Dale County AlArchives News.....News Of Our Men and WOMEN IN UNIFORM February 8, 1945 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/al/alfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Christine Thacker CGT714@AOL.com March 11, 2005, 8:46 pm The Souther Star February 8, 1945 Reprinted from The Southern Star, February 9, 2005, Page 4B. 60 Years Ago, Feb. 8, 1945 CAPT. WALTER A. HARDZOG BUYS SECOND POSTAL NOTE AT K.C. MO. The February 2nd issue of The Kansas City Kansan, Mo.- carried the picture of Captain Walter A. HardzOg, son of Mr. and Mrs. Walter A. Hardzog of Ozark, at the money order window, of the Kansas City, Mo., post office purchasing the second postal note sold at that office. The first sale of the new postal note was to the Mayor of Kansas City, Don C. McCombs. Captain Hardzog, accompanying Mayor McCombs at the ceremony inaugurating the sa1e of new postal notes at the Kansas City Post office bought a note for $5 to send to his mother in Ozark. Capt. Hardzog, a veteran of the African, Sicilian and Italian campaigns, with more than 50 missions over enemy territory to his record, is now tactical inspection for the 33rd ferrying group at Fairfax Field, Kansas City, Mo. S/SGT. AUSTIN C. PARRISH HOME FROM OVERSEAS S/Sgt. Austin C. Parrish, son of Mr. Holman Parrish of Columbus, Ga., and a grandson of Mrs. Nancy A. Slay and Mr. Reese Parrish, arrived home recently from 28 months overseas. Sgt. Parrish has participated in 6 major engagements. He wears the African- European Theater of Operations ribbon, the Good Conduct ribbon. Before Pearl Harbor ribbon, the American' Theater of Operation ribbon, Preidentlal Citation with Oak Leaf Cluster. He Is visiting relatives here before reporting to his new station at Columbia,S. C. 1t SGT. ALTON A. PEACOCK OVERSEAS 30 MONTHS WITH THE AAF ENGINEER COMMAND IN ITALY-1st Sgt. Alton A. Peacock, Rt. I, Midland City, Ala., recently completed 30 months overseas with a veteran aviation engineer battalion in Italy. Just four days after embarking for foreign service in June 1942, the members of this unit started making history, landing in the British Isles, the first AAF troops to set foot on English soil. Months were spent building huge airfields which based the first B-17s to bomb Europe. But bigger things were ahead-Africa! Acting as a secondary line of defense they landed near Oran on D-Day, occupping a nearby airfield three days later. That field and scores of others were molded by them during the following months of the Tunisian campaign. Their performance earned them a D-Day entrance into Sicily where they demonstrated their efficiency by constructing an airfield on the beach in 18 hours. The Italian campaign found them building fields again behind the infantry as usual. Five days after the Anzlo beachhead was established one company of them landed. It was almost as though their arrival had been a signal for the enemy, for from that time on they shared in the horrors of continuous bombardment that were to make "Anglo a long remembered name. With 4 days, despite continuous ground and air bombardment, they constructed a strip, and not even the "Anzlo Express' deterred them from keeping it operational throughout the long months of enemy pressure. As a reward for Anzlo these men were allowed to join in the breakthrough which took the Allies far North of Rome, building many of the airfields still being used by Allied fighter planes. Thirty months have seen casualties but these aviation engineers continue to build bases which spell defeat for America's enemy S-Sgt. Glenn E. Renner. PFC. J. B. McDANIEL RETURNS WALKER FIELD Pfc. J. B. McDaniel will return to Walker Field, Victoria, Kansas after spending a ten-day furlough with his wife. Mrs. J. B. McDaniel, father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. J. D. McDaniel and a host of friends and relatives. He is liking the army fine and states that he plans to make Dale County his home after the war. Anyone who would be interested in writing him. his address is: Pfc. J. B. McDaniel, 34700290, 75th Service Group Hq. Sq. Walker Army Air Field. victoria, Kansas. MURIEL MAX GLENN IN MARITIME SERVICE NOW TRAINING AT ST. PETE Muriel Max Glenn. son of Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Glenn of route two, Miton, Ala. is now enrolled at the United States Maritime Service Training Station in St. Petersburg, Florida. Glenn attended Ariton High school prior to enrollment in the Maritime Service and was employed on the farm. He is now in his preliminary period of training; during this time he will be given general courses in first aid, firefighting, lifesaving, general seamanship, physical development, mental fitness, etc. Upon completion of his basic training. Glenn hopes to enter the Stewards Department where he will receive specialized training in cooking and baking, butchering, pantryman and waiter training, and all practical courses that wlll prepare him for ratings either as a Cook and Baker, or a Messman on board one of the New Ships of our Victory Fleet. SGT E. J. WILLIAMS CITED FOR OUTSTANDING SERVICE IN PACIFIC A 7TH AAF HEAvY BOMBER BASE IN THE MARIANAS. (Delayed - As