THE GERMAN-ITALIAN PRISONER OF WAR CAMP, DUBLIN, GEORGIA

Last remaining barracks, 2009

Troup St., Dublin, GA

As the United States became more involved in World War II, more farm products were needed in support of the war effort. The problem was that many of the farmers were no longer fighting the weather but fighting in Europe and the Pacific. Those at home aided the war effort by stepping up agricultural production. In 1943, State Senator Herschel Lovett, County Agent Harry Edge, and Emergency Farm Labor Assistant Walter B. Daniel contacted Congressman Carl Vinson of Milledgeville to request the location of a temporary prisoner of war camp in Dublin.

Laurens County needed help in gathering the crops that would be ready for harvest in the summer through early fall. The gentlemen requested that a camp be set up at the County Farm on Highway 441 just above the present Interstate highway. Vinson contacted Col. I.B. Summers of the Prisoner of War Division of the Federal government. Col. Summers advised Vinson that the location of camp would not be easy because of the lack of trained prison guards. Vinson, undaunted, contacted Col. R.E. Patterson of the prison camp at Camp Wheeler, near Macon. Col. Patterson echoed the doubts about a camp for Dublin.

Under the guidelines of the Geneva Convention of 1929, prisoners of war must be paid eighty cents per day for labor outside of the prison camp. Prison labor was limited by the number of guards, not the number of prisoners. The Farm Labor Advisory Committee, consisting of Bob Hodges, Wade Dominy, C.L. Thigpen, R.T. Gilder, H.W. Dozier, Frank Clark, D.W. Alligood, and A.O. Hadden continued to press Vinson to acquire the camp to help in the harvest. Finally, Vinson succeeded and the army allowed some prisoners to be sent from CampWheeler.

The first couple of hundred prisoners arrived on August 26, 1943, under the supervision of Capt. Henry J. Bordeaux. The first prisoners were Italians. The camp was not located on the county farm but on the site of the old 12th District Fairgrounds where the New York Yankees, Boston Braves, and St. Louis Cardinals had played and where the cowboy hero Tom Mix had thrilled thousands with his traveling circus. The fairgrounds played host to thrilling feats of athletic skill by Olympic champion Jesse Owens in 1940, along with a barnstorming game with two Negro league teams. The fairgrounds were bounded on the north by the railroad east by Troup Street, south by Telfair Street and West by Joiner Street.

The prisoners arrived just in time to help with the peanut harvesting in Laurens and surrounding counties. The camp was completed in three days under the Army Corps of Engineers and the Quartermaster Corps. After the camp was set up, the prisoners were immediately taken to the fields. The men were used to chop cotton and stack peanuts.

The recently completed naval airfield near Dublin soon began handling the first direct air mail into Dublin. The guards were getting letters from Fort Benning flown into Dublin every other day. The civic and church groups made the guards feel at home with parties, home cooking, and entertainment at the service center in the Henry Building at 101 West Jackson Street. It was not long before the soldiers could return the favor. A young woman was lying in the hospital in desperate need of a blood transfusion. No local donors with a matching type could be found. Her friends called the camp commander, Col. S.L. Irwin for help.

Several volunteers arrived at the hospital within ten minutes. The soldiers came back for a second transfusion. The patient recovered. Nearly every one of the 250 guards stationed at the prison camp responded to the call of Lehman P. Keen, chairman of the 3rd War Bond Drive. The German prisoners adapted well to the South and were even heard singing "Dixie" after a hard day's work on the farm.

By October, the need for farm labor had significantly declined. The Army planned to move the camp by mid- October. The Fourth Service Command granted permission for the camp to remain open into November. One half of the five hundred prisoners were moved in the third week of October along with their guards under the leadership of Capt. Jennings. New guards were brought in to replace those who left. Shortly, the camp would close down for the winter.

Just as the allied forces began the invasion of Europe in June of 1944, the German prisoners returned to Dublin. It would be a long hot summer for the German prisoners in Dublin. One prisoner was killed by a falling tree on Snellgrove plantation. The prisoner was working with the pulpwood crew of Robert Cullens. On July the Fourth, three prisoners, Josef Damer, Jeorge Fries, and Willi Pape escaped while on a work detail at the Warner Callan Farm near Scott. They were captured the following day. Some people say that the prisoners just got lost in the woods and were not attempting to escape. The commandant of the camp instituted harsh disciplinary procedures as a result of the escape. The prisoners countered by staging a sit down strike - refusing to work on the farms. Within a few days, calmer heads prevailed. The matter was settled. By the end of the summer, the situation had eased, and the Army guards had enough free time to play baseball, basketball, and football games against the U.S. Navy at the new naval hospital.

Many of the local people bore no hatred to the prisoners. Nearly every Sunday morning the prisoners would march from the camp down Academy Avenue and turn north on Church Street for mass at the Catholic Church. Along the way the Germans sang hymns. The prisoners cooked their own food. Inside the camp there were many good cooks. Some people parked their cars outside the camp fence to catch the sounds of the beautiful German songs and get a sniff of the delicious German dishes being prepared inside the wall. Janice W. Williams of Wrightsville has a vivid memory of seeing a truck load of Germans passing through Johnson County one day. “One man stood in the back of the truck facing the front as their leader. I would watch them go through and they were strong, healthy men. Someone said they didn’t want to escape because they were out of the war and well fed,” Mrs. Williams remembered.

One day while Oliver Bennett was working in the paint shop at the Naval Hospital, he noticed a German prisoner, by the name of S. Pretscher, sketching a picture of his girlfriend on a piece of scrap cardboard. Bennett was so impressed that he asked the man to paint a picture for him. Bennett secured the necessary materials - a linen towel stretched to form a canvas and a the paint. Pretscher went into his studio, a tent on the prison grounds, and diligently worked on the painting, which was a country scene from his homeland. Pretscher presented the painting to Bennett who remained friends after the war ended. The beautiful painting remains in the Bennett family today.


The prisoners came back for one more summer to help the farmers in harvesting their crops, which were still needed for the effort. With the end of the war in August of 1945, there was no longer a need for the camp. The camp closed in early January of 1946. Today, one lone barracks from the camp still stands at the corner of Troup Street and the railroad. It serves as a living reminder of the a time which we all hope will never be seen again.

THE LAST CHRISTMAS BEFORE WORLD WAR 2

Christmas in Laurens County in 1940


The year was 1940. It would be the last Christmas before the war. It was a Christmas when Dubliners and Laurens Countians put their differences aside and celebrated the birth of Christ in its true form. A little commercialism could be found, but the main focus was the religious aspect of the 25th of December. Many were worrying about the impending war in Europe. More than a hundred local men and boys in the Georgia National Guard were training in Fort Jackson, South Carolina for a war they hoped would never come.

A county-wide celebration began on the courthouse square in the late afternoon of the 12th. Several thousand citizens gathered in downtown. Streets were blocked off for several blocks in all directions. Late shoppers were serenaded by the bands of Dublin High School and the Laurens County Marching Band seated on a specially constructed grandstand. Music filled the air - broadcast from loud speakers in the courthouse tower. The boys of Cadwell, Dudley, and Rentz vocational classes aided Georgia Power employees in stringing the lights on trees and the courthouse itself. A manager scene was constructed on the grounds. The lighting also included the traditional tree of lights on the Carnegie Library grounds (now the museum).

Another part of the display of lights was a new neon sign placed on the steel frame of the river bridge wishing new comers a "Merry Christmas!" Later the sign was change to read "Welcome to Dublin" for west bound travelers and "Thanks, Come Again" for east bound visitors on their way out of town.

Dr. C.H. Kittrell, President of the Dublin Lions Club, served as the master of ceremonies. He hailed the gathering "as the most impressive Christmas display our community has ever had."

Dr. Kittrell praised the unity shown by members of the community and its significance in the Christmas season. The Rev. Claude E. Vines prayed for world peace in his invocation. Bob Hightower, chairman of the event, praised the spirit of cooperation by the business and professional men of Dublin, except the five "scrooges" who refused to donate to the program. In all, Hightower and his associates raised more than fifteen hundred dollars. Rev. W.A. Kelley, Superintendent of the Dublin District of the Methodist Church, called for a renewed observation of the spiritual significance of Christmas. By then, children began tugging on their parents sleeves asking "when are they going to turn on the lights?" Mae Hightower made here way to the stage where she threw the lights, just at the moment of dusk. In eclectic voices the crowd filled the air with "oohs", "aahs", and "wows."
The second phase of the celebration came five days later. The ladies of the Dublin Garden Club, led by its president, Mrs. Carl Nelson, sponsored a city-wide outdoor Christmas lighting contest. Mrs. Howard L. Cordell, Sr. and Mrs. Marion Peacock headed the committees which were able to secure out of town judges to evaluate the fifty-four contestants. The judges made their decisions based on the suitability of the lights to the type of home, the size of the decorations in proportion to the size of the house, and the total artistic and color effect of the decorations.

Mr. and Mrs. O.L. Chivers, whose home still stands on Bellevue Ave. across from the Piggly Wiggly, won the first prize. The George T. Morris home, now home to the Chamber of Commerce, finished in a second-place tie with "Green Acres," the home of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Geeslin. Third place was awarded to Mr. and Mrs. James F. Nelson, Jr.


Rev. Ralph Gilliam led an impressive and inspirational candlelight service at Henry Memorial Presbyterian Church on the Sunday before Christmas. Participants in the program included Blanche Coleman, C.C. Crockett, Leah Kittrell, Charles Alexander, Sara Veal, Noble Marshall, and the music club of Dublin High School. The choir of the First Baptist Church presented a cantata at the regular Sunday morning worship service. Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus came to Buckhorn Methodist Church for an "Old Time" Christmas.

