Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 43, Number 93, Decatur, Adams County, 19 April 1945 — Page 1

LAstW/ntheWar I A/se Is Chores!

LIII. No. 93.

IRST ARMY CAPTURES LEIPZIG, HALLE

mians Score ■p Advance S Os Berlin Ii Broadcasts nowledge Reds ting Steadily , Apr. 19-(UP)-Nazi s said today that Ruses had scored a deep east of Berlin and thrust spearhead across the southwest into >rg, nine miles from the its. military spokesman army had pushed I up to 25 miles beyond river and had reached river on a 42-mile front Cottbus and Bautzen. 68 the American third Chemnitz. continued to give only of the great Soviet on the broad front be'Berlin — drives in which \■■ Nazi commentators ackfeaßgrtl steady Russian gains ' ■Si,. shrinking waistline of upied reich. account the bloodK|Klitin’; raged in the maze strung over the near to Berlin. There, Walter Plato said. hjßßnrd struggle is becoming and the “scene of • shifted nearer to assault forces toppioll!P°sts Seelow P of the capital, the J admitted. «Br the fall of Wriezen, one Bast said, the Russians | "several kilometers" down ebßail to Strauberg. A later radio report said that 3Sk«< Itieving a deep break in, ■Sarliead "thrust a few kilobeyond the road into ■berg. &■) reported “repeated crisis" MB Oder valley in the last 24 ■■ but said the Germans manby moving up reserves, to tite 'coherent character f front" and prevent a debreakthrough. Germans viewed the offensive 50 to 90 southeast of Berlin as a to a Red army effort Sgßcircle the capital from the SSM and link up with the 8 ■■cans in the area of Dresel SB 011 !)' 30 miles southwest of r « USsian van suard at Bautzen. SB 0 SU ' )er f° r Berlin is | f° r * ,s c 'imax,” a Nazi ffißioeean broadcast said, ■■er deep penetrations have i in the last 24 hours. siJ||Bly miles to the south, other To Page 2. Column 5) K 0 JBate Bulletins ' J ' S ‘ ® eventh Army jlgSll Ge|,maf| y. Apr. 19—(UP) “ s^® erican trOOBS cleared the | >|iB ater Part of Nuernberg to- ’ and eaptured a large bag Jtel prisoners the Na z ' 'K T' ne Cily ’ ’"eluding three man 9enera,s - Apr. 19—(UP) — PB' mC Minister Churchill tode P rec i a ted V-day' specuißW l ° n as premature ' and reiift, d that a s P e cial parlia,BB nar y delegation will leave ernian y tomorrow to obS■ n e ye*itness evidence of atrocities. Apr. 19—(UP) Brßrn.j U n 'ted States today WBn, tloWn RRussia ’ a second WBolifh that t * le Provisional ,|l " 9overnment of Wan®Ban? e ‘ nVited t 0 the San |BL ce ISC ° security confer®Mo’rLßATU ° RE READING •wmocrat thermometer Bini We *THER Fri? “ nd nst *° COOI Hjnn ■■■'. rida y mostly cloudy • B«ms except ,n ex|gg "Orthsast portion.

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

Ernie Pyle Killed

! HHIr I ERNIE PYLE, famed war correspondent, has been killed by a bullet from a Japanese machine gun during the battle for le Shima, Jap-held island in the Ryukyus. Pyle, the doughboys’ war correspondent, is shown above in his latest picture, taken on Okinawa.

To Bury Ernie Pyle In Army Cemetery Beloved War Writer Is Mourned By G.l.'s Okinawa, Apr. 19. —(UP)—Ernie Pyle will be buried among the soldiers he immortalized. The beloved little war correspondent killed by a Japanese ma-chine-gunner yesterday probably will be laid to rest in an army cemetery here in the Ryukyus where he covered his last campaign. The soldiers he loved brought him back from 'the battlefield, back to where the noise of the guns is distant and dull. They lifted his pint-sized frame from the ditch where he fell, victim of a sneak Japanese machine-gun ambush. One of his hands still clutched his green fatigue cap. They put him on a litter, and crossed his arms, and then carried him back to the rear. It wasn’t easy. That Japanese machine-gunner seemed jealous of his prized victims. It was five hours after Ernie was killed before anybody could get to his body. Corp. Alexander Roberts, army photographer from New York City, tried to get in to take pictures. He said everytime anybody would try to enter the clearing where Ernie had been killed, the gunner would open up. First, three tanks were sent in to remove the body, but the fire was too hot for them. Then planes tried to locate the machine gun nest. Finally Roberts crawled into the clearing on his belly, pushing his (Turn Tn Page 2. Column 2)

