i^ Hews From Former Employees Now In Service
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BETTER “THEM THAR
HttLS” IN N. C.
^wis Townsend, CM 1-c, writes
Camp Parks, Calif.: “ . . .
f 114 ® *^he States is some-
Jin*^*^^crent from what I found
“G North Pacific. California,
praised too highly,
nice
s
has
but
uite
io\^.
tills'^
:nowJ
such
SI
a place. I have lib-
^ often and get out to see
quite interesting places
have had a lot of fun.
*^6 living more or less a nomad-
ing
eas’®''.
tbeP’!
^^ree shipyards, one aircraft
3#e ** other Mnds of manu-
up
i ^
V t°!
■bat 1
er •;
McKinnish writes
\(,0ie'k somewhere in the European
* k, . Nip#» tn know the
jnls^f about strikes back home.
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vre:
55TOBER, 1944
THE ECHO
PAGE FIFTEEN
tof
too bad
*tty
IS
around Frisco, Richmond,
on and other places on South
^ Los Angeles, I have been
ji^i’ested in seeing some of the
. “stries, manufacturing c e n-
• I have been through two
centers and defense
Haven’t seen any place
iji* «ke as well as Ecusta ....
California but I’d just as
Ofi snendinp mv Hmp up
spending my time
‘them thar hills’ of W.
^AS
air medal with
CLUSTERS
“We
Nice to know the
at home are on the beam.
^ should hear the boys when
1^ s hoping Ecusta will stay the
Peaceful place . . . more
^ happy family working to-
^ . I expect to be back in
\ 7S.A. before so long. Have
medal and three oak leaf
Have seen and had some
—o experiences since I
he States. After it is all over,
have missed it for any-
i right now I can’t think
^j^y^ing better than getting
j home . . . Just returned from
ifCt home in Southern England.
‘ J ^ wonderful week! They call
Y flak house”—gave us civil-
,*^‘Othes; juice in bed at 8:30;
breakfast at 9:00; Red Cross
entertain us; swimming,
*ding and all kinds of games.
Can’t realize how much a fel-
ki^'^er here can appreciate a
‘like that ”
^I^YING LIBERATORS
Holcombe writes
Italy; . I am getting along
L Combat is a little rougher
L States but a lot of fun
^ ? can make it. I am still fly-
HjjJ'^herators and already have
inissions in ... Ail they
Italy, as far as I can find
grow grapes and make wine.
W ^ don’t like about it is they
\ grapes
ii(^ their feet. We are living in
Wj^^itioned tents with running
^ ^hen it rains: (Hal) Well,
Would still love to be back
old w. n. c....”
^%PED NEAR VOLCANO
> ^ Hovey Waldrop writes from
^^cific: “. . . There hasn’t
V ^uch action since I last
1 you. I was on one patrol
of the boys knocked off
jjJ'Ps. Just my luck not to get
J. though. We had some dogs
us. They sure are train-
just like bird hunting,
. ^ey shoot back sometimes
had an earthquake last
\ but it didn’t hurt anything.
a funny feeling for a
‘ Vjj.^hough. We are camped near
lu®^o and hear one pretty
Visited Recently
PFC. VINCENT J. DIXON, of
the U. S. Marine corps, recently
visited Ecusta after 1% months
duty in the South Pacific where
h€i was wounded. He recently
was on Guam and trained at
Guadalcanal. Pfc. Dixon was
wearing a ribbon for a wound
received and for Asiatic-Pacific
theatre of war with a star for a
major 'campaign. Prior to induc
tion he was employed in Ecusta’s
Inspection department.
Fights In France
CPL. LEE REID is now in
France and is assigned to an
anti-aircraft unit. Cpl. Reid was
formerly employed in the In
spection department at Ecusta
and entered the, service in No
vember, 1942.
IN SOUTH PACIFIC
Ellis Cauble, S 2-c, writes from
New Caledonia: “. . . I didn’t stay
at Camp Peary, Va., very long
after returning from my boot
leave. I left there for California,
was there three weeks, and on to
New Caledonia, I am getting along
fine and like this place . . . There
are several of the boys here in
the South Pacific with me that
I went through boot with . . .
Tell all the boys in the Beater
Room hello for me ... I got a
card from J. E. Mims some time
ago ... I guess Reece, Clark and
Shuford are also gone from there
(Peary) . .
