConnell is in the filing department of the post office at Santa Ana, Calif…. It is Camp Wallace, Texas for Pvt. Francis Long…. Pvt. Kenneth Schmoker is now on the eastern coast…It is said that Oran Hughes plans to enter the navy soon.... Bob Frick, former Atwood wrestler, is entering the navy in the same group as Louis Lorenson…Dorothy Beardsley is employed in the U.S.O. office in Topeka…In Beatrice, Nebraska, a tire blew out and broke a man’s leg. If one of our tires blew out it would break our heart...Add to your address list: Jimmie Anderson at Camp Robinson, Arkansas.  Overseas in the Pacific area--Lemuel Montgomery, Clyde Gage.  Camp Cooke, Calif. ——Pfc. Guy Bryan. Santa Anna——Dale McConnell, San Diego—Sgt. Archie M. Vale, Alameda—Bernie Rubendall, St. Mary’s College--Cadet Bill Smick, Long Beach--Lyman Gage, C. Y. —all of these in the state of California.  We will add Lt. Bernard Schreiber to those at Camp Carson, Colo., and Sgt Enoch Matheeney to those at Jacksonville, Florida. Sgt. Frank Ellis is at Camp Atterbury, Edinburg, Indiana. Pfc. Fred Williams is now located at Ft. Des Moines, Iowa, while Sgt. Bernard Pankaskie is at Camp Atterbury also. Adrian Stinson is now in Topeka, Harry Brown at Louisville, Ky., Keith Lohoefener is now at Lincoln, Nebr., James O’Toole at Las Vegas, New Mexico, Blaine Hagadorn in Philadelphia, and Kearns, Utah for Dale Wickham and Dennis Nelson.... Alex Francis is now a second lieutenant in the Army Air Forces. He will go from Stamford, Texas to Miami for training and will be stationed later in Alabama.... Francis Cevely is located in Salt Lake City where he is principal clerk of property and procurement at Fort Douglas. Cordett is employed in the same office.  Cordelia is now Mrs. Fred Groves and 1ives in Los Angeles. Pvt. John Mazanek and Pvt. Louis Tuxhorn are both at Ft. Knox…. Bill and Bob Murphy now of Pueblo, Colorado, have joined the Marines and will report for duty the middle of September at San Diego… Don Thornburg has been transferred to Miami University at Oxford, Ohio for radio training…Capt. and Mrs. Ted Addleman and children were recent visitors in Oberlin. .... Rex and Nola Ridgway-Garver are visiting in Oberlin indefinitely. Later Rex plans to enlist in the navy. Donald Montgomery formerly of Oberlin and more recently of Denver, is now in the Marines at San Diego…The Oberlin Herald of September 3, carries this story: “Another group of young men from Decatur County will leave here by bus early Wednesday morning, September 9, to enter the U. S. Armed forces. The group is made up of boys who have already taken the examination, and are now being inducted into actual training service. Those leaving Wednesday are: Dale Jordan, Clarence Nauer, Oliver Fringer, Kenneth Vernon, all of Oberlin, John Biesler of Hoxie, Arthur Spohrer, Lester Barnett and Norman Griffith of Clayton, Gustave Steffin, Norman Bainter, John Petracek, Dallas Kolsky, and George Votapka of Jennings, Wilfred Miller, Vyrl Miller, both of Dresden, and John Fawcett of Kanona. Leaving on Thursday are Dale Brunk and Vollie Kathka of Oborlin.”.…It is a “safe arrival” cable from Great Britain for Arthur May.... “Somewhere” in the Hawaiian Islands would locate Pvt. Stanley Mazanek.... Hugh Fawcett is located on the University of Illinois campus.  See a football game for us!!  Raymond Adams and Darrell Haas are to report to Omaha September 8 to enter basic Coast Guard training.... Dean Clawson of the navy spent a recent furlough here. He is stationed in Dallas, Texas...Others home on furlough include Arnold Tacha of the Great Lakes Naval Training School, Elton Sebaugh and wife of California...Hubert Rapp is located in Australia.... Joe Stuckley is now at Camp Wheeler, Georgia.... Mark Cleland is taking bombadier training...It is radio for

Sep l0, page 3.

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Wednesday, October 20, 2004