America the Beautiful

America the Beautiful

Land of the Free

But who made that possible

For you and for me

The boy next door

The friend down the road

My what Bravery

These young men showed

As they left behind

Their families so dear

I wonder if their hearts

Were filled with fear

The fear of not knowing

The enemy they’d face

Or Prayers to the Father

For His Saving Grace

Each Life has its Story

All by itself

But some are forgotten

Like a Book on a Shelf

Let us not take for granted

Wwii

n Continued from 4 a dozen disappeared forever in the strange places which they seen only from the air. Among the first of these was Ben Franklin, son of Mr. and Mrs. C.M. Franklin. Among the last was Paul Shultz, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Shultz.

Carter soldiers of the Air Force flew the world over in combat and on missions of supply. World War II soldiers

Greene

n Continued from 3 n Continued from 2 BOMB we were kneeling with our eyes closed. The light was so bright, you could see the light through your eyelids even with your eyes closed.”

After the explosion, they were told to stand up and look, and what they saw almost defied description.

“There was a huge round fireball,” he said. “And by fireball, I mean that it looked just like something that was turning orange and red and it was round and continually burning, changing colors, suspended in air right in front of us. The fireball was growing, getting larger and larger, boiling and changing, going higher and higher.

“Then we looked below it and you could see the blast hit the ground and the dust cloud lift off the ground like a blanket, covering the entire ground over the entire blast area. I would estimate the height of the airburst, as it was from my vantage point, to be about 2,000 feet. I guess the exact height was classified.

“Then all of a sudden, the cloud turned into a funnel. All the dust and debris from the explosion force was sucked up into the center and then into the funnel toward the fireball which continued to rise and grow.

“In an explosion, there

Just what they all gave

As we walk slowly by

That Quiet, Lonely Grave

Those homes are now silent

That once held great noise

From the visits and laughter

Of those dear precious boys

Hearts are now broken

Lonely and sad

Stripped of the Dreams

Of their son or their dad

Those paths won’t be walked

By those tired worn feet

Nor will we be greeted

By their warm smiles so sweet

These are all memories

Too many to measure

We’ll hold oh so tightly

Oh my, what a Treasure

If for some reason

You fail to see from Carter County could perhaps recall personal experiences in every region on earth, except only the poles.

As they slogged forward across Europe, drawing nearer to the end of the long road to victory, Carter County soldiers remained the forefront of battle. They were in the midst of the great abortive counteroffensive of the Ardennes, and here again local soldiers helped stem the German tide –stopping Nazi units at Stavelot, causing the winter offensive.

They were among the but he’s not worried about doing “too much.”

“I understand what these vets are going through, and is a concussion outward — the noise, the burning of oxygen and then there is movement back toward the center. You don’t see all of this in a regular explosion, but with an atomic bomb, each stage happens separately and you are ablate witness each one,” Batchelder explained.

The cloud got larger and larger and seemed to go above the fireball.

“Eventually the colors in the fireball disappeared and it turned into a huge cloud. As the bomb exploded, we saw a rolling blast wave coming toward us, picking up sand, weeds and other debris.

“They told us to lean against the rear of the trench. Those who didn’t, got knocked against the wall, and this was from a mile away.

“After we witnessed al of this, we got out of the trenches and they called an ‘assault’ for us to move forward down to Ground Zero.”

At that time, the only protective equipment they were provided were WWIIvintage gas masks, with attached eye protection to filter out any debris or dust. Batchelder said he didn’t remember wearing any type of ear protection and they were dressed in regular military fatigues.

The point of the explosion was complete decimation.

The sacrifice they made For you and for me

Look in the first across the Rhine. An Elizabethton officer, in his first combat, won decorations for bravery that day. He was Captain (then Lr.) Ed Mottern. On foot, in tanks, in jeeps and in trucks along the Red Ball Highway, they raced eastward across Germany to join hands with the Russians.

An Elizabethton man, correspondent Mack Morriss of the Army Magazine Yank, was among the first to reach Berlin – a Berlin which was in inself an immortal mon - if my time comes to an end, I’m ready,” he says with conviction. If you are interested in

“Military trucks that had canvassed tops with braces — that was all gone. All the glass from windshields was gone. Anything plastic was gone. Metal remained but it was charred. The sand, up to a quarter of a mile in each direction, was like… hard baked clay, with little one inch squares, apparently caused from both the impact and the heat. It was vaporized. The same thing with all the small structures — they were all gone.”

Animals had been placed in fox holes to determine the effect on animals and troops, he said. “They used sheep, and close to Ground Zero, the sheep were all dead. Just a little further away from Ground Zero, the wool had been burned and charred. The sheep weren’t dead, but I’m sure they died later.

“We were also ‘guinea pigs,’ in effect,” he added. “They didn’t really know what would happen. We wore badges to measure ‘roentgens’ — the measure of radiation absorbed at that particular point. I think they were testing to see ‘Is it safe?’ and “How much radiation are you going to get if you walk over an area where an atomic bomb has exploded?”

“At that point, I recall there was only a small amount of radiation, ument to the vanquished Nazi reign of terror. joining up with Greene and his other Legionnaires, call 423-895-3819. Greene thinks you won’t regret it. but this was not the first atomic bomb test and it was not the last.”

As the end came, Carter Countians were the first to reach home – they were the men who deserved most of all to come home; those who had been prisoners of war. Among these was Capt. James Harry Ritts, taken in Italy, and more than 20 other men of the county –infantry and armor and airmen – who had spent never-ending days of drab monotony in Stalags scattered over German.

“Years later, the VA (Veterans Administration) called us to check and see if any of us had any lasting effects. They didn’t find any in my case. That was 25-30 years later.”

After the test explosion, Batchelder said he was allowed to go back to his unit and describe the event. He taught classes on how to protect oneself from an atomic explosion, showing training films and giving eyewitness accounts of the event.

“I can’t imagine what the Japanese people went through and the hundred of thousands of people who were killed. But, at that time, it was necessary because it saved hundreds of thousands of young men from having to go into Japan and fight,” Batchelder said.

“I’ve seen storms at sea. I’ve ridden a typhoon out and seen one hit Okinawa that tore things up. But the destructive power of that bomb was just unbelievable.

“There are many things in my life that I can’t recall at all,” he added. “But this made such an impression on me that I can still see it today. I can describe it in detail. It was quite a sight to behold.

“It was so destructive that I hope this world never sees another one.”