Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 8 October 1950 — Page 4

PAGE 4

ha Slain In Korean

Jimmy Davis at 4. Overalls at 12, $/Sgt. Davis family: Left to right, ira Salyers, his stepfather; Mrs. Fannie Caswell, grandmother: Jimmy's mother; Mrs. Vivian a At 16, a runaway. The Marine sergeant. vy an 8.8.9 Davis, his sister-in-law, and Wendell Davis, Wis brother. | In one of the letters Mrs. Sal-) Among the mementoes in the

Marine Sergeant Hated to Garden yers received since her son's house in which Jimmy Davis was

{ death, a Marine who signed him-| reared is an old letter which Mrs, A. self as “Old Sarge” wrote that| |Salyers’ grandfather wrote to her But He Planted Tree That Survives | By FRANK ADAMS

her boy shamed all the house- | grandmother in 1865. wives in Washington with his| The grandfather, a Confederate

A boy who refused to destroy evidence of his most serious mis- | spotless laundry. . | soldier, was killed just before take lies today in a hero's grave on a hillside overlooking the bay Her Last Word ~ |Mrs. Salyers’ father was born, of Masan, Korea. “He was mama's wash boy| General at Rites

when he was 18,” she said. ‘“‘He| |did the washing every Thursday.”| Mrs. Salyers has many letters. | Sgt. Davis’ last word to his The one from Admiral Nimitz is

{mother was a birthday cara/written on United Nations sta{which she received Aug. 8, the tionery.

And soon, alongside the document telling of a reckless kid's misadventure, there may be another paper- the written order of the highest tribute the nation can pay a fighting man. { The first document is a care-

fully-kept dishonorable discharge 2nd. there were weeks when the

which James Carroll Davis re- pretty young mother made no {day he was killed. The one from a Marine chapceived from a Civilian Conserva- more than 38. There Nes Himes | Her birthday is July 30, and he j,i told her how a man from tion Corps camp in 1940. ' ! ' had mailed it July 22. Sgt. Davis’ company stood-at the

C Wendell, and their sister, Ruth, The other could be iho on didn’t have too much. ) aren es ° a Car- Pride walked Jimmy to School} roll D vis has been recommended. 13 each day in spotless, starched | » 3 is but a few years be- overalls. He had nothing else to| boy and the man, be-|Wear but he didn’t mind as long tween the boy's misdeed and the [#% they were clean. Marine's sacrifice of life so that The garden helped a lot. It had i ’ to. Jimmy worked in it, and . Cy others could live. + His wife JR} Dofte leaving for the war. The trail of the things of which [planted the willow tree near the World War II when her husband Davis, 276400, USMC, who threw heroes are made led to a modest front, the. 14 peach trees and] “No he said. “This will always He would dream, his mother, backed that he was, he invariably, It was Miss Suzanne English,/and both her sons were overseas, [himself on a live hand grenade

“Better a few days early than head of her son’s grave, by the

jie month late, were the words cross, when on Aug. 24 a me- |" But the beartbreak for Mrs morial and funeral service was | Salyers, who never let her boy held on the Korean hillside. | ? y Five hundred men and the gen-

own a gun, started when Sgt. { Davis called her from the West ig the Marine: brigades were

| Coast before leaving for the w. & : ar The body of S/Sgt. James C.

, Suzanne. A spick and span Marine, orderly to c W. Nimitz, fleet admiral. His son, James Jr., sioadly 3.

two-story frame home at 1461 three plum trees. remind me that what belongs to said that he was sitting in a rock- drew attention. There was for in- an Indianapolis girl, who checked But this time it was different. to save the lives of his comrades, Dunlap Ave. | He and his brother and sister someone else is theirs.” ing chair and retired. stance, the giri who ordered a Mrs. Salyers’ credit rating. The And in World War I she had lies in “Plot 1, Row 9, Grave 102, From a windew of his small rode a bull calf named Blackie Jimmy Davis did go back and “He wanted to retire as a glass of milk taken to the un-igirl became piqued with his flip- three brothers in service. 25th Division, U. S. Army Cemeroom in the northeast corner of to get the mail. Most of the other! finish school. Marine.” she said. bending Marine she saw in a pancy. Before it was all over, Sgt. ‘Mother, Hang Up’ tery, Masan, Korea. ”

tavern. Davis talked her into giving him The Taking the milk, Sgt. Davis her address so he could write her

r————————— —

the first floor the boy who was kids in the neighborhood did) - In his last semester he played

