2019 Veterans

Veterans Magazine

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R E A T N E V A TRIBUTE S

A Special Publication of The Andalusia Star-News

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TRUE AMERICAN HEROES.

TODAY WE PAUSE TO HONOR THE BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN

WHO HAVE MADE GREAT SACRIFICE TO PROTECT OUR FAMILIES, OUR COUNTRY AND OUR FREEDOM

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Veterans Magazine

contents

About the cover: A collage of photos of the county's veterans.

About this edition: Many months ago, John Vick approached us about producing this magazine, sharing the stories of so many in our community who have served their country. He wrote many of the stories based on his research an personal interviews of veterans.

The newspaper and the community owes him a debt of thanks for preserving these important pieces of local and national history.

Many other stories were submitted by veterans or by family members.

THE STAR-NEWS Kendra Majors Publisher Christopher Smith News editor ADVERTISING Ruck Ashworth Marketing director Jill Prevett Marketing & Special Project PRODUCTION Andi Shepard Graphic Designer

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Foundation to honor veterans The Covington Veterans Foundation thanks the Andalusia Star-News for publishing a Salute to Veterans for the second straight year. CVF has as its motto: "A soldier never dies until he is forgotten" This was borrowed from the 3rd US Army Infantry Regiment, better known as "The Old Guard", the oldest infantry regiment in the Army. They are best known for guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Nothing defines the goal of CVF better than that. From its beginning, the purpose of having a veterans foundation has been to record as many veterans stories as possible, and to continue to honor the memories of all local area veterans. 2019 marks the inaugural "Celebration of Heroes - A Salute to Covington County Veterans". This year's celebration kicks off with a program at the Andalusia High School auditorium and continues with the opening of a Veteran's Exhibit at the Andalusia City Hall.

During the two week period, Nov 3-16, Veteran Tribute flags will fly from lamp posts throughout the city of Andalusia.

That two week event has been designated an official Alabama200 event by the Alabama Bicentennial Commission. The City of Andalusia has been a full partner in this year's events and CVF thanks Mayor Johnson and the Andalusia City Council for this partnership.

CVF wishes to thank the hundreds of people who helped put this veteran's celebration together. As Chairman of the Covington Veterans Foundation, I want to personally thank the officers and Board of Directors for their untiring work and dedication .

-John Vick

In this edition: Marlin Hamilton 4 Niram Meadows 4 Guy Bryan 5 John A. Brown 6 JD Parrish 7 Thomas Rodgers 8 Byron Nichols 9 Eddie Green 10 Jimmy Vick 11 Hubert Sullivan 12 Todd Hattaway 13 Wilson Sauls 14 Harold Wise 15 William Robinson 16 Eric Russell 17 Garnell C. McKathan 18 Charles Lowman 19 Charles Saunders 20 Virgil Dillard 20 Don Mathews 21 Rodney J. Evans 26 Michael Gunnells 27 James Greene 27 Lester O'Neal 31 Evan Williamson 32 Benjamin Reynolds 33 Robert Bush 34 Pete Lowe 35 Allison R. Yates 36 James McGhee 37 Glen Hess 39 OJ Blount 40 Wilbur Greene 41 Harold Pittman 42 Fletcher Jones 44 Ray Butler 45 Charlie Bass 46 Christopher Lawson 46

Charley Cope 47 Ralph G. Dunn 47 Harvey Bass 48 Johnny Portemont 48 William G. Cumbie 50 Eland Anthony 51 Darwin Pippin 52 Martha Dixon 53 J. Max Walker 54 Wilbur Jernigan 55 Donaldsons 56 James Mock 58 Jim Lawrence 59 Sidney Waits 60 Tubby Hall 61 WC Echols 62 Bill Baldwin 65 Ben Crum Foshee 66 Charles Vickery 67 Charles B. Mathews 68 James Thomas Ruffin 69 Foyl Hudgens 69 John Givhan 70 Thomas Ray 71 Jack Cox 72 Jenkins Logan 73 Norman Bundy 74 Fred Price 75 Kenneth Johnson 76 Marian Edwards 77 Gillis Jones 78 Charles Wratchford 79 Pete Greene 80 Walter Sto ne 81 William Merrill 82

Veterans Magazine

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MARLIN

HAMILTON

First Lt. Samuel Marlin Hamilton was born 1922 in the Wiggins Community near Sanford to parents William Richard “Bud” Hamilton (wife Mary Edna “Mollie” {Woodham } Hamilton). His siblings were William Aubrey, Percy Leon, Robert Coleman, & Annie Laurie.

In 1937 the family moved to Opp. Marlin became a pilot on a B-24 in the 15th Army Air Force, 55th Bomb Wing, 460th Bomb Group, 763d Bomb Squadron. The 15th commanders were Generals Jimmy Doolittle and later Nathan Twining. On his eighth combat mission on a bombing run from Foggia, Italy to a target over Munich, his plane was shot down on November 16, 1944. The crew (with the exception of one who was killed) was held captive until the end of the European conference game owar. Marlin was held in Stalag Luft 1 until the

Russians approach caused their German guards to flee. He was in prison with Col. Hubert “Hub” Zemke who General Doolittle said was his greatest Fighter Group Commander, plus a pilot named Bob Hoover who later became America’s most famous acrobatic pilot. Another held there was Bernard Barker, a B-17 bombardier who later was a CIA operative and Watergate burglar! Marlin had named his B-24 “The Opp Daily - Strictly Front Page” in honor of Opp’s newspaper. He came home, was promoted to Captain, went into the insurance business, and went to great lengths to beautify Opp, planting Dogwoods in medians and even watering them in dry spells. Maxwell AFB put on display Hamilton’s flight uniform, his dog tags, and the key to Stalag 1 that he had absconded with when he left captivity. He was the Veterans

Coordinator at MacArthur Tech from 1973-82, plus taught Math to Veterans, was a Scoutmaster, and was a member of the Opp Lions Club. A marker at the corner of Ida Avenue and Main Street in Opp honored his service. A couple of years ago I put together a write up of his life, and he is now in the Opp Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame, a well deserved honor.

Jim Lawrence

NIRAM MEADOWS

Niram Meadows grew up in Opp and graduated from Opp HS. He attended Alabama Polytechnic Institute [Auburn] and graduated with a degree in Horticulture and was an ROTC graduate.

1LT Niram J. (N.J.) Meadows graduated Auburn in 1941 and became an Army Infantry Officer. His parents were William Terril Meadows (whose wife was Martha Kathrine {Pridgen} Meadows. N.J.’s wife was Dolores (Falterman) Meadows (passed away in Opp April 13, 2018). and

children are Linda M. Rayfield, Cathy M. Mikel, Mary Ann Hall; John Meadows, Tim Meadows, Colonel (ret) William Thomas Meadows, & Ronnie Meadows.

1LT Meadows was captured at the Kasserine Pass, Tunisia, on Feb. 14, 1942 (Valentines Day), and was held for 19 months at Oflag 64, near Szubin, Poland.

The camp was for Army Officers. The detainees were fed rotten boiled potatoes, weak soup & stale bread. They were sent seeds and tried to grow a vegetable garden. He recalled his German guards

being just as hungry as the detainees.

Repatriated in 1944, he was sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. After returning, he lived in Childersburg for awhile and then in Evergreen for a few years. He moved to Opp and ran a dairy farm for a while before opening an Allis-Chalmers dealership.

NJ and his wife, Dolores [Falterman] had 7 children. NJ died in 1998 and Dolores died in 2018.

Jim Lawrence

Veterans Magazine

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GUY

G

BRYAN

uy Bryan was raised in Andalusia and graduated from Andalusia High School in 1951.

He enlisted in the Army in April of 1952.

Guy went to Montgomery to be sworn in and remembers a funny story that happened when he was there.

He heard two men bragging that they couldn’t be drafted because they could not read nor write. The sergeant gave them a piece of paper and said “Sign it.”.

They each signed it and the sergeant said, “Congratulations! You’re in the Army.”

Guy was sent to Ft. Jackson, SC for training. He was tested to see what abilities both mental and physical he processed. He was told his IQ was 135. A young soldier named Marion was handing out uniforms and he and Guy recognized each other. Marion had shined shoes at Gilmer’s Barbershop back in Andalusia where Guy went for haircuts. Marion made sure Guy’s clothes fit and told him how to shine his shoes to pass inspection.

From there, Guy was sent to Ft. Campbell, KY, home of the “Screaming Eagles”, the 101st Airborne Division.

Most of their Airborne instructors were veterans of the Battle of the Bulge in WW II. Training was arduous and physically challenging. He completed the infiltration course in record time. He was proud of the Screaming Eagle on his shoulder When he finished basic he recurred by the Rangers.

He got his clearance, same as the President, along with the clearance came

a pill. He signed forms stating he would take this pill rather than be captured.

Guy had committed to the ASA [Army Security Agency] and was sent to Ft. Devens, MA for further training. Again, the training was tough and challenging, especially with the winter conditions in Massachusetts. School was eight hours. a day and we marched to and from school, several miles every day. Security training included learning code groups of 5 letters. It was difficult work, sending and receiving. At his best, Guy got up to 30 groups per minute receiving.

Ft. Devens taught only “receiving code”. There were two other schools, one which taught sending codes and another that taught “code breaking”.

After training there, Guy asked to go overseas. He said that those that asked to go overseas were kept stateside and those asking to stay in the states were sent overseas.

Guy went to Ft. Dix, NJ, where he was a truck driver and heavy machinery operator. While at Ft. Dix, Guy received his first “Alert” to go overseas. During that time, he had to be armed 24 hours a day and could only leave the barracks with an escort.

He had a double MOS [military operation specialty] code. One was for a truck driver (6 x 6 truck) and the other was heavy machinery operator. His real job in case of deployment was as a member of a D-F [for direction finding] team.

Electronic machinery for pinpointing radio signals was located in the back cov-

ered part of the truck .

From Ft. Dix, Guy was sent to what was called Two Rock Ranch in California.

Part of his duties there was to drive a staff car to Presidio of San Francisco, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. carrying security messages that had been intercepted. He was always armed.

When Guy learned that his next security assignment would be Nome, AK, he decided to leave the army and return to Andalusia. He was on stand by until the Vietnam War. He worked at many jobs, mostly construction lighting runways in secure locations, his ASA clearance was helpful, he was Project Manager building in mountains. The front was even with the ground but the back was 40 feet to the ground. He works part time at Walmart.

Guy and Margaret live in Andalusia with their son, Buddy and 1 granddaughter.

They have a daughter Scarlett who lives in Louisiana with 4 of the grand children and they have one great grandchild.

John Vick [material furnished by the Bryan family]

Veterans Magazine

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JOHN A.

BROWN

Command Sergeant Major John A Brown was born, Selma Alabama on June 5th 1922 and the son of John Alva Brown and Tupsie Justice Brown.

John was brought to the Stanley Community, Hwy 55 south of Andalusia in Covington County Alabama at one year of age. His mother had passed away and his father needed help with the boy. John's father, John Alva Brown, had a sister who was married to a Justice. She agreed to take the little boy. John was raised by the Justice's family where he worked on the farm. He attended Stanley School. When he was old enough he joined the military.

He was a young man of 17 years when he joined the United States Army in 1939.

He served for 35 years. He was honorably discharged at Redstone Arsenal Huntsville Alabama in 1974. Command Sergeant Major John A Brown passed at Niceville Florida April 10th 2006. Internment was at Memorial Cemetery Andalusia Alabama Command Sergeant John A Brown was married to Bonnie Mae Parrish of Andalusia. They raised three children. Andre’ Brown of San Francisco California. Rebecca Brown Dworking of Medford Oregon. And Susan Brown Stewart of Greenville South Carolina.

With the death of his first wife Bonnie Parrish Brown, John later married Olivia Hudson of Gantt Alabama.

During World War II John served with Patton in the North African Campaign.

Which included the Algerian Campaign, The Tunisia Campaign, and The Libyan Campaign.

After the North Africa campaigns were in their final phases John was transferred to the Italian Campaign where he was part of the battle of Sicily, The Battle of Sardinia, And the Battle of Corsica.

After the grueling months of the Italian Campaign, John was sent to Europe to fight at the battle of Marseilles France.

Then the battle of Germany all the way to Berlin.

During The Korean War, John was not able to fight. He was in the Fitzsimmons General Military Hospital Tubercular Institute Denver Colorado with Tubercularizes. John was hospitalized in Denver from 1949 until 1953.

During the Vietnam War, John served two tours with the Army Corp of Engineers 69th Construction Battalion.

By the end of this war, John had lost one lung, vision in one eye, and his hearing. He spent his last Military days on assignment at the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville Alabama.

During his Military Career Command Sergeant Major John A Brown served with the following units.

BTRY 34th AAA Brigade 30th Tank, 1st Battalion 72nd Armor Division 2nd Infantry Division 3rd Army received GCMDL 6th award, HHS 2nd Battalion 10th Artillery 3rd US Army w/ ACM (3 awards) GCM (8 awards) NDSM (2 awards) VSM, AN, CIB, BSM. 7th Calvary Ft. Benning Georgia 2nd Armor Division.

35th Armor Division, 1st Air Calvary 69th Construction Engineer Battalion Army Corps of Engineers, Vietnam. 2 Tours Command Sergeant Major John A Brown went back to Vietnam the second time in 1970.

Served In the highlands around Peakieu and An Khor with the 4th Infantry Division.

Helped to send the colors (Division) back to Ft Lewis Washington Re-assigned to Can Tho south of Saigon in the Delta.”

Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama.

Retired Honorable Discharge Huntsville

Alabama 1974 Command Sergeant Major John A Brown had a very distinguished Military career and was the Recipient of 25 Medals and Honor Bars.

Bronze Stars (4) Silver Stars (2) Meritor Service Medal Air Metal Army Commendation Medal Good Conduct Medal American Campaign Medal Europe-Afro-Middle Eastern Commendation Medal World War II Victory Medal Army of Occupation Medal American Defense Service Medal National Defense Medal United Nations Medal Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal United Nations Service Medal Korean Service Medal United Nations Campaign Medal Presidential Unit Citation Bar United Nations Cross of Palms for Valor Bar Moratorium Unit Citation Bar Valorous Unit Award Bar Author: James [Presley] Boswell

Veterans Magazine

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JD

PARRISH

JD Parrish was born June 28th 1919, the son of W. O. and Cora Parrish on the Carter Farm in Straughn, Alabama. He was raised on various farms in Jay Florida and South Alabama. He attended school in Straughn and Jay, Florida. He Joined the Navy at age 23, April 1942. During World War II, he served in the North Atlantic aboard Submarine destroyers. He also served on other Navy vessels and destroyers during his Military career. JD Parrish served during World War II, The Korean War, and into the Vietnam War. J. D. was honorably discharged at Paris Island South Carolina in 1967 after a service to our country of 25 years. J. D.

Parrish passed at the Alabama Veterans Home in Bay Minette Alabama June 2nd 2012 and is buried at the Andalusia Memorial Cemetery Andalusia Alabama.

JD Parrish was married to Wilma Boyce of Oklahoma. He and Wilma had one child Sandy Parrish of Tulsa Oklahoma.

J. D. Parrish served during three American wars.

World War II Korean War Vietnam War During His Military Career Hospital Corpsman Chief Petty Officer was the recipient of: 5 Medals and Honors.

Bronze Star American Campaign Medal European Afro-Middle Eastern Commendation Medal World War II Victory Medal National Defense Medal Author :James [Presley] Boswell

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8 Veterans Magazine

THOMAS L.

RODGERS

By John Vick

Thomas L [Lloyd] Rodgers WW II veteran [Carolina community] The following note was found in the diary of a German officer who fought against the US 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment at Anzio: “American parachutists – devils in baggy pants – are less than one hundred meters From my outpost line. I can’t sleep at night. They pop up from nowhere and we never know when or how they strike next. Seems like the black hearted devils are everywhere……” ot many veterans have a whole chapter of a book devoted to their actions in WWII. If that’s not enough, the book was made into a movie, “Those Devils in Baggy Pants”, by Ross S Carter.

Pfc. Thomas L Rodgers, from the Carolina community in Covington county , was a soldier taking part in the Normandy invasion on June 6, 1944.

Rodgers was killed after parachuting into Belgium near the town of St. Mere Eglise.

This story is about the heroic actions of “Big Rodgers” , the affectionate nickname given Thomas L Rodgers by his fellow paratroopers in “C” Company [1st Battalion] of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the legendary 82nd Airborne Division.

The story of “Big Rodgers” began April 5, 1921, when Mr. and Mrs. Evans Rodgers of the Carolina community became the parents of a son that they named Thomas L Rodgers. Lloyd, as he was called, grew up in the area and attended Pleasant Home School. He was a star basketball player, and later on in the service, would become a Golden Gloves boxing champion. He was called into service on Nov 25, 1940 when he joined the Alabama National Guard. Like so many others of the 117th Field Artillery unit in Andalusia, Al., Lloyd trained at Camp Blanding in Florida and took part in maneuvers at Camp Bowie, Tx. After that,

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Rodgers was selected for Airborne training at Ft. Benning, Ga. He did advanced training at Ft. Bragg, NC. and upon completion, received his parachute wings and was assigned to Company “C” of the 504th Parachute Regiment.

The 504th was sent to the Mediterranean theater to take part in the invasion of Sicily in 1943. Rodgers’ first jump would take place over Sicily. One of his fellow paratroopers remembered Lloyd reading from his pocket Bible right before the jump.

As the 504th continued with the Army’s invasion of the Italian mainland, Rodgers would make night jumps at Salerno, Cassino and Anzio, usually behind the lines. Rodgers and his fellow troopers continued fighting up through the mountainous regions of Italy to the north.

At some point after months of fighting the retreating Germans, the 504th was sent to England for rest. The rumors were going around about a future invasion of Europe.

A call was sent out for volunteers among the paratroopers. One of Rodgers fellow troopers, David R Berry said this, “Thomas L. Rodgers was an exceptional soldier. In an Army where the phrase ‘Never volunteer for anything’ was common, he seemed to volunteer for everything”.

Lloyd Rodgers and 24 of his fellow paratroopers volunteered. Ross S. Carter, the author of the book mentioned above and one of Rodgers comrades said, “We gravely shook hands, a gnawing anxiety in our gizzards. ‘Big Rodgers’ was a staunch pillar of our platoon, both morally and physically. When on outpost duty with him, I always had the feeling that things were well in hand”.

Rodgers and his fellow volunteers were placed into a Pathfinder unit that would supply security for the 507th and 508th regiments that were to be dropped behind

the lines on D Day. At 0100 on the morning of June 6, 1944, Rodgers and the other Pathfinders were dropped behind the German lines, inland from Normandy. Through some unfortunate timing error, they were dropped right on top of a German garrison, holed up in a farm house. Rodgers managed to escape for a short time but eventually found himself in a terrible fight.

There are different dates give as to Lloyd Rodgers death. Some account say it was on D Day, June 6. Other accounts list June 18. The important thing is “what happened before Rodgers died”. His actions during that time made him a legend among the Pathfinders and the 82nd Airborne.

When Rodgers jumped, he carried with him, a sawed off Browning Automatic Rifle, or BAR as it was called. Quoting from Ross Carter in his book, “Those Devils in Baggy Pants” : in the battle near St. Mere Eglise, “Big Rodgers” killed 40 Germans with a sawed off BAR before he went west”.

Again quoting Ross Carter, “Before Big Rodgers left us in England for his jump, I told him, Be careful T. L. He hesitated as was his custom before answering : ‘I’ll be as careful as I can, Ross, but I may not be careful enough this time’. Then he left.

That evening we drank several bottles of ale and we toasted Big Rodgers on every bottle.”

Carter continued, “I feared the worst for Big Rodgers and our other buddies. My fears were justified. Of the 25 who vol-

9 Veterans Magazine unteered, 17 were killed including Big Rodgers.”

For his heroic actions in battle, Thomas Lloyd Rodgers was awarded our nations’ second honor, The Distinguished Service Cross. The citation reads: CITATION FOR THE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSS [Posthumous] Private First Class THOMAS L RODGERS, 20421704, Infantry, United States Army For extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an enemy of the United States. Having jumped into Normandy in the vicinity of AMFREVILLE, FRANCE on June 6, 1944, Private First Class Rodgers, observing many of his comrades pinned down by enemy machine gun and small arms fire, moved without hesitation to destroy the enemy. Mounting a stone wall, in full view of the enemy, he neutralized the machine gun position and proceeded forward, driving back the enemy with effective fire from his Browning Automatic Rifle. During

this action, Private First Class Rodgers killed or wounded 25 of the enemy and made possible the organization and advance of our troops in the area. His personal courage, aggressive leadership and courageous inspiration contributed materially to the success of his comrades and typified the highest traditions of the service. Private First Class Rodgers was later killed in action against the enemy.

Entered military service from Alabama.

Quoting further from Carter’s book, “The news of T L’s passing rolled gloom throughout the platoon thicker than London fog. At the same time, we felt the elevation of spirit that comes with the confirmation of trust well placed. The giant had given a good account of himself.”

And later, “After Big Rodgers’ death, a package arrived from his mother.

Among its contents were several pairs of fine woolen socks. We distributed them among us and reserved them to wear only in battle. When we wore the socks, we had the feeling that Big Rodgers

was with us in body as well as in spirit and could participate personally in his revenge.”

The legend of Rodgers’ socks continued throughout every battle fought by the 504th. In time they became a good luck omen, with the belief that anyone wearing those socks would return safely from battle.

Rodgers was also awarded the Bronze Star for his actions. The family of Rodgers was devastated by his loss. Making matters worse, the family also had three other sons serving in the Navy throughout the remainder of the war. They were John Thomas Evans Jr., Kenneth and Burton.

Lloyd Rodgers was temporarily buried in France, but eventually the family was able to have his body returned home and he was buried at the Carolina Baptist Church Cemetery.

In addition to the Distinguished Service Cross, Rodgers was awarded a Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.

BYRON NICHOLS

Byron Nichols enlisted in the Navy in 1943 and upon completion of basic training, reported to the USS Solomons [CVE 67]. Solomons was an escort carrier built by Kaiser Shipbuilders in Vancouver, WA. Byron and his shipmates serving on these type ships, referred to them as "Kaiser's Coffins", because they were built on Victory ship hulls, with very little armor and almost no water tight protection. Most of Byron's time aboard the Solomons was spent in the S. Atlantic, searching for U Boats.

At the end of WWII, Byron was discharged but after his brother was killed

in Korea, he enlisted in the Army. After training in Army Intelligence, Byron became an intelligence officer.

He spent over a year in Viet Nam, serving in G2, Army Intelligence.

He operated mostly in the Highlands of Viet Nam, working with the local tribesmen called Montagnards.

He learned Vietnamese, but said the local dialects of the Montagnards always gave him trouble.

His work with the Montagnards brought him very close to those loyal fighters.

One Chief took such a liking to Byron that he offered him one of his 20

wives. After much diplomatic conversation, Byron was able to decline the offer gracefully. For his work with G2, Nichols received the Bronze Star. He retired as a Major.

Byron married Betty Smith in 1998 .

The lived in Andalusia until 2018. They currently live in Enterprise.

10 Veterans Magazine

EDDIE

E

GREEN

By Sue Bass Wilson

ddie Green, born July 17, 1945, grew up in Andalusia on North Cotton Street when it was a dirt street before there was a by-pass. He was graduated from Woodson High School in the Class of 1966. In high school, he participated in football, baseball, basketball, and track. James C. Hall was his coach.

The war with Vietnam was going on at the time so he decided to join the Army in the “Buddy System” with Ronnie Pickens who he had known since childhood. Green’s thinking at the time was, “The only way to keep it (war) over there and not get it here to North Cotton Street was to GO TO IT!” He was off to training at Fort Benning, GA on Labor Day of ’66. He was later sent to For Polk, LA for Advanced Infantry training then returned to Fort Benning for Jump School, Jungle Survival, Rifle Range, and Ranger training. That training lasted about a year. He never saw his “buddy” after their initial training since they were stationed at different bases.

PFC Green was sent with the 9th Infantry to the Mekong Delta where he became a dog handler on patrol. He was one of about seven dog handlers and worked with the 9th, the Marines, and the Navy Seals. In Vietnam, Green was part of the Tet Offensive in a number of major battles including beach landings (a.m. & p. m.) from the USS Enterprise in the Coronado 9 Offensives. He was involved to a great extent in teaching some of the younger guys that arrived about going on missions. “They were scared and would shoot at anything that moved.” Green recalled. He remembers telling them over and over, “Let’s go! I wouldn’t tell them how to do it. I would do it with them.” Green’s missions consisted of 3 weeks of duty then maybe 3 days off to get ready for the next mission. He never took advantage of R & R in Thailand or elsewhere.

After about 10 months, on one particular mission, his group came into an L shaped ambush where his dog had just picked up a scent. He was injured in an indescribable blast where he saw red and green traces in the air as he fell backwards in stagnant water. He experienced an out-of-body experience where he was 300 to 500 feet in the air viewing his body below silhouetted in green. Medics came along, and Green heard someone say, “Look, that one is moving.” He was taken to LongVin in the MeKong Delta where the 9th Infantry Division had their headquarters and a large hospital. Then he was transferred to Japan for 4 or 5 months before being moved to Walter Reed in D. C. where his open wounds were packed daily and finally stapled up after suffering infection from the stagnant water. He was told by the doctors that he had been hit 29 times with shrapnel and AK 47. His legs, knees, arms, back, and head were injured resulting in a plate being put in his head.

When asked about the other soldiers that were in his mission, he has no idea to this day what happened to them although he was told that his dog got killed. He states that “the Vietcong swirled around them that day in waves like ‘Roll Tide Roll’ waves!” (He is a big Tide fan!) To this very day, he does not remember his family visiting him at Walter Reed Army Hospital, but he has been told that his mother, sister, and brothers all came to see him. He does, however, remember seeing former President Dwight Eisenhower being in Room #1.

After being hospitalized for 14 to 15 months, he finally was released on crutches and found out that he had 8 to 9 months left to serve so he volunteered for another war zone where his intention was to “kick some more butts in Korea!”

He was sent with the 249th Battalion to Fort Hood, Texas for training.

His job in Korea was with the DMZ Police where he traveled at night in a jeep along that area to keep every soldier awake all night while they were on duty. Men were stationed about 5 yards apart. Part of his job was to travel back and forth across the Imjin River with a driver to Seoul to get payroll for the soldiers stationed along the DMZ. When they returned, his job would resume at night in his perimeter section. That job was for about 6 months before he was finally sent stateside to Fort Louis, Washington for ETS (Enlisted Time Served).

Green was soon flown back to Alabama. He remembers the pilot pointing out sights of interest all along the way such as flying over the “Little Big Horn” where Custer fought the Indians. In addition to receiving a lot of certificate awards, he received two Purple Heart awards, one for being shot in the hand in Vietnam and the second one for his major injuries.

Sgt. Green continues to be a part of a “Head Injury study” by the Army, and he has traveled several times every 10 years to Walter Reed and Bethesda. Upon his return to his hometown in August 1969, he married his high school sweetheart, Vernice, who passed away a couple of years ago. They were married for over 50 years and were parents of 4 boys and 3 girls, one boy dying in infancy.

Green did not waste any time in getting a job as a lineman with Power South where he retired after 33 years.

He eventually bought a farm at Antioch near his friend Jackie Crittenden where he and his wife enjoyed their garden for many years.

At age 74, Green, a walking miracle, is as full of energy and enthusiasm as he was at age 18. He thanks God for giving him motivation to work and get a good job. He remembers coaching “flag football” to young Andalusia boys and hopes they remember his words of wisdom, “Look sharp, be sharp!” And he

11 Veterans Magazine still is!

This writer is grateful that this veteran was spotted in the post office wearing his Vietnam Veteran cap, and he was quick to agree to be interviewed by a Covington Veterans Foundation member.

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When asked if he had seen the recent Ken Burns PBS documentary, “The Vietnam War,” Green stated, “Oh, no, I couldn’t ever watch that!”

SO

ue Bass Wilson ctober 16, 2019 interview

JIMMY VICK

immy Vick, a 1966 Andalusia High School graduate, joined the US Navy in August 1966 and was based at San Diego, California. Upon completion of basic training, he was assigned to the USS Henrico (APA45). The Henrico was a ship of the Amphibious Force transporting Marines to Danang, Hue, and Chu Lai. After 25 years, the Henrico’s Naval services ended February 1968.

While serving aboard the USS Henrico, Vick wrote a poem that was published in the “Stars and Strips” magazine.

“America Soldier" Tonight the guns firing As flares shine brightly overhead, Many a soldier will make it through somehow And some will be lying dead.

This is the place of no man’s land Where peace is never calm.

Danger lurks in every shadow Yes, this is Viet Nam.

Sometimes your heart will forget the noise, Suddenly you’re all alone In the arms of the girl you love With your folks back home.

But as you think of Mom and Dad Your girl and all the rest; A bullet has ended all your thoughts And pain grows deep in your chest.

O’Lord help me now at this time Not to break down and cry, Please don’t tell Mom and Dad That I wasn’t brave enough to die!

A

fter serving on the Henrico, Vick was stationed aboard YR-9, a barge in Vinh Long, Vietnam, in February 1968 that delivered supplies and fuel and repaired boats from the Riverene force. The YR-9 barge’s primary job focused on over all support of three military corps in Vietnam. They were in daily contact with enemy on waterways off the coast and within the Mekong Delta as part of Navy opera-

tions called “Market Time” and “Game Warden.”

YR-9’s squadrons consisted of various small boats that patrolled waterways to prevent and destroy Vietcong infiltration.

Jimmy was awarded the National Defense Service Metal, Vietnam Service Metal, Vietnam Campaign Metal and Good Conduct Metal His last assignment, before being discharged, was aboard the USS Lexington (CVT-16) an aircraft carrier whose home port was Pensacola, Florida. The Lexington was used to train Naval aviators to land on aircraft carriers.

Jimmy left the Navy with a rank of Machinist Mate 3rd class (MM3) on September 8, 1970. ■

12 Veterans Magazine

HUBERT T.

SULLIVAN

H

ubert T. Sullivan WWII veteran Opp and Covington County lost another member of The Greatest Generation with the death of Hubert Sullivan in Sep 2018.

Hubert was born in 1914, near Castleberry in Conecuh County, to Clifton and Essie Sullivan. He graduated from Conecuh County High School in 1943 and was drafted into the Army two months later. He trained at Camp Blanding, FL and Camp McCoy, Wisconsin before taking part in what was called the Tennessee maneuvers, near Nashville in the winter of 1944.

After that, he sailed for Europe aboard the HMS Large Bay, a British troop carrier. They landed near Liverpool, England in July 1944. A month later, his unit, the 251st Combat Engineers, was outfitted for battle and shipped to France where they joined the battlefront.

At 19 years of age, Hubert found himself climbing down a rope ladder from his transport ship, onto a floating dock at Omaha Beach near Normandy, two months after D Day. Sullivan, along with the other combat engineers in his battalion, helped liberate France and proceeded to fight on through Belgium, Holland and into Germany.

They worked to clear mines and build roads and bridges. Sullivan recalled that their first river crossing was over the Roer River in Feb. 1945. The Germans had blown the bridges and flooded the Roer River upstream. The operation

was called Operation Grenade and took place right after the Battle of the Bulge, which had started in Dec. 1944. Sullivan’s battalion had been assigned to the 9th US Army, commanded

by Gen. Alan Simpson and was attached to British Gen. Bernard Montgomery’s command during the Battle of the Bulge.

Sullivan said, “We lost our first man during the Roer River Crossing. We were under heavy mortar attack and I became a champion foxhole digger”.

While constructing a pontoon bridge across the Roer, Sullivan’s group was strafed by a German jet plane, the first one he had ever seen. “We were crossing near Linnich, Geremany when the jet came in low, strafing us in an attempt to halt our advance”. The attempt failed and the 251st continued on into Germany. They were in the area of Magdeburg, near the Elbe River when Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945. After that, the 251st was sent back to Rheims, France where they constructed a tent city called Camp Lucky Strike that was used to house troops being sent home or to the Pacific Theater.

