MANCHESTER SPARTANS | 22 #25 Manchester College fell to 2-1 on the season following an 84-73 home loss to North Central College last weekend. For more on the contest see the Sports Shorts section in this edition.
CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL • PAGE 13
WABASH VALLEY DANCE THEATER Wabash Valley Dance Theater’s annual Christmas festival will take place on Dec. 5, 2 p.m., at the Honeywell Center. The event will include brunch, a craft bazaar and a performance by Wabash Valley Dance Theater.
THE PAPER
of Wabash County Inc.
www.thepaperofwabash.com
December 1, 2010
Training session for Certified Livestock Producers to be held Jan. 25, 2011
The Indiana State Department of Agriculture is holding a training session for the Certified Livestock Producer Program on Jan. 25, 2011, at Whitley County Farm Bureau Office, Columbia City. The training will start at 8:30 a.m. and conclude at 3:30 p.m. There is no cost to attend and lunch will be provided. The Certified Livestock Producer Program Training will cover five areas: environment, food safety and animal well being, emergency planning, bio-security and being a good neighbor. The Certified Livestock Producer Program is open to any size operation and producers of all species.
In Memorium Marcia Benjamin, 56 Patricia Carroll, 66 Barbara Getz, 69 Steven Highley, 59 Marjorie Hughes, 41 Louise Jones, 88 John McCollister, 61 James Napier, 72 Edna Parson, 60 Thomas Platt, 62 Toby Shepherd, 39 Loy Sutton, 91 Cole Thompson, 89 Dallas Winchester II, 48
Index Classifieds ............31-35 Community News..21,26-28 D & E....................12-13 Sports Shorts ............22 Weekly Reports ....14-16 Vol. 33, No. 34
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World War II vet shares his story of active duty by Danielle Smith Walter Lengel’s story is similar to the stories of many American men in his age group: he was drafted and served three years in various countries for the duration of World War II. Although many men shared this same experience, they each have unique memories of their time spent overseas. Lengel was drafted in 1943 at 20 years of age. He served under General Patton in the 1st, 3rd and 7th armies and spent nine months at the front lines. “When I was there everyone was drafted,” he said. “I didn’t know anyone that enlisted on purpose unless they were older and had been in the service for awhile.” Lengel’s first stop was Liverpool, England. “We were on the boat three days and never even saw the dock because it was that foggy. We were only 10 feet from the dock,” he said. He spent a few months in Plymouth, England – 90 percent of which was destroyed from bombing – before going into combat in France. “When we went into France is when it got bad. Going from England to France our boat got hit with a mine. It killed 23 men on the boat, then we went on into the beach and took everyone off the boat and they sunk it,” Lengel said. Coming onto Normandy Beach there were no docks. The men would exit the boats directly onto trucks that had been waterproofed. Lengel arrived at Normandy after the beach had already been cleared, so his outfit was being assaulted by snipers only. “We went into the beach at night and we slept in these gliders that were shot down for the first four days. Then we started up on the breakthrough,” Lengel said. The breakthrough was 3 miles wide and 150 miles long, with Germans firing on each side. “That’s when I shot down the plane. I was the third truck in the convoy and I shot the plane down,” he said. After Lengel and his group made it through the breakthrough, their tanks ran out of gas. The men were unable to turn the guns to shoot at the Germans and 33 tanks were taken, each holding five men. Lengel was part of headquarters, which meant that he drove a truck to deliver rations and supplies to their outfit, which consisted of 800 men. “You would haul a load of gas to the front lines then haul a load of prisoners back,” Lengel said. He went on to explain that there were 20 prisoners in each load. For the first six months in France, the men were required to drive without lights on their vehicles at night in order to keep them hidden from the German planes overhead. “An airplane can be five miles up and see you light a match, a lot were killed that way,” Lengel explained. Driving the truck offered many experiences for him: on Christmas of 1944, he drove 300 miles and saw 56 vehicle accidents due to the weather, his assistant driver was shot by a sniper and he hit a mine that blew the floor out of his vehicle. Another duty of Lengel’s was to return displaced persons to their country of origin. “The Germans had brought them down to work and then after we took the towns we had to take these people back to their countries,” he explained. He went on to tell a story of an accident that he witnessed in which a truck with 40 displaced persons went off the edge of a mountain, killing all of the passengers. Lengel was in the town where the Battle of the Bulge occurred, two hours before the battle took place. “I was in there with a jeep to look for supplies and they started dropping German paratroopers,” he said. The 1st Airborne, approximately 25,000 men, was in the town for the battle.