Leßoy D. Schwartz Given Commission Named Lieutenant • In Army Air Corps iLt. Leßoy D. Schwartz, son of •Mr. and Mrs. Peter Schwartz. 915 W. Monroe street, has received his silver wings and commission to that rank, at the advanced twin-engine training school for bomber pilots at Frederick Army Air Field, Okla. Lt. Schwartz, who has taken the Jast 10 weeks of his flying i» a training version of the twin-engine iB-25 Mitchell bomber, will now be assigned to a transition unit for heavy or medium bombardment training. . . iThe officer’s father attended the graduation exercises last Sunday. Lt. Schwartz entered the air corps in the fall of 1940 and took training in several camps. He is a graduate of Monroe high school and had attended Ball State Teachers College before joining the servic-©. Hie brother, tttsigh Gerhart Schwartz, is stationed at Oceanside, Cal., at «n amphibious training base.

Second Landing Made By Yanks On Mindanao • Second Invasion Os Philippines Island Virtually Unopposed Manila, Apr. 19. —(VP) —Invasion troops drove inland today from a 35-mile beachhead on the eastern shore of Mindanao’s Moro gulf toward Davao, 95 miles *to the east. Two good airstrips were already in the hands of the troopswho went ashore at Malabang, in the heart of southern Mindanao, and at Parang, 20 miles -to the south. Warships and bombers covered the double-landing with an intense bombardment and the invasion, the second of Mindanao, was virtually unopposed. Only a few rifle shots met the troops, elements of the 24th division, as they swarmed ashore Tuesday at the two porta, 130 miles across the Moro gulf from Amer-ican-held Zamboanga. The main Japanese forces wre believed to have withdrawn inland along the highway which cuts eastward through southern Mindanao to Davao. Gen. Douglas MacArthur estimated that the Japanese had roughly three divisions of men with a probable total of 50,000 on Mindanao, southernmost of the Philippine islands. He also disclosed that Filipino guerrilla forces had been active along the Moro gulf coast before the landings and since had joined the American troops in expanding the beachhead. The two airstrips, built by the Americans before the fall of the Philippines, were seized at Malabang where the troops were only 41 miles south of Iligan bay. A drive across the strip of land cut chop off the big Zamboanga peninsula from the main eastern portion of Mindanao. The guerrillas were led by Col. Wendell W. Fertig, a former American civilian mining engineer on Mindanao who joined the army at the war's outbreak and helped build airfields on the island and also on Luzon. The naval bombardment by destroyer and cruisers was directed by Rear Admiral Ralph S. Riggs. Amarillo, Tex., while the entire task force was under command of Rear Admiral Albert B. Noble, Preston, Tex. Lt. Gen. Robert L. Eichelberger, commander of the U. S. Eighth Army and over-all commander of the Mindanao campaign, went (Turn To Page 2, Column 6,

Monmouth Graduate Plans Are Announced Name Valedictorian And Salutatorian C. E. Striker, principal of the Monmouth high school, today announced plans for the baccalaureate and commencement exercises of the school. Baccalaureate services will be held at the Zion Lutheran church in this city Sunday evening at .7:30 o’clock. The baccalaureate sermon will be delivered by the Rev. Paul W. Schultz, pastor of the church. Special music will be provided by the church choir and' by Miss Edna Mae Schultz, soloist* Boys of the junior class will act as ushers and the junior girls will form the honorary escort. Commencement exercises will be held in the Monmouth school auditorium Wednesday evening, April 25, with the address by the Rev. Matthew Worthman, pastor of the Bluffton Reformed church. Miss Ruth Fuelling, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Fuelling, will be the class valedictorian, and Miss Betty Miller, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ami Miller, will be class salutatorian. The 15 members of the graduating class will be presented by Mr. Striker and diplomas will be presented by Lyman L. Hanjx, superintendent of the Adams county schools, and George Schieferstein, Root township trustee.

