The Okie Legacy

Vol. 2, Issue 49 11, March 2000, Saturday

Remembering World War Years

Put away your baseball gloves and bats! Sweep off Home plate! We are taking a break from baseball this week to learn a little about WWII! AND... What our ancestors did during the world war years? What did your parents, grandparents and/or G-Grandparents do? Where were they stationed? How did it affect their lives and yours?

I slept late this morning, but when I did wake-up I went straight to the little wooden basket where I have tried diligently to keep Uncle Bob's WWII items together. LO & Behold... Dog tags, more Vmail, a 290th (75) Infantry Combat Diary (written & edited by Tec 4 Cecil J. Bond; prepared under the direction of 1st Lt. Victor G. Katen for the 290th I & E Publication.)

We have a lot to digest! I will be scanning the combat diary photos and reproducing it under "Uncle Bob & WWII" pages (But not right away). You might have to bookmark this site and check back and/or stayed tuned to future weekly newsletter broadcasts. This should keep us busy for awhile.

Reading thru my Uncle Bob's letters, V-mail, etc. concerning WWII has shed some light into an uncle I rarely knew. I was only about five years old when he died Feb. 21, 1954 at the age 38 of lung cancer.

We've come along way from Air-mail to V-mail to Snail-mail to E-mail. What else will there be? Here's to the magic of the web and being able to connect to others around the world. AND... Here's just a couple of V-mail and info on the 193rd Tank Bn. that we have run across.

193rd Tank Bn. || V-Mail Oct 1942 || V-Mail May 1945

I've had a friend scouring the web looking for military info concerning father's younger brother's (Robt. L. McGill) outfit in WWII. From some V-mail dating back to Oct. 21, 1942 we know that Robert was a Lt. with the 193 Tank Bn, APO 957, Hawaiian Islands for a short time. The 193 Tank Bn. was a light infantry unit at Ft. Benning, GA, in the 1st Tank Group of the Armored Force with General HQ at Fort Knox Kentucky. Armored Force, United States Army, 7/12/1941.

We have started a little Timeline of Robt. L. McGill's WWII experience. Does anyone know where Leesville (Louisiana) was or is?

Anyway, by 19 May 1945, Maj. Robert L. McGill was with the 75 Div. HQ, APO 451, stationed in Germany.

I'm not an expert on WWII or the other documents you find out there on the web, but isn't this a marvelous magical machine to be able to search out those things to learn more about the unknowns and share with others over thousands of miles away. If anyone out there has any other great sites concerning WWII or World War sites, please send me the URL Link to share with others. Together we can learn another piece of our past!

Back to 1966... "On a rainy Friday evening, April 22, 1966 an airplane with 93 young Army soldiers crashed into the Arbuckle Mountains about 20 miles northeast of Ardmore, Oklahoma. The Lockheed Electra had a crew of 5 members. 78 service personnel lost their lives that night in a fiery crash that also took the lives of the 5 crew members. On Saturday February 22, 2000 a group launched a campaign to raise enough money to place a granite memorial stone north of Ardmore, Oklahoma at the site of this 1966 airplane crash to be dedicated to those 83 men and women who lost their lives in a plane crash near Ardmore, Oklahoma on April 22, 1966." A friend of mine and others in southern Oklahoma are still accepting pledges to erect a granite monument April 22, 2000 for the victims of the American Flyers Crash of April 22, 1966. GO over to their dedication site! READ & SEE the list of survivors and those who lost their lives! Can YOU Pledge Your Help!

One reader sent this in because it reminded them of an underlying theme that I've been stressing concerning remembering the past, living the present and moving forward into the future... "The soldier reading these pages would do well to reflect on the wisdom of the statement exhibited in a Japanese shrine: 'Woe unto him who has not tasted defeat.' Victory too often leads to overconfidence and erases the memory of mistakes. Defeat brings into sharp focus the causes that led to failure and provides a fruitful field of study for those soldiers and laymen who seek in the past lessons for the future."

Grandpa's Baseball legacy will be continued at another time while we digest and take a break to learn more of our relatives and friends who fought during WWII. If you have any info pertaining to anything you read here, We would love to hear from you. Just E-mail Oakie!

OAKIE's LINKS & MAILBAG

This is a very touching and beautifully written story (scroll down to Item #10. News story) submitted by mailto:Tam53013@aol.com. Newsline No. 44, 16 Feb 2000. This site is maintained by German historians. 75th Index of documents. - http://www.plettenberg.de/75th/index.htm http://www.plettenberg.de/75th/news44.htm

"This outfit attached to 165th Inf. & 27th Inf. Divn. WWII. On Makin Island, was known as 193rd, and changed to 762nd Tank Bn. when sent on to Saipan. Participated in "mop-up" operations at both locations. Also at Christmas & Canton Islands. My father, Willie (Bill) H. Wood was Sgt, in Co. C. Have most of history of his unit taken from Army "Green Books" authored by Crowl & Love. Seek any other info that may be available on this unit, as well as hearing from anyone that was also attached to same, or that knew my dad. Thanks! Bill Wood " - WAE WWW Message Board Comment, 193rd/762nd Tank Bn. on Makin (Butaritari) and Saipan

|| Gilbert Islands Campaign: Takin' Makin - Cover Page: November '99 World War II Feature

|| Makin Atoll Map

WAE WWW Message Board Comment: German POWs in US during, and after, WWII

Got UN-wanted email you can't shake? If you use Microsoft Outlook Express, you can block specific addresses and domains from sending you e-mail by highlighting an e-mail message. Click the Message menu and choose "Block Sender."

