Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 47, No. 178, Ed. 1 Friday, August 4, 1944 Page: 1 of 8
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Japs Report Powerful U.S. Sea Force 65 0
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NAZIS FLEE AS REDS POISE FOR
THRUST
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Sweetwater Reporter
BUY IT IN SV^KiWATER
'West Texas* heading Newspaper"
47th Year
Sweetwater, Texas, Friday, August 4, 1944
DEDICATED TO BERVICLi
No. 178
• ARDMORK COTTON Olli All Mi BCRNff—View of (he seed house of (he Choctaw Cotton Oil
* Mill, Ardmore, Okla., in which a fire started and caused an estimated loss of $:{()(),000. VOver
$100,1)0(1 in peanuts were stored in the burning seed house and hundreds of hales of cotton were
destroyed. (NEA Telephoto.)
<1
m
TRIM A \ GRKETED OV RKTl'RX TO CAPITOL—. '• nator Harry S. Truman, Democratic Vice-
Presidential nominee, shown being greeted by members of bis \Var Investigating Committee
as he returned to the Capitol. Shortly (hereafter be resigned ii> cliairman of the group. Left to
right are Senators: Homer Ferguson, of Mich.; Harold .A. Burton, of Ohio; Tom Connally, of
Texas anil Owen Brewster of Maine. (XEA Telephoto.)
HayesChargesWorkcrsBeing Capt. Chas. Hodges
Loses Left Foot
f Kept Idle By Threats In
Philadelphia Racial Strike
PHILADELPHIA. (CP) —
} Strike leader •Iftmes McMe-
liamin says he will advise
Philadelphia's transit work-
ers to do as the army ad-
vises in the city's transpor-
tation strike. McMcnauiin's
M. announcement follows a
two-hour conference vith
(Jenerrl Philip Hayes.
WASHINGTON (Up) The
—army commander in charge of
#the strike - bound Philadelphia
transit system — Major General
Philip Hayes — charges t hat
most of the 5800 strikers are be-
ing kept away from work by
threats.
'J General Hayes says s large
percentage of the striking em-
ployes reported to their termin-
als this morning, but were afraid
to go to work. Hayes says lie
is ready to provide protection on
Jhll lines, and adds that all I lie
penalties provided by law will
be invoked against any one who
attempts to interfere with opera-
tions.
The transit lines have resum
J'd only partial operation The
city's elevated and subway sys-
tems are operating on near-nor-
mal schedules. I nit only a few
trolleys and buses are to be
found in Philadelphia's streets.
The men who arc work-
ing have ignored an ultima-
tum by strike leaders that
they should not return until
(he army gives them a writ-
ten guarantee (hat negro
employes will not be train-
ed or used as operators.
Attorney Genet I Biddle has
directed the federal bureau of
investigation to determine whe-
ther there has been violation of
any federal statute in the trans-
it strike.
Meat~'hile, ' transportation in
Montreal remains completely
tied up for the second day by a
strike of transit workers who
want a union shop.
Detroit is still the scene of a
labor-dispute involving some 7,-
000 workers at five General Mo-
tors war plants. The strikers
have voter! to reject union ap-
peals and a war labor board di-
rective to return to work. The
walkout which has gone into its
ninth dn.v, is in protest over t.he
discharge of employes.
In an attempt to hold war
workers at their jobs and to free
200,000 other men and women for
See HAYES Page I
j Trippc Paints Glowinq
Post War Picturc For
World Air Travel
NEW YORK (UP) Presi-
dent .Tuatt Trippc of Pan Ameri-
Jcan Airways paints a glowing
postwar future for intercontinen-
tal air passengers.
The airline executive predicts
that new "super clippers" equip-
ped to carry more than 10Q pass-
engers, will cruise the stratos-
phere at :i00 miles an hour.
