April 21, 1944. chai
THE CENTRE DEMOCRAT, BELLEFONTE, PA.
Page Three
Private Manchester Makes Perfect |
Score With Tank Destroyer Weapon
Pvt. Hugh Manchester, son of Mrs. mechanized warfare to learn, Yes,
Louise Taylor Manchester of Belle- for that old Model A roadster I had,
forte, who recently got into the it was the best $37.50 1 ever spent for
army after many rebuffs because of anything, for now it's paying divi- |
“poor eyesight,” is In a tank de- dends.
stroyer outfit at Camp Hood, Texas. Now for one on the Altoona exam- |
In a 14-page letter to the editors! ining center. As all of you know I|
of this newspaper, Hugh writes most | was turned down on account of eye-
interestingly of his rigorous train-/sight. Well, I won a medal for
ing (he's walked more in 8 weeks marksmanship with the 30-cal. ma-
than he walked in 18 years); tells! chine gun the other day. So when
of the type of weapons he's being|we are classified that might enable
trained to operate, and with par-'me to be a T. D. machine gunner (I
donable pride reports that out of hope) |
three difficult shots from ga tank de-| And here's a better one, Yester-
stroyer he scored a bull's eye onjguy when we fired the 76 mm I real-
every one. He also relates a conver-ijy puled one off for having been
sation he had with a German pris-irejected once for eyesight. Each
oner of war Iman in the company was allotted
Pvt. Manchester had quite a tmelg shells to fire from the 76 mm on
getting Into the service. He was re- the 7-70. This was the day to see if
peatedly turned down, and finally. ian the weeks’ instruction on them
in desperation, got $150 together to/had proved any good. Believe me,
buy his way into a Canadian am- when those guns go off they make
bulance corps, or something of the a hell of a bang and really jar the
sort. But it seems that Christmas or T.70. 1 was sitting on the turret
some other holiday came along! when the first man in our group
about that time, and Hugh and his fired. 1 didn't know he was going to
$150 were soon parted fire. 1 was sitting there watching
Then one day Local Draft Board! ihe others fire when and
No. 2 of Bellefonte, which had done! wham! Off the turret 1 went
all it could to help Hugh get into pill. You really have
the service, had a of olf ro show my point
man yr quota Wy PArly who loads the
morning the group was to go to Al-l“clogr” to the gunner to show that
toona for examination, the board je is out of the way of the recoil
called Hughie and asked him if he'd of the gun, grabs with both hands a
like to take another try al passing.’ p4j running around the top of
He did, was accepted—and in his purret and holds on for dear life
letter below you can judge for your- The gunner To
self whether he's having the Ume of the gun at the and at
his life! saine time by of a crank,
turn the twret (when yousare shoot-
The Centre Democrat ng at a moving target), Also, if
How Are You necessary, he elevates the gun by
Seeing that I'm writing this from means of another wheel (The tur-
Texas, I'll greet all of you with ret can be operated if necessary by
“Howdy Pardners.” electricity). So e¢ besides fire
Believe me when I say “there ing the weapon gunner has
no place like Texas” It's a good quite a job
place to be.from. What Sam Hous-! For the
ton ever saw in Texas is beyond me. tionary 900 yards awa)
Since being in the Army (Feb. 5) [the targets were white cloth
1 have gained 30 pounds. The food poles. The cloth was 4 feet by 8, so
is good. So tell any man in civilian'even at 900 yards that was pretty
life, if he doesn't have enough small to hit. The next was
tion points and wants to build him- a moving target 1000 Aways
self up, to join the Army | The movit ts wert
Most of the men in our COMPany on » tr
are married and from the South. sy miles
Naturally the Civil War has had 0¢~ front of
casion to come into the limelight. All 41.6 ban
the married men are having their moving
wives come down. Me being not mar. ....
ried sort of puts me at lots when h
discussions on “matrimonial affairs”, proper range, take
are on right lead and fire it all in one
However I suppose 1 could get out plete movement
and marry me yp with one of these *
Texas cowgirls, but I'd make a hell .
