Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 43, Number 57, Decatur, Adams County, 8 March 1945 — Page 1

+\ DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT —ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

XUII. No. 57.

IMERICANS STORM ACROSS RHINE RIVER

|ddy Waters I Ohio River 111 Downstream L w Flood Damage L Threatened To farmlands, Cities By United Press L muddy crest of the Ohio I rolled downstream today, | in « the threat of new flood to farmlands and cities Intueky, Indiana and Illinois: lather bureau officials said Kmd waters were leveling off I, Cincinnati. Portsmouth, Lpeared to be winning a j' to keep the river from Ins over flood walls into the I business and residential |ons. The river’s crest subI 1.2 feet in 24 hours at linnati. Intucky was next in the path L rising water. Hundreds of (Meers’ stafte militia*, auxilI police, boy scouts, prison Ites and even Herman prison|of war were working against I and the river. They evacuatI families, moved household Is, and livestock and built ■bag barricades all along the jtucky stretch of the Ohio I. The evacuation was under I in the low sections of all Is from Catlettsburg to Owloro. II but about half a block of lettsburg was under water. I town has a population of lerywhere along the thousandI course of the river there was le destruction. War plants |e forced to close in some seels. Thousands of persons pdoned their homes to the ling waters. Train and Ims lice was cut off to some comHities. I was the worst Ohio river Id in eight years. line persons were dead, and k quick work by army engijrs prevented further loss, of lin the flood waters of another Between 25 and 30 soldiers |e spilled into the flooded lite river in Arkansas when In boat capsized* The men pe lifejackets which enabled |® to keep afloat until help k They had been sent to I area to work on flood control, horn the air, the flooded valI presented a grotesque picture llife at a standstill. Entire pmunities were under water, indreds of freight cars stood F Cemeteries were watery Istes with a few gravestones ping up here and there. pH but one railroad had ceased ksenger service to Louisville, pre merchants moved their ps upstairs to escape the r r spilling into the city’s r r business district. Some r families were evacuated p the area and others preparIto flee momentarily. A 47.5 ht was predicted by noon toMoss the river. Jeffersonville, r’’ rpe i < lents added more sand”s to their 46-foot floodwall. J officials issued orders for <T " rn To Pa ee 5. Column K) o Memorial Service For Edward Metzger h’® ll maes in memory . Edward J. Metzger, son of •«arle Anderson, who was kill--1 a «ion in Germany on Feb. 21, .J? celelbrated at St. Mary’s iy ma ChUTCh at 9 °' clo <* Mon- ■ ining, it was announced toll bi* J ’ Seimet4 > pastor 'errant of the requiem >nofthl' Metzger the fourth Hr. to be kil!ed in bhe Jived bv death wae re ’ qurtml?? mot ‘ her fl ‘°m the war nd Went the army in ■ 4ipril ’ 1942 > last August. DEMOCRIi T T RE READIN G 8:00 a RAT Th ERMOMETER 1i:00 22 Noon - 26 F,j. . weather S!l 9ht!v° n ? ht and Frid ay. B '* warmer Friday.

