Thursday, December 7, 1944
Our Army and Navy Boys
On last Saturday, J. G. Beard received the sad news that his son, Lieutenant J. G. Beard, Jr., of the Air Corps, had been killed in action.
Mr. and Mrs. Saul Starcher, of Seebert, received a letter this week from their son, Private Frank T. Starcher, who is a prisoner of war of the German government. He writes that he has plenty to eat, and is in good health. Frank was a member of the 506th Paratroopers who were among the first to land in France on D-Day, and it was in this action that he was captured.
Mrs. Leo Davis has been notified that her husband was wounded in action. Under date of November 18, Leo wrote from Paris that he had received a piece of shrapnel in the shoulder, but was getting all right, being able to write.
Cliff C. Sharp, of Huntersville, tells me his son, Beryl K. Sharp, is still in an army hospital in Italy with a broken arm and a severe wound in the hip.
– – –
With the 5th Armored Division in Belgium – Sergeant June H. McCloud, of Marlinton, has been awarded the Silver Star for repeated acts of gallantry performed while leading a section of a 5th Armored Division mechanized reconnaissance troop unit during the fighting in France…
When armored vehicles on a reconnaissance mission came under heavy anti-tank fire near Houdan, France, August 20, and withdrew from the direct fires, a half track vehicle failed to start, and was ordered abandoned, but Sergeant McCloud climbed in it, succeeded in getting it in operation while shells burst around him, and he drove it to safety.
On August 17, near Germainville, France, the Sergeant’s reconnaissance party was trapped by enemy machine guns firing at them from four sides. Leaving the protection of a ditch, Sergeant McCloud stood up and, with grenades, silenced the nearby machine gun nests. It was not the first time the section leader had used his grenades with telling effect. While he was reconnoitering woods near Louvigne on August 3, a machine gun opened on him. He took cover until he had located the gun, then exposed himself to throw grenades, which put the gun off action.
“At all times, Sergeant McCloud has shown complete disregard for his own life. His actions are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service,” the official citation read…
A former coal miner, he was inducted on June 2, 1941, and has served with the 5th Armored Division since its activation on October 1, 1941.
HIGH SCHOOL PLAY
“Too Many Relatives” is the name of the play to be given December 15, at 8 p.m. in the High School Auditorium by the Junior Class. The cast includes: Henry Savage, Bernard Eades; Mabel Savage, Mary Lou Minnich; Mrs. Donnelly, Mildred Nelson; Gracie Evans, Junie Viers; Jasper Williams, John Curry; Officer Butterfield, Garland Gordon; Lucy, Naomi Rider; Voice, Dail Hannah; Ermentrude Evans, Anna Bell Curry; Otto B. Savage, John Coffman; and Smoky McGee, Hubert Galford.
BIRTHS
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Alva Johnson, of Marlinton, a daughter.
Born to Private First Class and Mrs. Howard Doss, of Green Bank, a daughter, named Pamela Rae. The mother is the former Gayle Galford, of the W. A. C.s and P. F. C. Doss is serving in the Engineers Corps in the Southwest Pacific.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Jack Roberts, a daughter. Mrs. Roberts will be remembered as Miss Eleanor Herold, of Minnehaha Springs.
DEATHS
Mrs. Susan A. Morrison, widow of the late Columbus B. Morrison, of Clarksburg, died Friday November 30, 1944, aged 90 years. She was the daughter of the late Andrew and Sarah Sharp, of near Huntersville, and the last of the family.
C. J. Beish, aged 69 years, died at his home in Durbin, Thursday, November 30, 1944. On Sunday afternoon his body was laid to rest in the family plot in Maplewood Cemetery in Elkins beside the grave of his wife and their two children. The funeral was conducted from the Durbin Methodist Church… Mr. Beish was a prominent citizen of Durbin and Pocahontas County, coming here about thirty years ago. He was a native of Clearfield, Pennsylvania…
Mrs. Hannah E. Beverage McNeill aged 86 years, widow of the late James McNeill, died at the home of her daughter-in-law, Mrs. L. H. McNeill, at Buckeye, on Sunday morning, December 3, 1944. On Tuesday afternoon the funeral was conducted from the Swago church… internment in the McNeill cemetery beside the grave of her husband who preceded her in death fifty-three years ago. The deceased was a daughter of the late Peter and Susan White Beverage… She became the wife of the late James McNeill, who died in 1892. To this union were born five sons: Carl, of El Paso, Texas; Homer, of Durbin; Moody, of Marlinton, Lock H. and Carnie L., deceased.
For a number of years Mrs. McNeill had been in failing health. She was a good woman, left with a large family at the death of her husband. She never faltered, and brought them up alright, and they arise to call her blessed.