USA > Indiana > Lake County > History Of Veterans Of Foreign Wars (1944) > Part 18
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Cowan, who has been in the army for al- most nine months, left the United States last May for overseas duty. He is now with a tank destroyer division attached to the headquar- ters company of the Fifth army in north Africa.
A graduate of Washington high school in 1939, Cowan was employed at the Youngs- town Sheet and Tube company in East Chi- cago prior to his induction into the army.
GETS HOME NEWS
Hammond Times, September 28, 1943
Staff Sgt. Michael P. Davich, husband of Mrs. M. P. Davich, 1438 Summer street, Hammond, keeps abreast of developments in his home town by reading The Hammond Times while serving overseas in Iran with the 651st engineers' company.
Sgt. Davich, who sent this picture home to his wife and 13-month-old daughter, Cath- erine Marie, says he has been receiving copies of The Times regularly during the four months he has been stationed in Iran. Before going overseas, he received the paper at army camps in Oklahoma and Mississippi, where he was assigned to the 113th engineers' battalion composed primarily of Whiting soldiers. He has been a reserve in the Indiana national guards since Dec. 8, 1939.
Page one hundred and seventy -six
Hammond Sailor Vet of Sicilian Invasion Here on 22-Day Leave
a pharmacist's mate, stationed at the naval hospital at Memphis, Tenn., where she is tak- ing a course as surgical technician. His brother, Robert G. Ponton, is also a gunner's mate and an instructor in gunnery at the naval air station at Pensacola, Fla.
L. Ponton
Hammond Times, October 1, 1943
Leonard Ponton, gunner's mate, is spend- ing a 22-day leave with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Ponton, 735 Indiana street, Ham- mond. After his boot training at Great Lakes, he spent 10 months as gunner on a troop ship. He was on the first ship to land U. S. troops in the Hebrides islands. His ship also carried troops to the Fiji, Solomons, New Caledonia and other islands in this area.
In January, 1943, he was transferred to a merchant vessel as gun captain of the navy crew. Since that time he has made an entire trip around the world, seeing service in every continent except South America. He visited such ports as Sydney, Perth, Australia, Col- ombo, Ceylon, Calcutta, India, Port Aden, Arabia, Suez, Cairo, Alexandria, Egypt, Trip- oli, Lybia and Malta.
Ponton was in Sicily during the invasion. His ship was under bombing raids for 14 days without a single casualty. One night his gun- ners were credited with bringing down nine German planes. They were successful in un- loading their entire cargo, but after leaving were torpedoed and sunk by a German sub- marine. Again they were lucky, as the entire crew was rescued after eight hours in life boats and taken to the nearest port to await transportation home to America.
Arriving home in Hammond from New York on Sept. 21, after an uneventful trip across the Atlantic, Ponton had completed the around the world trip. His furlough ends when he reports back to Treasure island, San Francisco, on Oct. 10. He also has a sister and brother serving in the navy, Oma C. Ponton,
KRAJNAK CABLES HOME
J. Krajnak
Hammond Times, October 1, 1943
A hero of the war, Pvt. John B. Krajnak of Whiting could take enough time off from his duties with a U. S. army unit in north Africa to cable congratulations to his parents on their 25th wedding anniversary, Sept. 23.
Decorated with the Purple Heart after be- ing wounded in the battle for Algeria on Feb. 3, Krajnak also wears three silver stars for participating in the invasions of Africa, Al- geria and Tunis.
Before enlisting, Pvt. Krajnak was em- ployed at the Standard Oil company of In- diana and resided with his parents, the John Krajnaks, Sr., 2000 White Oak avenue. He was sworn into the service at Indianapolis and sent to Camp Wheeler, Ga., for basic training. From Ft. Dix, N. J., he was trans- ferred overseas to Northern Ireland. After six months he was assigned to north Africa for the invasion.
