Apr^l943
THE ECHO
Page 9
Transportation Corps
Robert E. Raines of the Fibre
^arehouse, left us one year ago
for training at Keesler Field, Miss.
^®bert is now Private first class in
^ Transportation Corps overseas
works in the supply room. At-
present he receives his mail
4 ?Sh New Orleans. He wrote on
^Pril 9th that he had just received
February Echo and was glad
*0 see that Leland Thomas and
^Wford hadn’t forgotten how to
*^oon hunt.
band notes
Well, another month has rolled
^ ound and here we go again. It
^I’ely vvas good to see so many of
in the High School auditorium in
J“evard on Saturday night, the 10th,
the band gave its first “formal.”
, most of you know, the band
been together now for a little
a year and while it has made
3ny appearances during this time,
^lurday night was the first formal
^cert it has ever given. It was
^ ost gratifying to see so many of
friends there and to be given
^ ch a grand reception. We hope
. ^ Director,' John Eversman, will
® us back again for another one
that not too distant future, and
bif all of,you will come again and
your friends with you.
and like to extend our thanks
Qsincere appreciation to Wayne
and Ray Bennett who spent
atiH ^ hours in helping to promote
w stage the concert.
On +1 sorry not to be with you
the afternoon of April 16th for
j announced band concert on the
the^ outside the cafeteria; however,
ton "^®^t;her did not permit, so the
'Vp is postponed until favorable
^on conditions make our out-
^ concert possible.
attended the Ecusta Fun
on Friday night, the 16th of
had an opportunity to see our
in ^ dress us up in hick costumes
in
oj the Festival by adding our bits
Corny music. We hope you had
fun as we did and we are
Of forward to another evening
kind of entertainment in the
^ near future.
^nn Eversman has just announc-
eight very fine violins have
the so now his collection for
Vou ®^®h®stra is almost complete. If
g^j^.^ant to take part in this new or-
please be sure to con-
to at once. Also the invitation
^tariri a part in our band still
We need more members and
to i . P® you will be the next one
thig Guess that’s about all for
^^nie. See you next month.
souls have wills; feeble ones
only wishes.
th^j/® smallest good deed is better
the grandest intention.—^Anon.
si^^®ssmaker: “Ah, Madam, I con-
^^at the most perfect fit I have
r, seen.”
if^o^er: “You should see the fit
the ??sband will have when he gets
STITCHING GAB
Guess everyone is familiar with
the following lines, particularly
Ruby D. It’s her theme song. “Hush
little flivver, don’t you cry. You can
have your gallon by and by” . . .
Can anyone tell why Dot G. was in
Job Printing one day not long ago?
Could you enlighten us, G. B? . . .
Evelyn T. has joined the Ecusta
Band. Even her brothers’ hunting
dogs go off in a corner to howl when
Evelyn gets her trumpet out. Could
there be some nostalgic similarity
between the report of a gun and
what comes out of that horn? . . .
Mae 0. spent a nice quiet vacation
at home . . . Betsy A. doesn’t mind
coming to work but she does hate
having to hire a taxi. Better get up
a little earlier and catch the bus,
Betsy . . . Sylvia is spending some
time with her husband at Fort Bliss,
Texas . . . Little Bill, Big Bill and
John have started a research dept,
under the supervision of Mr. Erwin.
Four leaf clovers are supposed to be
good luck symbols, boys . . . Teddy’s
brother visited him recently enroute
to N. Y. He is in the armed forces
. . . Sally J, has some tall tales to
tell about her trip to Wilmington . .
. If you don’t know the girl who
wears Pearl A’s picture, Toot P’s
sweater and Nell L’s cap, just ask
around . . . Maye W. is making a
flower garden . . . Thelma S. seems
to like No. 8 o. k. but there’s no
place like home and No. 4 is home
to her . . . Lillie S. got a big grass
hopper from Montana one day but
she won’t let us see it . . . When
we heard that old familiar whistle
for booklets we all knew that Martha
H. had returned . . . Jimmie D.,
don’t you know it isn’t nice to spread
mustard on a napkin and smear it on
an unsuspecting head—even if it is
a bald head? . . . Could someone
give an explanation for Margaret
P’s drowsiness these days? . . .
Spring surely has come. Myrtle P.
has shed her sweater ... . Who
should breeze in the other day but
our sailor boy, Phil Riddle. We
were certainly glad to see him . . .
Louise 0. would like to express her
thanks to Stitching and Notching for
her parting gift. She was so thrill
ed she forgot to say thank you to
eve^body . . . Edna Waldin and
Lillie Nicholson are new packers in
Stitching. Welcome, girls! . . . Helen
C. quit Friday due to illness in her
family. We hope you can come back
soon, Helen . . . Frances W. surely
is generous. All the girls who didn’t
have a partner at the dance were in
vited to share her husband . . .
Mae and Pearl, don’t you know that
paper dolls are for children? . . .
Last minute headlines: Lillie S’s
hero of Pearl Harbor is now at the
Univ. of Washington training to be
a pilot! •
In Canal Zone
Leon Williams, PFC, worked on
the Landscape Crew and left us
in January, 1942. He was station
ed at Keesler Field, Miss., and was
then sent to Howard Field Canal
Zone. We would like very much
to hear a little more about you,
Leon.
