The Gilmer Mirror (Gilmer, Tex.), Vol. 119, No. 1, Ed. 1 Wednesday, January 3, 1996 Page: 4 of 12
twelve pages : ill. ; page 21 x 13 in. Digitized from 35 mm. microfilm.View a full description of this newspaper.
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I read this book did I realize how Naval Intelligence Command ..
the North Atlantic and the Gulf by
|
>
Dear Editor:
Oleene Sewell
(
ing ships from Cape Hatteras to Nova
Scotia. Twenty-four subs sank 56
ships and damaged 14 more.
Mrs. Iva Binion, a landmark in
Pritchett.
K
—4/ —
TORPEDOES IN THE GULF
- —Galvestonandthr U-Boats, 1942-
43. By Melanie Wiggins, Texas
ARM University Press. 251 pages.
, The 50th anniversary of the, end
of World War II has brought the
release of many previously-classi-
fied documents, containing stories
that were kept from the public by
both government decree and volun-
tary self-censorship of the press.
For Texans, none is more star-
tling than the revelation that Ger-
man U-boats roamed the Gulf of
Mexico throughout 1942 and into
Galveston Island in January, ------------------
1942, was a “wide open" recreation June of 1943. The Allies in early seriously our military took themili-
On Dec. 10 fire almost de- ways remember you and appre-
stroyed the home of my mother, date you so much.
Galveston Daily News about his ship *
being sunk by a German torpedo"in
eyet
undelestimake
the power cof
the darkside
1996—What kind of year?
Politics will reign supreme as economy sputters
As we all rang in the New Year of 1996 at the stroke of mid-
night a few days ago, Gilmer and Upshur County continued to
struggle economically.
We have had our hospital close and a major industry have
to furlough most of its work force.
Latest jobless figures and a slew of sales tax statistics
indicate that our community is stagnating, at best. We are in
need of some good news. ~
It doesn’t help that there still may be those who would
prefer to delay or ven kill the Lake Gilmer project, which
would leave us with a huge hole in the ground—a minor-
league version of the late, great Superconducting Super
Collider project near Waxahachie. But water is a need;
particle physics is a hobby, albeit one carried on by geniuses.
Communities either move forward with vision or they
retrench and die. It’s much the same scenario with busi-
nesses. Or even with families, for that matter.
Have we reached the point in this so-called “greatest
nation on earth" and “last remaining superpower" where we
can no longer dream of anything but sending troops to
Bosnia?
Are the Gilmers and Upshur Counties of America being
deliberately destroyed or, at best, starved to death by the
' - powers that be who continue to construct, against all odds,
their New World Order?
The fact is that the city of Gilmer never should have had
to float a bond issue to construct a water-supply source. The
U.S. Treasury has the inherent power to create and lend
money, interest-free, to the thousands of local and state
governments im"this country.
The Sovereignty Resolution, brainchild of an Illinois
businessman named Ken Bohnsack, has been endorsed by
more than 3,000 taxing bodies in the United States as well
as the U.S. Conference of Mayors (for more information write
him at P.O. Box 782, Freeport, IL 61032).
If enacted by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by the
President, all tax-supported bodies could borrow money to
fund infrastructure projects directly from the U.S. Treasury
interest-free as authorized by the Constitution.
Meanwhile, don’t held your breath. In the interim, we
must continue to deal with the Wall Street-sponsored bond
, brokers as communities attempt to prepare for the 21st
Century.
Two years into living under NAFTA—the North American
Free Trade Agreement—Upshur County is not booming and
Longview area exporters who had hoped to cash in on the
burgeoning Mexican market are instead faced with a people
so poor after having been fleeced by their corrupt leaders
and Wall Street investment bankers that another revolution
is possible. Now the agreement’s proponents are touting the
possibility ‘that benefits may have really kicked in 100 years
from now, if not sooner. Oh, boy! At last, something to look
forward to!
The federal government’s partial shutdown has brought
home to a lot of-us how little this county benefits from most
federal programs. Of course, that’s because it’s a partial
shutdown not involving the key programs thousands in this
county depend on, including Social Security and Medicare.
But in terms of the pork-barrel programs such as Red
River Army Depot, to cite an example in East Texas, Upshur
County has always come up empty. The South and West of
the United States of America, present county excepted, are
the repository of the military-industrial complex which will
apparently never be dismantled. It will just search for new
wars to fight and new “peace” to keep. It’s becoming hard to
tell the difference between the two operations.
The Pentagon, curiously enough, has not been shut down
in this era of government austerity, in spite of the fact we
have few known enemies anymore and those we do have pose
no threat to our national survival.
