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Show WITH THE MARINES (By Tech. Sergent Bengamin Goldberg, a Marine Corps Com. bat Correspondent). Somewhere in the South Pacific Delayed After sailing the Sen-en Sen-en Seas and roaming most of the countries in between for 18 years, Vern I. Musick thought he had fulfilled his childhood yearning for adventure. But then Wodld War n came along and the Park City, Utah giant jumped in the middle of the fighting as a private in the Marine Corp. Today, after taking part m the recent action at Peleliu, the 31-year-old Marine admitted: Now 1 really have seen everything. Starting at the age of 13, when he already towered well oved six feet, Musick has been a merchant seaman, an Army man, a hard rock miner, a sand hog and a steel worker. As a sailor, Musick banged around the far corners of the Pacific and got to know Yokoh-una, Yokoh-una, Kebe, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Manila. Then he shipped over to the Atlantic and went ashore in Greece, Turkey, Italy, Rumania, Ruman-ia, France, England. He spent a few more years on a South American Amer-ican run . . .and for a change worked on Atlantic and Pacific coastal boats and the run to Cuba. When Musick enlisted in the Army in 1933, at Fort Douglas, Utah, he weighed 190 and stood six feet, four inches. Salt air and work had moulded him into a rug-ged rug-ged guy. He found peace time Army life too dull for him. After 18 months he purchased out, which was permissible. Meanwhile he'd married. After his stints on land and sea, Musick decided to go underground. He loved the tough work of a hard rock miner and the technique techni-que of high explosives. The job cardied hi all over the West arl to New York and New England as a sand hog. After Pearl Harbor, he worked at Geneva steel plant until his call to service came He kissed Nelda," his wife, and their three children Vern, Jr., 9, Carelyn 7, and Marilyn 4 goodby and jjoined the Marine Corps. D-day night on Pelelin found him infiltrating Jap lines. He killed his first enemy. This is more like it! Next morning, as a demolition man, he blasted out a Jap pill box. For ten days and nights, before they were relieved, Musick and his hard netting outfit out-fit traversed the length of the terrible battlefield, silencing pill-booxes, pill-booxes, blasting caves and killing Japs. Once the Japs pulled a fast one by stealing a box of explosives Vern put in front of a cave with a lighted fuse. He set another box and protected it with rifle fire until it went off. During a moter barrage Musick tried to crowd into a foxhole, but was told 'full up," From 100 feet away he saw a mortar snell land directly on the "ful up fox-hole." fox-hole." Another time he and a bud-dy bud-dy sprawled behind a Jap steamroller steam-roller during a motar attack. A shell landed five feet away, woimd ing his companion. "I had nothing but a few close ones," is the way he described the action. His brother, First Lieutenant Ralph C. Musisk, of Denver Colo is with the Army engineers iii France, It's been four years since Vern has seen Ralph, who also towers six feet four. Vern's family is waiting for him at Park City, Ctah. I HOME ON FURLOUGH Marine Private Connie Rasmus. sen,4895 West 41st South, will be on furlough in Salt Lake City from December 20 to January 3 according to an announcement from her present station at Camp Elliott, California-Private California-Private Rasmussen is employed at the camp as a stock clerk. Previous Pre-vious to her enlistment in the Marine Mar-ine Corps August 21, 1943, she was a solderer and bullet machine operator in a Utah defense plant. She is a graduate of Cyprus high school. HOME TILL JANUARY 6 Marine Corporal Glenn R. Hous-ley Hous-ley is on furlough until January 6 after spending 29 months over-seas, over-seas, during which time he participated partic-ipated in the vicious fighting in Eniwetok atoll of the Marshall islands. is-lands. A son oof J. M. Housley of Salt Lake City, he is an East High graduate and former employe of the Smith-Faus Wholesale Drug company. (Continued on page 8) AWARDED PURPLE HEART j (Continued from page 1) 3 Navy Chief Pharmacist's Mate .j Jack H Berryman, of Salt Lake 3 City, who served as a medical .j corpsman with the Marines at Sai- 3 pan, recently was awarded the j Purple Heart medal for wounds J received during that campaign, . according to a combat corres- j pondent's report. 3 The 23-year-old corpsman at- tended South High and Westmtns- 3 ter College before entering the service. 3 His wife, Selda, resides at 1859 South 11th East street. 3 3! Marine Field Cook, Earnest R. ! Wigginton of 38 South 13th East, Salt Lake City, recently returned i from 29 months' duty overseas ) where was attached to an anti- . j aircraft artillery battalion ana ' participated in the invasion oof Tarawa. At the expiration of his I furlough, he expects an assign. nent to duty somewhere in the continental limits of the United States. He is the son of Mrs. Minerva Wigginton of Los Angeles, and a former West High school student and was formerly freight agent for Rains Transportation Co., prior to his enlistment in the Mar-ine Mar-ine Corps December 12, 1941. |