The third major event of that Christmas was a county-wide Christmas Carol program on the courthouse square, just two days before Christmas. A.J. Hargrove, the master of ceremonies, presided over a program which featured thousands of local school students. The children assembled at the school building downtown (now the City Hall.) One group, after another, formed on the school grounds and marched to the courthouse serenading parents, shoppers, and merchants along the way. At the courthouse they did an about face and marched back down the other side of the street. At four o'clock many church choirs assembled at the courthouse for the main part of the program which featured the traditional songs of Christmas, featuring soloists Mrs. Annelle Brown and Blanche Coleman.

An integral part of that Christmas in 1940 and each one since then has been the giving of gifts, especially the toys for the children. Smith's Jewelry had special last minute gifts for momma and daddy or for the special girl or man. Silverware sets sold from $15 to $150.00. Bill folds and belt sets were popular at two dollars or so. Bulova, Waltham, and Elgin watches were the most popular, all for less than forty dollars. A solitaire diamond engagement ring sold for $49.75 with the matching wedding duet for only $24.75. America's finest glassware sold from 25 cents up to $12.00.

Across the street at Lovett and Tharpe, shoppers could shop until 10:30 on Christmas Eve for the last minute gifts. For the boys, Daisy air rifles were a dollar, Wilson basketballs were two dollars and seventy-five cents, and Wilson footballs sold for a dollar and twenty-five cents. The Westfield bicycle, the top of the line, went for the sum of twenty-eight dollars. Tricycles were four dollars and wagons brought three dollars apiece. For the lady of the house, a husband could pick up a new Frigidaire refrigerator, range, or water heater for $120.00 and up. Tree light Strings, the old-fashioned kind with larger light bulbs, sold for fifty cents to a dollar.

Santa Claus came that night. Toy lead soldiers, baby dolls, comic books, and tea sets, along with the requisite new sets of clothes found their way under the trees. For the last two decades the county and city had suffered through a long and dark economic depression. Things were beginning to change. As Charles Dickens said in his "Tale of Two Cities," "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times." Our country was about to enter into a world war that would change the course of the history of man forever.

That joyous season of Christmas had two sad postscripts. Homer Jordan and M.C. Kincey broke into McLellan's Department Store. The two men helped themselves to the contents of the store early on Christmas morning. Otherwise, Sheriff I.F. Coleman and Chief J.W. Robertson reported that the day passed quietly, the only Christmas in recent memory that they didn't have to lock up a few drunks." While all but ten local National Guardsmen returned home for Christmas, two Monroe Georgia soldiers were passing through Dublin on their return to Camp Stewart. Just as Sgt. Roger Malcom and James Peters passed under the Merry Christmas sign on their way to Hinesville, they lost control of their car and crashed into the bridge. Sgt. Malcom didn't survive. It was his last Christmas. Christmas is a time to cherish with your family and friends. Remember the true "reason for the season" and have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

OWEN K. COLLINS

A Hero Remembered

Lynn Sewell sat by her father's bed. He was dying. His deaf ears could not hear her sobs. For hours she clutched his hands and stared through his blind eyes into her father's soul, remembering the good times they had and trying to imagine the horrors her daddy had suffered through. Owen Collins had many battles in his life, but he never lost sight of what was really important to him, his family and his friends.

On the day after he died, Lynn went back to her father's room to gather his belongings. She rarely saw the children of her father's roommate, who had also been in the latter stages of Alzheimer's Disease. Lynn and the woman began to talk. She mentioned that her father had been a prisoner of war during World War II. The roommate's daughter responded, "So was my father." "My dad was at Moorsburg," Lynn said. Lynn never expected what the lady's response would be. You see, the man who had lived in the same nursing home room for three months with Owen Collins was a prisoner of war, but he was a German soldier imprisoned in an English P.O.W. camp.

Lynn wasn't surprised. For years Owen Collins rarely talked about the war. Although he suffered much in the camps, Collins never held a grudge against his German captors, who were "pretty good" to the prisoners. Though his rations were scant and tasteless, he did say that the guards were older men with young sons of their own and their meals were not much better than his. "He always saw the best in people," Lynn fondly remembered. One sign of his times in the camp came when it was time to feed his dogs. "He always overfed the dogs because he was hungry in the prison camp and he could not stand to think that they may be hungry," Sewell added.

Owen Collins in Stalag 7 (4th from left)




Owen Kitchens Collins, the baby boy of Bryan Lee Collins and Laura Kitchens, was born in Dexter, Georgia on February 28, 1915. The Collins family moved to Sandersville and eventually to Decatur, Georgia, where Owen graduated from high school and went to work for the Standard Coffee Company.

Love came into Owen's life in 1936 when he went on a double date. He fell in love with the other boy's date and married her nearly two years later. They lived a long and happy life together for more than fifty five years.

At the age of 28, Owen enlisted in the United States Army. Leaving his wife and baby boy behind, Collins shipped off to England and prepared to land on the shores of France. As a member of General George S. Patton's Third Army, Owen and his division fought their way through the hedgerows and fortified villages of France in one brutal battle after another.

Collins was carrying a bazooka when the orders came through to take a house filled with Germans. Not knowing the order had been rescinded, Owen continued his advance. Upon reaching the designated objective, Owen realized he was all alone. Deciding that he would be killed or captured if he retreated, he concluded that his only option was to take the whole house, which he did. In doing so, Collins was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action. It would be one of two times that Owen would receive the nation's 3rd highest honor for heroism.

There was nothing different about the morning December 20, 1944. It was cold, unmercifully cold. The Battle of the Bulge was raging about Bastogne. Owen and Frederick Svoboda were busy digging their fox hole when they were captured by a German picket. They were taken to Stalag 7 near Munich. While in prison, Owen was forced to eat a diet mainly of bread filled with sawdust. Always looking to help those in need, Owen would gather potatoes while on work details outside the prison, hide them in his specially designed long johns, and cook them for his friends on a stove which he fashioned from pieces of metal he picked up along the way.

A week before the end of the war, Stalag 7 was liberated by the 14th Armored Division. Owen traded his cigarettes for a Brownie camera. He took pictures of his camp, his fellow prisoners, and the planes as they flew overhead. These pictures can be viewed by going to www.moosburg.org.

The Collins family moved to Blue Ridge in 1947. When Kit, the oldest child, went to school with no electricity, Owen put electricity and a light in his son's classroom. The next year, Owen had the entire school wired with electricity and lights. When anyone needed anything fixed in the neighborhood, Owen was there with tools in his hands and a smile on his face. "He would have given anyone the shirt off of his back if he thought it would help them." Lynn recalled of her fathers unceasing desire to help those in need.

Owen's first heart attack struck him at the age of 38 in 1953. Collins, a top salesman for Beck & Gregg Hardware, was forced to hire a teenage student to carry his heavy catalog when he called on his customers. Thirteen years later, Owen suffered the third attack on his heart. Forced to retire, Owen turned to what he loved best, woodworking, hunting, and fishing. His custom-made gunstocks were prized collector's items and heirlooms. His doll houses, game tables, and refinished furniture were considered works of art.

L-R: Kit, Doug, Owen and Lynn Collins (Jan not born yet)

Whether hunting with his best friend Cliff Wilson or fishing with his entire family, Owen loved the outdoors. There was the time when he and his children were sitting in his boat fishing. The baby girl Jan, three years old at the time, was the only one not to catch a fish. When the appropriate diversion came, Owen secretly reeled her line in, placed a good sized fish securely on the hook, and quickly and discreetly placed it back into the cool mountain lake. "She thought she had caught a fish and was the happiest girl in Blue Ridge," Lynn fondly remembered.

After surviving a war, months in a P.O.W. camp, and three heart attacks, Owen fought the ravages of Alzheimer's Disease for the last twenty years of his life. Giving up the keys to his car wasn't as bad as giving up the keys to his riding lawnmower on which he gave rides around the back yard in its trailer. In his retirement, Owen took in a troubled young man who lived across the street. Years later, the then grown man told Owen's daughter that her father was responsible for turning his life around because of the love and guidance he had given to him.

To his nation and his family Owen Collins was a hero, not just because he was a soldier and a prisoner of war, but because he was a wonderful father, keen businessman and expert craftsman and most of all, a good friend. Like the many members of the "Greatest Generation, " Owen Collins most important contributions to America did not come on the cold muddy battlefields of France or in the fact that he survived the horrors of the stalags. They came from his gifts to his community, his family and his friends.

THE FIDDLING FULLBACK


The Story of Wex Jordan, Jr.



The story of Wexler Jordan, Jr. is a story of an all-American boy. He was  born on December 8, 1920 and grew up during hard times. He lived most of his life in Dublin and was a star football player for the Dublin Green Hurricanes. He was described by those who knew him as tall and handsome. He loved to play the violin and was tagged with the nickname of “The Fiddling Fullback.” “Girls swarmed around Wex, who always took time to play with his dozen younger first cousins, “ remembered his cousin Marilyn Brown.

Wex played football for Dublin High in the 1935 and 1936 seasons. In 1935, Wex played guard for a Dublin team which ended the season as District Champions. In his senior season in 1936, Wex shifted to fullback where he did it all for the Dublin offense, passing and running for touchdowns and extra points.

After leaving Dublin High School, Wex played two seasons of football for Middle Georgia College. The following fall Wex enrolled at Georgia Tech. He was determined to make the team despite his small size. Weighing in at 175 pounds,

Jordan tried out as a lineman. Before the season was over, he had been tabbed by his fellow players and coaches as “Hardrock.”

In the 1940 season Wex Jordan rose to the top as a guard for the Ramblin Wrecks. Georgia Tech was coached by the legendary W.A. Alexander. The backfield coach was another legendary figure at Tech. He was Bobby Dodd. Tech started off the season with a romp over the lowly Howard University eleven. Tech
nearly came back to defeat the powerful Irish of Notre Dame in the second game.