However, some of the more pessimistic military strategic
thinkers believe that the U.S. and its allies (who never seem
to bear the brunt of anything; they hold our coats and watch
us die) are headed toward a showdown with a newly-xeno-
phobic Russia, which will renew its alliances with Iraq and
Iran and possibly make a power play for control of the
Persian Gulf. Since we have deliberately never developed
any alternative energy sources, that would cause World War
III. What a happy thought with which to begin a new year.
It’s a far-fetched scenario to us. But get used to it, federal
government largess addicts. Your fights from now on will be
against the Pentagon, which is the sword of the New World
Order. It’s not about protecting America anymore. Our
troops are going to police the entire world, at our expense, no
matter if the national debt is $5 trillion or $50 trillion in
debt. Widows and orphans will be cut off before the Pentagon
is.
O
he Repollicos
wilmake
YourGfann
eatctfood
Page 4A — THE GILMER MIRROR, Gilmer, Texas January 3, 1996
As
.21.
" the outset, the American military perform their unique style of attend the afternoon program
soon organized the Gulf Sea Fron- music and dance. He Bahia’s and to join in the celebration of
tier, which included the lower east Lalo dos Santos and students the rich diversity and artistic
coast of Florida. Ships began to sail will perform capoeira, a martial traditions of a variety of African
in convoys, hugging the coast. art and dance form that blends acountries such as Senegal, Ni-
A Galveston merchant mariner, music, song, and self defense geria, Equatorial Guinea,
Raymond Smithson, told the techniques. Eritrea, Ghana, and Kenya.
people felt about the war. When the on patrol and returning to port. A president
ramiygctatdcbimeywodmwaican TWENTYYEARSAGO
Arpig--ecohgog-ucKu Ak-mnaaPIs9 Three persons died when two
ememmi mnazss Emsam
the crewmen gave them some mm andFonSan:Jacinto, the latter dat- Lee Morrow, 48, of Ore City;
anduriedtoconvince them Germany ing from 1836. The big Coast Artil- LeonRalphMartin,56,0fLng
wasgoingwinthewar."______ lery gunsat FonCrockeu, estab- view; and Martin’s -wife, Mrs
AFTER ABOUT two hours the fished in 1897, had never fired at an Marv .In Martin 4f. E"mett
sub commander had the U-boat sur- enemy; none had sailed the Texas sv790 "‘RLA
face, gave the two men a small raft, waters since 1862, when the Union rI g*4 91 lla M- e
gaVe them directions to land and Navy captured Galveston. N0b ,94. Wi,
1943, drawn by .the tankers trans- told them goodbye. Nonu w, celebrated tneir ?uth
SSSX2S c.MMEAMALXvasHonsd
they were greatly weakened, both in piecesatFort Crockett But not until gence and commander of the
I want to thank the Pritchett
Fire Department and the Gilmer • About letters
Fire Department for working so _
hard to save it. It was 20 degrees . Gilmer Mirror welcomes
that night letters to the editor on subjects of
interest to readers.
I also want to thank the neigh-
bors who came down and offered During the months leading up
to help. Special thanks to Mrs. to primary or general elections.
Joe Glenn for taking us into her letters endorsing candidates or
home for two nights and Mrs. parties will not be accepted.
Melba Wood. and Jackie Wade AU letters must bear dhe hand.
menandMrs.Dunmanwho written signature of the writer and
brought me two big containers include address and phone
of hot tea. numbers) for verification pur-
Mr. Dudley, Bill Huggins and poses. A signed letter carries more
Mr. Babb all helped in special weight with readers. Names will
ways. And all the others who not be withheld and anonymous
helped in any way, we appreci- letters, no matter how worthy, will
ate it so much — you wore all not be used.
" M • P,#" *T"TTeE} ■ "K Putg, ■ P'pr
vice Board provided groceries,
Ms. Wiggins wrote: “An officer Among the 32 historic pictures in toys and clothing to 158 fami-
asked O’Connor how the American the book are several of the U-boats lies, said Doyle O’Neal, board
2 f -y f*’- y )3 20331
*49°°M4888888 8838888831
wonderful to us and we will al-
F
TEN YEARS AGO
Rea Shaw announced he was
running for county dark : .
4 Family eflate Dr. Ted Ford gave
L $10,000 to go toward paving the
l parking lot at the new library..
I . Barbara Proctor Vess gradu-
( ated from UNT with a BBA...
