February 19, 2016

Oroville Mercury Register July 25, 1952
News From Oroville Men In The Service
T-Sgt Paul F. Shaner
Marine Tech Sgt. Paul F. Shaner, who has been with the 1st Marine division in Korea for one year, is now home on furlough. He has been serving as a combat correspondent and photographer. He is the son of Mrs. B. L. Mills of Thermalito. With him here are his wife (Ruby) and their two children, Gregory and Gary. After Shaner’s furlough he will be stationed at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. Shaner went to Korea on June 18, 1951, aboard the U. S. S. Gen. Weigle and returned on June 18, 1952., aboard the same ship. With a 95-pound camera, he took many shots of Marine air support missions and on November 10, the Marine birthday, he flew in an air strike when between 80 and 90 planes from his air wing supported a ground offensive. Sgt. Shaner was a Marine tail gunner throughout World War II, serving in the Pacific and Asiatic theaters. He will be stationed in the U. S. for six months.
(Stu- His next job, Vietnam)

Some Gave All
PFC Earnest Young Marine
Pfc. Earnest M. Young, son of Mrs. Mary Young, of Palermo, is home on a ten day leave after completing his eight weeks of recruit training at San Diego. Prior to entering the Marine Corps on May 15, Young was a student at the Oroville Union High School. Private Young will report to Camp Pendleton at Ocean Side California and be placed in a tank unit. While in this unit he will learn the maintenance of the tanks, their large guns, and the operation the tank corps. While in boot camp Young fired a score of 195, which qualifies him as a marksman. (Stu- Pfc. Earnest Young was Killed in Action in Korea, July 23, 1953.)

Bill Ashworth Calvin
W. (Bill) Ashworth is now receiving basic training at Parks Air Force Base, Calif. Bill was a student at Oroville High School and graduated from his school at Quincy. He enlisted in the Air Force on June 27. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Lee Ashworth of Orange Street, Yuba City. After his basic training he will study in the school of music at the air base and play in the Air Force band. He played the trumpet in a local dance band when he lived in Oroville. Bill notified his parents that while at Parks he met Steve Atkins, an Oroville man, who is an instructor in the music school at the air base.

Stu’s Notes:
I was looking through a stack of 1952 Mercury’s that had never been opened since 1952. I always go through old papers from the back to the front and my eye caught a picture of my Uncle Paul. He was a war Hero to me since I was very young. Lynn, glancing over my shoulder and I said medially, “Uncle Paul”. There he was hidden away there all these years. I have found a number of stories on Uncle Paul and used them in this column. Go to our Web site. www.OrovilleVeteransMemorialPark.org , thank you Daryl Autrey our member and Web Master, and you will see the stories of Uncle Paul by clicking on Archives, Looking Back , scroll to end of page and type in “Uncle Paul” or Paul Shaner. You can find all of my stories on this page. He was in three wars, World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Oroville was kind of a second home to my Uncle. He grew up with my Uncle Stanley Shaner and my Dad, Walter Shaner, back east. One place where they went to school was Omaha, Nebraska. I would like to know more about the other men. If you knew them or my Uncle Paul, I would like to hear from you.

We had our February Meeting on Monday night and talked about the next phase of the construction of our park. It should begin in June. We will begin building on our Overlook. From there you can throw a stone and hit the River, but please don’t as there are people fishing out there and you could disturb the Salmon spawning. You could get a ticket from the Game Warden. But you can look at the Beauty of our Feather River all day long. We have lots to do, so little time and money.