Imperial Valley press., 1945-07-06
Our Men i'm Service

James Newell, son of P. H. Newell.
Sr., OF Ell Centre, was promoted to
captain in the army corps before
his latest B29 raid over Japan. He
entered the army air corps after
taking a flying course at Imperial
county airport. He was 20 years of
age at that time He was born and
feared in Ell Centro, attended the
elementary and high schools, and
had two years at Central Junior col
lege. He went overseas last Decem-
Der and had completed 80 missions
at the time he was promoted to
captain. His wife, the former Mar
jorie Lou Anderson, and his two
year-old son, James, are living with
her grandmother at Beaumont. His
brother. Technical Sergeant John
Newell, is stationed in the Hawaiian
Islands. He has been in the service
four and a half years. Another
brother, Sergeant Phillip H Newell,
Jr.. is with the army in Germany.
News was received in FL Centre
that Marine Second Lieutenant Sta
Cy M. Morgan of E. Centro was pi-
lot Of the first American plane to
land on the newly won airfield at
Naha. This was % hours after the
first runway was completed by an
engineer battalion. AS pilot of a
"GraSShOpper" observation plane at
that time, Lieutenant Morgan said.
This strip will replace our regular
landing field several miles north of
Naha and should speed up the job
of artillery observation planes The
front lines are only a few miles
from here and it will save a lot of
refueling stops to be able to land
here"
Mrs. Sam Nickele received word
recently that her husband, Lieuten-
ant Nickele of the marine air corps.
formerly stationed here, has been
injured in plane crash on Okina-
wa. He reported his plane crashed
tiiN CuA AiSNi dtJ 4lA6o q tchC-O4l ttIld
he suffered several severe burns and
cracked ribs. In his latest letters he
said he is recovering and expects to
leave the hospital soon Mrs. Nickele,
who was formerly stationed at the
El CentrO marine air station as a
marine lieutenant and her infant
son, have been making their home
with the W. j. StricklandS here. She
is visiting her family in New York
now but expects to return to the
west in the fall.
Private Myrel Gillett, son of Mrs
Nellie Gillett. returned to Ft. Ord
after a visit with relatives and
friends in Ell Centre. This former
Ell Centro athlete has been i'll the
army since last February.
Corporal Lawrence COnro5, son
of Mrs. Teresa Conroy. is serving
with one of the first aviation con-
struction companies to arrive in
the European theater of operations.
Months before D-Day, Corporal
Conroy and the men in his outfit
were given deadline Of a few
weeks to put down miles Of tarmac
roads. improve, reSurface, and widen
airstrips and runWays so that fleets
CT heavy bombers and cargo planes
flying in from the States would
have hopping off place for the far
shore The men worked on a "a
hour schedule. Their advance work
made possible the great aerial cover
given the Allied invasion forces on
D-Day He joined the army in De-
cember. l943. His wife is living in
Sidney Montana.
Private First Glass Nick Ficarelli,
marine, is resting at Pearl Harbor
now. He was wounded in action at
Marshall Islands and was burned
while serving at Saipan.
Raymond Silva, son of MI and
Mrs F. M Silva, is a seaman second
class in the navy and is awaiting
orders for overseas duty. He was
delighted when he received the
Central Union high school annual
signed by members of his class He
enlisted before he was graduated
this spring.
James F. Golf, II, son of John
Golf of El Centro. has enlisted in
the naval reserve in San Diego as
an apprentice seaman Recruit Golf
i grauate OF Central Union high
school where he was a member of
the Boys Welfare association. He
has a brother, Ernest Hugh Goff.
serving in the navy.
Thousands of square miles in the
Central Pacific are under the con-
slant watch of the Hawaiian Sea
frontier, unit Of the fleet assigned