November 9, 2007
Oroville Mercury Register December 30, 1950
Air Corps Student Returns to Duty
James Erway, 18, son of Mr. and Mrs. James S. Erway of Thermalito,
is on his way back to Tulsa, Okla., today following a 14 day furlough
from his aeronautical school. Erway is an Air Corps student at the
Spartan school of Aeronautics where he is studying aircraft mechanics
eight hours a day, five days a week. He has been there three months
of a nine month course. After he is graduated he said he hopes to
enter the Air Corps cadets so he can try for a pilot’s wings. The
Erway family have been residents of Thermalito, where they operate
a service station, for the past three years. Young Erway entered
the Air Corps last July and said he plans to work evenings so he
can win his high school diploma while he is in the Air Corps. Erway’s
half brother, Walter Anderson, is a Navy recruiting officer in Eureka
and veteran of 14 years in that service. He said aeronautical school
was “tough”. Each day there is a quiz on the previous day’s work
and if a grade of 80 is not obtained the trainee is assigned to
two hours overtime study.
Paratrooper Took Part in Long Korea March
Pfc. Charles Stafford Jr., 19, a paratrooper, was with the Allied
forces that made a long retreat to Kaesong, two miles south of the
38th parallel in Korea, he indicated in a letter received
by his sister, Mildred, here. Stafford, son of Mr. and Mrs. C. F.
Stafford of Nelson avenue and Sixth street, in Thermalito, enclosed
in his letter a map on which he marked the retreat route of his
outfit, started from a point near Kangdong. “We walked all the way,”
he said. In the letter, dated Dec. 14, Stafford said he had received
a Christmas package from his parents. He is an automatic rifleman
in the airborne infantry. He enlisted Dec. 12, 1948, while a freshman
at Oroville High school. A brother, William Stafford, is a sergeant
in the Air Force, stationed at Hamilton Field.
Biggest Battle Of War Shaping
UN Line Drops Back As Reds Poise For 250,000-man Attack on Seoul
By Earnest Hoberecht Tokyo, Sunday, Dec. 31-UP-The main body of
the Untied Nations army has pulled back south of the 38th
parallel where it stands poised for what may be the biggest battle
of the Korean war-an assault of Seoul by 250,000 Communists.
French Repel Red Attacks Saigon, Indo-China-up-Indo Chinese Communists
attacked two forts north of the northern capital of Hanoi today,
but withdrew after a two-hour fight. A French line north and northwest
of Hanoi still was intact after five days of heavy battering by
powerful Red forces.
Editorial Page
Dan L. Beebe, Editor and Publisher,
Charles Randolph, Assistant Publisher
Happy New Year And that Means a Lot, Friends… More Than It Ever
Did Before.
From The World viewpoint, we hope that Russia is more afraid of
us than we are of Russia. Our Peril Greater If Dulles is Right The
address last night by John Foster Dulles, regarded in circles as
a reply to that of ex president Herbert Hoover, emphasizes, if anything,
the peril in which we find ourselves. When Dulles made the point
that we could not defend ourselves as an isolated nation he as much
as said that our safety depends upon Europe. Well, everyone knows
Europe is a pretty forlorn hope. We shall never equal Russia’s land
power. We have a sufficient lead now in atomic bombs to use them
as a bluff. Every time Russia pulls a new Korea on the world she
will weaken the morale of our already-weak allies. Now is the time
to let Russia know that her next overt move means war. If war must
come, let it come before we have 400,000 men in Europe ready for
the slaughter. Dulles Said “We do not want to be committed to a
series of Koreas all around the globe.” That is correct. But the
only way to avoid a disastrous “series of Koreas” is to tell Russia
now that we won’t stand for any more.
Stu’s Notes: I grew up with the Stafford boys and girls. The
younger ones, we lived only 2 blocks away from their house. All
of the boys served their country well, Leonard who was my age served
in the Vietnam War. One day he pumped me on my bike all the way
to Chico and back. He was bigger than I, so I got to ride on the
handle bars. He was quite strong, he lived in Germany for about
20 years and moved back to Oroville about 10 years ago. I once asked
him about the war, but he just smiles and talks about something
else, maybe someday.
Dan Beebe was right, more Korea’s were already in the making.
The French were defeated I think in 1954 or so. I think my readers
kind of know what happened after that, and 58,000 of American’s
finest lost their lives and 100’s of thousands wounded in body and
soul. We hope to have a good turn out for our Veterans Day Parade
on Sunday, November 11, at 11:00a m. Come on down and Salute the
Oroville National Guard for all they do. And all the other Veterans
for what they have done,