July 8, 2005
Oroville Mercury February 5, 1944
In The Fight
CPL. BRYSON VISITS
ILE FAMED IN SONG
The “beautiful Isle of
Capri” in the bay of Naples no longer is just something to sing
about as far as Cpl. Charles
Bryson is concerned. The army man wrote to the Mercury
recently saying he had visited the isle, and added: “It’s really
a beautiful place.” Bryson, writing from Italy, added: “I
like it here a lot better than in Africa. However, I would
not trade Butte County for all of this country, including Sicily.
Give me California!” Byron said he had not yet received the
Mercury, which he had ordered but explained that he had been moving
“quite a lot, and expected to have considerable mail when it caught
up with him.” Writing before the holidays, he wished everyone
a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
HAMILTON OTIS SERVES
WITH SHIP NAVAL GUARD
Hamilton Austin Otis,
seaman first class, USNR, attached to the U. S. naval armed guard
center at New Orleans, La., has just returned from sea duty as a
member of a naval gun crew assigned to an American merchant vessel,
headquarters of the 8th Naval district at New Orleans
has announced. He is the son of
Mr. and Mrs. H. A. Otis
of Oroville. Otis joined the Navy April 7, 1943. During
his recent six months at sea he visited Central America and ports
in the South Pacific. The young sailor attended high school
in Truckee, CA he is now awaiting further assignment as an armed
guard gunner on a merchant ship.
KRAMER, WOUNDED IN
AFRICA, HERE ON VISIT
Karl W. Kramer shipfitter
2nd class, U. S. Navy, who was home on leave recently,
received the Order of the Purple Heart for a shrapnel wound received
in North Africa. The Oroville man was working on a ship that
was the target of Axis bombers and a near miss scattered shrapnel
among the navy man. Nineteen members of Kramer'’ outfit were
wounded. The attack was made from a low level, while the ship
was in a North African port. Kramer was off duty a week because
of the wound. He has been in service in Africa and in Sicily.
He reported on the East Coast Jan. 20 for further assignment.
He is the son of James Kramer
of Lincoln Street, and a brother of Miss
Edna Kramer of the
same address. Before going into the Seabees, Nov. 22, 1942,
he was a shipyard welding foreman at Terminal Island near Los Angeles.
Stu’s Notes:
Lynn and I attended
another command performance of the Oroville Community Concert Band
and Chorus at the State Theater. The 13th annual
4th of July tribute to America was great. There
is so much talent in our little town it amazes me. I have
been going to the State Theater for 55 years now (I saw the War
of the Worlds there). The State Theater is one of those few
Oroville buildings that I would think most of our young men that
died in our wars were in. Next time you are there reflect
on that and think of the happy time they had there as they grew
up in Oroville and be thankful for your freedom, as they “gave all”.
Thank you
John and Randy Fowler
for reading all my stories. I wrote about
Karl Kramer, shipfitter
2/c on December 3, 2004. Did he survive the war and marry
Miss Lila Massey?
Another great show
on top of the dam. It was long ago decreed to celebrate our
4th of July with fireworks. Well, the Sunrise Rotary
did a great job of that.
Jack Brereton and
I, along with our wives, manned our combined booth of the Men Who
Built Oroville Dam and the Oroville Veterans Memorial Park on top
of the dam. We talked to some interesting people and people
interested in our projects. Jack and I started there 45 years
ago building the dam.