of a rancher and home on the range |
and all that stuff, so for the
being I'll stay single
We tank destroyers
group. The T. D.'s are a
fit and all kidding aside it takes a
lot of endurance stay up to it
To prove it I'l you this last |
week's schedule: We had the 76 mm
gun to work with, It
a T-70 tank destroyer. The
resembles a tank somewhat. How -
ever its turret is open on top and Is
much lighter than a tank (18 tons)
It will do about 70 miles per hour,
mounts a 76 mm cannon and a 50-
calibre machine gun. The 76 mm will partment doing the
shoot a shell that will pierce any thal maneuvering that is
armored tank the Germans or Japs plus the big “bang” you
have. There are many secrets about the gun goes off, Is a thrill
the T-70 and 76 mm I cannot dis- can not be written into words
close here. but if you knew them lieve me, I lived the time of my
vou would marvel at this fine wea- ¢ there doing all that vesterday
pon and realize why the German Each shot out there cost $18.75 and
armored forces fear us (tank de- each man getting 3 (250
strovers) ifn particular I tell you, in our company) it ran into a jot of
there js nothing Ike it! money. So if it wasn't so expensive
Now for the schedule I'd have liked to have done it ail
day long. S80 you see now where
Monday: Up at 4 a. m., out in the = Bond
field all day till 6 p. m. on Instruc- n - average
tion of firing the 76 mm. Fall out Vestas ner i
at 7:30 p. m. for night problem; Ce
m.; to bed at 12:30 a
bang!
for Ww
to brace yours
the man
he hollers
hortage one
to meet the gun, after
the
aim
the
[Es
job Is this
target
means
Saturday Afternoon
vou
the
is wit
sta-
All
on
shot you gel a
ra- shot at
yards
targe
traveled
when it
you had
is
and
hour
So
ACK
an
you
ira
al targ wa
at 1200 yard
BH UY IES
approximate-
are
tough out >
namonga J
; Wilkin
124)
give
move it
20 miles an hour
r» in it from firing th
well. 1 did it. So now
thumb my old nose at those guys in
Altoona. “Bad evesight'--fooey! Not
with shooting like that
Sitting there in the gunners com-
firing and all
required
when
which
De.
Hen
ie
can
apt
Rel
+
JL
shots men
om
vO
EO
Xe
we
ots
firing i
it ir
ail
or
did four
average
How-
the
that
Penn-
I guess
That's what | sidered
back at 12 p But hiv aot’ tl
m ever, IT was determined to show
Tuesday: Up at
“gentlemen of the Confederacy
the range to dry fire guns; march 5 those who come {rom
miles to range. From 5:30 until 4:30 cvivania are good shots, and
Pp. m. on range; march back. 6:30 P. 1 aid. - what comes {rom }
m.. fall out for general duty. OND 0 ol of those B-B guns 1 hi
guard til 2 a. m.; to bed at 2:30 when 1 was small. and buy an old
Wednesday: Up at 4 a. m. 10 89 (ine and going out to the quarry on
out on range again, practice firing. sunday
the 30-cal. machine gun from the ne other day 1
T-70 at a General Grant tank 10 camp Hood (which is 30 miles from
get idea of how the 76 mm gun sight Iyer), Camp Hood). I came back In
works. Quit at m.; to bed at 10 5; ambulance which had 4 German
pm war in it. (There are
Thursday: Up at 4; further 3.000 here at Hood). 1 sat on one
struction on the 76 mm; quit at 5. side they on the other, and the M
On detall getting guns ready from 7 p up in the fromt One
until 12 p. m.; 10 bed at 12:30 a. M. [speak excellent English. He
Friday Up at 2:30 a. m., go Ww with the driver and the MP 50 1
7% mm firing range 11 miles out 'sruck yp a conversation with the
march half way. Pire from 8 a. mM. one in the beck near me. With
til 5 p.m. Detail cleaning guns, eic. 444 of an American-German dic-
til 10:30; to bed at 11 p. m tionary which the prisoner happen-
Saturday finally got here and I eq to have. we had some DOW-wOow
