Andy Zahn Remembers the War Years (Part 3)
Admiral Nimitz’s stripes went up to his elbows.
By ANDY ZAHN
September 22, 2014
PART THREE
At home we got the Newark Evening News and every day they told how the war was going. They daily had a map showing how far General Patton had gone that day. One day he advanced 65 miles and had to stop because his tanks needed gasoline. He saved our bacon in the Battle of the Bulge by having his Third Army cut across all the supply lines and racing to reinforce our forces. He was my hero and I wanted to be a “tanker” and wear two pearl handled .38s but it wasn’t to be. Ernie Pyle had war stories that were great and I believe he got killed by enemy fire.
General Marshall had more brains than any 20 other generals. He put so many things together that all came together at the same time and same place. Training an army while making their M-1 rifles, 6×6 trucks, cargo ships, troop transports, training pilots before their planes were built, managing the rails, coal, and steel plus everything else an army and navy needs.
Eisenhower was a low key, quartermaster issue army officer. D-Day and the European campaign were sheer brilliance. We had an elderly corporal in the 4th MPs and he was waiting to retire. He just came in and talked and then went back home. He should have retired but they had him down for six months bad conduct time which he had to make up. His mother wrote Ike, and a letter came back from the White House. He had served with Ike at Fort Lewis long ago when Ike was a major. The letter said “THIS MAN HAS NO BAD CONDUCT TIME. REPEAT NO BAD CONDUCT TIME.” The corporal got his pension!
In the Pacific, Admiral Nimitz was my hero and I have his autograph. I saw him after the war and he was the most handsome naval officer there ever was, bright SILVER hair. Medium height, about 5’6″, in his blues his stripes went to his elbow or above. He was a five star as were Ike and Marshal along with Halsey, MacArthur, and Bradley, and he had a wide gold stripe with four regular gold stripes. He was the Fleet Admiral of Task Force 57 and they went through hell with Jap aircraft and Kamikazes. He defeated the Jap fleet at the Battle of Midway and that was the turning point in the Pacific. There was a Navy Lt. Commander who worked with codes and he cracked the Jap code. Because of that Nimitz knew where and when the Jap fleet would be and that was a large part of our victory. Nimitz, a FIVE STAR WAR HERO, put the Lt. Commander in for a medal and the Pentagon rejected the request. It is hard to believe — and also hard to believe that Patton would be humiliated for slapping a malingerer. [Read more…]
LETTER: Well Done Northampton High 9/11 Service
September 22, 2014
DEAR EDITOR,
On September 11, I was privileged to be invited as a guest at the second annual Northampton High School 9/11 Memorial Service. The service was held in the gymnasium and was attended by all the students and the faculty. One of the impressive aspects was that the service was conducted primarily by the students themselves.
After some brief introductions, a school choir opened with a stirring rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. A Power Point presentation followed of photographs in chronological order taken that fateful day along with a verbal rendition of the events.
Among the guests that attended were the first responders to the Cherrystone tornado disaster, who were given a rousing ovation by all of the attendees.
Kudos to Northampton High School for a job well done.
BOB ROCHE
Adjutant, American Legion Post 56
Letters to the Editor are welcome, and a diversity of opinions is encouraged. Send submissions to [email protected].
Line Dancing Lessons at Civic Center Begin Monday 9/29
Come join us for line dancing lessons at the Civic Center, 500 Tazewell Avenue (the old library). The next lesson will be Monday, September 29, from 7-8:30 p.m. Check the Cape Charles website for a schedule of future lessons. [Read more…]
OCT 10-12: 22nd Annual Birding & Wildlife Festival Celebrates Fall Migration
There is no better place to experience the spectacular phenomenon of fall migration than the Eastern Shore of Virginia. During the fall months, millions of songbirds, hawks, shorebirds, butterflies, and dragonflies migrate through the narrow Delmarva Peninsula on their long journey south to warmer wintering grounds. The Eastern Shore Birding & Wildlife Festival brings you closer to nature and closer to the birds with guided hikes, family activities and boat trips throughout much of the Eastern Shore’s flyway.
Festival headquarters and vendors are located at the Cape Charles Fire Station, 501 Mason Avenue. Free activities for children and families are located at Kiptopeke State Park, 3540 Kiptopeke Drive, Cape Charles. Free bus transportation between Cape Charles Fire Station and Kiptopeke State Park is available. Field trips and activities are held in various Eastern Shore locations beginning Friday, October 10, at 7:30 a.m., through Sunday, October 12, at 4 p.m. [Read more…]
WEDNESDAY 9/24: Tapestry of Memories by Heritage Hall Residents on Exhibit at Stage Door Gallery
“Memory is identity. I have believed this since . . . oh, since I can remember. You are what you have done; what you have done is in your memory; what you remember defines who you are; when you forget your life, you cease to be.”