We was the defensive star in a 19 to 0 defeat of the Vanderbilt Commodores. Tech’s up and down season continued with a 9 point loss to Auburn. The Yellow Jackets stayed down with a drubbing by Duke and Kentucky in successive games.  Following a one point lost to Alabama at home, Tech lost its fifth game in a row to Florida, followed by a loss to the bitter rival Georgia Bulldogs by the score of 21 to 19. The Yellow Jackets earned some consolation when they defeat the California Golden Bears on Christmas Day.


The year 1941 would become the most important year in the life of Wex Jordan. In fact it was probably the most important in the lives of millions of other Americans. Tech began the 1941 season an easy victory over Chattanooga.

Following a 20 to 0 loss to Notre Dame, the Jackets bounced back with a victory over Auburn. The winning streak was short lived when the Engineers lost to Vanderbilt and Duke. The Jackets defeated Kentucky before losing their last three games to Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. Wex and other Tech defensive lineman gained one consolation from their loss to the Bulldogs. All American and Heisman Trophy winner, Frankie Sinkwich, was held to only sixty yards on the ground.

Sinkwich praised the play of Wex and the other Tech guards. Wex was cited by his coaches as having his best games against Notre Dame, Alabama, and Georgia. He was awarded the Rhodes Trophy as the most valuable player for the 1941 Yellow Jackets.

For his outstanding play at guard, Wex Jordan was named to the All - Southeastern team by the sports staff of the “Atlanta Journal.” The only other Georgian on the team was his rival, Frank Sinkwich. The good news game on his 21st birthday. The bad news in the paper that day was the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese air force. The holiday game with California was never played and things would never be the same again.

Wex, like all of the other male students at Georgia Tech, got their first taste of military life in ROTC In his senior year of Army ROTC at Tech, Wex was chosen as Captain of Company B of the First Battalion. He majored in Civil Engineering, attained honor graduate status, and was a member of the Army ROT C fraternity, The Scabbard and the Blade. Wex Jordan graduated from Tech in the spring of 1942. Wex Jordan entered the Army Air Corps and earned his wings in 1943.

It was a fall Thursday morning - Veteran’s Day and the 25th anniversary of the end of World War I. It was a day which in the past ten years, Wex would have spent preparing for the next football game. It was a day to remember those soldiers and sailors who had give the last full measure. First Lt. Verne Yahne was leading a five plane formation at the Naval Air Station in San Diego, California.

Lt. Yahne’s oxygen supply failed causing him to black out. The Lieutenant’s plane went into a steep dive and fell apart just as the pilot began to regain consciousness.

Jordan, the second pilot in formation, was unaware of the lead pilot’s fate. He took his P - 38 fighter plane down following the leader’s dive. Jordan could not pull his plane out of the dive and bailed out. As he was parachuting to the ground the wing of Jordan’s plane struck him, killing him instantly. Lt. Yahne made a safe landing in the bay.

B. J. Sessions, of Dublin friend of Jordan’s, was taking judo classes. An air raid alarm sounded - a usual occurrence in the early years of the war. Sessions ran outside in time to see to debris of the planes falling. The remnants of Jordan’s plane nearly fell on the building where Sessions had been taking judo classes.

Sessions ran two blocks to the site of where Jordan’s body had landed. One look told him that the man was dead. Sessions didn’t get a close look and returned to his classes. The instructor asked Sessions if he knew Lt. W.W. Jordan, Jr., who had just been killed in a air accident. Sessions was stunned in disbelief. He had
known Jordan all of his life and considered him a hero. Sessions wrote the Jordans and told them of his witnessing of the tragedy.

Major Victor Walton, commanding officer of the San Diego base, had the difficult task of informing Jordan’s parents, that their only son had been killed.  The family was devastated. Mr. Jordan suffered what was believed to be a minor heart attack. Major Walton assigned Captain James Stevens to escort the body of
the fallen hero back to Dublin for burial. Funeral services were held at the First Christian Church with the Rev. Robert S. Bennett officiating. A honor guard from Cochran Air Field in Macon performed the military rites during the services. The Jordan’s selected We’s high school buddies as pall bearers. Mike Harvard, Johnny Morrison, George Hadden, and Frank Hancock were allowed leave from their military service to carry the body of their fallen comrade to its final resting place.

Also serving as pall bearers were friends Ed Harpe and Billy Hightower. One of Dublin’s and America’s finest young man was laid to rest in Northview Cemetery. His life story was all too short and his death, so senseless and tragic. Jordan lived his life as an example of what is good about America. He was a true - underline the word “true” - hero.


Sources: The Blueprint, 1939-1942, Dublin Courier Herald, Dec. 11, 1941, November 12, 1943, November 17, 1943, November 19, 1943, Laurens County Historical Society Newsletter, May, 1997.

MARY MCCLUSKEY, NURSE

Mary McCluskey knew she wanted to be a nurse, even if it meant she had to do things that girls shouldn't have to do. From those very first afternoons she spent volunteering at the East Tennessee Public Health Office, Mary knew she wanted to help people. In September of 1933, Mary began her nursing studies at Erlanger Hospital Nursing School in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

She took great consolation in comforting patients with warm baths, extra blankets, fresh sheets, and hot water bottles. Surgery was a challenge - no room for error. The hospital was very poor in those days. Remember it was in the middle of the Depression. Mary and the other student nurses spent their free time making bandages and folding gauze. The nurses even made their own cotton balls, saline solutions. Rubber gloves were patched and IV needles were sharpened. The most dreaded chore was the preparation of plaster of Paris casts. Mary and the other nurses enjoyed the hospital nursery the most. The Emergency Room was the most exciting, especially on the weekends. The worst part of the hospital, other than the
sickness, was the Operating Room Supervisor, who was extremely tough on the student nurses. In her first year of school, Mary was allowed $11.00 a month to spend for non necessities. Every morning the nurses stood inspection, just like in the military.

Mary passed her Nurses Board examination. She was assigned as Supervisor of the Colored Wards at Erlanger Hospital. Her salary skyrocketed to $60.00 a month. Mary joined the American Red Cross as a Red Cross Nurse.

While with the Red Cross she was assigned to Camp Forest to aid Mississippi flood victims. She earned $8.00 for a 12 hour day. Mary was looking for a "place to land." After working for a summer at a Philadelphia Graduate Hospital, she landed at Peerless Woolen Mills in Rossville, Georgia. It was in Rossville where she met her future husband, Roy McCluskey.

As the United States became more involved in World War II, Mary decided that she wanted to be an Army Nurse. She left home in September of 1942 for Stark, Florida. Roy joined the Navy. Mary spent 26 months at Camp Blanding in Florida. It was the 2nd largest infantry training camp in the United States. She volunteered for duty in a field hospital overseas, but never got the chance to go.

Mary was assigned to the surgery and then to the Chief Nurse's Office. As a day supervisor, Mary had charge of 3200 beds. The beds were arranged in two rows of 1600 each. The rows were so long one could not see from one end to another.


When her boss, Col. Maley, was transferred to the China, Burma, India Theater of operations, Mary and a friend were invited to go along with her. Mary was sent to Brigham City, Utah, where she trained with in the 172nd General Hospital. From Utah, Mary was flown to Bermuda. The conditions aboard the plane were very uncomfortable. Mary spent a few days in Casablanca, North Africa, before arriving in Karachi, India in December of 1944.

Mary’s assigned hospital was in a desert. When anyone went outside, they had to wear sunglasses and head scarves. One night Mary was invited to go jackal hunting with two male officers. Mary's job was to shine the light. The trio didn't kill any jackals that night. They did kill one dog, a rabbit, and a vulture. The two men chased a poor pregnant cat, but Mary turned off the light, refusing to let the trigger happy officers shoot it.

While off duty, Mary and the nurses enjoyed shopping in the Indian shops.  She met many officers of the famed "Merrill's Marauders," who were building "The Burma Road." The food wasn't that good - certainly like her mamma's. In February of 1945, she was transferred to New Delhi. She never forget the sight of the Taj Mahal in the Indian moonlight. In April of 1945, Mary and her fellow nurses participated in a memorial service for Franklin D. Roosevelt. As the end of the war drew nearer, the action became more intense. Twenty nurses were killed in a plane crash.

By April of 1945, the nurses were moving closer to China. After a stop in Calcutta, the nurses found that there was no hospital as they were told. To their disappointment, the nurses were put on detached service. It seemed that the commanding general had taken materials which had been intended to be used to construct a hospital. The general built a palatial home for himself, much to the dismay of the physicians and nurses.

With the aid of General Chenault's "Flying Tigers" the medical crews began building a hospital on their own. Chinese women and children make bricks out of clay and straw. Despite it being the rainy season, they worked all day to get the hospital built as soon as possible. Life in the hospital was getting better. One night while dancing to music, Mary heard the announcement that the war with Japan was over. "Everyone stood still. We were unable to believe our ears. Then everyone started screaming and crying. We kissed like it was New Year's Eve," Mary wrote. The male officers ran to retrieve bottles of liquor, which had been secreted away in anticipation of the end of the war. After a short celebration, the medical crews were evacuated back Shanghai.

Mary and the other nurses took advantage of their liberty and went into Shanghai to go shopping. Mary did a little Christmas shopping. She even bought her wedding dress. Mary left China in November of 1945. On December 6, 1945, nearly four years to the day after the beginning of the war, Mary saw the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. After a short stay in Des Moines, Iowa, Mary returned to Chattanooga, just in time for Christmas. She had been all the way around the world in the service of her country. Mary had a Merry Christmas that year, grateful for all her blessings. On January 3, 1946, Mary and Roy were married. Roy and Mary moved to Dublin when Roy came to work with J.P. Stephens and Company. Mary wrote of her experiences in a book which she called "We Have Come A Long Way." Her story, like every nurse, is a story of untiring and devoted service to their community and their country.

CHARLES MCDAINEL

CHARLES McDANIEL,


Volunteer





Charles McDaniel, a self admitted "glory hound," turns seventy three years

old, on tomorrow, January 28, 1998. He doesn't seek glory in what he does, but

is proud of his accomplishments. Charles believes that the past is good and ought

to be remembered. However, he believes that the present and the future is more

important. He is making it his mission to live the rest of his life serving others -

that is, as much as his tired old body can do. For most of his life he has tried to

serve others.