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Decatur, Indiana, Thursday, April 19, 1945.

Out Os German Army Now Bg&gfr • -•* >*&••• v < ■< ;• I . 5. a, * > ■Br «.i& EI. THREE German women army prisoners, taken by the Seventh Army in its advance into Germany, sit on ammunition boxes as they await transportation to quarters.

Three-Fourths Os Okinawa Conquered 7,895 Casualties Suffered To Date Guam, Apr. 19.— (UP) —Marines completed the conquest of threequarters of Okinawa today with a push to z the northern tip of the island only 330 miles south of Japan.

The first 18 days of the Okinawa campaign, along with associated operations in the rest of the Ryukyu island chain and supporting carrier raids on Japan proper, cost 7,895 Americans killed, wounded or captured, a Pacific fleet communique announced. Heaviest losses wre suffered by the navy—9B9 officers and men killed, 2,220 wounded and 1,491 missing. Tenth army marines and soldiers lost 478 dead, 2,457 wounded and 260 missing. Though marines of the third amphibious corps had brought all of central and northern Okinawa under American control, they still were battling isolated enemy groups on Motobu peninsula jutting out from the northwest coast. In southern Okinawa, the 24th army corps still was stalled by strong Japanese positions shielding Naha, the island’s capital. The fleet’s big guns and carrier planes were hammering the defenses. Other forces on le island three miles west of Motobu peninsula made substantial gains in the northeast section of the island, but Japanese troops in dug-in positions and pillboxes around legusugu peak were resisting stiffly. In the first three days fighting on le, 388 Japanese were killed, and one prisoner taken. American losses were 15 killed, 73 wounded and five missing. o— — British Blackout To Be Lifted Monday London, April 19 •—(UP) — The British blackout will be lifted Monday except for a five-mile coastal •belt, home secretary Herbert Morrison announced today. It has been five years and eight months since the lights have burned at night in Britain. iMorrison said all restrictions on home, factory and office blackouts •would be removed but that street lighting will not be affected. Street lighting will continue curtailed as a -power economy measure.

What Can You Spare That They Can Wear? Look through your clothes closets Leave Clothing and attic. Get out all the serviceable at used clothing you can spare. Send it Decatur Auto to help relieve the suffering of 125 Paint & Top Shop million men, women, and children in North Ist st. war-torn European countries. or United National Clothing Collec- Lamon Building tion for Overseas War Relief April South Second St. 1 to 30. Opposite Court House.

Pre-lnduction Group Ordered Tuesday The Adams county seleetirve service board has ordered a group of men to report next Tuesday, April 24, to take pre-induction physical examinations. All those scheduled to report on this date have been notified, the board stated. Sixteen men are scheduled to leave here Friday, April 27. for active induction into the nation's armed forces. They will be assigned to the various branches of the service following final examinations. o U. S. Casualties Approach Million Overall Total Os 912,200 Announced Washington, April 19 —(UP) — Officially announced U. S. combat casualties, approaching 1,000,000 reached an overall total of 912,200 today. This was an increase of 12.810 in a week. Meanwhile, German casualties on the western front are mounting by the hundreds of thousands. Secretary of war Henry L. Stimson disclosed at his press conference today that British and U. S. armies have 'captured 2,100,000 Germans since Normandy D-day last June 6. Os this total, 900,000 •were eaptured in April alone. Just a week ago the total western front prisoner bag since D-day was announced as 1,600.000. The U. S. combat casualty total included 813,870 army and 98,330 navy, marine corps and coast guard losses since Dec. 7, 1941. Stimson reported that U. S. army casualties in Europe during March "were limited” to 47,023. This included 6.21'4 killed. 35,443 wounded, (Turn To Page 5, Column 6) 0 Lt. William Dowling Fieed From Germans Lt. William Dowling, son of Mr. and Mrs. William Dowling of Gary, formerly of this city, has been liberated from a German prison camp by American troops and will be returned to the United States. He is expected home shortly, his mother informed local relatives this morning. Lt. Dowling was reported missing in action last January.

