Thursday, May 23, 2002
Vol. 114 No. 21
KINGS MOUNTAIN
Since 1889
ra &
Ab)
rl
adni-camp
6A
50 Cents
ner
GRADUATION DAY
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
Three Kings Mountain leaders gave
their thoughts on how their aspect of
the area was doing at the Cleveland
County Chamber of Commerce State of
the Community Breakfast Wednesday
at the Patrick Senior Center.
While saying how the city of Kings
Mountain ‘has moved forwird, Mayor
Sma Nr DE
KINGS MOUNTAIN PEOPLE
Caldwell writes about
WWII POW experience
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
John Caldwell was a prisoner of war in
World War II and he has lived to tell about
it.
To do that, he wrote the story about his
experience and keeps a copy saved on his
computer at home.
Caldwell graduated from Bethany High
School in 1943 and decided to go there since
Kings Mountain was adding the 12th grade
the next year.
“I wanted to get my diploma in case I had
to go into service,” Caldwell said i in his
story.
Rick Murphrey backed that up with
the announcement of bus service,
which is expected to start on June 7.
The 24-stop route will run between 8
a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday
except most holidays. Fare is $1 per
ride.
on them.
SE
After registering with the draft board on
June 6, 1943, Caldwell was told to report for
service with the U.S. Army in October at
Fort Jackson, S.C.
division.
Vans that will be used will be white
with green stripes and have the
Cleveland County Transportation logo
While at Camp Patrick Henry in Virginia,
Caldwell was assigned to overseas duty and
was sent to Naples, Italy.
In Naples, his group followed front line
troops until they reached the mountain
range between Rome and Poe Valley. That
was where Caldwell was assigned to the
Anti-Tank Company, 349th Infantry, 88th
But the mountainous terrain, Caldwell
said, did not allow for the anti-tank guns to
be used. So Caldwell’s group took food
BEN LEDBETTER / THE HERALD
Kings Mountain High School 2002 graduates walk from the school to Gamble Stadium Friday to start the ceremony.
This year’s class had 194 graduates. See story and more photos on 8A.
Transit service to begin in KM June 7
lights from the past year.
See Transit, 5A
Routes will be marked with red and
white bus stop signs along the streets.
“We're just happy to provide that to
our citizens who do not have trans-
portation now,” Murphrey said.
Although the city will not be receiv-
ing money from the state this year,
Murphrey mentioned several high-
After making a couple speeches about his
experience, Caldwell said he decided to
write it. ;
“Somebody told me a while back, “Why
don’t you write you a story ?’” Caldwell
said. “I said, well, I will.”
rations and supplies to the front lines, which
he did for about 30 to 45 days.
Caldwell said there was a tremendous
amount of blood shed in the area.
See Caldwell, 5A
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
With another swipe of the
pen Kings Mountain has cut
some more money out of its
upcoming budget for the
next fiscal year.
The preliminary budget
was $25,487,931 and the fig-
ure that will go before City
Council at its Tuesday meet-
ing will be $23,955,944.
A public hearing on the
budget is scheduled before
action is taken.
And while the city has
reduced the upcoming
budget, Kings Mountain
Mayor Rick Murphrey said
the city may underspend the
current budget by about $4
million.
“We cut out a lot of differ-
ent areas that we decided
we could delay,” Murphrey
said.
One of the things that will
be cut from the is capital
outlay projects.
Phase three of the new 36-
inch water line is one of the
projects that will be delayed
this year.
_ One reason for the delay
is the loss of Anvil
BEN LEDBETTER / HERALD
John Caldwell talks about his experiences as a prisoner
CANCER AWARENESS
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
Tim Waters is going to Washington
D.C.
Waters will be headed to the District of
Columbia for the American Cancer
Society's “Relay for Life Celebration on
the Hill on Sept. 18-19.
Waters, who is participating in this
year’s Kings Mountain Relay for Life,
has also been named a relay ambassador,
and will be in Washington this fall with
more than 3,000 ambassadors, survivors
and volunteers throughout the nation.
This will be Waters’ third year participat-
ing in the Kings Mountain relay.
During the event, ambassadors will
meet with their congressional representa-
tives and are expected to talk to them
FIRST NATIONAL BANK Kings Mountain
Celebrating 128 Years
300 W. Mountain St.
704-739-4782
about fighting cancer.
Waters said he is looking forward to
the fall trip.
“I'm excited about it,” Waters said. “I
know cancer has been a part of my life
for quite some time.”
Several family members and relatives
of Waters’ have suffered from the dis-
ease.
Waters said ACS staff and relay volun-
teers in Kings Mountain nominated him
for the ambassador position.
Anybody can be ‘touched by cancer,
Waters said.
“Cancer is non-biased,” he said. “It’s a
disease that doesn’t care about color,
nationality, religion, wealth. Everybody
in the United States is in some way
touched by this disease.”
Gastonia
529 New Hope Road
704-865-1233
of war during World War Il.
Waters KM’s Relay For Life ambassador
And since the disease has affected peo-
ple close to Waters, he said it was natural
for him to get involved in the Kings
Mountain relay.
He is on the relay’s corporate /market-
ing committee and his wife serves as the
children’s relay chairperson.
Involvement in the relay, Waters said,
is one way to fight the disease, he said.
“I think people are becoming aware of
the fact that it’s a devastating disease
and unless we do something about it
nothing is going to get done.”
Giving representation to Kings
Mountain in Washington is one thing
Waters said makes him proud about the
upcoming trip.
See Waters, 5A
Shelby
106 S. Lafayette St.
704-484-6200
City cuts
$1.5 million
from budget
Council set
to approve
$23.9 million
2002-03 FY
budget
Tuesday
Knitwear, one of the city’s
biggest water users
Some equipment purchas-
es will be delayed also.
Murphrey said the city is
going to concentrate on
doing mandated projects,
but still provide the same
level of service.
Another cut was made
during a special called meet-
ing last Wednesday when
council approved going
with a partially self-funded
health insurance plan for
next year.
City officials said during
the meeting that several
cities across the state have
See Budget, 5A
Dr. Self
appointed
to Board
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
The Cleveland County
Republican g :
Party
Friday
named Dr.
Jerry Self, a
Lattimore
area resi-
dent to fill
the term of
the late
Charlie
Harry on
the county
board of commissioners.
Self will be the only
member on the board from
the Lattimore area and will
run for election in
November along with can-
didate John McBrayer.
Self previously ran for a
seat in 1999 and currently is
a member of the GOP's
executive committee.
“I will try my best to do a
good job,” Self said during
a press conference Friday
morning at the County
Administration Building.
“It’s really a commitment to
help and improve
Cleveland County.”
While there are several
tough issues facing the
county, Self said one of the
biggest problems is unem-
ployment. The county has
experienced several plant
closings because of the tex-
tile slowdown and double-
digit jobless rates.
Like other cities and
counties in the state,
Cleveland County has been
dealing with the second
state budget crisis and Self
DR. SELF
See Self, 5A
Bessemer City
1225 Gastonia Hwy.
704-629-3906
Member FDIC