t, 1944
THE ECHO
PAGE THIRTEEN
ms From Former Employees Now In Service
sends ITALIAN AND
german coins
Raymond Nicholson writes
Somewhere in Italy: . I
^ Ending you a coin which is
^ Vatican City only. On one
V this coin is the Coat of
Pope Pius XII. The keys
coin represent Our Lord,
^ >nrist, presenting St. Peter,
V |Tst Pope of the Catholic
with the keys of His
I ^ The dove represents the
I third person of the
ire olive branch
l ^ents peace. On the reverse
i*?. St. Michael, the archangel,
‘ the faith of Christ. This
^Riade by Vatican City mint,
must have permission to
1^, there, same as a- person
going into another country
^ received this coin when I
I the Vatican. I was fortunate
an audience with the
and receiving his blessing
also enclosing German
jl^'vhich are worth ten cents,
* cent German money isn’t
get . .
Missing In Action With The Infantry
,ill'
*5 Mine sweepers in
before D-DAY
Lance, MoMM 2c, writes
j^^gland: . . We sure have
ousy over here. Before D-
[ ® had to get ready for D-
j'took the Mine Sweepers
L before D-Day to clear the
from the beachhead. We
and down that coast all
night. It sure was bad
..^hile but we made out 0.
lose a boat. Then after
H’j ® had an important job I
j'^’^ite about but can tell you
,5',^y . . . For some reason I
Received the Echo but once
have been over here. Would
lifi- to know how everything
Ky at the mill. Tell Bob
hello for me, and all the
A :J^he boys. Just wish I were
Lthere now. But don’t think
long before this war is
all of us will be back
. I have met a few of
over here who worked
ijj ^ill. Sure was glad to see
‘ • Keep up the good work
\ we will finish this war
^ '•'"■e bef
READY FIGHTERS FOR
INVASION
Jrt *5^ Fullbright partici-
'?rQ^ “B-Day.” As a member of
Co ! ^nd crew, he helped prepare
!j '^8 Lightning fighters for
]j) jut^^^sion. Planes had to be
'JaM special preparations;
1 perfect con-
0^^ base at which Sgt.
, was stationed was one of
Ito be put in readiness for
si He was Asst. Qual.
Visor at Ecusta.
*^f’ORD WRITES LETTER
Medford, MoMM 3-c,
from Little Creek, Va.:
j could never forget all you
.! ^one for me while I was
j there for you as a Fire-
^ the Boiler Room. You have
inuch for all of us fellows
5 ® in the armed forces. Let
;C thanks a million for all
*^dness and the many things
about us and do for us
^ company, Ecusta is tops
always will be . . .
the best of everything
i,® affords ... At heart I
, your employee . . . Best
W >,^0 fellow workers in the
^ept . . .»
1ST LT. WILLIAM “MAC”
HEATON, above, is missing in
action over Germany since Sept.
5th. Lt. Heaton, former Machine
Room employee, had completed
on Aug. 18th his 70th mission
against Nazi defenses.
In Hospital Unit
CPL. JENTRY D. POLAND,
the first draftee from Transyl
vania, is now with the 36th hos
pital unit in Southern France.
He has been in sefvice almost
four years and overseas near
ly a year. He was employed by
the Yard Crew at Ecusta.
IS ATTACHED TO ARMY
TRANSPORT COMMAND
Garnett Buckner writes
from Santa Monica, Calif.: “. . . I
was in Nevada the last time I had
a chance to write, but now I’m
away out here on the Coast, and
I’m glad to say it is the first state
I have liked since I left good old
North Carolina ... I can’t begin
to tell you how good it makes a
fellow feel to read the news from
home in the Echo and hear about
the many good friends at dear old
Ecusta ... I am now going to
school in the Douglas Aircraft fac
tory and like it fine but had much
rather be at Ecusta helping make
that good cigarette paper. I am
attached to the Army Transport
Command now, and after school
here, will report back to a field
in San Francisco and from there
be sent somewhere to help keep
our transport ^hips flying and
carrying supplies and equipment
to our boys to help wipe out all
the enemies of this wonderful
country of ours . .