Keystones Os Enemy’s Defensive System In Central Germany Fall

Clothing Collection Depot Is Open Daily Women Volunteers To Conduct Collection Beginning this afternoon and continuing every day, from 9 a.m. to 5 p. m., the receiving station for used clothing in the Lamon building, on S. Second street, formerly the Peoples Restaurant, across from the court house, will be open and under the supervision of women volunteer workers. Mrs. William Bowers, chairman of the volunteer special service committee of the American Red Cross, has organized a committee of volunteers to serve at the receiving station during the next nine days,' the campaign closing on April 28, Women from the various church organizations in the city will be called upon to serve at the receiving station and in sorting the various types of clothing and wearing apparel needed to clothe the victims of war in Europe. Members of the Lions and Rotary clubs will keep the receiving station open three nights next week, on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, to accommodate those who find it impossible to bring the old clothes to the room during the day. Residents in the country, who have not contributed clothing to the schools, are also invited to bring their donations to the receiving station. Phil Sauer, city street commissioner, said that a parking space would be reserved in front of the building so people could drive up and unload their clothing. Clarence Ziner, county chairman of the drive, released a list of the types of clothing wanted in the drive: Men's and boys’ garments, overcoats, topcoats, suits, coats, jackets, shirts, work clothes, overalls, coveralls, sweaters, underwear, robes, pajamas, knitted gloves. Women's and girls’ garments, in about the same line, and aprons, smocks, nightwear and shawls. Caps and knitted head wear. (Women’s hats, dress hats and derbies not wanted). Bedding, blankets, afghans, sheets, pillow cases, quilts. Shoes, either oxfords or high shoes of durable type with low or medium heels. All shoes should be mated and’ tied securely in pairs. Usable remnants, piece goods, cut or uncut materials, one yard (Turn To Page 2, Column 7)

Ensign Tom Andrews Has Leg Amputated Wound Necessitates Amputation Os Leg Word has been received by relatives that it was necessary to amputate one of the legs of Ensign Thomas Andrews. 25, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry C. Andrews of Decatur route four. Ensign Andrews, a Torpedo bomber pilot aboard an aircraft carrier in the Pacific, was wounded in action by the Japs. He was flown to Bremerton, Wash., where the operation was performed at a naval hospital. The young pilot was commissioned in the naval air corps last year, following intensive training. Prior to his enlistment he was graduated from Indiana University in 1942. Word of his injuries was received here' last weekend by relatives and yesterday a letter from him explained that one of his legs was amputated above the ankle. Three of his brothers are serving their country in the army overseas.

Big Fleel Os B-29s Bombs Kyushu Island Airfields In Tokyo Area Also Targets Os Superfortresses Guam, Apr. 19—(UP)—Japanese broadcasts said 100 or more superfortresses bombed Kyushu, southernmost of the Japanese home islands, today for the third straight day. Three other B-29s and 60 escorting mustang fighters attacked airfields in the Tokyo area, enemy radio stations said. With onetenth of Tokyo already destroyed, foreign diplomats have evacuated the capital, the broadcasts admitted. . The Tokyo Domei agency said the Kyushu raid lasted for two hours. The B-29s were believed to have hit again the six air bases from which Japanese suicide planes take off to attack American warships off Okinawa, 330 miles to the southwest. Domei said damage to ground facilities was “very slight.” It claimed that at least one B-29 was downed by a suicide plane which crashed into it. Superfortresses and fighters bombed and machine-gunned airfields in the Tokyo area for a half hour, a Tokyo broadcast said. It said Japanese fighters chased the raiders away “before they could do much mischief, limiting damage caused on the ground to (he minimum.” Another enemy broadcast said Japan advised all foreign diplomatic officials to leave Tokyo because of continuing air raids. The diplomats accepted the invitation and moved to Karunzawa, popular summer resort in the hills 70 miles northwest of Tokyo, the broadcast said. o Miss Betty J. Burke Joins Army Nurses Is Commissioned As Second Lieutenant

