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Show Page 6 0 R E M TIMES Thursday, August 7, 2008 Raining shells in the Pacific Ocean veterans! I makes his home in Walls-hur. Walls-hur. This week, Richins tells in his own words about going to Imttle nn the huttleship USS New Mexico. I I'-re 1 was. a kid who never thought In 'd get on a ship, and m three months. I was on a battleship, shooting at an island in the Pacific 1 'd never heard such noise in my life as the main battery the guns were deafening. We had no ear protection; we were iust toid to yawn, and that was supposed to close or oX'n some valve in the ear. When the guns went off, if you barely touched the eighth-inch eighth-inch sti-el of the director tub you sat in. the vibr ation would burn you. I learned that quick it her hold on to it or get aw ay from it. Don't just barely touch it. I i emenilH'r the damage the big shells did when they hit the islands. You could actually see the shells as they were fired, and each shell was about the worth of a new liuick. We'd say, "1 here goes another new liuick." People on the In-aches also said they could see the shells l oniing. but as long as you could still hear them, you were ail right. When you couldn't heat them, that's when the shell was coming right at you. ( )n our way to R&R (rest and iei uperation) in Australia, we pas ,ed bv the northern tip ol New (iumea. at New Island, a place called Kavieng, where the laps had airfields. That was the only time my ship shot 12-gun sah os w hen 1 was on it I'm sure thai our old 35.000-ton 35.000-ton wagon went sideways in the water when all 12 of those guns went off on the starboard side We were there for about three hours. I learned later that this was a diversionary tactic, to make 1 he Japs t hink w e were going to invade that island instead of another area. We then went tothe Mariana Mari-ana Islands, and right on in to ( iuani. Saipan, I inian and Rota. We shelled gun emplacements, emplace-ments, bunkers anything we received reports on. As the range-iinder ojx'rator, with a 12 scope. I had the best pair of eyes on the ship. We had coordinates coor-dinates on our targets, thanks to reconnaissance maps. SPECIAL EVENT SPECIAL Fi1(Circ& OMEDAYCrJLYl SPECIAL FINANCING OFFERED! PRE-ORDER WHILE YOU CAN! Come learn more about the World's only luxury, high performance sewing and embroidery systeml Mon-Fri 10 am - 6 pm - Sat oo west tenter street . II. i K Editor's note: This is the third in a series about Lave Richins, a one-time resident of Utah Valley who now Our shells could be pretty accurate. We'd launch two small spotter airplanes from our ships (then later pick them up in the water). If our shelling was short, the pilots of these airplanes would tell us how short. Then we would raise our guns till we were on target, and the pilot would say, "On target. Fire for effect." We'd then fire maybe four or five more rounds into that area, because be-cause we now had an accurate target. The iNew Mexico got the name "Queen of the Fleet" because of her gunnery, her engineering, and her battle efficiency. ef-ficiency. The fleet admiral was always on our ship, the flagship. flag-ship. And our gunners were very accurate. The problem was that the Japs often buried themselves in tunnels in the islands. We could destroy pillboxes, but the Marines had to go in and use flamethrowers to burn the Japanese alive out of the caves and tunnels. You'd think that nothing could be alive on an island after we got through shelling it, but we'd have to hit a target right on to destroy it. Iwo Jima was really bad, because it was a honeycomb of tunnels and caves. W e could have blasted Mount Suribachi all day long, but unless we hit a cave entrance directly, we couldn't stop the Japanese from bringing their guns and mortars in and out. After returning to Bremerton, Bremer-ton, Wash., to be regunned and remodeled, we went directly into Leyte Gulf in the Philippines, Philip-pines, where the Japanese welcomed wel-comed us with an air attack. This was our first meeting with the kamikazes, the Japanese Japa-nese suicide planes. Next week: The kamikaze as a devastating weapon. Some veterans may wish, on their own, to tape or digital record their memories of military service. These will be transcribed and archived. For instructions on how to do this, e-mail Don Norton, at donnorton9 byu.edu. i 9 am - 5 pm 374-5520 provo www.artista.net Warn I 1 mmmmmmmmimfommmmmmmmmmtmmmmwtimmmi iirwiiwwiiiiwweiniWMiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiBiiiai Own a small business? Ready to start one? Discover why so many Utah County businesses use Western Community Bank. With every capability you need, we stand