THE ECHO
Page 3
With The Boys In
Military Service
We had a surprise visit recently
lom our former Quality Supervisoi*
^ the Machine Room, Charles Cooke,
e Was ferrying a bomber from Bal-
®ore to Matagora, Texas, where he
training aerial gunners at Foster
leid. Charles has been promoted to
. ® of First Lieutenant and ex-
L'i- overseas duty soon. Congrat-
ations, Charles, and hurry back
Sill Daly, formerly of the office
^ho volunteered in the Marines
^ Harry Reese in December 1941,
a corporal. Congratulations,
bep . sorry to hear Bill has
Pits? malaria in a base hos-
p p. out there somewhere in the
, itic area, but it is good to know
, IS now much improved. Bill says,
S fViQ i j 1 i-
you^
and
Our
the heat and bugs that get
svm Japs,” We surely do
,/?Pathize with all you boys, Bill,
Wish we could box up a lot of
sdp mountain air to send
Us Harry to let
to V ^
Lot ^oth! Clean ’em up and come
soon.
Bagwell, formerly Backtend-
the Machine Room, paid us a
]j J- on the first of April. L. E. has
out of the states for over 13
ston 1 ^ months didn’t
setv‘ enough to give the mail
iito a chance to catch up with
■ He was in South Africa for
titjie
the’"'! he spent a few days enjoying
yher,
®nd went from there to Egypt
cgiL®*Shts. He visited the zoos, the
jj^^edrals and pyramids and said
w ®^3oyed every bit of it. On his
Of s ^
^ outh America. Being a Navy man
given him a taste of jungle.
has
thin^’ water among other
he pleasant and otherwise, but
that the biggest thrill of all
iQOw^^tting back home. We agree
Im enjoy seeing the boys on
as much as they enjoy get-
5 i^ck to the Blue Ridge.
E- left for N. Y. April 4th
thp/® he expects to embark for fur-
1J adventure
to you, L,
Ruffin Wilkins, brother of
Paxton of the Personnel Office,
^ Chemical Helper and left Ecus
January of 1942. He was sta
at Orlando, Fla. Air Base
S p Municipal Airport^ Greenville
liij. •>. and took Officers’ Training at
^tert Beach, Fla., where he gradu
’ a Second Lieutenant on April
overseas.
E.!
Best of
>6th.
Congratulations, Ruffin!
a letter from W. E
^Icn i ’ Neill, office boy, who left
^Cllcf UJ.A1CC MUjr, WAIV
enter the
Miss Ricker:
the copy of the Echo in
Voij .condition and really do thank
Sijh it. Bob Anders is in the
with me and I don’t know
one of us enjoyed it the most
Coast Artillery seems
and
Nt be
^,‘ty
to be
I like it pretty well. That
because I am having it
^ easy. I am Mail Orderly now
tej.^ off every other Saturday af
and Sunday. The Battery
on a 50 mile hike tomorrow
sjv IS to be gone for a week but
I am mailman I stay at camp,
to everybody I said “Hello” and
'^^op me a line.
PVT. W. E. NEILL
H. Q. Btry.
112 C. A. Bn. (A.A.)
Fort Bliss, Texas.
Souther And Tate
Shoot Down Planes
Sgt. John D. Souther of Horse Shoe
IS credited with having shot down
one or more German Messerschmitt
109’s in North Africa, and Sgt.
Gerald Tate of Bre
vard, who is a
waist gunner on an
American bomber
in North Africa,
shot down a fast Re-
giane Italian fight
er.
Souther was form
erly employed in
the Champagne Ma
chine Booklet Ser
vice and Tate in the
E c u s t a Machine
Room. Both boys
trained at Keesler
Field, Miss., and were later sent to
North Africa, where they have been
for some time. Tate volunteered in
October, 1941, and Souther in De
cember of the same year.
We are proud of these boys and
their achievements and wish them
the very best of luck!