Page One Hundred Seventy-seven
CABLES HE LANDED SAFELY
OBRADOVICH PROMOTED
Hammond Times, October 3, 1943
Apparently believing the V-mail letters he had sent earlier had gone astray, Capt. Wil- liam Derner, 26, son of Mr. and Mrs. Hans Derner, 716 - 169th street, Hammond, sent them a cablegram Friday saying he had landed safely in England.
Capt. Derner, who has been in service more than three years, is attached to the headquar- ters' company of the third armored division, APO No. 253, in care of the postmaster at New York City. A graduate of Hammond high school and Purdue university, he entered service as a second lieutenant, became first lieutenant two years ago and was made a cap- tain last year.
The Derners' other son, Cecil H. Derner, now is training as an air cadet in the army air forces' school in Yale university. Cecil, 22 years old, also graduated from Hammond high school and attended Purdue for three years, excelling in football, where he played a half- back position.
IN SOUTH SEA ISLAND
Pfc. John I. Hestermann, Jr., 706 Ridge road, has informed his family by V-mail that he now is in the south sea islands and is in good health. According to his letter, he's been eat- ing a lot of cocoanuts and bananas.
Pfc. Hestermann entered service Dec. 28, 1942, and was trained at Fort Bliss, Tex. Now in the searchlight battalion of the anti-aircraft artillery's semi-mobile unit, he has urged friends to write him by addressing their letters to him at Battery B, AAA, S-L battalion, semi., APO No. 913, in care of the postmaster at San Francisco, Cal.
PAYLOR ON FURLOUGH
Pfc. George J. Paylor, who has been sta- tioned in Trinidad since the day Pearl Harbor was attacked, is spending a 20-day furlough with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Michael G. Paylor, 1023 Myrtle avenue, Whiting. His brother, Pvt. Daniel, is stationed at Camp Adair, Ore.
OBRADOVICH Hammond Times, October 4, 1943
Sgt. Robert Obradovich of Hammond, re- cently was elevated to his rank in the marine corps. The son of Mrs. Mildred Mrzlack, 1022 Kenwood street, Hammond, he enlisted as a leatherneck Nov. 24, 1941. Sgt Obradovich was active in boxing, baseball, football and basketball while a student in high school. In 1941 he won the heavyweight title in Gary's Golden Gloves tournament, stacking up four straight knockouts.
In 1938 and in 1939 he won the southern Nevada heavyweight title and defeated In- diana and Kentucky AAU champs in 1941. He fought his Gary battles under the name of Bob Brady.
Now serving as a mortar section chief, Obradovich was an instructor in bayonet fighting and judo at Camp Pendleton, marine training center at Oceanside, Calif.
List Hammond, Gary Men Prisoners
Hammond Times, October 4, 1943
Parents of a Hammond and a Gary soldier are notified this week by the war department that their sons now are being held as prisoners of war by Germany.
Included among 536 U. S. soldiers listed as prisoners by the war department are Staff Sgt. Robert J. Horvath, son of Mrs. Mildred Horvath, 1164 Summer street, Hammond, and Technician Rudolph J. Antala, son of Ignatz Antala, 1936 West 12th avenue, Gary.
Page One Hundred Seventy-eight
THREE SERVE, TWO WOUNDED
Hammond Times, October 4, 1943
Leo Shalba
Allen Shalba
Frank Shalba
The three Shalba brothers of Hammond are in service and two have been injured in com- bat duty. Pfc. Leo, who joined the air corps in October, 1942, is at the hospital at Galena, Wash., after being injured in February. His wife lives at 4326 Elm avenue, Hammond. Cpl. Allen, who enlisted in the army in August, 1940, and has been overseas since August, 1942, was injured in action in north
Africa. Discharged from the hospital after three months he now is on M. P. duty in north Africa. The third brother, Frank, recently was promoted from corporal to technical ser- geant at Camp Cooke, Calif. He joined the army in April, 1942, and was home on a fur- lough a month ago, visiting his sister, Mrs. Casimer Sajdyk, 1303 - 169th street, Ham- mond.