Charles McDaniel was born in Dublin in 1925. He was a son of Herschel

McDaniel and Nettie Mae Hattaway. His maternal grandfather, S.J. Hattaway,

served many years as the "Boss" of the Laurens County Chaingang. When Charles

was three years old, his father took his own life. McDaniel is proud of the fact that

as a child he lived in a house at 203 Mincey Street, which is now the site of Musetta

Foster's African-American History Museum. After his father died, Charles and his

family moved out to a farm off Claxton Dairy Road. They lived on the Payne Place,

now a part of Brookwood Subdivision. In July of 1940, Charles decided to enlist

in the United States Army. World War II was over a year away. Charles wound

up as a private in Co. E of the 13th Infantry Regiment, 8th Army Division, of

General George Patton's 3rd Army.



Charles had the opportunity to see and hear General Patton. He described

Patton as pretty much like you see in the movies. "He was a "glory hound" like

me," McDaniel said. " He liked to show off his two pistols. I guess that's why

became a "glory hound," McDaniel added. Charles and his company participated

in the Normandy Invasion. "I wasn't in the first wave. We came along a little

later. We didn't see any small arms fire at first, only artillery," McDaniel said.

McDaniel and his fellow infantrymen were met by one hedgerow after another.

"These hedgerows were so thick, that we had to get special equipment to get

through them. When our tanks tried to push through, they went belly up. The

German "88s" blew them apart. While fighting around in western France, about

20 miles inland, Charles was wounded when his weapon misfired. His right hand

was severely wounded and his face suffered flesh wounds.



Charles was taken back behind and lines and put on a transport which he

called a "duck." "All I could remember was seeing the waves. I couldn't see any

water. When we arrived at the hospital ship, they picked us up. They picked the

whole "duck" up and set it on the deck," McDaniel said. He knew he was safe, when

he smelled the sweet perfume of the ship's nurses. "They were beautiful ladies.

After all, I was only nineteen years old," McDaniel fondly remembered. For his

actions in the Normandy Invasion, Charles McDaniel was awarded the Purple

Heart and the Bronze Star. Charles spent the next eight months in an English

hospital. He returned to the states in 1945, first to Boston, and then to Oklahoma.

After about three months he was discharged and sent home.



After the war, Charles worked as a construction lineman for the R.E.A..

Charles returned to Dublin where he worked in the V.A. Hospital until the outbreak

of the Korean War. He transferred to Warner Robins Air Force Base, where he

was an electrical aircraft inspector for twenty years. McDaniel and his crew were

working on the new jet engines. While Charles was working at Warner Robins,

he and others formed a public safety department outside of the base. "There was

no police or fire protection. Outside the gate, you could see Boss Watson's house on

the hill and a few shacks around it. Eventually stores, houses, and other buildings

were built. Ernest Woods was our first chief." McDaniel added. His bosses gave

McDaniel and others administrative leave to volunteer as firemen. While at

Warner Robins, McDaniel suffered the tragedy of his mother's death by drowning

in the pond on the Payne Place.



One accomplishment of which McDaniel is proud is his triumph over

alcoholism. "I must have been the biggest drunk in town," McDaniel lamented.

"Judge Bill White saved my life. The examples he set convinced me to stop

drinking." McDaniel wound up in an Atlanta Hospital. After being dismissed, he

worked as an orderly in the Children's Burn Center at Henrietta Eggleston

Hospital. After a heart attack, Charles McDaniel was sent back to Dublin as a

patient in the Domiciliary at the V.A. Hospital in Dublin. At the hospital, he was

assigned the position of First Sergeant of his ward.



Charles McDaniel left the V.A. and has lived in public housing since then.

About 1985, he moved to the senior section on Druid Street. McDaniel soon

realized that his neighborhood had a big problem - a drug problem. He had to do

something. Brenda Smith, the Housing Authority's Executive Director, encouraged

Charles to do something. When Mrs. Smith's help, Charles and the residents of

Druid Street organized the city's first resident housing council. With the help of

Chief Wayne Fuqua, the residents set up a neighborhood watch program. "We got

rid of most of those drug dealers," McDaniel boasted. Charles saw a need to clean

up Vinson Village. He was put in contact with Patsy Baker, Director of Dublin-

Laurens Clean and Beautiful. Charles went to work and cleaned a lot of the trash

out of his neighborhood. In 1995, McDaniel was named Senior Citizen of the Year

during the St. Patrick's Festival. In 1996, he was given the Humanitarian Award

by the Housing Authority.



In 1996, Charles was nominated to carry the Olympic torch during its

passage through Dublin. He trained for the event and fittingly carried the torch

on the V.A. grounds. Charles gives all the credit for this honor to Patsy Baker and

Cong. J. Roy Rowland. While he likes to talk about his accomplishments, Charles

gives a lot of credit to others. He sports his new badge given to him by the V.A.

Hospital. It says, "Charles McDaniel, Volunteer Ambassador." His proudest

accomplishment, McDaniel says, "is being a volunteer. "This volunteer badge

means more to me than the Congressional Medal of Honor." His next project is to

revive the Dublin tradition of having Veteran's Day parades on the 11th of

November. My question is, why not? After all, don't they deserve it?

DECEMBER 7, 1941

A DAY WHICH WILL LIVE IN INFAMY

It was going to be a merry Christmas. On the afternoon of December 1, 1941, 2100 soldiers of the U.S. Army set up camp on the Lassiter Airfield along the northern edge of Dublin. The troops were on their way to Camp Shelby, Mississippi. The field was located between North Jefferson Street and Country Club Road. Another 1000 soldiers on their way to Louisiana came through the next morning. In all, about 600 trucks passed through Dublin. The merchants were beside themselves. The soldiers were paid the day they arrived. The men spent their money on soft drinks, beer, eats, and cigarettes. The quartermasters picked up some necessary supplies for the remainder of the trip.

Electricians were set to start wiring the courthouse Christmas Tree on Monday morning. Santa Claus was making toys for the little ones. The Dublin Hurricanes had just celebrated a successful football season. The Cadwell Bulldogs also celebrated their victory over the Cedar Grove team in the Laurens County Six Man Football Championship. The Chamber of Commerce was set to select officers for the coming year. The John Laurens Chapter of the D.A.R. was preparing to entertain state officers. The news came in over the radio on that fateful Sunday afternoon. The country was at war. Immediately, Laurens Countians turned their thoughts to those serving in the Pacific. Among those serving in Hawaii were Major Robert Wilson, Bascom Ashley, George Dewey Senn, William Drew, Jr., Walter Camp, Joel Wood, Harold Wright, Charles Durden, Hardy Blankenship, Rowland Ellis, Wade Jackson, Nathan Graham, Obie Cauley, and Claxton Mullis. Lts. William C. Thompson, Jr. and Everett Hicks were serving in the Philippines and Woody Dominy was stationed on Wake Island.

December 7, 1941, "A day which will live in infamy," changed all of our lives. For those of us who were alive, it will be a day that they will always remember. For those of us who came along later, it may have been the most important day of our lives. So much of our world's political situations and our scientific and technological advances were direct results of the events which began on that fateful day.

________________________________________________________________

The following is a letter to Mr. and Mrs. Walter Hobbs of Dublin from their daughter Margie Hobbs Wilson, wife of Major Robert Wilson, who was stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in December, 1941.

_________________________________________________________________

December 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Dear Mamma and Daddy;

I know that you are frantic with all the news you are getting over the radio today. Although I have no idea when this letter will get out of here now, I'll write all along and just hope for the best.

We were taken so by surprise this morning that some ships were bombed and reservations were upset. Bob got up first today but I was awake when it all started. He didn't hear the air raid alarm, but he came running upstairs and said I was missing a good mock war. Then he went over and looked out of the window and saw it was the real thing. The Jap planes were flying so low over our house the wheels were almost rolling on the roofs. I knew it was the real thing when I saw a bomb make a direct hit. Bob started putting on his uniform to report for duty and turned on the radio. They were announcing that Japanese planes were attacking the Island of Oahu (that's this one) and for all men to report for duty at once.

The whole Island was organized in nothing flat and they won't let us out of the house. However, when it first started I went over and got Margaret De Sadler and we went on to Harriett Hemmingway's place. Several girls had gathered there and we were there when the worst part was going on. There were about seven kids there and all scared stiff. Harriett was almost out of her head. She has two little boys, one three and one five. I haven't been scared so far. I don't guess I've got enough sense to be.

We had to lie on the floor when most of the raid was going on, because the shrapnel was flying outside and we were afraid it would come through the window. I have a piece for a souvenir. While we were on the floor I had all the children drawing pictures. Gee, we drew so many that I almost learned to draw myself!

Later Margaret and I came over to the house and put some clothes in a suitcase just in case we were to evacuate to the hills, and a sentry caught us and wouldn't let us go back to Harriett's, so we are together at my house. Bob has been in once to get one of the radios for the yard. All the station programs are off the air and we are advised to keep all radios on for special announcements. The army has taken everything over. If anybody had ever told me I'd be right in the middle of an air raid, I would have though he or she was crazy.

Unless we are evacuated before dark Margaret and I are going to bring a mattress downstairs tonight and sleep on the floor. There's no use to tell you not to worry about us because, I know how I'd feel if I were in your place. But try not to worry too much and I'll let you know how we are just as often as I can. As soon as I can, I'll send you a wire, but I don't know now when that will be possible.

We spent a pretty quiet night. Of course Margaret and I both slept with one eye and one ear open. There was a sentry right in front of our house all night so that made us feel better about the situation. Bob came in for a minute at sundown yesterday to see if we were OK, but I haven't seen him since.