Without enough “points” to return home, Sullivan was sent to England where he attended the Northern polytechnic Institute near London for a few months. After that, he returned to France where he joined the 371st Construction Battalion and was dis-

charged in Mar. 1946.

Hubert Sullivan married his high school sweetheart, Evelyn Pate, in Aug. 1947. He attended the University of Alabama Center near Mobile for two years, with the help of the GI Bill. He transferred to the Tuscaloosa campus and received his BS degree in 1949, and then his Master's degree in 1950.

He served as assistant principal in Anniston from 1950-55, before moving to Opp to serve as principal for 4 years.

Hubert joined the Opp & Micolas Mills and worked there until he retired in 1992. After that he served as the founding President of the Opp-Micolas Educational Foundation, helping award scholarships to over 1,562 students between 1969 and 2007. Evelyn died in 1986, after a long battle with cancer. He later married Rebecca Sullivan [no relation], who survived him after his death in 2018.

John Vick [author’s note: Sullivan’s material is taken from “All of Us Fought the War – the University of Alabama and Its Men and Women in WWII”,

by Delbert Reed

13 Veterans Magazine

TODD

HATTAWAY

CVF column honoring Lance Corporal Jeffrey Todd Hattaway, USMC [Dec 7, 1961-Dec 4, 1983] ou can sense a mother’s pride when Jane Graddy talks about her son, Todd. This Dec 4 will mark 36 years since Jane experienced the news that no Mother wants to hear – that her son, Lance Corporal Jeffrey Todd Hattaway USMC, had died in the service of his country. Todd and 7 of his fellow Marines were killed in a mortar attack on Dec. 4, 1983 while deployed to Beirut, Lebanon. That is how Jane became a Gold Star Mother, an honored title but one to which no Mother wants to aspire.

The Marines had only been in Lebanon for about 2 weeks. Their arrival there had been delayed suddenly when they were sent to Grenada as part of Operation Urgent Fury, which lasted about a month from Oct 23 to Nov 21. That operation was triggered by the execution of the Grenadian Prime Minister and the seizure of the government by Marxist forces.

Pres. Reagan had ordered US forces to Grenada when US citizens were taken hostage and many US Medical School students were thought to be in danger.

After leaving Grenada, Todd arrived in Lebanon with the 1st Platoon, Golf Company, Battalion 2-8. They were deployed near the Beirut Airport and on the night of Dec 4, they were off duty, resting in a bunker. Suddenly, they heard firing from an attack on a nearby building where 4 other Marines were holed up in a sandbagged building that housed a bakery.

Todd and his buddies left the safety of their bunker and went to help their fellow Marines.

Todd’s Battalion Commander, Lt. Col Ray Smith was quoted in USA Today, “Good men moved out of protective bunkers and into a fighting position. They felt it was the thing to do and I don’t fault ‘em. I wish now they hadn’t.”

About 15 minutes into the fight, a

Y

120mmn mortar round hit the top of the building, killing Todd and 7 other Marines, including 2 from the original 4 who were there. Among the 8 killed was another Alabamian, Corporal Shannon Biddle of Valley Head.

Todd’s Mom, Jane and her husband Frank Graddy, were living between Brooklyn and Castleberry at this time.

Jane says she remembers suddenly being awakened from a deep sleep on Saturday night by what she thought was a loud explosion. She realized that it must have been a dream but she felt bothered by it all day Sunday. On Monday, she went to work at her usual job at The Commercial Bank. That afternoon, she was working the drive through when she saw 2 Marines walking toward her. Jane dropped a deposit on the floor. She was ushered into Tobe Lord’s office and given the details of Todd’s death.

A few days later, the Graddys were notified that Todd, along with his 7 Marine platoon mates and a downed Navy Pilot, were all being returned to Dover AFB for a special service before being released to their families for burial.

The Graddys received another call from the office of Gov. George Wallace offering the use of the state plane to fly them to Dover AFB. On Friday the 9th of December, the Governor’s jet picked up the Graddys and Todd’s brother, Tim at the Andalusia Regional Airport, flew to Birmingham to pick up Todd’s Father, Tracy and his wife, along with Todd’s wife, Renee and landed at Dover AFB. The next day, there was a sunrise service held in a large white hangar, with a Navy Chaplain eulogizing the men. Navy Admiral David Harlow called the fallen men “today’s patriots, today’s heroes, who died serving their country for peace in the world”.

Later, Todd’s body was flown to Birmingham where a service was held.

After that, Foreman’s Funeral Home

brought Todd back to Andalusia.

Governor Wallace had ordered all state flags flown at half mast through Dec. 17th. Andalusia Mayor Ben Williams had done the same for all city flags At 2:00pm on Tuesday, Dec. 13, a graveside service with full military honors, was held at Andalusia Memorial Cemetery for Lance Corporal Todd Hattaway.

There are 2 memorials that honor Hattaway and his fallen brothers. One is located outside the gate of the Marine Corps Combat Service Support School, Camp Johnson, North Carolina.

It was built through donations and was dedicated on Oct 23, 1986. A statue was added and the memorial wall was engraved with 273 names of those service members who died in Beirut. It was dedicated Oct 22, 1988. . The plaque there reads: They came in Peace America is a nation that has, for all its history, looked to the future to creating a better life for our children and our Grandchildren. While we pause today to remember the sacrifices of these who died, we also are united in our resolve to ensure that future generations inherit a world free of the deadly threat of terrorism.

-Vincent M. Battle -U S Ambassador to Lebanon The 2nd Memorial is located in Awak, Lebanon.

In April of 2007, Todd Hattaway was further honored by his hometown.

14 Veterans Magazine Andalusia Police officer Steve McGowin, himself a Marine, presented the local radio station with an American flag in honor of Lcpl. Todd Hattaway. It had flown atop the Beirut Memorial in North Carolina. Lee Williams, the owner of WAAO at the time, found out that there

was a flagpole atop the old FNB building when he was installing a TV camera there.

He then learned that FNB owner Jeff McClure’s local representative, Donna Taylor was looking for a historical flag to go on top of the building. Things worked out and the flag was placed atop the FNB

in honor of Hattaway and dedicated on April 121, 2007.

In honor of Lcpl. Jeffrey Todd Hattaway USMC [Dec 7, 1961 – Dec 4, 1983]. Semper Fidelis

WILSON B

SAULS

By LTC Jim Lawrence, USAF [Ret].

orn into a farm family in Rose Hill in 1919, Wilson Merrill Sauls did his share of farm chores to include picking velvet beans, stripping cane, and dragging a cotton sack between rows on hot and humid South Alabama days.

He eventually, in 1939, joined the National Guard, Field Artillery in Andalusia. He first was a “wireman,” rolling out lengths of spooled wire critical to military communications.

After his unit was mobilized as Regulars in 1940, and a lot of training in Florida, Mississippi, and Louisiana, Merrill, in 1943, looked for more excitement as a paratrooper operating .50 caliber machine guns.

Entering France at Le Havre in 1944, he was part of the 464th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion that became attached to the 17th Airborne Division. His first taste of combat came 24 March, 1945, during Operation Varsity when a sky train of 226 C-47s and 72 C-46s with 906 glid-

ers towed by 610 C-47 tow planes airdropped more than 17,000 paratroopers near Wesel, Germany, just east of the Rhine River.

This was a historic event, as it was the first artillery airborne unit to land, reassemble and fire their howitzers east of the Rhine.

Field Marshall Montgomery, Prime Minister Churchill, and Generals Eisenhower, Ridgeway and Brereton were on the West Bank observing this all-day procession of aircraft involved in the drops. Merrill only had three hand grenades, C-rations, a carbine, a small map, a compass, and a great amount of courage that day. After landing, he crawled to set up a machine gun and participated in the killing of hundreds and capturing of 2,873 enemies that first day.

Gen. Patton’s tanks crossed the Rhine and raced eastward, but on Day 3 Merrill was shot in the lower back. He hid out in a horse feed trough until friendly help

eventually arrived, and he was flown back to France for treatment before later going back into action.

After Germany’s surrender, he performed Jeep patrol duty, before his battalion ended up in Munich and received orders for the Pacific Theater. Those orders were cancelled upon Japan’s surrender.

Merrill, after the war, initially worked as a mechanic in Rose Hill, then later worked 24 years for the U.S. Postal Service. He married Correne Cain, a school teacher from the Beulah Community near Opp. They moved to Wilmington, Delaware, where she taught school for several years, before eventually moving back to Opp and building a home on W. Gunter Avenue where they lived until their passing.

■

15 Veterans Magazine

HAROLD

WISE

H

arold Wise had no idea what he was getting himself into.

Neither did the American people living along our coastlines.

In the 1940’s, World War II seemed distant to both; the danger far away across two oceans. Even now, when you go to Destin or Jacksonville, Florida, and look out over the water, you can’t imagine either the Gulf or the Atlantic ever being scarred by war—but they were.

National Geographic said more than 20 German submarines roamed the Gulf of Mexico during WWII. The American people weren’t told of the danger “for fear of spreading panic.”

Harold Wise definitely didn’t know.

Born in 1925 in Alabama, Wise received a letter from President Roosevelt in 1943 that read, “Greetings.”

It then told Wise where to report. He’d been drafted.

Wise was 18 at the time, but the letter surprised him. “Farmers had been exempt,” he said.

Wise grew up a sharecropper’s son, picking cotton during the Depression.

His family lived for 13 years just south of Opp, Alabama, with nothing but a mule and a wagon. They worked another man’s land, exchanging part of their crop for seed, tools, food, and a place to live.

As a result of Roosevelt’s greeting, Wise joined 227 men who were loaded onto two buses at Opp and sent to Fort McClellan in Northern Alabama for a medical exam.

“We were mostly farmers,” he said, “And some idiots who didn’t know their names. They were rejected pretty quickly.”

After the exam, those who’d passed were told to go home and not marry because they could be called up at any time. In 1944, Wise decided not to wait.

He traveled with a buddy to Mobile, Alabama, and joined the Merchant Marine.

Wise would find out only later that he’d chosen the most deadly job in the war. He explained that the Germans were determined to keep fuel and equipment from reaching Great Britain and later Russia. National Geographic reported that enemy subs in the Gulf were taking out ships “like a turkey shoot.” Apparently, light from nearby towns would silhouette the ships making their efforts easy. In fact, in 1942, just 25 miles off the coast of Louisiana, the enemy sunk a Navy ship. More than 70 ships and tankers would be lost to the Germans in the Gulf.

But the Atlantic side was far worse.

The Washington Post quotes author Ed Offley who claims German subs “rampaged…the East Coast sinking 226 Allied merchant ships.”

Those terrible casualties were kept a secret until after the war. According to the Smithsonian, the Merchant Marine had the highest casualty rate of the war, mostly in 1942 when ships sailed without protection.

Wise first trained at St. Petersburg, Florida, and remembers the day he was flown from Miami to the Panama Canal for his first trip to the South Pacific.

“April 12, 1945,” he said. “It was the day Roosevelt died.”

Obviously, avoiding detection was the name of the game for the Merchant tankers. The sharecropper’s son soon found himself headed toward the equator.

“We had to travel down there to avoid enemy subs,” he said. Then, once they reached the South Pacific, they’d move in a slow zig-zag formation also to avoid being found by subs.

Wise made two trips across 6,000 miles of ocean. He traveled through the

Panama Canal five times. It wasn’t until after World War II that the Merchant Marine retroactively became a full branch of the military. Wise spoke of Eisenhower, who said if it hadn’t been for those who risked their lives to supply the fuel and tanks, the war would never have been won.

After hostilities ceased, Wise returned home and spotted a girl in his church.

They’ve now been married over 70 years. He taught Sunday school and served as a deacon for 40 years at Bethel Baptist near Kinston. His favorite verse: “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Psalm 122:1 The son of a sharecropper was also elected to the Alabama state legislature and as a Geneva County probate judge.

Did the war change him?

“It made me grateful,” Wise said. “I saw a lot that I didn’t know was in the world—the way other people live. I feel lucky to be reared a Christian and to be living in the United States.”

This weekend we celebrate the Fourth with cookouts, baseball, and fireworks.

Hopefully, we’ll also remember wars fought and the flag that stood amidst the “rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air.”

We’re the land of the free because of the brave.Salute a veteran or service member. Do it today.

Copyright © 2019 R.A. Mathews The Rev. Mathews is an attorney, faith columnist, and the author of “Reaching to God.” She can be reached at letters@ RAMathews.com.

16 Veterans Magazine

WILLIAM

ROBINSON W

hite Easter lilies grow in William Robinson’s yard in Covington County, Alabama.

At age “90 and a half,” as he calls it, Robinson is a veteran of the Korean War. “There aren’t a lot of those guys still around,” Army Col. (ret.) Buddy Pyron said. And at such a dangerous moment in history, this seasoned veteran has a message about war.

Robinson almost missed South Korea.

“In 1950, I was shot by a dog,” he said.

It was a hunting accident. The dog fell against a gun, kicking off the safety and activating the trigger. The bullet took out Robinson’s spleen and half of his liver.

At his first army medical, the doctor sent him home. Six months later, a second army doctor had a different opinion.

“If you can survive that, you’re in great shape!”

So in 1951 Robinson headed to Fort Bliss in Texas for basic training.

How did he get to South Korea?

“We were transported by train to Seattle, Washington, where we boarded a ship to Japan.” Once there, he boarded another ship to South Korea.

Robinson’s first impression of the country was painful—little children begging for food.

“You couldn’t turn them down,” he said. “We threw them c-rations and those hungry youngins fought one another for them.”

Robinson was then stationed on a small mountain at Kimpo Airfield for 16 months. His first assignment was to stand guard. On one dark, rainy night he heard the enemy coming.

“I had a gun that held 30 rounds and it could unload all those bullets at once. So I clicked off the safety. That’s when I heard the yelling. It was my sergeant, not the enemy. He’d heard that safety click and

knew he was in trouble!”

His eyes flashed with pride as he spoke of moving up from ammo carrier to eventually being in charge of one of the four massive 90 mm anti-aircraft guns placed at each corner of the airfield. This artillery targeted high-flying planes, and it took a platoon to run each one—16 men.

The soldiers slept in a building right beside their gun and were on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So William Robinson and his gun became one.

“I’d stay on the phone by the gun when we were under attack,” Robinson said. “A big computer in a trailer told us how to hit the planes and the commander would tell me, ‘Commence firing’ and I’d tell the gunner, who would pull a lever on the right side of the gun. You couldn’t stand behind it because of the recoil.”

How did Robinson know when to stop?

“We’d keep shooting until I got word over the phone: ‘Cease firing.’”

It’s Robinson who would have given the final order to gun down the famous North Korean pilot No Kum Sok who defected in 1953, landing his MiG-15 on Robinson’s airfield. However, by all accounts, the radar was down that morning for repair and no one saw him coming in.

Robinson’s older brother was in World War II. Did the brothers ever compare experiences?

“We never talked about it,” he said.

“A lot of things you can’t stand to think about.”

It’s no secret that war changes service men and women. Many come home bitter and some lose their minds. What’s Robinson’s wish for his enemy as North and South Korea attempt to reconcile?

“They’re humans like us.” he said.

“They have to learn to get along.”

His voice held no hint of anger. In fact, he said, “When I was in Korea, I’d ask God to bless our soldiers and to bless the

South Koreans and the North Koreans.

Was he serious? He’d asked God to bless the enemy?

It sounds unthinkable until you recall the words of Jesus: “Love your enemies, bless those that curse you.” (Matthew 5:44) The Easter lily—heartier, but similar to the peace lily—is the Irish memorial flower for those who lost their lives in a 1916 fight with Great Britain. The idea of a memorial flower is good and choosing a hearty kin to the peace lily is ideal. Why? Memorial Day honors those in the military who died while in service to our country. Veterans’ Day honors all who served. It’s because of their sacrifice that days like Memorial Day and Veterans’ Day should be times to pray for peace with our enemies.

Prayer brings God into enemy love, and God is essential because loving an enemy is troubling. You and I can come up with a dozen reasons to hate a foe until we remember what Jesus did.

Jesus isn’t asking us to act apart from Him—we can do this terribly difficult thing, this enemy love, because of Jesus.

From the cross He says, “Father forgive them...”

It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t fight.

There are battles to be won. But Jesus said to know the things that make for peace—understanding, forgiveness, love, and prayer. As William Robinson said, ask God to bless the enemy.

Remember the white Easter lilies that grow in his yard.

Copyright © 2019 R.A. Mathews. The Rev. Mathews is an attorney, faith columnist and the author of “Reaching to God.” She can be reached at Letters@ RAMathews.com

17 Veterans Magazine

ERIC

RUSSELL

Eric Ernest Russell, Sr. was born in Troy, Alabama on August 9, 1907.

Eric was reared on the family farm in Red Level, and at the age of nineteen he started a 60 year career with Count Darling Chevrolet Company.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, thirty-five year old Eric enlisted in the United States Army. He completed basic training at Camp Chaffee in Arkansas and then trained at Fort Hood, Texas.

He was then deployed to England to prepare for the D-Day invasion of France.

As a member of the 86th Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Eric was assigned to General Patton’s 6th Armored Division. His battalion landed in France on June 8, 1944 and started the march toward Germany. Eric had an important but dangerous assignment in recon as he scouted the enemy position by slipping behind the lines. He gathered information about the numbers of troops, tanks, and location.

Although Eric joked about being “the old guy,” his experience, wisdom, and leadership skills enabled him to rise to the rank of sergeant. Eric’s division fought through the Ardennes Forest and then engaged more enemy troops

at Bastogne to free the airborne American troops surrounded by the German soldiers. At the conclusion of the Battle of the Bulge, Patton’s Sixth Armored Division continued the push toward Germany.

Eric served in the Army for almost four years and was awarded three Purple Hearts. He survived wounds from a German machine gun, a German soldier with a rifle, and a Jeep explosion. Eric returned to battle after the first two injuries, but the third wound was severe. It happened when he was driving a Jeep to deliver supplies to troops stranded on a hillside. Eric’s Jeep was blown apart by a German 88 shell. He was transferred to a medical aid station and then transported by ship to an Army hospital in New York City. He was awarded a Bronze Star for Valor and was discharged from the Army on September 25, 1945. Eric returned to Andalusia and resumed his career at Count Darling Chevrolet ( later became Radcliff Chevrolet). He awaited the return of his future bride Rebecca Darling. Rebecca was studying at Columbia University in New York City when World War ll broke out. She

joined the Red Cross, and after training in Asheville, N.C. and Washington D.C., she was mobilized to Mourmelon, France where she lived in a tent in the snow and served the wounded soldiers in the General Hospital in Mourmelon.

She was still in France on V.E. Day on May 8, 1945, and did not return to Alabama until January of 1946. Eric and Rebecca Darling were married shortly after her return. They were proud to serve their country and were patriotic Americans—truly members of the Greatest Generation. Rebecca and Eric had three children Marjorie Darling Russell Rankin, Amy Russell Spurlin, and Eric Ernest Russell, Jr.

18 Veterans Magazine

GARNEL CROSS

MCKATHAN

Garnel Cross McKathan was born on March 21, 1926 to James Thomas & Leila Cross McKathan. He was the oldest of six children and attended Pleasant Home School. He enrolled in the US Navy on March 20, 1944, one day prior to his 18th birthday. He was assigned to and boarded the USS Savo Island in San Diego, CA just under two months late. Garnel was a Ship’s Service Man assigned to the laundry division. He would serve in this capacity though out his time aboard the ship.

The USS Savo Island (CVE 78) was a Casablanca class escort carrier containing approximately 910 men and 28 aircraft.

The ships main duties consisted of preinvasion strafing by her planes, direct support for ground troops and patrol missions. The ships first combat assignment was to provide air support to the landings on Peleliu.

On October 25, 1944, the ship was involved in what would later be called the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The battle was the result of a surprise attack by an overwhelming Japanese force on a seemingly

inferior American force. While the USS Savo Island did not bear the brunt of this attack, the ship did experience shelling for about 30 minutes. The ship was able to launch six air attacks and the smaller American force were able to destroy the Japanese fleet. This battle saw the first use of Kamikaze fighters.

In a letter home to Garnel’s Aunt and Uncle dated November 8, 1944, he recalled being half asleep one morning and taking a walk about the ship’s fan tail when 16” shells started dropping all around the ship. He stated that he awoke quickly after that! This recollection was in reference to the morning of October 25, 1944.

The ship would be involved in serval other campaigns in the coming months including Lingayen Gulf. While on approach a ship was sunk by a Kamikaze and the USS Savo Island was hit. The hit was a grazing blow and the ship was able to continue its mission. The ships final combat assignment would be the Battle of Okinawa.

Garnel departed the USS Savo Island

in Boston, MA on May 4, 1946. He was 20 years old and had served aboard the ship for 2 years, 1 month and 5 days. He returned to Pleasant Home and completed his senior year of high school. He played basketball and married his sweetheart, Lorene Worrels. They had four children and Garnel farmed in the Pleasant Home community until the late 1980’s. He passed away at the age of 65 in 1991.

Garnel is pictured at the top with his best friend Carnell Poole pictured to the left.

Thank you Veterans for your sacrifice

19 Veterans Magazine

CHARLES

LOWMAN

A

By John Vick

ndalusia lost another hometown hero with the death of Charles Rowell Lowman on Jan. 10, 2018. Charles was born near Searight in 1923. He attended Andalusia city schools and graduated from Andalusia High School in 1940. Charles was one of 21 young men selected to attend the University of Alabama under the Defense Training Act. He studied radio and electronic technology for 21 weeks. Upon completion, he was sent to Brookley Field near Mobile for further training. After that he was sent to the University of Florida to study radar, which was in its infancy. It was at that time he was drafted and sent to Kelley Field near San Antonio where he studied airborne radar.

It was at this point that Charles’ military life took a unique turn. He was sent to the SS Gen. Robert W. Olds stationed at Mobile and assigned to the 1st Aircraft Repair Unit. The Olds was one of six liberty ships and 18 auxiliary ships that made up a top secret government project called “Operation Ivory Soap.”

The Army had decided that the war in the Pacific required a new approach to aircraft repair. In the European Theater, planes could be repaired at fixed bases that were already in use. The Pacific war was primarily an island hopping war with no fixed bases within theater. The Army Air Corps came up with the idea of using specially equipped ships [with machine shops and other specialty repair tools] as mobile repair bases. Charles and many other Army repair troops became soldiers assigned to ships. Charles said that he was always dressed in a sailor’s dungarees with a white sailor hat.

The Olds traveled to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and then through the Panama Canal to Hawaii. There, they loaded supplies and headed to places like Guam, Tinian and Okinawa. Their job was to keep the

B-29s flying as the war got closer to Japan.

Charles said they were lucky to never have been attacked, even by the kamikazis that sunk so many U.S. ships at Okinawa. However, they were almost sunk by a typhoon in late 1945. Between seven and 10 U.S. ships were sunk during the typhoon. The inside of the Olds was a total wreck, with most of its repair machinery torn loose and destroyed.

Charles Lowman aboard the SS Robert Olds At the end of the war, Charles in WWII. Even though he was in the Army Air returned to Alabama and started college Corps, he wore a sailors dungarees and white at the University of Alabama. He even- hat the whole time. tually transferred to Auburn [then the Alabama Polytechnic Institute], where steering AEC through some of its toughhe earned his B.S. in electrical engineerest times. Avery said that young engineers ing. While in college, Charles had worked who made observations about power gensome at Alabama Electric Cooperative eration or transmission, were always very [AEC] as a lineman’s helper and he now careful around Mr. Lowman, who was returned full time as a field engineer. familiar with all aspects of AEC, having He would work there in several grown up in the company. capacities over the next 38 years until A.G. Palmore, retired VP of adminishis retirement in 1988. He served the tration and finance, recalled Lowman as last 18 years as general manager. During being “the right man at the right time” for that time, Charles oversaw some of the AEC and the challenges it faced in the most perilous times for AEC [now called ‘70s and ‘80s. He was a good negotiator, PowerSouth]. Throughout the toughest of level headed, with a cool demeanor and times, he was loved by his employees. always calm.

Earl McBryde, retired administrative When Charles Lowman retired in 1988, systems manager, said that Charles was the Tombigbee Power Plant was renamed one of the best people he’s ever met and a “The Charles Lowman Power Plant” in strong leader. honor of his outstanding leadership of John Howard, retired VP of power AEC. production, said that Charles was known At his death on Jan. 10, 2018, Charles for his amazing memory. At one meetwas 94. He and his wife, Effie Adams ing, when they were trying to recall some Lowman, had been married 65 years. He information from a previous meeting, is survived by two daughters, Nora Culp Charles reached into a desk drawer and [Lloyd] of Dozier and Ruth Nail [Lance] withdrew a green notebook, and quoted of Lubbock, Texas; several grandchildren the decision. Howard said, “I think a good and numerous nephews and nieces. ■ bit of Charles’ memory resided in that

little green book.”

Larry Avery, retired VP of engineering, remembered Charles as a masterful CEO,

20 Veterans Magazine

CHARLES SAUNDERS

A

Submitted by Jim Lawrence

rmy WWII Staff Sgt. Charles Saunders was born in Opp June 14, 1925, appropriately on Flag Day. He graduated from OHS in 1943, then entered the Army as a military policeman (MP), where he was considered an “elite” by virtue of his having a diploma! As such, he was eventually assigned to guard U.S. Army LTG William Simpson, 9th Army/CO. Assigned to the 795th MP Battalion, and attached to the 4th Infantry Division, his unit first went ashore Utah Beach just six days after the initial D-Day assaults at Normandy. His battalion was later assigned to the 29th ID and fought much of their time in Belgium.

He recalled that he only had two cold showers over a year’s time, one at St. Lo and one at Cologne! Saunders saw signif-

V

icant events in World War II. He was one of 25 elite MPs to escort French General Charles de Gaulle on his entry into Paris after the city was liberated.

At St. Vith, Belgium, his unit captured 18 enemy soldiers wearing American uniforms. He tied with leather straps their hands and feet for a firing squad!

After hostilities ceased, Saunders guarded Nazis Herman Goering, Rudolph Hess, Albert Speer and others at the Nuremberg Tribunals.

Following the war, he married and pursued higher education degrees while teaching high school. He eventually was principal at Selma’s Parrish High School, Phenix City’s Central, and Troy’s Charles Henderson High School, as well as being Headmaster at Morgan Academy near Selma. He later worked for Dr. Wayne

Teague in the Alabama State Department of Education.

He and wife Marion (now deceased) have daughters Beth (of Troy) and Nancy (in Arkansas). Now fully retired, at age 93, Saunders enjoys woodworking, visiting the WWII Museum in New Orleans, speaking to student groups, and relaxed living in Crow Hill near the main campus of Troy University. ■

VIRGIL DILLARD

irgil Dillard, Sr. grew up near Andalusia and attended Sanford School.

He left school after the 6th grade to go to work and help his family. After the outbreak of WWII, he enlisted in the Navy. After basic training, he was assigned to the USS Mt. Baker [AE 4], an ammunition and supply ship.

The first sea duty he remembered was a trans-Atlantic crossing from Norfolk, Va., to England, carrying ammunition and was supplies. He recalled that they did not encounter any German U-boats. They were one of the many hundreds of ships taking part in the Normandy invasion in June 1944.

After the allied beachhead was secured, the Mt. Baker was sent to fight in the Pacific, by way of the Panama Canal.

They loaded supplies in Honolulu and steamed for the Ulithi Atoll in the S. Pacific. From their base there, they participated in the Invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.Virgil said they felt that they were lucky not to have been attacked

by Japanese kamikazes, since so many ships were attacked and lost. On Okinawa alone, the Navy lost 47 ships and another 300 or so were damaged.

After the end of the war, Mt. Baker steamed across the Pacific to Seattle, where Virgil was discharged. After returning home, Virgil joined the Army Reserve.

Virgil Dillard, Sr. in Army uniform after he joined the Army Reserve after WWII.

He was activated in the 1950s and sent to Camp McCord, Wis., for two years. Upon discharge from the Army, Virgil worked for the Coca Cola Co. driving trucks.

Mr. Dillard died in 2017 at the age of 92. ■

Veterans Magazine

21

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Today and everyday, we are grateful for our military personnel, past and present, and GOOD LUCK the families who support them.

Thank you for your service. and

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22 Veterans Magazine

Saluting Our Veterans

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CEC appreciates the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces. No other job exemplifies courage, honor and dedication more than serving our country.

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Wishing all of our veterans and soldiers a very happy Veterans Day.

23 Veterans Magazine

DON SNOWDEN

MATHEWS Submitted by his son: Charles B. Mathews

My father, Don Mathews was born in Andalusia, Alabama, on December 12, 1908, to Charles Blackmon and Pearl Maxwell Mathews. His father was a successful businessman in Covington County, particularly in the lumber and turpentine industry. He grew up in Andalusia with an older and younger brother and two sisters.

The immediate Mathews family was quite large, very close, and it was not uncommon for 20-plus to assemble for various dinners. Don was very active in various sports in high school and was an ardent golfer. He also loved hunting and fishing, especially with his brother-in-law Leon Benson. They spent many happy hours together, hunting quail and fishing in the Choctawhatchee River. He and my mother, Mary Elizabeth Benson, married in 1928, and I was born in 1930.

Don worked for his father-in-law, O. L. Benson, who owned and operated a large hardware business, complete with lumber mills, brickyards, and foundries. He also, went out on his own and established a furniture and appliance business and a Hudson automobile dealership.

In addition, he had the dealership for Harley Davidson and Indian motorcycles, which he immensely enjoyed riding. This came to an abrupt halt one day when he was late for a tee-time and encountered a sand bed in the road leading to the Andalusia Country Club. I was a witness as the motorcycle went one way, and he and his golf clubs went another. He was not injured but this ended his motorcycle days. Another one of his toys was a speedboat that had broken the Florida speed record for step planes in the early 1930s.

It was very heavy and unstable and he managed at least two flips with it one day at Blue Lake. Soon afterwards he flipped it again at Gantt Lake and the boat was retired. I am not sure when my father

joined the Alabama National Guard, but I think I know why. Early on in Andalusia, the Guard had horses and a polo field, and polo soon became his favorite sport.

In the late 30s and early 40s, as the hostilities in Europe escalated, activities at Don Snowden Mathews on a camel in the National Guard Armory in Andalusia WWII, above. rapidly increased. At first, the Guard had the French 75mm howitzers, which turned out to say goodbye and wish the were soon replaced by the 105mm howsoldiers well. It was a huge sendoff. At itzers. Training was done in the Conecuh that time, Don was the commander of the National Forest, south of Andalusia near Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 117th the Open Pond and Blue Lake area. In Field Artillery Regiment. He was in the order to conserve the expensive 105mm lead vehicle and it was quite a show as ammunition, a 37mm gun barrel was the guns and caissons went rolling along. attached to the top of the 105mm howitzers. Early training was achieved firing the I was allowed to ride to Camp Blanding in one of the vehicles transporting the 37mm using the mechanics of the 105s. enlisted men in the unit. I was in school at Later training, however, involved firing the time, so my mother and I remained in the regular 105mm rounds. I was allowed Andalusia, but we would drive to Camp to accompany my dad to these training Blanding almost every weekend. It was a sessions and even pull the lanyards to fire long and boring trip and we were thankful the guns. It was great sport for a 10-yearfor the Burma Shave signs. After school old. was out in the summer of 1941, Don rented a house for us in St. Augustine, MEMORIES OF CAMP BLANDING which was about 50 miles from Camp When the Dixie Division, which Blanding. I spent most of the summer at included the Alabama National Guard, Camp Blanding hanging out with the solwas activated in November 1940 and later diers. They were essentially my “sitters.” deployed to Camp Blanding, Florida, it I slept in the tents with them, ate with became necessary for Don to liquidate them, swam in Lake Kingsley with them, his furniture and automobile business. He went to the movies with them, and even was quite fond of two of his young black participated in some of their training. No employees, Osee and Waverly Blue, and 11-year-old ever had a better time playing extremely worried about their future, as soldier. the country was still in a depression. As it Young men, and boys, from all backturned out he took them to Camp Blanding grounds, walks of life and professions as his orderlies. How he, as a first lieutenwere assembled at Camp Blanding. ant, got away with this, no one knows.