PVT. JOE OLENIK MISSING IN ACTION
Hammond Times, October 6, 1943
Pvt. Joseph Olenik, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Olenik, 3908 Evergreen street, East Chicago, is missing in action in the north Af- rican area, the war department announced today.
A war department telegram received by his parents about three weeks ago stated that Pvt. Olenik has been missing since July 16. The last letter his family received from him was dated about the middle of June.
A former student at Washington high school, Olenik was employed at the Indiana Harbor plant of the Inland Steel company prior to his induction into the army on Sept. 14, 1942. He was sent overseas about six months ago.
The Indiana Harbor soldier has two brothers now in service, Sgt. Nick, stationed at Camp Breckenridge, Ky., and Pfc. Walter, who is at an army air base in California.
Page One Hundred Seventy-nine
CALUMET AIRMEN HONORED
Hammond Times, October 4, 1943
J. Stachowicz
Two Calumet area airmen were honored this week when Maj. Gen. Claire Chenault, former commander of the famed Flying Tigers, presented them with air medals for completing 100 hours of air combat with the enemy.
C. E. Edwards
The men are Staff Sgt. Charles Eugene Edwards, 218 Williams street, Hammond, and Staff Sgt. John Stachowicz, 634 Forsythe ave- nue, Calumet City, both of whom are with the 14th army air corps in China.
Edwards, tail gunner in a B-24 Liberator bomber, and Stachowicz, belly gunner and radioman, are using the same air bases as the Flying Tigers once used when they fought off the Jap invasion planes. Their planes also still bear the Tigers' insignia.
Edwards, the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Edwards, now is 20 years old. He enlisted in the air corps in July, 1942. Two brothers, John, 18, and Wayne, 22, also are training to become aviation cadets. John enlisted June 2,
1943, and now is attending classes at the State Teachers' college at Slippery Rock, Pa. Wayne enlisted Sept. 2, 1943, and will begin his train- ing tomorrow at Jefferson Barracks, Mo.
All three youth graduated from Hammond high school and Wayne also attended Indiana university.
Stachowicz, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Stachowicz, is 26 years old. He enlisted July 24, 1941.
BROTHERS GET PROMOTIONS
Hammond Times, October 4, 1943
C. J. Faught
E. Faught
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Faught, 1544 Fisch- rupp avenue, Whiting, have just reason for being proud today for they have learned of the simultaneous promotions of both of their sons during the past week.
Elius Faught, who enlisted in the marines in March, 1942, has been promoted to ser- geant. He already has seen action at Midway islands and in south Pacific theater of war. He now is stationed in Hawaii.
Charles J. Faught, who enlisted in Decem- ber, 1942, has been promoted to gunner's mate, second class. Charles, who recently visited his parents on a leave, has seen actions in both oceans and now is stationed in Phila- delphia, Pa.
Page One Hundred Eighty
Naples Much Like Hammond
Hammond Times, October 6, 1943
After spending two weeks in "goshdarn cornfields," Naples, Italy, looked like Ham- mond" to a paratrooper who marched into that city Monday with a famous American infantry battalion.
Pvt. Tony Jaskulski, 1031 - 169th street, Hammond, is the soldier who drew the com- parison when he arrived in metropolitan Naples after having been dropped onto Italian soil Sept. 15 by parachute.
His joyous likening of Naples to Hammond came after Jaskulski spent more than two weeks in cornfields outside the city, lying hidden with a buddy, Pfc. John Clancy of Chicago.
The two soldiers later joined the infantry regiment and mached into the city to receive the plaudits of happy, laughing Neapolitans.
In speaking to a newspaper war corres- pondent who related the incident, Jaskulski asked to be remembered to "my mom, dad and kid brother."
