Respected and Unexpected Find

While going through some of the papers and memorabilia stored at my house, I found a 35 page booklet titled The Memorial Messenger that highlighted local men and women who were in the military during WWII. Several local people were responsible for gathering and publishing this memorial. They concentrated on local men and women who served from Hickman Chapel, Mill Run, and those from Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania.

The correspondents and editors were Ferne Work, Rella Mae King, Lillian McCahan, Ida Bailey, and Rev. M. T. Hulihan. They tirelessly collected information and photographs, then compiled them into a collection of local heroes. The dedication of the booklet gave special honor to the men who did not return.

Inside, the alphabetical listing of the soldiers and sailors call to mind many of my friends and neighbors I‘ve met and to whom I’ve spoken. Some were my wife Cindy Morrison’s relatives: her father, and several uncles, while  many of the other soldiers and sailors were outstanding citizens, local businessmen, and community leaders.

Cindy’s uncle First Sgt. William Mason fought in Rhineland, Ardennes, and Central Europe earning a bronze star. F/O Ernest Johnson was another of Cindy’s uncles who was stationed with the Air Corps throughout the United States. S1/c George Rugg was my uncle. He enlisted in the Navy  and was stationed in the Bikini Islands, Marshall Islands, and Japan.

My wife’s grandmother was a Jackson. There were several Jackson men, but I am not sure if they are related. I had an Uncle Fred Hyatt and there was a Pvt. Fred Hyatt, Army stationed in France. I’m not sure if he is the one mentioned, but I know he was in the Army.

Sgt warren D. Leonard, Cindy’s uncle was overseas in France and Rhineland. Cindy’s uncle James Morrison belonged to the Parachute Infantry in France, Belgium, and Rhineland.

There were about half dozen women who were nurses, ferrying pilots, office workers, supply, and even overseas in Germany and Japan freeing men to be on the battle fronts.

I saved Cindy’s father, T/S Elmer E. Morrison until last. Bud belonged to the 266th Engineers, 66th division who worked on the Alaskan in 1942, drove flatbed trucks hauling equipment in France in 1944, and in the Rhineland in 1945.