Thursday, August 3, 1944
Our Army and Navy Boys
Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Noonan have received word from the War Department that their son, Corporal Ralph L. Noonan, was seriously wounded in action on July 4, 1944 in France. He was a paratrooper. Mr. and Mrs. Noonan live at Clover Lick.
Word has been received by Mr. and Mrs. Walter Graham, of Buckeye, that their son, Corporal Jay B. Graham, is safely back in England after serving forty days on the front lines in Normandy. Corporal Graham has been over seas with the 82nd Airborne Division since April 25, 1943. He has taken part in the Airborne landings in Sicily, Salarno and Normandy.
P.F.C. Gerald McNeill, son of Mr. and Mrs. Arnot McNeill, of Edray, also of the 82nd Airborne Division is back in England, and his brother, Manuel, has been picked to replace one of the many men of this great division that were lost in the Normandy Invasion.
Sergeant James H. Thomas, a veteran of the Aleutian-Alaskan campaign, has been authorized to wear one Bronze Star on the Asiatic Pacific Theater Ribbon… The Bronze Star is awarded to any person who, while serving in or with the Army of the United States on or after December 7, 1941, has distinguished himself by heroic and meritorious achievement in connection with military operations against the enemy of the United States… Sergeant Thomas has been a member of the Army Air Forces since his entrance on April 30, 1942. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Guy Thomas, of Buckeye, and the husband of Mrs. Winona Eades Thomas, of Marlinton.
Basil C. Sharp was home over the weekend from the Army. He is in the Infantry, stationed at Fort Meade, Maryland.
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This letter was written by Pvt. Henry M. Vaughan of the Americal Division, Southwest Pacific.
Dear Mr. Price;
I want to write and thank you for sending me your big, little paper so regular. It brings a lot of news from home. What I enjoy reading most is the article you publish, “Our Army and Navy Boys.” I enjoy reading about their experience on foreign soil.
I am on an island in the Southwest Pacific. The island is jungle at its jungleliest. It has been cleared to some extent. But let me wander fifty yards from my tent and the underbrush is solid as a wall.
The jungle is inhabited by every known type of insect that bites or makes a noise. There are ants whose jaws are so big that when they bite the succulent G. I. ankle, you can hear their jaws snap. That is really on the level.
The scorpion having been introduced to the comforts of blankets, shoes and socks take to these for their living quarters. A soldier who pokes his foot into a shoe without first reconnoitering, will get the works.
It rains here every day and when it rains it comes down in torrents. But we put the rain to a good purpose though. When it starts raining, we calmly strip off our clothes, grab a cake of soap and let mother nature give us a shower, which the army can’t provide. All in all, the jungles aren’t so bad after you get accustomed to living in that manner, but that is one thing I don’t think I can ever get used to.
I would like to write more but I am kept pretty busy. When I get back to the States, I will drop in to see you and see which one can spin the biggest yarn.
Just a doughboy,
Henry M. Vaughan
THE DROUTH
While it looks like rain this morning, Tuesday, and a good rain was reported from Lewisburg on Monday afternoon, the dry spell is now at drouth proportion, with water at its lowest since 1930. Pastures are burned up and corn is already injured.
Down in Kanawha County, application has already been made to the United States Department of Agriculture to have that county officially declared in the drouth area, so that relief feed can be made available for domestic animals.
I never saw the Greenbrier River and Knapps Creek quite so low at Marlinton; not even in the dry year of 1930.
Dead fish are being found in all the streams – Greenbrier River, Williams River, Stony Creek and Knapps Creek. The prize tragedy was twenty-inch black bass found below the mouth of Stony Creek.
To help deplete the supply of oxygen in the water the streams now have much “moss” – algae.
BIG BASS
Last weekend Dale Addison caught three big bass in the Greenbrier River somewhere below Marlinton. The combined weight was eleven pounds eight ounces. The big one weighed 4 1/2 pounds.
DEATHS
Mrs. Nellie Shaver Pritt, age 39, wife of Winters Pritt, of Buckeye; daughter of James A. and Laura B. Shaver. Funeral service was conducted from the lower Church at Buckeye… Burial in the Church cemetery.
G. H. Hefner, aged 71; his body was laid to rest in the family plot in Mountain View Cemetery. His son, Andy, was killed in action at the Normandy Invasion June 11.
Christopher Columbus Riddle, aged 78, of Williams River. His body was laid to rest in the community cemetery on the Downy Place.
Henry Boyd Rexrode, aged 69, of Bartow; born at Crabbottom, Va.; a son of the late Esau and Eliza Gum Rexrode. Interment in the family plot in Boyer cemetery.