PVT. LESTER BROWN, of
the U. S. infantry, is stationed
at Camp Blanding, Fla. In May,
1944, he was inducted into the^
service^ He was employed as a
back tender in the. Machine
Room.
Seabee Is Wounded
DAVID LEE SIMMS, seaman
third class in the Seabees,
USNR, was wounded in action in
the South Pacific on July 26. He
is now in the fleet hospital and
is thought not to be seriously
injured. He is th>^ son of Mr.
and Mrs. John S. Liimms, of Bre
vard, Route 2.
IS IN GUNNERY SCHOOL
Dale Orr, Sl-c AMM, son of Mr.
and Mrs. Volney Orr, Penrose, has
finished his machinist school at
Memphis, Tenn., and is now station
ed at Jacksonville, Fla., where he
is in gunnery school, after which
he will have some weeks at some
practical operations training base.
WITH EIGHTH AIR FORCE
M. Sgt. Maurice A. Paxton is in
England with an Eighth air force
Liberator station as a member of
the ground crew. He had an active
part in the construction of “The
Grim Reaper,” a B-24 Liberator,
for take-off missions supporting
the first landing operations in
France on “D-Day.” Before enter
ing service in July, 1942, he was
employed as a vacuum wash ope
rator. Sgt. Paxton was stationed
at Scribner Air Base, Hooper, Neb.,
before going overseas.
HEARS BUZZ—DUCKS—EITHER
P-38 OR MOSQUITO
Pfc. Harry Johnson writes from
somewhere in Italy: . I am
still stuck here in Italy. The wea
ther has been very favorable here
this year but I’m sure hoping not
to have to spend another rainy
winter .in this country . . . When
you hear a buzz here you instinc
tively duck, for it’s either a P-38
or one of these Italian mosquitoes
... I wish to take this means to
express my sympathy to the family
of Mr. Rhodes, as he was one of
my best friends and advisors while
at Ecusta ... I was not only
shocked but grieved to learn of
his passing . . . The news on all
fronts at the present is good, but
let me say that the group of peo
ple who forget their donation to
the blood bank and to the Red
Cross at this critical period will
be very detrimental to the effort
in trying to preserve and save the
lives of many of our front line
troops at this time. Make evei^
effort to give, and speak to a
friend about donating blood and
money to this worthy organization
to whom many of our boys owe
their lives and deepest gratitude
for smokes and other incidentals
too numerous to mention ... I
have been fortunate to be at the
right place at the right time to
avoid becoming a casualty, though
I spent some time (too much) at
the Anzio Beachhead, when we
didn’t have the head and little of
the beach . . . Cigarettes were a
good companion to have at times
like those ... I have been read
ing in the magazines that cigarette
paper is fast becoming of use in
connection with plastic surgery
... To my friends and associates
at Ecusta I extend my best wishes
and may I add that you are fore
most in my thoughts with the ex
ception of being there to work and
live a normal life once more. I
do hope some of you will find time
to drop me a line, and be sure the
Echo is mailed to me as it is my
best and most waited-for letter of
the month . . . Men at the front
would appreciate it if each of you
would mention them in prayer,
for after all this will be the win
ning factor in this world of con
flict . .
WITH AIR FORCE IN FRANC®
Pfc. Ernest Gasperson writes
from somewhere in France: “. . . I
am with the Ninth Air Force some
where in France. Hope to be with
you all soon . . . Please send the
Echo if 3*ou have an extra. Sure
enjoy reading it . . .”
ON SMALL DESERT
Pvt. Doug McCormick writes
from Camp White, Oregon: “. . .
I am still here at Camp White but
am leaving soon. I hope to be sent
closer home but will probably stay
here on the West Coast the rest
of my Army career . . . Had a nice
letter from Cecil Wilson, an old
Yard f!rew buddy. He was at the
4th of July picnic and said he had
a very nice time . . . Heard from
Melvin McCormick yesterday and
he is still in England but is kept
awfully busy. He hasn’t heard
from Tom or Jim in a long time
now either ... We are having
some awfully hot weather here
now but can’t expect much better
on a small desert like this. The
mosquitoes eat you up if you go
to the river ... I have been in
this camp nearly two years (21
months), so it’s almost like home
to me , ,