Miss Betty J. Burke, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Burke, 338 Line Street., who ertlisted in the army nurses’ corps, has been commissioned a second lieutenant and Will report for duty at Billings General Hospital. Fort Benjamin Harrison, on May 1. ILt. BBurke is a graduate of Decatur high school and Bail State Memorial hospital, where ehe received her nurse's training. Recently she has been employed at the Ball Memorial hospital. Lt. Burke enlisted as an army nurse at’Baer Field last month and received her orders today to report for active duty. She will join the large rank of Decatur young women Who are serving their country in the navy and army as nurses during the war. o — President Truman And Gen. Marshall Confer Washington. April 19 —(UP) — President Truman summoned Gen. George C. Marshall, army chief-of-staff. to the White House for a 15-minute conference today. After the conference, which started at 11:30 A. M. EIWT, Marshall smilingly told reporters that he had “lots and lota” of news. “Ibut.” he added with a grin, “I can’t give it to you.’’ t Marohal said he couldn't say anything on the subject of the nearness or remotness of V-E day. “But someday when this war is done,” he promised, "I can tell you a lot of things.”

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Crushing Victory By Yankees Threatens Complete Collapse Os Central Front Paris, Apr. 19— (UP) —The twin German strongholds of Leipzig and Halle fell to the American first army today in a crushing double victory which, threatened the complete collapse of the Nazis’ central front. The two cities, keystones of the enemy’s entire defensive system in central Germany, were taken by first army doughboys only a few hours apart today ip the bloodiest street fighting since the Rhine crossing. A few scattered snipers were reported still holding out in the ruins of Leipzig tonight, but all resistance was stamped out in Halle, 15 miles to the northwest. Far to the northwest, U. S. ninth army forces battled to stem a fierce German counterattack against their northern flank between Magdeburg and Brunswick. A strong German task force of perhaps 1,000 men and 70 tanks and armored units struck suddenly into the ninth army.flank some 45 miled west of the Elbe early today and more considerable progress before the Americans could rally to meet the blow. Attacking southeastward from the Wittengen area, the Nazis slipped part of their force 15 miles through the American lines into the Kloetz forest, but their main body was checked with heavy losses after a three-mile advance. The thrust apparently was aimed at cutting clear across the ninth army front into the Harz mountains, some 60 miles south of the Kloetz forest. Leipzig, the fifth city of Hitler’s reich and the pivot on which his entire western battle line depended. was conquered by two first army divisions early today in one of the bloodiest, close-in fights of the war. All but a handful of Nazi snipers were killed or captured by tank units early today and the doomed survivors were being hunted down and destroyed at top speed. With stray shots still flying in a half-dozen sections of the ciy, thousands of liberated Allied prisoners and some civilians lined the streets to hail the Americans. On the part of the civilians it was an open acceptance of Germany's defeat. German hopes for a prolonged (Turn To Pag* 2, Column 4) o — Pfc. Wayne Sprunger Is Killed In Action Berne Soldier Is Killed In Germany Pfc. Wayne A. Sprunger, 20, son of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Sprunger. 365 Compromise street, Berne, was killed in action in Germany on Aprii 5, the parents were advised by the war department this morning. The young soldier was a medic with a medical first aid unit of the 121st Infantry, attached to General Patton’s Third army, which was one of the first armies to cross the Rhine and march toward Berlin. Pfc. Sprunger was born in Berne on Feb. 26. 1925. He was graduated from the Berne high school in 1943 and on October 25 of that year entered the army. He was trained at Camp Barkley, Texas and went overseas last fall. He had been in Germany since last December. Pfc. Sprunger was a brother of Roman Sprunger of 128 North Fourth street, this city, who recently was discharged from the army after serving two years. Besides the parents and the brother in this city, Pfc. Sprunger is survived by a sister, Mrs. Arlo Lehman of Berne.