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Show First Lt. Robert Wilson was wounded seriously on Mindanao, P. I., June 10, according to a war department telegram to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ellis R. Wilson. Bob received gunshot and shrapnel wounds in the chest, back and side. Since being wounded, he has sent two letters to his parents. The nature of the wounds and Bobs condition can better be told in the letters which follow: Im feeling Leyte, June 22 a little better now so perhaps Id better write and tell you a few more of the details. We had just gone to bed in our camp area one night when the Japs started throwing mortars in on us. I heard the first one and Garshe, Kevin, Mont., and four led by Lt. Hatch, struck the island on an offensive patrol and they left a shambles of Jap installations, grounded aircraft and boats. They burned and shattered with their rockets and strafing, 24 buildings, including warehouses, lookout posts, 11 aircraft, 22 boats and ripped up numerous trenches and revetments. Squadron 92 took part in the battle of the Philippines, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. It was called one of the most versatile of the entire fleet, and participated in the most bitterly contested battles of the Pacific war. M. Service News and Notes Bob Wilson Wounded Page Three THE CENTERVILLE NEWSETTE August, 1945 terribly thin so Im anxious to get some good food. My wounds are healing up good but my chest is a little slower. Hope to see you in about a month. Bob entered the U. S. Army with the engineer corps June 6, 1942. After training in Missouri for three months he went overseas and was in Hawaii for a year. In September, 1943, he went to the south Pacific. He labored on Guadalcanal and New Britain. In December, 1944, he was in the Luzon invasion, and later transferred to Mindanao, where he was wounded. Newsette The joins the townspeople and Bobs friends and family in wishing him good luck and a speedy recovery. Spencer Hatch Makes Forced Landing Budd Argyle Tells Of Hitler Plans Budd C. Argyle, brother of Louise A. Randall, believes that the closeness of allied armies to his prisoner of war camp in Barth, Germany, prob- S-S- gt. Cordon Walton Flies The Hump The dangerous and uninviting Himalayan Hump, which Bob the Considine once called worlds worst air route has been the route for the travels of Lt. Gordon E. Walton since last September. Gordon, who was on furlough last month, flew 650 hours 89 round trips as pilot Lt. (jg) Spencer F. Hatch, of of a 7 Commando, in the the Navy air force, has many extheater. uncomand citing perhaps The trip, from upper Assam, fortable experiences to relate, to Kunming, China, is but the one which probably India, dense jungle for half of the way, scares him most took place Janand very high mountains for the uary 2. other half, says L,t. Walton. The Composite Squadron 92, We usually flew from 16,000 U. S. Pacific Fleet Air Force, of to 25,000 feet. which Lt. Hatch was a leader, Although the fliers over the n were on their way to the Hump meet some enemy airGulf invasion. He took craft, Gordon said he did not off from his carrier, the Tulagi, see much o f in the Mindanao Deep (near this. His main Leyte), which is the deepest place opposition was in the Pacific Ocean. As his plane from the weathwas coming down the deck for er. It is usually the takeoff, his engine cut out, quite dismal and and he had to make a forced always heavy landing in the water about 200 with thunderyards ahead of the carrier. He storms. It gets inflated his life jacket, got out quite cold up of the harness and inflated the there, too. On life boat. one trip the The plane sank in 30 seconds, frost caused two and Lt. Hatch was left floating of our engines in his rubber raft. There were to fail- We lost a lot of smoke screens thrown Gordon Walton altitude for 50oo and she feet before it up by the Tulagi finally thawed out could not pick him up, but she again. Other opposition came smoke and light dye from Jap bombers which bombed dropped markers for a destroyer to find the fields where Gordon was the spot. Spencer was left in the based. His plane was hit once. raft for twenty minutes; and was If there had been no thrills finally rescued by a destroyer. nor excitement to keep him ocThe following (in quotations) cupied, Gordon says he wouldnt is taken from Squadron 92s Genhave cared to stay in that part eral Narrative History: of the world. In all of India, On April 2, the fighter diand even across vision led by Lt. Hatch played China, Burma, Africa, there is nothing that even night fighter to splash one Val looks half as good as the United (Japanese) dive bomber before States. sun-u- p and another Val a few minutes later. Credit was divided F. W. (Bill) Cottrell, has been among Hatch, his wingman, Ens. commissioned a full lieutenant Samuel M. Thompson, Jr., Conner, Fla.; Lt. (jg) Frank S. and is serving aboard a rescue Soares, San Rafael, Calif., and ship in the Pacific. Bill received his M. D. degree the latters wingman, Ens. Clifton E. Jones, Maplewood, Mo. at the University of Chicago, and Ninety-two- s Wildcat fighters took his internship at the Gershowed their claws March 29 in mantown hospital, Philadelphia. an attack on Kume Jima island He then went on active duty as doctor aboard an LST in the west of Okinawa, where the enEuropean theater, taking part in emy had been using an improvised airfield. A flight of eight the invasions of Normandy and Wildcats, four led by Lt. Jack southern France. C-4- China-Burma-Ind- ia Lin-gaye- Bob Wilson jumped up to grab my pants. Just as I raised my arm one burst in the tent and the fragments hit me in the side and back. I have about five bad cuts which will heal in time okay, but I also have three cracked ribs and they are quite painful right now because they hurt so much when I go to move. I stayed over there for about 10 days in two different hospitals then they moved me to Leyte to a big general hospital. Im really getting the best of care, and besides there are four very good looking nurses in this ward, so itll probably take quite a while to get better. In a few days now Im going to start needling them about sending me home but I dont know what good it will do me. The Purple Heart I got gives me 87 points now. July 13 Its difficult to write, but Ill try to get off a short letter. It looks as if Im going to be here longer than I expected, probably about two more weeks. My papers are fixed for me to go and just as soon as I am in shape to travel, Ill be on the way. Im getting - Budd C. Argyle ably saved his life, according to documents later found. Budd, who is visiting for 60 days with his sister, relates that while being held in Stalag Luft I in Barth the prisoners rations were cut to below the starvation mark along about March. An allied officer later estimated that the rations the prisoners had been receiving was 500 calories below starvation point. When Budd and his comrades were liberated May 1, 1945, they found papers and documents which contained orders from Adolph Hitler to the effect that the guards were to slowly starve the prisoners until they were helpless, and then machine-gu- n them. This was to be in reprisal for the allied bombing of Dresden, and other large German cities. For some reason or other, says Budd, The orders were not carried out. Probably because the allied armies were getting so close, and guards were wondering about their own necks. Budd entered the Army air forces September of 1943, and took basic at Buckley field, Colorado; gunnery at Las Vegas, Nev., overseas training at Dall-har- t, Texas and Gulfport, Miss.; and actual combat training at Langley field, Va. August, 1944, he went overseas and flew as a of a 7 with the 15th air force in Italy. His toughest mission in which he came back safely was his 13th. The plane was attacked by fighters and hit quite badly. One engine went out and another began acting up, and the ball turret gunner was wounded. They had to land in an auxiliary field and rushed the gunner to a hospital. Most unlucky mission of them all was his 25th, over Lenz, Aus-Tur- n tail-gunn- er B-1- to page jour |