There was a unit from Oklahoma that These were fantastic young men in all consisted mostly of Cherokee Indians. respects. They were soon drafted however, They brought their tepees with them and but if memory serves me right, Waverly pitched them in the middle of the Army wound up a colonel in the Army. tents.

Supposedly, they just didn’t like the The Andalusia unit deployed, in convoy, in December of 1940. The whole town Continued, next page

Veterans Magazine

Army’s tents, but they probably were just looking for attention. Naturally, I started hanging out with the Indians and became good friends with them. I don’t know if it was official, but they made me a Cherokee Blood Brother.

As I remember there was a lot of remorse from being away from home and at being uprooted from friends and family, but prior to Pearl Harbor, life at Camp Blanding for Don and the other soldiers had somewhat of a party, along with a sense of urgency, atmosphere. The threat of war seemed to even stronger bind their allegiance to each other, their families and to their country.

Don’s best friend was Dr. Lester O’Neil from Andalusia. Lester was the battalion surgeon and had access to medical grain alcohol. On many late afternoons, and days off, Don and Lester would assemble with Lt. Col. Sam Long, the battalion commander, and Major Guy Wilder, the battalion executive officer, for grain alcohol and orange juice cocktails as they discussed the world situation. On one such occasion, that fateful Sunday of December 7, 1941, I returned from a swim in Lake Kingsley, with some of the soldiers, to find them huddled around the radio listening to the news from Pearl Harbor. Things were never the same after that day.

The Mathews family and Lester O’Neil family had many wonderful times together at Camp Blanding and St. Augustine, Florida, where Don and Lester based their families. Sadly, Lester was later killed early in the war.

WORLD WAR II YEARS After leaving Camp Blanding, Don’s first assignment was at Camp Bowie, Texas, where the unit transitioned into the 155mm Schneider howitzers. His unit was later transferred to Camp Barkley, Texas, where he was accompanied by my mother and I. In August 1942 his unit was transferred to Camp Gruber, Oklahoma (Muskogee), and was redesignated the 933rd Field Artillery Battalion which remained his primary unit throughout the war. He was accompanied by my mother and I, and I attended the seventh grade at Muskogee Junior High School. During his assignment at Camp Gruber he participated in several weeks of advanced maneuvers at Camp Polk, Louisiana. While we were

in Muskogee, the musical “Oklahoma” premiered in Oklahoma City before opening on Broadway in 1943. Don arranged for tickets for us, and several of his friends’ families. It was a great trip and a wonderful show. Just prior to going overseas, Don attended the Army Command and Staff School at Leavenworth, Kansas. He departed Camp Gruber for the European Theatre in August 1943 as the Operations and Training Officer, S-3 of the 933rd Field Artillery Battalion.

Don’s unit landed in Algeria in September 1943, received the new 155mm M-1 Howitzers, and five weeks later traveled by motor convoy to Tunisia where they trained for another five weeks. After Naples fell to General Mark Clark’s Fifth Army, his army was stalled by German defenses near Casino Italy. In November 1943, the 933rd was deployed to Naples and participated in the famous “Battle of Monte Casino” from January to May of 1944. That same November, his best friend, Dr. (Major) Lester O’Neil, who was then assigned to the 39th Engineers, was killed in action by a German fighter aircraft a few miles south of Monte Casino. In January of 1944, a unit of the French Expeditionary Corps attached to the Fifth Army moved into the area. The FEC was a French colonial army whose troops were mainly Africans led by French officers. The 933rd was assigned to provide artillery support to the FEC until the war’s end in March 1945.

During the Italian Campaign, Don spent eight months fighting in Italy with the 933rd before deploying to southern France in September 1944. During this period Don and his unit were awarded two Croix de Guerre citations for their heroic action in combat. Don was also awarded the Legion of Merit for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services in Italy from December of 1943 to July of 1944.

In France, he participated in another, less famous, but extremely crucial battle, the battle of the Vosges Mountains. This battle was for control of the Alsatian plains, and lead to the conquest of Strasbourg and eventual crossing of the Rhine River into Germany.

After crossing the Rhine River, the 933rd rolled into Germany and Austria.

During the allied attack on Mannheim, Don was instrumental in negotiating its

24

surrender to prevent destruction of the city. There is, to this day, a historical panel on one of the buildings that reads, when translated, “From this building on March 28-29, 1945, American forces under the command of Major Don S. Mathews conducted telephone conversations with City Official, Nikolaus Quintus in the administrative building of the electric, gas and water works in K 5. He was assisted

by Captain Franz S. Steinitz, US battalion surgeon, who served as interpreter.

These talks led to the peaceful turnover of the city of Mannheim to US Forces on Thursday, March 29, 1945. The prudent actions of those involved helped to prevent further destruction of the city.” Soon after, April 1945 was the last full combat month for Don and the 933rd.

POST WWII After the war, Don arrived back in the United States on 20 September 1945 and was separated from the Army on 4 March 1946. After his separation he tried several approaches to return to the civilian world, however, there were not many real job opportunities available at this time. His father-in-law’s hardware business had suffered badly during the war, as had many others in Andalusia. He seemed to have developed a sense of uselessness. Don had really loved the Army, the action, the challenge and the comradeship with his fellow soldiers. As luck would have it, or from my mother’s view, bad luck, he was offered a regular Army commission, which he eagerly accepted. He was ordered to active duty as a regular Army Major on 5 July 1946 and the beat goes on.

His first assignment was the Artillery School at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, and my mother and I accompied him there. No doubt that this was one of the family’s happiest times. After our many years of separation we were together again. Don loved golf, hunting, fishing and playing dad. In particular he enjoyed catching huge bullfrogs from the ponds and tanks on the Ft. Sill reservation. Frog legs were one of our more popular dinners. Often, he would take me along when they went to the firing ranges and I was allowed to fire the 155mm howitzers. It was interesting to stand behind the guns with a pair of binoculars.

You Continued, next page

25 Veterans Magazine could actually see the projectiles and follow them until they began their descent.

I never understood it but the projectiles immediately disappeared when they reached their apex.

My dad and I also did a lot of quail hunting and duck hunting on the reservation’s ponds and tanks. Notices were posted when they would be closed to hunting because of artillery fire in the area. Somehow a friend and I missed a notice one morning. We were in a blind when a jeep, with a very angry major, pulled up beside us. He very excitedly informed us that two battalions (that’s 24 155mm howitzers) had a TOT (time on target) scheduled for this area 10 minutes ago and we were, in deed, very fortunate that someone in one of the battalions had happened to see us before we went into the blind, and minutes before the action started. The incident caused quite a stir within the Ft. Sill hierarchy and Don received a lot of notoriety, but not exactly the kind he would like.

THE MIDDLE EAST In May 1948, I completed school at Lawton High School before returning to Alabama and attending Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University). At about the same time, Count Bernadotte of Sweden was appointed “United Nations Mediator in Palestine” and Don received an assignment as a United Nations Observer during the Arab-Israeli conflict of 1948. In September 1948, while riding in a motorcade in Jerusalem, four gunman of the Jewish Zionist group commonly known as the Stern Gang assassinated the count. Don, who was riding in the car just behind the count’s car, witnessed the attack. He pursued one of the assassins down an alley, but unfortunately, or fortunately, did not catch him.

Don later served another tour with the UN during the Arab-Israeli war of 1956.

He remarked that this was his most dangerous assignment, as both sides would shoot at you just for the sport. One day he was moving to another location in his jeep and had his footlocker, which was in the back of the jeep, shot to pieces.

THE FAR EAST After returning from his first tour in the Middle East in 1949, Don was attached to the infantry and stationed at fort Benning,

Georgia. Fort Benning is only 40 miles from Auburn where I was in school, so this kind of got the family back together for a while.

In 1950 Don received orders for Japan, was promoted to Lt. Colonel, and alerted to move to Korea with the Third Infantry Division. Don was involved in the famous Battle of Chosin Reservoir in November and December 1950. Shortly after China entered the conflict, about 30,000 men of the Tenth Army Corp containing the Third Infantry Division were surrounded by over 67,00 Chinese in the Chosin Reservoir area in North Korea. Greatly outnumbered, a bloody battle raged for 17 days in freezing weather until the UN Forces were evacuated at the port of Hamhung. This marked the complete withdrawal of UN Forces from North Korea. Shortly after, in February 1951, during the last major push to Seoul, Don was stricken with a ruptured appendix on the battlefield and was transferred to a hospital in Japan for recovery. In March 1951 he received a new assignment in Tokyo and my mother joined him there. Don was soon transferred to Okinawa where he and my mother had a wonderful two years.

BACK TO THE STATES Don returned to the U.S. in March 1953 and was stationed in Chickasha, Oklahoma, where he was assigned as the Regular Army Advisor to the Oklahoma National Guard. About the same time, I was completing Air Force basic flying training and had orders to attend advanced flight training in fighter aircraft at Williams AFB. Learning that my parents were going to Chickasha, and knowing that the Air Force’s advanced flight training in multiengine aircraft was at Enid, Oklahoma, I managed to exchange orders with another officer and went to Enid instead. It had been over four years since I had been with my parents except for short visits. The family was somewhat close together again, for a while anyway.

I received my Air Force wings in October 1953 and was soon after sent to Korea. Don and my mother remained in Chickasha until 1956 when he was again assigned to the Far East as a UN observer.

Upon his return in 1957 he and my mother took up station at Ft. Sill again. He was glad to get back to the frog ponds, and now

Ft. Sill had a regular deer season. I was out of the Air Force, working on another degree at Auburn, and had been married in early 1958. As newlyweds we were struggling a bit and that Christmas Don offered to send us the venison of a deer he had killed that fall. We declined his offer.

However, in January, when we discovered that we had overspent at Christmas, we thought of his offer, made an emergency phone call and he sent the venison. We had venison for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We even invited friends over for venison dinners hoping they would reciprocate with a hamburger.

In the summer of 1958 Don was stricken with kidney problems and underwent surgery at the U.S. Air Force Hospital at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery.

The operation was planned as an exploratory one but there was a massive power failure during the surgery. Apparently there were no emergency generators and the doctors made the decision to just go ahead and remove the kidney anyway. He did very well on one kidney the rest of his life.

In the summer of 1959 Don and my mother were on leave and paid us a visit. I was flying with the Alabama Air National Guard at the time and was at “summer camp” in Biloxi, Mississippi. Since Don was on active duty I managed to arrange a flight with him in one of our T-33 aircraft.

It was his first ride in a single engine jet and I’m afraid, his last one. I thought I was being very gentle on the controls but he quickly asked me to “land the damn thing.”

I don’t think he was impressed with the Air Force, its jet aircraft and especially its pilots.

FRANCE In late 1959, Don left Ft. Sill for France again. This time it was a peaceful mission, and his last assignment. He was selected as the U.S. Army’s liaison to the prestigious Ecole de Cavalerie at Saumur, France, which was originally established to train the French Calvary. It now trains French troops of the Armored Calvary, but also maintains one of the worlds premiere riding schools. This assignment was probably from his long association with the French Expeditionary Corps during WWII. My mother accompanied him and they had a wonderful Continued, next page

Veterans Magazine

time as he finished a grand and glorious military career.

RETIREMENT Don retired from the U.S. Army on 31 January 1962 and he and my mother returned to Andalusia. At first they rented a house on East Three Notch Street and later bought a house on Henderson Street. In about 1966 they purchased a five-acre plot about five miles north of Andalusia where they built a nice home and finally settled down. Don’s brother–in-law, Ed Reid, a local attorney, who was an independent insurance adjuster, got Don interested in the business. This was exactly what Don needed. Not only did he love the work, he also was a people person and especially enjoyed his association with the many claimants and insurance agents throughout south Alabama. He later bought the company and it became known as “Reid and Mathews Independent Insurance

Adjusters.” This was probably the happiest time in Don’s life. I had accepted a position at Eglin AFB, Florida, which was about 80 miles from Andalusia, so I could visit my parents often.

One of Don’s favorite pastimes became fishing with his younger brother Byron, who had recently retired from the cotton business. Don had bought a fishing boat designed especially for river and lake fishing. He and Byron spent many happy days on the Choctawhatchee and Blackwater Rivers in Florida. They would always take a quart of good bourbon along in case the fish weren’t biting. One night, before an early departure the next day, my mother emptied the bourbon and filled the bottle with tea. Around noon the next day the fish weren’t biting and the bottle was uncorked.

I can imagine the language that followed when they took the first swig. This incident almost caused a major family crisis.

In 1983, I accepted an assignment with

26

NATO in Brussels, Belgium, for about five years. Upon my return to Eglin AFB in 1987 my parents were getting up in age. A decision was made to sell the home in Andalusia and for my parents to move nearby to the Westwood Retirement Center. Unfortunately, my mother died of cancer soon after. Don seemed to adjust to Westwood fairly well. He had kept his boat and was still going fishing, but not as often. He was an excellent bridge player and played five or more times a week.

Don passed away at the Westwood Retirement Center on March 2, 1993. He was 84 years old. At the time of his death, He was survived by his son and daughterin-law, Charles B. and Lynne Mathews; grandchildren, Charles B. Mathews Jr. and Mary Celeste Brown; and four great-grandchildren. Internment was in the Andalusia Memorial Cemetery with full military honors. ■

RODNEY J. EVANS

F

lorala’s Sgt. Rodney J. Evans was killed while serving as a squad leader in a reconnaissance sweep near the Tay Ninh Province in the Republic of Vietnam on July 18, 1969. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life and beyond the call of duty.”

The citation reads: “For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sgt. Evans distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism while serving as a squad leader in a reconnaissance sweep through heavy vegetation to reconnoiter a strong enemy position. As the force approached a well-defined trail, the pla-

toon scout warned that the trail was booby-trapped. Sgt. Evans led his squad on a route parallel to the trail. The force had started to move forward when a nearby squad was hit by the blast of a concealed mine.

Looking to his right Sgt. Evans saw a second enemy device. With complete disregard for his safety he shouted a warning to his men, dived to the ground and crawled toward the mine. Just as he reached it an enemy soldier detonated the explosive and Sgt. Evans absorbed the full impact with his body. His gallant and selfless action saved his comrades from probable death or injury and served as an inspiration to his entire

unit. Sgt. Evans' gallantry in action at the cost of his life were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.”

Source: history.army.mil

Veterans Magazine

27

MICHAEL DAVID

GUNNELLS

By John Vick

*Some material sourced from the Virtual Vietnam Wall, The Andalusia Star News, and the book, “Airman’s Odyssey”

by Lt.Col, James D Lawrence.

Michael David Gunnels attended Andalusia Schools and completed requirements for his high school diploma after he enlisted in the Air Force in 1966.

Mike had plans to go into the ministry after completing his military service.

After arriving in Vietnam, Mike sent his family a tape of the first sermon he had preached to his fellow service members.

He was practicing, what he hoped he would be doing after ministerial training.

Mike was assigned to radar shop, 35th Avionics Maintenance Squadron, TFW Phan Rang Air Base in S. Vietnam. A friend of Mike’s wrote that on the night of Sep. 26, 1969, they were working

J

the midnight shift in the radar shop. An Australian B-57 Canberra bomber was sitting on the flight line needing some work done one its radar. The plane was sitting on jacks so that it “thinks” that it is flying. The transportation van dropped Mike off at the revetment where they plane was located. Mike was warned to stay away from the front of the plane until the bomb loaders had finished uploading bombs into the plane and checking the 20mm cannons [part of their job].

The van had only gone a short distance when they heard three fast explosions.

The safeties on the guns were still off as the bomb crew worked to check them out and they had gone off when Mike walked in front of the plane. Mike’s friends quickly returned to find him lying on his side, going in circles. A high explosive

Airman First Class [A1C] Michael David Gunnels from Andalusia incendiary shell had hit Mike in the right shoulder, right above his flak vest. Mike lived a few hours but died around 4 a.m.

Mike’s mother, Mrs. Dorothy Wilson, was notified of his death. His funeral was held on Oct. 3, 1969, at the First Baptist Church with the Rev. Harrell Cushing officiating. ■

JAMES GREENE

ames Huey "Pete" Greene was among the Andalusia National Guard unit members who helped form the 117th Field Artillery Battalion during World War II. According to his son, James Greene was in Camp Bowie, Texas, in February, 1942, with Colonel Lester O’Neal, and he was assigned as his driver. After several months at Camp Bowie, the 117th was split, and was sent to North Africa

and northern Italy. For a few months in Tunisia, Greene was assigned as the Medical Corps driver for Colonel O’Neal. Later in 1943, however, they were split up again.

In his letters home, Greene wrote that he ran into Major Wilder and Major Don Mathews in Tunisia and they were able to spend some time together. ■ James Greene

Veterans Magazine

November 11 is Veterans Day, a special time to honor and remember those who have served or are currently serving in the United States military.

We thank these men and women for their courageous commitment to keeping our country safe.

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29 Veterans Magazine

VETERANS! They’ve served our country with courage and honor. They’ve left behind loved ones to risk their lives in protecting their country. They’ve defended our freedon and ideals. They make us proud to be Americans.

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Thanks, Veterans, for your brave and selfless service to our nation. We salute you on this Remembrance Day.

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31 Veterans Magazine

L

Lester C. O'NEAL

By John Vick

ester C. O’Neal was born in Andalusia, on November 28, 1906, to Clanton S. O’Neal and Ida R. O’Neal. He had eight brothers and one sister. After graduating from Andalusia High School in 1925, he attended the University of Florida from 1925-26 before transferring to the University of Alabama.

He graduated from Alabama in 1929 and entered Medical School at LSU – New Orleans. He received his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1933 and interned at Charity Hospital in New Orleans. O’Neal had married Louise Pelham of Andalusia in 1929, who accompanied him during medical school and his internship. Upon completing his medical and surgical internship, Dr. and Mrs. O’Neal moved to Andalusia where he opened his medical practice in 1934. That same year, a daughter, Louise “Tillie” O’Neal was born. Dr. O’Neal had a successful medical and surgical practice from 1934 until November 26, 1940, when he volunteered to be mobilized for active military service with the 117th Field Artillery Battalion, the Andalusia National Guard Unit which was part of the 31st (Dixie) Division. Dr. O’Neal had joined the reserve unit in 1934. As Regimental Surgeon for the 117th, Dr. O’Neal was given the rank of Major and traveled to Camp Blanding, Florida, with the 117th for training. In February of 1942, Major O’Neal was sent to Camp Bowie, Texas, and assigned to the 27th Construction Battalion as Battalion Surgeon. After maneuvers in Louisiana, he was reassigned to the 39th Engineer Combat Regiment.

The Regiment traveled overseas to Oran, Algeria, in January of 1943. In letters sent back home to his mother by Maj. O’Neal, he talked about some of his travels with the

39th. They included traveling to St. Cloud to build a prisoner of war enclosure, going to Paraguay to build a railroad and a supply dump, going to Anne Frantessa to construct a school, and also to Mostageum to guard the port and docks. Maj. O’Neal said, “It was my duty to see that all these troops were looked after medically, so I traveled the routes with all units”.

In May 1943, the 39th, along with Maj. O’Neal, left Oran and moved 100 miles south to the Atlas Mountains, near Magenta for intense training in preparation for the invasion of Sicily. By June, they had moved to Arzew at the 5th Army Invasion Training Center. There, the 39th, along with Maj. O’Neal, was attached to the 1st and 4th Ranger Battalions, under the command of Col. William O. Darby.

These units under Col. Darby were known as Darby’s Rangers. There was a movie about this unit produced in 1958, called “Darby’s Rangers.” After training as a part of Darby’s force, the Engineers along with the Rangers, traveled to Algiers where they embarked aboard ships for the invasion of Sicily. They were the first troops to land in Sicily on July 9, 1943. For that invasion, that landed at Gela in Sicily, Darby’s force became a part of Gen. Terry Allen’s 1st Infantry Division which was part of Gen. George Patton’s 7th Army. After the landings at Gela, there was fierce fighting with many casualties. Maj. O’Neal notes in his letters home, “I am doing well and have had no battle wounds. Speaking of wounds, I want to tell you how these men react to their injuries. It is almost unbelievable. I can see these men get hurt and never does one complain. I saw where one man cut another man’s arm off when a big tank turned over on him and caught him under

Major Lester C O'Neal, MD as Regimental Surgeon for the 39th Combat Engineers. the track. At once, the tank began to burn and when the man could not be gotten out.

The other man cut the arm down to the bone and then shot the bones in two. Both men had to be hospitalized. The next day, when I saw the man in the hospital who had lost an arm, he was helping nurses carry out buckets of used bandages.” O’Neal talked about reading about the Rangers in the papers and said “We were attached to the Rangers. We did a swell job and did not have a single man killed.” After taking several key towns, the Rangers were relegated to guarding the flanks of the army as they advanced to Palermo. The Sicilian campaign would end in August, 1943, when Messina was reached and the Axis forces left for Italy. Maj. O’Neal and the Rangers would next participate in the invasion of Salerno as a part of Gen. Mark Clark’s 5th Army.

The invasion of Italy began with Operation Avalanche, the codename for the Allied landings near the port of Salerno, began on September 9, 1943. Major O’Neal’s unit, the 39th Engineer Combat Regiment, landed at Paestum [the main landing area for the invasion] some six days later. As the fighting proceeded inland, the 39th was tasked with repairing and clearing Continued, next page

32 Veterans Magazine highways, erecting bridges over canals and streams and constructing bypasses where needed. The invading allies had nearly been forced back into the sea by the Germans just prior to the landing of the 39th. Gen. Mark Clark received the Distinguished Service Cross [the second highest award for valor in combat] for his leadership in defending the counterattack and securing the landings.

The 5th Army, under Gen. Clark, captured Naples on October 1. From there, they [and the 39th] proceeded north to the Volturno River,where the Germans had set up one of their defensive lines. Maj. O’Neal’s group, the 39th Combat Engineers, constructed a ferry across the Volturno and began winterization of the 8th Evacuation Hospital, nearby on October 15. Maj. O’Neal worked between the 8th Evacuation Hospital and the newly formed 38th Evacuation Hospital

located north of Naples near Riardo.

On November 7, Maj. O’Neal was traveling near Riardo in a command car with three other officers when they were attacked by a group of German fighter planes. Maj. O’Neal was the only casualty, having been hit in the helmet by a 20mm shell. He was buried that same day in a temporary cemetery near Marzanello Nuova.

The 39th Combat Engineers continued with the Allied Armies in securing Italy from the Germans.

On November 21, some two weeks after Maj. O’Neal’s death , the family was notified by Western Union. Fortunately, Miss Cicily Raley, a family friend was the Western Union operator, and she personally carried the telegram to the family. After this notification, a memorial service was held at the First Methodist Church of Andalusia, on

December 1, 1943.

Almost five years later, on August 19, 1948, the family was notified by Western Union, that the remains were en route to the U.S. and that they would be notified three days prior to further shipment to Andalusia.

A short time later, Maj. O’Neal’s remains arrived, escorted by an Army officer of equal rank. Mrs. O’Neal and the family met the train at the L & N depot on South Cotton Street upon arrival. Foreman Funeral Home accepted the remains. Not long after that, burial took place at Magnolia Cemetery with full military honors. ■ Author’s note: I wish to thank Mrs. Tillie O’Neal Hamiter and her husband, Lt. Col. James W. [Bill] Hamiter for their help in writing this tribute to her father.

EVON WILLIAMSON E

By John Vick

von Williamson, a life-long resident of Covington County, Alabama, was one of four sons sent by Henry Irvin and Mary Beaulah Williamson to serve in WWII. During his junior year of high school, he was drafted, and, after training in Oregon, he left out from Staten Island, N.Y., on his way to North Africa and Operation Torch as a Quartermaster. The Army soon decided he was needed in the Infantry, and Williamson trained as a machine gunner and headed to combat in Italy with the 351st Regiment of the 88th Division, who came to be known as “The Fighting Blue Devils.”

Williamson recalls the 21 days of gruesome combat that followed. American troops seized a building near a German command post, and the Germans surrounding the building, demanded surrender.

Although others surrendered, Williamson did not; the Germans tossed in a concussion grenade, broke down the door, and began firing. Williamson was struck several times in his left hand and right knee with a 9-mm “burp” gun before being taken prisoner on October 21, 1944. These injuries would go on to cause Williamson osteomyelitis, no mobility in his right knee, and disfigurement and limited use of his left hand.

After several moves and even a letter home to his mother that stated he was “missing in action and presumed dead,” Williamson spent his time as a POW in Austria. Other than not receiving enough medicine or food, Williamson says that he and the other American, British, and Russian POWs with him were not tortured or mistreated.

After approximately eight months as a

POW, Williamson was able to hobble, along with others, to a nearby town for help after the Germans deserted the camp. They flagged down a Jeep of Stars and Stripes reporters who were able to arrange for them a flight to Algiers. From Algiers to Italy to Florida to Georgia, Williamson made his way to Tuscaloosa where he spent several months recovering before returning home for good to Covington County.

For his courage and sacrifice for his country, Williamson was awarded a Purple Heart.

Williamson’s story is included in the book

by Lt. Col. James Lawrence [Ret.] entitled American Veterans: Their Stories of Service and Valor.

Williamson celebrated his 96th birthday in September. ■

33 Veterans Magazine

BENJAMIN REYNOLDS

B

enjamin Lee Reynolds was born October 19, 1929, to Frank and Era (Stephens) Reynolds in Spring Hill, AL, near Troy, but for his youth years called Kinston home when the family relocated there in early 1930. Ben’s parents were share croppers, like so many others in the Great Depression.

Reynolds married Helen Farmer in 1953, entered the Army at Opp in 1954, and experienced several firsts. He was in the the first Drill Sergeant Academy class at Fort Jackson, S.C., and later was a drill instructor at Fort Rucker in 1966. He made service to the nation his life work, pulling two tours of combat duty, eventually being promoted to Command Sergeant Major, and drawing numerous accolades for his gallantry during the Vietnam War. Ben Reynolds and wife Helen had children Steven and Gail (Hall), and resided in Opp many years.

It was in Vietnam in late 1967, and January and February, 1968, in B Company, 3d Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, that Reynolds became a legend as a near-40-year-old Sergeant Major leading 19- and 20-year-old young soldiers in battle in Kon Tum Province against the North Vietnamese Army.

In two combat tours, Reynolds earned one Silver Star and five Bronze Stars, one of which was later upgraded to a second Silver

Star, at the urging of the soldiers who served with him.

In one particular instance in his first tour as a First Sergeant in Vietnam, early 1968, he and his men attempted to helicopter in to save fellow soldiers when the chopper was hit by fire and forced down.

Reynolds immediately requested permission from a nearby Special Forces Captain to use his helicopter to launch and make a second attempt at a harrowing rescue, which succeeded in saving several American lives while driving the North Vietnamese off a surrounding hill.

Reynolds served a second tour in Vietnam 1970-71 with Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division.

At a later Fort Rucker ceremony that upgraded his Bronze Star to a Silver Star, Congressman Bobby Bright of Alabama’s Second District attended the upgrade ceremony as a mark of respect. Reynolds’ awards included not only the Bronze and Silver Stars, but also two Air Medals (each required 25 air assault combat missions), one Air Commendation Medal, four Meritorious Service Awards, and numerous awards from the South Vietnamese.

After retiring in 1974, Reynolds spent a great deal of time and effort pursuing a posthumous Medal Of Honor for his wife Helen’s rother, Army Sergeant First Class Rudolph “Buddy” Farmer, who had thrown

himself on a Communist Chinese hand grenade in a fox hole in the Korean War on 22 September 1952, saving the lives of six fellow soldiers at the expense of his own.

Farmer had been awarded a posthumous Purple Heart for what many would consider deserving of a much higher award.

Reynolds and wife Helen also spent a great deal of time organizing veterans reunions in Opp, Savannah , Washington D.C., Memphis, Branson, Chicago and other locations for those soldiers with whom he had served in the Vietnam War. Reynolds met an untimely death in Opp on February 9, 2010, when his car was broadsided by a vehicle that ran a red light on the Opp bypass.

In July that year, as a sign of the Army’s reverence for Sergeant Major Reynolds, Fort Rucker Commander Maj. Gen. James O. Barclay III dedicated a command classroom in Reynolds’ honor.

Helen Reynolds was surrounded by military heroes much of her life and continues to live on the farm three miles east of Opp that her parents had purchased in 1954, after her brother Rudolph’s death in Korea.

(Below: First Sergeant Benjamin Reynolds. 3rd photo is Reynolds w/Flag on Hill 927, Dak To, Vietnam.

34 Veterans Magazine

R

ROBERT BUSH

By John Vick

obert C. Bush served in the Second Armored Division that fought under General George Patton and General Dwight Eisenhower during World War II. Bush was awarded the Bronze Star for his bravery in combat. He almost lost his feet from frostbite during the Battle of the Bulge. Bush volunteered to join the army at the age of 17.

Bush felt strongly about his service (1944-46) and that WWII was a ‘just cause no matter what the price.’ He remained after the war as an MP in Berlin and was involved in the disarming of the German army. Humbly, he maintained his soldier mentality throughout his lifetime. Bush almost never talked about his combat experiences from the five battles in Europe. He often stated that he was only fulfilling his obligation as an American citizen.

After returning home from the war, Robert married Mary Kate “Elizabeth”

Vickers, who was his hometown sweetheart. He and Kate raised four children in Andalusia.

Kate Bush often said she fell in love with Robert because of his honesty, integrity, work ethic, and sense of humor.

But, what she loved about him most was his strong love and devotion for his children. Robert was baptised in the historical First Baptist Church which was located near the courthouse. Bush was a quiet man with a quick wit. Robert’s memoir includes many recollections of stories throughout his life. He was a highly successful entrepreneur who always spoke with wisdom. He often shared stories which involved faith, values, and his love of country.

After working with Beasley Packing Company in Andalusia, Robert built his own meat distribution company.

Additionally, Robert built the first coinoperated laundry in south Alabama which evolved into 20 Quick Clean Coin

Robert Bush, above, in WWII. Left and below, with his sweetheart and wife, Kate Bush.

Operated Laundry locations.

During his life, Robert also took an intense interest in flying and held a private pilot’s license and owned a small, private plane. He retired as a cattle and tree farmer.

Robert Bush left as an example for future generations a role model of being a fine Christian gentleman with steadfast love, creativity, and hard work. He was an unwavering husband and father. ■ Source: The Greatest Generations

35 Veterans Magazine

WINFORD PETE

LOWE

Winford [Pete] Lowe WWII Army Veteran It is my pleasure to honor another member of The Greatest Generation from our area, Winford [Pete] Lowe. Of all the WWII veterans I’ve had the pleasure to interview and write about, I’ve known Mr. Pete Lowe the longest. I will talk about that a little later.

Winford [Pete] Lowe was born Feb 2, 1926, in Loango, Al, not two miles from where he resides today. His parents were Bethel and Evie Lowe. They had 10 children in all.

Pete attended Red Level School through the 10th grade. At that point, his father took him out of school to help him farm.

Pete said that his Dad needed the help but the primary reason was that he felt that Pete was less likely to be drafted if he was helping on the farm. It didn’t take long for that to be proved wrong as Pete received his draft notice shortly after dropping out of school. When he reported for induction, the officer asked Pete, “Army or Navy?”.

Pete said, “Navy”. The officer said, “Then Army it is”. Pete later learned that the induction center had been asked to supply 100,000 new replacements to be sent to Europe after basic training.

His basic training was done at Camp Wheeler near Macon, Ga. Training was supposed to be 16 weeks, but at 15 weeks, his group was placed in Army units and sent to Europe. Pete joined the 30th Infantry Division which was a part of the 3rd Army. Transport to Europe was aboard converted cattle ships, which could only carry around 3,000 soldiers.

While the ship’s quarters were not on a par with other troop transport ships, Pete remembers that the Navy food was good. The convoy that they were a part of arrived safely in Europe at the port of Le Harve, France.

There was no immediate fighting near their debarkation point, but they boarded trucks and were taken to “the front”. Pete

doesn’t remember if that area was in France or Germany but they shortly found themselves fighting through Germany.

There were many battles and skirmishes that his division was involved in, but the one that sticks in Pete’s mind was the battle around Nuremburg. Pete normally carried an M-1 rifle but occasionally he was asked to take over a BAR [Browning Automatic Rifle] when the original operator was shot. The town of Nuremburg had been reduced to rubble by repeated allied bombing but Pete and his Division found themselves fighting door to door.

