February 28, 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. Many of those mentioned in these stories came home. But as you will learn, many young Oroville men did not. They gave the ultimate sacrifice.

OROVILLE MERCURY February 15th, 16th & 23rd, 1945

RUDOLPH GHIANDA SEES ACTION IN THE PACIFIC

Rudolph Ghianda is home on leave for the first time in about two-and-a-half years. He is the son of Mrs. A. Ghianda of Thermalito and enlisted in the Navy July 6, 1942. Ghianda is in the Seabees and has a rating of mail specialist second class. He was based on the Ellice Islands for seven months at the time the Gilbert and Marshall Islands were bombed and taken by the U.S. forces. Since that time he has been based at Pearl Harbor. At the end of his 30 days leave he will report to Bremerton, Wash., for reassignment.

DROBISH PILOTS BIG SHIPS OF THE AIR

Lt. Harry Boardman Drobish, who has been home on leave at FarView, Bangor, is planning to leave Saturday morning for Ft. Wayne, Ind., where he will report for further assignment. He joined the air corps about two years ago and trained in Nebraska, Washington, Southern California, Texas and Illinois but says he has "not seen any country to compare with the foothills around Oroville." Drobish has just completed the final phase in Troop Carrier Command at George Field, in Illinois and will serve as first pilot on a C47, These big ships will carry troops and cargo and bring out wounded men. They also tow gliders. He expects to be sent overseas in the near future. The trip west was made by plane. He stopped in Southern California to visit relatives and was met in Berkeley by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harry Drobish. While there they spent some time with Miss Joy Drobish who is attending university there.

TUHEY GOES THROUGH INVASION WITHOUT SCRATCH, BUT HAD TO BORROW PANTS

Sgt. Jack Tuhey of Oroville came through the invasion of the Philippines without a scratch but lost all his possessions, including his clothes. In a letter to his wife, Jimmie, Tuhey did not explain how he lost his clothes but said he had been able to scare up a pair of pants and a shirt. "We were out in a pouring rain for 28 hours without sleep or food," he continued, "but we don t mind little things like that. "This thing is so big and so vicious we just pray to God to keep us well so we can finish it." Tuhey said that when he landed on the Philippines on A-Day, the beaches were literally lined with dead Japanese. He said the Filipinos seemed glad when the Americans arrived. "They told us that after the Japanese had taken their women, they, the Filipinos, formed guerrilla bands, fighting with only knives made from any kind of metal." Tuhey paid tribute to the American fighter pilots. "They are magnificent," he wrote. "The Japanese zeros are fast but our P-38s are faster." He told of receiving a letter one night from his wife but of having to wait until morning for light to read it.

Stu's notes: I wrote in the past about the Ghianda Family and how nice they all were, likewise was Rudy who I knew when I worked for the Family at Thermalito's Ghianda Winery. I met a man today who went to war and knows a lot about the brave boys of Oroville, being modest about it all as many were let's just say for now he’s from the class of '43 He knew of Major General Arthur R. Wilson and says he is buried in our cemetery on the hill. You might recall we talked about the General last week. He also knew of the three brothers in last week’s story.