Newspapers / The Echo (Pisgah Forest, … / March 1, 1945, edition 1 / Page 11
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March, 1945 THE ECHO PAGE THIRTEEN Interesting Letter From New Guinea New Guinea, Mr. Straus, I am very much ashamed of the ^ct that I do not write more offfen, W there is one time of the year I simply have to write you. Mt is after I receive one of your ®»derful Christmas packages, could you have known just l^lght thing to send a WAC in w Guinea? Of course, from re- "rts you must have known that 6 are always hungry here, there- fe anything in the form of food *^Ofe than welcome. Since my last visit to Ecusta in Pnl of last year, I have experi- nced the most eventful time of y entire life. I reported back to ■'ip McCoy only to find that I “S On orders for “Extended Field rvice” at Fort Oglethorpe. This for overseas and at If u that training.period, Ij like an infantry soldier. We 0 “ikes, field trins, classes in 'T'thing from malaria control to yP reading, with hardly enough ® otf for brushing our teeth. Evi «ver, boards Troop Train this came to an end, how- see Paris if we went to ifiom- bright Saturday trai found us boarding a troop bound for we knew not There was a lot of specula- St destination, but after w j Mo., we knew it was the for didn’t help any, L realization that we weire {o for the South Pacific 51)? *®^ed us. We knew so little W- lijp diseases made us very un- PPy. Then, too, there were ru- vi,j \that the WAGS in England "'6 ® wonderful time, and cha,, '^Sht we might get a >ce to I’h '^as 1 across the continent ttj. Accommodations on a 0],], aren’t exactly like the VOn but when we consider iHijj P°or taX'payers, we don’t Inn], j. ® stopped in several cities, ^ke ' Denver, Reno and Salt This was my first and V® *'0 see the Great Salt Lake Was very much impressed \ {■ a weary group when arrived at the port of but^^®tion on the West Coast: ® day or two of rest, we ^st this camp to be the wonderful hjj ‘ might add, plentiful. We Hiir ''isi*^ Francisco esUi, ‘'Ue fu esti^ ®^d saw many inter- 8 sights in and around the age caused by the explo ,6 . e saw Port Chicago and 19th of August we left >nilgj®®*P and marched about two lng . Where a ferry was wait- m,k. ^ake us to the troop ship. almost dark when we ar- e ,L»ot ig / 'It stirring, military music) and the band was play- a Ho'f^er Doll”’and “There’ll Be ’''8ht’> In the Old Town To- Up It was thrilling to march One ^ Ssng.piank and have every- officg ®^ing and the commanding ''•'e Qf shaking hands with each '*nt '•s and wishing us a pleas- anr?’ crying a lit- *ng j ^ laughing a little, but hav- Perfectly marvelous time. \Ve Ship’s History on a ship whose jfip \va knew before the .^autjf® °''er. It must have been a K*'’'' b before its conver- now it is just another '"ain gray troop ship. The ^4 hospital ward dining room is the offi cers’ mess. The library is the only original thing intact and we were allowed to go there at certain times and get books to read. We had music on deck all through the day and evening and since we were the first WACS to ever be on board this ship, they allowed us to go on the boat deck. It was lovely up there especially after we passed the equator and came into the tropical reglipn. What they say or write about a tropical moon is true; it is so beau tiful that it fairly takes your breath away. When we disembarked we were brought ashore in ducks. These amphibious, motorized, shall I say, vehicles, appear quite awkward in the water, but once on land are quite at home. We found nice quarters ready for us when we arrived and found that we had been expected for some time. We were assigned al most immediately, some of us even before we had time to unpack, and the men whom we replaced went either to the front or home on ro tation, depending on their length of service here. My assignment was to the Transportation Corps, first in the Small Ships Section and then later in Depot Opera tions. The work in both places has been interesting. Volumes could be written on New Guinea alone. I wish I had the time to give a more complete pic ture of the life here, but for the present I will simply touch the highlights. Work 10 Hours Daily We work ten hours each day with one afternoon and two eve nings off each week. This includes Saturday and Sunday (unlike Ecus ta). However, we are allowed an hour off each Sunday morning for church attendance. I’ll never