A TWO STRIPER
W. Lewicki
Hammond Times, October 6, 1943
Mrs. Genevieve Lewicki, 204 - 142nd street, Hammond, has just received word of the promotion of her son, William Lewicki, to be a corporal. The young corporal is now in Australia under the command of Gen. Mac- Arthur. He has been overseas for the last five months. He has been in the service for 10 months and before entering the service he drove a truck for Holliday Steel company of Hammond.
Hammond Cousins Meet in South Pacific Islands
Hammond Times, October 6, 1943
Another strange coincidence of the current war in bringing relatives together in far re- mote places, was revealed recently in a letter Pfc. Sam Postlewaite, Jr., wrote to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Sam Postlewaite, of 30 Midway court. The father of the young soldier is ad- vertising manager of The Hammond Times.
Young Postlewaite, was on a week-end leave in the South Pacific islands when he was accosted in a village by another soldier, who exclaimed:
"Say, buddy have you got a match?"
"Certainly," Postlewaite exclaimed, and he whipped out a pack. Postlewaite then intro- duced himself.
"My name is Sam Postlewaite of Ham- mond!"
"Then we're cousins as I'm Bob Lucas!" the other boy exclaimed.
Parents of the boys said they had not seen each other for several years.
Lucas is the son of Mrs. Frieda Kunert Lucas, formerly of Hammond.
Needless to say, the boys celebrated before their leaves ended.
Schereville Hero Wins Promotion
Hammond Times, October 6, 1943
England - The promotion to first lieu- tenant of Richard G. Bohney of Schererville, was announced recently by Brig. Gen. Fred- erick L. Anderson, commanding general of the Eighth Bomber Command.
Lt. Bohney, 25, is co-pilot of the Flying Fortress "Argonaut III." He has participated in 14 bomber combat missions over enemy Europe, and has been decorated with the air medal with one oak leaf cluster for "meritor- ious achievement" during these missions.
The son of Mr. and Mrs. William Bohney, of Schererville, Lt. Bohney entered the service on March 13, 1942.
Page One Hundred Eighty-one
MIRACLE CITY TO LOSE 1,200 OF IDLE HOMES Thirteen Million Dollar Model Town Units to be Shipped to Other Centers
Hammond Times, October 6, 1943
Under continual fire, the national housing agency today announced that 107 of the town's 1,974 prefabricated houses would be dismantled at Kingsford Heights, Indiana's $13,000,000 "mirage city," beginning next week. Each of the houses is a duplex, housing two families.
The houses are to be trucked about 250 miles to Port Clinton, O., where they will be set up again, William K. Divers, regional NHA representative at Chicago, announced.
Another 1,000 homes will be moved to other war activity centers soon, Divers said.
Under the plans the town would shrink from its present 1,974 houses, each a duplex, to 967. At the same time, it is indicated, it will become a "city of women." It has been announced that a shift and increased orders at the Kingsbury Ordnance plant, south of La- Porte, will necessitate the employment of 2,000 women.
Plan Dormitory Setup
These women, it is expected, will be pro- vided with a dormitory setup by use of Kings- ford Heights where only 231 of the houses are occupied.
The Kingsford Heights officials have indi- cated they intend to set up a recreational pro- gram for the women they expect to occupy the town. It was indicated, however, that not more than 10 to 15 per cent of the women are expected to live there, since many will come from LaPorte, Valparaiso and other nearby towns and would follow the custom
of present ordnance plant workers in driving to and from work.
The houses to be moved by the government cost $3,000 each, a total of $321,000 for the 107 to be moved immediately. It will cost the government $1,200 more per house to move them.
"The government decided it would be a savings to move the houses rather than to abandon them and build new ones," Divers said.
To Use 300 Trucks
The Henke Construction company, Chi- cago, won the contract for the house moving. The job will require about 300 trucks for a period of 90 days.
The removal of the houses will make ab- surdly oversized the model town's water- works, sewage system and vast system of paved streets.