Jimmy could 100k out at the wil- likewise, twisting the tails of guard on the Ben Davis grid team. grief and the pleading|

were in her voice as she talked

As the family put it, Jim “never really had a civilian job,”

low tree, which he set when it their mounts to get them to keep) ‘Weight Man’ more. .thah he ever wore a civilian walked over to the girl, thanked an apology. her boy. | Fill Your was a sprig scarcely sailed than) ng. on fi ast petedanry en Davis’ yearbook, the Key- hat. hes and said Sorgetyiing to the] «“ft1i be a snap,” he told nial ie I'm part of the Marine| Xmas List at the haa: and Which today vo ot ir a. p hole, in 1941 read: “He went to work once,” said ery a gince Be rhe gn ther, Corps,” he said. Antique Show Rranehes Jimiy reads lot, and practiced Um Davie 5 i Mrs. Sajyers. « thought it only right that he “Miss English and’ i Davia} a a pe his mother cried and, Murat Temple There he would lie and dream on the piano. Sgt. Davis of the Jim is o po i rm n | Mr. Salyers explained that he should sit with her until he fin- She lives in Ton ame To their! (her fi "the 1 wh Nice vam » Oct. 7:39:10 1 Fears : 8 our welg an and the boy's mother (they were. ished it. : e lives in Los Angeles eir her for the last time: { Daily 1 to 10:30 p.m. a boy's dreams and feel a boy's Marines wore an expert rifle And with the best married: in’ March. 1941F - dis- son, James C. Davis Jr., who will] “Mother, hang up , . . Mother, iy Io p.m. tribulations. man’s medal. Jimmy played cro- He will stard. zovered that: Jimmy had 4 26 He did. ’ {be 3 years old Wednesday. . ‘hang up . . 2 a. Valor and character were 10 quet and climbed trees. The student - who wrote the y one a| The girl sat silent and flushed. hi El Cia SERRE > . i good job of pretending his last while he finished the drink,

grow with the willow tree. The 5-foot 113%-inch 200- class prophecies saw Jim as a

. ’ ° three “the job.” " i : J Jim Davis, who was to be pound Marine sergeant also wore spectator at a big conflagration. ” days on “the } . HowiY: She Sentinpe to il spanked until he was 16 and who badges which were symbolic of And the memory of the CCC He started out each day with ym ing Te er foolish as the never liked to dig his hands into his efficiency with a carbine and camp incident faded for everyone is "But gad all,” Mr. Salyers or He hi ed away. t s the earth until he becamé a a bayonet. When he served as except Marine Sgt. Davis who, a said. ut he didn’t fool me. Ds Sere as ime 3. y 'n Sept. 23, 1923, , "I ' 7. buddy wrote, was “so honest” Jimmy said “awright” and Vi Marine, was born Sep J, orderly to Fleet Adm, C. W, 3 C s nest” he B mother for a $125 Masonic ring ® =® Bn .

tn Oglethorpe County, Georgia. Nimitz, his back was as lance- didn’t have very many close per- dropped the masquerade, h h He was brought fo Indianapolis straight as the “old man’s.” sonal friends. Sgt. Davis’ trips home usually Which he wanted. { when 10 months old, and at 4, two! 4 Ip to the time he left home in an “But he is resnected hv avarv. meant a lot of work around the “I'l Be a Snap” |

years before his family was to ooo 0" ol the garden, Jim- 00¢~ the buddy wrote to Mrs. house and an occasional humor-| He had the money in his pocket, occupy the 200 by 173-foot tract mes outstanding ® Ba cer grew Salyers after her son's death in ous side excursion, (but, with the universal distrust on the city's West Side, he sel + o hig possession of a water- action. Disliked Beer of the soldier for service pay-.

the pattern which he followed t0 melon which belonged to a cor- 1dke all boys, Jim Davis liked) He disliked beer, and rarely masters, especially when in the _to.dream. And that’s’ why, in a took a drink of wine or whiskey process of changing stations, he

his death, ner grocer, and out of an arguRetrieves Stolen Gun i a girl who called him ways that he joined the Marines to be sociable, {wanted to get the ring on credit Another boy took a gun which|8 nickname he didn’t like. in 1939 as a reserve. | Stiff-necked and _straight-| ‘and save his money.