Trlppe also foresees it boom
in inter-Anvrican travel, with
luxury airliners making the
trip from New York to Rio in 20
flours for a fare of $J 75. The pre-
sent travel time is 06 hours and
the fare almost $500.
I
4 LEAF LUCKY
CH11 ,OWEE. Mo (UP)
Mrs Cliff Cecil of Chilhowee,
Mo. says a four-leaf clover to
her means one tiling—mail.
She found one of the good luck
tokens the other day. Then she
went to the mail box and found
a letter—the first in many
weeks—from her son in France
with the armed forces.
The eon, Perry Cecil, mention-
ed he hadn't heard from homo
in many woks. So Mrs. Cecil
found another four-leaf clover
and mailed it to him right
away.
She says that he got the let-
ter with the token—and 45 oth-
ers at the same time.
In 8-17 Air Raid
Capt. Charles Hodges, pilot on
la B-17. who was badly injured
over France, June 18, lost his
| left foot, he notified his step-
; mother, Mrs. Ann Hodges, yes-
j terday.
She had previously received
] word that he was seriously
j Wounded, but that he was im-
proving satisfactorily in a Lon-
| Ion hospital. He was hit in both
i Iges while in an air raid and
i had a narrow escape
Since he has been hospitalized
j he has received promotion to a
| captain, havihg been advanced
| from a second lieutenant. He had
| completed more than 30 missions
i when injured. His wife and in-
fant son, Michael Kelly, horn
July 0, live in New Philadelph-
ia. O.
He praised the hospital sur-
geons and wrote cheerfully of
staying in overseas service when
he recovers.
Joe Hubbard Is
Wounded In Italy
Capt. Joe B Hubbard, son of
Mr. and Mrs. W. E. Hubbard of
Sweetwater, has been wounded
in action in Italy.
Two letters were received
from Capt. Hubbard telling of
his wounds, which he said were
slight, before official message
came from the government, say-
j ing that he was wounded slight-
ly in Italy.
Capt. Hubbard, born and rais-
ed in Sweetwater and a graduate
of Texas A and M college, is
serving overseas with the coast
artillery in an anti-aircraft div-
ision.
He said that he sustained a
facial wound extending from his
eyebrow to his temple. It took
nine stitches to close the wound.
He told his parents he expected
to be back soon with his outfit.
His brother, Major Will Hub-
hard, serving in the air force,
is based at La Junta, Colo, He
spent several months at Hickam
Field, Hawaii, before Pearl Har-
bor.
OLD WARSAW
IS TAKEN
BY POLES
MOSCOW (UP) — An official
Russian report says the Red ar-
my is posed at the pre-war bord-
er of East Prussia for its first
thrust on German soil.
Earlier German reports indi-
cated the Russians had swept
over the border. But semi-official
sources at Moscow say categor-
ically that the frontier crossing
has not yet been made.
German civilians in East Prus-
sia know it is only a matter of
hours. Tiie Russian government
newspaper "Izvestia" says the
roads of East Prussia are jam-
med with vehicles carrying civ-
ilians and property westward.
The first jab into Kast
Prussia may come at Vilko-
vichki. A German DXB re-
port this morning said the
Russians had driven five
miles westward in that gen-
eral area.
i- multaneously, another pow-
erful Red army is pounding
across Polish plains within 100
miles of Germany proper. Rus-
sian tanks, cavalry and motor-
ized i+ifaniry fort*>«
river on a 20-mile front in a
powerful offensive outflanking
Warsaw.
Inside Warsaw, more than 25,-
000 Polish patriots have joined
the mounting battle for the Pol-
ish capital. A radio message
from the underground says Pol-
ish forces have spread through-
out Warsaw, fighting bitterly
with rifles, home-made bombs
and home-made mines.
And a late bulletin says
that the Polish underground
announces the capture of (lie
entire old city district of
Warsaw.
Despite the lack of equipment.
18 German tanks have been
knocked out with crude Molotov
cocktails. The message said the
underground is not trying to
drive the Nazis from Warsaw but
to kill as many as possible and
cut off the escape of survivors.