Urge Deferment Os Medical Students Chicago March 8 — (UP) —The Journal o.f the American Medical association today urged selective service deferments for premedical and medical students. iPostwar needs for physicians are likely to result in a greater deficit of medical men that ever before, the Journal stated editorially. This will add up to a very serious situation unless a continuous flow of medical students graduations is maintained annually." o Yankee Troops Clearing Japs From Bafangas American Warplanes Increase Offensive On Japs' Shipping Manila, Mar. 8. — (UP) —U. S. troops virtually cleared Batangas peninsula in southwestern Luzon today as American warplanes sharply increased the offensive against Formosa and Japanese shipping in the China sea. Seventeen enemy vessels, including two warship*, were sunk or damaged in the mounting aerial campaign from the Philippines. A communique said 'the offensive was aimed, at the “-sterilization” of Formosa and the “interdiction” of Japan’s shipping lanes through the China sea. The heavy aerial blows to the west came as elements of the 11th airborne division and the 158th infantry regiment pushed through Batangas peninsula to the southwest coast of Luzon, Advancing with apparently little opposition, the troops captured Balayan, on the northwestern shore of Balayan bay, and Calatagan, nine and a half miles to tire southwest in the China sea coast. The drive carried the American forces within four miles of Cape Santiago, at the tip of the peninsula across Verde passage from the north short of Mindoro. While the main forces of Lt. Gen. Walter Krueger’s sixth army were regrouping for an all-out assault against the Japanese on Luzon, heavy artillery continued to pound the principal enemy lines east of Manila. The guns were concentrated along the entire 10-mile Kobayashi line from W’awa to Antipole, 11 miles northeast of Manila, and the communique said the American fire “has noticeably reduced enemy ar(Turn To Page 5, Column 4) —— 0 Posthumous DEC To Sgt. Richard Teeple To Present Award To Parents Next Week ißy direction of the president, the Distinguished Flying Cross has been posthumously awarded to Tech. Sgt. ’Richard J. Teeple, son of Mr. and Mrs. David H. Teeple, 512 Short street, who was killed in an airplane eras’ll near Lungling, China, last IMay 28 The parents received notice of the award yesterday from MajorGen. J. 4. lUlio, the adjutant general. The award will be presented to the parents at ceremonies to be held at Baer Field next week, probalbly on Friday. The citation reads as follows: “For extraordinary achievement in aerial flight as engineer from 27 November 1943 to 1 April 194*4. They distinguished themselves in more than 200 hours of combat flight against the enemy over China, Indo-China, Burma and the adjacent coastal areas during the periods indicted. Although subjected to enemy fire from anti-aircraft defenses and hostile interceptoi airplanes, they have inflicted heavy losses upon the enemy, destroying and damaging his installations, supply centers, harbor facilities and shipping. In successful completion of their missions, they frequently flew through adverse weather and over mountainous, poorly mapped terrain. The achievements of these (Turn To Pape 2, Column 4)

Coblenz Is Rhine Goal For Third Army Forces ’ ' w ’ ’” w " ■ II 'VWSff 1 J'W ••• ■■■ ' I * - Ji* I mmh

CAPITAL OF THE RHINE PROVINCE and 49 miles southeast of Cologne, the city of Coblenz, Germany, is the immediate goal of the spectacular dash being made by Lt. Gen. George S. Patton’s Third Army troops. A strongly fortified town, CoNenz lies at the junction of the Rhine and the Moselle rivers and is familiar to the United States, for it was the site of the headquarters for the American Army of Occupation following World War 1.

Tank Patrols Reach Mandalay Outskirts Japanese Resistance Reported Decreasing BULLETIN Kandy, Ceylon, March 8 — (UP) —Punjab troops of the 19th Indiana division have broken into Mandalay, Burma's second largest city, it was announced today. Kandy, Ceylon, Mar. 8. —(UP) — Tank patrols of the 19th Indian division have reached the northern outskirts of Mandalay, Burma’s historic and second largest city, it was announced today. A front dispatch reported that Japanese resistance was decreasing before the onslaught of the Indian armored spearheads, poised for a thrust into the big inland port. A southeast Asia communique also disclosed that Chinese troops moving down the Burma road toward Mandalay from the northeast completely cleared the town of New Lashio yesterday after capturing old Lashio and its airfield. The new town is two miles south of old Lashio, and capture of both places gave Chiense complete control of the rail and road heads leading to the east and south. In clearing the two towns, the Chinese moved within 33 miles of Hsipaw, a junction point on the only all-weather road still remaining open to the Japanese forces in the Mandalay sector. The drive by Indian troops to the northern outskirts' of Mandalay represented a 40-mile advance along the eastern bank of the Irrawaddy from the Singu bridgehead, the first across the river. _______ 0 _ District Legion Contest Tonight Oratorical Contest At Fort Wayne Post The fourth district American Legion oratorical contest will be held at 8 o’clock this evening at Post 47’s home in Fort Wayne. Miss Mary Smith, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Tom Smith of Nuttman Avenue, and local high school senior, will represent Adams county and be one of the four participants for the district honor. Miss Smith was chosen as the representative of the Decatur high school and later won the county contest. She speaks on the bill of rights of the constitution. Entrants in the district meet will also appear on the platform this evening from Allen, Wells and Whitley counties. Mr. and* Mrs. Smith, Ed Jaberg, chairman of the Legion committee which sponsors the contests, Tillman Gehrig, 4th district commander, Albert Riumschlag, Adams Post 43, commander, and Deane Dorwin, high school speech instructor, will be guests of 'the Legion at tonight s program. I z

Decatur, Indiana, Thursday, March 8, 1945.

