August 30, 2002

 

Looking Back on Oroville's Heroes                         

By Stu Shaner

 

These stories are about the men and women who went to war so that we might be free. This column is dedicated to all our Veterans. It will use articles taken from past Oroville Mercury Registers.

 

January 6, 1945

                                             

IN THE FIGHT

Many men from southern Butte County are fighting the Axis in Uncle Sam’s Army, Navy, Marine and Air Corps. The Oroville Mercury wants to keep those at home informed about their activities, and relatives and friends are invited to submit news to this department.

 

HIGGINS, WHO WEARS FOUR BRONZE, STARS, IS IN HOSPITAL

Pvt. Orville E. Higgins, 28, son of Ms. Anna Higgins, of Horton Avenue is a patient in the Hospital. Higgins served overseas 31 months with the 1st Armored Division in Africa and Italy. He participated in the North African invasion, Tunisian Campaign, Cassino, Anzio and Rome. Pvt. Higgins wears four bronze stars on his E.T.O. ribbons.

 

VARNUM FAMILY HAS REUNION BEFORE SON GOES OVERSEAS

Harold Varnum, Chief Motor Operator Machinist's Mate in the Seabees, and his foster son, Radioman 3-C Edwin George (Bill) Brown of the Navy along with Mrs. Vamum, Bill's mother, vacationed in Los Angeles while Bill was stationed in San Pedro. It was the last get together of the three of them before Bill went overseas. Christmas day marked Vamum's second anniversary in the service. He spent 17 months in Kodiak, Alaska, and is now stationed at Camp Parks. He recently spent a weekend in Oroville visiting Mrs. Vamum, who is employed at Tatman's Bakery. Prior to his military service, Varnum was a mechanic at the Setzer Box Company in Greenville. Holiday greetings to all his friends were received recently from Bill, somewhere in the Pacific.

 

THREE SONS HAVE PLENTY TO WRITE HOME ABOUT

Sgt. James B. Shettlesworth, one of the three sons of Mrs. E.F. Shettlesworth of Feather Falls, is now hospitalized at Fort Lewis, Wash., following 16 months service overseas with the famous First Ranger Battalion. Strenuous duty weakened his knee and he was sent back to Fort Lawton, Wash., to recuperate. An operation was later performed at Fort Lewis. After his return from the battlefield in June he was on leave and visited friends here and in Feather Falls where he told many of his experiences during the Italian campaign. His wife, the former Fay Barry, lives on El Noble Street, Oroville, with their small son, Le Roy. Pfc. Harold Leon Shettlesworth is now stationed in Australia. He is with the infantry and has seen action in the Solomons, Munda, New Guinea and New Zealand. His wife, the former Alta Johnson of Feather Falls, is now a railroad telegrapher in Marysville.   Frank Shettlesworth, Seaman 1-C  U.S.N., is in the South Pacific area as a gunner in the Armed Guard. He has been in the service since April 1943. He is married to the former Thelma Brown of Oroville, who makes her home in Sacramento with their one year old daughter.

 

VERNON ROSE AWARDED GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL

With the Americal Infantry Division somewhere in the southwest pacific--Pfc. Vernon L. Rose, son of Mrs. Ethel Straub, Oroville, Calif, has been awarded the Good Conduct Medal while serving with a veteran infantry regiment in combat against the Japanese. Pfc. Rose fought with the Americal Division in the Bougainville campaign. He is a scout.

 

Notes from Stu:

Unbelievable 31 months in some of the worst combat possible, some Oroville area families with all their sons in the war. We, (I) who didn’t go, often ask ourselves, could I have done what these brave boys did?