Navy Life in the Marianas Islands Aboard Mess Hall Banter
Ernie Pyle recalls his army unit in the Marianas Islands where four sailors, including Mickey Rovinsky and Captain Bill Gifford, stand out for their humor and dedication. The piece shares nightly mess-bench talks, pilots’ nerves before missions, and a farewell breakfast as the men balance duty with camaraderie amid war.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Marianas Islands
United States Army
4Utt & Jeff
Bill
St. Louis
Mickey Rovinsky
Short-st
Edwardsville
Mickey
Capt
Bill Gifford
Giff
Tokyo
Soviet Air Attack Destroys Vital Bridge Near Altdamm
Moscow reports Red Army bombers attacked German retreating troops near Stettin destroying a vital bridge at Altdamm on the Oder river mouth. Soviet planes strafed the German column as it crossed the bridge causing confusion and heavy enemy losses.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Moscow
Red Army
Stettin
Altdamm
Benin
Oder River
Tne
Twin Bombing Strikes Hit German Rail Yards and Komarom
Allied air power from Eighth and Fifteenth air forces roared across occupied Europe. The night raid targeted Kassel rail yards and two tank plants while Osnabruck Munich Rheine and Frankfurt am Main railway targets were hit. Italian based bombers also attacked and Komarom near Budapest faced a U S 15th air force strike within 20 miles of Russian lines.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
London
Eighth Air Force
Elee
Berlin
U. S. 15Th Air Force
Ca Yestenry
Eee
Esgemeten
Komarom
Italy
Reich
Kassel
Germany
Osnabruck
Muenster
Rheine
Frankfurt Ammain
Hannover
Hagen
Rome
U. S S
15Th Air Force
Budapest
War questions dodge during Roosevelt briefing
President Roosevelt avoided specifics on ending the war in Germany and other war topics at a White House press conference. He labeled such questions speculative, noted possible German control commission candidates, and said he would meet Robert Murphy soon while hosting Nimitz and Stilwell among others.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington
Roosevelt
Germany
Robert P. Patterson
Robert Murphy
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Chester W. Nimitz
Pacific Fleet
Joseph W. Stilwell
China
William F
Tokyo Reports Mindanao Landing Amid War News
Manila dispatch says an unconfirmed Tokyo radio broadcast claimed Americans landed on Mindanao's Mindanao island while earlier reports noted U S warships shelling Zamboanga. Maj Gen Verne Mudge, wounded Feb 28, is reported to be recovering. MacArthur noted bombing of Zamboanga barracks and supply areas and a Luzon advance by the 33rd Division.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Manila
Minen
Lennon
Tokyo
U. S
Zamboanga
Mindanao
Luzon
Commonwealth
Verne D. Mudge
First Cavalry
Douglas MacArthur
Zamboanga Barracks
MacArthur
Yanks Close In On Vergato On Italian Front
U S Fifth Army troops pushing toward the German stronghold of Vergato have occupied Carviano about a mile east of the objective, marking the closest approach yet after four months of resistance. Nazis increased artillery fire on the 10th Mountain Division’s new positions along the Bologna Pistoia highway and on Allied lines in the Serchio valley.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Rome
U. S. Fifth Army
Vergato
Bologna
Carviano
Vergata
U.S. 10Th Mountain Division
Bologna-Pistoia Highway
Serghio Valley
Two American PT boats sunk by a U S vessel in the Philippines
The navy said two United States PT boats, PT77 and PT79, were sunk in the Philippines after a mistaken-identity incident with another U S vessel. Skippers were saved, other casualties were light, and next of kin have been notified.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington
United States
Philippines
Navy
Inhuman Gestapo Prison At Cologne Report
Lt Col Oswald Hedley of the US Public Health Service described eloquent testimony to Gestapo inhumanity at Cologne prison. He cited near starvation of 80 inmates, with 30 hospital cases of tuberculosis typhus and extreme malnutrition. Most victims were Poles Russians French or Belgians. four had already died. Dead lay in streets and one hospital had 15 corpses.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Cologne
Oswald F. Hedley
United States Public Health Service
AMG
Gestapo
Boston
Highland Ave
Strets
Hedley
North Carolina Farm Expenditure Plan Expands For 1950
Federal spending for North Carolina agriculture in 1950- five year outlook shows increases across soils, crops, and land improvements. Expenditures climb from 8.6 million in 1946 to about 13.1 million in 1950 with boosts in limestone materials, phosphate, potash, small grains, legumes, and pasture. Contour and drainage projects expand dramatically. sod waterways and mowing pastures grow to lift milk production.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington
Congress
AAA
North Carolina
