July 12, 2002

As taken from the Oroville Mercury - Register December 2, 1944.

Sargent Tom Couris Is Missing
Mrs. Ona Couris of Oroville has been notified by the war department her husband, Sergeant Thomas Couris, is missing in action on the western front along the German border. He is the son of George Couris of Oroville, with whom he was associated in business here before he joined the army two years ago He recently wrote he was in action in the forefront of General Patton's thrust into the Saar Basin.

Elmer Ashley Dies In Action
Pvt. Elmer M. Ashley and the son of Mrs. Douglas Jacobs, both of Oroville, was killed in action Nov. 7 in France. He is also survived by a son Craig Bidwell Ashley, 5. Word of Pvt. Ashley's death was received Friday by Mrs. Ashley in a telegram from the war department. He was a native of Gridley and was the son of the late Elmer S Ashley, an Oroville banker and stockman He was a graduate of the Oroville Union High School and attended the college of agriculture at Davis. Before his marriage in 1938 to Dorothy Bumgarner, he worked with the US. Land Survey in Alaska. At the time of his induction, Jan. 1944, he was an investigator with the federal immigration service department of justice, San Francisco. He had been overseas six months with an infantry outfit He was sent as a replacement from Italy to France about a month ago. He was serving in the infantry of the 7th Army around Belfort.

Lt Franklin Joins Fighters Of Famed World War I Group
Lt Gordon E. Franklin of 2080 Lincoln Street, Oroville, has arrived overseas and has been assigned to the AAFs (Army Airforce) oldest fighter group, the "Hat in the Ring ". He will pilot a P-38 Lightning fighter plane in a 15th AAF group commanded by Col. R. B. Richard, of Visalia. 'The group was organized during World War I and was the first fighter group to arrive over seas in this war. It has received two Distinguished Unit citations and one Presidential citation. Lt. Franklin attended the University of California before his enlistment in 1942. His Parents, Mr. And Mrs. Edwin F. Franklin, live in Oroville.

Writer's note- I went through high school with Craig Ashley, not a close friend, but I knew him. I had no idea he had lost his father in the War. I recently tried to contact him but had no luck.