Newspapers / The Roanoke Beacon and … / May 4, 1944, edition 1 / Page 8
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Sailor Husband of Plymouth Girl Is Hero of Transport Sinking In Southern Pacific Swam All Nighl lo Haul 28 Victims of Submarine to Rafts Antonio Fernandez Gam bled His Life Against Sharks and Drowning (Note: The article which fol lows recently appeared in the Timrt<-Herald. Washington, D. C„ and will be of interest to Washington County people since it concerns Antonio Fernandez, husband of a former Plymouth resident. Mrs. Fernandez is the former Mrs. Doris Overton Mette, sister of Mrs. J. B, Jordan, of Plymouth, and daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Overton, also of Plymouth.' By JACK TCRCOTT Somewhere In the Southwest Pa cific, iN, Y. News).—This is the story of a hero, a shy man who lay in an American Army Hospital tonight wondering where he had got the courage to gamble his life against bloodthirsty sharks in storm-churn ed South Pacific waters to save a score of soldiers from the death a Jap torpedo had decreed for them. Antonio Fernandez had never dreamed of himself as a hero. All his 38 years he had toiled first to keep himself alive, and later to main tain a tiny home in Washington. D. C.. for his wife and daughter. Always a Meek Man He had no influential friends. His was the meekness that comes from speaking English with difficulty in an English-speaking land. His was the shyness of the plain fellow, of an alien in the country of his birth, of a man always bossed by others. But Fernandez had two important assets to aid him in his hour of trial: a good swimmer’s powerful arms, and an innate conviction born of toil and poverty and heartaches, that man should help his fellow men. Submarine Warning It all happened recently in a lone ly stretch of the South Pacific, many miles from the nearest land. Carry ing a sizeable detachment of white and Negro troops, the ship on which Fernandez found himself was on its way to a war front. The troops had been on the water for nearly a fort night, and were anxious to reach their destination. At 4 a.m. Fernandez, a corporal at tached to an ordnance outfit, took over the watch at the forward gun position, a few minutes later it be gan to rain and the seas roughened, Fernandez wondered if his wife, Doris and daughter. Alicia, were asleep in | TO SHOW HERE MONDAY AND TUESDAY A scene from "Someone To Remember." featuring Mabel Paige. John Craven, Dorithy Morris and Charles Dingle, which comes to the Plym outh Theatre here next Monday and Tuesday. their home on the other side of the world. At 5:30. just before dawn, the look out screamed the dread words, "Sub marine on the port bow!" warning gongs clanged and sleepy men. sud denly alert, poured out on deck. Gun crews rushed to their positions and began firing at the spot where the submarine had been reported. Fifteen minutes later a torpedo struck the transport's oil supply tanks. A sudden explosion rocked the vessel and fires flared fliercely. A moment later the ship listed sharp ly and blazing oil pools lit the black ness of the tossing waters. "Abandon Ship" Ordered Panic and confusion were every where, made more intense by the moans of the wounded and the screaming winds of the equatorial squall. The decks were an unbeliev able bedlam. Admist all this came the order to abandon ship, just as a second torpedo struck the vessel's stern. Donning his lifebelt. Fernandez slid down a rope to a raft bobbing in the heavy seas below him. then pull ed his raft along the ship’s side until he had 38 men aboard. Recalling that a couple of his friends still remained below decks, Fernandez clambered aboard again, carefully stepping over the bodies of several men killed by the explosion. On his way below he stopped for a few minutes to save a groaning Ne gro lying in a corridor with a huge steel column across his chest. Unable to lift the column. Fernandez shout ed for help, then worked on alone when no one came. He gave up his efforts only after discovering that the Negro had died. Gets Wounded on Ral't Below, Fernandez located his friends, who had been wounded wrapped them in lifebelts and led them onto the deck, where he pushed them, as gently as possible, over the side toward the raft. He returned below once more and picked up eight lifebelts, because he had noticed that several wounded on deck had none. After assisting the wounded into a lifeboat and helping to lower it. Fernandez dived into the water himself—just as the lifeboat sapsized, dumping all hands into the sea. Fernandez' original raft, mean while. had also capsized, but nearby was another which was unoccupied, Ferutndez swam back and forth, pulling wounded men to the new raft. When he had 15 aboard he climbed aboard himself and tied all the wounded men on with ro >es to keep them from falling off as the raft leaped and tossed on the heavy seas. Shark Gets Otfie;r Just as a third torpedo struck the transport. Fernandez saw an officer floundering in the water 50 yards away. Promptly he divei off the raft and swam over to heh him, but when he was less than 10 