There are a few more steps you need to take within Netscape Messenger to block specific addresses and domains from sending you e-mail. Choose the "Edit" menu and select "Message Filters." Make certain the word "Inbox" appears in the "Filters for" field and then click New. Select "Match any of the following," and then choose "Sender" in the first pull-down window. Choose the word "Is" in the second pull-down window. Now, enter the e-mail address you'd like to block. Finally, select "Move to folder" and "Trash" in the third and fourth pull-down windows, respectively. Click "OK".

NW Oklahoma territory & Kansas' histories are co-mingled, because of the proximity and neighboring borders. That is why I include the "History of Barber County, Kansas". Some of my Ancestors settled around Kansas before making the journey into Oklahoma Territory. I still have a few cousins living up in Wellington, Kansas.

"Nina Canema was the daughter of O. Scott Cummins and Mary M. Martin Cummins. Her grandparents were pioneer missionaries to the Musquaquie Indians in Iowa. Her father known as the Pilgrim Bard, in 1870 was a founder of Wellington, KS. He returned to Iowa, but again moved to Kansas, settling in Barber County on Mule Creek about 18 miles southwest of Medicine Lodge. He joined the 'Ancient Order of Bone Pilgrims and Cedar Haulers.' He hauled loads of these to Wichita and Hutchinson. The bones were those of thousands of buffalo slaughtered for their hides and left to waste on the prairie." http://www.ukans.edu/kansas/

Northwestern Normal (Castle ON the Hill) Updates

Alva Pioneer 1904 Updates: 1903 Caring of Broom corn - Scott Cummins, The Pilgrim Bard - 1903 Poem, "The Tenderfoot Girl"

"The Waynoka Historical Society had a ribbon cutting ceremony 12 noon, Friday, March 10, 2000 at the famous Waynoka Harvey House. The hard work and dedication of the Historical Society president, Sandie Olson, brought about this traditional ribbon cutting with the Waynoka High School choir singing "The Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe," from the Judy Garland musical, "The Harvey Girls" and the school band playing "I've been Workin' on the Railroad." After the ribbon cutting, the Harvey House will be open to the public until 3 p.m. The museum and gift shop located in the Santa Fe Depot next door will also open. The open house will showcase the $1.3 million historic preservation project, one of the largest in the state of Oklahoma in recent years. The Waynoka Harvey House is important to the transportation history, both rail and air, of northwest Oklahoma. To read more about that history, visit the Society's web site."

While you are in the Northwest part of the web in Oklahoma, stop over at http://waynoka.com and see what they are doing. Check out the "City by the sea of sand" with its Little Sahara, merchants, city info, Museums and PMS (Paula Miller's Sculptures). Northwest Oklahomans are very talented individuals who make the best of their surroundings.

HELP Record Some Cowboy History That Would Be Lost If We Didn't Preserve It. That's what "The Cowboy Storyteller Association of the Western Plains" is doing... "Preserving Cowboy Life and Adventures through Recorded Stories." It is published prior to the association's gatherings. Deadline to submit newsletter material is eight weeks prior to each gathering. For editing and publishing - contact Wiley White, 1716 West Lindsey, Norman, Oklahoma 73069, (405) 360-2828(day), (405) 360-7625(late). Association membership is $15.00 per year and includes subscription to the Newsletter (with all issues for that year) and discounts on Association items for sale. You can send Cowboy Storyteller Association membership dues to: Dale McAlary, Box 197, Vici, OK 73859

SPECIAL MENTION - SWSAging.org

What would you think if a percentage of every purchase you made went to your favorite cause, and you didn't have to pay any extra? How would you feel if you could raise money for your favorite cause just by shopping online? Now you can at ConsumerSaints.com, or shop at the ConsumerSaints virtual mall, and up to 20% of each purchase you make will go to the favorite cause YOU choose. It can be the local youth hostel, a large international foundation. its anything you choose. You can buy books, cds, movies, toys, office supplies and even pet food. You don't have to pay anything extra because the charitable donations come out of the partnership agreements ConsumerSaints has forged with leading on-line e-commerce merchants like Amazon.com. The charities you donate to don't pay a thing either. ConsumerSaints also gives $3 to a users cause when they sign up. That means if 33 people sign up for your favorite cause, your group earns a quick $100 as well as a percentage of all the purchases generated by those new registrants that shop at ConsumerSaints. ConsumerSaints has made raising money for your favorite cause a simple process, with little effort required on the part of the user. Beneficiaries of the ConsumerSaints system have include a regional aging organization, Southwest Society on Aging (SWSA) headquartered in Stillwater, OK and can be visited at . This SWSAging network is dedicated to provide a common forum for individuals interested in the field of aging, promote Communication among individuals and organizations concerned with aging, foster a better understanding of aging and older adults, stimulate research, education and service in aging and serve as a source of expertise, information and support in aging matters.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

"To whom the green sward is like bed of down, | With no pavilion save the starlit sky, | Upon whose locks the evening dews have shown; | Who often slept among the wilds alone, | The while the coyotes sing his lullaby. | Gladly would I backward turn Time's mystic wheel, | And make this land again a desert wild; | I care not what the future may reveal; | But memories of the past will o'er me steal- | Again I would be nature's reckless child." -- The Pilgrim Bard by Scott Cummins

See You All Next Friday (((hugs & *S*)))
Linda (Oakie), Columnist

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