The Polish government in ex-
ile has promised Polish Jews
full indemnity from Germany
for property confiscated by the
Nazis. The promise was marie in
the publication "Polish Facts
and Figures" issued at Wash-
ington.
On the diplomatic front, pri-
vate reports reaching Ankara
say Bulgaria, Hungary and Ro-
mania have refused a German
request that they break relations
with their Balkan neighbor Tur-
key.
Marshal Von Mannerheim to-
day was elected president of Fin-
land by unanimous vote of the
Finnish parliament, effective
immediately. Mannerheim's elec-
tion is believed to pave the way
for a peace treaty with Russia.
Local Man Killed
It. France July 7
Pvt. Howard McCormick, 30,
was killed July 7 in France, the
war department notified his
mother. Mrs. Lizzie McCormick,
(i0C> Pecan street Thursday af-
ternoon.
Pvt. McCormick had wrtiten
his mother two letters from
Frafiee, one from a foxhole, tell-
ing her that he was seeing ac-
tion. He has served for eight
months, receiving his training
at Camp Fanning and being sta-
tioned in England awaiting D-
Day.
Surviving are his mother and
his father, C. H. McCormick of
Houston; four brothers, Pvt. Joe
L„ who is home from Italy and
recovering at Camp Hood from
wounds received at Anzlo; Jim
C., fireman 2-C, stationed in
Pearl Harbor; Pvt. Floyd L, in
the South Pacific and W. D. of
Kingsville.
There are five sisters, Mrs.
Adele Cage, Sweetwater, Mrs.
Truman L. Kay, Abilene, Mrs.
Louise Martin, Yorba Linda,
Calif., Mrs. O. C. Lloyd, Laird
Hill, Tex.; Mrs. A. C. Daniels,
Portland, O.
14th WASP Class
Qraduates Today
Miss Jacqueline Cochran, Di-
rector of Women Pilots for the
AAF, speaking today at gradu-
ation exercises of WASP Class
44-W-O at. Avenger* Field, cited
outstanding performance of Rus-
sian women pilots in combat—
recently made public in a cur-
rent aviation magazine article—
as proof of the contribution of
Women in the present conflict.
"Some of the most outstand--
iijL' bombardment missions car-
ried out by the Russian Air
rorce against Germany have
been lead by women," points
out Miss Cochran, whose WASPs
periorm non-combat flying in
the L\ S. "Many Russian women
fighter pilots have shot down
enough German Luftwaffe' plan-
es to be classed as combat aces.
"This outstanding record
should prove to the satisfaction
of everyone concerned that not
just a few women can fly, but
that women can fly collectively."
Miss Cochran, who flew to
Texas from Washington for the
graduation of the fourteenth
cla ;s of WASPs, then exhorted
her girls to go out and use the
excellent training which they
ififve -i-eeeivoti f,./*i the Ar.Tiy
Air Forces to the best of their
ability.
Col. George R. Geer, Air In-
spector for the AAF Central Fly-
ing Training Command, speak-
ing earlier in the program, told
the WASPs that they have been
trained at one of "the finest fly-
ing schools in the AAF Training
Command.
"And. when I say one of the
best in the Training Command,
that means the finest in the
world," Colonel Geer added.
"The WASP program depends
on you." Col. Geer said. "You
are all a part of a team which
is as strong as its weakest link.
WASPs are not. destined to be
'buzz girls.' Your flying must
be safe and sane flying. One
word of caution—nave a definite
flight plan before you get in
an. airplane; know what you're
going to do, and follow your
plan. Happy landings to WM3, and
I hope all the remaining stu-
dents here at Avenger make
the grade."
Also present at the graduation
exercises, held in the Avenger
gymnasium at 11 o'clock this
morning, was Mrs. Barney M.