At war’s end, Pete found himself in Salzburg, Austria. He was standing guard duty at his post when someone came up to him and said, “The War’s over.” Pete was unable to join in the celebration because he had to remain on guard duty.

One memorable guard post that Pete remembers was near Vienna, Austria. He was assigned to guard the world famous Lipizzaner stallions for a period of time.

While Pete remained with the occupation army in Europe, his Dad back home had heard rumors that the 3rd Infantry Division was being made ready for transport to the Pacific in preparation for the invasion of Japan. His Dad, who was not well, went to the Red Cross and asked to have Pete returned home with a “hardship discharge”.

Late that summer of 1945, Pete was notified that he was being returned home and discharged. On his return home, he was carried aboard a “small ship” that sailed by itself and landed in New York City. He said that there were no welcoming crowds when they arrived back in the states.

He went home to Loango and was determined to graduate from high school.

The Army paid for Pete to attend a school in Andalusia and obtain credits for him to graduate from Red Level High School in 1947 [possibly 1948].

As a part of the GI Bill, Pete was able to attend an accounting school in Andalusia. That school was among many of the “business schools” contracted to teach skills to returning veterans. The school that Pete attended was located in a home on Oak Street in Andalusia and operated by Edwin Patterson. It lasted 14 months and Pete received a diploma in 1949. That year he married Mary Hudson, from Opp. They had 3 daughters: Patricia [Gatlin] in 1951, Rebecca [Shearer] born in 1956, and Angela [Patton] born in 1957. Mary died Jan. 2013.

After graduation, Pete began work with Camellia City Dairys headquartered in Greenville, Al. They also had an office in Andalusia and Pete worked out of that office, delivering milk and other products to Andalusia, Opp, Florala and Geneva.

On a personal note: that was about the time that the author encountered Pete when Pete delivered milk to the West Highland Grocery which was owned by Frank Vick, the author’s father.

In 1953, Pete left the dairy business and went to work for Cotton Ford Tractor Co. He started out in the parts department, later working as their bookkeeper, shop foreman and eventually as a salesman. He retired in 1989 after working for 36 years.

He enjoyed working for the Cotton family.

When Pete worked for Cotton Ford Tractor, he and the author became re-acquainted. During the 34 years that the author farmed, he was a frequent customer of Cotton Ford Tractor Co. It has been a real pleasure, renewing a longtime friendship with Mr. Lowe, while at the same time, writing about his service to our country.

Thank you Mr. Pete Lowe, for being a member of that Greatest Generation that helped keep our country free.

36 Veterans Magazine

ALLISON RAY

A

YATES

llison Ray Yates was born in Washington County, Florida on September 22, 1921 to our beloved ‘Ma’, Rebecca Mathis (1906-2003) and her husband, George Yates. Ray and his two sisters, Melba and Ottis, were raised in and around the Bonifay area. A responsible young man from the beginning, Ray quit high school to go to work to help his family financially.

At age 15 he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) which was a public work relief program for unemployed young men, focused on natural resource conservation. The young men supported their families by earning $30 per month. Just before entering the service, Ray worked in the Mel Jenkins store in Caryville.

According to Ray’s draft registration as of October 16, 1940, he was 19 years old, 5’8” with brown eyes and brown hair. He entered the military in February 1941 and became a medic. He wrote to his mother faithfully while he was in service. Most of his letters show he was focused on his family ---his mother’s and sisters’ wellbeing. As I read his many letters to his mother, every single one kept in a special trunk, it occurred to me how little of life he had a chance to live. He had dreams of having his own farm and was reading books to learn as much as possible to help him when he returned home.

Ray was wounded in New Guinea in August of 1944. During July and August that year, nearly 10,000 Japanese perished.

Almost 3,000 Americans were casualties along the Driniumor River, 440 of them killed. It was a very costly campaign for General MacArthur. Ray was lucky to escape with only wounds. He received the 3rd highest award for valor, the Silver Star for Gallantry in Action Against an Opposing Armed Force. His injuries came while he was taking care a fellow soldier.

Ray continued to write to his mother as frequently as possible. He never seemed to let her know how tough things were there. However, in the summer of 1945, he wrote vaguely about his next assignment. He gave an indication of the danger ahead and you can feel the dread and anxiety in his words. It was the Battle of Mindanao that ended Ray’s short life. The battle was one of the many brutal struggles in the Pacific theater that never made any headlines. On May 6th, the 124th Infantry Regiment continued to move up Sayre highway without their trail reconnaissance operation in full swing, and in doing so, it moved into its toughest fight of the Mindanao campaign.

A Japanese battalion ordered to delay the 124th at Maramag some thirty miles south to ensure the regrouping of their 30th Division, did with such ferocity that it took 6 days for the 124th to reach Maramag. Corporal Allison Ray Yates was killed in action on Mindanao Island in the Philippines on May 6th, 1945.

Ray had been in the South Pacific for 16 months.

Ray was trying to save the life of a

soldier when they were cut off from their troop by enemy fire and shot to death.

Ray was awarded the Purple Heart for Military Merit and a second Silver Star for Gallantry in Action. Because this was his second Silver Star award, he was also awarded the Bronze Oak Cluster.

By this time, Ray’s family had moved to Florala and Ray had another sister, Sue Mathis and still another on the way, Joy Mathis Taylor. Ray’s body was not sent home until August 1948, over 3 years after his death, further agony for a grieving American Gold Star Mother. He was buried in DeFuniak Springs and later moved to Florala.

While I never met my uncle, I cherish the letters left behind as they have given me a chance to know him. Like so many of our soldiers defending America, you might say Ray was an ordinary young man dealing heroically with extraordinary circumstances. In his obituary (from my mother’s scrapbook), it says “Ray was loved and respected by all who knew him.

His many friends join his family in the mourning.”. We do recognize Veteran’s Day for its intention: to honor the brave men and women who protect and defend our country. We thank Ray for his ultimate sacrifice and all those who have served before and after.

37 Veterans Magazine

JAMES

J

MCGHEE

ames McGhee was born May 8, 1922, in Andalusia to Eddie and Emma McGhee.

He attended Covington County Training School. He married Hannah Blue on Aril 6, 1943 in Andalusia . At the age of 21, he was drafted. into the Army and completed basic training at Ft. Benning, Ga. After basic, he was assigned to the Army Air Corps and sent to Freeman Field in Seymour, In. There, he found himself with other black aviators, including a group of Tuskegee Airmen who were being trained to fly. James was trained as an aircraft mechanic. While training, James joined the Indiana Service Travel Basketball team, which played other service teams. On one occasion, James and his team played an exhibition game against the Harlem Globetrotters at the Cincinnati Field House. After a brief stay at Freeman Field, he was transferred to Sheppard Field at Wichita, Tx.

where was given advanced training as an aircraft and engine mechanic. He trained at the AAF Technical School for 18 weeks and graduated on Mar 29, 1944. At the AAF School, he worked on both the B-25 and B-26 bombers. He also trained in the 1st and 2nd Echelon Maintenance of the R-2600 and R-2800 radial engines. His responsibilities included the AT-6 and the AT-10 training aircraft as well as the B-26 bomber. After maintenance work was completed, James often flew with the pilots to check out the aircraft.

From Sheppard Field, James was sent to Craig Field in Selma, Al. where he worked with the PLM [Production Line Maintenance] mechanics. Their responsibilities included maintaining and testing the AT-6 and AT-10 training aircraft.

James was honorably discharged on Feb 14, 1946 at Ft. McPhearson, Ga. He received the American Service Medal,

the WW II Victory Medal and the Good Conduct Medal.

James returned to Andalusia and worked at Sessoms Wholesale Grocery and the Alatex, from which he retired.

When James returned to Andalusia, he became interested in flying and became a student pilot on July 6, 1946. He became a certified pilot in November of that year.

James McGhee died on July 3, 2012.

John Vick

38 Veterans Magazine

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39 Veterans Magazine

GLEN

HESS

Glenn C Hess Tribute Posted in honor of Helen Hess’s 104th birthday

L

t. Col. Glenn C Hess was the husband of Helen Hess, a wonderful friend to everyone at the First United Methodist Church in Andalusia. “Hugging” Helen, as she is affectionately known by all of her fellow church members, celebrates her 104th birthday on Feb 26, 2019.

This tribute to Glenn Hess is written, both to honor his service to our country as a member of The Greatest Generation, as well as, to commemorate the life of his devoted wife, Helen.

Glenn Carroll Hess was born in Liberty, Iowa on Feb 2, 1911. His parents were Al and Clara Hess of Liberty. After graduating from Liberty Center High School , Glenn attended Simpson College [a Methodist college] in Indianola, Iowa.

He graduated and then married a fellow student, Helen Frances Fryer, who had attended Simpson College for one year.

Helen was from Villisca, Iowa. Her parents were Fred and Elzene Fryer.

Helen was born Feb 26, 1915 and was 18 years old when she and Glenn married on Sep 30, 1933.

Glenn went to work for the State Welfare Dept. in Des Moines. In 1937, Glenn joined the Iowa National Guard.

He trained with the Guard, part time, until 1941. In Glenn’s own words, “He sensed the inevitability of an approaching war and so he joined the Guard fulltime.”

Glenn had been promoted to 2nd Lieutenant when he was mobilized on Feb 10, 1941, and sent to Camp Claiborne in Louisiana. Helen said, “I moved back to my hometown of Villisca, but I didn’t stay with my parents”.

Glenn underwent a year’s training as a part of the 168th Infantry with the 34th Division in Louisiana. In April 1942, he was promoted to 1st Lt., and was sent overseas . The 34th Division went to

Scotland, Northern Ireland and England where they trained in preparation for the invasion of N. Africa [Operation Torch].

During training aboard ship, Glenn suffered a broken back from a fall. He was sent to a Naval Hospital in Scotland for treatment and rehab. After that, he was sent to N. Africa and assigned to G-4 with the 34, with responsibilities in logistics.

In April 1943, Glenn was promoted to Captain and loaned to II Corps and assigned to Gen. Omar Bradley’s staff.

He also served on Gen. Patton’s staff.

II Corps was involved in seven total campaigns including Sicily, Anzio, Naples-Fogia, Rome-Arno, N. Appinine and Po Valley.

At the close of WWII, Glenn had been promoted to Major and was assigned to the Army of Occupation [part of the 7th Army Headquarters] at Stuttgart, Germany. His responsibilities were Economics and Displaced persons as well as the Military Government in Stuttgart.

Helen joined Glenn in 1946 and he was named Deputy Director of Economics for the Army of Occupation.

They returned to the states in 1948 and Maj. Hess helped set up the ECA Program for Bi-Zonal Germany. He spent the next 4 years with the Plans Division Corps.

While Glenn worked in Washington, DC , they lived close by in Virginia.

During the next several years, Glenn attended the Naval War College in Newport, RI where he was promoted to Lt. Col.; served on the faculty of the Armed Forces Staff College at Norfolk, Va.; and studied French at the Army Language School and attended the US Army Management School at Ft. Belvoir, Va. From 1957-58, Glenn was assigned to the US Military Assistance Group to work with the French government in Cambodia.

We don’t know his duties there but you can bet they were interesting.

In 1958, Glenn, Helen and the family

moved to Huntsville, Al. where he was assigned to Redstone Arsenal. In 1959, the family moved back to Virginia when Glenn became Commanding Officer of the Army Transportation Intelligence Agency.

In 1960, while still living in Virginia, Glenn was assigned to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Headquarters in Washington where he served until his retirement.

While with NASA, Glenn worked with the transportation division including setting up the transportation plans for the International Conference for Peaceful Uses of Outer space. He also worked on the project to maximize utilization of the US Scientific Effort.

Lt. Col. Glenn Hess retired Aug 1, 1962. He and Helen opened an art gallery in Alexandria, Va. After living there a few years, they moved to Falls Church, Va. And opened an art gallery and antique shop, Vickie Marie Imports, named after their daughter, Vickie. Glenn made, among other things, custom chandeliers.

In 1970, they retired and moved to Front Royal. Va. where Glenn managed 2 apartment buildings. Glenn died in Front Royal, on Aug 18, 1994, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.

It is worth noting that Lt. Col. Hess had visited over 35 countries and every state. He had written his resume [parts of which I used here]. He had received the following decorations: Two Bronze Stars, American Defense and American Campaign Medals, European and Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, WWII Victory

40 Veterans Magazine Medal, Army of Occupation Medal [Germany], National Defense Service Medal, Eight overseas bars and the French Croix de Guerre, presented by French Pres. Charles de Gaulle.

In addition to his degree from Simpson College, Glenn Hess had an equivalent degree from the Command and General Staff College in Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas [1948]. He had also graduated from the Army Transportation School, Ft. Eustice, Va. [1951]; the Naval War College, Newport, RI. [1953]; the Armed Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Va. [1954]; the Army Language school, Monterey, Ca. [1956]; and the US Army Management School, Ft. Belvoir, Va. [1959.

After retirement, Glenn became a member of the Shriners and the American Legion.

A

On a departing note to his resume Lt. Col. Hess said, ”I’ve just attended Gen. Omar Bradley’s funeral. I always said that he was the “biggest” man I ever met. That included King George IV, Queen Mary, Prince Umberto of Italy, Lord Mountbatten, Adm. Cunningham [UK], Gens. Smutts, Patton, Marshall, Eisenhower, and Pres. Kennedy. What an endorsement of Gen. Bradley, the man credited with being the architect of Gen. Eisenhower’s plan for the conquest of Germany. These words were spoken by a man who had “seen it all”.

Glenn and Helen had four children: Duane born in 1935, Marvin born in 1936, Patricia [Bettinger] born in 1937 and Vicki [Cryan] born in 1951.

Duane joined the Navy, served three

O.J. BLOUNT

t 18 years of age, O J Blount was drafted into the Army in 1944. He was living in Garnett, Ark. After basic training, he received training as a cook, before shipping to France aboard the SS Sea Robin. His unit marched through France into Germany and was near Nuremburg when the war ended. He was stationed with the 202 Military Police Unit until discharged in 1947 as a Staff Sergeant.

One of his strongest memories was watching US soldiers interrogate German Concentration Camp guards near Dacchau. O J had seen some of the rooms where the Germans had hung prisoners from large hooks hanging on the walls.

He guessed that the US soldiers had seen that and more because they were very rough with the German guards.

One technique was for one interrogator to give a German prisoner a cigarette, question him quietly, then turn him over to another interrogator who slapped the

years, then joined the Air Force where he would retire in 1985 as a Master Sergeant, having served for 23 years.

Marvin married Joy Clark who was a native of Covington County and they moved back here after he retired.

Marvin and Joy bought Helen a home in Andalusia and she moved here in 1996.

Helen still resides there today at age 104.

Her daughter, Vicki, lives with her.

Although this tribute was written for Glenn Hess, Helen’s husband of almost 61 years, it is, as much as anything, a tribute to a wonderful lady who is a loving fixture at the Methodist Church in Andalusia. *Author’s note: I would like to thank Jane Barber for her help in gathering the information on Helen and her family.

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cigarette out of his mouth, sometimes knocking them down. Before leaving Europe, O J was attached to Gen. Mark Clark’s Vienna Honor Guard. It was while with that unit, he met Liliana Kostova, near Salzburg, where she was teaching German to American soldiers. Liliana was from Sofia, Bulgaria. After O J’s O J Blount in Army uniform during WWII discharge, he met Liliana in Canada, where she had emigrated, and they 1970 until being discharged in 1986 as a were married in 1952. O J rejoined the Master Sergeant. While in Knoxville, O Army that year and was sent to Korea.

J worked for the Knoxville Utility Board He remembers being stationed near the while in the Tennessee Air Guard. They 38thparallel when the conflict ended. He then moved to their present location near was discharged in 1954 but joined the the Covington – Escambia County line in Air Force Reserve in 1955 and remained Alabama.. Liliana died in 2008. In 2010, there until 1961. . They lived briefly in O J married Lucy Conklin. Lucy had Louisiana before moving to Knoxville, been widowed from Charles L. Evans of TN. O J and Liliana’s daughter, Neranza, Brewton, AL. Charles was also a WWII was born in Knoxville in 1955 In veteran, having served in the Air Force Knoxville, O J rejoined the Air Force for 20 years. O J and Lucy are the proud at McGee- Tyson AFB. He was a part operators of Queen’s Castle Beekeeping of the 110thTactical Control Unit of Association that produces honey. the Tennessee Air National Guard from

Veterans Magazine

WILBUR GREENE

First published in The Star-News on Dec. 16, 1994.

O

n Dec. 16, 1944, the 420th Armored Field Artillery of the 10th Armored Division received orders to immediately go to Bastogne, Belgium, and assist the Allied forces attempting to hold back nine German divisions. Wilbur Greene of Andalusia was sent to be an artillery observer. Twenty-four hours later, he was a prisoner of war.

Greene joined the National Guard in September 1940 as a member of the 117th Field Artillery with the 31st Infantry Division.

After two years of training, his unit was sent overseas.

“It took us 10 days to get to France,” Greene said. “We stopped in England to refuel and then went on to land at Cherbourg, France. None of us expected what would happen during the next few days. How could we?”

When the 10th Armored Division arrived at Bastogne, they joined Major William DeSobry’s Command Combat Battalion. Fighting continued through that night and all of the next day.

“The Germans tried there times that second day to take over our position, but with our armored infantrymen and my direction of artillery fire from a two story building, we knocked out 16 German tanks,” Greene said. “The German soldiers who weren’t wounded or killed retreated. That night we went over plans for the next day.

“We had barely finished when a 60-ton King Tiger tank barreled through town and fired two 88 millimeter rounds into our building. The shells hit about two feet away from me.

Major DeSobry, two paratroopers and

41

myself were wounded by the shrapnel. I was knocked unconWilbur Greene is shown in Europe, above. Left: In this 1994 scious by the blast.

We were immediately Star-News photo with the medals and maps that acknowlevacuated to the 326th edge his service in the Battle of the Bulge in 1944.

Evacuation Company I don’t think any of the prisoners and the 101st Division questioned his reasons,” Greene said.

Medical Company. They thought we'd “The thing that mattered was that he be safe there, but when we arrived it came to free us.” was overrun with Germans. I woke up Some prisoners were too weak to as the ambulance door opened and saw escape; others made the pest of the cona German soldier. He aimed the gun at fusion and ran for the woods. me and I thought that was it, but anoth“We went running towards the river er German soldier noticed I was an offiand nearly scared some Germans in a cer. They thought I'd be more useful as machine gun nest to pieces,” Greene a prisoner than dead.'' said.

“I don’t know who was more Greene was sent to Stalag 11B in scared, us or them.”

Rheine, Germany. His physi­cal wounds Green was recaptured and set to a healed, but the emotional wounds were stalag in Nuremberg and then to Stalag just opening up.

7A in Mooseburg, where Patton would “It was very disheartening," he said. once again rescue him.

"I didn't think I'd ever see home again.

“I’ll never forget that day. It was It was about three months before they April 19, 1945. Patton standing there let us write letters, but all the letter with his pearl-handled pistols on his could say was ‘I’m fine,' which wasn't hips, looking like he was in complete true. I could have been half dead for all control,” he said.

“His pastor gave each my family really knew. I never gave up, of us a Bible as we left the stalag. He though. Never." may have been a stubborn and someGreene would eventually be sent to times hateful man, but he was a good Stalag 13B in Hammelburg. soldier.

He took care of his men.”

“I really remember how cold it Greene said he still had nightmares was," he said. It was 40 below and you about the stalags and the men who died only had yourself to keep you warm. beside him.

Fortunately, we weren’t there very long.

“Many strong friendships were forged Patton saw to that." during those 34 days,” he said.

General George S. Patton, Jr. would He remained close friends with some, receive criticism for the action he but there were many who did not come would take at Stal 13B. An article in back. the Oct. 15, 1945, edition of Time “I can’t explain how it feels to train magazine openly questioned Patton’s with a group of men for two to three reasons for storming Hammelburg. Was years and then see them killed all it to free the 4,500 Allied prisoners or around you. It’s a bad thing.” to save his son-in-law, who was among the prisoners?

HAROLD PITTMAN

By Rebecca Pittman Powell, his daughter

L

ike most POWs and veterans of war, their experiences aren’t something they talk about. This is the way it was with my dad, T. Harold Pittman from Auburn, Alabama. It wasn’t until 1980 when the POWs from East Alabama organized a group. As experiences began to be shared, slowly, it became easier over time to relate their experiences to each other. Many years later, our family convinced him that his experiences should be recorded. So with cassette recorder running and later transferred to a disc, he sat at a table surrounded by mother, Alice Dowd Pittman, his brothers and sisters, the three of us children, and some cousins. He began to tell his story.

T. Harold Pittman was one of seven children raised on a farm on North College in Auburn. They were no strangers to hard work, close family ties and deep Christian faith. He was a junior at Alabama Polytechnic Institute when World War II broke out. His older brother, James Judson, also a student at API, was the first to enlist in the Army Air Corps. Shortly after that, Harold/Daddy went to enlist. At first, they would not accept him due to his slim build, which caused him to be under the weight limit. After several attempts, he decided to stuff himself with a bunch of bananas and walk immediately to the scales. This is ultimately how he made it into the Army Air Force. “The amount of patriotism and love of country was evident when looking at how determined he was to make it into the war to do his part as a citizen, son, and husband. Sot it was also with the younger Pittman boys … Louis Lyman, Merchant Marine, and John Reid, U.S. Navy, Korean War.

Because of his two years plus as a student at API and his aptitude, he met the qualifications for pilot. He trained at Maxwell Air College in Montgomery, Alabama, and at other bases to further his training. Being a junior in college allowed him to be an officer Harold Pittman when his training was complete … Lt. Pittman.

When he was sent to England, he would pilot B17 bombers. His brother, James Judson, was a waist and ball turret gunner on a B24.

When the servicemen arrived in England, they were issued bicycles as a means to get around.

“One afternoon at 2, we noticed everyone on the base walking out to a field and looking toward the English Channel some 20 miles away. We learned that the planes that had gone out on a mission that morning would be returning. This was called “Sweating it Out.” A loud speaker would announce that the planes were crossing the English Channel. The first planes to land were the ones that had fired red flares signifying wounded on board. Other planes with gaping holes, etc., were the next to land.

Although it seemed peaceful in England, this made us realize that the end of the runway was the battle zone,” Pittman said.

Judson and Daddy’s bases were about 10 miles apart. One weekend, they decided to meet and ride into London for the weekend.

Dad didn’t remember what they did, but “just being together was the main thing.”

“When the weekend was over, we rode

back halfway between our bases. I was at Nattashow and Judson at Old Buckenham I watched as Judson rode to the top of the hill, turned his bike sideways, and we waved at each other. (At that point, Daddy broke down). This scene is etched in my mind forever.”

This would be the last time they would ever see each other. The next day, they would be sent on a fateful bombing mission.

The morning of May 8, 1977, began as usual for the Pittman crew (Crews were named for the pilot) and other B17 bomber crews stationed in England.

“We were awakened at 4 a.m. by the CO. We dressed and cycled to breakfast through the heavy fog that always covered the island in the early morning. From breakfast, we went to the briefing where we learned what the weather would be and then we were shown what the garget for the day was to be. The airfields north of Breman, “Little B.” “Some 2,000 B17 and B24 bombers were to fly the mission. My navigator and the bombardier were asked to stay for Continued, next page

43 Veterans Magazine further briefing while I and the rest of the crew were in the bomber completing all the pre-flight checks. When the navigator and bombardier returned to the plane, they said, “We’re gong to ‘Big B’ (Berlin). The mention of Big B brought a quietness over the crew. Berlin was the most heavily fortified target. We knew that between 750 to 1,000 flak guns would be waiting. We also knew that the last 30 miles would be flown straight and level over their guns. The flak would be so thick it seemed one could get out and walk on it. The flight up until then had been flown in a zigzag pattern, because it was known where most of the anti-aircraft guns were and we could try to avoid those known areas. All the while flying in formation with other bombers.

“That day, our bombers had maximum fuel and bomb load. The fog was still so thick it was almost impossible to see the next bomber ahead. I turned into take off position. The plane ahead rolled down the runway out of sight in the fog. I counted the 30 seconds, pushed the throttle against the stops for full power, released the brake and the plane lumbered down the runway.

On this type of takeoff, you just watch for the runway light at the end of the runway and pull back the steering columns and hope the plane takes off. We climbed at exactly 500 feet per minute at 150 miles per hour on an exact heading … knowing exactly 30 seconds ahead and 30 seconds behind was another B17. From airfields all over England and there was one at each little town, some 2,000 other planes were streaming upward through paths crossing and criss-crossing in the fog, but none at the same altitude. If each pilot flew his plane correctly at 8,000 feet, the plane broke out of the fog into the clear, blue sky. There was more beautiful sight or awe-inspiring sight than to break out of the fog into the early morning sunlight and blue sky. As far as the eye could see as the billowy top of the fog blanket stretching like a huge snowfield from horizon to horizon. Out of the fog blanket, planes were emerging in the long, thin lines that began to form in squadrons, groups, wings and by 9 a.m. into one huge Air Force.

“Shortly after crossing over the German border, two planes in our squadron were knocked down by flak. I moved our plane into one of the vacant spots. No sooner had we taken that position in the group than a flak burst set fire to No. 3 engine.

Each engine has its own fire extinguisher and the button was pushed, switch was out and feathered the prop. I advanced the throttle on the other engines and tried to hold position. The formation was at 25,000 feet, climbing at 500 feet per minute. With only three engines, one turning slowly, we fell behind band became sitting ducks for German fighters. At the briefing we had been promised fighters, but nowhere were they to be seen - friendly P51s or P47s.

Twelve German fighters with the leading edges of their wings spouting fire. There was a deafening roar of our B17s. Fifty caliber machine guns as they spouted bullets at the oncoming fighters. The first two fighters erupted in flames. I looked at right wing. The fighters’ 20 mm shells were hitting our wing and exploding 110 octane gasoline poured out of the wing tank in a flaming inferno. Shells were ripping through the instrument panel. The panel seemed to be disintegrating bit by bit. A 20 mm shell exploded in the co-pilots stomach area, but the flak suit was not penetrated. Fragments did tear his left hand. I ordered the crew to bail out. The bombardier, co-pilot, navigator, top turret gunner and radio operator went through the escape hatch behind my seat. I held the plane as best I could until the control panel went limp. I put on my chute and started toward the hatch, but was met with flamers. I turned toward the bomb bay, but the bombs were still there. They hadn’t been released so I could exit. I have been as scared as anyone in battle, but that that moment there was no fear in me. There was only the hollow sound of my voice saying quietly, ‘This is it.’

“I didn’t remember much until much later, that I went back to my seat where another bomb release was and as I reached for it, I must have passed out. We were at too high an altitude to be without oxygen as long as I had been. The plane exploded When I came to, I was looking up at a blue sky, a hard

wind at my back, my arms and legs were spread out, my tattered suit was flapping in the wind and there were pieces of airplane floating down and around me. I instinctively pulled the cord and my chute jerked me to a stop. Only then did I look down. I must have been no more than 300 to 400 feet above the ground when my chute opened. I felt God saved me twice that day when the plane exploded and when I woke up in time to open my chute.

“I landed in a field where a Polish worker helped me out of my chute and opening my first aid pack, he put a tourniquet on my arm to shop bleeding. A German soldier riding on a bicycle came to where I had landed, put me on his bicycle, and took me to the nearest town. He sat me on a curb and rode off. The town was quiet until the air raid all clear siren went off and people began to emerge from shelters. They had been told

by Hitler that the U.S. fliers were bombing hospitals, churches and schools, which of course, was false. So the people were angry and began shouting at me, ‘Mord flyer, Mord flyer!’ which meant ‘murder flyer.’

“Just in time, the soldier returned and had me walk closely behind him. A third time that day, I believe God saved me. You see, the soldiers had been told by Hitler and the SS, if the people want to kill the Americans, let them. This soldier stepped in and saved my life.

“I was then taken to a fenced-in yard where I was reunited with my crew that survived and those that didn’t.

“The co-pilot and I were taken to a hospital in Breman where we spent the next six weeks recuperating from our wounds.

We were then interned in a prisoner of war camp at Stalag Luft III. My brother, Judson, was shot down and was killed on the same mission. A day that started out as usual ended in a most unusual way.

“In prison camp, we had very little to eat.

Red Cross parcels would reach us when possible and we (our prison group of eight) would ration this out, not knowing when the next parcel would arrive. The Germans were low on food also, since so many railways Continued, next page

Veterans Magazine

had been destroyed. They fed us potatoes and vegetables in a broth when possible and whatever they could.

“We were interned at Stalag Luft III South Camp until the invading Russians were closing in. Then, we were marched through the snow, with insufficient clothing, for days. We slept in barns and wherever a place could be found. We prisoners were not the only ones making this trek. Men, women, children of all ages were fleeing

the Russians, also. Feet were wet from snow and would freeze. People were falling aside and it was so hard not to stop and help them. We finally made it to another Stalag where we remained until we were liberated in person by General George Patton on May 8, 1945.”

After the war, he remained in the Air Force Reserves, spending two weeks in the summers on active duty and studying for tests at our dining table. He retired Lt. Col.

44

Theophilus Harold Pittman.

Pittman received the Purple Heart and the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was never debriefed because the war was over when he returned to the Air Force, but he likely would also have received the Congressional Medal of Honor.

After the war, he completed his undergraduate and master’s degrees at Auburn, and worked with the USDA. He was active into his 90s. ■

FLETCHER JONES

By John Vick

F

letcher Jones is a native of Barbour County. His family moved to Miami near the beginning of World War II. His brother joined the Marine Corps and Fletcher tried to do the same. Since he was only 17, his parents refused to sign the papers.

“I was a real volunteer,” Jones recalled in a 2015 interview. “I wanted to go. I told my daddy, ‘I want to get in this thing before the big fight is over.’

He was only 17 at the time, and his father said, “No,” adding that having one son in the war effort was enough.

But Jones prevailed upon his mother, who agreed to take him to the Post Office to sign up. He couldn’t become a Marine like his older brother because they required permission from both parents; but the Navy would take him with only his mother’s blessing, and 17-year-old Fletcher Jones became a sailor.

Upon completion of basic training at Great Lakes Illinois, he was sent by train to Camp Parks, CA. for trying as a Seabee [Naval Construction Battalion].

He became a member of the 40th

Seabees and shipped out to Saipan for their first assignment. The 40th was tasked with building facilities for base operations as well as runways for planes. In Spring of 1945, Fletcher and the 40th shipped out to Okinawa, to perform the same jobs there.

Jones said they arrived about two weeks after the Battle of Iwo Jima, and he later learned that in the Battle for Iwo Jima, which America wanted as a staging ground for troops, his older brother was one of five Marines left standing.

During his time in Okinawa, Fletcher and the other soldiers on the ground there, were subjected to one of the most intense Pacific typhoons ever recorded.

Fletcher and many of buddies survived by taking cover in a cave on high ground.

Most of the facilities the Seabees had built were destroyed along with many ships at

sea. The entire operations complex had to be rebuilt.

After the war, Fletcher finished high school and enrolled at the University of Alabama. After receiving his undergraduate degree, he entered law school, and received his law degree. He and Jean (nee Bradley) married about that time and have been married for 65 years. They moved to Andalusia where he practiced law and Jean became an English teacher at Andalusia High. ■

Veterans Magazine

45

RAY BUTLER

M

By Irene Butler

arch of 1943 was something of a whirlwind for Covington County native Ray Allen Butler. He entered the U.S. Army on March 19, was married to Irene Davis on March 22, and left for service March 27.

He was sent to Camp Haan, California, near Riverside for basic training.

Private Butler was assigned to “C” Battery of the 783rd Battalion of Coast Artillery Automatic Weapons. He was stationed at Camp Haan for 13 months where his wife joined him in September.

When he was shipped overseas on June 7, 1944, his wife returned home.

The following is Butler’s recounting of his military experience.

“When I shipped out on the USS Republic, along with 21,000 other soldiers plus the ship’s crew, we spent 21 days on the high seas and ended up on New Caledonia in the South Pacific.

