Source: The Mt. Pleasant News, May 4, 1945 (page 2)
Articles:
With County Men and Women In The U.S. Service
Tech. Sgt. Jack E. McCabe arrived Tuesday night to spend a 25 day furlough with his sister, Mrs. P.C. Brau, and his parents in Clinton, Iowa. Sgt. McCabe, who has been overseas for the past 38 months, has been with a hospital evacuation unit in New Guinea and in the Philippines. Following his furlough he will report to Hot Springs, Ark. (cont. on next page)
Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Swartout have received word of the promotion of their son Glenn Swartout of the Air Force from second to first lieutenant. He is a pilot on a Thunderbolt fighter plane and recently received a new ship which he has named the “Hillsboro Brat.” His wife and baby live with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Byron Coleman near Harrisburg.
Mr. and Mrs. Frank Smart received word from their son, Sgt. Charles C. Smart, recently that while on a short leave he visited the town of Bonn, Germany and while walking down a street met another Hillsboro serviceman, M. Sgt. Frank Whitaker, son of Mrs. John Sportt. Sgt. Smart states that he is fine and that M. Sgt. Whitaker is just the same.
Pvt. Jay M. Moorehead has left for camp after a 30 day furlough with his family, mother and other relatives. His wife and little daughter returned with him. His address is now 37435601 Co. A, 5th Bn. C.R.S., Wakeman Gen. Hospital, Camp Atterbury, Ind. He was with Patton's army in Belgium and England about three months before returning to the states.
New address: Pvt. Arvid Anderson, 37686831, Co. A, 108th I.T.B 27th I.T.R., I.R.T.C. Camp Maxey, Texas.
Dick Howe BM 1/C arrived home Wednesday from an extended period of sea duty in which he took part in 11 major battles. He will be in the states two months. His first recreation was to arise at five o'clock this morning and go fishing. Headquarters, Africa-Middle East Theater (AMET), Cairo, Egypt, 27 April, 1945, Private Kenneth M. Rhea, husband of Mrs. Alberta Rhea of 609 East Monroe street, Mt. Pleasant, Ia., has arrived safely overseas and is stationed at one of the large Army installations located near Cairo, Egypt, awaiting orders for his final assignment. A graduate of Crawfordsville Consolidated high school and the State University of Iowa, Iowa City, Pvt. Rhea was employed by A.C. Nielson Company of Chicago and New York City before entering Army service in December 1943. The Africa-Middle East Theater (AMET) in which Pvt. Rhea is currently stationed, covering all of Africa and the Middle East, is larger in area than the continental United States. Pvt. Rhea's parents, Mr. and Mrs. J.C. Rhea reside at Crawfordsville, Iowa.
Keith Bogle of the U.S. Navy reported to Des Moines, Wednesday, following a leave which he spent with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. L.M. Bogle. From Des Moines he will go to the west coast for schooling.
Corporal Russell Nelson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Carl Nelson of Winfield, has arrived safely in France.
Dean Haines, senior of the Winfield high school, left the first of the week for navy duty. He enlisted a few weeks ago and received his call last Saturday to report for duty. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Glen Haines.
Byron Lirvix of the U.S. Navy is home on shore leave. He came from Virginia and goes to California when he leaves here. (cont. on next page)
Dorothy Wittmer, Y-3/c. Of the SPARS, is now stationed in New York City. Her address is: D.J. Wittmer, Y-3/c (WR), Spar Bks, Embassy Hotel W. 70th and Broadway, New York, N.Y.
A new address has been received for Joseph D. Williams, S. 2/c Rdm. It may be secured from his wife who lives at 609 N. Lincoln street.
T. Sgt. Harold Bouge, who has been with the Air Force in Italy the past nine months, has completed his 50 missions and is enjoying a furlough with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jes Bouge. His brother, Corp. Max Bouge, who returned from overseas and has been with his parents has had an extension of several days on his furlough in order that he may be with his younger brother.
Mrs. John Farnum received word Thursday that her son, Paul L. Farnum, S 1-c, is confined to the hospital with a severe case of eczema on his legs. Friends may secure his address from his mother. S 1-c Farnum, whose wife and family reside in Keokuk, was last home on leave in September.
Richard Breazeale, who has been stationed at Camp Ord, Calif., is enjoying a visit with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ed Breazeale and friends of Salem and Mt. Pleasant communities.
Ensign Bill Barnum, who recently received his wings at Corpus Christi, has been sent to Banna River, Fla. His address is NAS Banna River Fla., Box 2.
Robert Potter, Ph M 3-c, left Thursday morning for the west coast where he will report for sea duty.
Pfc. Leland Olson, ATC, of the Army air force, arrived this morning from Washington, D.C. For a 15 day furlough with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Luther Olson and family. Following his furlough he will report back to Washington, D.C.
Source: The Mount Pleasant News, Fri., May 4, 1945, pg. 2
Ensign Bergstrom Aboard Ship Hit By Dive Bomber
The following account of how a Jap flyer dived on the Hospital Ship Comfort is of special interest in Henry county because a Henry county man, Ensign Wallace Bergstrom of Swedesburg, was abord the ship. Relatives have had no word from him since the ship was hit.
The detailed report:
Aboard Hospital Shipo Comfort at a Western Pacific Base – A Japanese suicide plane explosion which wiped out all three surgery rooms aboard this American hospital ship threw 2d Lt. Nurse Evelyn C. Bacheler into the air and onto the stirrups holding a patient to whom she was giving anesthetic. The patient was killed. Twenty-eight others on the ship also died. Twenty-two were injured.
Miss Bacheler, who is from Pocatello, Idaho, was one of the two nurses working in surgery who survived the attack, 50 miles south of Okinawa Saturday night. Five operations were in progress when the single engined Japaese plane hit the super-structure deck.
Surgeon Survives
“All hell broke loose,” Lt. Bacheler said. “Bulkheads were flying through the air. I remember being thrown into the operating table stirrups and then picking myself off the floor. Then I started calling the names of the people who had been there in Surgery 3, trying to find out if they were all right.”
One survivor was Maj. Dorsey Brannan of Morgantown, W. Va., who was just finishing an operation. The blast blew him through a porthole and onto the deck. The Comfort's skipper, Cmdr. A. Tooker of Saybrook, Conn., said the suicide plane was first seen while apparently diving for the brightly lighted Red Cross marked ship from the starboard quarter.
“Apparently,” he said, “the pilot decided he was going to miss, because he pulled up on the port side where we could see him against the moon.
Dives Second Time
“Then he climbed to about 500 feet, circled around again to starboard, and dived again. The plane hit nearly amidship.”
The plane's engine went through the super-structure deck, the deck, the main deck, and the second deck.
Tooker said the casualties, nearly all of them in the surgery rooms, were seven army wounded from Okinawa, who were killed; five army surgeons killed, one navy medical officer killed, six army nurses killed, nine army corpsmen killed, and one navy cook killed. One army corpsman is missing. Nine Okinawa wounded patients were injured, as were three navy officers, three navy enlisted men, three army officers, four army nurses, and nine army enlisted men. The wounded were transferred here to shore hospitals.
Source: The Mount Pleasant News, Fri., May 04, 1945, pg. 2