Giles, wife of Lt. Gen. Giles,
Deputy Commanding General of
the Army Air Forces.
Mrs. Giles passed on to the
graduates the appreciation of
her flying husband for the work
which they are doing.
"We think you have accom-
plished wonders," said Mrs.
Giles, "and we want you to car-
ry on. You have a marcelous op-
portunity to show what women
can do, and I'm betting on you."
A personal touch was added to
the commencement ceremonies,
when Lt. Col. Marion E. Grevem-
berg, Air Transport Command
test pilot and engineer, pinned
on the new silver lozenge wings
of his WASP daughter. Mrs.
Joan Michaels.
Master of ceremonies for the
occasion was Lt. P. B. McAnany,
Avenger intelligence officer. In-
vocation was deliver by Chaplain.
(Capt.) Edgar H. Winn, post
chaplain. After presentation of
the civilian contractors, Earl Mc-
Kaughan and Henry Kriegel.
president and vice-president of
Aviation Enterprises, Ltd., Lt.
Col. George F. Keene. Command-
ing Officer of lAverfger' Field, in;
troduced the honor guests.
A Wing Review was held on
the flight line after wings and
diplomas had been presented.
Underclass trainees paraded in
honor of the graduates and
guests. Music was provided for
the ceremonies and Wing Re-
view by the Big Spring Army
Air Field Bombardier Band.
Radio Has Big Program
In Post War Area
WASHINGTON. (UP) — The
nations radio industry has a
big conference coming up in
Chicago August 28th and to-
night President Harold Ryan of
the National Association of
Broadcasters revealed something
of what the conference will dis-
cuss.
Ryan says the tremendous
technical improvements in ra-
dio—developed under the urg-
ency of war—have created prob
lems which must be solved for
the post-war years. The NAd
chief says the radio industry
must be coordinated to solvj
these problems.
Ryan also gives some hint
that the question of government
| control over radio will come un-
| der discussion. He says high
I government officials i— includ-
ing Chairman Fly of the FCC—
j will be present, as well as army
and navy officials.
v
URGES FREE PRESS
EDUCATION DRIVE
AUSTIN. (UP)—Doctor De-
Witt C. Redtlick, University of
Texas journalism instructor, in
a statement issued in Austin to
day urged the people of the
United States to educate the
people of the world to a concept
of a free press controlled by
the dictates of ethics and lUvl
laws.
Reddick says that with the
probably exception of Great Brit-
ain, this country is alone in be-
ing sincerely interested in gua-
ranteeing freedom of news gath-
ering.
v
WEST TEXAS — Partly
cloudy today, tonight, and Sat-
urday. Widely scattered thund-
erstorms in the Panhandle and
South Plains.
Navy's Leading Ace
Can Come Home
EAST CHICAGO, Ind. (UP)—
The Navy's leading ace can go
home Sunday. East Chicago is
ready for him. The welcoming
banners will be out and Lieu-
tenant Alex Vraciu can get the
hero's reward he deserves.
Lieutenant Vraciu is credited
with destroying 19 Japanese
planes in the air and 18 more
on the ground. That makes him
the top-ranking flier of the navy.
So, when his home town
of East Chicago beard he
was due to arrive on leave,
the citizens made plans to
give him a warm welcome.
But the navy put a hitch in
j the plans. The lieutenant arriv-
ed in Chicago last Sunday—two
weeks ahead of schedule — and
before the welcoming commit-
tees had begun functioning in
earnest. The town fathers in
East Chicago put their heads to-
gether and decided this would
never do.
They made arrangements to
have Lieutenant Vraciu shunt-
ed off to the home of an uncle
in Chicago until such time as
his home town was ready to
receive him. That wasn't too
bad for the flier, since the uncle
gave him a check $1900—S100 for
each plane he shot down.
Now East Chicago is about
ready to celebrate a hero's re-
turn in the proper manner. And
the navy ace will finally go home
on Sunday.
