Thursday, November 9, 1944
Our Army and Navy Boys
Cpl. Damon O. Landis, of the Field Artillery, has arrived safely in England.
Another instance of two Marlinton soldiers meeting in Italy was when Private James (Curly) Wamsley, learning from his wife the address of his good friend, Herman Brown, began investigating and finding they were only thirty miles apart, he went to visit him. Herman was just out of the hospital with an infected foot.
Clyde Griffin, Seaman First Class, with 13 months’ service in the South Pacific, has returned to duty after spending a 38-day leave with his parents. Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Griffin, at Clover Lick. Seaman Griffin has participated in five major battles in the Gilberts, Marshalls and Marianas, two of them being Saipan and Guam; but he came straight through without a scratch. His brother, Delbert, also of the Navy, was with him at the battle of Guam and they were together for three months at Pearl Harbor. Wilford Griffin, another brother is serving with the Army Air Corps in England.
The following soldiers are now stationed in France: P.F.C. George Jackson, Corporal Garland Skee Crider, Staff Sergeant John Hayden Tibbs, Corporal Mitchell Hill, P. F. C. John Boggs and Privates Luther Robinson and Thomas Wilson.
Private Wayne Geiger, of Marlinton, is cannoneer of an eight-inch mobile rifle which recently has been firing more shells into the Gothic Line along the Fifth Army Front in Italy than it had pumped at enemy targets at any previous time. The enormous artillery piece weighs over 34 tons… The soldier’s mother, Mrs. Mamie E. Kellison, lives in Marlinton.
Simpson Gragg, Jr., ARM 3C, son of Mr. and Mrs. Simpson Gragg, of Clover Lick, was home on a 15-day furlough from the Navy. He reported back to San Diego, California.
W. W. Defibaugh, S. 2C, U. S. Navy, returned home October 26, 1944, having been granted an honorable discharge… He has seen quite a lot of the outside world.
LETTER
Dear Mr. Price:
Just a line from England where I am getting ready to go back to the front again. I was wounded by a bullet on September 16, and will get out of the hospital soon, I hope.
Have wished a lot of times I could be back there in those old hills of West Virginia for hunting season and the fall season. Then, I think, is when nature is at its best and the fields and forest blend. The nights are just cool enough to sleep and that good old fresh air.
I think a person does not really miss the old familiar things until they are so far away. So here’s hoping you have a real nice fall and hunting season.
A friend, Bill Brenner
FIELD NOTES
Romie Dorman, of Beard, caught the big walleye pike at Breakneck in the Greenbrier River. It weighed eleven pounds and twelve ounces. This is the biggest pike of the season reported caught in Pocahontas County.
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This appears to have been the best honey year in twelve. There were flowers and the weather was dry. Seems like bees must have dry weather in which to work; and it could easily be that rainwater dilutes the nectar, too. At the farm of Dallas McKeever on Swago, he started in with sixteen colonies of bees last spring. Now the stands have increased to two dozen, and he took surplus stores of honey, amounting to 1,200 pounds. He finds a ready sale for honey at thirty cents.
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Henry King and Bert Smith were up on the Alleghany to get their quota of squirrels one afternoon last week. Henry took his dog, and they got their limit of four squirrels each. There is nothing whatsoever unusual about all this. However, when the eighth squirrel hit the ground to bite the dust, the dog calmly took his way to the car, ready to go home. He knew just as well as anybody the number of squirrels allowed for a day’s hunt.
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There is a big old she bear with a pair of cubs over on Williams River, below the Dead Water, which takes nothing off of anybody. One day a week or two ago, Charles Mullins and another young man were coming up Williams River to the Mullins home for the weekend. Down about the Big Slip they came upon a big old she bear and two good sized cubs. The boys barked like dogs and the mother bear cubbed the cubs up trees. She stood watch over them, and the young men thought to put her to flight by charging up on her. That old bear did not a thing but turn her hair the wrong way and bow up for a fight. There was no runaway in her at all. The men were discreet, and withdrew.
FARM WOMEN
The October meeting of the Locust Creek Farm Women’s Club met at the home of Mrs. Nora Jackson. Mrs. D. M. Callison had charge of the meeting. Several topics of interest were discussed. Projects were finished and reports made. The lesson theme “Clothing the family in war time,” was discussed and demonstrations were made by Mr. Dick Beard. The recreation hour was enjoyed and refreshments served.
WEDDING
Sharp – Wooddell
Mr. and Mrs. Henderson Sharp, of Frost, announce the marriage of their daughter, Maynell, to Sgt. Porter L. Wooddell, son of Mr. and Mrs. E. B. Wooddell, of Marlinton… The attending couple at the ceremony were Petty Officer Uriah Wooddell and Miss Ada Wooddell, brother and sister of the groom.
BIRTHS
Born to Mr. and Mrs. George Walker, a daughter, named Bernice Pearl.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Galford, of Marlinton, a son, named Paul Elza Galford.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Sidney McKenney, of Mill Point, a son.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Granville M. Blake, of Marlinton, a son.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Harry J. Whiting, of Spruce Flat, a son.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas C. Clutter, of Hillsboro, a daughter.
DEATHS
J. Wilson Hill, aged 71 years, of Jacox, died Saturday night, November 4, 1944. On Wednesday afternoon the funeral was conducted from the home by Rev. A. L. Tenney. Interment in the Kellison cemetery.
The deceased was a son of the late Peter and Margaret Whiting Hill. His brothers are George P. Hill, of Hillsboro, and Dr. Simon W. Hill, of Regent, Montana. His sisters are Mrs. Lloyd Curry and Mrs. Charley Morrison.
He is survived by his wife, who before her marriage was Miss Lizzie Boggs; and their three sons, Herbert, Hugh and Johnnie. One son, Marshall, died several years ago.
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James Franklin Ramsey, of Mill Point, aged 18 years, died November 3, 1944. Funeral service was conducted in Marvin Chapel Methodist Church. Burial in the Ruckman cemetery.
He is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Ramsey, and two brothers, Ben, of the U. S. Army, Arthur at home, one sister, Helen, also at home, and a host of relatives and friends.