ready to serve. Call 222-9006. Visiting the worlds largest amusement park Melissa Mayntz .YjPTH COUNTY STAFf fhen most people ' visit an amusement amuse-ment park during the summer, sum-mer, they stav for a few hours to enjoy the rides, games and food with family and friends. I, on the other hand, visited one of the world's largest amusement parks Cedar Point in Sandusky, San-dusky, Ohio for six weeks this summer, but not to play. Rather than waiting in line for the park's 17 roller coasters, coast-ers, tasting frozen custard, elephant ears and funnel cakes or enjoying the nightly light show, I spent my summer handing out park maps, answering an-swering questions and cleaning clean-ing the midway with a broom and dustpan. For six weeks, I was a sweep. The job may not be glamorous, glamor-ous, but it was interesting. Regular park visitors wouldn't think that sweeping up cigarette butts, used napkins, dropped food and yes, the occasional oc-casional vomit would be fascinating, fasci-nating, but it is amazing what people drop on the midways of this 364-acre amusement park. My sweepings included all of the following in just the short time I was there: news Hawaiian Holiday The Orem Senior Friendship Center Cen-ter is hosting an Hawaiian Holiday -themed dance on Saturday from 8-11 p.m. Nile Miner is the disc jockey and admission to the event is $5 per person. The Orem Senior Friendship Friend-ship Center is located at 93 N. 400 East and is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The center staff can be reached at 229-7111. More information than what follows can be found on the center at www.oremcity.org under the recreation link. Trips and Tours Seniors are allowed only to sign up for themselves and a spouse or a senior -aged friend. Current Cur-rent Orem Senior Friendship Center memberships are required re-quired for all participants on the tours. Sign-ups for September tours are being taken through mtrnm X nnn (mm DRAPER, (JT 1359S S Royal Chat Or 5BR 3.5BA 4,201 sf- Exclusive Steeple :. Chase area! Numerous upgrades, ornate landscaping and stunning valley views. Grand entry with a beautiful wrougbtiron staircase, fantastic kitchen ivith granite, center island, stainless steel appliances, ' gorgeous tile backsptash and a gas cooktop with a pot-filler and double wall oven. Luxurious master suite has a double sided -fireplace to the jetted tub, separate shower, double vanity and a large walk-in closet t. with built-ins. Built 2004. Approx .33ac lot. Attached garage. Nominal Opening Bid: $250,000 Inspection: 1-4pm Sun Aug 3rd and 10th and 2 hri prior to sale time. Sells: 10:45am, Mon., Aug. 1 1th . -. Many properties available for Online Bidding, see web for details williamsauction.com 800.801 .8003 B 3(& uc 5752tiiBAiw uw6iioa' I Broken shoelaces I Sunglasses t Batteries I Contact leas drops I Fake fingernails I Wet socks I Hats Crayoas t Toenail clippers I Buttons I Wet naps I Car keys Of course, what I swept up most was food. Not only park food, including French fries, mini corn dogs, ice cream and other treats, but also all types of candy and snacks that guests brought into the park themselves. Orange rind, cereal, ce-real, corn chips, bread crusts, sugar wafers, granola bars, grapes, pistachios, almonds, apple slices, crackers, sliced cheese, chips and salad dressing dress-ing packets all made their way into my dustpan over the summer. Working at a world class amusement park isn't all about the trash, however. It's about the people you meet and work with. Cedar Point hires more than 3,000 seasonal employees, employ-ees, many of whom travel great distances to work there. While it is true that many employees em-ployees are from the Midwest, including Ohio, and also West Virginia, Michigan and Perm- August. Those tours are as follows: I Sept. 6 Greek Festival in Salt Lake City costs $5 and the bus leaves at 9:30 a.m. I Sept. 10 Wendover Turn-Around Turn-Around costs $8 and leaves at 8 a.m. I Sept. 15 "Rockrollers and Pancakes" at the Valley Center Cen-ter Playhouse in Lindon has the bus leaving the Friendship Center at 7 p.m. Cost is $5. November tour A five day trip is planned Nov. 3-7 for Laughlin, Nevada. Cost is $230 for each person, single occupancy occu-pancy or $ 170 per person for a double occupancy (sign up together). to-gether). The bus will leave by 8 a.m. from the center. More information is available at the center. Blood pressure clinics Alpha Al-pha Omega Hospice is sponsoring spon-soring a blood pressure clinic from 10:30 a.m. to noon on Friday. Tuesday at the same time, Gentiva will sponsor a blood pressure clinic as well. Transportation - Home-bound individuals have transportation transporta-tion available to them through United Way by calling 374-9306. 