belonged to Jimmy's cousin. The boy explained the melon It was Jimmy, smaller than his theft logically enough:

cousin, who decided to get the ‘How Would He Know? toy back. He ran across the| <«Qjder people,” 'he said, “are Free street, recovered the toy and had g)ways telling stories about steal- - it in his hand when he was struck ing watermelons. How can I ever Parking down by a car. ‘tell one if I don't steal one?” @ 10-PAY PLAN It was Oct. 12 when he went 1 ;,,446q but he didn’t do so Lot No. 2 ® PAY CASH into the hospital with a broken yw... in the argument with the Across BEO W. WASHINGTON ST .... LI. 647] ® LAYAWAY leg, and it was Christmas before girl. The name she used was Dash- Mis ouri a ® BASY PAY : he got home, ..__.. hound or Daschund. No one knows $ STORE HOURS DAILY 9:30 TO 5P. M. o S0-DAY Years later James Carroll how the nickname ever got start- Street CHARGE Davis, a Marine home on leave, ed, Everyone knows that Jimmy

was the driver of a car which |gidn't like it. struck and killed a man on an, po took the girl's bicycle and] Indianapolis street. Police said 200 it in a creek. the tall, husky youth in dress blues of his Corps was blameless.

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“No ¢ne is ever gonna call me that,” he said. Took Piano Lessons | Later at home, he took the Today the neat ‘home is well- consequences. carpeted and curtained, and the, He was 15. plano on which Jimmy tock ies-| And at 18 Jimmy Davis finally | sons in his 12th year still stands, got his fill of the garden. . unchipped and carefully cared for, Hops Freight in a corner of the living room. . i But it was linoleum that cov-| Flow." is mother Jaa. lied. ered the floors in most of the He did.

years Jimmy lived in the house. Someone saw him hopping a

. And for seven. of those years he _ studied and worked and played freight and he was gone threc

by the light of .coal oil lamps.

The curtains were there, always Jimmy came back hungry and

On A "GENERAL ELECTRIC” eiean and unfrayed, because Jim- tired. He kept the garden. :

my’s mother, now Mrs. Florence Sometimes when Marine James Salyers, sewed so well. And she C. Davis was home visiting he’d worked. walk out to the garden and dig Those were depression years, his large, square-knuckled hand ; . - Seige ./into the Black earth. . f FUEL-SAVER REATERS : { With dirt in his hand, the trim-/ Boy Has Narrow looking sergeant who never wore

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“I can’t understand why I never

War Memorial liked the earth when I was a kid.” i ‘ f : blends attractively with modern day house furnishings. Trimmed in

ry Handsome with even features, harmonizing polished copper . . . durably finished in luxurious two- THIS SENSATIONAL OFFER A 9-YEAR-OLD boy's cHcapie and_white teeth, Sgt. Davis car-| —T : tone Hommertone finish which is baked-on, chig=resistant, smooth " BIVES YOU A FORCED AIR landed him in Juvenile Aid cus-‘ried a forehead scar which was|i@| BIG! ox glam, suvy-to-kpep. clean. HEATING SYSTEM ....... tody last night. But it might 3 memento of his. early and, to oo 7 | MORE COMFORT GUARANTEED! + wo : ? just as well have ended in a hos- him, shameful escapade. : ? " Avomati supERF NO CHARGE pital—or worse. | Jimmy Davis didn't finish at, z More San $ sulle feet — OE os. OE dvaaced nly incrovies Yocule. Slipping into an unguarded Ben Davis High School in four| i 9 . futrigerated 190d: ceiling to floor level. No fire lin Ey no ashes. Li — * elevator in the World. War Memo- years. But Sgt. Davis was con- o storage space. Full 14 Bn — by reducing laundry and Tal bills. Just ki a .“" PRICES rial, the boy closed the door and sidered officer material by Fleet! square feet of shelf SUPERFLAME in the fall for ALL WINTER COMFORT! Lui Li shot skyward. At the top he Admiral Nimitz, who once said! area... Plenty big for : opened the door and stepped onloisg)in an official endorsement. ‘MORE HEAT GUARANTEED! AMAZING FUEL SAVINGS! START

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the iron balcony which surrounds: Jimmy would have quit school the top of the Shrine Room—85 if jt hadn't been for his mother.| feet above the floor. - Then thé She said he could go to the CCC