Gets Italian Plane
SOUTHER
LETTERS HOME
870th Chem Co, AO, M & H
Herbert Smart Airport
Macon, Ga.
Dear Mr. Wells:
Your letter of March 9 was for
warded to me from Texas and final
ly reached me this week. As you
see I am now practically back in my
back yard being only about 300 miles
from Brevard. If I ever get a 3 day
pass I’m going to try to get up there.
I’ve been quite fortunate so far
in Army life. To begin with, I land
ed in the branch of service for which
I thought myself best qualified,
namely, Chemical Warfare Service.
I had the advantage that came with
ROTC training from college days.
This last, I believe, has helped me
get my first rating so that I’m now
Pvt. 1/c.
Yours truly,
PFC EDWIN G. ROTHBAUER
Anti-Aircraft Gunner
^®^o^ds indicate that Captain
E. Ramsay, former Labora-
ciigij Supervisor, and Charles Mit-
Vacuum Washer Op-
are also at Fort Bliss.
Hall of the Chemical Re-
l5th t l^epartment, left Ecusta April
Vti report at N. Y. City for in-
into the Navy. Olan recently
in liis commission as Ensign
® Navy and before leaving for
^ f ^oi'k he spent some time with
^^niily at Saluda, N. C,
(Continued On Page 8)
Sgt. Gerald Tate of Brevard, who
is waist gunner on a Flying lort-
ress, shot down a fast Italian plane
in North Africa about two weeks
ago.
LETTERS HOME
March 20, 1943
Dear Mr. Wells:
I received your letter of February
22nd several days ago but it took
it 24 days to reach me. At times
mail is plenty slow but there is noth
ing that I can do about it. I receiv
ed the January Echo and am looking
forward to the Feb. issue. Every
time I get the paper it seems to me
that I am at Ecusta. That is exactly
why I am taking this course. I am
preparing myself for a better posi
tion in the post-war world and
hope that my training will not prove
a disappointment to me.
Must close for the present but am
looking forward to the time twhen
this is all over so that I can be home
again.
Sincerely,
JAMES P. GEVEDON
Btry A. 32-A A.R.T.B.
A.S.N, 34609316
Camp Wallace, Texas,
Dear Mr. Wells:
Just a few lines to let you know
I haven’t forgotten Ecusta or the
friends I left behind me. Boy,
sure would like to be with you all
but just can’t give up the Army now
I like it pretty well, and had a nice
trip out here to Texas. It sure is hot
but I can take it.
The Army is just what one makes
of it and I’m one that’s going to do
it. Wish you’d give my address to
all so I might hear how things are
getting along at the plant. Would
like the Echo too. Had better close
now and get some sleep. This drill
ing is killing me.
Best wishes to all,
PVT. GEO. J. SMITH
Co. L, 1st CWS Tng. Regt,
Camp Sibert, Ala
April 7, 1943
Dear Mr. Straus:
Thank you for your nice letter of
March 30th. I know that you have
so very little time in which to do so
much; therefore your kindness is
doubly appreciated.
There is much of interest which
could be said of the Chemical War
fare Service here but perhaps it is
better that the Axis find it out the
hard way. When I jumped out of an
Army truck into a mudhole here last
October, the first order was “This is
Camp Sibert. Build it!” For a
while camp life was what may be
termed ideal in reverse. We are now
changing gears and should be runn
ing in high very shortly.
After completing basic training, I
was retained here as an instructor,
in which capacity I am still serving.
Very soon however, I hope to get a
furlough and take full advantage of
that hearty welcome you have wait
ing for me.
The Echo has been invaluable in
keeping me up-to-date with news of
Ecusta. Naturally, the office gossip
is my specialty. In this connection,
Mr. Wells, please note my address
as above for the next issue. Kath
leen might also want to change her
cards.
My kindest regards to all and thank
you again, Mr. Straus, for remem
bering me
Yours,
JIM DIXON
D Battery 385th
CABN (AA) (AW) (SEM)
Camp Edwards, Mass.
