Newspapers / The New Bern Mirror … / May 3, 1968, edition 1 / Page 1
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Farmville's Bob Rouse, who used to be Superior Court so licitor for this District, is one of our most appreciated friends, and that goes double for his charming and completely mod est wife. Seeing him here at recent hall fraud trials brought to mind the fame that cams to Bob and Letha by chance when he was an ensign in the Navy during World War n. He got enou^ publicity to fill a scrapbook. Unlike his later prestige in legal circles. Rouse didn't do anything to merit unusual rec ognition on this occasion. It was strictly a whim of Fate, inspired by New York report ers who were trying to find something to write about on a dull day. It was June 1, 1945, and his hometown sweetheart, Letha Holloman was In the Big City with him. She was an Army nurse stationed near Pitts burgh, and the two bad gotten leave to get married. Meeting as arranged, they headed for New York's City Hall in quest of a license. At that moment, reporters were headed for City Hall tw). Since it was the first day of June, the typewriter pounders hoped to pick up some sort of human interest story on June brides. There was something a little out of the ordinary about a Navy ensign and an Army nurse applying for a marriage license. When the photographers spotted Bob and his bride-to-be, they started snapping pictures. It turned out to be a t>etter story than any of the newspaper guys had counted on. Bob was only 20, and in New York you hud to be 21 to get a license, if you were a male, and didn't have your parents along to give consent. For a girl you had to be 18, so Letha qualified since she was also 20. Letlia's parents weren't living. Bob's were liv ing, but they were down in Farmvllle. It looked like Dan Cupid had drawn for an ace and come up with a deuce. Leave time was limited. New York's newspapers knew a good story when they saw it- "Too Young To Marry" the headlines screamed. "Nor mandy Veteran Can't Get Wed." And tee photographs told their story of dejection. Making tee best of a bad situation. Bob and Letha set out for Richmond, after tele phoning Bob's parents to meet teem there. A license was procured, and the ceremony performed in the Virginia city. Then tee bridal couple head ed back to New Ycjrk. Report ers have a way (»f keeping tab on things, and tee press found out teat the Farmvllle newly weds were back in town for an exceedingly short honey moon. There were more headlines and more photographs. "Ensign Returns With Bride In Tow" proclaimed one streamer. In a teeming place where millions live and die without notoriety. Bob and Letha were tee center of attraction. It was a hectic way to em bark upon tee sea of matri mony, but it had a happy end ing. Eventually the war days were over, and Bob and his bride returned to Farmvllle to esta- tContinued on page 8^ The New BERN PUBLISHID WIBKLY IN THI mART OP lASTBRN NORTH CAROLINA jIB«Craven Library 400 Johnson St. New Bern, NC 28660 VOLUME 11 NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY. MAY 3, 1968 NUMBER 6 (SamUg ^Utrarg I HERE SHE IS—For ten months, with modesty we didn’t dream was in us, the editor of The Mirror has refrained from publishing a photograph of his one and only grandchild. Since we have featured, over the years, hundreds of other babies on the front page, a lot of you good people have chided us for slighting the young lady seen here. Anyhow, to prove we really are a grandpa, this will serve as your introduc tion to Amy Stuart Willson (the Willson is spelled right) of Raleigh. She still has a number of things coming to her, including more hair and her first tooth, but even without this equipment, we’re im mensely pleased to claim her as our very own. You can bet your life she is talking, true to her McDaniel ancestry, although her present vocabulary is limited to just two words, neither of them “Gramps.”
The New Bern Mirror (New Bern, N.C.)
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May 3, 1968, edition 1
1
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