llllimi |,T ™ IF Hi]| " || n l| ml! n l ROBERT E. MAY MARVIN WILLIAM SCOTT WINFIELD HASTY
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JJkJ JAMES W WHITBYGROVER WOODRUFF ROBERT LEE MOORE
THE ROANOKE RAPIDS
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VOLUME XXIX ROANOKE RAPIDS, N. C. THURSDAY, JULY 20, 1944 NTTMRER gQ
INGRAM KILLED IN ITALY;
WEST DIES FROM WOUNDS
RECEIVED IN NEW 5UINEA
I Pfc. Robert Lee Ingram, 20, son
of Mr. and Mrs. John J. Ingram
of this city, who was reported a
few weeks ago as missing in
action, is now listed 655 the War
Department as being killed in
action. The telegram announcing
the death of young Ingram was
received by his parents Wednes
day afternoon. Robert went into
the Army at the age of 18 in
March, 1942. He was sent to Port
Bragg and later to Camp Polk,
La. From there he went on
maneuvers in Texas and Califor
nia, returning to Fort Benning,
Georgia in 1943. He came home
on a furlough last August and left
for overseas duty in November.
He was known to have been in
North Africa and went from there
to Italy, taking part in the Anzio
beachhead activities.
Pfc. Ingram is survived by his
parents, and two brothers, John
Thomas, who is now stationed at
Sheppard Field, Texas, and Ed
ward Ingram of this city.
Sergt. Curtis E. West, 21-year
old son of Mr. and Mrs. E. T.
West, 202 Washington street,
Roanoke Rapids, died June 24
from wounds received in action,
according to a telegram received
by his parents last Saturday.
Young West volunteered for ser
vice in the Army, March 9, 1940,
at the age of 17. He received his
basic training in Missouri and was
later transferred for a time to
California. From there he went
to the Hawaiian Islands and then
to New Guinea. It was in this
battle area that he was wounded.
Besides Curtis’ parents he has
six sisters, Mrs. Claude Taylor,
Mrs. Marion Beard, Mrs. Clarence
Capps, Misses Margie Bell and
Doris West, all of Roanoke Rap
ids, and Miss Alice West of York,
Pa.
Mr. and Mrs. West have anoth
er son, Willie A. West, who is a
member of the. Merchant Marine,
now being stationed in Norfolk,
Va.
___—_-_—-----*
Donates $1,000T o
Poliomyelitis Fight
(CHECK SENT
TO AID WORK
In the state
A gift of $1,000 to the current
fight against infantile paralysis in
- '^the State was voted last Wednes
day by the Halifax County Infan
tile Paralysis Committee.
Meeting in session at Halifax,
the Committee received the re
quest made by those in charge of
'Trehe present drive against the epi
demic in the Piedmont section
that at least fifty percent of the
County’s funds be donated to aid
in the fight. This was with the
stipulation that if the disease came
•fto Halifax County this year the
National and State groups would
provide full financial backing and
assistance in combating its spread,
and caring for those stricken. It
was ascertained from the Treas
*CWer of the Halifax Committee
(Continued on page 12—Sect. A)
LOCAL PILOT
Fattens his
.AIR SCORES
Fifteenth Air Force fighter pil
»ots fattened their score yester
day, shooting down 21 of 44 enemy
aircraft during a heavy bomber
raid on the Vienna area, and
jptthree other victims went down in
* a tangled mass without a shot be
ing fired at them.
The incident came when three
Mustang pilots, Lts. Stanley L. De
Gear of Manitou Springs, Colo.;
■•I Horace H. Self, Jr., Nashville,
Tenn., and Edwin R. Williams,
Roanoke Rapids, N. C., streaked
down on a formation of three
Messerschmitts approaching the
bombers.
jJP “Each of us had a Jerry lined
up in our sights,” Williams said.
"The Messerschmitt in the center
spotted us coming in on his tail,
and in a sudden bit of evasive
action, he flipped over and went
straight down between the other
two. The wingtips struck those
planes, and all three crashed to
gether. The air was filled with a
mass of motors, wings and tails.”
Lieut. Williams is the son of
jp Mr. and Mrs. Joe Williams of
this city.