for get the first time we attended ser vices in the chapel. These men had not seen wom en, some of them, in 20 or 30 months and they were even shy when we talked to them. One sol dier came to me after the service and said, with tears in his eyes, “You can’t imagine how good it sounds to hear a woman’s voice in the choir again.” Of course, being a woman I ‘tiave to look at the sentimental side of the war, but many times I have been sur prised to find such sentiment in men that it is almost unbelievable This one statement from this man made all the hardships I had gone through seem as nothing, and showed me that we really are ap predated here; not just as a nov elty, but because we were Ameri can girls like the girls they left at home. I don’t mean to boast about our work here but the girls have done well. They came and took over all the jobs as typists, telephone op erators and clerks. They were well trained and capable of doing a fine job. In addition to our working ten hours each day, we do our own laundry. This gives me one more qualification toward a civilian job We wear khaki shirts, field shoes, woolen socks and fatigue trousers, therefore the laundry problem is not so bad. There is a SWPA order that no American woman, includ ing nurses, Red Cross workers or WACS wear a skirt. We turned in all our skirts, and afifcr 4 months of constant wear, we are quite ac customed to “wearing the pants." Pictures Of Natives Accurate We have been allowed to visit .Continue^ pn B " “ WHO’S WHO —BY STAFF WRITERS— RUBYE LEE ALLISON Above is a real ‘old timer*. RUBYE LEE ALLISON was em ployed on the first day of Cham pagne’s operation. She worked in the Hand Booklet and Guiq.- ming departments and on a Repse machine in Champagne. In 1942, Rubye was transferred to the Inspection department of Ecusta. She is a member of the Five-Year club. A native of this county she attend Brevard high school. Elizabeth’s father, broth er and sister are employees of Ecusta. Rubye likes her work, bowling, movies and writing let ters. She has one brother with the Army now in Germany. EILEEN NELSON BiLl ERWIN \ The above is the likeness of a very familiar face in Cham pagne. Many Ecusta employees will recognize BILL ERWIN, a neat, friendly and efficient fore man in the Fine Paper division of Champagne. Bill has the dis tinction of being a Five-Year club member; his employment here began in March of 1940 in the Gumming department as an operator. After only one year as operator through merit he was promoted to foreman, and has recently been transferred to the new division in Hand Booklet. A native of Anderson, S. C., Bill with his family moved to Green River, N. C., where he obtained his grammar school training. He graduated from Brevard high school. Besides liking baseball —he’s a member of the Duke’s Mixture Ball team—he Ukes fish ing. Bill lives in Brevard, is mar ried and has three childreji, two Pa^^ ^ys and a girl. The popular forelady of the Fine Paper department of Cham pagne, EILEEN NELSON, is the possessor of ready wit and an Imperturbable disposition. Eileen began life out West in PueiblOi Colo. Before starting to school, though, she moved to Columbia, Tenn., where she graduated from both grammar and high school. Seven years ago she moved to Brevard and began working in Champagne’s Hand Booklet de- partnuent. Cheatham Nelson, her husband, has been working as a machine tender in the Machine room since he returned from service with the Army in Eng land. Eileen is an enthusiastic bowler and Is captain of the Pin Setter’s Delight team. MARY PRINCE Attractive, brunette, athletic MARY PRINCE, above, is an in spector in the new Fine Paper department of Champagne. Al- ■ though Mary was bom in Cram- erton, N. C., she received her early schooling in Fletcher, and Fairview, graduating from Eto wah high school in 1943. She received her diploma one Friday and reported to work in Ecus- ta’s Inspection department on a rewinder the next Friday. In Oc tober of 1943 Mary began her work for Champagne in the Hand Booklet department as a blocker. She has recently been transferred to the new Fine Pa per division. Mary is active in sports, excelling In basketball, softball and bowling. Mary says another of her hobbies is swim ming.
The Echo (Pisgah Forest, N.C.)
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March 1, 1945, edition 1
11
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