WALTER LENGEL identifies areas which is outfit occupied during World War II. Lengel was drafted in 1943 and spent two years and three days overseas in various countries, primarily France. He was part of headquarters, which means that he drove a truck to deliver supplies and rations to the outfit. (photo by Brent Swan) Lengel’s memory is full of hundreds of anecdotes of different things he experienced during his tour of duty overseas, which lasted two years and three days. He saw countless men injured, transported tons of supplies and people and disarmed bombs. Lengel was told he would be stationed in Japan and was provided specs for the Japanese bombs and mines to study. However, before it was time for him to leave, the war ended and he was discharged. “In 1945, we came back on the SS Westpoint. We were the only boat that was allowed to come back because of the weather,” he said. “I came in at the beach in Virginia, then we went into a big building and they told us we were discharged and gave us a few dollars for a bus fare.” Lengel rode back to Wabash with a friend who was
also discharged. He arrived home at midnight. Now 87 years old, Lengel says he would like to return to France to see what it now looks like. “I’d like to go back to Plymouth, England, and all of them and see how it looks because there wasn’t much of it there when we were there,” Lengel explained. As is the case with many veterans, Lengel cherishes his memories of the service, but says he would not want to experience it again. “You would never make it again. Every time you were on the front lines your chances got worse of whether you would make it back or not,” Lengel said. In closing, Lengel stated that he doubts there are 100 men still living from his outfit.
Commissioners discuss new snow ordinance by Danielle Smith Bob Brown, EMA director, and Steve Downs, county attorney, presented a new snow ordinance to the Wabash County Commissioners at their Nov. 29 meeting. This ordinance would help Wabash County conform to the system that the State uses. In the current snow ordinance, Wabash County may only determine one level of snow emergency, the new ordinance would provide for four levels of emergency: - A Level 1 (Red) “Emergency” Travel Advisory would be declared when roads have become impassable and the County Highway Department is unable to keep the roadways cleared due to severe snowfall and high winds producing high drifts and blizzard like conditions. Travel may be restricted to emergency personnel only and essential emergency travel by members of the public. If this level is declared, all motor vehicle travel on county highways is prohibited. - A Level 2 (Orange) “Warning” Travel Advisory would be declared when conditions are threatening to the public’s safety. Only essential travel is recommended. Emergency action plans have been or should be implemented by businesses, schools, government agencies and other organizations. If this level is declared, motorists may travel on
county highways at their own risk. - A Level 3 (Yellow) “Watch” Travel Advisory would be declared when routine travel or activities should be restricted in areas of the county because of a hazardous situation; citizens should use caution to avoid these areas. Schools and businesses should begin to implement their emergency action plans. If this level is declared, motorists should be aware that travel could be restricted on county highways and caution should be used. - A Level 4 (White) “Caution” Travel Advisory would be activated when conditions may develop that limit or hinder travel or activities in isolated areas. No travel restrictions have been imposed, but citizens should be alert to changing road and weather conditions. Vehicles exempt from the effects of declaring a travel advisory are emergency response vehicles, public utility vehicles, towing vehicles, vehicles being operated to care for livestock and any snowmobiles or other off-road vehicles that are declared to be “emergency vehicles” by the coordinator or Sheriff of Wabash County. Residents may monitor the status of travel alerts at Indiana Department of Homeland Security’s website, www.in.gov/dhs, by clicking on Travel Advisory Map.