If
Dickens Brothers Meet In England
Pfc. Henry E. (“Gene”) Dick
ens left and Cpl. Calvin M.
(“Max”) Dickens, sons of Calvin
A. Dickens, of Littleton, Route 2,
who recently had a reunion in
England. The meeting between
the brothers was prearranged
and they experienced lots of fun
and pleasure talkirtg over old
times since entering the army.
Both the boys went into the ser
vice in the early spring of 1943. In
writing to his sister Gene said: “I
have some good news to tell you.
At last Max and I have met. I am
telling you he really looks good.”
Weldon Boy Describes D-Day Invasion
And His Miraculous Escape From Death
John Primm (“Jack”) Thomas,
18 years old, a naval petty officer
second class, who was with the
amphibious forces that landed on
the Normandy Peninsula in the
invasion of France on D-Day, has
written his parents a detailed de
scription of the happenings on
that historical day. “Jack” gives
a vivid narrative of his experi
ences, relating how at one time
he “prayed for death” and was
later rescued by his comrades
after being “buried alive.” His
story is the first to come out of
France from a Halifax County
boy and The Herald, given ex
clusive release, is publishing it in
full.
“Jack” is the son of Superin
tendent of Schools C. B. Thomas,
Sr., and Mrs. Thomas, of Weldon.
The letter was written by young
Thomas while he was in a fox
hole, on German paper and with
German ink. The story of the
young soldier’s experiences fol
lows:
By “Jack” Thomas, NPO s/c
It is only through the Grace
of God that I am able to sit in
my foxhole and write this.
What I am about to write is
only what I saw and what I felt
as I landed in France. I was too
occupied in keeping myself alive
to see how my buddies were mak
ing out, farther down the beach,
many of them had much more
dangerous situations and “close
calls” than myself.
The majority of the boys feel as
I do. It was only a miracle that
any of us in the assault wave are
alive today and if the enemy had
had two more weeks of prepa
ration we would not have had
this beachhead today.
This is German paper and ink
below here!
D-Day.
We were awakened at 0130, June
5. It didn’t take long for us to get
chow, which was at 0230, because
we were all filled with a nervous
anxiety that can’t be explained
in words.
We weren’t due to disembark
into small boats until 0445 so I
went up to the weather deck to
see if anything was happening
ashore. We hadn’t had any oppo
sition whatsoever in crossing the
(Continued on Page 8-Sec. B)
■
FLASH!
Adolf Hitler and 12 of his high
ranking military leaders, includ
ing his personal chief-of-staff,
General Alfred Jodi, were injured
today by an explosion at Hitler’s
headquarters.
Hitler himself is said to have
suffered a slight concussion of
the brain and burns and bruises.
Four of his military generals are
reported as seriously injured. Dis
patches from Berlin declare it was
a plot by the Allies to assassinate
the feuhrer.
. __, 1
Another Big Egg
Hens are certainly doing their
part in helping to win this war if
two eggs in a day and larger than
normal eggs has anything to do
with it.
L. S. Keeter, Star Route, Roar
noke Rapids, brought in a hen
egg yesterday that measured
seven inches in circumference
and weighed over six ounces.
ROMANCOSTO
MEET RALEIGH
ON SATURDAY
Halifax Court softball team un
der the management of Elmore
Catlett of Raleigh will meet the
Romancos next Saturday night at
Ledgerwood Park. It is believed
this contest will prove to be one
of the best of the entire season.
A "natural” that should draw
many softball fans to the park
will be the presence of Russ De
Berry, now serving in the Navy,
and Ronald Everette, in the
Army. They will join their Ro
manco teammates here for the
game, the second of a double
header. It was Russ who went 25
innings in a state tournament
game several years ago. He is now*
pitching for a Navy team and
has compiled an excellent record
of 12 wins against one defeat.
Boy Scout Circus
Troops 144 and 145, Boy Scouts;
are sponsoring a circus in the
park in "downtown” Roanoke
Rapids tonight and tomorrow
night.
In England
S/Sgt. Leaver C. Shell has noti
fied his sister, Mrs. Lloyd B. Allen
of his safe arrival in England. H«
is the son of the late Mr. and
Mrs. Deaver T. Shell.