I||l Bo Pilgrim deplored ag‘price
y supports in a speech to the Ki-
r waais Club... Deaths included
Rae Gowen, 46, and William G
Stevenson, 54 ... GHS gradu-
ates Michael Wayne Bed, Shrien
Ardell Turner, Todd Lee Sipes
and Donald Ross Chambers Jr.
enlisted in the Air Force . . .
James Dixon Graves Jr. re-
opened Graves Electric and
Machine Co. here ... Moimlla
Bays was back from a long-
awaited dream holiday vacation
■ to Europe... Union Hill School
I Superintendent Weldon
a Snodgrass, 56, announced his
j retirement ... Community Ser
_.Joe received his
center for "areaiservicemen. There 1943 broke the German code so that tary threat to the Texas coast commission as an Air Force sec-
were Hollywood entertainers and the U-Boats could no longer roam in By July of 1942 the situation was ond lieutenant in, ceremonies,
gambling at the Balinese Room, secret. By that time, too, the “Big so grim that the Army Corps of En- he dinn Austintr: -ynnG raves
amusement parks, Murdoch’s Pier Inch" was complete and had already gineers was frantically preparing the R . D • ot
for swimming, seafood restaurants transported 21 million barrels of island for enemy invasion. German “--o*
galore. crude oil from Longview to Linden, spies were believed to be infiltrating THIRTY YEARS AGO
Even though the Japanese attack NJ. from the U-boats offshore, and radio Staff of newly-furnished
on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7,1941 had Ms. Wiggins had access to Ger- signals from the shore were sus- county library, open 48 hours
thrown the U. S. into all-out war man records of the U-boat warfare peeled of being behind the sinkings per week, consisted ofMrs Doug
mode, Galveston defiantly con- that contained interviews with crews of convoys leaving Galveston. Pentek. Mn Hhrbth Tinker
ducted a Christmas lighting contest of the Gulf-roaming subs. And she , Naval'Intelligence arid the FBI and Mrs. CliffWallaee.;, Gilmer
wito toe theme, “No Blackout in was able to interview some of them took over a second-floor bedroom of building permits for previous
America. This all changed the next personally. This makes for fascinat- RailingrrMilk house They had year were at a higher than usual
month when news came that 13 ships ing reading. Peter Petersen, crew ninnninred a clandestine radio tiv- levelwithabacklogofconstruc-
had been sunk along the East Coast member of U-518 during a 4-month na| rnming from somewhere in a 12- tion underway ... State Rep.
by Nazi submarines using coastal patrol in 1943, gave a detailed de- block area Finally they traced it to George Hinson announced his
lights to guide them. scription of the life that followed the L, house where the German candidacy for another term ...
THE U.S. NAVY reported on sub's gala send-off from the French brewmaster for Southern Select David Bedard and Bob Herr- .
Jan. 28 that a patrol plane had sighted coast After a terror-filled Atlantic EnCiHHewssenttoncen- mann of Gilmer won places in a
a German sub 15 miles off Port crossing, dodging destroyers and "t-n in 0kLOn*
Aransas. Towns from Rockport to attack airplanes, the U-518 got close vyel, ( swom 02
Corpus Christi turned off their lights enough to Miami and Ha vaiia to see /
that night in what was toe first real city lights on the way into the Gulf. THE COAST GU
Zfand national gymnastic competition
crecy in Florida... Annual rainfall for
/ 1965 was 39 inches, higher than
Ji took over previous two years but lower
blackout in U. S. history. RETURNING toLorient France the Galvez Hotel. Sam Maceo, gam- than normal—RoyFourtain,
The report proved to be false. It with no ships sunk, faces slightly bling kingpin who lived in the pent- 63, of Rt 2, Diana, died sud- .
wasn’t until April that the first Ger- yellow from seeing no sun, Petersen house, moved out and started build- denly... Mrs. Maggie Truitt, 89,
man U-Boat actually attacked ship- and his mates nevertheless got the ing a house on the west nd of the died... Rites were held for Mrs.
pingintoeGulf.HarroSchacht.com- usual hero’s welcome: greetings inland Georgia Overstreet, 82.
mander of U-507, reported on May from Admiral Donitz, beer, singing, The Coast Guard called for vol- -yEA-cAA
16asbereturnedtohisbaseinFrance pretty girls tossing bouquets and unteers to furnish bones to patrol —n 1 I YEAm9 AGv
that he had sunk ships totalling ’ band music. The J.N. Shepperd home won
50,001 tons. Petersen’s favorite march was the island against invaders. And first in the Christmas decora-
Since the U. S. was sending oil (gasp!) “The Stars and Stripes For- 1,800 “dogs for defense" were tions contest... Tommy Johns,
and gasoline to Britain, demand on ever.” Like toe Gilmer High Army trained for patrol duty. 16; son of Mr. and Mrs. J.L
the East Coast became so great that of Buckeyes, the Nazis put different Today you can see the remains of Johns of Gilmer, was killed in a
Texas suppliers could not keep up words to the Sousa tune. Battery Hoskins — the name of the car-train collision here... W.A.