Meanwhile, however, construction work continues unabated on the central "business section" of the town with little prospect that more than a few of the stores which the sec- tion will provide ever will be occupied.
The shift of the homes from the ghost town, together with plans to populate the re- maining houses with women workers, caused LaPorte county officials to predict that the school, opened Monday, would become static or even lose in attendance. A total of 168 pupils registered for the kindergarten and eight grades for which the government is pay- ing $40,000 in operating expenses for the school year.
Page One Hundred Eighty-two
HIROHITO MUST HANG
- Editorial -
Chicago Tribune, October 6, 1943
The account, published yesterday, of the beheading of an American flyer who had fal- len into the hands of the Japanese last March in New Guinea is so horrible that it almost defies belief. The facts, however, are not open to question. They were recorded in a Japanese soldier's diary, they were stated in circum- stantial detail, and they fit precisely into the pattern of Japanese bestiality and brutality as they have been revealed in this war and be- fore it.
The young American officer had been obliged to bail out of his plane. His parachute carried him within the Japanese lines. If his captors had shot him in anger as he landed the act would have been grossly illegal, but it would have been understandable in human terms. Nothing like that happened. The American boy was not killed in rage by the soldiers who captured him but was reserved for sacrificial slaughter and the rites of mu- tilation.
Under the direction of an officer the Japs bound the hands of the American flyer and carted him off to the place of execution. They forced him to kneel on the edge of a shell crater and watched the slow rites which ac- companied the selection of the appropriate sword. The sadists expected him, as the Jap- anese diarist notes, to cringe and bawl in terror. In this they were disappointed. The American boy's stoical self-possession almost spoiled the fun, but his fortitude did not win him a reprieve.
The Jap soldiers were drawn up in lines the better to view the spectacle. The diarist notes that once the blade had done its work all hands stepped forward to examine the head eagerly, and to observe the quantity of blood that poured from the open neck. As if that obscenity were not enough the sword was then handed to another, who ripped open the boy's belly to provide additional blood for the em- peror.
This ceremony was not conceived by an in- mate in an asylum for homicidal maniacs, as
the account of it would suggest, but was part and parcel of what passes for religion and civilization in Japan. The horrible atrocity proves, if any proof were needed, that the Japanese are blood lusting savages in long pants.
That's what they showed themselves to be when they beheaded the captured members of the Doolittle raiding party. They showed it again when they brutalized and then massa- cred by thousands the simple Chinese peasants a few of whom had befriended the Tokio flyers. The Japanese exhibited religious faith when they raped our women and bayoneted captured Canadian soldiers in Hongkong. The horrors of the Nanking massacre form an- other chapter in the same record. Everywhere the Japanese have gone they have carried their mad doctrine of rape and loot and blood for the emperor.
That is why we say that Hirohito must hang. He is god to the Japanese, and in his name and in his honor all these hideous brutal- ities have been committed. He must be hanged on the most conspicuous site in Tokio, and there he must dangle from his rope until even the simplest of Japanese minds realizes that this creature they have worshiped as god is a foul thing and that the blood cult of the emperor has brought them only shame and degradation.
Japan long ago drove out the devoted men and women of the Christian churches who had sought to overcome the brutalities of the Japanese faith. A people that wouldn't listen to persuasion must now be taught their lesson the hard way. That is a cause to which all the American people feel themselves called. They know their duty to avenge their mutilated dead and to make sure that never again will the mad devotees of a savage faith dare to engage in conquest.
Americans are ashamed that so little of their strength has been turned against the Japanese. They are resolved to carry the war across the Pacific to its proper conclusion, the complete overthrow of the religion of the emperor, the bloody god of the Japanese.
Hirohito must hang.
