Thursday, October 19, 1967
Killed in Action
Staff Sergeant Jacob VanMeter, Jr., of Slaty Fork, was killed in action Saturday, October 7, 1967, in the Bong Son area of Viet Nam.
He was the son of Mrs. Cora Hannah VanMeter, of Slaty Fork, and the late Jacob VanMeter.
After graduating from Marlinton High School in 1961, he had worked for General Motors in Ohio four years. He entered the Army in May 1966, and was a squad leader assigned to Company C, First Battalion of Fifth Cavalry, a unit of the First Air Cavalry Division…
He was burial, with military rites, was in the Gibson Cemetery.
Mental Giants
An outstanding event of the Centennial Year of West Virginia University was the Science Writing Symposium at the Medical Center at Morgantown. The School of Journalism, supported by the National Science Foundation, brought some of the most brilliant minds in the United States to the campus and invited the newspaper, radio and TV people to hear them.
Dr. Edward Teller, ofttimes called the “father of the hydrogen bomb,” captured the fancy of his audience. His greatness was accentuated by his humanism and his wit and he ably answered the great variety of questions – although he said his favorite words were “I don’t know.”
His topic was “The Tree of Knowledge,” and he spoke of the two branches – one of facts, understanding of nature, and the other branch to which the Bible refers, of knowing good and evil, concerned with values.
The pursuit of facts produces surprises but no disagreements, things which sound crazy but are true.
The other branch does not produce agreement; those who deal with questions of good and evil must be aware that they can be wrong, and often are wrong.
Here showed forth Dr. Teller’s struggle with the application of his nuclear development. The bitterest fruit, he says, is choosing between the greater and the lesser evil.
Born in Budapest, he was under the Nazi rule before coming to the United States in 1935, and he said the Nazi rule was all evil. The Communists are only partly bad – the worst part is they think they are always right.
He thinks Russia and the United States know nuclear war must not be waged but he isn’t sure about other countries, so advocates the missile barrier…
Dr. Teller thinks natural gas causes the least air pollution and is working on ways to make more available through nuclear “fracturing.”
The possibilities of peaceful uses of nuclear power are endless – blasting canals, etc. He is also most interested in quasars and what they will tell us about the beginnings of the world…
Award
Certificate of Achievement is awarded to Sergeant E 5 June R. Landis for meritorious service during the period 15 to 17 August 1967 while assigned as Radio Mechanic for Headquarters 2nd Missile Battalion (Hercules) 562 Artillery Fort Wainwright, Alaska… He distinguished himself by demon- strating unusual dedication by not only assisting in the maintenance of communications but in distributing vital water and rations to the stranded personnel of this unit during the flooding of Fort Wainwright. He worked forty-eight hours refusing time off while his services were needed. Without his wholehearted willingness to work many long hours, the support rendered to the men of this battalion and their dependents may not have been possible…
Boys and Girls in Service
Airman Second Class Clyde S. Campbell, son of Mrs. Flossie Campbell, participated in an annual field training operation, Exercise Deep Furrow 67, in Turkey… The maneuver was a test of NATO’s ability to rapidly deploy an airborne force wherever needed.
Army Staff Sergeant Lowell T. Underwood, son of Mr. and Mrs. Denver Underwood, was assigned to the 14th Armored Cavalry Regiment near Fulda, Germany.
Gene L. Rexrode, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles L. Rexrode, was promoted to Army specialist five September 27 in Vietnam, where he is serving with the 278th Supply and Service Battalion near Cam Ranh Bay…
DEATHS
Baby Loman Lester, month-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Lester; burial in Mountain View Cemetery.
Miss Lucy Neil Yeager, 87, of Bartow. Born at Traveller’s Repose, a daughter of the late Paul McNeel and Hulda Arbogast Yeager. Burial in the Yeager Cemetery at Bartow.
Mrs. Florence E. Doyle, 86, of Huntersville, a daughter of the late Jacob and Jerusha Bott Hinzman. Burial in the Huntersville Cemetery.
Loren S. Jordan, 51, of Webster Springs, formerly of Marlinton and Cass; a son of the late Jesse and Alta Helmick Jordan. Burial in the Chestnut Grove Cemetery at Replete.
Mrs. Margie Elizabeth Gragg, 65, of Durbin; burial in the Gum Cemetery.
Harris Winters Rider, 89, of Marlinton, a son of the late John Acie and Nancy Elizabeth Gibson Rider. Burial in the May Cemetery on Anthony Creek.