50,008 Hoosiers Are Enrolled In Legion Indianapolis, March 8 —(U,P) — Department commander William E. Brown ißloomington, announced today that *50(008 Hoosier veterans were enrolled in the Indiana American Legion ifor this year, including 8,000 world war 11. National totals so far have reached 1,500,000, Brown said. o Hoosiers 'Sit Out' Ohio River Floods Situation Termed As 'Not Alarming' By United Press Ohio river bottomland farmers and river front residents officially estimated at 3,0000 families, camped out of harm’s way today to “sit out” the latest rampage of the turbulent stream. Freezing weather brought added discomfort to the refugees, but the office of Brig. Gen. E'lmer W. Sherwood. Indiana adjutant general and flood relief director, said the situation was “not alarming anywhere” in the southern part of the state. Only one flood death was reported. ,'The Ohio approached the 70-foot mark at Aurora, nearly 18 feet above flood level, and inundated about two-thirds of the town which was isolated into six sections. (At neanby Lawrenceburg, state police, firemen, Auxiliary workers, Boy Stouts Sea Scouts and volunteers helped move lowland residents and their household goods. Local floodgates held firm. A Red Cross cfubmObile Ifrom Indianapolis served food to refugees and relief workers. Fire destroyed the Lawrenceburg (Turn To Page 6. Column 3) o__ 0 __ Late Bulletins London, Mar. 8 — (UP) — More than 1,350 American heavy bombers pounded German oil and railway targets in the Ruhr valley area today after a 1,250-plane RAF night attack on Berlin and other objectives in the central and northwestern Reich. Buenos Aires, Mar. 8 — (UP) — Argentina’s actinjj foreign minister Dr. Cesar Ameghino said today that in his opinion the Mexico City formula for the reincorporation of Argentina into the Pan American system is “courteous and honorable.” San Francisco, Mar. 8— CUP) —A transport carrying part of the 510 army officers and enlisted men who were freed from the Japanese Cabantuan prison camp on Luzon steamed through tho golden gate today and prepared to dock at a pier along the embarcadero.

Pfc. George Bailey Wounded In Action Adams County Youth Seriously Wounded (Another Adams county soldier was added to the casualty list from Germany today. iPfc. George L. Bailey, 19-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Peter D. Bailey of Decatur route six, was seriously wounded in Germany on February 25, the war department notified the parents last evening. iPflc. Bailey is an infantryman with General Patch’s Seventh army which, with the other American armies forged its way to the Roer and Rhine rivers in northwest Germany. The Decatur soldier entered the army in January, 1943, and was trained at Camp McCain, (Miss., and other eaniips in this country before going overseas last Novemlber. He attended Decatur high school and prior to joining the armed forces was employed at ’he Kraft Cheese plant in this city and at the International Harvester company in Fort Wayne. iPfc. Bailey is a nephew of Mrs. Garth Journay of this city whose 'huslband is overseas. — o Combat Casualties Increased 10,500 Army, Navy Totals Announced Today Washington, Mar. 8. —(UP) —U. S. combat casualties announced here reached 823,632 today, an increase of 10,600 over a week ago. The total included 732,922 army casualties through Feb. 28, as announced by Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, and 90,710 navy, marine corps, and coast guard casualties, as announced by the navy. The figures: Army Navy Total Killed 142,285 34,513 176,798 Wounded.. 438,734 41,209 479,943 Missing .... 91,237 10,671 101,908 Prisoners.. 60,666 4,317 64,983 T0ta15....732,922 90,710 823,632 Stimson said more than half of the army wounded, 221,155, have returned to duty. o— Funeral Held Today For Byrd Infant Funeral services were held at the Zwick funeral home this afternoon for Nancy Lou Byrd, daughter oif Mr. and (Mns. Homer Byrd of Micßaßrnes street, who was still born late last pigbt at the Adams county memorial hospital. Rev. R. R. Wilson officiated and burial.was in the Decatur cemetery. Surviving in addition to the parents are three brothera and a sister, Donald Terry, Jack, Homer and Ramona May and t*be grandparents Mr. and Mrs. Sherman Byrd of near Willshire, Ohio.