A & M To tstablish
Several Mechanical
Schools In Texas
TYLER, Texas (UP) — In an
effort to help bridge the gap be-
tween skilled workmen and
technicians or engineers, Texas
A and M College is planning sev-
eral mechanical art schools in
various portions of Texas after
the war.
President G i b b Gilchrist
points out that plans call for two-
year courses to be offered, fmt
emphasized that establishment
of the schools, three of which
now are in operation at Grand
Prairie, Inks Lake and Cucro,
would depend upon local inter
est and cooperation.
He says that the course will
be open to all students, but pro-
bably will be linked with the
national training program for re-
turning soldiers.
FAMED 58 IS
BELIEVED ON
PROWL AGAIN
PEARL HARBOR (UPi —Ra-
dio Tokyo reports that a power-
ful American naval task force
is plying the waters some 630
miles south of Tokyo.
The enemy radio says 10 Am-
erican cruisers and destroyers
were sighted east of the Bonin
and Volcano Islands yesterday
afternoon. It also tells of repeat-
ed carrier-plane raids on two
bases in the islands. And Tokyo
expresses the belief that Vice
Admiral Marc Mitscher's fam-
ed task force 58 again is on the
prowl near the Japanese home-
land.
The threat of American at-
tack also loomed up west of
Japan today. Tokyo radio re-
ports that three American air-
craft—apparently based in Chi-
na—appeared over Southern
Manchuria today. The enemy
broadcast said the raiders were
driven off by ground fire before
they could drop any bombs. It
isn't indicated whether the plan-
es were B-29's.
Meanwhile, (bp Allies
have made two major steps
toward fastening the first !
link between India and Chi-
na since the fall of the old
Burma road.
Last big obstacle in the path
of the new Ledo road was shoved ]
aside in the capture of Myitkyina j
in northern Burma. Complete j
extermination of the enemy gar- j
rison of 3000 is announced by j
Lord Mountbatten.
The capture of Myitkyina gives
General StillweU's forces a fu- j
ture means of contacting Chin- J
ese units advancing into Burma 1
from the Salween river area of
Yunnan province.
The Chinese right now are
busy battering and burning
down the main eastern strong-
hold blocking the Ledo road.
The Chinese are using flame
throwers in a showdown fight
with some 1500 Japanese inside
the ancient walls surrounding
Tengchung.
And as the way is being
cleared, construction of the
Ledo route, which connects
with the old Burma road, is
progressing.
On Guam, United States Mar-
ines and army troops are squeez-
ing in a 70 square mile trap,
where remaining Japanese have
been boxed. A last ditch fight
is believed ready to break out
any minule as our carrier-based
planes prepare the way.
Roscoe iail Gunner
Lost Over France
S/Sgt. Alfred C. Harris, son
of Mr. and Mrs. Oscar C. Har-
ris of Roscoe, who celebrated
his 21st birthday in England re-
cently. is missing in action, the
government informed his par-
ents Thursday.
Sgt. Harris has been missing
over France since July 19. He
was a tail gunner on a B-24 and
had been stationed in England j
since April 5, 1944 serving with j
the 8th Air Force. He has been j
in service since Jan. 20, 1943 ]
Besides his parents he has |
three brothers, Harvey, Leonard
and Oscar C. jr., and two sisters,,
Mrs. Ida Mae McCain and Bertie j
Lee Harris. Sgt.. Harris was a j
1941 graduate of Roscoe high j
school.
STANDARD OIL IS
OPERATING CAN'OL
WH1TEHORSE. Yukon Terri-
tory — the Northwest Service
Command announces that the
Standard Oil company of Alaska
is operating the Canol refinery
in Whitehorse and the pipeline
system connected with it. The
company will continue to oper-
ate and maintain these installa-
tions.
The announcement points out
that Standard Oil of Alaska is
not engaged In commercial oil
production and has no owner-
ship in the physical facilities or
products of the refinery.