It was a beautiful city by the name of Noumea, which was called “The Paris of the Pacific.” This was the last attractive place I would see for many months.

I was placed in a replacement depot. In a few days, I boarded an old freighter, and the next stop was New Hebrides from where we went to Guadalcanal. From there, it took three days sailing to get to Bauganville. (Philippines) We only held about six miles on the tip of this island for an air base from which we kept the Japanese held up in the mountains.

Sometimes they would make a drive, and some of our anti-aircraft guns would have to join the infantry line to help stop them.

“At Bauganville, Gillium Adams from Antioch and I had been to a movie one night, and afterwards I walked off into a 10-foot hole caused by heavy rains.

Some Australian soldiers came along and helped pull me out. I only had a badly sprained ankle. When we left the

location, we left the Australians in charge. We were told later that the Japs almost drove them into the sea.

“Our next stop was at Lae on New Guinea. From there we moved to the Admiralty Isles, located on the Equator where it rains every day. We spent Christmas Day 1944 there.

“On January 9 we invaded the Island of Louzon in the Philippines at LinGayen Gulf. The First Infantry Ray Allen Butler’s World War II Service. soldiers hit the island at 10 a.m., and I waded ashore at 11 a.m. Our always came on Sundays to conduct ser40 mm gun was the first 40 to hit inland, but it was almost dark when it got vices for the 15 of us. He also went to all the other gun sections with only one jeep there. I had been left there to take charge driver and a 50-caliber machine gun mountof the gun along with a few other boys ed on it. From Taal, we went into Manila who were the gun crew. My job was on proper and set up on top of Pier 7, which the director, which aimed the gun by reached about one-fourth mile into Manila electricity created by a portable generaBay. We were here when a ship with Mrs. tor. Both the gun crew and generator MacArthur and her furniture docked bringcrew were under my command along ing her to join “Dugout-Doug.” It was also with the director crew. About dark, the from here that I had gone to church services lieutenant came back from our prearranged gun placement looking for us, but at the International Trade Center. The entire top had been bombed off on Easter Sunday we met him on the way. All the roads in 1945, the time we heard that Franklin D. this area were built on fishpond dams.

Roosevelt was dead.

These were created because the natives “From here we moved to the end of fished for a living.

Nichols Field to guard it against air attacks “One night, some of the locals brought where we were when the war ended, us some baked fish, which still had their October 1945.

We moved several more heads on and guts in them. I decided I times after this but not as a fighting unit. I did not like fish, but we appreciated the ended up guarding Japanese prisoners at a food because it was all they had to offer. prisoner of war camp near Batangus where When we left there between stops along my job was to check out work crews each the way to Manila, the Filipinos would morning.

A Japanese officer would come to be along the roads giving the “V” sign the camp gate each morning, pop his heels with two fingers and saying, “Victory, together, salute, and say, Morning, Sir.” Joe!” We were all G.I. Joes to them.

I would then assign the soldiers to work “We stopped near San Migual where crews. we guarded General MacArthur’s “On January 1, 1946, about sun-up, we Headquarters at a little place called left Manila on the USS Allendale, and about Taal, where I made a friend who was an sunup on January 17 we passed under the attorney in Manilla. He invited me and a Golden Gate Bridge, which was a beautiful friend called Hall to lunch one Sunday. sight.

When we arrived in San Francisco, “When things were rough, a captain we went directly from the ship to a ferry

Veterans Magazine

services for the 15 of us. He also went to all the other gun sections with only one jeep driver and a 50-caliber machine gun mounted on it. From Taal, we went into Manila proper and set up on top of Pier 7, which reached about one-fourth mile into Manila Bay. We were here when a ship with Mrs. MacArthur and her furniture docked bringing her to join “Dugout-Doug.” It was also from here that I had gone to church services at the International Trade Center. The entire top had been bombed off on Easter Sunday 1945, the time we heard that Franklin D. Roosevelt was dead.

“From here we moved to the end of Nichols Field to guard it against air attacks where we were when the war ended, October 1945. We moved several more times after this but not as a fighting unit. I ended up guarding Japanese prisoners at a prisoner of war camp near Batangus where my job

was to check out work crews each morning.

A Japanese officer would come to the camp gate each morning, pop his heels together, salute, and say, Morning, Sir.” I would then assign the soldiers to work crews.

“On January 1, 1946, about sun-up, we left Manila on the USS Allendale, and about sunup on January 17 we passed under the Golden Gate Bridge, which was a beautiful sight. When we arrived in San Francisco, we went directly from the ship to a ferry to travel 30 miles up the river to Camp Stoneman. As we came in sight of the landing for the camp, the ferry grounded on a sandbar. We had to wait for the tide to come in and float us off the next morning. It was freezing cold with no heat, no place to sleep and nothing to eat. When we finally arrived at the camp, we had a good meal and then boarded a converted cattle car for Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where I

46

was discharged.

“The medals and ribbons I earned were burned when we lost our former house in 1981. Among them were the Good Conduct Ribbon, Philippines Liberation Ribbon, Marshall Island and Soloman Island Ribbons, and others. I also had received four Bronze Battle Stars. I had three Hash Marks on my blouse sleeve, one for each six-months in the combat area. On the right shoulder, I wore the AA Patch, which was for Anti-Aircraft, and on the left shoulder was the Fifth Air Force. These were treasured reminders of my service in defending our great country.”

Editor’s note: Butler died in an automobile accident on June 29, 2006.

CHRISTOPHER

LAWSON

C

hristopher Lawson entered the U.S. Marine Corps after graduating from high school in 1992, and rose to the rank of major in his 22 years of service.

During his 22 years of active duty, he was stationed in Quantico, Va.; Parris Island, S.C.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Gainseville, Fla.; Cherry Point, N.C.; Whidbey Island, Wash.; Pensacola; Iwakuni, Japan; and San Antonio, Texas.

He was deployed in 2007 to WestPac in Iwakuni, Japan; and in 2008 and again in 2009 to Al Asad Air Base in Iraq.

He received the Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal (5th Award), Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, Navy and Marine Achievement Medal (3rd Award), Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism, Drill Instructor Ribbon, Recruiter Ribbon, Navy Unit Commendation, Navy Meritorious Commendation, Sea Service Deployment (3rd Award), Overseas Ribbon, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal (3rd Award), and National Defense Medal (2nd Award).

His last duty station was Quantico,

Va., where he served in the Marine Corps Recruiting Command.

He also earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Auburn University in 2002, and currently is employed at the Andalusia Social Security Administration office.

Lawson is the son of Dige and Patricia Lawson of the Pleasant Home community.

He and his wife, Renee, have two sons, Blake, 19, a University of Alabama student; and Brian, 17, a senior at Pleasant Home High School. ■

47 Veterans Magazine

CHARLIE BASS

L

t. Charles C. Bass, Jr. talking about what might have Charles “Charlie” Bass grew been had he returned to Atlanup on Peachtree Street in Atlanta. ta after the war and resumed He was graduated from Tech High School his old job and continued with in 1937 and attended the University of his education. However, it is Georgia Evening School of Commerce certain that Andalusia would while he held a daytime job at the U. S. F. not be what it is today had & G. Insurance Company until World War Charlie and Marge not chosen II broke out. In the spring of 1942, Charlie the small town way of life. entered the Navy and trained to be a Navy Charlie was a pioneer in the pilot earning his wings. self-storage field constructing He first instructed at Whiting Field in the first mini-storage units in Marge and Charlie Bass in New Orleans on their honMilton near Pensacola and was actually Covington County. He built eymoon, August 1944 the first pilot to land at the new Whiting a number of post WWII Field. Toward the latter part of the war, he the Andalusia Kiwanis was stationed at Alameda N.A.S. near San Club, a past-president of Francisco and served in the Pacific Theatre the Andalusia Area Chamof operation with the N.A.T.S. (Naval Air ber of Commerce (1979), Transportation Service) flying into all of and a past Post Commandthe islands delivering blood and supplies er of the American Legion as well as transporting the wounded from and the VFW. He was both war zones back to hospitals in Hawaii and a Mason and a Shriner and Australia. was honored to receive a After his death a close friend of Char50-year member pin. He lie’s wrote to his children saying, “One served as a deacon at the Charlie Bass flying an SN- J One of these is housed in doesn’t have to tell Charlie about God First Presbyterian Church the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola. for he has had God in the co-pilot’s seat for a number of years havto guide him over thousands of miles of ing grown up in the North water to the islands and back home again.” residential dwellings and several commerAvenue Presbyterian Church.

One Sunday on a weekend jaunt to cial buildings. He served two terms on the After returning to civilian life, Bass Andalusia with some fellow naval officers Andalusia City Council from 1947-1955 served as a lieutenant in the Naval Reserve from Pensacola, Charlie met a beautiful where he helped develop and establish for several years. As the years passed he young college girl home for the summer, the Andalusia Memorial Cemetery and often stated that serving in the military was Marge Brunson. They were introduced the Andalusia-Opp Airport both of which the best thing he ever did that enabled him on the front steps of the old First Baptist properties were purchased during Mayor to have a successful career in business.

Church downtown. At the end of the 1944 Scherf’s term prior to the Wilder adminAt his death in 2003 at the age of almost summer, they were married in a home istration. He served as chairman of the 85 years, he was survived by his wife, wedding.

Andalusia Airport Authority from 1947four children, nine grandchildren, three After the war, they returned to Anda1980. Also, during his council term, the great-grandchildren, and a sister. His lusia, Marge’s hometown, to live, and in city built the Andalusia Municipal Stadium epitaph reads, “GOOD NIGHT, SWEET January 1946, Charlie established Bass (1950) and the “little” building annexes PRINCE…FLIGHTS OF ANGELS SING Agency where he had a long career in at East Three Notch School and Church THEE TO THY REST!” insurance and real estate.

Street School.

Throughout his life, Charlie never quit Charlie Bass was a charter member of

Veterans Magazine

CHARLEY COPE

48

By John Vick

C

.P. “Charley” Cope grew up in Montgomery, Alabama, and attended Baldwin Junior High School. He enlisted in the Navy in 1944, when he was in the 9th grade. He was 15, but got his mother to sign papers saying he was 17.

Charley said that when he was discharged in 1946, he was 17 and only then, legally eligible to be in the Navy. After basic training at Great Lakes Naval Base, Charles was sent to San Francisco where the USS Graffias [AF 29] was stationed. The Graffias was a refrigerated supply ship. From San Francisco they sailed to Honolulu where they loaded supplies and then sailed for Ulithi in the Caroline Islands in the South Pacific. There they supplied the fleet for several months.

Near the end of the war, the Graffias came alongside the USS Randolph [CV 15], which had been damaged by a

Japanese kamikaze.

Author’s note: See the article on J Max Walker, also with Andalusia connections. The late Jurrel Davis, of Andalusia, also served on the Randolph in the 1950s. When this author (John Vick) reported aboard the Randolph, as a newly commissioned ensign in 1962, he noted that the propeller from the kamikaze, was still mounted on the forward bulkhead in the hanger bay.)

Charles Cope was discharged in 1946 and returned to Montgomery, where graduated from the Hurt Military School. He then attended Auburn [then Ala. Polytechnic Institute] for two years before he re-enlisted in the Navy. This time he was sent to the USS Bradford [DD 545], a Navy destroyer, where he remained for four years, He was a Gunners Mate 3rd class [GM3] when he left the Navy.

He went back to Auburn and graduated

Charley Cope USS Graffias with a degree in Ag Science in 1956. His first job after graduation was with the Farmers Home Administration [FHA], and he chose Andalusia over Dothan when given the choice of location. After nine months, he joined Liberty National Insurance as an independent agent.

He married Mary Ann in 1955 and they had three children. Mary Ann died in 2013 and Charles died in 2018. ■

RALPH GERALD DUNN

R

alph Gerald Dunn [Gerald] was born in Andalusia in 1947. He attended Andalusia Schools and graduated from HS in 1966. He attended Auburn for a year before enlisting in the Army in Oct. 1967. After finishing basic training in Ft. Jackson, S.C., he underwent specialized advanced infantry training at Ft. Gordon, Georgia. After that he was sent to NCO and Airborne School at Ft. Benning, Georgia. After earning the rank of Sgt., Gerald departed for Vietnam in November 1968.

After arriving in Vietnam, Sgt. Dunn was assigned to K Company, 75th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division. On Feb. 16, 1969, he took part in an operation with the 57th Assault Helicopter Co. which were tasked with inserting a Long

Range Reconnaissance Patrol Team into a landing zone near Polei Kleng in Kontum Province, Republic of Vietnam. While attempting a landing, their aircraft, a US Army helicopter, UH-1D Iroquois, received ground fire from the enemy. The pilot, WO1 Normand P. Perron, tried to climb out of the landing zone but reported that his controls were damaged. The aircraft then began a slow, spiral descent and crashed and burned. All four crew members were killed as well as the four Army Rangers aboard including Sgt. Gerald Dunn.

Ralph and Betty Dunn were notified of their son’s death six days later.

Not long after that, Sgt. Dunn’s body, accompanied by a military escort, was flown to San Francisco then on to

Montgomery where it was met by personnel from Foreman’s Funeral Home.

Sgt. Dunn was given a funeral with full military honors a few days later. Besides his parents, Ralph and Betty, Sgt. Dunn was survived by two brothers, Benny and Patrick. *Some material was sourced from coffeltdatabase.org and vhpa.org.

49 Veterans Magazine

H

HARVEY BASS

By John Vick

arvey Bass, Jr., who currently lives in Florala, was born in Freeport, Fla., in 1921. His family moved to Florala and Harvey attended Florala schools. He quit high school and went to work for Jackson Lumber Co. He enlisted in the National Guard in 1940 and went through basic training.

After that, he was assigned to Company C, 117th Field Artillery, headquartered in Andalusia. He was trained as a radio operator, an automotive mechanic, a light truck driver and as a cook. When his Guard unit was activated in 1943, he was working as a cook. He had been assigned to the 631st Tank Destroyer Battalion when he was deployed to Europe in July 1943. Immediately after their arrival in England, they were shipped to France where they camped in the Bergan forest. Mr. Bass said that they were a part of Gen. Patton’s army at the time. Their

movement always seemed slow because Gen. Patton’s tanks were always running out of fuel. As a cook, Bass felt he played an important role, even though he was not in the thick of battle. He remembered the quote attributed to Frederick the Great and Napoleon, “An Harvey Bass, Jr. in MP uniform with the Army travels on its stomach.”

512th Military Police Battalion, top and Normally, his kitchen was feeding left; Mr. Bass at home in Florala, holding about 160 men and he says he never the Mobile Register announcing the end of remembers running out of food. As his the war, and in his uniform. company travelled on through Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany, Bass occa[E 4] and received campaign ribbons sionally served as an MP [military police] for the Northern France Campaign, the with the 512th Military Police unit. Their Battle of the Ardennes, and the Rhineland duties included guiding traffic for the Campaign. moving units and guarding the rear of He was also awarded four bronze stars.

Gen. Patton’s army as they marched into He was discharged in Oct. 1945.

Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge.

He married Clara Mae McVay and they Bass said that his unit was 45 miles from were married for 72 years until her death the front when the battle broke out in late in 2017.

1944.

Mr. Bass is 97 years young. ■ Bass was promoted to Tech Sergeant

JOHNNY

PORTEMONT

By Scott Hooper

John Portemont, Jr. was born in Brazil, IN on August 21,1921. He graduated Ven Buren High School in 1939. He sought employment in Detroit, MI and was working there when WWII broke out.

He was drafted into the U.S. Marines in 1943. Johnny trained in North Carolina at Camp Lejeune. His unit was deployed in the Pacific conflict and Johnny saw combat in Tarawa, Saipan, Tinian, and Okinawa.

Johnny and his outfit waited on Okinawa with the expectation of invading

Japan. Thanks to the power of the atomic and hydrogen bombs, the war ended upon Japan’s surrender in August 1945. Johnny returned to Brazil in January of 1946 and married the love of his life, Marilyn Terry, shown in the picture on their wedding day April 13, 1946. The Portemonts were in the show business for many years thereafter where they owned and operated Johnny’s United Shows.

Johnny passed away on December 23,1996. He survived one of the most vicious times in America’s pursuits, the

Pacific War against Japan. Johnny and Marilyn have four children and made Andalusia their home in 1961.

Johnny was well known by those who knew him best as a true American who respected the truth, justice, and the American way. Johnny was a member of the Shirners International. ■

Veterans Magazine

50

WILLIAM GARY

CUMBIE, MD

T

he idea of becoming a physician was planted early in the life of Dr. William Gary Cumbie, the second of four children born to Emma Gary and James Lewis Cumbie in the small town of Morris, Georgia. After the untimely death of his father when Gary was 12 years old, his mother, a devout Baptist, moved the family to Troy, Alabama, where she took a job at the Baptist Children's Home. Thus, the Children's Home became the home of the family.

After graduating from Troy High School, Gary enrolled in the University of Alabama. Following graduation in two years (at that time), he transferred and graduated from the Medical School of Tulane University. During his planned residency in surgery under Dr. Ochsner of the now well-known Ochsner Clinic in New Orleans, the residency was interrupted by World War II with the call of the U.S. Army for medical personnel.

According to letters which Dr. Cumbie had begun writing home to his widowed mother, her now only son made the most of his time during his Army training in camps in Texas, Louisiana, Washington and then in his medical service abroad in Burma and India. (Much of the information for the present report is taken from his handwritten letters to and gratefully saved by his mother and sister. These letters include not just the sobering experiences of war but also Dr. Cumbie's apparent ability to find and relate moments of awe and appreciation for his life's work.) He writes always

with optimism in getting to have the experience of travelling and seeing new places, adding that his fellow soldiers in the Washington camp "were fascinated with his Southern accent." During this period he was promoted to the status of Captain in the Army Medical Corp and included several unexpected months as temporary commander of his unit.

In early 1944, Dr. Cumbie was assigned as physician to a medic's station within the jungles of Burma. This assignment placed him in service to the company known as Merrill's Marauders under the command of the now-famed Gen. Joseph Stilwell. His primary assignment was that of providing medical assistance to the troops who were building through Burma an extension of the China- India "Ledo Road" to be used as a route for war supplies. In one of his letters from Burma, he writes "one has to be here and see to appreciate just what these boys on the front lines are taking." In another letter he writes that "we treat the Japanese soldiers just as we do our own," while expressing the satisfaction of having performed a skillful surgery on a Japanese soldier and adding, "we take care of the Japs just as we do our own soldiers."

In another, "We've had the opportunity of treating practically every type of wound imagineable." And in another, "There is a certain amount of satisfaction one gets out of this work that I can't describe."

This assignment continued during 1944 until the fall of Myitkyina, Burma.

In October of that year while travelling

to an assignment that took Dr. Cumbie and his mule- back escort through the jungle, he contracted typhus fever, an apparently rampant and often fatal disease from which a number of soldiers died.

He was sent back to camp for treatment and was then air lifted to another facility in which he was hospitalized. After some three weeks in a diminished state of consciousness, he awoke to discover a medical school classmate working in that facility. Dr. James Donald, on recognizing Gary, wrote to Mrs. Cumbie, his mother, who had not received her son's usual correspondence in weeks, to inform her of her son's recent condition and his present recovery status.

After sufficient recovery, Dr. Cumbie was sent on assignment to a hospital in New Delhi, India. His last letters home indicated great pleasure in the luxury of working in such a facility. He wrote "Would sure like to be on my way home, but in the meantime I'll live here like a king."

After some unspecified period of time of this service, he gratefully arrived safely in the U.S. where he began private medical practice, initially in Moultrie, Georgia, and then in Andalusia, Alabama, for the next 35 years.

51 Veterans Magazine

E

ELAND ANTHONY

By John Vick

land Anthony was born July 14, 1923, and grew up in Troy or near there. He graduated from Troy High School in 1941 before it was Charles Henderson High School. He enrolled at VMI in Lexington, Va., to study engineering.

He was drafted after two years and sent to Camp McCoy in Wisconsin for basic training. While there, his application for Officer Candidate School was approved and he was sent to Ft. Benning, Ga. After completing OCS, he was commissioned a 2nd Lt. and he and Jane were married. He then completed Infantry Officers School at Ft. Benning. Not sure when, but he said he attended Camp Buckner, S.C. for basic training. At some point he went to Ft. McClellan in Anniston for two months.

He then received orders to travel to Europe and join the war. He shipped out from Boston on the Ile de France with 15,000 men and landed in northern France.

They were sent by truck to Belgium near Bastogne within days of the start of the German offensive that came to be called the Battle of the Bulge.

When his Company arrived at Bastogne, he saw a sight he says he will never forget. The U.S. casualties from the battle had been stacked up like so much firewood [the weather was way below freezing]. Anthony said to himself, “That may be us in a few days.” From there, his company marched into Germany. It was during this time that Eland was involved in an action that resulted in his being awarded the Silver Star, the nation’s third highest award behind the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Service Cross.

As Eland tells it – his company was assigned the job of securing and holding Belsdorf, Germany.

While moving toward the town, his

company was pinned down within a 300yard area of open terrain between them and a German machine gun nest. Col. Golden, his Regimental Commander, turned to Anthony and said, “Lieutenant, take your platoon and see what’s holding us up.” Anthony moved his platoon forward, on their bellies, until several of his men were shot. At that point he told his men to stay where they were while he attempted to find the machine gun. He sprinted forward to a building for cover.

From there he maneuvered to a spot, giving him a full view of the machine gun nest, and then proceeded to unload his weapon, killing four or five , with the remainder running away. He then called his platoon forward. For his actions, Eland was recommended for the Silver Star by his Regimental Commander, Col. Golden.

As his company continued their march into Germany, Eland had two experiences that left an indelible mark on his memory.

The first experience happened as he and his platoon entered a fairly open field coming out of the woods. They spotted what appeared to be bodies, lying in a field nearby. Eland took his sergeant with him to check out the bodies. There were about 12 men, in concentration camp clothing, bound hand and feet, blindfolded, and shot in the back of the head. The blood still flowed from their wounds, indicating that they had been shot recently.

Beyond the horror of what they had just seen, Eland and his men realized just how close the German soldiers were. As it turned out, the field where the men had been executed was only about two miles from Dachau, the German concentration camp. His unit entered Dachau the next day and was the second American unit to enter. The memories of Dachau were horrendous. As the Americans approached,

Eland Anthony WWII veteran the German guards had nailed boards over the doors and windows of some of the barracks, doused them with gasoline and set them on fire.

The smell of burning human flesh was horrible. Those who survived the fires were little more than human skeletons.

They wore rags for clothes and they had rags bound on their feet, since they had no shoes. His company only stayed in Dachau about an hour. Before they departed, they left all their K rations with the inmates. The sight of these poor people [and they were the lucky ones] remained with Eland for many years.

Other skirmishes followed, but Eland felt that his company was very lucky. They were part of the 4th Infantry Regiment that was poised to attack the town of Rothenberg. Before they received an order to attack, they were told to “stand down.”

The mayor of the city had sent a message to the Americans that he would have all the German soldiers leave and that he would surrender, if the U.S. forces would hold their fire.

Eland and his company were thankful that another deadly battle was avoided through the brave actions of the town’s mayor.

Not too long after that, the war ended.

Eland was discharged in June 1945. He and Jane moved to Andalusia where his parents had moved. He took a job selling lumber but after he, Jane and his father bought the Commercial Bank, he began his banking career.

Eland and Jane had five children: Richard [Ginny], David [Angela], Bill

Veterans Magazine

[Happy], Katherine Dubose [Terry] and Elizabeth, “Liz” Starr [Sam]. Jane died in 2013. ■ *Author’s special note: In finishing this article on Eland Anthony, I needed to ask his daughter, Liz Starr, a few questions. When I called Liz on the night of Oct. 23rd, she was visiting with Eland in the nursing home. Eland had fallen the week before, had surgery on his hip and was doing rehab in the nursing home.

Liz asked her dad the questions I had and he gave me what I needed. Sadly, Eland passed away the next day in the nursing home.

The funeral service for Eland Anthony was held on Oct. 27, 2018, at the First United Methodist Church of Andalusia with the Rev. Jim Carpenter and the Rev. Dr. Jason Thrower officiating.

In addition to his five children and their spouses, he is survived by 13 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

52

Our town has lost another one of those special men that belonged to that Greatest Generation.

Our nation owes our everlasting appreciation and gratitude to those young men and women who stepped forward in her defense when she was attacked. John Vick Oct. 2018

DARWIN PIPPIN

D

By John Vick

arwin Pippin was born June 5, 1923. He was educated in the Andalusia City Schools. He attended Andalusia High School before enlisting in the US Navy. After basic training, Darwin was trained as a Gunner’s Mate, with anti-aircraft guns. His wartime assignment was aboard a merchant ship, the SS Carl Zachary Webb, a victory ship used for transporting cargo.

Darwin’s post aboard ship was an anti-aircraft gun used to fire on planes that attacked the ship. During his time aboard the Webb, Darwin said that they circumnavigated the globe at least three times. Many of their trips originated in the United States, sailed around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa and into the Indian Ocean. One frequent stop was Karamshaw, Iran. Lend Lease supplies bound for the Soviet Union were offloaded at Karamshaw, trucked up through the Persian Corridor and delivered to Russia.

Darwin remembered that most of their Atlantic crossings was undertaken with other ships that made up convoys, which

gave greater protection from German U boats. Their ship was never attacked, but he remembered several other ships being torpedoed. Darwin remembered celebrating his 21st birthday aboard ship on the eve of D-Day, the Normandy Invasion.

The Webb transported men to the beaches all day long the next day. Having a big part in the D-Day invasion was special memory for Darwin.

On other trips, the Webb passed through the Panama Canal, loaded supplies from the West Coast or Honolulu, and delivered them to many Naval bases in the South Pacific. When he left the Navy, he was a GM1 [Gunners Mate First Class], After the war, Darwin returned home and married Dorothy Perkins Taylor in 1947. He attended Auburn [then Alabama Polytechnic Institute] and studied Mechanical Engineering. He and Dorothy moved to Andalusia and opened T-P Flower and Gift Shop and ran it many years.

After it was sold, he joined TPS, the warehouse division of Taylor Parts.

Dorothy died in 1990. She and Darwin

Darwin Pippin WWII Veteran were married for 44 years. Darwin died this past June 2018. *Author’s note: I enjoyed the many conversations I had with Darwin about his wartime experiences as well as his recollections of the early days in Andalusia after the war. His father-in-law, Perkins Taylor, had a very large nursery running from where Darwin’s home now stands on East Three Notch Street, all the way to the back of the old Winn Dixie. Some of the old camellias still stand in the yard there.

Darwin was survived by two daughters, Angelyn Pippin Simmons and Dottie Pippin Castleberry [husband Jeff]. I appreciate their help in preparing this article as well as the help of Angelyn’s daughter, Olivia Simmons Ennis. ■

53 Veterans Magazine

MARTHA DIXON

By Michele Gerlach

Editor’s note: Martha Dixon died Dec. 16, 2017, at age 102. This article was based on an interview on the eve of her 100th birthday.

T

he bookends of Martha Dixon’s life are mismatched.

“I grew up so poor, we couldn’t afford fun,” she said. In contrast, she’s spent her latter years literally giving money away - working to improve the lives of others.

Times were hard in Covington County in 1930, when Martha Belvin left school at 15, and went to work, first in the local Alatex, then in a Columbus, Ga., cotton mill.

It was while she was in Beaumont, Texas, with an aunt that she decided to join the military. She joined the WACS [Women’s Army Corps] in Houston, Texas, in 1943.

The country had issued a call to women to serve in office and clerical jobs, as well as many combat-support roles, to free men to fight.

“They sent a train across the United States to pick up women,” Mrs. Dixon recalled. “I was in Beaumont, and the train was coming through Houston. I was afraid I wouldn’t get there.”

But she did catch the train, with only the knowledge that the train was headed to Chattanooga. Beyond that, she had no idea what would happen.

Over a period of several weeks, the female volunteers were interviewed and placed accordingly in jobs.

“When they called out names for jobs, I just held my breath. I didn’t want them to put me in a kitchen,” she laughed.

Any job would have been better than cooking, she said.

Instead, she trained at Ft. Benning, and later at Bowling Air Force Bae in

Washington.

She studied meteorology and was involved in releasing weather balloons and compiling maps for ships and other military units. She commuted by boat from Bolling across the Potomac to the Pentagon from where her work station was located.

“We worked shift work, around the clock,” she said. She and her co-workers took information from teletypes and plotting the weather reports on maps.

“I liked it.”

After three years, the war ended.

“I liked it, but they didn’t need us anymore,” she said of her military service.

She was discharged at Ft. Dix, N.J., in 1946.

So she came home to Andalusia to care for her ailing mother, finished high school, earned herself a business degree, and went back to work for Alatex, first as a filing clerk and later as a payroll clerk.

Eventually, she married, and her thenhusband’s work took them to Mobile. No sooner were they settled there than he landed a job at the employment office in Andalusia.

“We came back to Andalusia, and I’ve been here ever since,” she said.

She was widowed when her husband died suddenly of a heart attack.

She had known Solon and Ellie Dixon a long time before Ellie Dixon died in 1971, she said.

“He was lost without her,” she said.

“Our friends encouraged me to go by there and cheer him up, get him to go places.”

In 1976, at the encouragement of the Methodist minister, the two were married in a chapel at Huntingdon College.

In 1978, Solon and his brother, Charles, sold the majority of the family’s timber

ventures, which at its peak included sawmills, turpentine stills, gristmills, farms and more.

“There was nobody in the family to run it,” Mrs. Dixon recalled.

She worked with her husband to put together the acreage for Auburn University’s Solon Dixon Forestry Center.

On Dec. 15, 1978, the Dixons presented Auburn University a deed for 80 acres and a check for $500,000 to begin the construction of the Solon Dixon Forestry Education Center.

“That was something Solon had always wanted to do,” she said.

Once that was done, the Dixons formed a foundation in 1980.

“And that has taken the rest of my life,” she said.

With the help of investment experts, the foundation’s corpus started to grow. Now, through the foundation, the woman who grew up too poor to have fun has been able to improve and enhance countless lives.

“Solon always wanted to help those people who had worked for the business,” she said. “I tried to do what he wanted to, and it’s nice that it has increased as much as it has. He would really be surprised.”

The Solon Dixon Forestry Education Center continues to benefit from the foundation, as does Auburn University.

Beyond that, the Dixon Foundation has supported the arts, health organizations, education, and countless other causes.

Don’t think for a moment, the business of running a foundation is pure fun.

“I’ve worked all of my life until very recently,” Mrs. Dixon said. “I was glad

Veterans Magazine

when Doris Tyler came along, and she could help me with the foundation.”

Tyler had worked in the Dixon companies, and was familiar with the timber industry, Mrs. Dixon said.

Weeks away from her 100th birthday, she was asked if she ever expected to live this long. In a word?

“No.”

“When I was 40, I didn’t think I’d live to see 45,” she laughed.

At 99, she follows current events closely, and is up on the politics of the day.

She says there are no secrets to living a long life, but her companion and caregiver, Mary Ann Lewis, says otherwise.

54

“Martha always says, ‘I bloom where I am planted.’ ” ■

J MAX WALKER

By John Vick

Author’s note: John Vick grew up in Green Acres and was good friends with Ariel and the Walker family in the 1950s.

John is indebted to Max Walker’s son, David, for most of the information about his Father.

J

Max Walker was drafted into the Navy in 1944. Upon completing basic training, he was assigned to the USS Randolph [CV 15], as a Fireman 1st Class. At the time, Max was 30 years old, married to Nell Walters Walker, and had one son, Ariel.

Max joined the Randolph after her construction in Newport News, Virginia, and was part of the crew during her shakedown cruise to the Caribbean in 1944.

After that, Randolph sailed through the Panama Canal, en route to San Francisco where she was fitted out with armament for the war in the Pacific. After provisioning for war, Randolph joined Task Force 58, under the overall command of Admiral Marc Mitscher, and sailed for Ulithi, an atoll in the Caroline Islands in the South Pacific.

Max Walker was a member of “B” Division, which was a part of the Engineering Department, and worked day to day in the boiler rooms. In addition to regular work, Max, and all other person-

nel stood underway watches [usually 4 hours at watch and 12 hours off, 24 hours a day].

