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MOVIES
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Jonesboro, AR 72401 For Sun home delivery: Call 935-5525 or 1-800-237-5341 MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS |
Saturday, May 31, 2003
By Curt Hodges Sun staff writer Their numbers are dwindling, but the spirits of the former members of the 206th Coast Artillery, Battery C, which was federalized on Jan. 6, 1941, and served during World War II, remain high. They know they played a role in the Allied success in winning the war, and they are proud of their services. "We lost four this past year," said Hal Detrick of Jonesboro. "We're dwindling, but still hanging in there." The former Battery C members will hold their annual reunion Tuesday and Wednesday at the Roy Wiles Veterans of Foreign Wars Post on Airport Road in Jonesboro. "To our knowledge, there's still 32 of us," Detrick said. That's out of 123 that left Jonesboro on the day the unit was activated 62 years ago. Since their usual meeting time in September has been interfering with Patriot's Day, Detrick said the unit will now meet on the anniversary of the bombing of Dutch Harbor by the Japanese on June 3, the day before the beginning of the Battle of Midway. Detrick will never forget that day. He hadn't been at Dutch Harbor very long and remembers the Japanese carrier-based planes bombing the harbor, Fort Mears and knocking out an oil storage complex. Detrick and the men who were serving on the antiaircraft battery, which also included Frank Snellgrove of Jonesboro, moved the installation after the first day raid. The small spit of land in an aerial photograph is shaped like the tailhook on a navy plane. The soldiers had the help of a civilian construction contractor in moving their guns and equipment to another location, a little bit higher and a few thousand yards away. From their new location, the men could see their old installation and watched on June 4, 1942, as the Japanese bombed their former position. No one was killed in the Dutch Harbor raid, which was a feint to draw attention away from the real target of the Japanese -- Midway. Before the June 3 raid, the men had heard rumors or "scuttlebutt" that the Japanese planned a raid. Snellgrove had made a bet with Sgt. Charles "Fig" Newton, one of the gunners, that the Japanese would not arrive before August, Detrick said. When the June 3 bombing started, Detrick said, Newton came running up and said, "Frank, you've lost your bet." Since they all survived, Snellgrove was glad to have paid off on the wager. A couple of days after the bombing, the Japanese occupied Attu and Kiska in the western Aleutians beginning the only Axis occupation in North American territory. Some members of the 206th opted to serve elsewhere and many, such as Detrick and Snellgrove, as well as Clyde Felts, went into flight training. Snellgrove served in the South Pacific as a B-25 pilot and Felts as a B-24 pilot out of Foggia, Italy. Detrick served as an instructor in Texas for the remainder of the war, he said. Battery C was one of several batteries that comprised the 206th in 1941. All of the units were located in college towns. The Jonesboro unit was housed at the Arkansas National Guard Armory at Washington and Carson. The building is now owned by The Jonesboro Sun. Then the Jonesboro unit was commanded by Capt. Hansel "Pug" Winters, who was employed by Jonesboro School District prior to his induction. Lt. Bill Ruckman, Lt. George Edward Love and Lt. Minot Dodson were Battery C's other commissioned officers. Love was a businessman and the other two officers also worked for Jonesboro schools. Members of the unit will meet on June 3 at 2 p.m. at the VFW and again at 10 a.m. June 4 for a memorial service and a fish fry by the ladies auxiliary at noon. The public is invited to attend the meetings, Detrick said. |
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