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Show jIIip' Saluting Uintah Matthew Brixey Specialist Matthew M. Brixey is the son of Mike and Kathy Brixey of Vernal.. He is married to Jhean Carello, and is the father to Gideon Brixey. Brixey graduated in 1992 from Uintah High School, and enlisted in 1997. He will be serving until the year 2002 as Fire Direction Control Specialist for a 155MM Self v Propelled Howitzer Battalion in Cissen, Germany. His address is: Spec. Matt Brixey Alpha 23 Field Artillery CMR452 Box 2134 APOAE, 09045 Stocks serves through three wars Artie J. Stocks was born Sept. 13, 1922 on the family farm at Bridgeland, Utah. Stocks' mother passed away in 1936 of a heart attack and at age 14, he took the responsibility to care for a sister and brother while his dad was away at work. Stocks attended school at Duchensne for a time, then for a short time he attended Vernal schools. At age 17 he joined the Civilian Conservations Corps. While in the CCC's he was sent to Kamas, Utah to work. While there, a Marine Recruiter visited their camp. Stocks was very impressed with the sharp uniform and he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on his 1 8th birthday. In January 1941, Stocks was assigned to a detachment of the Marines in the Sooth Pacific. That duty was to construct machine gun emplacements and also anti-aircraft gun emplacements. This duty assignment was on Wake Island. Wake Island was destined to be a state-of-the-art defensive position. Only , problem was, it was started too late or the Japanese struck too soon. There were only a few Marines. Navy, Army and civilian workers, and the Japanese were finally able to over-run Wake Island. But by their own admission, the Japanese paid a terrible price. When tle smoke cleared away Dec. 23. 1941, the Japanese losses, by their own admission was: 11 Naval vessels; 29 Bombers; a total of 5,700 Japanese killed. The total losses to the U.S. Marines KIA and 12 FAF fighter planes. Wake Island, Peale Island, and Wilkes Island formed a horseshoe. Wake itself was pretty much horseshoe horse-shoe shaped, with Wilkes and Peale foriming longer legs on each side. After several raids with their bombers, the Japanese thought the sailing would be smooth for their invasion. Major Devereux held his fire until the Japanese Flotilla was within 4,500 yards. Then the Japanese found out Warld War II had started. The Japanese fleet moved from east to west The first ship hit was from a 5-inch gun and airplane from Peacock Point. They continued west and caught it again at Kuku Point and Toki Point. From that point it was just a matter of time until the Marines ran out of ammunition. ammu-nition. By this time most of the civilian construction workers were carrying ammo and other supplies. There was just too much re-enforcement re-enforcement for the Japanese and none at all for the Marines. By Dec. 23, 1941 , the Marines were short on ammunitition and other fighting supplies, and outnumbered. The remaining Marines had no choice but turn over Wake Island to the Japanese. On Dec. 23, 1941, Major Devereux gave the heartbreaking order to cease fire. After all the Marines were accounted for, they were taken to the air strip. Their hands were tied with wire behind their backs with a loop around their npeks, so if they tried to let their arms lower a little, they would be choked. Three civilians from Utah who were working on the island were also taken prisoner. Howard Mitcftcll and Wayne Mitchell, brothers from Bennett, and Clinton Veterans' Corner Roy James, Cmdr. American Legion 789-8153 Keith Harrison, State Cmdr. DAV 789-5360 Duane Hall, Cmdr. VFW 5560 789-4643 Basin Veterans Matthew M. Brixey Stevenson of ML Home, were working for Morrison Knudsen Construction Co. It has been told that when the Japanese learned these three had fought for their country as civilians, they were executed. exe-cuted. On Wake Island, the Marines were separated from the civilians. The Marines were loaded aboard the Japanese ship Nittsu Manj. The civilians remained on Wake. The next 44 months was pure hell for these Marines. They arrived at Yokohama, Japan on Jan. 17, 1942, and were immediately immedi-ately shipped to Shanghai. They arrived there on Jan. 23, and were marched eight miles to Woosung prison camp. Some of the Marines were taken to a nearby prison camp, Kiang