From February until March of 1945, Randolph participated in several battles, including air strikes over Tokyo, Chichi Jima and Iwo Jima.

On the night of March 11, 1945, Randolph rode at anchor at Ulithi. Max was scheduled for the mid-watch [midnight until 0400]. In order to get some rest before going on watch, Max headed to the fantail, where there was a breeze.

Berthing spaces were not air conditioned in those days and their nearness to the equator made for hot sleeping areas.

On the way to the fantail, Max came across a group of his buddies who were making a little music. Knowing that Max played the fiddle, they asked him to join them. After a song or two, Max was ready to go get some rest, but his buddies insisted on “just one more.” At about that time, around 2007 hrs. [8:07p.m.], a lone Japanese kamikaze flew into the fantail where Max had intended to be sleeping. They had been playing “Turkey in the Straw” when the plane hit.

Max truly believed for the rest of his life that God had intervened that night and saved his life. The attack killed 25 sailors and wounded 106.

J Max Walker in his sailor uniform The Randolph tied up to a repair ship to make her ready for battle again. Max visited the machine shops on the repair ship. He was fascinated by their work and on his own, fashioned himself a copper box to store his Bible. After the war, Max used the box to store all the paper memorabilia he had collected. The Randolph returned to Norfolk, Virginia, in October of 1945 and Max was discharged.

He returned to Andalusia where he became a contractor and later on, was a building and electrical inspector for the City of Andalusia. Another son, David, was born in 1946.

Max Walker was an ordained Primitive Baptist minister and served several churches in the area. His wife, Nell, died in 1972 and Max died shortly after his retirement from the city in 1980 [of a brain tumor].

55 Veterans Magazine

WILBUR R. JERNIGAN

Wilbur Roland Jernigan was born 1925, in Opp,Al to parents E. Ashley and Lena Jernigan. He joined the Air Corps June 25, 1943 and, in WWII, was a waist gunner aboard B-17s in the 15th Army Air Force, 99th Bomb Group, 347th Bomb Squadron, flying aircraft #44-6430 out of Tortorella, Italy, when he was shot down near Maribor, Yugoslavia on 7 November, 1944. Landing in a field, he fractured an ankle and was not able to escape capture; he folded his parachute and displayed his SERE chit as he was approached by a local who notified a German soldier who took Jernigan into custody. He spent the rest of the war in captivity in Stalag Luft 1 where LT Samuel Marlin Hamilton of Opp was also held. Food consisted of rotten potatoes, often with worms and insects imbedded. A piece of stale German bread was a rare treat. Potato soup was also on the menu a lot [often with insects and worms]. Roland had suffered from

kidney stones before the war, and suffered another attack in the prison camp. He received nothing for the pain as all the medicine was reserved for German soldiers. In mid 1945, as the Russians were nearing Stalag Luft 1, the German guards abandoned the camp and the prisoners just walked out. Roland was liberated on May 13, 1945 and was sent to Camp Lucky Strike in France. His transition documents from POW status gave his address as West Railroad Ave., Opp, Al. His parents never knew he was free until he showed up on their doorstep back home in Opp. After WWII, Jernigan also flew combat missions on B-25s in the Korean War. He continued his Air Force career until reaching a 20-year retirement in June 1, 1964, with the rank of Technical Sergeant.

He then went to work with an aviation contractor at Fort Rucker, AL, where he worked on helicopters for another 20

years until his final retirement.

Jernigan passed away May 5, 2009, and is buried in New Brockton City Cemetery, AL. His surviving wife Mildred Jeanne (Sowell), originally of Red Level, is in a nursing home at present. They have one daughter, Sandi (Tim Windham) of Enterprise, as well as two sons, Dan Jernigan of Enterprise, and John Scott Jernigan of Elba, AL. Author’s note: material provided by Tim Windham, Roland Jernigan’s son in law] John Vick

56 Veterans Magazine

THOMAS, MAURICE, CLARA & MALCOLM

DONALDSON

By Harvey "Pete" Donaldson

W

illie Donaldson and Gussie Ward were married in Kinston, Alabama, in 1908.

By 1927 they were parents to six children: Lucille, Malcolm (“Pete”), Maurice (“Doug”), Clara, Thomas (“Dude”) and Sue (in the Donaldson family all boys had nicknames). The two oldest children, Lucille and Malcolm, graduated from Kinston High School in 1928 and 1929, just as the Great Depression was about to begin. Until then, the family had prospered with an 80-acre farm and Willie’s employment as a rural mail carrier and later as a merchant and part-time L&N Depot agent and Justice-of-the-Peace. As the Depression deepened, the Donaldson family, like most rural south Alabama families, struggled economically; with no opportunities for sending children to college.

Lucille left home in 1929 to join her Aunt Pearl Donaldson as an Alatex employee in Andalusia. By the mid-1930s, Malcolm, Maurice and Clara had graduated from high school and also moved to Andalusia. Maurice and Clara joined their sister, Lucille, as Alatex employees.

Malcolm was employed by New Orleansbased Associated Transport to drive a freight truck between Andalusia and New Orleans. In 1939 he married Edie Belle Johnson of Opp and they moved into a rented house on Holly Street, near the Alatex plant where Edie worked. Also, in 1939 the youngest brother, Thomas, left Kinston to join the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).

1940 began with the five oldest Donaldson siblings living away from home, and eager to escape the past 10

years of economic hardship. But their futures were about to be dramatically changed by the onset of World War Two. he first of the Donaldson brothers to enlist in the military was the youngest, Thomas; who left the CCC in 1940 and joined the U.S. Army at Ft Benning, Georgia. After completed basic training and infantry school, Thomas deployed to the European theatre with the 29th Infantry regiment in 1942; first to Iceland, then to Scotland and England in preparation for the D-Day Invasion. On June 6, 1944, Thomas was a member of the 4th Division that spearheaded the assault landing on Utah Beach and then moved across France and into Germany. On April 20,1945, Thomas suffered non-fatal shrapnel wounds to his head from an exploding German booby trap near Rothenberg, Germany. He was evacuated to a military hospital in England. After recovering, he returned to Ft. Benning in late 1945 as an Army staff sergeant. For his World War II service, Thomas was awarded the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star and the Combat Infantryman’s badge.

With the war over, Thomas decided to re-enlist and make the Army his career. In addition to his WWII service, Thomas was deployed to the Korea Conflict in 1946-47 and to the Vietnam War in 1968-69. In the 1950s, Thomas took advantage of military education opportunities and was promoted; first to Warrant Officer, and then Chief Warrant Officer. He completed ordinance training at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland; and then served as an ammunition supply chief at Ft Leonard Wood, Missouri; Miesau Army Depot, West

T

Germany; Ft Polk, Louisiana; Ft Hood, Texas; and Redstone Arsenal, Alabama.

After a 33-year military career, he retired in 1970 and returned to Kinston where he built a new home on his family’s Hickman Street property and lived there until his death in 1979. Over all his military career and retirement, Thomas had many relationships but never married. He was widely known as a great storyteller, an accomplished bluegrass fiddler, and was a cherished son, brother and uncle in his family.

As the U.S. role in World War II accelerated in 1943, more and more south Alabama men were drafted into military service, including the two other Donaldson brothers. Because Malcolm was a single parent (Edie had died in 1942 during the birth of their son, Harvey) and Maurice had a crippling leg injury; neither of them was deployed to foreign war zones.

Malcolm joined the U.S. Navy, and completed basic training at Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois. He then served for two years as a Pharmacist Mate at Bellevue Naval Hospitals in New York City and St. Elizabeth Navy Hospital in Washington, D.C. After being discharged in early 1946, he returned to Andalusia to join his sister, Lucille, who had parented his son Harvey during Malcolm’s Navy service. In early 1947, Malcolm began a 25-year career as a bus driver with Capital Motor Lines, first based in Andalusia and then for many years in Montgomery. He also served as president of the Amalgamated Transit Union local chapter, representing Trailways employees for many years. After being widowed for more than 30 years, he married Olive Holland of Montgomery in 1975

57 Veterans Magazine and in retirement they lived in Andalusia until his death in 1980. aurice Donaldson joined the U.S. Army in 1943 and completed basic training at Camp Carson, Colorado. Afterwards he was assigned to the Army Quartermaster Corps and stationed at Ft. Myer/Arlington Station in Washington DC, where he was a cook in the officer mess hall and bartender in the Officers’ Club. While his military positions had little influence on his future career, they provided him with excellent culinary skills that his family and friends enjoyed for many years, and also provided him with many stories about Army generals, whom he met at the Officers’ Club bar in those historic years. In 1944 Maurice was married to his girlfriend, Ina Mae Hutcheson from Red Level, whom he had met while working at the Alatex. Ina Mae had joined the Women’s Army Corps when Maurice was drafted.

They were married in Asheville, North Carolina, near the historic Grove Park Inn, where Ina Mae was stationed. The Grove Park Inn was taken over by the U.S. Government in 1943 as a place to temporarily detain Axis diplomats during the war and to rehabilitate U.S soldiers and sailors returning from the war. After Maurice and Ina Mae were both discharged in 1946, they returned briefly to Kinston and then moved to El Paso, Texas; where they lived for 30 years.

Both of them took advantage of the GI

M

Bill benefits to further their education.

Maurice soon accepted a position with the El Paso National Bank, where he remained for his entire career; rising from teller to vice president of the bank’s trust department. After retirement in the late 1970s, Maurice and Ina Mae moved back to Alabama where they lived until his death in 1987 and her death in 1993. hile working at the Alatex in 1943, Clara Donaldson and several of her friends, including Christine Mahone and Ina Mae Hutcheson, decided to support the war effort by volunteering for service in the Women’s Army Corps (WACs). In her first nine months as a WAC, Clara received training at the WAC basic training centerFt Oglethorpe, Georgia, the Administration School-Nacogdoches, Texas, Ft. Devens, Massachusetts and the WAC Motor Transport School-Daytona Beach, Florida.

In early 1944 she was transferred to the Army’s Kennedy General Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, and subsequently to the Army Air Base in Miami Beach, Florida. She was honorably discharged in 1945 when she married Horace Stephens, whom she had met while in the Army. Like many war time marriages, their marriage ended in divorce, and Clara and her two small children (Michael and Kay) returned to Kinston in 1948. In a short time, Clara used her GI Bill benefits to enroll in the Andalusia Business School. After graduating from business school, Clara accepted a

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bookkeeping position with the Covington County Bank in 1952. For the next 30 years, Clara worked at CCB and raised her two children on Barton Street. In addition to her banking skills, Clara was an expert seamstress and a faithful member of the West Highland Baptist Church. After retiring in 1982, she moved to Birmingham to live with her daughter Kay until her death in 1992. Her son, Michael Stephens, served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War and now works in Andalusia and lives in the Donaldson home in Kinston.

Left home in Kinston and Andalusia were the oldest and youngest Donaldson daughters. Sue was still in school and assisting her father in caring for her ill mother, who died in 1942. Sue graduated as valedictorian of the Kinston High School Class of 1945 and went on to nursing school at St. Margaret’s Hospital in Montgomery. After graduating with her RN, Sue was a nurse at the Montgomery Veterans Hospital for more than 30 years.

Lucille was the “big sister” for all her younger siblings and was the special aunt and substitute mother for Malcolm’s son, Harvey, until he graduated from Andalusia High School in 1961. Lucille died in 1966, after a long career at the Alatex.

The entire Donaldson family was disrupted by World War II, but those waryears experiences prepared them to prosper during the second half of the 20th century; building a better life for themselves and their families. ■

Veterans Magazine

58

JAMES DONALD

MOCK

By Bob Mock

J

ames Donald Mock was born in Andalusia on February 22, 1922, and was reared on Sanford Road. He was a graduate of Andalusia High School.

Mock joined the U.S. Army Air Corps in January of 1943. Initially assigned to basic training at Maxwell Air Base in Montgomery, he subsequently attended primary flight school in Camden, S.C. He later attended advanced flight school in Sumter, S.C. Addition training was done at Brownwood, Texas, Paris, Texas, Statesboro, Georgia, and Cross City, Florida.

After training, Mock was assigned to the 159th Liaison Squadron Commando. The aircraft he flew was the “air ambulance” model of the Stinson L-5 Sentinel. The primary purpose of the aircraft was the evacuation of the wounded from combat zones.

The L-5 was also used for aerial reconnaissance and dropping munitions and supplies to American and allied forces.

After training, the squadron arrived in the Philippines on November 30, 1944.

After arrival, the squadron moved to a new airfield in the vicinity of Tanauan.

The airfield was under construction, and it took most of December to make the base functional. By January 1945, the squadron was involved in the Battle of Luzon, which continued throughout the spring of 1945.

By July, with the war winding down in the Philippines, the squadron received orders to move to Okinawa. One notable and often repeated story is the account of this flight, some 700 miles over water. The L-5 was equipped with two 18-gallon wing tanks, giving it a normal range of about

300 miles. For this flight, the aircraft was fitted with a 75-gallon drop tank from a P-51 Mustang fighter. This large tank was mounted in the rear fuselage, where a wounded soldier would normally be transported. After a seven-hour flight, and very low on fuel, the squadron landed safely in Okinawa.

At the end of the war, the squadron was assigned the duty of flying into Japanese airfields and inspecting Japanese aircraft to ensure that the aircraft had been disabled.

Mock was awarded The Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster for operational missions from February 6, 1945 through May 30, 1945. The recommendation for the award states that during this period Mock participated in missions during which time “enemy fire was probable and expected.

During this period S Sgt. Mock ferried 450 pounds of badly needed supplies to troops in the forward area, evacuated 35 American soldiers from the battle fronts, and completed 14 courier missions. Operating from Apache Strip, Luzon Island, S Sgt. Mock has achieved an excellent record of service.

Almost daily he has been dispatched to face hazardous flying conditions. Flying over rugged and uncharted terrain and directly over enemy lines, S Sgt. Mock has achieved an excellent record. In one particular instance while directing an air strike, S Sgt. Mock repeatedly led our bombers over the target until it was a mass of huge fires and columns of smoke. Such is one of the few instances where S Sgt. Mock has displayed unusual skill and resourcefulness, attributes which reflect his loyalty to duty and country.”

Mock arrived back in the U.S. On November 20, 1945, and was honorably discharged at Camp Shelby, Mississippi on December 5, 1945. After returning to Andalusia, he was associated with the Coca-Cola Bottling Company, and later became self-employed as a wall covering contractor.

Mock met and married Miss Kathleen Tubbs in 1949. Mrs. Mock was a first grade teacher at East Three Notch Elementary School for 10 years. Mrs. Mock then founded and operated The Playpen Kindergarten for some 30 years.

Donald Mock flew very little after the war, but oral accounts of his experiences heavily influenced his only child, James R. (Bob) Mock, to pursue a career in aviation.

Bob Mock became a pilot at an early age, a flight instructor, and an air traffic controller. He retired after 30 years with the Federal Aviation Administration in 2013.

Because of his intense love for his hometown of Andalusia, Alabama, Donald Mock named his aircraft “The Pride of Andalusia,” which was proudly painted on the nose of his airplane. This photo has been displayed at several venues in Andalusia. The soldiers in the picture are his squadron mates. Mock was the photographer.

Donald Mock died in the V.A. Medical Center in Montgomery, AL on June 22, 1979. ■

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59

JIM

LAWRENCE O

From 2012 and 2016 stories previously published by The Star-News. pp native James Lawrence grew up in a seven-children family of sharecroppers-turned-farmers who instilled in their children the importance of receiving a good education.

Lawrence, a member of the OHS class of 1965, said in a 2012 speech, “My parents taught us that there was more than farming, and that with a good education we could reach higher.”

Lawrence’s neighbor, Fob Ward, who was a World War II veteran, told him stories of his perils in North Africa.

“It sounded exciting to me,” he said in 2012. “He perhaps planted the seed for the military.”

With the encouragement and help of Joe Baxley, then OHS guidance counselor, Lawrence secured a loan and a job at Troy State University. After graduating from Troy, he entered the Air Force with a commissioned rank and worked his way up to lieutenant colonel.

Through his nearly 27-year career in the military, Lawrence logged more than 2 million miles; set a world record for transcontinental flights, flew a mission to attempt rescue of American hostages in Iran, was handpicked for a highly-classified organization to deal with response to international terrorism in the United States.

In 2017, Lawrence was one of 144 veterans recognized by the USAF in its “Veterans in Blue” program, Volume VI, run by the Air Force Public Affairs Agency.

A four-man public affairs team from the 3rd Combat Camera Squadron visited Lawrence in his home near Pike Road in June, 2016, to produce a video and still shots from their interviews about his 26-plus years of military service, as well as his service in post-retirement environmental work, his writing to honor veterans, and his contributions to education services.

Lawrence worked seven years as a contract employee at Maxwell AFB and two years part time at Keesler AFB, Miss., in the environmental business.

A display of still photos and video interview of Lawrence and other veterans was displayed on a fifth floor corridor wall of the Pentagon throughout the 2017 fiscal year.

Lawrence has been a guest speaker at the LBWCC Andalusia campus, the local Lions Club, and the Covington County Historical Society. In August 2015, he

Ltc. Jim Lawrence USAF [far right] standing in front of one of the C-130 gunships that he piloted.[Courtesy Montgomery Advertiser] assisted John Vick and other sponsors in honoring Covington County’s WWII veterans at the 70th Anniversary of “VJ Day” at the Eglin AFB Armament Museum in Shalimar.

Lawrence has written two military books, his memoir, “Airman’s Odyssey: An Air Force Special Operator’s Incredible Journey,” and “American Veterans: Their Stories of Service and Valor.”

He is married to the former JoAnn Lee of McKenzie, and they have two daughters and three grandchildren.

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60

SIDNEY S

WAITS

idney Waits grew up in Andalusia, graduated from Andalusia High School in 1942 and attended the University of Alabama. Sidney and most of his freshmen classmates joined the Enlisted Reserve Corps that December. They were activated in February 1943 and sent to basic training in Indiana.

After basic, Sidney was sent to finance school where he learned military pay and record keeping. Upon completion of school, he was sent to the Panama Canal Zone by way of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

In the Canal Zone, he was attached to Ft. Kobbe, which was a joint Army and Army Air Corps base. Howard Field was the Air Corps part of Ft. Kobbe where Sidney was stationed. Their job was to protect the Canal from air attack.

He said that standing guard duty around the fuel depot there, was the closest he came to the war. Sidney’s primary job in the finance office was to see that the soldiers were paid. While most soldiers sent some of their pay home, Sidney received money from friends back home to buy certain items from the Duty Free Store in the Canal Zone. He remembers one popular item was Mido watches.

Sidney was honorably discharged in 1946, returned home and married the love of his life, Polly Wilder, in 1947. Polly died in July 2017. She and Sidney were married for more than 70 years. They have 10 grandchildren and six greatgrandchildren.

Sidney is the author of many books the detail the history of Andalusia and Covington County.

Following his retirement in 1987, he

began working as a volunteer at the Three Notch Museum gathering information and artifacts that reflect the local history. He set up displays, organized memorabilia, collected early photographs and postcards, and dug into the old records in an effort to uncover new and interesting facts about Covington County.

His work in bringing to the museum district the Clark Family log cabin, the H. B. Little Country Store, the River Falls Post Office, and several box cars and cabooses helped to establish an historic district around the old Central of Georgia train depot now converted to the Three Notch Museum.

Waits’ interest in old Montezuma on the banks of the Conecuh, Devereux Hill that led settlers up the hill to a new site where Andalusia was established, and the Three Notch Trail resulted in his inspiring younger historians to become interested in the history of Covington County as they read his stories and as he presented programs to the historical society and other clubs.

As one rides along East and South Three Notch Streets, the “Three Notch Trail” signs are evident. Also, coming into town on Devereux Hill is a sign that commemorates the name of the prominent hillside honoring the early settler John W. Devereux who is considered to be the “founder or father of Covington County.”

Waits reminded us that Devereux who had extensive land holdings in Montezuma

was the State Senator who sponsored the enabling act that created Covington County as well as the first postmaster and county judge for ten years.

Waits was responsible for these signs to be created and installed as well as the two historical markers in River Falls recognizing the Horse Shoe Lumber Company and designating Montezuma. Additionally, he arranged for the naming and dedication of the E. L. More bridge over the Conecuh named for the founder of the Horse Shoe Lumber Company which extensive operation brought cross ties for the railroad extension from Searight and eventually electrical power to the area in the 1920s.

In the words of this illustrious veteran who served his town, his school, his church, his county, and his country well, he stated in the foreword to one of his books, “I have always been proud that I am an Andalusian from birth. I would not want to live elsewhere. My heart and soul will always be in the town that emerged from old Montezuma down on the banks of the Conecuh.”

61 Veterans Magazine

O

TUBBY HALL

By Jim Lawrence

ne of Opp’s most honored citizens and military heroes was Captain B.H. “Tubby” Hall, a transplant from Pickens County whose great love of baseball led him in 1949 to relocate family and take a job teaching and coaching in Opp. He had already served in the CCC, an early indicator of his future of “service before self” in so many areas. In Opp he made innumerable contributions to our country in general, and Covington County and Opp in particular.

During WWII in the European Theater in 1943, Hall was a transportation officer responsible for a unit supplying “beans, bullets, fuels and other” to fast-moving U.S. forces. One of his favorite war stories was how “our scouts would locate large open pastures where C-47s and towed gliders filled with fuel containers could land and quickly resupply our mechanized forces.”

He recalled that the offloadings were rapidly completed, often due to manual labor of captured German POWs pressed into service. The Germans were always known

for efficiency, and the POW labor did not disappoint. His unit was one of several that supplied Gen. George Patton’s lightningfast 3rd Army tanks.

Hall resumed his wartime military service after call-ups in 1950 when the Korean Conflict began. When not at war, he was for several years in the tire business with Opp’s Henry Morgan.

In 1953 Hall helped organize Opp’s first baseball Little League, and he coached one notable “Pirates” city champs team with a southpaw pitcher, Sandy Parker, who, in his words, “made baseballs look like aspirins crossing home plate!”

Hall’s enthusiasm for baseball never waned, but he served Opp in so many other ways. He had 50 years service with Lions Club, and assumed presidency of the Opp Lions Club in June, 1972. For many of his years, he supported the Alabama Lions Sight Conservation Program. Ironically, in his later years he was legally blind, due to macular degeneration.

Hall found time to serve as the Chairman,

Centennial Committee for Opp’s 100-Year Anniversary. Furthermore, he served 15 years on the Covington County School Board. Hall was among 20 Covington County area Greatest Generation veterans honored at Eglin AFB’s Armament Museum on August 22, 2015, on the 70th Anniversary Of “VJ Day” (Japan’s surrender).

When B.H. “Tubby” Hall passed in December, 2016, he was predeceased by wife Erna (Davis), and survived by daughters Beth and Ann. Captain B.H. “Tubby” Hall left a tremendous legacy of military service to our country, as well as community and city leadership for so many business, educational, athletic, religious, and community endeavors. He was truly of “the right stuff,” and blazed a trail for others to emulate. ■

62 Veterans Magazine

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WC ECHOLS

By John Vick

illy Clyde [WC] Echols was born to Lula Oliver and James Oscar [Jake] Echols on April 1, 1921. They lived at Rural Route 4 [near the end of Moore Rd. and Carolina Rd.], Andalusia, AL. The mail man ran weekly and times were tough.

Jake Echols was a sharecropper for a Mr. Shine, who lived in Andalusia. When WC reached the age of 13, he was hired out to plow a mule for 35 cents a day. The next year, he said he plowed the same mule for 50 cents a day. All this work and “high” wages left WC with a firm desire to go somewhere else. His grandparents had moved from Covington County sometime earlier, traveling to Tennessee in a covered wagon on a trip that took 21 days. In the meantime, he decided to try something a little different. In 1935, WC’s father leased 160 acres of farm land in the same general area, from a Mr. Gillis who was an attorney in Andalusia. They were still sharecropping for Mr. Shine, who made WC an offer, “I’ve got this ox I bought, and if you break him to plow, you can use him”. Peanuts had come into their own in Alabama, so WC decided to take up Mr. Shine’s offer and plant peanuts while his father planted cotton. Barefoot, with holes in his jeans, WC accompanied his father to the bank, to borrow the money to start a crop. His Dad borrowed $7. to put in his cotton crop. He co-signed the note for WC to also borrow $7., which would cover the seed, fertilize and feed the ox. In the meantime, WC had broken the ox to plow. He had a plan; he would plow the ox for 4 hrs., which was about his limit, then he would plow an old pony [that belonged to his Dad] for 2 hours. and let the ox rest. Then they’d start over, working from sunrise to dark.

When the crops were harvested in the fall, Jake Echols had made $4., leaving him

in the hole, $3. WC, with the peanuts and working extra long hours had made $17 profit. Jake Echols took $7. of the $17. to pay Gillis for land rent and borrowed $3. to pay his note at the bank. That left WC with $7. In his pocket. In the meantime, the ox had to be returned to Mr. Shine.

These farming results left WC with a resolve to find a different way to make a living. He told his parents that he was going to visit his grand parents in Tennessee.

That fall, at age 15, WC boarded a wood burning train in Andalusia that took him to Greenville. When he made it to Birmingham, he switched to a coal burning train that took him to Huntsville. The train windows were only covered by screen and the cinders from the burning coal were constantly coming into the passenger compartment. When he arrived at Huntsville, he boarded a bus that would take him to Elora, Tennessee. He had not had a bath, the entire 2 day trip from Andalusia, and was covered in soot and cinders. He arrived in Elora, late Sunday afternoon. His Dad had told him that his Aunt Clara Sibley owned a store right across the street from the bus station.

When he got to the store, it was locked. It was nearly dark but he could see a house up the road with a light on. Upon getting to the house, he knocked on the door and his Aunt Clara opened it. WC was thinking she would greet him, maybe give him a hug and offer him some food. He said she took one look and in a stern, direct order, said, “Get in here and get cleaned up. We’re going to church in 15 minutes”. WC did as he was told and he, Aunt Clara and her 5 kids walked to the church for the Sunday night service. When the service was over, they returned home and his Aunt Clara took on a whole different personality. She looked after him, gave him food and asked about his Mom and Dad.

Aunt Clara had 2 boys and 3 girls. WC stayed there for 3 days. He was asked to help the Sibley boys haul gravel to the Elora Hardware, where it was used to make concrete. They scooped gravel from a stream, 2 loads per day, for 2 ½ days. The last afternoon, they walked with him to his grandparents home which was less than 3 miles away. WC said, “I could have walked it the first day if I had known the way.”

His Granddad Jim had borrowed $6. from the bank to put in his cotton crop. Before the bolls had fully opened, a large snow came and killed all the cotton. WC was asked, along with his cousin William, to pick the cotton bolls and bring them in the house. They were laid out in front of the fireplace to dry and open so that the cotton could be extracted. When they finished, his Granddad was sick, so William and WC took the cotton to town to sell and pay off the bank. After paying off the $6. note, they had $2. Left. They decided to buy some beer and take it back without their Grandad’s knowledge and keep it hidden in the snow. During Christmas, the grandparents went to visit WC’s Aunt Clara. WC and William invited 2 young ladies over after the grandparents left and they all finished the beer.

That spring, WC and William had to help their Grandad, who was still sick, put in another cotton crop. He says that they had a horse and a mule, named Do and Don’t, to plow with. That same spring of 1936, their Granddad died. WC said that that finished up his farming and he decided, “I’ve got to leave.” He had received a letter from home asking him to return and help with the spring planting. Deciding that he would

63 Veterans Magazine return home, WC bought a bus ticket from Tennessee to Huntsville and then on to Birmingham. He intended to catch a train south, but when he got to the train, he decided “I’m not going home”. Near the railroad station, a curious thing happened that had an impact on the rest of WC’s life; as he walked away from the station, he came across a streetcar. As he walked around it in curiosity, the door opened and the conductor said, “Get in. It’s 6 cents and I’ll take you to Bessemer [about 11 miles away]”. At Bessemer, the conductor told him that for a 2 cent transfer, he travel to the end of the line. He got off in front of US Pipe Company. Not knowing anyone there, he struck up a conversation with a tall gentleman named J W Reeves. Reeves offered to take him home and feed him.

Reeves was in construction and was building 7 houses at this time. WC was hired as a waterboy and carried a water bucket and dipper around to the workers at the houses.

For that he was paid 50 cents per day or $2.50 for the week. He continued this from 1936 until early 1939. Reeves offered, what WC considered the best financial advice he’s ever gotten. He told WC to put 50 cents in his back pocket, 1 dollar in the front left pocket and take the other dollar and buy a pair of pants and a shirt. He was left with 15 cents, which covered 10 cents for a movie and 5 cents for popcorn – his entertainment. He was told to buy something with the other dollar that would allow him to double his money. The 50 cents in the back pocket was to be saved[ Mr. Echols says he still has that 50 cent piece].

WC bought 10 pocket knives for 10 cents each and sold them for 20 cents each. By the way, WC said he watched that movie 3 times. WC worked for Mr. Reeves from 1936 until 1939, when Reeves decided to quit construction.

Reeves told WC to try to go to work for TCI [Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad].

Echols reported to a Mr. Smith at TCI and applied for a job. He was 19 years old and 120 lbs. Smith said that was too young and too light to work for TCI. After telling his former employer, Reeves, that he was too young and too light, WC was given a letter. He took the letter back to TCI and he was hired. Echols had “miraculously” aged 2 years and gained 20 lbs.

The next day, he was issued safety shoes,

a hard hat with a carbide light, and began work in the mines. He worked outside, hauling rock for a few weeks, but would spend the next 13 to 14 months working in the mines under Red Mountain. He became a welder, early on, and that would play a pivotal role in his later Army service. In 1940, WC met and married Agnes Demott.

They would have a daughter, Jean, a year later.

Echols was still working as a welder for Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad [a subsidiary of US Steel] in late 1941 or early 1942 when he was told he would be drafted soon. He and his foreman decided to enlist under “the buddy plan”. They were assured that they could stay together through basic training and maybe later also. They enlisted at Ft. McClellan in Anniston. They were sent to Ft. McPhearson in Atlanta for physicals. It was determined that Echols needed hernia surgery and the surgery was performed there. When he was well, he was sent to join the 841st Aviation Engineering Battalion [part of US 5th Army Air Corps].

His buddy was sent to the European theater and Echols never saw him again.

He arrived by train at Orange Home, Fl. They were located in the middle of a pine forest with lots of equipment already off loaded there. There were no facilities, so they were to bivouac, six men to a tent.

After several months training, they were sent to the 841st in Leesburg, Fl. Before they left, they needed to load a large, heavy, safe that contained the money that was paid them all along. The battalion commander asked if anyone could rig an Army truck they had, to pick up the safe and load it on a flatbed. Echols said that he volunteered because of his welding experience. Honestly, he says, that was the dumbest decision I made the whole time I was in the Army. The truck was a Diamond T, 4 X 4, 4 ton with a winch on the front.

Echols was able to weld a boom to the front bumper and run a cable from the winch, up through a pulley at the top of the boom.

This act earned him a promotion to Tech Sergeant, E-5. That was great but in the process, he bypassed a lot of the men who had served much longer. That made him no friends, but no one complained when the safe accompanied them to Bushnell. Fl. When they arrived, they set about building and repairing airport runways . They built

one runway, complete, in just 72 hours [which they said was a record for constructing a runway]. The first C-47 came in at night after the completion. During this time, Echols had had no basic training, and was being paid $21. per month. When his daughter Jean was born in 1941, his pay was increased to $60. per month.

The 841st left Bushnell and they were sent to Orlando, where they boarded trains that took them to Pittsburg, Ca [near San Francisco] for embarkation aboard a large troop ship. Echols remembers that there were about 10,000 troops aboard the ship, along with about 1,000 sailors and 1,100 nurses. It took 13 days to reach Sydney, Australia. From there, they were shipped by train to Brisbane. Once they were there, they were put on ships that took them to Townsville, Australia. They never left their ship in Townsville, but were anchored, awaiting their next orders. While at anchor, Echols said that a friend pointed to a nearby ship and said, “That looks like the boom truck you worked on.” Sure enough, he recognized the old truck sitting on the deck of a nearby ship, along with many other pieces of gear awaiting shipment to the war zone. The left Townsville and landed some 700 miles away at Goodenough, Island [in Papua New Guinea]. He thought that Goodenough Island was a code name for their location, but found out that was its real name. Echols remembers spending Thanksgiving 1943 there. They left before he was able to have his Thanksgiving meal. From there, they were shipped to Cape Gloucester on an LST. Prior to leaving, Echols was asked to drive a large rock crusher into the sea to prevent it’s use by the Japanese in case of an invasion. After that, he loaded the same old boom truck he had helped construct back in the states.