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door slid shut behind him, camp if he would send home! chimney loss 40% . . . gives you more heat from every WN /money so she could save it and

CHIEF GUARD. Patrick Shea. send him back.to school. had seen the boy walking toward ~ He promised. the elevator, and quickly sur-| On July 8, 1940, he was enrolled

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" mised what happened. He sent at the CCC camp at Kendallville, | features ..., Two re Guard Willlam Hamilton up a Ind. He sent home $30 each fruit and vegetable eg : .d/ ‘ Ap SAR oP 0 —————t stairway to the top. Mr. Hamil- month. here was $120 saved driers Soncltin s SEE US TODAY A % : ‘ ’ ton opened the elevator door with for him When he made his mis-i| ++ « Space : OM FUEL! LASY TERMS :

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a pipce of wire and brought the take. boy down. He and another boy took a car Guards said if the boy had for a joy ride. Police gave chase. stopped one floor below the bal-|1-eaving the car on foot, Jimmy cony, he would have stepped into Tan hard-—right into a tree. a tunnel which has no doors or| That was what left one scar. windows. There would have been| His CCC discharge, dishonor-| no way to reach him, and rescuers able, came Nov. 22, 1940, { would have had to drill through Keeps Discharge about 14 feet of concrete to reach! Marine Sgt. Davis, with all his him. » . years in service, never went in Stef etter his {much for souvenirs. There were! GAS TRUCKERS STRIKE {only autographed pictures, a small] DETROIT, Oct. 7 (UP)—A box of coral and sea shells, and strike of truck drivers and dépol his varidus service records and employees halted gasoline deliv- medals. ery to 300 service stations in| In the personal archives is inmetropolitan Detroit today. The cluded the 1940 paper of shame. | ©11 Workers -International Union| “I suppose you'll want to throw, (CIO) struck all Shell Oil Co:ithis away,” Sergeant Davis’ | filling stations after a breakdown mother said to the Marine” Home He & eantract negotiations. on leaves. 5

OPEN MON ~WED.-FRI. — SAT. TILL 9 P. M. TR eR an DEALER

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Beech Gro city in the st out a library, blot on its ci A group of a whirlwind « raise $50,000 library and solitheastern suburb. Incorporate Beech Grove Center, Inc., will direct an teers in a ho paign expecte the communit Another ar group will see business’ place organizations. Dr, Leon V of the corpora to wind up the with the $50,( a' llpsstory | on the plot donated by th

Tax For

The land’ w for the maint istration of t cluded in the Beech Grove petition askin a library. However, tl build the struc by donations. The building on a site on M the football floor will hous fill the need f place. The ¢ 300 seating cs joining kitche for use of bu and civic grou will house the The campal way with a m teers on Oct. structions. § made by Bee students in a be displayed 1 Mayor Hon Mayor Rich: rary chairmar Other corpo addition to Dr H. Hull, vice p C. Rhea, vice p Stratton, secr Saunders, trea Members of tors are EIt Ewell F. Ew Clarence V. Hunter, Harry Horn, Herbert neth Harlan, Margaret Zipp,

‘Alice Hensley

Committees Mr. Kinsey, Bredy, Mrs, St fey, Verlie Nev lam, Jack Le Carl Bates Joyce.

Believes Can Bec As Food

TALLAHASI (UP)—The se produce more 1 according to Di director of n Florida State Dr. Humm a of economic v: riety of raw m tually may be sea through m: be worth as m “We have c these resource pointing out th have scarcely pared to the ¢ tanical and zo agriculture and The marine water covers earth's surface actual human per cent of th the land.

. “THE PROI of the sea has marine biologi mately twice tl square mile. “We. do no much fish the but we do kn fish in the se: 1000 times as | ter in some oth Dr. Humm ¥v Marine Biolog Duke Universit His research w economic uses development o in North Cai manufactures from basic ses

Public Hee Schedule 1

The Publie Central Distri Nurses’ Assoc uled a dinner next Friday a quarters, 1226 Officers for are Mrs. Charl man; Miss Err chairman; Mis secretary; Mis chairman of Miss Bernice 8 nominating cor Hoffman, chai committee, an Scott, publicity

Two Hoos

In Darthm Two India have snrolled i man elass to College, Hano: 182-year histor The total of ents reporting week ended 3237 1 bert i