.jpg)
The crash of the two bombers was not the only tragic story in August 1944. The same issue of the Advocate (August 9) also told of the death of Alvin Laverne Voss.
Mr. and Mrs. William Voss received a telegram stating that their son had been killed in action on July 20, 1944. No details were given, but from the date of his death, it was presumed he had been killed in the bitter fighting around the town of St. Lo, France. Voss was in the 320th Infantry.
His remains were returned to Laurel in 1948.
Another article on the front page of the same paper reported that Sgt. Kenneth Dalton had been seriously wounded in action somewhere in France. A letter to Mrs. Viola Dalton from a buddy in the same outfit said Kenneth had been burned so badly he could not write and that he was in a hospital in Normandy.
After sustaining a direct hit from a German tank gun, Dalton‘s tank exploded in flames. Dalton crawled out dragging a crew member with him. He then crawled back into the burning tank to rescue other crew men. For his injuries and heroism, Dalton received a Purple Heart and a Silver Star.
Dalton recovered from his burns and returned to duty only to be killed in action in December. His body is buried in the American cemetery in Liege, Belgium.
The same issue of the Advocate reported that Clyde Jewell of Dixon had been killed in action in Italy on July 17. After being wounded twice in the Tunisian campaign, Jewell was sent to Italy where he took part in the Anzio Beach Landing.
Jewell was a tank commander and was said to be in the third American vehicle to enter Rome. He continued to fight up the Italian coast until he was killed. Although Jewell has a marker in the Concord cemetery, he is buried in an American cemetery in Italy.
Sgt. Charles W. Howery, a fellow tank commander and one of Jewell’s friends, came to Laurel for the memorial service. He told those present he had just returned from hell and the memory of his buddies who had been killed or badly wounded in Africa and Italy was too painful to describe.
Staff Sgt. Lester Dahl, a platoon leader in the 25th Infantry Division, was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge for courage in action.
Dahl, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Chris Dahl, had fought on Guadalcanal and New Georgia and already had received a Silver Star. He would be killed in action in the Philippines in January 1945. Marvin J. Lingner, a former resident of Dixon who had been missing in action for two years, was finally declared dead. He was a member of the military police in the Philippines and was with the forces that had fought on Bataan. Carroll Dean Danielson was a member of the crew of the submarine USS Silversides. The Silversides had 23 confirmed sinkings of Japanese ships and had damaged a number of others. The Silversides presently serves as a museum ship in Muskegon, Michigan.
In other news of August 1944: the same issue of the Advocate that carried the story of the bomber crash reported that Ed Tryon had arrived in Laurel to visit his wife and other relatives and friends. Tryon was not in the military but he had been in Hawaii helping with the rebuilding of Pearl Harbor. Edward and Theo Tryon returned to California where they moved into a government housing project in Long Beach. The writer of this column would arrive a year later.
The Laurel Motor Company, commonly known as the Chevrolet Garage, was sold to Max Lamson of Laramie, Wyoming. Ben and Paul Ebmeier, who had previously owned the garage, said they plan to move their Skelgas and Maytag parts business to the Home Oil Company station on E. Main St.
Reuben Anderson, who had been operating the Home Cafe and Service on the highway west of town, bought the Tom Norris station just west of the City Auditorium.
Myrtle Larson died at the home of her son in Spokane, Washington. Her husband, County Clerk Joe B. Larson, and their twin daughters Virginia and Lorayne, had been killed in a car crash near the intersection of Highways 9 and 20 in July 1936.
The Laurel school faculty was finally complete. The last two teachers hired were Mrs. Glenn Lundstrom, commercial, and Miss Laura Wilson, social science. Except for Supt. H.A. Linn, and math teacher S.E. Eddy, who had been retired for several years, the faculty was all female.
The same was true in Dixon. Except for Supt. W.H. Johnson, the faculty was all female. The teachers were Miss Bernadine Davidson and Mrs. Ralph Crain in the high school; Miss Alice Weingartner and Reva Barnes in the grades.
Good beef was about as scarce in those days as male school teachers. The military was taking 80 percent of the top grades of beef. The public had to be content with the lower grades. For those who did not have good teeth, pressure cooking was advised.
New gasoline rationing books were issued in August. The coupons in each “A” level book would permit the holder to purchase eight gallons of gas per month.
There also was a shortage of tires. In August the Sioux City Office of Price Administration which set prices in 29 counties in Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota, (including Cedar) advised that only 5570 new passenger car tires and 87 truck tires would be available for the 118,000 cars and 19,000 trucks registered in the district.
The military was taking 98 percent of all truck tires produced in August, said Congressman Karl Stefan. “Check your tires now and recap if you want to drive.“ The shortage of gas and tires didn’t seem to faze the owner of the legendary Black Ford.
“The same old black Ford is operating with the same old gal in the same old dress over the same old roads south of town. The only difference is they meet in different back alleys twice a week when the weather is behaving,” said Editor Allison.
As for the younger set, Allison said he observed a couple of girls not more than 10 or 12 years old running the streets at 11 o’clock at night.
“They settled on the church steps across from the park and proceeded to light up cigarettes. This has happened more than once. Might be well for some parents to do a little checking on their youngsters.”
And it might be well for some youngsters to do a little checking on their parents – particularly the fathers who owned black Fords.
The “old gal” mentioned above was said to be in her 50s. Allison seldom described the old coot behind the wheel.