374-9306. Meals are cooked at OTHER AREA AUCTIONS ALPINE, UT 533 E MountatnvtHt Dr 6BR 5BA 4,203sf- KANA8, UT 307 Pipe Springs Or 3BR 3BA2,013sf-Approx 3BA2,013sf-Approx ,67ac tot. MIDWAY, UT " : 1364 W 310 N 3BR 2,841sfA. Apprex ,05ac lot. SALT LAKE CITY. UT : 3080 S 500 E 6BR 2,504sf4-- Near Robert R fite f ark. SANDY, UT 318 (Dm Hollow Dr 6BR 4BA 6,56Bsf- Built 1980. . SARATOGA SPRINGS, UT 262 W Harbor Park Way 4BR 2.SBA 2,014sf- Built 2006. 872 N Red Fox In 3BR 1.713sf- 2-story Built 2005. 5 Buyers Premium May Apply ,mmam cms WesterirjJ Community Bank 7 Life's needs. Life's bank." ftTENCOMMUNITYaAMK.COM I swung pendulum-style 140 feet above the midway at 70 miles per hour aboard the outrageous maXair. sylvania, many more are from more distant states such as Texas, California and Florida. I wasn't even the only employee em-ployee with connections to Utah: Jaren Grob, a champion in-line skater who grew up in Provo and Orem, is one of the stars of the park's All Wheels Extreme stunt show. Utah and Ohio may be quite a distance apart, but that does not compare to the great distances that the park's international in-ternational employees travel for the chance to live and work in the United States. On my small sweep crew of 15 employees, we had representatives repre-sentatives from Bulgaria. Kazakhstan, Ka-zakhstan, the Czech Republic, Columbia. China and Romania. Roma-nia. Other park employees are also from Russia, Singapore, Nigeria. Thailand, Poland and dozens of other countries. No matter where we are from, all the employees have two things in common: a dedication to providing supe Utah Valley Regional Medical Center and are furnished by Mountainland Association of Governments. Meals on Wheels Mountainland Moun-tainland Association of Governments can provide a hot, nutritious meal to those seniors who are homebound as well. Call 229-3802 to be placed on the delivery list. Luncheons The Utah County Security Center prepares meals for Orem Senior Friendship Center. Cen-ter. Meals are suitable for persons with diabetes, heart disease and hypertension. A list of the number of carbohydrates carbohy-drates in each food item on the menu can be made available so that diabetics can make an informed choice of what they will eat based on their own individual in-dividual carbohydrate requirements. require-ments. The suggested donation for the meal is still $2 for 60-plus seniors and $4.90 for those 59 years old and younger. The suggested donation for salads, sal-ads, which are still available when pre-ordered, is $2.25 for Content does matter Over 450,000 unique online viewers per month. Where else would you advertise? www.htraldextra.com 1 it o m 833 S. 170 E. boxmartofprovoyahoo.com 625 N. State St. Orem 224-2698 boxmartqwestoffice.net Benefittontrols COM PAN IES Large and Small Employer Groups (fully-insured and self-insured plans) Individual Plans & Family Plans Medical Prescription Dental Vision Life Disability ? (LTDSTD) HSAHRAFSA Cancer Medicare rior guest service in a unique environment and enjoying a thrilling summer of roller coasters and other exciting experiences. I waited my turn in line to ride Top Thrill Dragster, Drag-ster, which at 420 feet tall and 120 miles per hour is one of the world's tallest and fastest' roller coasters. I swung pendulum-style 140 feet above the midway at 70 miles per hour aboard the outrageous maXair. I enjoyed all the park's other coasters and many of its thrill rides, and ate my share of frozen custard and corn dogs. And at the end of my wild ride of a summer, I returned to Utah with more than a few dollars in my pocket and atrocious tan lines I brought home a summer's worth of memories and an address book of new friends to share them with. For more information on Cedar Point, including how to work at the park, visit www. CedarPoint.com. seniors and $5.65 for those 59 or younger. Mountainland Association As-sociation Of Governments and The State Of Utah fund the senior lunch program. MENU Friday Roast beef, mashed potatoes with gravy, cooked carrots, green salad with dressing, whole wheat bread. Mandarin oranges. Monday Cheese quesadillas, Spanish rice, red beans, green salad with dressing, fresh orange. Tuesday Sweet and sour chicken, rice, stir fried veggies, green salad with dressing, whole wheat roll, chilled peaches. Wednesday Chili cheese macaroni, green salad with dressing, whole wheat bread, Mandarin oranges orang-es with cottage cheese. Thursday Chicken pot pie, chicken gravy, carrot coins, green salad sal-ad with dressing, whole wheat bread. Mandarin oranges. Provo 377-1011 Hospital income Benefits Long Term Care (LTC) Accident uS |