Page One Hundred Eighty-three
'Proud But Lonely' Says Widowed Mother of 5 In Service
GIVES 5 SONS TO UNCLE SAM
Hammond Times, October 11, 1943
Mrs. Anna Evan
J. J. Evan Pvt. Eli Evan
Cpl. M. C. Evan Cpl. Tom Evan
Lou Evan
Widowed 15 years ago by the untimely death of her husband, Mrs. Anna Evan, 60- years-old, lives a quiet and lonely life in her little cottage at 3427 Elm street, East Chicago. But there's not a prouder mother to be found anywhere in the Calumet region.
With her husband dead and her seven sons her only refuge in her declining years, one might expect Mrs. Evan to bind those sons to her with oft-mentioned "mother's apron strings." Instead she courageously has given up five of them to the armed forces over the past three years.
In fact, had it not been for a friend of the family, few persons would know of Mrs. Evan's contribution to the war. The friend, John Popp, 4916 Tod avenue, East Chicago, who was so inspired by her "take it with a smile" attitude, is responsible for the facts be- ing made public.
First to leave his mother's side-not count- ing the two older sons, Nicholas, 34, and Samuel, 30, who both are married and who are fathers - was Cpl. M. C. Evans, 26, who now is serving overseas with Company C, 131st engineers, who has been in service for three years. "Mike," as he is known to his friends, enlisted even before Pearl Harbor.
Then went Cpl. Thomas Evan, 23, who first took basic army training after he entered service two years ago and has since been as- signed to serve with a paratroop unit now at some undisclosed foreign base. He is stationed with the infantry service company, having an overseas mailing point at New York City.
Next came Seaman John J. Evan, 21, who entered service a year and one-half ago and now is with Company M of the 17th replace- ment battalion, also stationed overseas. Sea- man Louis Evan, 20, also joined the navy, en- tering service six months ago and now serving somewhere at sea as an aviation machinist's mate, second class.
And only two months ago Mrs. Evan lost her last remaining son, Pvt. Eli Evan, 18, who also is training as a paratrooper at Fort Ben- ning, Ga.
"I can't give anymore sons," Mrs. Evan said somewhat sorrowfully yesterday, "unless the war department decides to take fathers because both Nick and Sam have families and are working in defense plants."
And if Uncle Sam calls these two remain- ing sons, this typical American mother indi- cated, she will not stand in their way of serv- ice, either.
Page One Hundred Eighty-four
Miss Their East Chicago Friends
Hammond Times, September 14, 1943
George Zivich, seaman, second class, and Jerry Kulchack, fireman, second class, now sailing somewhere in the Atlantic, have writ- ten that they miss the hospitality of their East Chicago friends.
The two sailors, looking forward to a seven- day leave in the near future, say the first thing they want to do if it's possible is revisit East Chicago. One of their biggest thrills came when they acidentally met Ensign Wells, son of the principal of Riley school, aboard their ship.
Missing Son Writes That He Is Prisoner
Hammond Times, October 11, 1943
One son home on furlough and word that another son, who was reported missing in ac- tion, is safe and well has made the home of Mr. and Mrs. John Olenik, 3908 Evergreen street, East Chicago, happy once more.
Just a week ago today the war department advised the Oleniks their son, Pvt. Joseph Olenik, was missing in action in north Africa since July 16. The information was over- shadowed by a letter received Friday which had been written July 28 by the "missing" soldier from an Italian prison camp.
The Olenik son home on furlough is Sgt. Nick Olenik, who has just completed two months training on maneuvers at Nashville, Tenn., and has been assigned to Camp Breck- enridge, Ky.
The letter written by Pvt. Olenik on July 28 stated:
"I am well and am a prisoner here in Italy. I am being well treated here in the prison camp. They feed us fairly well, give us books to read and we do other things to pass away the time. I did not stay in action long. I was captured in Sicily, was held there as a prisoner in three different places, and then finally was sent here to Italy. Please don't worry about me."
A former student at Washington high school, Pvt. Olenik was employed at the In- diana Harbor plant of Inland Steel company prior to his induction into the army Sept. 14, 1942. He was sent overseas about six months ago.
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