Alfred Sturgis rang the door bell at one o'clock this morning and said he wanted to stay with us if it was all right. He had worked all day at the Navy yard and couldn't drive his car after sundown last night. We are certainly glad he came. He is going to see that our letters are mailed for us. Try not to worry too much.
Love, Margie

LT. JAMES ADAMS, P.O.W.

WE MADE IT OUT!
WE'RE GOING HOME!
James Adams, known to his buddies as "Speedie", was one of nearly a hundred graduates of the Dublin High School Class of 1937. The winds of war were howling in Europe. Four of his classmates went off to war - never to return home again. Hiram Scarborough was the first Laurens Countian to lose his life in the war. Wex Jordan, an all conference football player at Georgia Tech, lost his life in a plane accident at San Diego. James and his buddy Jack Flanders, decided to enlist in the Army at Fort Jackson, South Carolina on September 17, 1940. They were assigned to the 3rd Battalion, Hwq. Detachment of the 121st Infantry, 30th Division. Many of their friends were members of Company K of the 121st, the local National Guard unit station in Dublin. James enrolled in flight training as an Air Corps Cadet at Maxwell Field, Montgomery, Alabama. He earned his wings and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on November 21, 1942.

Lt. Adams was awakened early on the morning of January 13, 1944. He had just completed his 27th combat mission, flying eight in the last ten days. That day was supposed to be a day of rest. Another navigator/bombardier was sick that morning. Lt. Adams was the only man to take his place. After a quick breakfast Lt. Adams climbed into the plexi-glass nose of his B-25. The mission was to bomb the airdromes around Rome, Italy. The mission was going well. Adams was, like always, choking on the strong acrid smell of gunpowder from the anti-aircraft flak hurled at the American planes. The bombs hit the target. The plane was pulling away. All of sudden something went wrong. The bomber suffered a direct hit in the tail. Sgt. Joseph Grady, the turret gunner, was mortally wounded. The first pilot, Lt. Henry Luther, managed to continue flying despite the loss of power and maneuverability. The crew bailed out except for Lt. Luther who escaped just before the plane crashed.

Lt. Adams landed safely with his parachute on top of him - his fall cushioned by a few inches of snow. As his crawled out he was shocked to find a large contingent of German soldiers surrounding him. One soldier tried to pistol whip him, but the frightened young man was rescued by a superior officer. Adams was taken to the unit commander. As a former prisoner of war in World War I, the English speaking German officer showed compassion toward Adams, allowing him to keep his cigarettes and a New Testament Bible, which Adams had received from his sister Lois just two days before. An inscription in the Bible read "May this protect you from harm." Adams returned the favor by sharing a smoke with the officer. Lt. Adams found Sergeants Frank Maraia and Robert Wooten, the radio operator and the tail gunner. They were much more seriously injured than Lt. Adams. The airmen were given a hot bowl of stew, their first meal in many long hours. Luckily the group were put in the care of another compassionate German. The English speaking doctor gave them the best medical care available and saw to improving the food and sanitary conditions in the camp.

The prisoners were run through a series of filthy cramped cells and prisons. For a brief period they were taken to Ciampino Airdrome, the target of their last mission. Nearly a week later, Adams ran into Morton Mason, Jr., who happened to be from Dublin. The pair almost didn't recognize each other in their emaciated condition. Adams kept searching for his crew. Adams finally wound up at his permanent prison camp, Stalag Luft 1 near Barth, Germany on February 6, 1944. Pilot Luther managed to elude the German army for two months before being captured and taken to Stalag Luft III. He managed to escape just before the end of the war. Adams wouldn't learn of his fate for another 44 years. Lt. Joe Berger, the co-pilot, also managed to avoid capture for a short while, but was eventually taken to Stalag Luft I, in the same cell block with Lt. Adams. Sgts. Maraia and Wooten landed in Stalag IV in Poland.

Lt. Adams made many lifelong friends. He kept a diary and his fifty year friend, Ed Dunlap, sketched revealing pictures of prison life. The ingenious prisoners took dozens of photographs with a hidden camera. Every attempt at escape was turned away by the guards, who even used earthquake detectors to detect the digging of tunnels. While the conditions were bad, the prisoners were treated tolerably by their captors. The prisoners kept up with the progress of the war with a make-shift radio tuned to the BBC. They knew the end of the war was coming. They could hear it in the rolling thunder from the countryside. One day they awoke and the guards were gone - running in fear of the oncoming Russian army. The prisoners remained in the camp for two weeks. The long journey back to France was the shortest trip they ever made.

Fifty years after coming home, 61 ex-POW's went back Europe. They met some of their Russian saviors. The highlight of the trip was the trip to Stalag I at Barth. The prison was gone. Visions of their 15 month home must have appeared in the now abandoned field. Half of the crew is still living: Lt. James Adams in Concord, North Carolina, Sgt. Frank Maraia in Staten Island, New York, and Lt. Henry Luther, the pilot, in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. The story which Lt. Adams would like to be told "is not the horrible part of it - it was horrible - but how many of us lived!"

Taken from the memoirs of Lt. James C. Adams, United States Army Air Corps, donated by Lt. Adams to the Laurens County Historical Society.

SGT. LESTER PORTER

ACROSS THE DANUBE


Wars are not supposed to be fought during the winter. This time the war couldn't wait until the end of winter. Until the invasion of Normandy in June of 1944, Laurens County's men had been spared the brutal fighting of an infantry war. As the summer of 1944 progressed more and more reports of injuries and death came back to grieving families. The "Hellcats" of 12th Armored Division were pushing inch by inch, mile by mile across Europe. Berlin, Germany was their ultimate destination. Utweiler, Germany was the first German town to fall justbefore Christmas of 1944.

A young Dublin sergeant was a member Combat Command A, 66th AIB. On the 16th of January, Command A was viciously shelled by German artillery near Offendorf. The young sergeant was seriously wounded in the left hip. Three years before he was a Boy Scout in Troop 65 and a Junior Wildlife Ranger led by Wildlife Ranger, John N. Ross. The twenty year old boy, now a man, quickly recovered and rejoined his unit on February 15th. His mother feared he was dead. By mid-April the "Hellcats" were approaching the Danube River. No invading army, not even the armies of Julius Caesar, nor Genghis Khan, nor the immortal Napoleon had ever managed to cross the river.

Reports came in that the German army had left one bridge, at Dillingen, intact. The American armored units sped toward the bridge. There was no time to waste. The German 6th Panzer Division was a stubborn and formidable foe. The dash was so rapid that the German forces had little time to organize their defenses. The date was April 22, 1945. "Berlin Sally" was broadcasting that the bridge was scheduled to be destroyed. The Americans pulled out of camp at 0700 hours and 4 hours and 32 miles later they arrived in Dillingen. Sally warned that the German Army was dug in - ready for a fight. When the Americans got to the bridge, it was still up. Captain Riddell and Platoon Sergeant Houston were the first on the bridge. They shot a couple of men who were trying to blow the bridge.

Sgt. Houston called for a squad to cross the bridge. Near the end of the bridge were six five-hundred pound bombs, hundreds of pounds of wet Italian dynamite, sandbags, and wires running off in many directions toward the edges of the bridge. Sergeants Houston and Welch pulled back across the bridge. The young Dubliner led the remaining men as they ran across the bridge. The first task was to clear the area and establish a defensive position at the eastern end of the bridge. Other members of the squad were Frank Zendell, Robert Crumpton, Edward McGarr, William Moore, and John Horne.

The German army tried to explode the bridge. Six planes were shot down. Elements of the 199th Armored Engineers were sent to remove demolitions from the bridge. With the aid of only the moonlight the sergeant and his buddies spotted mines floating down river were captured in a net strung over the Danube. Hundreds of German soldiers were killed. The Americans repelled all attacks and captured over a thousand prisoners. Edward McGarr captured two prisoners with an empty rifle. Artillery fire poured into American position. The second most important bridge in the European War Theater was now open. The Bridge at Remagan may have been bigger, but the bridge at Dilligen remained intact. The 12th Armored Division poured across the bridge. The next four days were spent fighting off large scale air and artillery attacks. On April 28th the Hellcats crossed the railroad bridge at Landsburg and feinted on Munich. The actions of these young American heroes paved the way for the final push into Berlin ten days later when the war ended in Europe on May 7, 1945. One survivor of Dachau Concentration camp credited the rapid capture of Dilligen Bridge as the reason that the lives of himself and the rest of the people in the camp were saved.

The citizens of Dublin were proud of their young hero. Dublin Theatre manager Bob Hightower planned a special 7th War Loan premiere of the new Tracy and Hepburn movie, "Without Love." The purchase of a war bond was the ticket for admission to the movie in honor of the first American soldier to cross the Danube. That day, June 27, 1945, was "Buck" Porter Day in honor of Dublin's young war hero, Lester Porter.

Lester Porter, son of Attorney Lester Lee and Ruth Guyton Porter, was born in Dublin in December of 1924. Lester graduated from Dublin High in the first year of World War II. After one year at North Georgia College, Porter began serving in the 12th Armored Division of the Seventh U.S. Army. For his actions in World War II, "Buck" Porter was awarded the Purple Heart, World War II Victory Medal, Presidential Unit Citations, Croix de Guerre and Foix de Guerre, the Rhineland Battle Star, and many other service ribbons. After the war Porter graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in Zoology. He then graduated from Northern Illinois College of Optometry.

Dr. Porter and his new wife Katherine Davis Porter returned to Dublin in 1951. Dr. Porter began his practice of optometry here and forty six years later, he is still practicing, now with his son, Dr. Edwin Porter. Dr. Porter has been active in civic and governmental affairs for all of that time. He has served in statewide Optometric positions for several years and has served as President of the Moore Street P.T.A., Lion's Club, Dublin Association of Fine Arts, and the Dublin-Laurens Chamber of Commerce. Porter served two terms as Mayor of Dublin from 1970 to 1974.