It was hooked to a lowboy trailer that carried a D-8 Caterpillar and a 12 yard pull pan. With such an awkward load, he had to be loaded onto the LST first and would be disembarked last. He was partnered with Harold Perry of Pittsburg, Pa. since it took two men to handle the equipment. There were 5 LST’s landing with Echols’ group, which took place about 5 days after the Marines had made their initial landing at Cape Gloucester. Moving the equipment inland proved difficult as the area was swampy. He said it seemed that they’d go

Veterans Magazine

about ¼ mi. before having to unload the D-8 to push the truck out of the mud. At night, they decided to stop and remain with the truck as there was still a lot of fighting near there. During the night, Perry decided to leave the truck to relieve himself. Echols said that he never saw him again. Sometime during the night, there was a noise and a gun shot. Echols heard a Marine shout out, “I got him Yank”. He said he’d never been called “Yank” before. When daylight came and he saw the body of a Japanese soldier with explosives lying dead nearby, he understood what had happened the night before. He never saw the Marine who’d saved his life but he did find out that the password was “Yank”. The Marines had been guarding Echols’ truck, which carried lots of explosives in addition to the construction equipment.

The next day they continued to move nearer the 841st, which had undertaken the repair of the large runway [which was the reason for the invasion – the elimination of the Japanese and capture of their airfield]. Echols and others set about pushing wrecked planes off the runway and repairing bomb craters. One memory stands out, as they completed the runway repair: An Army Air Corps fighter, a P-38, made the first landing. Almost without stopping, the plane turned around and the Co-pilot raised the canopy, pulled the dead pilot from the front seat, handed him to Echols’ and his group. Even though his plane was badly damaged, the Co-pilot said he that he needed to start the 6 hour flight back to his base. The repair crew was amazed that the P-38 could land [with a dead pilot], and despite being heavily damaged, take off again. Echols and his repair crew helped construct roads to allow the movement of the Marines’ equipment. As they

were working near an extinct volcano, they noticed a Japanese Zero fighter circling overhead. The plane dove on them, in an attempt to destroy their equipment, and dropped his bombs. The bombs were the notorious “daisy cutter” bombs. They were filled with all sorts of shrapnel and would detonate above ground in order to kill anyone in the area. Echols dove for the ground but was severely wounded on the right side, leg, hip and ankle.

The next morning, he awoke on a stretcher on an island, without knowing how he got there or the name of the island. There was a line of stretchers ahead of him going into a tent for treatment. He waited all day before he was taken in and told there was no more morphine. After 12 hrs., a medic put his leg in a cast. His leg had swollen so much that his foot got turned during the time the cast set up and started healing improperly.

The next day, he was taken to a hospital ship. As he was boarding, he noticed medical supplies being offloaded by a black Quartermaster Corps [the services were still segregated].

The hospital ship took them to Brisbane for further treatment and recuperation.

During the several months in Brisbane, Echols’ leg did not get a lot better. Besides the improper setting of his foot, his leg was still infected with what they called “jungle rot”. One Doctor suggested that they might have to amputate his leg. Echols says that he will forever be thankful for a young nurse in his ward, who was from Birmingham, Al. She told him to ask to see the Chief Surgeon, a Colonel. When the Colonel came to see him, he was surprised that the Chief Surgeon was Japanese but an Australian citizen. The Colonel told Echols that they would continue to try and save

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his leg. Not long after the Colonel’s visit, Echols found himself on a small transport ship bound for San Francisco. Not only was the ship really small [compared with his original transport ship leaving san Francisco] but it took 23 days to get to California, 10 days longer than the voyage in 1943.

Echols spent several months in Kingman, Az and then El Paso, Tx in an attempt to let his leg heal in a dry climate. From Texas, he was sent to Rome, Ga. For further recuperation. He spent a brief time in Miami and eventually ended up in Biloxi, Ms. He was he was separated from the service there and returned to Birmingham where he resumed working for TCI as a welder before retiring in 1966. He and Agnes were divorced around 1955.

In addition to Jean who is married to Bill Jackson of Troy, they had two sons, Donald and Billy, both of whom served in the US Navy and are deceased. WC met and married Virginia Gail Turner in 1960. They were married for 21 years until her death in 1981. They had a son, Danny, who lives in New York and is a Captain on a large seagoing tug. During his marriage to Gail, they helped raise many foster children.

After retiring in 1966, WC moved to Inlet Beach, Florida, and helped form the first EMS squad as well as the first volunteer fire department. He lived there for 31 years before living briefly in Paxton, Florida, for two years. He moved back to Andalusia in 2000, where he currently lives. At 97, WC is blind, but his mind is sharp as ever. He lives with a housekeeper and his rescue dog, Sparky. He is a delight to know and talk to.

Truly, WC is representative all this is admirable as one of our local members of The Greatest Generation. ■

65 Veterans Magazine

BILL BALDWIN

Editor’s note: This story was first published in The Star-News as a Veterans Day feature in 2007. It was reposted here today in memory of Judge Baldwin, who died on Fri., Oct. 28, 2011

R

etired circuit court judge William H. Baldwin said that the United States knew that war was coming before the bombs started falling on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941. However, he and the rest of the men serving with him were unprepared when the Japanese turned apprehension into reality and altered the destiny of a generation of young men.

A porterhouse steak with mushrooms cost a dollar at the Black Cat Café, a Coke was a nickel with a meal, and young soldiers like Baldwin earned $21 per month as metalsmiths in the Navy. They were more concerned with completing their assigned duties and having a chance at a regular income, something difficult to find back home at the time, than possibly dying in the service of their country.

“Popular movies like ‘Pearl Harbor’ overly dramatized things in my opinion,” he said. “But, they illustrated two things very effectively. First, the country was caught completely by surprise, and second, the military was totally unprepared to meet an attack on our soil.”

Baldwin, an apprentice seaman in the Navy at the time, was stationed on the newly commissioned Naval airbase at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

“There were about 1,000 men stationed there and we had 36 aircraft on the field,” he said. “I remember it was a payday weekend.

We were divided into four duty sections and three of them were on liberty. I just happened to be in the group on duty and

assigned to the fire station when the attack came.”

Baldwin said he has a vivid memory of walking back from the mess hall and hearing a friend remark on some planes that were coming in opposite of the normal traffic pattern over the island.

“He pointed at the planes and said they must be some green pilots from one of the carriers because they were coming in where the outbound air traffic would normally go,” he said. “When they got a little closer, we noticed the red markings and knew they were Zeroes before they opened up and started strafing the planes on the field.”

He doesn’t feel that his reactions or those of his companions were anything to set them apart from other men.

“We each had a job to do and we did it as best we could,” he said. “We were caught by surprise, but we did our duty and did our jobs.”

Baldwin’s job that day was to put out fires so he and his companions were on a fire truck heading down the runway toward the burning planes at the other end.

“We were going down the road one way and all of a sudden, there was a plane coming up the road the opposite direction firing at us,” he said. “The bullets put our truck out of commission, but we made it through and jumped out and headed back for another truck.”

The men at the station had no way to protect themselves from attack other than the armament on the planes that they serviced.

“As we were headed back to the fire station, I remember seeing the officer of the day outside the administration shack shooting up at the planes with a Browning automatic,” he said. “One of the guys we called Wendy had set up ordinance from a plane

on a rack we used when we were cleaning the guns and he was firing up at the planes.

We always teased him, giving him credit for the one enemy plane that went down.”

When it was all over, 33 of the 36 planes had been destroyed. Of the two that survived, only one was out on patrol and it was looking in the wrong direction to see the Japanese coming.

“We were lucky because we only lost 15 or 16 men,” he said. “Before the attack, I remember coming back from Pearl one day after a supply run. The Chief stopped at the top of a hill looking down at the base and said it looked like a shooting gallery down there.

“He was right, that’s what it was with everything lined up and the terrain like it was,” he said. “Commander Martin had told us in the inspection the day before the attack that we were as ready for war as we could be. We were caught by surprise and we were lucky.”

Once the attack was over and clean up began, nerves were still stretched tight on the island.

“There were rumors telling that the Japanese were coming ashore anywhere there was room to beach an outrigger,” he said. “Even worse, there was a rumor that they were sending paratroopers in wearing dungarees so command had us working on airplanes wearing our whites.”

Baldwin said he never really kept up with the people he served with when he came home after the war.

“I went to a few reunions and would run into someone I knew every now and then,” he said. “I’m a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion and the Survivors of Pearl Harbor but there are fewer of us all the time.

Veterans Magazine

“When I got home, I was grateful to be able to take advantage of the G.I. Bill to go to law school,” he said. “I feel that we were treated well for what we did in the war even though there were a few ‘professional veterans’ who wanted everything

handed to them.”

When asked his opinion on how America ended the war, he replied, “When the war ended, I was servicing hospital planes at Los Negros Island,” he said.

“Anyone who had seen a load of shot-up

66

men coming through that base would not have questioned using any weapon we had at our disposal to end that war.

“Even though so many were killed by the atom bombs, I believe more lives were saved by bringing the war to an end.” ■

BEN CRUM FOSHEE

Editor's note: This story first appeared in The Star-News in 2010.

A

Covington County native and Flying Tiger who died heroically in China was honored in 2010 when the firehouse of the South Alabama Regional Airport was dedicated in his honor.

The Flying Tigers was the nickname of the American Volunteer Group (AGV) recruited and commanded by Gen. (ret.) Claire Chennault to defend China from Japanese invasion. They went quietly to China before the United States entered World War II. Ben Crum Foshee was among the 100 pilots recruited.

Foshee was recruited by Gen. Chennault in the officer’s club in Miami. In China, he became Gen. Chennault’s personal pilot and friend.

“Ben was my favorite uncle,” Wheeler Foshee has said of his father’s baby brother.

The elder Foshee took a movie camera with him to China, and the family has some of his films.

In the summer of 1942, Wheeler

Foshee spent the night with his grandmother and aunt. He recalled that the next morning, his grandmother looked out the window and saw a family acquaintance. Immediately she said, “It’s Ben.” The friend had read on the front page of The Montgomery Advertiser that Ben Crum Foshee had been killed six weeks earlier, on May 4, 1942, when the Japanese attacked his group. Foshee was running to his aircraft when they were hit. He was wounded in the leg and bled to death before a doctor could get to him.

He was buried in China, but in 1946, his father paid a retired Navy commander to go to China and bring his son’s body home.

The Foshee family received personal letters of sympathy not only from the Chennaults, but also from Gen. Chiang Kai-shek and his wife.

“My grandmother completely lost her mind after Ben’s death,” Wheeler Foshee recalled. Ben was buried in the Fairmount Church Cemetery. His tomb was placed so that she could see it without getting out of her car. She was later

institutionalized.

Wheeler and Crum Foshee were among those at the dedication in 2010.

“This was wonderful,” Wheeler Foshee said afterward. “This was the nicest thing that could happen to my Grandpa George and Grandma Ella, even though it was 65 years after it happened.”

Crum Foshee, who was named for his uncle, said the family was very proud.

“I was 4 years old when he was killed, and I well remember the emotion in the family,” he said. “He always was a hero with us.”

Crum Foshee said he has a son and a grandson who also carry their herouncle’s name.

Andalusia native Richard Daniel and Covington Historical Society president Sue Wilson led the efforts to have a memorial for Foshee at the airport. ■

67 Veterans Magazine

A

CHARLES VICKERY

By John Vick

ndalusia native Charles Vickery’s nearly 30-year military career took him from flight school, overseas, and to the Pentagon, where he was for a time responsible for maintaining current locations of National Command Authority [the President, VP, Speaker of the House etc.].

At Andalusia High school, his peers in the senior class of 1954 voted him best looking man in their class. A gifted athlete, Charles lettered in football, baseball and basketball. He was named captain of the basketball team.

Upon graduation, Charles attended Auburn [then Alabama Polytechnic Institute] for one year before receiving an appointment to the United States Naval Academy. While at the Academy, Charles lettered in several sports and was quarterback on the JV, or 150-pound, team. He received his bachelor of science degree upon graduation in 1959. He was then commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Air Force.

(Author’s note: In the years before the Air Force Academy was built, a percentage of Naval Academy and West Points grads were allowed to enter the Air Force. I always thought that had Charles stayed in the Navy, he would have made Admiral! But anyway…)

Charles reported to Bainbridge Air Force Base, Georgia, for pilot training. Charles married the former Mary Emma Moates (AHS class of 1957) later that year. He completed pilot training at Craig Air Force Base in Selma, Alabama, in 1960 and was assigned to the 314th Tactical Airlift Squadron flying out of Stewart AFB in Tennessee flying the C-130. Duties with the 314th took Charles to many places in the 1960s

and he ended up being assigned to the 345th Tactical Air Squadron stationed in Taiwan in 1967. The primary mission of the squadron was combat airlift support in Vietnam. Charles flew many missions as command pilot in places like Khe Sahn, the Ashau Valley, Dak To and the Battle for the Citadel in Hue during the Tet offensive in 1968. He received two Distinguished Service medals, four Air Medals and various other medals for his service in Vietnam.

Upon return to the states, he was assigned as Chief of Plans and Exercises, Aerial Port Group out of Langley AFB in Virginia. In 1972 Charles was named as Air Operations Officer Directorate, office of the Assistant Chief of Staff, US Air Force at the Pentagon. He briefly served Squadron Operations Officer for the 345th at Dyess AFB, Texas.

In 1977, Charles was named Commander of the 345th TAS at Yokota Air Base, Japan. While there, he met a young Air Force Captain, James Lawrence from Opp, Alabama, who had been assigned to the Squadron.

In 1978, Charles was promoted to colonel and assumed duties of Assistant Deputy Commander of Operations, for the Tactical Airlift Wing at Clark AFB, Philippines. After his tour there, he returned to the states and attended the Air War College at Maxwell AFB, Montgomery, Alabama, graduating in 1979.

His next assignment was as Director of Plans and Resources, Military Airlift Command at Scott AFB, Illinois. In May 1981, he was named Vice Commander, 63rd Airlift Wing, Norton AFB, CA. He became Commander of the Wing and Base in 1982. He was responsible for

Brig. Gen. Charles Vickery more than 300 US facilities, three C-141 Airlift Squadrons of 56 aircraft and more than 6,000 civilian and military personnel.

In 1984, Vickery was promoted to Brigadier General and was assigned to the Headquarters, Military Airlift Command, Scott AFB, Illinois, as Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff of Operations and Training for more than 1,000 aircraft worldwide.

Charles was transferred to the Pentagon in 1985, and was named Deputy Director of Operations, National Military Command Center, for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His responsibilities included monitoring crises and military actions worldwide, on a real time basis. Actions at that time included worldwide missile launches and the Achille Lauro highjacking. The National Military Command Center maintained current locations of National Command Authority [the President, VP, Speaker of the House etc.].

Gen. Vickery’s last assignment was Vice Commander, Military Traffic Management Command. This was a joint command with the Army and Navy and served as a single manager for the Department of Defense for all military traffic, land transportation, and ocean service for peacetime or war. Vickery represented the Command at various conferences abroad and in the states and was also Chairman, the Port Readiness Group for the National Port Readiness Network.

Gen. Vickery retired in 1988. He was a Command Pilot with more than 5,000 flying hours. His decorations include the DSM [Distinguished Service

Veterans Magazine

Medal], Legion of Merit, two DFCs [Distinguished Flying Crosses], five Meritorious Service Medals, the Defense Meritorious Medal, five Air Medals, two Armed Forces Expeditionary Service Medals, four Vietnam Service Medals, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm and various other awards and

citations.

Charles lives in Navarre, Florida, with his wife, Mary Emma. They have three sons, Caise, Wade and Chuck; eight grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. He enjoys golfing, long walks on the beach, good seafood and his family.

He stays abreast of current affairs through occasional Flag Officer briefings at Eglin

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AFB and Pensacola Naval Air Station.

In 2017, he was recognized in Andalusia with the AHS Outstanding Graduate Award.

His father, Byron Vickery, was a previous part owner and publisher of The StarNews. ■

CHARLES BENSON

MATHEWS C

harles Benson Mathews was born in Andalusia, on March 16, 1930, to Don S. and Mary B. Mathews. He attended Andalusia High School until relocating to Lawton, Oklahoma, with his parents as an “Army brat.” He graduated from Lawton High School in 1948, returned to Alabama, and enrolled in Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University).

While at Auburn, he was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha Social Fraternity and served as SMC (president) in 1952. He graduated from Auburn with a degree in Industrial Management in 1952, also participating in ROTC, where he was a member of Scabbard and Blade and Arnold Air Society. Upon graduation he received an Air Force commission and entered flight training, receiving his wings in 1953.

His first duty assignment was flying B-26s with the 34th Bomb Squadron in Korea and Japan, and he was later stationed at Hurlburt Field flying B-57s.

He separated from the Air Force in 1956 and returned to Auburn, obtaining a degree in aeronautical engineering and later a master of science degree in aerospace engineering. At Auburn he was elected into the honorary fraternities of Tau Beta Pi, Pi Tau Sigma and Pi Mu Epsilon.

He was active with the Alabama Air

National Guard, flying RF-84Fs for almost 10 years and later retiring from the Air Force Reserve at Duke Field.

His professional engineering career started at Eglin AFB in 1962 in the Air Force Armament Laboratory (later the Armament Directorate) where he held various positions until his retirement as technical director of the Weapons Flight Mechanics Division in 1994. Throughout his career he was a member and officer of many professional engineering societies and defense associations, serving as president of the Air Force Association in 1980.

He was a member of the Krewe of Bowlegs for more than 50 years, serving as First Mate in 1975-76.

In 1978 he was invited to participate in the NATO Advisory Group for Aerospace Research & Development lecture series on Missile Aerodynamics presented in Ankara, Turkey; Rome, Italy; London, England; and Brussels, Belgium.

In 1982 he accepted the position of Head of Air Armaments for the NATO International Staff in Brussels and held that position until his return to Eglin AFB in 1987.

In 1994 he was selected as the Air Force Armament Directorate’s “Most Valuable Person of the Year.”

Charles Benson Matthews Charlie’s hobbies were hunting, fishing, skiing, traveling, boating in Santa Rosa Sound and especially golf, once breaking 70.

His parents were Lt. Col (ret) Don S. and Mary B. Mathews of Andalusia.

His wife of 60 years is Lynne Foster Mathews, formerly of Opp. Their immediate family includes a son, Charles B. Mathews, Jr. and wife Carla Peiffer Mathews; daughter, Mary (Cissy) Mathews Brown and husband H. French Brown III; five grandchildren, H. French Brown IV and wife Meghan Reilly Brown, Lynne Wenzel Mathews, Maile Nicole Mathews, Celeste Brooks Brown, and Bailee Hudson Mathews; two great grandchildren, Ann Reilly Brown and H. French Brown V. ■

69 Veterans Magazine

JAMES THOMAS

L

RUFFIN

By John Vick

t. Commander James Thomas Ruffin [Jim] is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Jim and I were the best of friends during our four years together at Auburn. We were both on scholarship with the US Navy ROTC and we both graduated with degrees in mechanical engineering. There was little physical similarity between us - Jim was 6’ 4” and I was 5’ 8”. In order to pass the flight physical, Jim would bend his knees slightly to make 6’ 3”, the maximum height.

During our four years at Auburn, he and I did lots of fishing but we spent much more time studying. The engineering courses were easier for Jim than me. Somehow, Jim decided to delay his graduation, so that I graduated in Aug. 1962 and he graduated a quarter later. I voluntarily left flight training before I received my Wings [1963]. Jim would receive his coveted Wings of Gold sometime in 1964.

Jim trained in jets and eventually flew the Navy’s hottest aircraft, the F 4 Phantom.

In Feb. 1966, the USS Enterprise [CVN 65], the Navy’s first nuclear powered air-

craft carrier, was on Yankee Station, a common operating area off the coast of N. Vietnam for launching attacks. Ltjg.

Jim Ruffin and his RIO {radar intercept officer] were flying with VF 92 operating from Enterprise. They launched the morning of Feb. 18, 1966 bound inland for an attack in N. Vietnam. Their plane was hit by a SAM [surface to air missile] about a mile off the coast near Thanh Hoa. Ltjg.

Larry Spencer, the RIO, survived and was captured by the North Vietnamese.

There was no report of Ruffin being captured or found deceased. During the many years of captivity of American POWs in North Vietnam, there was never any report of Ltjg. Ruffin. Ltjg. Spencer was returned with the other American POWs in 1973.

During the intervening seven years, Jim’s wife, Wanda [Wanda Bryant Ruffin], had heard nothing officially, about her husband.

Wanda was from Rose Hill in Covington County. Wanda was very active in the US POW/MIA movement to get more information on those men who were missing in action. She became the first

Lcdr. James Thomas Ruffin, an F 4 pilot with VF 92, flying from USS Enterprise.

President of the Alabama POW/MIA Association and made several trips to Paris during the disarmament talks.

Wanda and Jim’s daughter, Wende, was born after he had deployed and she never saw her father.

A memorial service for Jim was held in Alabama in 1982 and Jim’s parents invited my family and me to attend. I knew Jim’s parents well, having spent many nights at their home in Slap Out in Elmore County. Almost a year later, Jim’s remains were returned to U.S. control and he was given a funeral with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery. Jim had been posthumously promoted to Lieutenant Commander [Lcdr]. ■

FOYL

HUDGENS

Staff Sergeant Foyl Chapman Hudgens was born in Opp, Al, September 10, 1921 to Mr. & Mrs. Carter Hudgens. He enlisted in the Army October 11, 1939, then later trained for war in an Armored unit that in Europe was part of First Army commanded

by General Courtney H. Hodges. Hudgens arrived France in June, 1944, then fought in Belgium and Germany, to include the Battle of the Bulge. After he was captured, he was relocated continuously during his incarceration, often being moved at night

and held in facilities such as cow barns and other similar structures. He and two others managed to kick loose planking on one of the barns and made a successful escape.

He learned a few words in German, commandeered a horse and managed to ride through enemy lines, then commandeered a car which he rode until it ran empty of fuel.

He subsequently made it on foot back to friendly lines.

After the war, Hudgens was an educator, to include Custodian and teaching Shop at

Andalusia High School.

Hudgens first wife was Sara Ellen (Leonard) who passed in 2020. His second wife was Jacquelyn (Warren)

by Jim Lawrence

, Ltc.

Veterans Magazine

70

JOHN

GIVHAN

F

irst Lt. John B. Givhan was wounded in combat in the Ca Mau peninsula near Kien Long in South Vietnam in 1964, with his right leg being dismembered by a new form of missile from the North Vietnamese during the Vietnam conflict.

In a 2016 speech, Givhan likened his survival to God raising him up on eagles’ wings, except it was the rotary blade of a helicopter.

He was flown more than 150 miles to a hospital in Saigon, which is present-day Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. Givhan credits Maj. Charles Kelley, the helicopter pilot who evacuated him.

Also by his side was Capt.

James Ralph, who was a flight surgeon.

Givhan said that a tourniquet and clamp was placed on his wound, but Capt. Ralph decided he should accompany him on the journey to Saigon.

Ralph found that the clamp wasn’t doing its job and the tourniquet wasn’t placed right.

Givhan said that he was nearly out of blood, but Ralph took the stance that he treats and God heals. To save Givhan’s life, he took a big wad of gauze and stuffed it into his exit wound.

Givhan said he may have been the first to be hit by the new weaponry the North Vietnamese army had received.

Getting to Saigon also proved difficult, as Givhan needed a lot of oxygen and flying at a higher altitude was not possible.

The enemy was firing shots at them, as well, he said.

“We spent the entire mission hugging the ground,” he said.

“We were hopping over trees and power lines for the best oxygen.”

The Lord provided more hands to save his life, a Navy nurse named Bobbie, who volunteered to go to Vietnam and open a hospital.

Recently Givhan and Bobbie both were awarded the DAR Distinguished Citizen Medal from their respective chapters – a first in each chapter.

Givhan said he’s “living proof that having trusted in the Lord, he held me in the palm of his hand.”

Givhan’s decorations included the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Air Medal [10], Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, and Vietnam Service.

Givhan enjoyed a career as an attorney. In his retirement, he has published several books, and continued to be an advocate for veterans. ■

Top: The helicopter in the background Givhan was flying that day in late 1963 is a H-21 "Shawnee" (called a "flying banana"). This helicopter was one of the first to arrive in Vietnam carried up the Saigon River aboard the USNS Core in December 1961. These were the very first U S Army helicopters to arrive in Vietnam. They were the 120th Aviation Company, 145th Aviation Battalion. When the unit received new UH-1B "Huey" helicopters in June 1964, the gunship (armed helicopter) platoon was named the "Razorbacks". The unit patch read: "Death is our business – business is good!”

We are pleased to join in the salute to Covington County Veterans.

-Greg & Jan White Greg White, Chairman Covington County Commission

334-222-2907

greg@wandmcpa.com

Paid Political Advertisment by Greg White Campaign, P.O. Box 281. Andalusia, AL 36420

71 Veterans Magazine

THOMAS

RAY Submitted by Debby Ray

T

homas B. Ray volunteered for the Army in 1969, not long after graduating from high school.

There was a war on, and his family had a history of military service.

“My father, (James Clark Ray) was in WWII, and my uncle (Thomas Bradley) was on Omaha Beach. He and one other guy survived out of his whole company. He had a 90 percent disability.”

Ray’s father served with the medical corps in Africa, “following wherever Patton went.”

It’s likely, he said, that their service was one of the reasons he joined the military.

“I probably would have been drafted if I hadn’t volunteered,” he said. After basic training and AIT, he went to the jungles of Vietnam.

“I was actually on a reconnaissance team,” he said. “We had five-man teams.

I was with the First Calvary Division and 199th Light Infantry Brigade.

“We pretty much did the intelligence,” he said. “They called them alert teams.”

In Vietnam, he served under the command of General Casey. Years later, as a member of the Alabama National Guard, he served under the command of Casey’s son, Gen. George Casey.

“His father was killed in a helicopter crash in Vietnam in July of 1970 as the First Calvary was coming back from Cambodia,” he said.

After his tour of Vietnam, Ray stayed out

of the military. Later, he joined the 20th Special Forces National Guard unit in Montgomery. He joined the guard a second time, and served in several different places.

As a member of the Guard, he did three tours of the Middle East.

In 2003, he was deployed to Iraq, where he was attached to a the multinational logistics unit of a Mult-inational Logistics unit.

Deployed with them in 2003, with 226th ASG out of Mobile.

Ended up, once I got over there, the ASG stayed in Kuwait. Reattached me to Coailtion Forces Command. Miulti national logistics unit.

“We were the liaison for all of the coalition forces coming in to Iraq,” he said. “We would take them in to Iraq, in convoys to wherever they were staying. “ In 2006, he was called up again, and served as Garrison Command Sergeant Major in Al Asad, Iraq.

“We were attached to the Marine Corps,” he said. “It wasn’t as dangerous as in 200304.”

The third deployment came in 2009.

“A chemical unit from Gadsden was going to Kuwait and they needed an operations sergeant major,” he said. All of the operations were in Kuwait and in the southern part of Iraq.”

Active duty Thomas Ray with service in Vietnam Secretary of Defense and in the Middle Donald Rumsfield East had one thing at Al Assad. Left: in common: It was Somewhere in the hot. jungles of Vietnam, In Vietnam, he 1969-70 said, in the jungle it was 100 degrees with 100 percent humidity. In the deserts of the Middle East, it was 130 degrees and dusty.

“The armed forces had changed so much, as far as living conditions,” he said. “And different things had come along. We had smart bombs now. I guess we had dumb bombs in Vietnam. It was a totally different kind of war.”

His numerous awards include the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, the Vietnam service medal with three Bronze Stars.

In civilian life, Ray and his wife, Debby, owned medical equipment stores in Union Springs, Luverne and Greenville. They moved from Luverne to Gantt in 2009, and he retired from the National Guard in 2010.■

Veterans Magazine

72

JACK

COX

F

lorala native Jack Cox was among the 10 veterans awarded the National Order of the Legion of Honor by the Consulate General of France in Atlanta in June of 2015.

The veterans, all current residents of Georgia, were recognized for their service in World War II. “It took me by surprise,” Cox said of the honor. “I was glad to get it, of course.”

The award was presented just before the 71st anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of Normandy during World War II that led to the liberation of France from Nazi control. D-Day was the largest seaborne invasion in history.

Cox, now 92 and living in Decatur, Ga., joined the Army at 18.

“I went pretty quickly over to Europe and France,” he said, adding that he joined the U.S. Army 36th Infantry Division.

“They’re the ones that fought down in Italy so much,” he said. “They were in France when I joined them. I was in the infantry, on the machine gun, and a rifle.

Basically, we dug holes and fought the Germans.”

While his arrival in Europe was after the Allied invasion, there was plenty of war left to fight.

“I can only tell you it was bad,” he said.

Cox and a comrade received a commendation for crawling 500 yards under heavy machine gun, mortar and artillery fire to rescue a wounded soldier left lying in an

Cox, left, at a 2015 ceremony at which he received the National Order of the Legion of Honor from the Consulate General of France. open field during an enemy attack.

“I guess I didn’t know any better,” he said. “I don’t know why they didn’t get us.”

He remained with the 36th Division until the war was over. They were in Austria by that time. And there was no getting home.

“They had so many people in Europe, they had to take turns with the ships,” he said.

He learned of a school set up for GI’s by the American government in Biarritz, France.

“They had several million people in Europe, and room for 2,500 students,” he said. “I was in the right place at the right time.”

He enrolled and began studying to be an engineer.

Some of his friends went to the nearby University of Bordeaux on the weekends. He decided to join them, and met the woman who would become his wife, Jeannie.

After he returned home, he wrote her for more than a year. She eventually sailed to New York City, where he met her and they

were married.

Jeannie returned to France for the birth of their first child, and Jack sent the young family back to France again when, as a member of the Army Reserves, he was called to Korea for the first year and a half of the conflict.

He later joined them, and they lived there for several years before returning to the United States, and living in Mobile for a number of years.

Cox learned to speak French fluently, a skill that came in handy when he received the call about his latest honor.

“He was speaking English with a very bad accent,” he said. “I started speaking French, and we got along fine.”

The Legion of Honor is the highest distinction France can award to a citizen or foreigner, and President Francois Hollande nominated the latest recipients.

“There’s only one thing that kept bothering me,” Cox said of the ceremony. “The guys who truly won this medal were dead.”

■

73 Veterans Magazine

JENKINS

LOGAN

Jenkins Logan joined the Army right out of high school during the early 1960s.

He toured the world, stationed in Hawaii, Okinawa, and Thailand. But when he was discharged, Logan wanted to come home and returned to Opp, Alabama.

At 23, this veteran was working at the mill there and knew one thing for sure—he definitely wasn’t going to become the first black policeman in Opp. That was in 1969.

On May 30th of this year, 75 miles south of Montgomery, Alabama, where Rosa Parks took her seat to take her stand, Veteran Jenkins Logan celebrated 50 years with the Opp Police Department.

Yes, Captain Logan is still working a job he never wanted, and his presence is nothing like what you’d expect for a commanding officer—he speaks softly and slowly. Jesus is his Captain.

“Do you know who wrote the first five books of the Bible?” he quietly asked me years ago.

“I do.”

“Who?” I laughed. From his tone, I could tell Logan knew the answer but wasn’t sure I did. Maybe I was bluffing.

“Moses,” I said.

“How’d you know?” He’d been surprised that the prophet had written so much Scripture.

“Seminary,” I said. “That’s my edge.”

Logan, as everyone calls him, also has an edge—he met God at age four or five.

“One night there was a lightning storm,” he said. “I asked Daddy how to make it stop.”

