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Show Prisoner of Japs Now 'Back Home' It was a gala welcome Minersville Miners-ville gave one of her soldier heroes Wednesday afternoon when Pfc. George Erickson returned home after being a prisoner of the Japs since the fall of Corregidor island early in the Japanese-American war. Only son of Mrs. Nellie Erickson, the returned soldier was released in one of the first raids staged by American and Filipino guerilla forces on Jap prison camps in February, shortly after the landing on Luzon, principal island of the Philippine group. In almost .constant communication communica-tion with his mother and othei-s by telephone and letter since his release re-lease from prison camp, Pfc. Erick-son's Erick-son's return home has been slow, due to stops in San Francisco and enroute to that port. Wiring his family Tuesday forenoon fore-noon from Lynndyl, on his way from Salt Lake, his mother and a few others were enabled to get to Milford shortly after No. 23 arrived, ar-rived, and when the group reached Minersville the band and many of the townspeople were out to welcome wel-come home the first released of four Minersville boys who have been held by the Japs since the surrender of General Wainwright's forces. The welcome is said to have proved somewhat bewildering, bewilder-ing, however, to young Erickson, whose greatest ambition has been just to "get home". Corporal Royle V. Wood, one of the trio remaining in Jap hands, is believed to be in a prison camp near Osaka, on the Japanese mainland, main-land, while Fred Potter is believed to be in a Manchukuo camp. Maurice Clothier, the fourth Minersville Min-ersville boy, was in a Philippine camp the last heard from him, but his present whereabouts are unknown. V |