November 19, 2004
Oroville Mercury Register May 15, 1945
IN THE FIGHT
pictured here is,
RUSS JONES WITH THE MEDICS IN FRANCE
Pfc. H. Russell Jones has arrived overseas and is stationed
at a general army hospital in northern France. He recently received
his promotion to private first class. He said he is learning to
talk French in order to make himself understood and to know what
is going on around him. A cathedral built in 1647 and the Benedictine
Monastery at Fecamp are some of the points of interest he has visited.
The surrounding country is very beautiful at this time of year,
his letter said, with a great deal of sunshine and growing crops.
Assigned to the medical division of the army, Jones trained at McCaw
General Hospital in Walla Walla and at camps in Texas, Idaho and
Illinois. He is the son of Mrs. Mabel Jones of Montgomery Street
and was employed by Montgomery Ward before entering the service.
Stu’s notes: We had a very good Veterans Day Parade. Jim Hollingsworth
and committee are planning to make this event bigger and better
every year. I would like to give a big thank you to all those involved.
Jim Moll as usual did a wonderful job announcing the parade. He
is a true Veterans Advocate. If you haven’t seen him at the Fourth
of July concert you need to. Originally Veterans Day was called
Armistice Day to honor the heroes and the ending of WWI. I just
saw a feature on the History Cannel about the ending of that war.
The shooting was to stop at 11am on Nov. 11th, 1918.
Everyone on both sides knew this. The Germans were well entrenched
on there side and were sitting tight until that hour. Some British
and American Generals decided on those last days that we needed
more territory, one American General wanted to take a town so he
could take a bath, (so the story goes) anyway attack we did and
thousands or more on both sides died that last day. 6,000 dead and
18,000 wounded the last 3 days. The last to die was American Henry
Gunther, KIA 10:59AM November 11, 1918. Then all along the front
the guns fell silent. Later after Thousands of letters and inquiries
from Mothers who lost their sons, those last days. Congress took
action (well they gave it a half hearted attempt to lay the blame
somewhere), Gen. John Pershing , the American Commanded was called
to Washington as were others but when the smoke cleared after in-fighting
from both sides of the aisle. Nothing was done, oh by the way no
high-ranking officer was killed in those last days. And soon the
needless lost of life was forgotten. But they will never be forgotten
in Oroville.
I went to the Veterans Day service at the First United Methodist
Church in Oroville, Dr. Peter Gibson-Hudson retired after many years
in the Coast Guard and other government service was the speaker.
He talked about the Middle East and how different their lives are,
and one memorable and lonely Christmas Day. He was stationed on
the Persian Gulf and decided not to work on Christmas day and go
off base with a picnic lunch and a fishing pole. He said it was
very hot and dared not swim for fear of sharks. He was a lonely
Sailor far from home, where he would often swim in our Feather River,
then low and behold God sent the dolphins to him. He could then
swim in complete safety. He then enjoyed the rest of Christmas Day.
Peter will live right next to our planned Veterans Memorial. Maybe
his Dolphins will swim up our river and watch over our memorial.
Our church has had and still has many Veterans. Four that serve
on our Veterans Committee. Ted Grainger, Darby Miller, Doug Krause
and we recently lost Ed Ewalt who worked on the memorial
for three years, he recently passed away and is truly missed at
our meeting and our church.