Wang. ' ' ' ' In May 1945, the Marines were loaded aboard freight cars and moved 700 miles north to Fentai, near Peking. They were moved again on June 19, 1945 to the South Korean port city of Pusan. approximately approxi-mately 600 miles. The food they received at Pusan was nothing but garbage. They were then taken to Takagawa, Hokkaido. On Aug. 14, all the Japanese in and around the prison camp began screaming and crying. The Marines knew their ordeal was almost over. On SepL 11, 1945, Major Devereux received the ceremonial surrender sword from the prison camp commander. At the time they were liberated, these Marines, who would normally weigh 175 pounds, weighed 97 pounds. "The American Rescue teams arrived to begin our pRxxssing to go home," says Stocks. "I was finally put aboard a Navy hospital ship and started toward the country I love so much...the United States of America." Stocks received an Honorable Discharge from the U.S. Marine Corps in Feb. 1946. He returned to Duchesne to try to put his life back together. When the Korean war started. Stocks re-enlisted into the U.S. Marine Corps so he could go back and serve his country. After Korea, Stocks decided to stay in the Marine Corps until retirement. During that time the Viet Nam War broke out and Stocks served his country once again. Stocks loves his country and has given so much of himself to iL He gave 22 years as a proud Marine. In 1988. Utah awarded 135 Prisoners of War Medals. Among those receiving this medal were Artie Stocks. Hoyle Chew, Lester Barger. Mark Oberhansley. June Basitan, Howard Harmson, Albert Potts, Wayne Anderson, Clyde Freestone and Kay Jensen. One day while in Vernal, Artie visited the Veteran's War Memorial. He stated, "This is a little strange, here I stand, 22 years as a Marine, ribbons all over my chest, discharged dis-charged 8s a Senior Master Sergeant and totally unashamed of the tears running down my face." As he looked over the memorial he said, "Finally, someone cared." 7 Selective Service Internet registration makes history More than 250,000 men have registered reg-istered with Selective Service using the Internet since the program's inauguration exactly one year ago. Agency officials say on-line registrations regis-trations now account for about one quarter of incoming registrations. Dec. 2, 1999, marks the first anniversary of the Selective Service System's popular Internet registration registra-tion program. Its start-up received worldwide press coverage last year. Federal law requires men turning 18 who reside in the United States, citizens and non-citizens alike, to register with Selective Service within 30 days of their 18th birthday. birth-day. About two million men are required to register every year. Male U.S. citizens reaching age 18 must register regardless of where htey live, so Internet registration is especially convenient for American men who reside overseas. "When Selective Service began the on-line registration program, it was an immediate success," says the Honorable Gii Coronado, Director of Selective Service. "It is gratifying to see the number of young men who are responding by logging on and registering via computers com-puters at schools, libraries, and homes and from overseas locations. In fact, no other service we've provided pro-vided has had more immediate impact than on-line registration. Its popularity surpasses our most optimistic opti-mistic expectations." To register on-line, a man with a valid Social Security number must connect to teh Selective Service Web Site at http:www.sss.gov. After keying in his registration information, he clicks on the VFW officer schedules visit A Field Service Officer from the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Department Sen ice Office, in Salt Lake City, will be in Vernal Tuesday, Dec. 14 to assist persons in understanding and applying for rightful VA benefits, preparing and documenting application for compensation, com-pensation, pension, hospitalization. - Inn,; 1 j y t - "m i i ' I 9 The interest rate on our Home Equity Credit may have you thinking Santa Claus Li running the hank. least expensive way to borrow money. And. a Home Equity Credit Line is the the way to do it. The current rate is only 8.5 APR. And since interest paid on a Home Equity Credit Line is tax deductible the after tax 'At f mm , fmm. mm UO W VWMV