The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1945-01-25
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Especial Release)-"That's all / can
do, men, the rest is up to you" Private
Minor DuVal of San Bernardino, Calf.
glancing at the empty grenade box be-
side him, sat down in the cab of his
cr1chibious tank.
Duval had just made the way easier
for his load of infantry assault troops
by breaking open the grenada case and
hurting its contents at the strong Jap
positions beyond the beach. Bullets and
shell frangments whined in the air
about the son of Mrs. Savilla DuVal
1919 18th St. as he turned his "watsr
buffalo" around and headed from the
shore for more troops.
DuVal's action is just one reason why
the doughboys of the 31st Infantry
Division have great respect for thu
members of their LVT Landing Vehicle
Tank Platoon.
Platoon Leader, Master Sergeant
James r. Sellars, whose wife, Esther,
lives at Zephyrhills, Fla. concurs.
"These men of mine," he says, "are
the worst damn garrison soldiers in
the world, but if there's any hope Of
action ahead they'll work their heads
off twenty-four hours a day getting
ready and then come back from the
mission moaning because there wasn't
enough excitement"
Privates Oliver Harry and George F.
Dunn are two of his action-loving men.
Harty's wife, Fanny, and his six-year-old
son, Oliver, Jr, live at 90 Spring St.,
Goshen, N. Y, while Dunn calls As At
wells Ave-, Providence, R. l., home.
ats work, but it's a hell of a lot Of
fun" grinned Harry. He and Dunn had
just returned from a tortuous trip up
an inland river carrying supplies to an
advanced infantry company. They
used to drop rations and supplies by
plane until we finally managed to get
a Buffalo up to them. Had to taxi .
demolition squad of engineers with us
to blast a few spots clear, but we finally
made it. These Buffaloes are the only
way in the world to get there except
by foot. No boat could make it-too
many shadows, coral rock, and fallen
trees. We're making trips every day
now"
yeah" Dunn agreed, but we don't
always make it back the same night.
Take Christmas Day, FIR instance. We
were going up with supplies and were
told our turkey dinner would be saved
for us until we got back. Well, We
went on up with a company of infantry
marching ahead of US. The water was
shallow so we made good time. All
of a sudden / saw the troops scrambling
up the banks. | soon saw why-a four
foot wall of water was rushing down.
stream. Caused by a cloud burst up in
the mountains, | guess. Anyway, it
wasn't long before we were in the mid
die of the storm ourselves. There was
nothin' to do but to stop for the night
so guards were set out and we hacked
out a place for ourselves in the jungle.
No blankets nor nothin'. And instead
of turkey, we ate soaked K-ration.
Most of the men in the LVT platoon
were originally from the field artillery.
at wasn't hard for US to ge used to
these things" explained Harty, "be-
cause most of US had driven the cater
pillars having the big guns. These Buff
faloes are only a little harder to drive
mostly because you can't see we'll.
Nope, I haven't ever heard of one turn
ing over, and I've had 'em darn near
perpendicular myself. And as far as q
rough sea goes, as long as you have
your motor running you can't sink one
of these babies. A driver has to get
over being seasick, though"
IL. L.---
problems, according to T/5 Walter Elf
man, 5941 Cedar Ave, Philadelphia, Pa,
the chief mechanic. Eve have a hard
time getting parts and have to impro-
wise a lot" the corporal said. zone Of
our most frequent troubles is borken
'grousers', those paddle-like cleats you
see on the tracks. Sometimes if they're
just bent we ar fix them, but if they
are broken there is nothing to do but
to take them off and hope you can re-
place them. It's not often that a Buff
falo throws a track, but it happens
once in a while. 0ther'day had a tank
throw one when it was about eight miles
inland. Al went up and fixted it SINGLE
handed. 1t took him two or three hours,
standing hip-deep in water. l still don't
see how he did it," AL is T/5 Allen NJ.
Coleman, the husband of Mrs. Fannie
B. Coleman, Ri. No. a, Pensacola, Fla.
In three major operations, the pla-
toon has had only three men wounded,
But we've killed a good many Japs,"
said Sergeant Sellars.
Four Mis~sissippians are in the pla-
toon. They are Sgt. Buford X. O'Neal,
husband of Mrs. Alma W. O'Neal, Ri.
A, Virgins; Pfc. Hugh T.. Ferguson, son
of Mrs. Ethel G.. Ferguson, Ri. l, Box
Alb, G~reenville; Pfc. Robert d. Moor
head, whose parents, Mr.. and Mrs. j.
L. Moorhead, lives on RID 1, Durant;
and Pvt. Glib Parrish, whose wife Lena,
1;voe Of inns MiSs;csippi Ave Creeu.