From the Scrapbook of Maxine Gilbert:
3 MORE OROVILLE MEN AT IDAHO NAVY SCHOOL
Farragut, Idaho- New recruits from Oroville, Calif. have arrived
at this U. S. Naval Training Station, located on Lake Pend Oreille.
The new Oroville men are: Hamilton A. Otis, son of Mr. and Mrs.
H. Austin Otis, of High Street., Edwin Brown, son of Mr. and Mrs.
T. O. Nelson, Route 2; and John Maurice Lawton, son of Mr. and Mrs.
Lawton, of Robinson St.
LESTER CURRAN SEES SERVICE IN AFRICA
Corp. Lester Curran, a former Oroville resident, is believed to
have been at the front during the cleanup of Axis armies in North
Africa. Curran a friend of Mr. and Mrs. Arch Sadowski of this city,
was employed at one time at the Sandwich Inn here. He wrote some
time ago saying that he was a cook in the army “somewhere in North
Africa.”
Oroville Mercury July 17, 1943
A niece and three nephews of Mr. and Mrs. Muril Waugh of Robinson
street are among Uncle Sam’s fighting men – and women. They are
the granddaughter and the grandsons of L. M. Nichols. The group,
with one exception, chose the navy.
MISS SMITH SERVES AS AN ARMY NURSE
Mill Marie Smith, a first lieutenant in the army nurses corps, enlisted
in February, 1942, following her graduation from the surgical department
of Hilghland hospital in Oakland. She is stationed at Camp Gurber,
Okla., awaiting call for overseas duty. The daughter of Mrs. Bernice
Smith of Portola, she formerly lived in Oroville.
McILVEEN STATIONED AT ALAMEDA AIR BASE
William McIlveen, aviation machinist’s mate, third class, U. S.
N., is stationed at Alameda air base, awaiting call for overseas
service. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert McIlveen of Alameda.
His father is a Western Pacific engineer. The navy man is a one
time Oroville resident.
HAROLD NICHOLS ON SOUTH PACIFIC DUTY
Harold Nichols, radio man second class has been in the United States
navy since April 1941. He was stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
for more than fourteen months. Some time ago he returned to the
United States and spent a 14-day leave in Oroville before going
to duty in the South Pacific. He is the son of H. A. Nichols of
Vallejo, but formerly made his home with his aunt, Mrs. Waugh and
attended Oroville high school.
Oroville Mercury July 22, 1943
THINKS STRIKERS SHOULD FIND OUT WAR IS ON
Sgt. Fred Otis, son of Mr. and Mrs. H. A. Otis, of High Street,
stationed in New Guinea, wonders what the strikers in this country
would do ‘if we struck every time we felt like it.’ “I guess the
war never would come to an end,” he continues in a letter to his
parents. “I sure hope Roosevelt starts putting strikers in the Army
and sending them over seas. Maybe they will wake up and find out
that there is a war going on.” Otis, who heads his letter, “somewhere
in New Guinea where the mosquitoes roam;” tells of having just had
a seven-day furlough, which he spent in Sidney, N. S. W. and writes
that it was sure great after being away from civilization for nearly
a year and a half. He revealed that he had traveled about 4000 miles
by plane and 5000 by train and, felt that, though it was tiresome,
it was worth it. Otis tells of one of his old buddies, Philip Kearney,
who was stationed a few miles from him but neither of them knew
the other was near. They had been good friends in high school. Another
friend, Aljah Caples, was there but, they also missed each other.
Otis attended grammar school in Oroville. When the family moved
to Truckee, Nevada, he attended high school there, graduating in
1937. Later he returned, with his family, to Oroville. He is a member
of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars. Prior to his entry into the
Army, he was employed in a box company at Sacramento. He was sent
to Australia in 1942.
Stu’s Notes: As a Union man, it really saddens me that Men would
strike while our boys were dying over seas. Very, very sad.