yards away a shark suddenly grabbed the officer’s leg and pulled him under. From near-by rafts and lifeboats Methodist Church Has Good Report The Plymouth Methodist Church, fit tlie quarterly conference held here last week, made the best financial re port the church has ever made at this time of year Nineteen members have been added to the church and six children chris tened; the budget is half paid for'the year and some of the items, such as orphanange and world service, are paid in full for the year. It will be with pride that this report will be made at the district conference this week. Great progress is being made in the canvass for funds to erect, a new personage here. A roster of the church membership is in the vesti bule of the church, with the amount each has contributed or pledged be side his name. A thermometer is placed beside this roster which will denote the progress of the campaign. Interest in this project is growing. Church attendance is steadily in creasing. Pastor T. R. Jenkins is a splendid leader. came shouts from dozens of fright ened men who suddenly saw schools of sharks, attracted by the blood, racing through the waters under the light of the blazing ship. More than an ifour after the first torpedo struck. Fernandez, lying on the raft seeking to regain his strength. heard screams again. Again the corpora! dived in and help ed them aboard his raft, where he tied them. During the night seven or eight men were picked up. until there were a total of 28 aboard. Then the bot tom of the craft came off under the pounding waves, leaving only a flimsy top a few inches above the waves. All through the night, the next day and the next night, the men clung to the raft, often surrounded by circling sharks. Occasionally some one. crazed by the apparent hopeless ness of it. would cry out. "I'm getting off!" but his mates overpowered him and held him aboard. When the second day's dawn broke, only eight men remained aboard the raft. The other 20 had either rolled off while asleep or had leaped off while temporarily crazed. A few minutes after the sun came up, Fer nandez saw two Negroes clinging to a log. Both were too exhausted to make an outcry or swim, so he plung ed into the water once more and brought them to his raft. “The best part came at midmorn ing," Fernandez said, “when planes apeared overhead. We were too tired to cheer but I thanked God for de liverance." The planes circled over head until a destroyer appeared about 7 p.m. to rescue the weary survivors. Aboard ship. Fernandez downed a cup of coffee, then dived into the sea again to rescue a soldier who became so excited at the prospect of safety that he slipped off the raft. The drowning man grabbed the corporal and pulled him under, and when he finally freed himself, the soldier had disappeared. Helped back on board the destroyer. Fernandez had more coffee and a cigarette, then slept, ex hausted. until the vessel docked. Fernandez, wno was born at Del Rio, Tex., to a Mexican father and a Spanish mother, moved with his fam ily to Mexico when he was 3. There he had no schooling, being kept busy on his father's small ranch. He re turned to the U. S. when he was 17 | to work as a track-walker in Chicago, j later moving to Washington. He is now ready to be returned to the U. S. for hispitalization. His for mer 178 pounds has dropped to about j 140, and long overexposure in the wa ter has apparently injured his back He finds the hospital floor rolls sick eningly as he lies in his cot, and he 1 still suffers nightmares from reliv ing those gruelling 36 hours when he became a hero. Notice To Voters OF WASHINGTON COUNTY_ Registration Books Will Be Open in Each Precinct ol the County ior Two Weeks, Beginning: Saturday, April 29th For the purpose of registering all qualified persons who do not have their names on the books now, including all who have been living in the county long enough to vote and those who have recently become of age to vote. See One of Ihe Following Precinct Registrars: Mrs. HERM1NE RAMSEY P1Ym0U,h H. J. FURREE.Wenona J E PHELPS .Lees Mill Mrs. MYRTLE A. WHITE Skinnersville J. A. COMRS.Scuppernong Washington County BOARD of ELECTIONS W W. White, Chairman J. M. Clagon, Secretary * J. Richard Carr A BITE T> EAT AT ■ 10-2*4 DR. PEPPER HELPS IN YOUR WAR WORK! IT'S A SWELL ENERGY LIFE 10-2-4 RANCH “SONS OF THE PIONEERS" Dick Foron—Martha Mean Three Times Weekly Consult Local Paper for Time The energy you burn up needs replacement... at mealtimes ... and between times, at 10, 2 and 4 o’clock. Dr. Pepper is a pepper-upper... that helps like a pat on the back. Icy cold; sweet, yet nippy-tart. It’s a gratifying treat and a deeply satisfy ing liquid bite-to-eat. P. S.—If you have to control your appetite at the table to avoid oxer weight, try Dr. Pepper as dessert, 15 minutes before your meals. BUY YOUR FULL QUOTA OF U. S. WAR BONDS AND STAMPS . . AT LEAST 10% OF EACH IL* DAY’S PAY
The Roanoke Beacon and Washington County News (Plymouth, N.C.)
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May 4, 1944, edition 1
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