July 18, 2003

Oroville Mercury November 17, 1973 and May 12, 1955

GOLD STAR MOTHERS TO HAVE POTLUCK
At a recent meeting of Gold Star Mothers in Memorial Hall Mrs. Bertha King, president, expressed appreciation to members and friends who helped to make the benefit ham dinner a success. Mrs. Cecil Tieck has invited the group of mothers and fathers to her home for a potluck dinner May 18. Refreshment hostesses were Mrs. King and Mrs. Gertrude Morningstar.
Does anyone know about Gertrude Morningstar's son or daughter? Was the street in Rancho Golden named after him or her? We know that Golden Star Mothers lost a son or daughter in the war.

Obituaries James E. Pscherer
James E. Pscherer of Brereton Way died yesterday in an accident in Fort Bliss, Texas. Funeral services will be held at the Trinity Presbyterian Church 2350 Foothill Blvd. The Rev. James E. Bidderman will officiate and interment will follow at Memorial Park Cemetery, Arrangements are under the direction of Scheer Memorial Chapel. Mr. Pscherer was born Jan. 26, 1952 in Omaha, Neb., and had been in Butte County for 13 years. He was a graduate of Oroville High School, attended Butte College and at the time of his death was serving with the U. S. Army. He is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ward Pscherer of the home address; a sister Mary Clare Hasenkamp of Belgium, a brother, Steven of Redwood City; his maternal grandmother, paternal grandparents; and two nephews.

Stu's notes: We know so very little about this young man who lost his life over 30 years ago, Nov. 16, 1973, he would be about 50 now. Most of those young men from the Vietnam era are in there 50's and 60's now. Some like my Uncle, Marine Master Sgt. Paul F. Shaner, who was in 3 wars, are in their late eighties. 58,000 will be forever young. It seems so long ago but in reality it was only yesterday it seems. Unless they lost a father or close relative over there most people 35 and under have little idea what happened In the words of Richard J Sisigalli, a former chief warrant officer, Army Veteran, who served in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. "The war in Vietnam should have been won. It could have been won if the politicians had not failed miserably. For many Vietnam is over. But for those who fought, it will never be over. We fought for the right reasons and we did our job. We won the war. Congress lost the Peace ". From "The American Legion " July 2003. Well spoken words, although James R. Pscherer never made it to Vietnam, I'm sure he would have gone, I don't know yet what took his life, but he died while in the service of his country and deserves a place of Honor on the Oroville Veterans Memorial For two years we have been looking for the names of those that lost their life while in the armed service of our country and had been in the Oroville High School District at sometime in their life. I just found out about James from a long time friend Randy Fowler. He had remembered that he thought he had died while in the service. He knew him at Oroville High School. A phone call to my high school teacher and friend, Mr. Rossas, got me the correct spelling of James' last name, then a trip to the cemetery to get me the date he died A phone call to long time friend Jan Rose Bales, who did my research on WWI. By the next day she had found, at the library, the obituary of James. The entire Oroville Mercury is on Microfilm, I'm told back to the 1850's. A forgotten soldier is now not forgotten. When I did the Memorial on top of the Oroville Dam for those who died building it, I found a list of 21 names in the Oroville Mercury Register. Through research we found 13 more. For the Veterans memorial the only list of Oroville boys that died was for those from Vietnam, which was on the Internet and it was far from complete. Nowhere in Oroville seems to be a list as some have told me there should be. But through research, word of mouth, we hope to honor all of our brave young men. We couldn't find a story about young James so all we know about him is what you read here. If you can help in any way call me. Stu Shaner 533-8147.