May 2, 2014

Oroville Mercury Register
February 5, 1946
Service Corner
Merian Discharged After Varied Service
T/Sgt. Robert Merian recently returned to Camp Beale to await discharge from the army. Having spent 22 months in the service, he was in France and Germany and then went by way of the Panama Canal to the South Pacific, where he was stationed near Manila. He is he son of Mr. and Mrs. A. T. Merian and his wife and two children live at the Merian home in Wyandotte. Sgt. Merian was with an army engineer maintenance company and was with an inspection team that inspected Diesel equipment. He crossed the Rhine river soon after V.E, day and was billeted in a swanky apartment house near Bingen. So hurriedly had the Germans left that they abandoned it completely furnished even to warm blankets and coal, and the garbage cans were super, being made of solid cast aluminum. He has the Bronze Victory, Good conduct and the Meritorious Service badges and the American, European, South Pacific Theater and the Philippines Liberation ribbons.
(Stu- What’s the Bronze Victory?)

Oroville Mercury Register
February 5, 1946
Arthur Retan Out of Navy: to Go To U
Arthur H Retan, Aviation Metal-Smith 2/c, USNR, is at home with his parent, Mr. and Mrs. D. M. Retan on Pomona Avenue, following his discharge from the armed services. He spent 3 ½ years in the service, two years of which were in the Pacific Theatre of war. Retan was stationed on Oahu, Hawaii, in the Plexo-glass department, repairing bombers. Before his entry into the service he enrolled in the forestry department, in the junior class at San Jose State College. He plans to continue his forestry education at the University of California at Berkeley.

Oroville Mercury Register
February 5, 1946
Sgt. Berry, Bride Visit George Fosters
Wyandotte- Sgt. Glen Berry and his bride, the former Dolores Ward of Bremerton, Wash., were guests at the George Foster home in Wyandotte, en route to their home in southern California. Sgt. Berry, recently discharged from the Army Air Force, was a B29 crew chief and inspector in Saipan and Iwo Jima. He received a presidential citation and six battle stars fro his seventeen months of service in the Pacific.

Oroville Mercury Register
February 5, 1946
C. E. Cox Family Has A Reunion
With the arrival last night of Richard E. Cox, who has just received his navy discharge at Shoemaker, the family of Mr. and Mrs. C. E. Cox, Wilcox Avenue, were together for the first time in six years. Richard who was a metal-smith 3/class in the navy, spent 30 months in the service, 23 months in the Pacific theatre of war. David, who is a pharmacist’s mate 3/c USN, is at home on a 15 day leave prior to discharge. He has been in the service for 35 months, including 30 months in the Pacific. He just recently arrived in the United States from Shanghai. Jack, who has been in the merchant marine since last August, is at home on sick leave. Two daughters, Arlene and Phyllis Joy completed the family circle.(Stu-The War is over, the boys are coming home.)

Stu’s Notes:
Well the Parking lots are almost finished. A few more signs need to go up and it should be open for parking very soon. Maybe next week. Now What? I personally would like to see the Tile Wall built. It would be built out on the existing overlook wall as you are looking from the sidewalk on Montgomery Street you can see on the right a straight part of the retaining wall. That’s where it has been designed to go. But I am only one vote among many so who knows. It will cost a lot of money. We never intended to sell the Hero tiles at a high enough price to pay for the wall. We hoped that the money would come to us to do that, maybe some day soon. The wall will be a beautiful Granite wall with the names of the Heroes of America. It will tell a story of where they served and when they served our Country so gallantly, it will have Medals earned, some will say KIA, (Killed In Action). It will tell of there sacrifice so we could be Free, so I could write this article without worry of repercussions. It will have among the names, Revolutionary War Soldiers on up to the Gulf War, Men and Women who served our Country in war or peace. Many Memorials just put up a name for more than the Price of our Tiles. Our Tiles tell a story, that when Students from all over Butte County come on Field trips, Oroville High School students can walk down, they will learn what Freedom’s they have that were given to them by the men and women whose names are on the Wall. God Bless them all.

I have written before of Bob Merian. I’ve known his son Gene for years. Among other things he worked on the Oroville Dam. Bob was one of the first contractors on the Oroville Dam. He had the 1st half of one of the Inspection Tunnels that go under Oroville Dam to determine how solid the foundation rocks were. Gene and I spent a few nights at the Hard Hat.