January 30, 2004
Oroville Mercury May 24, 1945
MEN IN PACIFIC EAGER
TO ‘GET THIS THING OVER
Pfc. Jerry J. Walker
of the U. S. Marine Corps is looking forward to the big military
transfer from Europe to the Pacific. From his base on Saipan,
Walker writes, “I wish they would hurry and get all those men and
that equipment out here and get this thing over with.” Walker,
veteran of Tarawa and many other marine campaigns, was home on leave
last summer. He spent a short time at a stateside base before
he was reassigned to the Pacific. He is the son of
Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Walker
of Montgomery Street. His latest letter was written on Mother’s
Day and expressed a belief that “next year should find me able to
be with you on the second Sunday in May.”
Stu’s notes:
I attended the Oroville Service for Airforce
Staff Sgt. Dean Witt
at the VFW Hall. It was quite a moving experience. It
was a reflection of the life of one of our Brave Oroville Boys who
served his country well and left many wonderful memories for the
people of Oroville. His mother,
Jan Nell Williams,
can be proud to have had such a son. He is buried in Salt
Lake City, but he will always be remembered here. An Honor
Guard of the Thermalito VFW did the military part of the service.
They did a fine and professional service.
A short report on
Sgt. Deborah Shaner:
Well, we put Debbie on the plane in Sacramento last Sunday.
She has 3 more months left to complete her year in Iraq. She
is very upbeat about going back. We are not, but she will
do her job. I truly believe we are doing good over there.
Often the good does not get reported. I sure enjoyed the positive
out look on Iraq that was in the Oroville Mercury on January 24th
by Michael L. Whiteley.
Corporal Don Hickson
III is the kind of Soldier we need over there.
I may sound like a broken record but I can never ever say too much
about the men and women of Oroville that have gone off to serve
our Country. I know, I read their stories. It took Debbie
two full days to get there. Sacramento, Texas, a night in
Baltimore, due to snow, then to Frankfort Germany, a long flight
to Kuwait then to Iraq. Our cell phone quit working after
Frankfort. The Military did pay for Debbie’s trip all the
way. This was not done in the past, I heard. NEWS FLASH,
DATELINE KUWAIT, TUESDAY 9:30PM. “Hi, Dad, I’m in a cold tent
with 60 others in Kuwait waiting for a plane to our base in Iraq.
There it will feel like my away from home, home. I will be
with all my stuff.”
My stories
are allowing me to meet so many wonderful people that read their
name or about a loved one that is gone.
I had a long visit
with Troy Ambrose
who was a member or the Oroville High School Class of 1945.
Except he was gone to war before graduation. War Stories of
he and his Uncle Ray
Ambrose later. The recent group picture from Troy
brought a call from Bob White, a high school friend of mine and
fellow Oroville Dam Builder. Bob told me his uncle
Gib White
was shot by a 50 Cal machine gun with holes in his upper body as
big as your fist and he laid in a field two days in the cold snow.
The men loading bodies on a truck noticed he was alive (just barely)
and he spent a year in the hospital before he got home to Oroville.
With 60 young Oroville boys dying in WWII There must have been a
whole lot more wounded.