Laurens County has a rich heritage of his sons who served their country during World War II. The stories are moving and fascinating. They are stories of ordinary men, who when there time came, stepped forward and exhibited outstanding feats of courage.

GOLD BRAID AND BLOOD

The Story of Felix Powell, P.O.W.

Heroes by the thousands have passed through the wards of the Carl Vinson Medical Center in Dublin. This is a story of one of those ordinary men who, when his time came, exhibited the courage and fortitude which so typifies the American spirit of freedom. Felix Powell was born to be a sailor or so his mother told him. His granddaddy encouraged him by calling him admiral. Felix was a typical country boy of the thirties. His father's folks were from Treutlen County. Most of his free time was spent playing marbles and fishing and swimming in the biggest body of water he knew, the Ohoopee River, near his boyhood town of Norristown. Felix was a star basketball player for the perennially powerful Adrian Red Devils. As he grew older he dreamed of becoming a sailor and perhaps wearing the gold braid on his dress whites. But never in his dreams did he ever fathom the bloodshed he was about to witness.

Felix, fresh out of high school, enlisted in the Navy in the late 30s. Seaman Powell volunteered to serve in the Asiatic Fleet, also known as the "Suicide Fleet". His first assignment was aboard the "U.S.S. New Mexico" in 1940 at Pearl Harbor. As 1941 progressed rumors of war ran rampant throughout the fleet. Most people remember December 7, 1941. In the days that followed Felix's Powell's "Hell on Earth" was just about to begin. Felix was assigned as a Fireman 1st Class at the Cavite Navy Yard in the Phillipine Islands. Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor the Japaneese launched a vicious attack on the islands. From their shipboard perch they witnessed the horrible death and daily destruction of Manilla.

Soon the Phillipines fell into the hands of the Japaneese. Powell, at that time, was stationed in a fortification known as Fort Hughes. Nearly every American on the islands was taken prisoner. The captors allowed the men to bring only the clothes on their backs. Their possessions were plundered. The prisoners were immediately put to work burying the dead and assembling military supplies. Many times his fellow Americans had to be placed in mass graves in bomb craters with little or no cover. The men worked all day with little rest and even less food and water. Felix couldn't sleep for thinking of food and water. Oh what he would give to get some of his mamma's cooking. When word of his capture got back to Adrian, his mother, his sister Delia, and Claudie Thompson were busy preparing jars of pickled cucumbers. Food half eaten by the guards and even catsup mixed with water were real treats. In the early days the prisoners had to use iodine to help purify their drinking water which was often mixed with bath water.

The prisoners were then herded in ships like cattle. Some of the men died due to the extreme heat. Others, like Peter Fred Larsen of Dublin, were struck by friendly fire in unmarked prison ships. Some of the transport pens were covered with manure, which reminded Felix of his mule lot back in Norristown. Powell and his mates were taken to Corrigador where the food situation was a little better, but not much. There the lucky ones found blankets to steal. Felix and his buddies patched up an old garbage can with tin can lids for a water container, the envy of the entire camp. Rain was sometimes a blessing, for drinking water and taking baths, and sometimes a curse, when it was cold and no one had any dry clothes.

The American prisoners were forced to participate in the "March of Humiliation" through the streets of Manilla. Grateful Filipinos showered the Americans with candy, bananas, and cooked eggs. The guards mashed as many as the could, punishing those who tried to bend down and pick up the gifts. The march began to take its toll on the "long legged" boy from Adrian who never had any trouble running up and down the basketball courts. Powell was taken to Cabanatuan Camp # 3. Next was Pasay Concentration Camp, the home of "the White Angel." "The White Angel" was no angel. He his fellow goons "Cherry Blossom", " The Wolf", and "Pistol Pete" were among the most brutal war criminals. They were eventually prosecuted for the crimes of reprehensible brutality. At Pasay, Powell was sentenced to be executed by firing squad with 28 other men. The man who had caused the disturbance was executed instead and Felix's life was spared. But what life? By now Felix, a six foot tall man, weighed only 98 pounds and for many months had no shoes. Food scraps were prized among the prisoners. Little things like the man he met from Lyons, Georgia, kept Felix going, living - just surviving.

Felix returned to Cabanatuan Camp # 1 where he remained until the end of 1944. In 1945 the Japanese government moved thousands of prisoners to the Japanese Islands to work in the coal mines. Felix was stationed on the Island of Kyushu. Felix and the prisoners were forced to work day and night in the mines. For several days after the second atomic bomb was dropped, the men remained in the mines. Finally they came out and began the arduous task of finding their way back to friendly forces. American planes dropped relief supplies but they weren't quite enough. Felix witnessed the total destruction of Nagasaki, a sight he never forgot. Finally he and many others made it back aboard ship. Felix knew he was getting close to home when he recognized a man from Metter whom he played against in the region tournament in 1938. From Japan he was taken to the Islands of Okinawa and Guam. Doctors determined that Felix had developed tuberculosis in his left lung, probably a result of his long stay in the mines. Once again he was confined, this time to the hospital isolation ward. Finally in October of 1945 Felix spotted the Golden Gate Bridge. There was one more bridge he wanted to see. That was the Route 80 bridge near Thompson's store on the Ohoopee. But fifteen more months of hospitalization was in order. Powell spent time in Oakland and New York hospitals, with a too short stay at the Naval Hospital in Dublin. Fifty years later Felix Powell is back in the Vinson V.A. Medical Center in Dublin.

Felix Powell wrote of his days in the war in his unpublished 560 page manuscript, "Brush Harbor" or "Gold Braid and Blood." The next time you pass by the V.A. Hospital and see the American flags, thank Felix Powell and the thousands of Americans who have been inside those brick walls and who fought, died, and survived to protect our most precious freedoms.

LAURENS COUNTIANS IN WORLD WAR II

Dublin and Laurens County once again stepped forward and sent thousands of young men into military service during World War II. Scores of Laurens County boys joined the National Guard, which was attached to the 121st U.S. Infantry division. The Guard mobilized in September of 1940 into Federal service.

Alta Mae Hammock and Brancy Horne were the first women to join the W.A.A.C.. Marayan Smith Harris was the first woman to join the WAVES. Louise Dampier also served as a yeoman in the U.S. Navy. Seaman Elbert Brunson, Jr. was onboard the U.S.S. Greer on September 4, 1941. The destroyer was the first American destroyer to fire upon the dreaded German U-boat submarines in an incident which accelerated the country’s declaration of war against Germany.

Despite strong support from all the communities of Central Georgia and Cong. Carl Vinson, the powerful chairman of the House Naval Affairs Committee, the federal government denied the location of a naval air training station on the Oconee River just below the city due to the lack of a large labor force and the heavy infestation of mosquitos in the area.

Several Laurens Countians were at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Marjorie Hobbs Wilson and her husband were eyewitnesses to the bombing. Also at Pearl Harbor on the “Day of Infamy” were George Dewey Senn, William Drew, Jr., Bascom Ashley, Walter Camp, Joel Wood, Harold Wright, Charles Durden, Hardy Blankenship, Rowland Ellis, Wade Jackson, Nathan Graham, Obie Cauley and Claxton Mullis. Lts. William C. Thompson, Jr. and Everett Hicks were serving in the Philippines and Woody Dominy was stationed on Wake Island.

Alton Hyram Scarborough, of the D.H.S. Class of '37, was the first of one hundred and nine casualties of the war. Robert Werden, Jr. loved to fly and was so anxious to fly planes in World War II that he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. When the United States declared war, he joined the Army Air Force, only to be shot down and killed in the early years of the war.

Capt. Bobbie E. Brown of Laurens County was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroism in the assault on Crucifix Hill in Aachen, Germany. Capt. Brown, a career non- commissioned officer, personally led the attack on German positions, killing over one hundred Germans and being wounded three times during the battle. Capt. Brown was the first Georgian ever to be awarded the Medal of Honor, along with eight Purple Hearts and two Silver Stars. At the end of the war, Captain Brown was the oldest company commander in the United States army and first in length of service. Paratrooper Kelso Horne was pictured on the cover of Life during the invasion of Normandy. Lt. Horne, a member of the famed 82nd Airborne Division and one of the oldest paratroopers in the U.S. Army, parachuted behind German lines near St. Mere Eglise in the night time hours before the amphibious invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. Ensign Shelton Sutton, Jr., a native of Brewton and a former center for Georgia Tech, was killed while serving aboard the U.S.S. Juneau, along with the famous Sullivan brothers. Nearly two years later in 1944, the U.S. Navy commissioned the U.S.S. Sutton in his memory. His teammate Aviator Wex Jordan, an all-Southeastern guard for Georgia Tech in 1941, was killed in an air accident while training in San Diego on Veteran’s Day in 1943.

Like the fictional Captain John Miller in “Saving Private Ryan,” Dublin and Laurens County teachers left the classroom to fight for their country. Robert Colter, Jr., who had been teaching Vocational-Agricultural classes at Cadwell High School was killed on February 20, 1945 in Germany. Captain Henry Will Jones, the Vocational - Agricultural teacher and football coach at Dexter High School and a paratrooper, was killed at Peleliu Island in the South Pacific in October 18, 1944. In recognition of his exemplary valor, Capt. Jones was posthumously awarded the Silver Star. Lt. Lucian Bob Shuler, a former Cadwell High School basketball coach, was an ace, having shot down seven Japanese planes in combat. Captain Shuler was awarded eleven Distinguished Flying Crosses and twelve Air Medals. Cpt. William A. Kelley, a former Dublin High School coach, was flying the “Dauntless Dotty” when it crashed into the sea on June 6, 1945. The B-29 Superfortress was the first B-29 to bomb Tokyo. Kelley and his crew, who flew in a bomber named “The Lucky Irish,” were the first crew in the Pacific to complete 30 missions. They were returning home to headline the 7th War Bond Drive when the accident occurred. Randall Robertson and James Hutchinson, both only a year or so out of Dublin High School, were killed several weeks apart on the same beach on Iwo Jima in 1945.