JIHMiH W Ml IV NH FHC "Submit" button and instantly receives his Selective Service number. num-ber. Additionally, he receives a formal for-mal acknowledgment postcard in the mail withi.i two weeks. Men also can register by returning a mail-back registration form received in the mail, by registering at any U.S. post office, or by checking check-ing a box on government forms such as the student financial aid application. Even so, Coronado points out that the fastest and easiest easi-est way to register is through the Internet Although late registrations are accepted, a man cannot register after reaching age 26. Failure to register is a felony and causes a man to be ineligible for student loans and grants for college, most federal and many state jobs, jobs with the U.S. Postal Service, and federal job training programs. Moreover, male immigrants who are subject to the registration requirement also may be denied U.S. citizenship if they do not register. regis-ter. Although the U.S. relies primarily on an all-volunteer military today. Selective Service continues to be a low -cost national defense manpower manpow-er "insurance policy" that provides the means to reinstate a fair and equitable draft, if necessary. "Without Selective Service and the draft registration program, America would be far less prepared to respond in a crisis," Coronado explains. "The success of on-line registration is not only a milestone in our Agency's history, it is a milestone mile-stone in America's history." and other benefits. This is a free sen ice and veterans need not be members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars to qualify for assistance. The VTA Field Service Officer will be working out of the Vernal Workforce Sen ice Center from 9 to 11 a.m. ' .i. . . tr !; s 5.69 AftsrTaxAP.il is the season to think about the ZIONS BANK uw.zwnjbank.com wr hf mm m MW, y r nfJm tftrflW Mm l 1 1 AMfc mi ft- ntAiM VJVT Vm 1 liM WP BHV Wmm 9 fw flVWi HW. 1 lB Wl 9 MM W Wmw WWV WW1 m 1MM plfi Wednesday, December e, Navy officer Cook in Japan While most Americans are celebrating cele-brating the holiday season at home or with family, Navy Petty Officer 2nd Gass Mark A. Cook, son of Glen H. and Carolyn B. Cook of Vernal, is scheduled to spend the holidays forward deployed to Yokosuka, Japan, aboard the aircraft air-craft carrier USS Kitty Hawk. Cook is one of more than 63.000 Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen who are serving our country separated from their families fami-lies and loved ones this holiday period. Cook is working abroad to preserve pre-serve peace as part of our nation's forward defense forces. The 1986 graduate of Uintah High School joined the Navy in August of 1991. Christianson graduates from BT Army Pvt. Anthony J. Christianson has graduated from One Station Unit Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Waynesville, Mo. The course of instruction included basic military training and advanced individual training. Christianson is the son of Don C and Mary J. Christianson of Vernal. He is a 1998 graduate of Uintah High School. To have a veteran from the Uintah Basin recognized, please send a picture and brief service biography to the Vernal Express, P.O. Box 1000, Vernal Utah 84078. 8.50 Before Tax A.RR. rafe is actually only about 5.69. So whether its paying off your Christmas credit card debt, financing a child's education or buying a car the smart money comes from a Home Equity Credit Line. To apply, call 1-800-789-LOAN (5626) or stop by your local Zions Bank branch. 1999 vemai Express 5 Michael Sumner Sumner joins Utah Army National Guard Michael Sumner, of Neola, enlisted enlist-ed in the Utah Army National Guard on Sept 25. 1999. The Vernal Unit's newest recruit will be entering Basic Training on June 14. 2000. While serving the National Guard, Sumner will be acting as a 12B, specializing in combat engineering. engi-neering. Sumner is the son of Lori and Chet Sumner. He will graduate from Union High School on June 2, 2000. He is a wrestler in high school and likes to rodeo. He plans to attend college at Weber State College and major in Mechanical Engineering. Sumner received a $3,000 bonus when he enlisted. "Some of the reasons rea-sons I enlisted in the National Guard was to serve my country, and since it's only part-time, it left time for a mission." Line Ant iw. a tit |