sure am enjoying the bed. You see Here Is what 1 found out: He was
when you're in the army, when You ag years old, had been in the Ger-
go out on the firing range you Can 'man army 4 years, and was a vet-
see you get up early eran of fighting in Belgium, France,
Last week my hours ranged any-|yjgoslavia, Crete, and North Africa
where from 2:30 a. m. tll 2 a. Mm. [He was captured by the British at
next morning, with guard, etc, and |g] Alemain. He said the British were
all. That's what I mean when 1 5a¥ damn good fighters, although he
you must have endurance. Now we hates the British (he explained all
are. on summer schedule. We can!germans do). but they respect their
sleep till 5 and go to bed a’ 10 and | fighting qualities. He sald the Amer-
quit every afternoon at 5, unless we jcans treat the Germans well He
have a night problem scheduled {pointed to me and sald, “American
It is very hot down here now. 8oon good boy—German good hoy,” and
it will reach 120 degrees, The other | went on to say that America being
day I walked 12 miles In this heat jn this war was brought about
with a full field pack, including through “Jewish propaganda.” I
some double timing. When that was asked him if he liked Hitler. His
through I was all in. But it tough- face lit up and he sald “Yes!” So,
ens you up and when you do all this 1 sald “American soldier—Hitler,”
you feel rather proud of yoursell, and then I ran my forefinger under
knowing you can do all this. Yes! my throat in an imitation of cut-
sir, they really make a man out of [ting one’s throat, When I did that
he muttered something in German |
and went on trying to explain the)
greatness of Hitler. I sat there and
ree shots
3:30 to go out on
of u
hat
al
ng
and shooting
was at South
2 P
prisoners of
i=
eat could
the
the
But from now on we'll get to do a
lot more riding as we are getting
classified this week and they willl jagehed.
break us into groups of T+70 drivers,| At that the subject was changed |
{to the Japs. He sald Japs were no
good, He repeated that the German)
soldier did not like the Jap soldier. |
He got excited about that and talk.
In Anti-Aircraft Unit Il
Pfc. Harold LL. Woomer
mer
[is 4] 3
20, 1943
Camp 1
he wa
Ba LM
tationed
Anti-Al
attended
“We Travel the Country
Army
Robert J, Hale, S
THREE LOSE BROTHERS SERVING iN ARMED FORCES
Seven from Bellefonte
Begin Boot Training
te ned | 534
taixed ©
these
leave n
Parna 36. husband
M. Parnay. 148 N
Willlam C. Curtin
Mrs. Louise H. Curtin
street, Owen OG. Coakley
band of Mrs. Bernice 8. Coakley
D. 1. Jack E. Witmer, 25. h
of Mr Jean I. Witmer, R. D. 2
Paul M. Shawiey, 20. husband of
Mrs. Lillian 1. Shawley. Allegheny
street. William T. Martin, 368, hus-
band of Mrs. Evelyn E. Martin 218
8. Allegheny street; Anthony 8. De-
Lallo, 27, husband of Mrs. Helen M
DelLallo, R. D. 2, and Harold A. Gor-
don, 34, husband of Mrs. Kathryn
E. Gordon, Howard street
R
isband
you'll see!” 80 when I got off at my
stop 1 bad him "Awl Weildersehin
(goodbye in German) and told hia
I'd send him a posteard from Ger
many if I got 10 be a prisoner of
war. He got a laugh out of that, so
did the other three German prison
ers
However, there Is one thing we all
agreed on. They don’t like Texas and
neither did 1!
Be careful if 1 ever get back to
Bellefonte
you. With all the “Ju Jutsu” I've
1 asked him next about Rusala.|jcarned I'm liable to throw you over!
my shoulder. Ha!
I'l sum it all up by saying the)
Army ls some place, Come on Jn
Hope to see you In about
months
Regards to all
tyro
HUGHIE
P. B.: Of to town now for a Texas
Saturday night. Will look for per
sonalities like “Billy the Kid,” “Wild
Bill Hickok,” ete, “Ki, Yi, Yip, Yippi
YL" or however they saw it here.