LETTERS HOME
Armed Guard School
5/38 class
Little Creek, Va.
April 18, 1943
Dear Mr. Wells:
Just a few lines to let you know
I haven’t received the last two copies
of the Echo and I was very much
disappointed, I am still at Little
Creek, Va., and will be here for two
or three more weeks for an advanced
gunnery course. I have received my
3/c Petty Officer’s rating now and
am a 3/c Gunner’s Mate. •
I have been with another former
Ecusta employee for the last two
weeks. He is Hershel Galloway and
used to work in the re winders. We
were together for two weeks and
were then separated. He was sent
to Brooklyn and I was left here.
I wish you would send me the last
two copies of the Echo. Reading
them is just like reading a big long
letter from home. Tell everyone in
the Refiner Room that is on C shift
that I would like to hear from them.
A former employee,
WILLIAM E. GREEN,
G. M. 3/c.
Dear Karl:
Yesterday I received your letter and
it cheered me up tremendously. All
I ask is that you keep them coming.
True, they do make me homesick
and could I say, with some slang,
“Ecusta Sick,” but after all, letters
do make you pine for the familiar
places you are connected with.
Ecusta was a place where I earned
a living but to me Karl, it meant
much more. It was fun making a
living there and the friends that I
made there are friends that will stay
with me for years to come.
Maybe you are right when you
say that you, and not I should be in
the Army fighting for this thing
called peace but that’s not a question
to argue. Here I am in the Army
with a job to do and one to do in a
hurry. Whether we will ever meet
in this great outfit is something that
remains to be seen but I hope that
some day we can meet again, wheth
er it be here or at home after the
smoke has cleared.
Yesterday I also received a very
nice letter from Mr. Bauer. He told
me all the news and cheered me up
a lot. Working for him was one of
the bright spots in my past and I
hope that it can be arranged so that
I can once again work for him upon
my return. He has been so nice to
me and helped in so many ways.
Hats off to a good boss.
They still have me in the Battalion
Warehouse where I do all of their
typing. The rest of the time they
work me in the warehouse. Two or
three days ago they told us that we
would be required to learn every
part of the 50 cal. machine gun
which is quite a job. We went out
on the range the other day with
M-1 rifles. What a rifle that is, Karl.
You can’t help but feel safe with
one of those over your shoulder. I
qualified the first time and got a
rating as rnarksman so won’t have to
go out again for a while. I’m going
to try and qualify as sharpshooter
which will entitle me to a medal.
Don’t think I’ll have much trouble
with a little practice. The officers
here are- very nice. The Battery
Commander is a darned nice fellow
and really gives us every break.
Texas is a helluva state; the wind
blows all the time and most of it
comes right into your eyes with a
ton of sand. I don’t want any part
of Texas.
Took my first trip into El Paso.
Quite a nice town, about the size of
Charlotte and with just a little more
of the big town atmosphere. Nice
shows, plenty of good eating places
and something for every type of sol
dier. Plan to go in again soon and
purchase some things.
Well Karl, old boy, write soon and
keep me posted. Give my regards
to Mr. Bennett, Hester, Denton, Aud
rey and all the rest whose names I
haven’t time to mention.
Your friend,
BOB ANDERS
In North Africa
James Robert Tinsley, Seaman
2c, was employed in the Cham
pagne Hand Booklet service be
fore entering the service in Decem
ber of 1941. He took his boot
training in Norfolk, Va., and was
later with the Patrol Wing Atlan
tic Fleet, Naval Air Station^ Nor
folk. ,
At Mayport
Apprentice Seaman Herbert
Hensley, one time Ecusta Mill
wright, left us in September of
1942. His last correspondence came
in December of last year from the
Naval Section Base at Mayport,
Fla. At that time he spoke of the
wonderful winter, of his daily
swims et cetera. We’ve been neg
lected for 4 months, Herbert. How
about a letter?
Dear Sir:
Two and a half weeks ago I receiv
ed your most cheerful letter and
you’U have to forgive me for not
answering sooner. Many unforseen
obstacles have prevented my doing
so.
Yes, I have the slight globe trott
ing feeling but would rather not be
one. The service has been most in
teresting at times but sitting here in
one spot all these months has be
come most tiresome and the longing
to return to Ecusta and my many
friends is growing stronger every
day. I am glad to know that just
being a small cog in this conflict is
helping and I will continue to do my
best. My knowledge of the different
theatres of war is most confusing at
times but believe this conflict will
close some time in the very near fu
ture. There is no doubt but what
victory will be in our favor.
The Echo has been very prompt in
reaching me and I get a lot of enjoy
ment from its many articles. I was
honored to see my picture in it and
I know the Echo is doing a big part
in cheering the boys up at mail caU.
Thanks a lot for the swell present
which arrived just a few days after
your letter. Under the circumstanc
es my Christmas was pleasant but
it brought back lots of memories.
Maybe next year we fellows can cele
brate Christmas at home.
I am very happy to know each and
every one of you all are behind us
fellows and we will do our best in
these parts to carry out our end of
the load.
Sincerely yours,
SGT. JOHN E. BISHOP