Februaay, 1945
THE ECHO
PAGE FIFTEEN
News From Former Employees Now In Service
A. R. C. GAVE YJJLE PROGRAM
Cpl. Raymond Nicholson writes
from Italy, “The snow is pretty
deep here, and guess it will be
for some time . . . The American
Red Cross had a big Christmas
program for all the fellows in the
hospital ... I always look for
ward to receiving the Echo and en
joy reading it.”
BELGIAN WEATHER BAD
“Weather pretty bad,” writes
Wc. Ernest Gasperson, from Bel
gium. “But guess it could have
been worse. There has been snow
on the ground for about a month,
but not very deep . . . Wish all at
Ecusta a prosperous New Year.”
SHIP IN INVASIONS
In a letter from Leyte, R. N. Da-
''Is. MonilVI 1-c, says, “I have been
plenty busy; this ship has been in
two more invasions on different
.islands here in the Philippines . . .
'^ell all Machine Room, D shift,
hello.”
Former Echo Cartoonist Is On The Job In Italy!
ENJOYS READING ECHO
Pvt. O. L. McKelvin writes from
Camp Wheeler, “I have received
two issues of the Echo, which I
, ®njoyed very much . . . Tell the
fellows in the Machine Room hello
for me, and I’m looking forward
to the time when we can be work
ing together again.”
treat to VISIT PLANT
■ “It was a treat to visit Ecusta,”
Writes Pfc. Vincent Dixon, from
Naval Proving Grounds at Dal-
^■■en, Va. “Although there were
Riany new faces, it was still good
to be back again . . . I’ll be look-
forward to receiving the Echo,
as I’m very much interested in the
^ings that happen at home and at
Ecusta.”
IT/\LIA
Just Got
rtisCHRiST/viflS P*:6
From tcuST^
uvaiT;
80 0 D V
Besides giving us some idea of the mud and life in Italy, Cartoonist Charlie Russell who is now sta
tioned somewhere on thft Italian mainland, teUs us something of the pleasure and excitement caused
by the receipt of the Christmas package from Ecusta. Charlie is a radio operator and WMSt gu^er on
a B-24 Liberator. H€^ re-entered service in July, 1943, and has been in Italy since last November. He
was a beaterman at Ecusta and his wife works in the office.
Killed In Action Reported To Meade
PLENTY OF SNOW
Sgt. H. E. Torrance writes from
Belgium, “We are having plenty
°f snow here—^just lots of it . . .
"6 were fortunate to receive a
’Commendation from our colonel of
®®gineers corps. It made us feel
good to know that our work is
helping to win the war and so are
the home folks.”
ROUGH IN BELGIUM
J*vt. Oscar L. Gasperson would
^e to be back here. Writing from
“®lgium, he says, “It’s pretty
"^“Ugh here. I’m hoping to find
®ome of our friends, but haven’t
far. Tell everyone hello for me,
keep ’em rolling.”
WEARS BRONZE STAR
Lt. C. Ruffin WUkins has
authorized to wear a com-
)*.®t bronze star for his participa
tion in the battle of Normandy. A
Previous group, of which he was a
*hember, received a Presidential
Ration. At Ecusta, Lieutenant
^ilkins was employed in the
|-hemical Laboratory. He has been
^ service three years, and in
*'”gland for some time.
»»«#**■*
jH
STUDYING FRENCH
Ansel R. Jones studying
,/ench, he writes from France;
.,***■ at least enough to carry on a
^niited conversation. I’m making
tow progress, probably because I
®®n’t study hard enough . . . Five-
y®ar club is a swell idea. I en-
JOyed Mr. StraifS’ address. A sin-
®re business man, with the inter-
*ts of his employees at heart . .
•he breakthrough looked pretty st-
>ous here for awhile, but things
pVe lookttd up tremendously late-
CPL. CHRIsTIE “CHRIS”
COSTANZA, who was reported
as missing in action since Dec.
