Oroville Mercury June 29,1945
In The Fight Fireman John Higgins Gets 3-Hour Vacation Aboard
an Aircraft Carrier in the Pacific
Fireman 2/c John Higgins of Rt. 3, Oroville, is back at the business
of fighting Japanese after a recent three-hour rest period on one
of the Navy’s “recreation islands” in this war zone. The “recreation
islands” have been set up on tiny atolls to give navy men a few
hours to relax between battles. The crewmen of this carrier visited
the island in small parties, and had a chance to put their feet
on solid ground for a few hours. Recreation and refreshment included
cans of beer and soft drinks, a ball game, horseshoe-pitching, boxing,
swimming and sun bathing. The sailors also had a chance to mingle
with crewmen of other ships in the area, swapping sea stories and
talking about mutual acquaintances.
Sgt. Engasser Back In Town
Sgt. Norval Engasser, son of Mrs. Louise Engasser, arrived in Oroville
Thursday from Germany where he was liberated by the Russians two
days after VE day from a German prison camp for non-commissioned
officers.
“Some Gave All”
Veterans Wife Makes Her Home In Oroville
Pfc. Dennis Everett White was killed in action Jan. 1, 1945, in
Luxembourg, Germany. His wife, Mrs. Grace White, has been making
her home with her sister, Mrs. Clacy L. Wallis on Hewitt Ave. for
the past two months. A little daughter, eleven months old, has never
seen her father. The 22 year-old veteran was attached to the signal
corps in General Patton’s 3rd Army. He had been overseas
since July 1, 1944 and in the service for over three years. He was
from Texas and was stationed at Camp Beale when he met his wife.
They made their home in Marysville while he was stationed there.
Local Boys Present At Service men’s Dance
A number of Oroville boys home on leave were at the dance at Servicemen’s
Center Wednesday night. Among them were A. E. Baker, radioman2/c;
S. E. Higgins, aviation machinist mate 3/c; Robert Strang, a marine
sergeant; Bill Taggart, seaman 1/c; Sgt. Harry Meeker of the US
Army; Jesus Gomez, BM2/c; Melvin Ferguson of the merchant marine,
was also seen down town. Al Walsh has been working on a new public
address system with two microphones, one for the orchestra and one
for the speaker or singer. Plans are also made for a new loud speaker
at the opposite end of the hall from the stage. Servicemen were
present from Oroville and Chico airports and a group came from Camp
Beale in charge of Lt. Neckey. Several numbers were dedicated to
the home town boys by Casagrande’s All Stars. Owing to the sugar
shortage, the boys were served coffee and doughnuts instead of the
usual homemade cakes. Next Wednesday night will be July 4. There
will be a dance as usual with Del Dudley’s Royal Tigers furnishing
the music.
Stu’s Notes: Pfc. Dennis White, KIA, made his home for a short
while in his life in Marysville, while training for the war. I checked
the Yuba County Memorial and his name is not there, maybe someday
they will add it. Our Oroville Veterans Memorial now for “All of
Butte County” will honor those that died after training in our county,
if they died while in the service. They passed this way for a short
time in their life, they called this home, they will be honored
here. I’ve written about some of the above men, you can find their
stories on our web site kept quite current by Daryl Autrey. I know
A.E. “Earl” Baker, Jesus “Sus” Gomez and John Higgins, they all
still live in Oroville.
I’ve known John and Betty Higgins for about 45 years. For a few
years the Ironworkers working on the Power House on Grand Avenue
and the Dam it’s self used to go to their Bar called the 12 Oaks
on 14th and the Lateral, now Oroville Dam Blvd West.
My Ironworker connecting buddy, Rex Miller, his dad, Bob and other’s
played some pretty good pool there. Rex was on the Aircraft Carrier
Princeton. John never told me then he had been in WWII on the Shangri
la. Now I have some of his story. The Words of 2/c Seaman John Higgins,
I was on the aircraft carrier Shangri-La WWII from Guadalcanal to
Tokyo Bay and back to San Francisco. “Not far near the War’s end
we were not far from Tokyo Bay in one of the Biggest Naval Fleets
ever assembled. When a lone Kamikaze came in and all ships were
firing . I was up on the stack watching the boiler smoke. I had
a phone, my job was to report to the engine room, the smoke coming
out, white smoke, too much air, black smoke not enough. When the
plane came near I must have looked like a turtle trying to hide
under my steel helmet. Finally he went into the ocean. One day the
Skipper said, ‘Hear this, hear this’ they are dropping a bomb on
Tokyo, well they didn’t and soon the war was over and we steamed
into the Bay. Later we were out to sea. When the Big Storm hit,
ships were blown into shore. After that our planes were landed onshore
and we took a flight deck full of Marines and Army men home.”