First Army Advancing Into Germany's Heart, Resistance Only Light

Denver Railroad Strike Threatened Denver, March 8 —(UP) — The five big ra’ilroad brotherhoods have instructed their local unions here to call a strike of engine, train and yard service employes of the Denver, Rio Grande and western railroad at € p. m. today. Officials of the railroad sa ! d the move would virtually paralyze the entire line, ’but said they had been informed of the impending strike. The main track of the railroad runs from Denver to Salt Lake City, o Soviets Storm Westward On Road To Berlin Germans Report Red Army Breaks Across Oder Near Kuestrin London, Mar. 8. —(UP) —The Germans said today that the Red army broke across the Oder river south of Kuestrin, carved out a bridgehead 10 miles deep, and stormed westward within 27 miles of Berlin. Nazi broadcasts said Marshal Gregory K. Zhukov’s first White Russian army massed along the Oder smashed westward from the area of Goaritz, six miles south of Kuestrin, and plunged due west toward Berlin. The vanguard of the bulging Soviet bridgehead edged against Seelow, 12 miles southwest of Kuestrin, 10 west of the last natural barrier before Berlin, and 27 miles from the capital itself, enemy radio dispatches reported. The Nazi acknowledgement of a yawning breach in the Oder line was broadcast a day after the Germans reported that Zhukov’s mighty army was opening the battle for Berlin. The whole Berlin front in the Oder valley was reported ablaze from the Oder elbow 29 miles northeast of Berlin to the sector around Frankfurt, a distance of some 40 miles. Other Russian forces were storming the rear defenses of Stettin and hurrying the battle of eastern Pomerania to a victorious conclusion. The Germans said Marshal Ivan S. Konev was massing forces in Silesia in apparent preparation for a renewal of hie drive into the south flank of the Berlin defenses. (Turn To Page 8, Column 3) 0 Ickes Doubts Coal Strike This Spring To Limit Buying, Storing Os Coal Washington, Mar. B—(UP)8 —(UP) — Solid fuels administrator Harold L. Ickes predicted today that there will be no coal mine strike this spring. He told a press conference that he based that belief on a conviction that the nation’s miners will not walk out in he face of a coal crisis which is growing worse. He made no reference to the fact that the United Mine Workers, currently engaged in seeking to work out terms of a new contract with bituminous mine operators, are scheduled to take an official strike vote on March 28. Ickes revealed that he plans to issue an order soon limiting the buying and storing of both anthracite bituminous coal to 80 percent of the consumer’s normal needs. He said the order would affect all states east of the Mississippi. The present consumer restric(Turn To Page 3, Column 6>,