Dear Mr, Wells:
The Army sure keeps a fellow
busy. I am up here at Camp Ed
wards, Mass., taking my basic train
ing in the Coast Artillery. Thought
when I first got here that we would
have very cold weather but we sure
have had some very nice weather for
this time of year.
Tell all the fellows “hello” for me
Sure wish I were back working with
you all now. The Army life is pretty
tough at times but I don’t mind be
cause my country called for me and
I’m glad I’m able to do my part. I’m
sure most of us feel that way. Keep
things rolling and maybe some day
soon we who are in the service can
go back to our civilian life and join
you at Ecusta again.
Sincerely,
PVT. ARTHUR C. HYDER
Hq. & Hq. Sqd. 2 A. F,
Fort George Wright,
Spokane, Wash.
Dear Mr. Wells:
Received Echo today and enjoyed
hearing from Ecusta. It also was
read by Robt. Gates, a boy from Bre
vard. Thanks to those concerned
with sending it to me.
A Former Phys. Lab. Tester,
ED HILL
“There’s a boy called George Stew
art working here. May I see him?
I’m his grandfather.”
“You’ve just missed him. He’
gone to your funeral.”
Herschel Galloway, S 2]c, who
formerly worked as Inspector in
the Inspection Department, left
Ecusta at Christmas time last year
and is now taking anti-aircraft
gunner training at Little Creek,
Va. We noted your change of ad
dress, Herschel. and will see that
you get your copy of the Echo each
month.
INSPECTION D
Well, another April Fool’s Day has
come and gone and did Oscar get
fooled by rewinder No. 14 calling
him! . , . Lucy says the reason she
was wearing colored glasses was that
she was used to working graveyard
and just couldn’t see in daylight . . .
Anyone desiring a first class corncob
pipe should see Hugh B. . . , ^ More
charming young ladies have joined
our dept.: Frances Davis, Lillian
Jones, Mary and Willie Prince.* We
hope your stay will be a long and
pleasant one . . . The high cost of
hair cuts has dampened the spirits
of some of the boys but not Kenneth
Me. He doesn’t hesitate to plank
down a dollar for fa hair cut plus some
snake oil hair tonic for good meas
ure . . . Fred R. says that after using
every known brand of soap he really
hangs out a white wash now . . .
Since Bing Crosby entered the service
Paul L. has vocalized daily. In the
course of a week or two Bing will be
the forgotten man . . . One day Whit
mire had the pleasure of working on
rewinder No. 13 and sang “Wait ’Til
The Sun Shines Nellie” all day.
(Who’s Nellie?) . . . Tom McCor
mick has gone to the service. We’re
sorry to see you go, Tom, but get us
a German and a Jap and hurry back.
We’ll be waiting for you . . . Irene
says the R.A.F. has bombed Hamburg
so often they should be about ready
to add “er” to the city , . . Ada seems
very happy these days . . . Sorry to
(Continued From Page 5)
OPEN FORUIVl
(Continued From Page 2)
1940, the writer has found about 200
arrowpoints, ranging from perfect
specimens to fragments, four stone
axes, one fragment of a pottery bowl,
and friends have given him other
relics including a red stone pipe.
I recently wrote to a museum de
voted exclusively to Indian art and
learned in their reply that the stone
from which the pipe was made is
probably catlinite, which has only
once source and that is Pipestone,
Minnesota.
Several of the more perfect points
in my collection are of a flinty sort
of stone, probably argillite, while the
majority are made of white quartz.
I once found a fragment of a large
yellow quartz arrowpoint in the
gravel driveway of a service station
in Brevard and later found a perfect
point in white quartz just outside
the gatehouse at Ecusta.
There is an added interest in tak
ing walks in the country if you keep
on the alert for artifacts. I for one
will never be satisfied until I have a
perfect specimen of each of these
relics from the stone age of the
American Indian.
RALPH ERSKINE.