Gets Several Awards
T-SGT. ED E. VASSEY, JR.,
above, of the Army air corps
and formerly employed in the
Machine Room, recently visited
here during a 21-day furlough.
T-Sgt. Vassey, an engineer-gun-
ner on a B-24, was overseas eight
months and complet€^d 32 bomb
ing missions. He wears the Dis
tinguished Flying Cross, the Air
Medal, four Oak Leaf Clusters,
Good Conduct medal and ribbons
for European and American the-
atre3 of war and a ribbon for
American defense.
Stationed In Italy
T-SGT. JOHN REID is station
ed in Italy. He has been in ser
vice two years and has been
overseas eight months. Before
entering the service he was em
ployed in th^. Gumming depart-
me^nt
EXCITEMENT OVER IN
NEW GUINEA
Pvt. Laurence Richardson writes
from New Guinea; “ . . , Well, all
the excitement is over over here
in New Guinea. I wish I could say
that about everywhere but I real
ize we still have a hard fight
ahead of us . . , Haven’t received
an Echo in quite some time . . . .
Guess that is because my APO
changes so much . . . . ”
GETS ENOUGH CIGARETTES
Cpl. Lee E. Reid writes from
France: “ . . .Things are pretty
tough here but we manage to
make out O.K. We have been get
ting enough cigarettes to get
along pretty well here, thanks to
you people at Ecusta . . . . ”
WALDROP HAS FINISHED
SPECIALIST TRAINING
Pvt. Fritz Waldrop writes from
Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri: “. . .
I have been expecting a furlough
ever since I finished my special*
ist’s training at Ft. Belvoir, Va.,
in August. I am still wondering if
they are going to keep me in
school for the duration. I have
had several valuable courses since
I finished basic in January. About
all the excitement I have had
during my year in the Engineers
has been studying chemistry, math,
map reading, construction, etc. I
visited several filter plants while
in my water purification course,
but few were as well equipped as
Ecusta’s .... I am still with the
same company of boys, made up
of A.S.T.P. boys and boys from
different specialists’ schools. A*
yet we are not even assigned . . .
I come in contact with lots of
German prisoners of war here.
They are very interesting to talk
to and try to be friendly. Prob
ably they think it is to their ad*
vantage now. My wife has been
continuing her work as secretary
to the Engineer Board. Needless
to say, we are both looking for
ward to being back at Ecusta if
and when it is possible . . . .”
IN GUAM INVASION
William Everette Green, GM 2-c,
writes from the South Pacific:
... I can’t say where I am, but
it is plenty hot ... I noticed in
the Echo where several of the
boys were in on the invasion of
France. We were supposed to be
in on that but they needed us in
a flotilla here in the Pacific, so we
came over here. We hit Guam in*
stead. Five of us fellows from
home made that invasion; four
were in the army and I was in the
navy .... I have collected quite
a few souvenirs from Guam. I
have a Jap rifle, a helmet, a gas
mask, a uniform, some money,
and quite a few small articles
that belonged to the Japs . , .
BELIEVES HE IS ON HOME
STRETCH NOW
Pfc. Charles H. Moss writes
from France: “ . . , Looks like I
will make all the countries over
here yet. First England, then Af
rica, Sicily, Italy, and now France.
Somehow I believe I’m on the
jiome stretch now ... I got to
visit Rome and Vatican City while
in Italy. Rome is a very beautiful
place but I believe I like France
better—it reminds me somewhat
of Western North Carolina. Things
are moving so fast a fellow liard-
ly gets used to one place, but
what I have seen is really beauti
ful. . . . . ”
HOPES TO WORK FOR ECUSTA
Pvt. Fred Laughter writes from
Fort Monmouth, N. J.: “. . . Tell
the Ecusta employees hello for me
and I wish I could be back at work
there myself but I guess I will
have to wait until this war is over,
and I hope it is over soon too, so
I and the rest of the boys can go
to work, preferably for Ecusta
PICKED GRAPES IN ITALY
Pfc. Raymond Nicholson writes
from Italy: “Yesterday I was out
picking grapes and made a pig of
myself eating them. Today I re
ceived my PX rations which con
tained candy and drinks. Pretty
good stuff! I am well.
“Say heUo to the folks in the
Chemical Lab. for me.”