Marines Drive Toward Beaches Os North Iwo Terrific Struggle Is Termed Bloodiest Os Pacific Warfare Guam, Mar. 8 — (UP) — The third marine division drove to the northern edge of the central plateau and plunged down toward the northern beaches, only a few hundred yards away, in savage fighting on Iwo today. A breakthrough to the coast would split the last few thousand » Japanese holding out in pillboxes I and gun emplacements studding the north and northeast coasts. But those last few hundred vards were as the crow flies. It was considerably farther over the rocky ground, laced with steep crevasses and bristling with defenses. The fourth and fifth marine divisions, fighting north along the east and west coasts, also hammered out new gains in what literally had become a battle to the death with the decimated enemy garrison. “It is an inch by inch, terrible struggle for life and a few precious feet of terrain,” United Press war correspondent Lisle Shoemaker reported from Iwo as a general offensive went into its third day. .‘lf you ever meet a marine who says he fought at the north end of Iwo, shake his hand because he has survived a hell of gunfire, mortar blasting?, might infiltration and hand-to-hand combat without cease,” Shoemaker wrote. “It is the grimmest, bloodiest, and crudest battle of the Pacific ocean.” Maj. Gen. Harry Schmidt, commander of the marine invasion corps, said the campaign had been “even tougher than we figured, and we figured it tough from (Turn To Page 2, Column 6) 0 Red Cross War Fund Drive Progressing Expect To Complete Drive By March 15 Red Cross Fund County’s quota $16,700.00 Donated to date— 2,830.37 The Red Cross war fund drive was moving with sufficient momentum today that Clarence xZiner, county chairman of the campaign, predicted “if all the workers get out and complete their c'anvassing the goal can be reached by March 15.” Up to noon, the total reported toward the $16,700 goal was $2,830.37. Contributions, were pouring in at the Red Cross home service office in the Reppert (Turn To Pag« 5. Column 4) —o — Pvt. William Harrod Is Reported Wounded Pvt. William Harrod, 22-year-old son df Mr. and Mrs. William Harrods of 609 Schirmeyer street, was wounded when an ammunition dump blew up somewhere in the Philippines he has written to his parents. IThe injured soldier is now in a hospital in the Philippines. He has been awarded the Purple Heart. Details off the accident were not stated in his letter, nor the date of hie injuries. iPvt. Harrod serves with a Paratroop company. He entered the army in November, 1942, and went overseas last October, He has a brother, Richard Harrod serving with the army in England.

Price Four Cents.

First Crossing Os Historic Western Rampart In More Than 100 Years Paris, Mar. B—(UP)—Units of United States first army have stormed across the Rhine and are advancing into the heart of Germany against light resistance. Vanguards of Lt. Gen. Courtney Hodges’ first army made the historic crossing at 4:30 o’clock yesterday afternoon south of Cologne, a front dispatch revealed. A partial security blackout cloaked the progress of the first American columns east of the Rhine, but the announcement from Hodges’ headquarters that only “slight” resistance had been encountered in the early stages made it clear the advance was going well. First army troops who broke the back of the German Rhineland army on the plains before Cologne in 12 days of sustained offensive and captured Cologne itself almost without a struggle won the first Rhine bridgehead. Strong supporting infantry units were rushed into the bridgehead after the first shock troops bad broken across and it was indicated that -Hodges was pouring a steady tide of men and armor into the attack. It was the first time an invading army had crossed Germany’s historic western rampart since Napoleon’s grand army pushed across the Rhine more than 1 00 years ago. The assault put Hodges’ fastrolling infantry columns into the southern flank of the teeming Ruhr basin less than 290 miles southwest of Berlin. The blow fell squarely upon the center of three German armies struggling to pull back behind the Rhine under a terrible storm of fire from American, British and Canadian divisions massed along a 110-mile stretch of the Rhine from Coblenz northward to the Dutch border. Frantic German broadcasts hinted that a general assault on the Rhine was under way or about to begin at several points north and south of the first army bridgehead. Berlin spokesmen said the Canadian first army was massing powerful tank and infantry formations along the lower Rhine near the Dutch border for a strike into the rolling plains of northwestern Germany. They warned their people, too, that the U. S. ninth and third armies fflanking Hodges’ men were deploying on the west side of the river for a similar crossing. Half the university city of Bonn on the west bank of the Rhine almost 25 miles north of Coblenz was taken by the first army and the complete capture of the town was believed imminent. Coblenz itself was under siege by third army troops astride the Rhine bluffs to the north and, by German account, moving in, through the hills six miles to the west. (Turn To Page 2, Column 5) O Pvt. Harold Strahm In Luzon Hospital .Pvt. Harold Strahm, 27-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Phil Strahm of northwest of Decatur, who was wounded by shrapnel in the Luzon invasion of the Philippine Islands, informed his parents that he is progressing slowly in a hospital located on Luzon. Sgt. Strahm is attached to the 38th or Cyclone division of t*he Eighth army. Hi« parents received the Purpie Heart this week. Sgt. Strahm praises highly the good work the American Red Cross is doing on the island. Not a day paseee, writes the sergeant, tout some member of this organization doesn’t pass through the wards of the hospital distributing tooth brushes, pop, doughnuts and other articles which the boys are forced to do without on the field of battle.