Hubert Wilkes and Jack Thigpen survived the fatal attack on the “U.S.S. Yorktown” at the Battle of Midway. John L. Tyre volunteered for six months hazardous duty in southeast Asia in an outfit dubbed “Merrill’s Marauders.” The Marauders, the first ground soldiers to see action in World War II, fought through jungles filled with Japanese soldiers, unbearable heat and slithering snakes. Only one out six managed to make it all way through the war.

Commander Robert Braddy was awarded the Navy Cross, our nation’s second highest honor for naval heroism, for his actions in North Africa in November of 1942. Rear Admiral Braddy retired from the service in 1951. Captain William C. Thompson was awarded a Silver Star, two Gold Stars, a Navy Cross and a Bronze Star for his outstanding naval submarine service. Captain Thompson was the executive officer aboard the submarine Bowfin, which was credited with sinking the second highest Japanese tonnage on a single war patrol. Thompson was aboard the U.S.S. Sealion when it was struck by Japanese planes at Cavite, Philippines. The submarine was the first American submarine to be lost in World War II. Both men are buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Captain Thompson’s first cousin, Sgt. Lester Porter of Dublin, led the first invading forces over the Danube River in nearly two millennia. Marine Corporal James W. Bedingfield, of Cadwell, was awarded a Silver Star by Admiral Chester Nimitz for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the Japanese at Namur Island, Kwajalein Atoll, on February 6, 1944. His kinsman, Capt. Walter H. Bedingfield, was awarded a Silver Star for heroism in setting up a field hospital in advance of American lines at Normandy on D-Day. T.Sgt. Thurman W. Wyatt was awarded a Silver Star for heroism when he assumed command of his tank platoon following the wounding of the commander and guided it to safety. Tech. Sgt. Luther Word was awarded the Silver Star, the nation’s third highest award for heroism, just prior to his being killed in action. Lt. Paul Jimmy Scarboro was awarded a Silver Star for gallantry as a pilot of a Super Fortress in the Pacific Ocean.

Lt. Colonel James D. Barnett, Col. Charles Lifsey, Col. George T. Powers, III, and Lt. Colonel J.R. Laney, former residents of Dublin and graduates of West Point, were cited for their actions in India and Europe. Laney was a member of the three-man crew of the Douglas XB-42 Mixmaster, the world’s fastest transcontinental plane, when it crashed into a Washington, D.C. suburb in December 1945. Lt. Col. Laney survived the crash to complete a distinguished thirty year career in the Army.


Captain Alvin A. Warren, Jr., of Cadwell, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for flying 70 missions in the Indo-China Theater night and day through impassable mountain ranges and high clouds. Walter D. Warren, Jr. was a member of the famed Flying Tigers in China-Burma-India Theater. Flight officer Emil E. Tindol also received the same award, just days before he was killed in action while “flying the hump” - a term used for flying over the gigantic mountain ranges of India and Burma. For his battle wounds and other feats of courage and bravery, Lt. Clifford Jernigan was awarded the Purple Heart, an Air Medal and three Oak Leaf clusters in 1944. Lt. Gordon Cartee served as the wing man for Major George Preddy, the most highly decorated P-51 fighter pilot in Europe. Lt. Garrett Jones was a highly decorated pilot who participated in the first daylight bombings of Germany. Calvert Hinton Arnold was promoted to Brigadier General in 1945. Lt. Col. Ezekiel W. Napier of Laurens County, a graduate of West Point, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and retired from the Air Force in 1959 as a Brigadier General. The "Pilot's Pilot," Bud Barron of Dublin, was credited with the second most number of air miles during the war, mainly by ferrying aircraft to and from the front lines. Barron has been inducted into the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame. Dublin native Lt. William L. Sheftall, Jr. flew 74 missions in Italy and was awarded the Silver Star for heroism. Sidney Augustus Scott, the Chief Engineer of the SS Charles Morgan, was awarded the Merchant Marine Meritorious Service medal for his heroism in the landing of men and material on the beaches of Normandy just after D-Day.

James Adams, Morton C. Mason, Wilkins Smith, Russell M. Daley, Gerald Anderson, Marshall Jones, Robert L. Horton, Loyest B. Chance, Needham Toler, William L. Padgett, Joseph E. Joiner, W.B. Tarpley, Owen Collins, Loy Jones, Thurston Veal, James B. Bryan, Cecil Wilkes and others were surviving in P.O.W. camps in Germany, while Alton Watson, James W. Dominy, and Alton Jordan were held prisoner by the Japanese. Lt. Peter Fred Larsen, a prisoner of the Japanese army, was killed by American planes when being transported to the Japanese Mainland in an unmarked freighter. Future Dubliner Tommy Birdsong was digging coal in a Japanese coal mine when an atomic bomb near Nagasaki was dropped. Earlier he survived the infamous "Bataan Death March." Other future Dubliners who survived the Bataan Death March were William Wallace, A. Deas Coburn, and Felix Powell.

PFC Wesley Hodges was a member of the 38th Mechanized Calvary Recon Squad, the first American squad to enter Paris on August 25, 1944. Seaman James T. Sutton survived the sinking of the “U.S.S. Frederick C. Davis,” the last American ship sunk by the German Navy. The 121st Infantry of the Georgia National Guard, which was headquartered in Dublin until 1938 and of which Company K and 3rd Battalion HQ Co. were located in Dublin, won a Presidential Unit Citation for its outstanding performance of their duty in the Battle of Hurtgen Forest during Thanksgiving 1944. Edward Towns was cited for his meritorious service to the submarine forces of the United States. Curtis Beall, after being voted by his classmates as the most outstanding senior at the University of Georgia in 1943, joined his brother Millard in the United States Marine Corps. Capt. John Barnett, a twenty-one-year-old Dubliner, was credited with being the youngest executive officer in the United States Army in 1944. Lt. Arlie W. Claxton won the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1943. These are only a few stories of the thousands of Laurens County's heroes of World War II.

Major Herndon “Don” M. Cummings was a bomber pilot in the 477th Bomber Group. Though his unit was never saw active duty overseas, Major Cummings and his group were known as a group of units collectively called the “Tuskegee Airmen.” Cummings was incarcerated along with a hundred other fellow pilots for attempting to integrate an all-white officers club at Freeman Field in Indiana in 1945. Through the efforts of future Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall and the actions of a newly sworn President Harry Truman, the pilots were freed and later exonerated of all charges against them. Cummings remained in the reserves for twenty years after his retirement from active duty.

Laurens Countians supported the war effort on the home front. A State Guard unit was formed by over-age and under-age men. Everyone from school children to grandmothers did their part. Many Laurens Countians commuted to Warner Robins and Macon to work for the war effort. Laurens Countians opened their homes to soldiers from Camp Wheeler, near Macon and British R.A.F. cadets from Cochran Field in Macon. Angelo Catechis bought war bonds with his life's savings to help rescue his family in Greece. The women of Laurens County worked diligently on the home front. The women made bandages, surgical dressings and sponges by the scores of thousands, along with knitted garments. Carolyn Hall, blind since birth, was one of the most proficient knitters in the community. Laurens Countians contributed hundred of hours of time to the Red Cross, U.S.O. and numerous Civilian Defense programs. Bessye Parker Devereaux was the first woman in the Charleston, S.C. shipyards to be awarded the Outstanding Worksmanship Award by President Roosevelt. In the summer of 1944, the U.S. government honored the citizens and Laurens County for their contributions to the war effort by naming one of the reconditioned "Liberty Ships" the "U.S.S. Laurens."

KELSO HORNE

Hero From The Sky

Kelso Horne never claimed to be a hero. He said to me, "I didn’t do anything heroic," which is a typical response from a hero. A photograph of the face of Kelso Horne appeared on the cover of "Life" magazine on August 14, 1944. The picture is known to some as "the face," not the face of Kelso Horne, but the face of the infantryman of the American Army. In fact, when the editors of "Time" magazine published an issue on the history of the 20th Century, the picture of Horne’s face was chosen to represent the millions of American servicemen who served their country in World War II and saved the world from Nazi imperialism.

Kelso Crowder Horne, the third child of Josiah H. Horne and Maude Crowder Horne, was born on November 12, 1912. When World War II began in 1941, Kelso didn’t wait to be drafted. He wanted to see some action, "not something just anybody could do," Horne said. As a boy, Kelso had seen air shows in Dublin. "They had people jumping out of airplanes," Kelso remembered. Kelso joined the U.S. Army in June of 1942 in Macon, Georgia. He was assigned to Camp Wheeler for basic training for thirteen weeks. Kelso remained adamant in his desire to be a paratrooper. After four weeks of training in an NCO school, Horne was shipped down Highway 80 to Fort Benning in Columbus.

In February of 1943, Kelso Horne, became 2nd Lt. Kelso Horne. He immediately applied for entrance into jump school. Horne and the other candidates were taken out for a field demonstration. A rocket carrying a dummy paratrooper was fired into the air. As it fell to the Earth, the mannequin was riddled with machine gun fire. "That’s what can happen to you. Now, how many of you want to change your mind?," the instructor inquired. Kelso stood firm in his desire and completed jump school at Benning.

Horne was assigned to the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment in March of 1943. After reporting to the regimental commander, Kelso was placed in the 1st platoon of Co. I, 3rd, Bn.. He trained at Camp Mackall, N.C. and Lebanon, Tenn. until Dec. 20, 1943, when the regiment assembled at Camp Shanks, NY. Camp Shanks which was located less than an hour from Broadway in New York City. After three days of administrative duties and learning how to abandon ship, Kelso and his buddies were given an evening pass into New York for one last fling. The 508th spent that Christmas day in camp. Their next Christmas would be spent right smack dab in the middle of the Battle of the Bulge. The regiment boarded the U.S. AT Parker for a 12 day trip to Belfast, Ireland. Two months later, the 508th sailed to Scotland for even more training.

