| Rochester Courier Newpaper Articles from 1943 |
Funeral services for the veteran navy man, who who was a resident of Rochester prior to his enlistment in the regular service in 1918, were held at Los Angeles, CA January 6, at 10 AM with burial in Coronado, CA.
Officer Marquis enlised for service in World War I in 1918 and received his basic training at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station. Later he went to advanced schools and passed his examanitions as a Navy Pilot , graduating with honors, and has been a member of the Navy Air branch since that time, and more recently an instructor at a Naval Air Training station in California.
He was decorated with the Navy Cross for "extraordinary heroism" at San Diego, CA, in March 1942 after he had taken part in a spectacular rescue, under especially, hazardous conditions of two Marine Corps flyers who had been forced down off the California coast in January 1942. He had been previously cited for heroism in 1920 for his part in bringing the bodies of two Navy airmen to the surface after their plane had crashed and sunk in Colon Bay, Panama.
Following his indoctrination at Fort Schuyler, Lt. Grierson will report to Boston and then go to Little Creek, VA, for advanced training in the armed guard. He expects to be assigned to gunnery duty aboard a ship in the Merchant Marine.
Lt. Grierson is the fourth member of Spaulding H.S. to leave for the armed forces. Lewis Montgrone is in the Navy; Carl Bartlett is in the Navy; Lawrence Bosse is in the Army.
Ensign Johnson received his B.E. degree from the Keene Teacher's College and started his training at at Squantom, MA in July 1942. He will go on duty immediately at one of the Navy's operational training centers assigned to a combat zone.
Ensign corson also attended Keene Teacher's College for two years and likewise had training at Squantom, MA in July 1942. He will also be assigned to active duty at one of the Navy's air operational bases before being assigned to a combat zone.
Two weeks before his enlistment last August, the young man married Miss Florence Turner of East Barrington. His last visit home was for one day during the Christmas holidays. He received his basic training at Newport, RI and was a member of a gun crew on a merchant ship.
Pvt. Kimball is the second Rochester Man to be decorated for gallantry. The first, Warrant Officer Thomas Marquis of the Naval Air Force, was cited for the rescue of two Naval Aviators at sea nearly two years ago. He was later killed when the plane in which he was acting as a pilot instructor, crashed in the San Vergas desert on Jan. 2 this year.
Mrs. Glough has another son, Sgt. George Kimball who enlisted in October 1940 and is serving in the Pacific.
Telling the story to Sgt. Theodore Link, a Marine Corps combat correspondent the Rochester youth stated;
"I was stationed top-side at a gun. Enemy bombers were overhead dropping flares. Then our ship was hit, either by torpedoes or by a battleship salvo. The first explosion threw a gigantic wave of flaming oil and water in the air. As the water descended on us, another hit was scored and I was washed into the searchlight frame on the side where the ship had split in half.
Then ensued moments of toture for the Rochester young man, held prisoner, realizing that at any moment he might be hit by a shell or drowned by a gigantic wave. He tried to escape but could not free himself, no matter how hard he tried. Then that half of the ship split up and hit the water. "I remember that how I went down into the water" Ham recalled. "I wasn't scared and hundreds of thoughts didn't flash through my mind as they tell you often happens. I thought it was all over for me and my only thought was how my mother and the folks would take the news".
"I remember how the pressure kept getting worse. I thought I was drowning. I heard or felt another terrific explosion that suddenly released the pressure around me. I didn't know anything until I opened my eyes and saw stars. I was floating in my lifejacket".
He floated for ten hours, watching the night naval engagements, before he was rescued by the Marines. Ham recovered from his experiences and is back on active duty.
The 41-year old merchant seaman , who spent his boyhood in Rochester and who has spent more than 20 years at sea, is concerned with just one thing - that the disabilities he suffered as the results of his three-day exposure on the raft may disqualify him from returning to active service. Both feet were frozen from immersion in the frigid water and one toe was amputated in the hospital.
Dickey's companion, with whom he shared the life raft after their ship was torpedoed near Iceland, died from exposure two hours before they were picked up by a destroyer.
WAS BOMBED AT HICKAM FIELD
He had a day off from duty and was preparing for a sight-seeing trip around the island of Oahu when the first Jap planes came in from the sea and started dropping bombs on the field, Scagliotti recalls. Although U.S. forces were taken by surprise, he contradicts the story that confusion reigned over the island in the wake of the attack. On the contrary, the men, once it was apparent that they were being attacked by enemy planes, went promptly to their duty stations and the anti aircraft defenses were pumping shells at the invaders in less time it takes to tell, he declared. The men worked through a hail of bombs and machine gun fire in two attacks on the field to service such planes that were able to operate. The Japs swepts swept over the field so low that the pilots were easily distinguishable.
His next assignment group was the Battle of Midway in which Army and Navy air forces, aided by surface ships practically annihilated a big Jap convoy. Joe helped service the Flying Fortresses that took part in the attack and was on hand to welcome the jubilant crews as they returned from the battle.
After these battles his unit took part in the softening-up process that preceded the Marine landing at Guadalcanal and other islands in the Solomons and later when Henderson Field on Gaualcanal was in American hands, his unit was stationed there.
Things were pretty tough there at first, Scagliotti recalls. Supplies were short and most of the men fell victim to malaria. Rain fell frequently and in veritable cloudbursts and there were occasional raids by Jap parties filtering through the lines. Many of the raiders spoke excellent english and the Americans soon learned to reply to any voice from the jungle with a shot. He also went through many bombing attacks and shelling from Japanese surface crafts while located at Henderson Field.
Mrs. C.D. Jefferson of Eastern Avenue was notified this week that her son, Staff Sgt. Donald Wotton had been cited for "exceptionally meritorious conduct in action near El Guettar, Tunisia, March 23, 1943.
"Sgt. Wotton maintained communications throughout an enemy tank and infantry attack on his battalion. His coolness and courage in the face of heavy enemy fire inspired the officers and men of his battalion"
Private Walker was in actual combat in Africa for over two months from February to April 1943, and lost his hearing because of the concussion effects of heavy shell fire near Sheitla, Tunsia on July 19.
Ferland was at his battle station when the Helena was attacked at night. He told the Courier, the Japs had been lying in wait for them as Helena had disposed of another group of their vessels and had been ordered to return to the gulf to meet a second attack in which they were outnumbered 3 to 1. After about ten minutes of fighting the Helena went down, he recalled, but it sent two cruisers and two destroyers, including the the one that shelled it, to the bottom before the sinking.
When he went over the side, Ferland had on dungarees and had a hunting knife. All that he saved was his I.D. tag, rosary beads, a religous medal, and a plastic container in which was a picture of his wife. Ferland said there were about 550 members of the crew of the Helena in the water and they were rescued by two destroyers.
After being rescued, Ferland and others were taken to Tulagi and then to the Hebrides where he spent two weeks in the islands. He then landed in San Fransico.
Webster was at work in the radio room at the time of the blast and is believed to have been killed instantly.
Lt. Varney, a Dartmouth graduate, received his wings from Turner Field, Albany, GA, in Aug. 1942., but was detained from immediate combat service because of a fractured leg which he received in the line of duty. He went overseas in June 1943, and has been operating from a British base since that time and has taken part in a number of important missions.