25 in Belgium, has been con
firmed as killed in action on
the same date. Cpl. Costanza was
employed in the Finishing de
partment. He entered servuce in
July of 1943, and trained at Ft.
Knox, Ky., and Ft. Meade, Md.
In March, 1944, he went over
seas and was in France, Belgium,
and Germany as a light tank
driver in the “Spearhead” divi
sion. His wife, the former Des-
sie Patterson, is employed in the
Finishing department. A brother
and three sisters reside in New
York.
NO TIME FOR PLEASURE
Troy A. Drake, coxswain, writes
from the S. Pacific, “In the past
few months we’ve been plenty
busy, going from place to place,
and after all our travelling it
doesn’t leave much time for pleas
ure; besides over here, there’s no
place to go if you could . . . One
thing the fellows enjoy most is
mail call . . . I’ve been in the
following invasions so far: Sicily,
Salerno, Saipan, Augaur and Ley
te.”
CPL. LAMAR HAMILTON,
U. S. Infantry, above, returned
to Ecusta January 17. Formerly
an employee of the Landscape
crew, he was inducted May 20,
1943. Aftex basic training at
Camp Stewart, Ga. Cpl. Hamil
ton had advanced training in
Orlando,. Fla., and Camp Stew
art, Ga. He reported to Fort
Meade, Aid.
WITH BLUE DEVILS IN ITALY
Cpl. Raymond Nicholson is one
of the fine Western Carolinians and
a former Ecustan who has achieved
fame. Corporal Nicholson has been
in the army two years. He is serv
ing with the 313th Medical bat
talion, supporting unit of the 88th
Blue Devil Division of the Fifth
Army in Italy, which brought
down wounded from Battle Moun
tain. The unit gained valuable ex
perience before the Italian spring
offensive began. Ambulances of
the 313th, every one of which was
later to be damaged by German
fire, where driven in blackout un
der enemy fire and over wild
mountain country. Litter bearers
evacuated the wounded. The 313th
distinguished itself in the drive on
Rome and the *battalion participat
ed in the drive on Volterra and to
the Arno River. Litter-bearers
made hauls as long as 12 miles as
the 88th crossed the Gothic line
and sustained its heaviest casual
ties.
SAW SIEGFRIED LINE
From somewhere in Germany,
Sgt Joe Roy Johnson writes,
“Have passed through France, Bel
gium and Holland after leaving
England, and if someone thinks
war isn’t an awful thing, they
should just be with me. I have
seen part of the Siegfried line—
it’s really tough going . . . Best
wishes to all—especially the Beat
er Dept”
P. I. SURPASSES NEW GUINEA
Lt. J. A. “Al” White writes from
the Philippines, “We have named
our location ‘Coconut Grove’,
which it is, and about 15 minutes
by foot to the beach . . . The Phil
ippines surpass New Guinea
(where we spent four months) in
every respect The people here are
wonderful—wiljjng to help in any
way except Sunday, which is filled
with worship in the morning and
cockfights in the afternoon. How
ever, they are very happy that we
‘have retiurned.’ Apparently the
Japs gave them a pretty rough
time.”
COLD WEATHER STARTS
Pvt. Atlas O. Jackson writes from
Belgium, “Things are pretty rug
ged here, as the cold winter has
begun and that doesn’t stop the
I big war wheel from rolling, mak-
iing the going plenty tough . . .
j Would I love to be back now and
[have a nice little hunting spree.”
IN ON ISLAND CAMPAIGNS
“Studying' anti-sub warfare,”
says Burder Teague, S 1-c, in a
letter from the South Pacific. “My
superior officer said I had more
brains in the tip of my finger than
in my whole head . . . Was in on
the Palau and Philippine cam
paigns ... Our boys gave a play
on another ship lately. The fe-
lows just raved for an encore and
even dared us back ... We have
a swell crew and officers.”