“Pray to God,” his father had said.

“How do you do that, Daddy?”

“Just talk to Him.”

“I did and the storm stopped immediately.” Logan’s eyes shined as he looked at me.

“Not something you forget!”

God kept revealing Himself until Logan realized God had a purpose for him. His the Opp Police Chief said, “Logan is extraordinary—easy to talk to, and he listens carefully.”

Logan uses those gifts to help others.

“Take domestics,” the captain said.

“Couples arguing and fighting. They have kids and need to know that when they break the family they break the child.”

But it’s dangerous work. Some time ago, after several officers were killed during traffic stops, I studied Logan with a heavy heart. “When will they get you?”

He grinned. “Not me.”

Logan is gentle, but he means business with felony stops. With his hand on his gun and his door open and protecting him from potential gunfire, he climbs from his cruiser.

Logan then instructs the driver to step out and away from his vehicle with his hands up.

“I make sure he knows any false move could be deadly,” he said. “I tell him to turn around and step backwards toward me.

When I get him where I want him, I tell him to get on his knees and then to lie face down. That’s when I cuff him.”

It’s smart, and it made me happy. Had he learned that at the police academy?

“There wasn’t formal training back then,” he said.

Remember, he was hired in 1969. Logan could have retired twice, but he’s not quitting.

“People retire and regret it,” he said.

How did he end up in a job he didn’t want? He was chosen.

“No, no, no!” Logan had said, even though he’d been the one to suggest the need for a black officer after witnessing city police mistreating a black man.

But the mayor insisted on a candidate with a clean record.

“Daddy took us to church,” he said. In fact, that church still stands on Church Street in Opp, Alabama.

One retired lawyer remembers that Logan may have been the first black officer in Covington county. Why did Logan change his mind?

“I didn’t. They pressured me,” he said. “I agreed, but only until they found someone else.”

Fifty years later, this veteran can safely say that God was in it.

He’ll tell you of Moses and David. “They didn’t want any part of God’s plan either.”

That’s true. God appeared to Moses in the Burning Bush, and Moses said, “Who am I?” David was anointed King of Israel long before he seized his destiny. (Exodus 3:1-11; 1 Samuel 16-2 Samuel 5:3) “You have to stay with God,” the captain said. “That’s your power.”

Now and then in a quiet place, Logan will pull his cruiser over, open the door, and get down on one knee. Jesus is Captain Logan’s Captain.

Copyright © 2019 R.A. Mathews. The Rev. R.A. Mathews is an attorney, faith columnist, and the author of “Reaching to God.” She can be reached at letters@ RAMathews.com

74 Veterans Magazine

NORMAN

BUNDY

N

orman Lee Bundy was a friend and fellow Naval ROTC student at Auburn University. The author

trained with Bundy for 4 years and they became friends before both were commissioned into the Navy as Ensigns.

Norman was born in Date County, Fl in 1941. After graduating from high school, he was awarded a scholarship to Auburn as a Naval ROTC Midshipman.

After graduation from Auburn, Normans entered Flight Training at NAS Pensacola.

The following information comes his friend Maj. Larry Gibson, USMC. "Norm did well in our training squadron, VT-1 at Pensacola. He already had his pilot's license, obtained while still a student at Auburn. He drove around in a beautiful new red Austin Healey at the time. I remember having to

help carry his gear when we both were transferred to NAAS Merdian, Ms. because his car was so small. We flew formation flying training together there with VT-9. Norm loved to play the guitar and inspired me to lear to play the banjo and the mandolin. Norm had one other great influence on my life.

Someone had backed into his Austin Healey and while getting it repaired, met a young lady from Meridian. Norm introduced me to her later and we were married one week after I received my Wings. After further training in guns and CQ [carrier qualification] with VT-4, we were split up, when Norm was sent to Kingsville, Tx. and I was sent to Beeville, Tx for advance jet training. From Texas, I was sent to MCAS [Marine Corps Air Station[, Cherry Point, NC flying the A-4 jet attack aircraft. I had a letter or two but never heard from Norm again. In 1966,

I was flying A-4s out of Chu Lai, Vietnam and had flown to Atsugi, Japan delivering one plane and picking up another. I ran into some Navy pilots who told me Norman had been lost. A few tears were shed that day and again today when I reminisced about Norm. I have a book on Amazon, "Recollections of a Marine Attack Pilot", and I mention Norm and his accident in chapter 19. " The official records indicate that Ltjg.

Norman L Bundy died on Sep 6, 1966, while flying from the USS Franklin D Roosevelt [CVA-42] in the Tonkin Gulf, off N. Vietnam. Bundy was flying his very first mission on Sep 6. He flew a RF-8A Crusader [the R indicates it was configured for reconnaissance] on a mission to assess bomb damage near the city of Thanh Hoa, N. Vietnam. Some 20 mile from the coast, Bundy's plane impacted the water.

75 Veterans Magazine

FRED

F

PRICE

red Price was born and grew up in Coffee County. He graduated from Elba High school in 1942 and was drafted in Oct, of that year. He started basic training at Ft. McClellan near Anniston, Al. From there, he was sent Ft. McPherson, Ga. then to Camp Swift, Tx., where he completed basic training. Fred was assigned to Company "A", 378th Infantry Regiment of the 95th Army Infantry Division located at Ft. Sam Houston, Tx. [near San Antonio]. He said that he never forgot his first hike there. His Company hiked 25 miles and most of the men [including Fred] ended up

with bloody feet. Soon after arriving at Ft. Sam Houston, Fred was assigned to Company "D" and transferred to the Personnel Office as a clerk in the Payroll Division.

Next, Fred's company participated in maneuvers at Ft. Polk, La. before being sent to the California dessert for more maneuvers.

They were then sent to Indiantown Gap, Pa. for embarkation and transportation to the European Theater operations.

Not a lot of Fred's experiences in the European War were recorded. He participated in the Normandy Invasion and spent the next year or so in combat, includ-

ing the Battle of the Bulge. He recalled that he once spent 105 consecutive days in combat. When the war ended, Fred was near Bremen, Germany.

Fred had married Lucy Grimes in 1943 and she lived with her parents during the war. After Fred's discharge in 1945, he and Lucy lived in Coffee County for a while.

In 1946, Fred traveled to St. Louis to study Mortuary Science. When he returned, they moved to Andalusia where he worked for Foreman Funeral Home for a couple of years. He decided to leave Foreman's and took a job with Buck Colquett, the standard Oil distributer in Andalusia.

Lucy had gone to Troy State and graduated with a degree in Education in 1951.

About the time Standard Oil merged into Exxon. Fred started his own Exxon dealership. His friendship with another WW II veteran, Ray Sibley, was a great influence on Fred becoming an Exxon dealer. They remained close friends until Fred's death in 1980. Lucy remarried [Alto Martin who is now deceased] and still lives in Andalusia.

Fred and Lucy had two children, Freida [Myers] Armstrong ands Kevin Price and two grandchildren.

John Vick [material furnished by Lucy Price Martin and Kevin Price]

76 Veterans Magazine

KENNETH

JOHNSON

K

enneth Gravlee Johnson was born in Aliceville, Al in 1948. Kenneth graduated from high school one day and joined the Marines the next.

He was sent to Camp Lejeune – Paris Island, NC for basic training. After basic, he was sent to Camp Geiger [Marine Corps Infantry School], located at Camp Pendleton, Ca. Kenneth’s first tour in Vietnam was in 1966, operating from Da Nang. He was assigned to “Echo” Company, 1st Platoon, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Division. Ken spent time as a squad leader and as an M60 machine gunner. We don’t have too many details from his combat experiences.

On Ken’s 2nd tour in Vietnam, he was assigned to the same company with the 4th Marine Division. He was severely wounded near Quang Tri, Vietnam on Sep 19, 1967, with wounds to his arms, legs, and back. From those wounds, he received the Purple Heart.

Ken was sent home to the

states on Feb 20, 1968. He said “I was more nervous than when I was in my foxhole. I was a stranger in a strange, hostile and ungrateful land”.

They were not given a hero’s welcome, in fact they were told to “lay low” and remain quiet. “The silence that greeted us left open wounds and delayed our healing far longer than any other returning war veterans – just one more distinction of the Vietnam War”.

After Kenneth left the Marines, he attended Auburn University under the GI bill, graduating with a degree in Biological Science/Wildlife management in 1974. He had married his high school sweetheart, Helen Griffith in Sep 1971.

The Johnsons moved to Andalusia and Ken began a 36 year career as a Wildlife Biologist with the Alabama Department of Fish and Game.

Ken and Helen had 3 sons, Ken, Jr, Griff and Neal, along with 5 grandchildren.

Helen writes about Ken’s discovery of a book that gave

new meaning to his experiences in Vietnam. Ken purchased a book one day called “The Proud Bastards” by E. Michael Helms. Helen says “Ken was reading the book one night as I left the room to go to bed. The next morning when I got up, Ken was where I left him” He had read all and finished the book. The book was about “Echo” company, Ken’s company and the author had given Ken and his buddies new names”.

Sometime later, Ken located the author and they were able to spend many long hours reminiscing . From that book and the exchanging of addresses, many friendships were renewed. One of the men, Warren Howie, lived in Wisconsin. with his wife Bonnie. Our two families have visited many times at each other’s homes. On one of Warren’s visits to Andalusia, the subject of a local veterans monument came up. Ken got very interested in the idea and when Mayor Johnson approached him, Kenneth of-

fered to chair the committee to explore the idea. Eventually, a committee was formed with Kenneth as Chairman. He and a group of local “veteran heroes”, planned and raised the money to complete the Covington Veterans Memorial Park.

In Feb 2017, Kenneth Gravlee Johnson lost his battle with cancer. He was buried at Andalusia Memorial Cemetery with full military honors.

The local veterans park stands, not just as a memorial to Covington County’s fallen war dead but also to the vision and dedication to Kenneth Johnson and his Veterans Committee.

John Vick I want to thank Mrs. Helen Johnson, widow of Kenneth, for her help in writing about her “hero” husband “ and my friend Corporal Kenneth G Johnson, United States Marine.

77 Veterans Magazine

MARIAN

EDWARDS

M

arian Jackson Bradley Edwards was born July 6, 1915 in Pennsylvania.

She attended the Drexel Institute of Technology and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce. Marian is mentioned in the 1944 Ninety Nine Newsletter as being a part of the Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter and she worked as a secretary for North American Aviation. She was part of Women AIrforce Service Pilots class 43-4 and trained at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas. After graduation

in August 1943, Marian was assigned to the Long Beach Army Air Base in California where she worked ferrying Vultee BT-13s from the factory to training bases in Chico, California, and Love Field in Dallas, Texas. She resigned from the WASP to marry William Thomas Edwards May 18, 1944.

Nancy Edwards Eldridge [wife of Dr. Charles Eldridge] picks up the story from there: “Mother was 5 ft – 1” tall and weighed 100 lbs. She had to get a special exemption to join the WASPs. After the war, she and my Dad,

William Thomas Edwards, moved to Auburn, Al. where he had been raised. They started a box manufacturing plant, Edwards and McGehee, with business partners.

They later started National Screenprinters there. Mother was totally devoted to raising her 4 children and supporting my Father’s businesses.

I and my two older sisters, Barbara Edwards LeNoir and Susan Edwards Brandner, and my younger brother, Tommy Edwards all graduated from Auburn.

We don’t have many pictures of mother in her flying

days but we do have one with her Piper Cub. In this picture, she is the only woman.

Mother was an amazing lady.

She died July 7, 1996 and is buried in Auburn Memorial Park Cemetery in Auburn, Alabama”.

John Vick [Author’s note: Material furnished by the Texas Women’s University WASP Archives, Mrs. Nancy Edwards Eldridge] Image courtesy of the Official WASP Archive @ Texas Woman's University Image courtesy of the Official WASP Archive @ Texas Woman's University

78 Veterans Magazine

Gillis Jones, Charles Wratchrod, William Robinson

GILLIS

G

illis Jones didn’t volunteer to join the military.

“They joined me,” he said.

“I was inducted on the 25th of October, 1950.”

He was working for Vanity Fair in Monroeville, a job he enjoyed more because he was a member of the company’s basketball and baseball teams.

He trained in Indiana, and went straight to Korea by sea.

The trip was so rough, he said, soldiers were sick most of the way over. He was fortunate, he said, because he could afford to buy soda crackers from the commissary.

“We landed in April, I believe,” he said.

He was in the 24th Infantry Division, a heavy weapons company, and a soldier who quite fortunately wore out his

JONES

only boots.

“I had big, narrow feet,” he said. “As luck would have it, I had to be brought back from the front to the kitchen to stay until I could get boots.”

Someone was rotating out, and he quickly volunteered that he could cook.

The remainder of his time in Korea, he was either cooking, or delivering food to the front.

It was so cold, he said, that coffee would freeze on the lip of the cup. The river was frozen so solid, the soldiers could drive tanks on it.

“I cooked in big amounts,” he said. “We’d make a 25-gallon pot of coffee. We took the food up to the front in a jeep.

When you went up, you had to give the password. One night when I went up, I forgot to get the password for that night.

I had to go back and get it.

I was scared to death I’d be shot.”

Jones said the soldiers wore as many clothes as they could, and slept in down feathered sleeping bags.

“If you got in the fox hole and zipped up, it’d keep you warm,” he said. “One of the beatin’est things, when I worked in the kitchen, we had one of those monsoon rains.

One night, I woke up floating out of the tent.”

His air mattress had become a flotation device.

Another time, they were preparing to serve a meal to a platoon that had come down to get a shower.

“The Chinese and North Koreans started shelling,” he recalled. “It hit right at our tent, and the artillery went

over us like a covey of steel.

It knocked holes in the steel ovens.”

On that day, a new recruit who’d been brought to the camp was so frightened by the incoming artillery that he jumped out, and was wounded.

“We heard from him months later,” Jones said. “He’d been sent to Tokyo, and then back home.”

It was a North Korean female soldier who was calling in the artillery that day, Jones said.

“They got up there and captured her,” he said.

Jones will be recognized as this year’s Grand Marshal of the Andalusia Veterans Day parade.

79 Veterans Magazine

CHARLES

WRATCHFORD

C

harles E. Wratchford was a 16-year-old West Virginia boy when he joined the Army in

1950.

“I didn’t have nothing else to do,” he said. “In West Virginia, there was nothing to do except throw rocks.”

It turns out that throwing hand grenades is similar to throwing rocks, but it would be months later that Wratchford – still a boy when faced with the hand grenade proposition in Korea – would learn that.

Wratchford was one of three local veterans of the Korean conflict honored with the Ambassador for Peace medal from the Republic of Korea earlier this year.

“I’m hard-headed, so I got my old No. 1 thumb out and hitchhiked to Winchester, Va. I talked to the sergeant. He said, ‘How old are you?’

“I said, ’18.’ He said, ‘No. You’re 17.’ ” “OK. Seventeen.”

The sergeant told him a bus would take him to Fort Bragg, N.C., the next day. He had no idea that paratroopers trained at Ft. Bragg.

He said the training area had just been cleared, and on his last jump, he hit a stump. He woke up in the hospital in a partial body cast. He opted to retrain for the infantry rather than rejoin the paratroopers.

In Korea, he worked in communications, and kept lines open for an English tank unit, a Turkish brigade, and a Greek

unit, as well as U.S. Marines.

“They had incoming artillery, and they told me the telephone was out,” he recalled. “I got down there, turned, and found two Marines lying down.

“I said, ‘What’s wrong?’ They didn’t speak because they were dead.

“I was just a young kid. I looked down and said, ‘Hand grenades.’

“There were four North Koreans, just peppering the Marines,” he said. “I said, ‘Now, what do I do? Oh. Hand grenades.

“I’m a good West Virginia boy, and I know how to throw them rocks. I got down low and threw it. It said, ‘bomp, bomp,’ and the North Koreans got silent.”

Wratchford went up the hill, and ended the misery of the surviving North Korean, he said.

“About that time, a captain of the Marines came up and said, ‘Good job. I can get you a Silver Star for that.’ I said, ‘Uh-uh. No Silver Star. My company commander, he don’t like me. I’ll get the telephones working.’ ” He never got the Silver Star.

Another time, he came under fire, and the artillery went just through the skin of his arm.

“One of the big wheels said, ‘Go down to the medics. We’ll get you a Purple Heart.’ I said, ‘No way.’ So our medic put sulfur powder on it, wound it up, and here I go.

“The next time when we got hit, we

were on a river bed, going back toward North Korea. Something hit my stomach.

It was hot.”

Wratchford reached for his bayonet and pried the shrapnel out.

“It was still hot,” he recalled. “They told me to go back, and get with the medic. I said, ‘No. I’ll stay here with these boys.’

The medic patched me up again.”

Wratchford said there were days when the temperature was 60 below zero and the snow was deep. It occurred to him that in his olive, drab uniform, he was a plain target.

He served a total of 21 years in the military, including a return trip to the DMZ, and two duty stations in Germany. He wanted to reenlist and go for 30 years, but learned he had heart trouble, and was advised to go home and take care of himself.

It was during a stint at Fort Rucker, on the way back to the base from a trip to Montgomery, that he met the young woman who would become his wife.

Sixty-five years later, the couple is retired in Alabama.

During those 21 years, he said, his best job was as a drill sergeant. The work kept him stateside during the Vietnam War, training soldiers rather than going back to the front.

After retiring from the military, he worked with the Opp Police Department.

80 Veterans Magazine

PETE

GREENE

By Sue Bass Wilson

Robert Wilbur “Pete” Greene was born in 1919 in Andalusia and grew up at the bottom of Devereux Hill. He was the son of Elijah and Pauline Greene, the youngest of nine children. Greene was graduated from the Andalusia High School in 1939. He soon joined the National Guard in September 1940 and was inducted into the Army as a member of the 117th Field Artillery with the 31st Infantry Division. He attended OCS and was promoted from 2nd Lieutenant to 1st Lieutenant in the 420th 10th Armored Division, 3rd Army. After two years of training, he was sent overseas.

“It took us 10 days to get to France by ship,” Greene stated. They landed at Cherbourg, France after stopping in England to refuel. When the 10th Armored Division arrived at Bastogne, Belgium, they joined Major William DeSobry’s Command Combat Battalion where fighting continued through that night and all of the next day.

In a December 1994 interview in The Andalusia Star News, Greene stated, “None of us expected what would happen in the next few days. The Germans tried three times that second day to take over our position, but with our armored infantrymen and my direction of artillery fire from a two-story building, we knocked out 16 German tanks. The German soldiers who weren’t wounded or killed retreated. That night we went over plans for the next day.”

Greene remembers, “We had barely finished when a 60-ton King Tiger tank

barreled through town and fired two 88 millimeter rounds into our building. The shells hit about two feet away from me.

Major DeSobry, two paratroopers, and myself were wounded by the shrapnel. I was knocked unconscious by the blast.

We were immediately evacuated to the 326th Evacuation Company and the 101st Division Medical Company. They thought we’d be safe there, but when we arrived, it was overrun with Germans.”

“I woke up as the ambulance door opened and saw a German soldier. He aimed the gun at me and I thought that was it, but another German soldier noticed I was an officer. They probably thought I’d be more useful as a prisoner than dead.”

“It was very disheartening. I didn’t think I’d ever see home again. It was about three months before they let us write letters, but all the letters could say was ‘I’m fine’ which wasn’t true. I could have been half dead for all my family really knew. I never gave up, though, never! I still have nightmares about the stalags (prison camps) and the men who died beside me.”

Greene would eventually be sent to Stalag 13B in Hammelburg. He remembered how cold it was, 40 degrees below zero. “You had to keep yourself warm.”

General George S. Patton, Jr. finally stormed the camp of approximately 4,500 Allied prisoners. Some prisoners were too weak to escape, others ran for the woods or towards the river in the confusion.”

Greene was recaptured and sent to another stalag in Nuremberg and then to Stalag 7A in Mooseburg where Patton would once again rescue him.

“I’ll never forget that day. It was April 29, 1945. Patton was standing there with his pearl-handle pistols on his hips looking like he was in complete control.

His pastor gave each of us a Bible as we left the stalag. He may have been a stubborn and sometimes hateful man (described by some), but he was a good soldier. He took care of his men.”

“Many strong friendships were forged during those days,” Greene concludes. For his service in the Battle of the Bulge, he received a Purple Heart for his injuries, a Bronze Star, and a Silver Star.

His name is listed in granite as a World War II POW in the Veterans Park behind the Andalusia City Hall.

Greene returned home and married Betty J. Carter. He worked as a land surveyor and draftsman with the McDonald and Hooper Engineers, was a member of the Andalusia Kiwanis Club, the First Baptist Church, and the FBC Baraca Class. He served as a deacon and was an avid fisherman.

Greene passed away March 31, 2005 at the age of 85 years. He was the father of one daughter Priscilla whose husband is Ray Moore. They reside in Washington, Georgia. There are 3 grandsons and 10 great grandchildren to carry on his legacy of patriotic service and pride of hard work, home, family, and the love of God.

81 Veterans Magazine

WALTER

A

STONE

lmost seventy-six years after his plane went down behind enemy lines in France, 2nd Lt. Walter B. Stone’s remains are coming home to Pleasant Home.

Lt. Stone’s nephew and namesake, Walter “Buster” Stone, said family members will meet with representatives of the military at Foreman’s Funeral Home tomorrow to plan a full military funeral.

According to the AirForceTimes, in October 1943, 2nd Lt. Stone was serving as a pilot in the 350th Fighter Squadron, 353rd Fighter Group, VIII U.S. Fighter Command. He was killed Oct. 22 when his P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft crashed behind enemy lines in northern France during a bomber escort mission. Search and recovery operations were not possible.

Stone’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Ardennes American

Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Neupré, Belgium, along with others missing from WWII. Because he is now accounted for, a rosette will be placed next to his name.

And in Pleasant Home, his mother already has a marker for him.

“My grandmother went to her grave worrying about wanting to get his remains back,” Buster Stone said. “This has always been a big thing to our family.

“Down at the cemetery, there is a memorial headstone in memory of Walter B. Stone, and the date he was reported missing,” Stone said. “It says he was shot down over France.”

Lt. Stone was the son of James W. Stone and Lilla Stone.

About six months ago, the military con-

tacted Buster Stone’s cousin in Pensacola about getting a DNA sample. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency confirmed Lt. Stone’s identity on Feb. 20, 2019.

The military initially has said it will do a funeral in about a month to give the family time to work out travel schedules.

“Every relative has said we didn’t have to put it off. They’ll be there.” Stone said.

“We’ll see what their normal procedure is.”

82 Veterans Magazine

WILLIAM

MERRILL

A

ndalusia native William Merrill earned industry-wide acclaim when he built the obelisk that is the Covington County Veterans Memorial.

The obelisk, which was dedicated on Veterans Day 2004, honors those county citizens who have given their lives in every war and military action since World War I. The obelisk’s base is 4 ½ foot square. It rises to a height of 32 feet, narrowing to 32 inches at the top. The pyramid-shaped cap brings the total height to 36 feet.

It sits on a seven-foot pedestal of reinforced concrete. The obelisk’s base is clad with granite on which are inscribed the names of those remembered. That, in turn, is surrounded by a five-pointed concrete star representing the five branches of the U.S. military and a semicircle of 11 U.S. flags.

Merrill, who died in 2017, learned to weld growing up in and around his family’s construction business, his brother Scotty Merrill recalled. William Merrill had worked as a welder on aircraft carriers, then moved on to help construct chemical refineries and steam generator boilers before opening his own business, Wilco Welding, in about 1990, he told Welding Journal in 2005.

Merrill worked with design architect Dale Fritz on the monument. He told the magazine that once he started working with Fritz, it became apparent he would serve as both engineer and builder. He reached out to Welding Journal to find the

resources he needed.

Merrill developed a finish for the stainless steel plate monument that, from a distance, makes the obelisk look s if it is made of granite. He William Merrill is shown in Laredo, Texas, where called process a “ribbon matte he was in training as a fighter pilot. He left the military finish.” before being sent to Vietnam.

“I made up the name, but I’d talk to people in the art the foundation. Once the workers comworld and they’d act like they knew what pleted adjusting all the anchor bolts and it was,” he told Welding Journal. “I made a climbed out again, the pyramid cap was up a lot of stuff on this obelisk.” welded into place.

He and one employee, David Geohagan, He described the project as “once-in-aperformed all of the welding and finishing lifetime” work, and said he was pleased work on the obelisk. Once the finish was with the result. completed, the obelisk was moved across He also is known in Andalusia for his the street from his shop for a cleaning pro- work on the monument to textile workcess to prevent corrosion. It drew plenty of ers, also known as the Big White Shirt, attention from passersby. located at the Andalusia Area Chamber of “We had to explain to every farmer driv- Commerce. The shirt also was designed by ing down the street what we were doing,” Dale Fritz, and Merrill worked with local Merrill told Welding Journal. “We told artist Larry Strickland on the concept, and some people it was ductwork and others it with Clark Trailers on the design. was a rocket ship.”

Merrill told The Star-News he read Merrill loved to tell the story of how he everything he could about the construction was almost done with the obelisk in 2004 of the Statue of Liberty before he began. when Hurricane Ivan was about to bear The result was the 13-foot-tall shirt that is down on Andalusia.The obelisk was still 11 feet wide from elbow to elbow. on its side in his shop near downtown.

Merrill said he starting thinking about the Merrill graduated from Livingston State obelisk, and the strength at which he had University and served in the Air Force built it to withstand winds. during the Vietnam era, but left the Air “I just crawled inside it,” he said.

Force before going to Vietnam, his brother Once the cleaning process was comLee Merrill said. pleted, the obelisk was moved to the park behind city hall, and a crane placed it on

83 Veterans Magazine

History of the Covington County Veterans Memorial Park “This country was created with the blood of men and women who believed that it was worth fighting for.”

Those were the words of Troy University Chancellor Dr. Jack Hawkins, Jr., when a crowd of more than 500 people gathered for the dedication of the Covington County Veterans Memorial on Veterans Day in 2004.

Andalusia native Kenneth Johnson, a

Vietnam veteran, and Mayor Earl Johnson co-chaired the committee that led the effort to build the monument. Other committee members were George Berry, Thomas Dozier, Robert Green, Foyle Hudgens, Byron Nichols, J.T. Raley, Doyle Taylor, Luther Taylor, Larry Turman and Marvin Walker. ​Funding came from Covington County, Andalusia, Opp, Florala, Babbie, Liber-

tyville, as well as many civic groups and other organizations.

The inscription on the monument’s base reads, “To those who died, honor and eternal rest; to those who returned, gratitude and peace; to those in service, remember and hope.”

More than 700 bricks and 19 cornerstones were initially purchased in honor or memory of veterans.

84 Veterans Magazine

85 Veterans Magazine

Source: “Genomic analysis of metastatic solid tumors in veterans: Findings from the VHA National Precision Oncology Program.” JCO Precision Oncology, May 26, 2019. Infographic by VA Research Communications, September 2019.

Photo for illustrative purposes only. Photo: © iStock/NanoStockk, imaginima.

86 Veterans Magazine

COVINGTON COUNTY VETERANS MEMORIAL WORLD WAR I Arthur Acree Lee O. Battle Thomas J. Bell Sidney Blair Herbert Bradley Claude Caine Leslie O. Clark Dicodemus Daughtry Fred Dixon Ary A. Duke Jesse B. Emmons Alto L. Floyd George Gibbs William C. Gillis William A. Glidewell William R. Hart Banks Henry Robert S. Ingram Joshua T. Jordan Jesse James Leonard Henry C. Lord James N. Malcomb John E. Maldin Ephraim F. McCurley James O. Merrill Arthur L. Mims Aubrey E. Moore Arthur L. Perrett Allen T. Pryor George Roberson Nusom Roberson Eddie C. Smith Grover M. Srrickland Louis E. Wells Edward Williams David F. Wilson

WORLD WAR II Alton Adcock Lester L. Alley Jr. Tell Ammons Clanton Aughtman Lonnie W. Baker Perry L. Balkom Clarence A. Barlow Robert W. Barrow James H. Barton Harold H. Beasley Frank Biggs J.C. Boutwell Joe B. Bowden James W. Bryan R.S. Carter Malton Caton Jimmy J. Catrett John W. Catrett Othel C. Clark Rozell Cobb Grady E. Colvin Cecil Ray Colvin Charles Cook Fred E. Cook Richard A. Cook Winston F. Cook Junior L. Coon Claud C. Cooper Walter E. Corbitt Tillman W. Cordell Noah N. Cowen Clyde E. Cox Ronald Daniel John D. Dickens Myron C. Driver Clen DuBose Chesley Eiland John C. Ellis

Ben C. Foshee James T. Gay Hoyt O. Geohagan Leroy Glidewell James B. Gomillion Arthur E. Grantham Murray H. Griffin Carnegie R. Hall Charles V. Hall James H. Ham Lomax Hammonds J. Lynn Hart Alford L. Harrell John A. Hartwell Trammell G. Hartzog Grady T. Hicks Harvey D. Hicks Ormand A. Higgins Clarence B. Hogg Arnold C. Hollis Moses Hudson Jr. Haynes G. Huggins Robert H. Ingram Harold R. Kelley James C. Kelley Selma F. Kelley Ollie B Kirkland Charlie Lowery William L. Ludlam Johnie E. Manning Nichilas A. McCallum William B. McCalman Thomas D. Teel.

Howard F. Meredith Harold T. Miller David Mitchell Earl R. Mock Willialm L. Money Ethridge L. Moody

Hubert A. Moore Walter B. Moore Jackie L. Nichols Lester C. O’Neal Ruben L. Padgett Pennington Paulk Lonzie L. Phelps John L. Powell Johnie Powell Charles Presley James O. Scofield Donell F. Smith Ray T. Stanley Ollie O. Spears Malcolm Rawls Billy Ray Thomas L. Rodgers John W. Saunders Douglas W. Seymour William P. Sims William P. Spurlin William A. Stanley Walter B. Stone William E. Tisdale Wiley B. Wall Marron J. Ward Jr. Joe C. Watson Vanion L. Wheeler Comer A. Wilson Harold G. Windham Jack Womack Lowell Williams Roy F. Wyatt John E. Paget KOREAN WAR Stewart M. Baker Carnell Booth

Roy Catrett O.C. Clark Jr. Tellis W. Donaldson Rudolph Farmer Lawrence Grantham James L. Jeter Jefferson A. Powers Charles Smith Ernest C. South Wilmer T. Wyatt VIETNAM WAR James A. Cauley Jimmy E. Darby Ralph G. Dunn Rodney J. Evans Horace G. Giddens, Jr. Michael D. Gunnels John Wayne Hudgens George W. Jones Michael W. Johns Daniel P. Thomas, Jr. Max D. Kersy Dewey R. Owens Cecil C. Scholfield Douglas Scroggins Henry B. Smith Jr. James S. Stanley Steve Stanley Travis R. Sutton James K. Sutton Ronald Gilmore ALL OTHER CONFLICTS Jeffrey T. Hattaway John W. Hutto

Veterans Magazine

As our Armed Forces fight to protect our freedom abroad, we’re reminded of the sacrifice made by so many brave soldiers before them. On Veterans Day we pause to recognize and thank all of the veterans who have served our country. We are eternally grateful for their dedication and service.

ANDALUSIA MANOR & SAVANNAH TERRACE

87

Alabama’s Top City

88 Veterans Magazine

To all the men and women, along with their families, who have served and sacrificed our care, nation schools, cost of living and When Charles Anderson chose the for Health best cities in the country for his In Search of Eden list, he placed Andalusia 44th. It was the highest placement of any Alabama city. Anderson was looking for progressive communities that were aesthetically pleasing, had a moderate climate and their own identities.

quality of life were considered.

And, Anderson said, community spirit matters.

We are pleased to be recognized for something we knew all along - we live in a special place, our own little piece of Eden.

Thank You!

Winner of the Alabama League of Municipalities Quality of Life award

Mayor Earl V. Johnson Council members Will Sconiers, Kennith Mount, Hazel Griffin, Ralph Wells and Terry Powell P.O. Box 429 • Andalusia, Alabama 36420 (334) 222-3312 (phone) • (334) 222-1122 (fax) www.cityofandalusia.com