The men knew that they were training for an invasion of Europe, but they didn’t know when or where. As the hour of D-Day approached, Kelso and the rest of the regiment was told that their destination would be eight to ten miles inland from the eastern coast of the Cotentin Peninsula west of St. Mere Eglise, France. The 3rd Bn.’s mission was to organize a defensive sector and the join with the 4th Infantry Division, which would be staging an amphibious landing on Utah Beach. As the skies began to darken on the 5th of June, 1944, final preparations were being made. Equipment checks went on until the last minute. The men ate one last meal, a least for many of them it would a last meal. After downing a few more cups of coffee and a couple doughnuts, the men took the smut from the kitchen stoves, blackening their faces for the nighttime jump. At 2:06 a.m. on the morning of June 6, 1944, Kelso Horne moved to the door of the C-41, which was flying through a dark and moonless night. Just as Kelso saw the waves breaking on the Normandy shore, the green jump light came on. Men began yelling "go!" Kelso waited; it wasn’t time to go just yet. When Kelso spotted the Merderet River and the railroad, he jumped, landing between the two landmarks, just where he was supposed bo be.

The C-41s were drifting away from each other. Night flying formations were tough, even for experienced pilots. Most of the eight hundred and twenty pilots flying into Normandy had never flown at night. Some were shot down. Bob Mathias of 2nd Platoon, Co. E, was standing in the doorway when he was struck by an artillery fragment. Despite his wounds, Mathias jumped. He died before he reached the ground. Historian Stephen Ambrose credits Mathias as being the first casualty of the invasion and being the oldest paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division. Kelso, at 31 years of age, was three years older than Mathias. He believed he was the second oldest paratrooper in the 82nd. Most of the men who jumped that night were less than twenty years old.

Kelso found that he was in a small field about a mile from St. Mere Eglise. He found it difficult to get out of his harness. It wouldn’t unsnap or cut with a knife. After a few moments, Kelso calmed down and managed to escape from his harness. As he was heading for the woods, Lt. Horne realized that he had left his field bag behind. Just as he retrieved his bag, Kelso noticed a figure of a man approaching him. He put one round in the chamber of his rifle. Kelso spoke first when the man was twenty feet away. The man, who turned out to be the messenger of the company commander, gave the correct response to Kelso’s challenge. The two men crawled into a ditch to determine their position. Just after another man approached them, the green signal flare went up, signaling the 3rd Battalion to move to the assembly area.

The battalion rendezvoused at a farm house surrounded by an orchard of apple trees. When Kelso got into the house, he went over to put a cup of water by the fire to make himself a cup of coffee. The building became the headquarters of Gen. Matthew Ridgeway. Lt. Horne and his fellow lieutenants gathered up as many men of the 508th as they could find. They took their men to the Merderet River Bridge at La Fiere Manor.

Col. Lindquist, the 508th’s commander, sent Kelso and fifteen to twenty men down the road to clear out a farm house from which the Germans had been firing on the American troops. The squad ran down a sunken lane toward the two-story house. The corpses of four or five German soldiers were strewn around the outside of the house. While the Germans inside the house were distracted by fire from the sunken road, Horne and a sergeant moved into the first floor of the house. The sergeant sprayed the rooms and the ceiling with machine gun fire. A dozen or so Germans came down the steps and surrendered. In the excitement of the moment, Kelso once again left his field bag behind. Ordinarily the bag could be replaced, but a Bible which had been a gift from his wife Doris was in the bag. Kelso never found the bag or his Bible. Kelso noticed that a group of G.I.s were trying to cross the river. The Germans began firing at them. Kelso yelled out in vain trying to warn his buddies, but to no avail. "Not a one of them, as far as I know, made it all the way across," Kelso remembered.

Kelso picked up an M-1 rifle . It had belonged to a major, who had the fatal misfortune of being ambushed in a fake surrender trick by the Germans. With only an hour of rest, Kelso and his men were suddenly subjected to intense artillery fire. Col. Lindquist gave orders for the men to run, in order, to headquarters. They made it to the railroad track and then to the bridge at Chef du Pont, where they remained for the rest of D-Day.

The next day, General Gavin led his forces toward the command point, yelling "Come on! Let’s go! Nobody lives forever!" Horne remembered very little after D-Day plus one until Independence Day. He was tired. The daily fighting and expectations of combat at any time allowed no time for keeping a diary. He did remember the capture of 1820 German soldiers by his troops and those of the 90th division near Cherbourg. After things began to calm down, Lt. Horne was relieved to learn that all of the men in his platoon had made it that far without casualty - a lucky streak which wouldn’t last too much longer.

When Kelso crossed the La Fiere Causeway, he came upon a group of dead German soldiers lying in a ditch. He was standing astride what he thought was a dead soldier. The man, only dazed and not dead, spoke to Horne, yelling "Komrade! Komrade!" Despite the urging of some of the men, Horne refused to shoot the helpless man. Only a few moments later after Horne had left the scene, an inflamed young soldier came across the road. He machine gunned the German to death. "That happened a lot," Kelso remembered.

About a week after the invasion, Kelso and his platoon from Co. I were walking down a road toward a French town. Gen. Lawton Collins, commanding the 7th Corps, drove up along the column and asked to speak to the officer in command. Horne advised the General that there were Germans in the town because they had firing on our troops earlier in the day. Collins, owing to the fact that discretion is the better part of valor, ordered the driver to turn the staff car around. Before the car left, Bob Landry, a photographer for "Life" magazine asked permission to take a picture of Kelso Horne. Landry instructed Horne to kneel down and look off in the distance. Horne complied and thought not much more about the snapshot. Horne had mentioned it to his wife Doris in his letters. The photograph was selected by the editors of the magazine to grace the cover of the August 14th issue. Horne’s family and everyone in Laurens County were elated.

The original photograph - cropped for the cover of Life. @ Time Life, Inc.

As Independence Day approached, the 508th was moving north of la Laye-du-Puits. Their objective, Hill 95. Horne and his men knew the Germans were up there on the hill. They heard them talking during the night. Early on the morning of July 4th, Lt. Horne was giving his daily report to Sgt. Raymond Conrad, 1st Sergeant of Co. I. While listing those who had been killed and wounded, a round pierced Conrad’s body from one side all the through to the other. Kelso was terribly shaken. The two men had gone through basic training together and were close friends. A little while later, Lt. Horne was walking with his messenger, when the young man was hit in both legs with machine gun fire. Once again, Kelso had narrowly escaped being shot. Things were getting worse. One of the company mortar men and the platoon sergeant were severely wounded.

Kelso began to question the prudence of the decision to attack the hill. Col. Mendez was adamant. Lt. Horne knew that the land approaching Hill 95 had no cover, not even a rock to hide behind. Col. Mendez grew angry when Kelso intimated that the colonel would be safe in the rear behind the rocks, while he and his men would be in untenable danger. The attack went off just as planned at eleven o’clock in the morning, five minutes after the artillery barrage began. Lt. Horne was ten feet out of the hedgerow when he felt something. "I never heard the shell. I know it was a shell, because it was a fragment that hit me. It just felt like somebody hit me in the chest with a baseball bat. It knocked me down and when I got up my pistol had fallen out of its holder," Kelso told his biographer, Perry Knight. Pat Collins, who was standing beside Horne, took a hit and fell. Horne told Collins that he had been hit in the arm. Collins looked over at Horne and said, "You’re hit, too! You’ve got a hole in your jump suit. You got it bad," Collins said. Horne noticed he was bleeding and moved back to the security of the hedge. He disassembled his rifle, threw the parts in different directions, and began to move back toward the rear. Horne noticed that he had left his pistol at the point where he had been shot. He crawled back to the spot, picked his pistol up, and then had the strength to walk back to the rear field hospital. Horne was sent to a hospital in Cheltonham, England, where he arrived a couple of days later. The attack fizzled that day, but the regiment took the hill the next morning after the Germans had abandoned it on the night of the 4th.

Kelso remained in Cheltonham until the early days of August. One day while he was lying in the bed, the man in the next bed said, "You’ve got a boy!" Horne was momentarily puzzled. He knew that his wife Doris, the former Miss Doris Garner, was expecting a child, but didn’t know how the man would know about it. Doris had tried to get word to Kelso through the Red Cross. Horne’s uncle, Frank Cochran, knew about the slowness of sending a message to a soldier overseas. He sent the announcement to the military newspaper, "Stars and Stripes." The July 25th edition of the paper carried the news of the birth of Kelso’s son, Kelso C. "Casey," Horne, Jr. who had been born on July 18th. Casey joined the U.S. Army like his father. Today he practices law in Dahlonega, Georgia. Kelso C. Horne, III became a third generation paratrooper in the mid 1990s. At the awards ceremony at the end of jump school, Kelso C. Horne, III had his wings pinned on him by his grandfather. They weren’t a new pair of wings. They were the same wings that had been pinned on Kelso, Sr. in 1943. Pride and tears overflowed that day.

From Cheltonham, Horne was sent to Wales for further rehabilitation. Horne returned to the 508th the day the unit left with the 82nd Airborne Division for a jump in Holland. Unable to return to duty, Horne remained behind with orders to help care for the wounded until the unit’s return. Horne remained with the 508th throughout the Battle of the Bulge in the winter of 1944. On Valentine’s Day, 1945, Kelso returned to the states. He was sent to Finney Hospital in Thomasville, Georgia - close to home, but not close enough. Kelso was sent even further away from home, this time to Miami, Florida. He returned to duty as a training officer at Fort Benning, where he was discharged in October, 1945.

Kelso and Doris returned to Dublin to make their home. Kelso continued to serve his country with the United States Postal Service. He died on a Saturday, the Saturday after Thanksgiving. In this holiday season, more than fifty years later, let us give thanks for men like Kelso Horne, the man behind the face, and all of the men who risked their lives for to preserve the freedoms we enjoy today.