— novelist Julian Barnes
Please join us at the Stage Door Gallery 5-8 p.m. Wednesday, September 24, for an evening of art, stories, and memories.
Residents at Heritage Hall nursing care center in Nassawadox have been exploring memory, reminiscing and rediscovering themselves by creating wonderful pieces of art. Memory-led art classes have been held the last several months, and the residents have put together a beautiful tapestry of work that tells their stories of time and place and the lives they have lived. [Read more…]
Register Now for ESO Arts Center Fall Classes
As fall’s cooler temps invigorate, energize your creative nature with one of ESO Arts Center’s classes. A vast variety of classes and workshops for all ages are starting now and in the weeks ahead. [Read more…]
Mayor Proto Flip-Flops on County Sewage Issue
Mayor Proto takes oath of office. As president of the Cape Charles Business Association he opposed treating wastewater from commercial users on Route 13. But as mayor he has bought on to the idea. (Wave photo)
By GEORGE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
September 15, 2014
What a difference being mayor makes. Just seven months ago when George Proto was president of the Cape Charles Business Association he wrote a hard-hitting letter to then-Mayor Dora Sullivan, chastising her for failure to answer his questions about processing county sewage at the town’s new treatment plant. “My original questions have yet to be answered after almost 6 months,” he wrote.
Proto and the Business Association were concerned that running a sewer line to Route 13 would promote commercial competition on the highway. “There does not appear to be any significant benefit to the Town of Cape Charles from the proposed connection,” Proto wrote to Mayor Sullivan.
Now Proto is mayor, and acting Town Manager Bob Panek has convinced him, along with all other members of Town Council except Frank Wendell, that piping commercial sewage from Route 13 into town is a good idea. Panek’s argument is that (1) the income received will reduce town utility bills, and (2) if the town doesn’t take the sewage, the county will eventually build a plant elsewhere – perhaps on the Webster property in Cheriton — and the town will have forever lost the opportunity to operate a regional treatment plant.
Panek oversaw planning of the town’s new sewer plant, which with some modifications is large enough to treat all the wastewater in the lower part of the county, were there some means to get it there. Meanwhile, the fixed costs of the plant are eating the town and its ratepayers alive.
Town Council agreed September 11 (Wendell dissenting) to negotiate an agreement with the County’s Public Service Authority to accept wastewater for 1.5 cents per gallon. All Council members agreed that PSA customers must also pay the town a substantial facility hookup fee, even though Panek has opposed such a fee, fearing it would drive away potential customers.
As Business Association president, Proto had urged that the sewer line project be put on hold “until certain significant questions” were answered. The first question was, “What is the projected benefit to the town from the Route 13 sewer line?” [Read more…]
Andy Zahn Remembers the War Years (Part 2)
“The Perils of Pauline” was Saturday matinee movie fare.
By ANDY ZAHN
September 15, 2014
A couple hundred area kids went to the Liberty Theater on Springfield Avenue Saturday afternoons to see a war movie, a serial to see if Pauline could undo the ropes and get up before the train got to her and a crime or spy movie. Three or more times each Saturday there was a flash of light as another kid came through the exit door to see the movie, which cost about 12 cents, for free.
The spies were always a German couple and the man wore a white suit with a straw Panama hat. He also drove a Lincoln Zypher car. In my friend’s house in the attic apartment there was exactly such a couple. We all knew they were spies.
One day the FBI was picking up radio signals and put direction finders on the signals. The waves crossed at my friend’s house and the FBI tore up the apartment, finding a trasmitter. The two were arrested and never seen again! In a real war agents are not tried in civil court and the penalty is death. Our agents know this as the enemy used to also know.
Springfield Avenue is the main street through Irvington, NJ, and had trolleys going from Springfield through Millburn, Maplewood, Irvington, and downtown Newark. People came from miles to go to Olympic Park with rides, a huge swimming pool, and a merry-go-round now at Disney World in Orlando. There could be a story about the park, now gone, there was so much. There were stores all along the Avenue and we saw the town install parking meters. Bamberger’s had a clock on the sidewalk and everyone used to say “Meet me at Bamberger’s clock.” After the trolleys they had buses with trolly poles that ran on electricity or their regular motor. Six days a week the Avenue was a mass of activity and on Sunday it was deserted as in the song “A Sunday Morning Sidewalk.” [Read more…]
