Boys in Service December 1943

(Taken from the December 16, 1943 Lawrence County News)

Pvt. Alfred Coffey who was home on a two-day pass and visited his wife has returned to Camp Ellis, Illinois.

Mrs. W. G. Lukens provided the following address for her son Paul: Pfc Paul Lukens 15332876 S.C. Unit 1902 Fort Douglas, Utah.

Pvt. Henry Murphy, former employee of the Abernathy Hardware Co, has returned to Fort Knox, Kentucky. Henry enjoyed nineteen days with his wife and other relatives.

Lt. Amos Johnson, who spent a furlough with his parents in Lawrenceville returned to his camp in Tennessee.

The address of Walter A. Shulaw S2/c is Bks, 29 Pit. 4 Tarmac Unit USNAS. Walter is the son of Mr. and Mrs. C. C. Shulaw of Lawrenceville.

Tom Ritchie QM 3/c, son of Mr. and Mrs. Guy L. Ritchie, aboard ship somewhere in the Pacific, writes his parents that he recently met Ensign Fred C. James, son of Mrs. Fred James.

Mr. and Mrs. W. G. Lukens are in receipt of a letter from their son Pvt. James P. Lukens giving them his new address. It is Pvt James P. Lukens, 33674956 Med. Det. 543 3rd EBSR, 3rd Eng. Special Brigade, Fort Ord, California.

Robert Hugh Magill, son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Magill whose address is APO c/o Postmaster Miami, Florida is a radio operator in the Air Corps. He is now located outside the states but he is not in any of the theatres of war.

Fred H. Magill, Jr, son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Magill has just finished his basic training at Fort McClallan Alabama, and expects to visit his parents this week. He was married to Miss Mildred Brown at Chouteau, Oklahoma, several months ago.

Corp Kenneth Brunson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Brunson has been moved from Australia to somewhere in New Guinea, according to a letter received by his parents. His address is Corp Kenneth Brunson, 36037301 APO 32 c/o Postmaster, San Francisco, California.

Mrs. Hazel McDonald sends us the names and addresses of her two sons who are in the service. They are Sgt Orville H. McDonald 15084572 APO 959 c/o Postmaster, San Francisco, California and Gerald N. McDonald, 23rd College Tr Det. University of Buffalo, Sec 43, Buffalo 14, NY.

Lt Donald E. Fry, son of Mr. and Mrs. R. C. Fry of Lawrenceville is credited with the destruction of three enemy planes according to information from Allied headquarters. He was forced out of a raid on Turin by engine trouble, but staged an impromptu raid on an Axis field, destroying three planes with bombs.

Hugh Franklin Newell, son of Mrs. Edna Newell of 111 South Tenth Street Lawrenceville graduated Wednesday December 8 from the Naval Air Training Center, Corpus Christi, Texas and was commissioned a lieutenant in the U S Marine Corp. He received his preliminary flight instruction at an Oklahoma reserve air base.

Mr. and Mrs. S. L. Roberts received word from their son and daughter -in -law, M/Sgt and Mrs. James O. Roberts last week that they are the parents of a baby boy born at Childress, Texas. He has been named Kenneth Lee. M/Sgt Roberts is in the Army Air Corps at that same location.

Lt and Mrs. Howard E. Ballard of Macon, Georgia, announce the birth of their son on December 7. This is their first son. He answers to the name of Howard Jr.; the mother was the former Miss Dorothy Brian. Lt Ballard is a member of Co. A 10th Inf, Tn Bn at Camp Wheeler.

This edition of the local newspaper also reported that “the picture section of last Sundays’ Chicago Tribune carried a picture of some of the Marines who had captured the Gilberts Islands aboard a transport in the central Pacific. Amidst them was Pfc Richard H. Lingenfelter of Lawrenceville. It was Dick’s move in a checker game when the camera was snapped.”

And how about the women in the service? The paper reported that “rallies for WAC recruiting in Lawrenceville were held on November 26.

Kenneth LeRoy Smith made the ultimate sacrifice in the 1943 Battle of Tarawa, the first American offensive in the critical central Pacific region during World War II. He was 22 years old.

(A scholarship is offered at Vincennes University to a history major in Kenneth Leroy Smith's name.)