Chicago Police Find Man Nailed To Cross With Thorns
Chicago police report a man about 40 found unconscious on a 10 foot cross nailed through his hands with 10 penny spikes. The cross was attached to an elevated railway pillar on the North Side. Fred Walscher, fetched from his basement, says he was forced at gunpoint to lie on the cross during an automobile accident setup. He was hospitalized at St Josephs without immediate nail removal.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Chicago
Hudson Avenue
St. Joseph's Hospital
Ans
Patrick O’connel
Fred Walscher
Walscher
O'Connell
Crest Of Ohio Flood Crest At 64.94 Feet In Portsmouth
The Ohio River crest reached 64.94 feet in Portsmouth Ohio as flood walls and sandbags kept the city dry. Police urged residents to stay from low areas while Lt Col Walter H French warned the danger was at its peak.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Portsmouth
Ohio
Ray Brown
Walter H. French
Second Infantry of the Guard
Scioto
Legislature considers study panel for school building improvements
A bill to empower the state board of education to appoint five members to study the school building problem and propose improvements for the 1947 legislature was introduced. It notes wartime conditions left delapidated and undersized schools and seeks to assess loan possibilities and funding adequacy.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Raleigh
State Board of Education
Gunn
Caswell
Stone
Rockingham
Royster
Vance
Watkins
Granville
Barbour
Chatham
House
Surprise Rhine crossing boosts Allied push toward Berlin
The American First Army stormed the Rhine south of Cologne in a bold crossing hailed as a brilliant war move. The maneuver aligns with a Russian offensive toward Berlin, with Ike reportedly delighted as troops push inland. The river crossing opened a rugged approach, catching German defenses off guard as a steady stream of units followed.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Rhine
Cologne
Oder
Berlin
Eisenhower
Allied advance pressures Rundstedt as Rhine crossings loom
Dewitt Mackenzie reports on German commander Rundstedt’s fragile position as Allied forces push toward the Rhine. He notes weak initial German counterattacks, possible German withdrawals from the Rhine, and the likelihood of new crossings by Allied troops, including Canadian and British forces, threatening the German line.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Foutset
Rundstedt
Rhine
Xanten
Rhines
Hol
Yanks Reach Rhine at Remagen Bridge in Germany
American Ninth Armored division captured the double tracked Remagen railroad bridge at Luden dorff and crossed into the Rhine region near Coblenz. Sherman tanks followed as German resistance collapsed in the Eifel area and Wesel pocket yields. British forces moved to Xanten to seal the northern front.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Amexystein
Remagena
Germany
Ninth Armored Division
Erpel
Berlin
Cologne
Remagen
Coblenz
Eifel
Rhine
Xanten
Wesel
U S Third Army Captures Andernach and Brohl on Rhine Line
German front dispatch reports the U S Third Army seizing the ferry terminal at Andernach and the town of Brohl, eight miles south of Remagen, establishing control north of Coblenz on March 9.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Colbenz
Germany
U. & Third Army
Rhine
Coblenz
Andernach
Brohl
Remagen
Setantis and the Ludendorff Bridge Cross in Ruhr Front
An infantry company led by a Jersey City lieutenant seized the Ludendorff bridge as the Ninth Armored Division advanced across the Rhine. Allied fighters protected the crossing with 30 bombers while Wehrmacht defenses were outrun. Details remain restricted by supreme headquarters.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Setantis
Jersey City
Emmet J. Burrows
Ludendorff
Ninth Armored Division
Ruhr
Germany
Ninth Armored
Rhine
Rhineland
Suspreme
Wehremacht
Swanson Case Defendants Are Executed
Three defendants in the Swanson murder case were gas-chambered today in Raleigh. Elmer Hardie Biggs, 22, William Dalton Biggs, 20, and John Edgar Messer, 20, were executed for the February 19 1943 killing of E. J. Swanson, Jamestown storekeeper. They remained calm, professed faith, and bade farewell to family as witnesses watched.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Raleigh
Elyer Hardie Biggs
William Dalton Biggs
John Edgar Messer
E. J. Swanson
Jamestown
William Biggs
Messers
Elmer Hardie B
Biggs
L. A. Watts
Also Mentioned on This Page
Ernie Pyle
Ent
Gifford
Hitler
Oder River Front
Transocean
Dammscher See
Poelitz
Oder Estauary
See
Th H
Izvestia
Poli ME Elska A
Edwin Graf von Rothkirch
Bastogne
Belgium
Benjamin F. Caffey Jr
Fourth Armored
Third Army
Signal Corps
3Rd Armored Division
First Army
Crest
Associated Press
Seelow
Brussels
Reno River
Dewitt Mackenzie
Iman
Wehrmacht
von Rundstedt
Gercommander
Swanson
This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!