GREAT PORTS
ARE WITHIN
ALLIED GRASP
LONDON. (UP)—Brittany ap-
pears to lie lost to the Germans.
Fast-moving American tank forc-
es threaten to cut off the penin-
sula at any moment.
One United States column has
plunged to within 31 air miles of
the South Breton coast—while
others are reported 105 miles
from the western tip of Brit-
tany. And these reports, al-
though just received, are probab-
ly at least 24 hours behind tha
actual fighting.
The Yank drives place th^
great ports of Brest, Lorient,
Nantes and Sain Nazaire in im-
minent jeopardy. The four cities
have been the main bases from
which German submarines have
been preying on Allied sea lanes
in the Atlantic.
Hundreds of towns, villag-
es and roadside hamlets are
being occupied or by-passed
in the spectacular American
advances. Our columns are
engulfing all Brittany like a
spring flood.
One spearhead thrust to a
town 27 miles west of Rennes
—and heavy fighting is under
way at an airport south of the
city.
The only strong enemy resist-
ance reported so far is near
Rennes. Inside Rennes, street
fighting is in progress, despite
War Secretary Stimson's an-
nouncement that the stronghold
had been captured. However,
this area is hopelessly outflank-
ed, and probably will soon be
entirely cleared of the enemy.
The Germans are believed to
have ha<1^500 troops In Brittany
at the start of the break-through.
Their forces included remnants
of one paratroop and three in-
fantrv divisions.
Thousands of Nazis already
have been captured—and the re-
mainder are scattered through-
out the peninsula in small grou
out the peninsula in small
groups. They are incapable of of-
fering effective resistance to
General Bradley's armored col-
umns.
In Normandy, our troops con- •
tinue to roll up the German
flank. American infantrymen
further narrowed the Nazi pock-
et west and northwest of new-
ly captured Vire. Other units
pushed south from Vire without
meeting any serious resistance.
British spearheads fell
back 2(MK) yards from high
ground positions lfi miles
northeast of Vire. They re-
treated under strong enemy
pressure.
Farther north, the Tommies
drove to within a mile of heav-
ily defended Villers-Bocage, 12
miles southeast of Caen.
A Canadian staff officer — in
a London broadcast (recorded by
CBS)—said: "The Allies are sat-
isfied the Germans are moving
armor from the sector south of
Caen to meet the latest British
and American thrusts." Another
BBC broadcast declares German
troops have been evacuated
from the English channel is-
lands to join in the Brittany
fighting.
In the air, a sky-filling parade
of 2200 or more American heavy
bombers and fighters spread a
trail of ruin across 200 miles of
northern Germany today. They
smashed at dozens of Nazi mili-
tary targets and secret enemy
experimental stations at Peene-
munde on the Baltic Sea.
The RAF hurled one of
tin' greatest daylight bomb-
ing fleets of the war into ac-
tion over France today.
In England. RAF airmen bat-
tled droves of German flying
bombs under the light of a
bright moon between midnight
and dawn in one of the most
brilliant defense battles of the
war. The British knocked the
robots down like ten pins, but
some of the explosives got
through, causing casualties.
In Italy, victorious Britlsn
troops cracked through the Ger-
man hill defenses southeast of
Florence. They battered the re-
treating Nazis hack to their last
natural defense lines astride *
river onlv a smile from the
city's edge. Official reports say
the Nazis are bracing for a last
bloody stand, but that the fall of
Florence appears imminent.
The British radio reports Ger-
man transports and guns were
streaming north through Flor-
ence this morning.
A German communique sayi
Nazi forces repulsed an Allied
amphibious attack last Wednes-
day morning on the Dalmatian
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Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 47, No. 178, Ed. 1 Friday, August 4, 1944, newspaper, August 4, 1944; Sweetwater, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth282925/m1/1/?q=Cadet+Nurse+Corps: accessed June 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Sweetwater/Nolan County City-County Library.