and shake hands with
SGTS, ROY MILLER AND
PHIL WOOD STILL TOGLTH
mans
they
met Camp Ei
Some are }) nown and Dave
man rim name
| Cpl. R
Pyt. Gene
Harry
George
Wi
jams. Walldaceton
Echard., Houtadale
Hayne Pittsbuigh Bet
Lose and Cpl. John Flinch-
bar, Lebanon, and Sgt. Edward Love
Philadelphia These men were
stationed together at Camp Ellis
in the Quartermaster Corps
have fortunate in Keeping
gether. Both Wood and Miller
they are with a fine bunch
ficers and boys from all parts of the
good old U. 8B A
«
wk
al
In
and
been
tate
of of-
Awarded Good Conduct Medal
T 4 Guy H. Poorman
toned at the Oliver General Hose
pital In Augusta, Georgia, was
awarded the Good Conduct Medal
who Is sta
{April 12th at appropriate ceremonies
held in the Red Cross auditorium
on the Oliver General Post. The
medal, which Is awarded “for exem-
plary behavior, efflicency, and fidel-
ity” was presented by Major James
L. Rogers, Adjutant, Sgt. Poorman,
whose parents reside at 301 East
Howard street, Bellefonte, is an X-
ray technician at the Oliver General
Hospital,
Training at Great Lakes
Robert Hayes Gunsallus, 18, son of
Mrs. Tillie ‘Mae Ounsallus, Blanch
ard, is receiving his initial naval |
indoctrination at the U. 8. Naval
Training Station, Great Lakes, Ill.
9 Philipsburgers at
Great Lakes Station
Receives Promotion
Kern, of The
beet
A ‘na
Edward N MA
Bellefonte, has moted
first class
Camp
hnician |
Lee Army Serv
Forces Training Center Corporal
Kern is assistant laundry foreman
of the 188th Laundry Platoon and is
assigned to the 6th Army Service
Forces Training Regiment. He was
formerly employed by the Undine
Fire Company in Bellefonte. Cpl
Kern, son of Mrs. Elizabeth Ken
' 19 Prancls Place, Caldwell, N. J. was
inducted into the Army December
19, 143, at New Cumberland, and
arrived at Camp Lee on Dec, 29
private
grade In
——— a
i Morrisdale Soldier Killed
| Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Pelton, who
{moved to Clearfield from Morrisdale
{about & month ago, received a tele.
gram from the War Department on
IBunday, April 16, stating tha their
son, Pvt. Robert Pelton, was killed
iin action March 22 at the Anzio
beachhead in Italy. He was born
January 14, 19024, at Morrisdale R
D. Before entering the service he
worked with his father at entting
timber v
——— AP ——
Advanced in Rank
Word was received last week that
Donald C! Crock, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Charles Crock, of Howard, R.
D. 2, had been promoted to private
first class.
Serving in England
¢
turd
BURSTS
AND
DUDS
20y .
at the
eft
{or
A Morming u
worid
Champion
One y moot
There is
the
) three-day se
the
in to
physical
davs
nation in
attention
of
One of these
people of
more
RUSH :
about
i nlerest our
this would change from a miil-
perusal Into a love epic were |
to relate In full the two glorious
days spent in the home of the old
est school, the oldest Fort (Port
FOR YEAR Marion), the oldest church and the
Fountain of Youth. We stayed in a
The famous World's ‘Tonle has [little hotel that smacked of an Ital-
been used for years: A satisfied user lan mansion straight {rom the city
of World's Tonle says We buy of Florence, and was our little Me-
world's Tonic now just as regularly dice palace for two nights at six
as we buy groceries. The family romantic dollars a night
learned long ago that you could Yet, 1 would gladly pay sixty to get it
good results with Just a small dose [all back again today. ft was the first
after using it a while.” Making new [good food either one of us had for
[friends holding old friends, World's months and the weather was su-
{Tonle has stood the test of com-|perb, We did every oldest thing in|
petition through many yefirs. No ex- [town and got taken in by the oldest |
tra pills or tablets are needed to get (gyp in the form of a colored owr-|
results, World's Tonle (Trade Name) | riage driver who gave us forty min-|
not sold as a General Tonle but as a utes for $1.50 instead of the required
splendid laxative and stomachic. (hour in his rattly carriage, but we
the bw Lue to Ba
trip that would reader
their « shoe
ary
World's Tonle at all first-class Drug flew
Caution: Use only as directed. Cel were so didn't argue, The
days
Stores. «J 8M). one
Style”
v
nda)
fatigues
me
barracks
attend.
,
8
3
and fell Wi
med to
my
kept from
charge, a cling for the
He asked for volun-
teers. Everyone still ooking at
the ceiling and avoiding his eye. 1
AW an opportunity to bargain and
started to change into fatigues, The
Lt sald “No, not you. You're all
dressed up; 1 want these other boys.”
(To be continued)
weeker
Ay
Wanted! Men and
Women Who Are
Hard of Hearing