a member of the famed 11th Heavy Bombardment Group of the 7th AAF, Sergeant Early J. Wllliams, Ozark, Alabama, has been commended by Major General Robert W. Douglass, Jr., commanding the 7th AAF. for his part "in the campaigns which have taken a large sectlon of the Pacific from the enemy's hands." General Douglas issued his commendation along with a personal message of congratulations as the group rounded out its fifth year, one of the oldest most traveled heavy bomber outfits in the Pacific. Bosed where its B-24 Liberators bomb, strafe and harass the enemy at points within 600 miles of the Japanese mainland the 11th Group has participated in almost every major move of the great offensive that has rolled the Japanese back more than 3,000 miles to their own front yard, Its fighting tradition began at Hickman Field when the group was all but destroyed in the Pearl Harbor attack. The 11th later sent bombs crashing down on Wake and Guadalcanal. It precision-bombed northward through the Gilberts, the Marshalls, the Carolinas, the Marianas, bringing such targets as Truk, Tarawa and Guam within Its bombsights. Now the Bonin and Volcano Islands are the targets for its attacks. "The valiant record of your group is the valiant record of its men, both as a unit and as individuals." General Douglas declared. Sergeant Williams parents Mr.and Mrs. R. E. Williams, live in Ozark. He was employed, by the W. F. Austin Company, Umatllla, Florida before entering the Army in August, 1941. He is a ground maintenance man for the 11th Group Liberator,"Bucket of Bolts," and has been with the 7th AAF in the Pacific since May 1943. COMMANDER SMITH AND FAMILY AT OCEANSIDE, CALIF., NAVAL HOSPITAL Commander G. R. Smith who has been stationed at the U.S. Naval Hospital at Pensacola, Fla., for the past several months has been order to duty at the Naval Hospital at santa Margarita Ranch, Oceanside, Cal. He and his family left last week and will make their home on the Pacific coast while the Commander is on duty there. Commander Smith entered the service before Pearl Harbor and has spent two years on foreign duty. Before entering the service he was one of Ozark's leading Physicians. PFC.ALBERT E. ATKINSON AWARDED BRONZE STAR Ptc. Albert E. Atkinson. Jr., who was wounded in action in France, August 28, 1944. has also been awarded the Bronze star, for heroic achievement in action in Italy on June 13, 1944, while serving with the 36th Infantry Division. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Albert E. Atkinson of Newton. Ala. The citation reads: "Pfc. Atkinson, with the remainder of the first platoon was ordered to enter a well fortified enemy town and Weaken the hostile defenses for a forthcoming attack by the rest of the company. Although the town was surrounded by a forty foot wall protected by enemy machine guns, Pfc. Atkinson and his comrades found a ladder and climbed over the wall onto the roofs of the buildings within. The men opened fire on the startled enemy below then pressed through the town,moving from building to building in small groups, inflicting heavy damage to a numerically superior foe. The intense battle continued for seven hours; and when the remainder of the company entered the town, the friendly troops completely routed the enemy." In addition to the Bronze Star medal, Pfc. Atkinson, is entitled to wear the Combat Infantryman's badge, the Purple Heart and the African European campaign ribbons, with three bronze stars for participation in the Italian and Southern France campaigns. S/SGT. J. KNOX HOLMAN AWARDED BRONZE STAR S/Sgt. J. Knox Holman, son of Mr. and Mrs. Julian K. Holman has been awarded the Bronze Star for outstanding service in New Guinea. Sgt. Holman is a member of 1552 AAP Bn. Air Transport Command and since he has been in the Pacific Theater of Operation his unit haS been actively engaged in transporting supplies, men and equipment to our many Pacific bases. Sgt. Holman enlisted in the Air Corps in February of 1942 two months after Pearl Harbor and has been overseas for more than a year. T/SGT.THOS.F.LAVENDER GROUP AGAIN CITED From headquarters of the Twelfth Air Force in Italy comes word that the B-25 Mitchell bombardment group to which Technical Sergeant Thomas F. Lavender, of RFD I, Arlton, Alabama, is assigned as an administrative clerk has been cited again by the war Department as a DIstinguished Unit, this time for the sinking of the Italian cruiser Taranto in La Spezia harbor September 23. Sergeant Lavender is the son of Mr. and Mrs. A. P. Lavender, well known Ariton residents. Carried out without loss of aircraft and with no casualties despite a formidable concentration of antiaircraft guns, the brilliant attack frustrated German attempts to move the Taranto into position to block the entrance of this vital harbor. The group was previously cited as a Distinguished Unit for outstanding close support missions flown in Tunisia and Sicily in favor of the British Eighth and American Fifth and Seventh armies. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/al/dale/newspapers/gnw347newsofou.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/alfiles/ File size: 10.6 Kb