withit. Erle Halliburton, president -We dia not hatthe Americans, Foncrockeul2-inchgunemplace- ElearnfWeotMountain ob-
of Halliburton Oil Co. proposed and we didloot hate the British," mentsg on Seawall Bouldvard in Mrs. Jasper E. Barnett, 43, was
"trailer tankers" thatcouldbehooked PetersentoldMs.Wiggins."Wewere from or the luxury high risehotel, seriously injured when thrown
onto merchant ships to increase oil- at war with tom, so that was sort of a toe San Luis. Those big guns fired from car.in accident on
bearing capacity. sporting deal, and we did nothing only in rehearsal for war, a blessing H 155 Q| Johnston of
Author Wiggins writes that these out of hatred—in fact we had no we’re reminded of by this fascinat- Union. Grove was promoted to
bigger loads merely caused bigger animosity at all toward them..." ing book. first lieutenant in the Air Force,
explosions when the U-boats found Eie VEADO AAA
them. T A A A • 3.1 IY YEARS AGO
While Congress argued whether 1 06 LC^OCV OT AfTlCa tO 06 XM. Holloway, 74, former
to build the world’s largest pipeline, • • „ • county commissioner and tax
called the “Big Inch,” the submarine Hmpcpmfp, /it TuctltlltP 111 G A collector, died at Pritchett-- .
offensive stepped up, and in May, P‛E>‛-lE •• -‛>llvW-E LTL ~e-l• Walter E. Johnson returned from
1942, gave the Nazis their biggest ' Englandafter21/2yearsofmili-
victory of the war to date. SAN ANTONIO —TheInsti- the African Continent. tary sercen1 Mrs -Missouri
A DOUBLE-PAGE map of the tute of Texan Cultures will ^dror>/95,d>ed at Rosewood..
Gulf shows the location*of each of present “The Legacy of Africa’ Storytelling will be featured (M8., Annie Murphy of New
the ships toat was sunk by German on Jan. 14 from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at “The Legacy of Africa." Bethlehem, 39, died . . . Mrs.
subs on toe Gulf Sea Frontier in on the main Exhibit Floor. The The Afrika Konnection, a lo- Martha Ann Smith, 88, died at
1942-43. Total: 116, of which 25 program is designed to educate cal specialty store, will show- th6 home of her daughter, Mrs.
were clustered around toe mouth of the community on the African case imported African clothing C.M. Dodson, of Simpsonville..
toe Mississippi River. Only three cultures through music, sewn in some traditional Afri- . Paul S. Johnson, 5, of Oak Hill
were sunk along toe Texas Gulf storytelling, textiles, and exhib- can fabrics. There will be dis- died.
coast the Mexican tanker Oaxaca its. plays of textiles such as kente SIXTY YEARS AGO
near Corpus Christi, and two more cloth, mud cloth, and quilts. James R. Little, 80, died :..
off lower Padre Island. A group representing the ___________ Rev. J.W. Petty, 70, died at Bet-
Though woefully unprepared at Eritrean culture of Africa will Families are encouraged to tie of pneumonia . . Mn. NA
Brooks of Glenwood, 80, died ..
. Buck Harrell, 33, of Grice died
of pneumonia ... GHS Football
Coach Henry McClelland at-
tended the SMU-Stanford Rose
Bowl game as guest of a group of
Buckeye fans.
Other performers include Admission fee for adults 13 Put UD that fence
the Caribbean. He and another sailor, acapella singer Leroy Gaylore, to 64 years is $4; children, 3 to
Cornelius O’Connor, were on a dancer Ah’ Bidah Cotman-El, 12 years, and seniors, 65 and Bandit activity the Texas-
makeshift raft when the sub sur- and St. Paul’s Untied Method- older, $2; children, 2 years and Mexico border has prompted the
faced and took them aboaRd, 1st Church Choir. George Prado under, free. Call 558-2300 for U.S. Border Patrol to plan the
promptly crash-diving to avoid and Henry Brun will exhibit general information; 558-2291 construction of a second fence .
American patrol planes. . musical instruments common to to book a tour. west of downtown El Paso.
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Overton, Mac. The Gilmer Mirror (Gilmer, Tex.), Vol. 119, No. 1, Ed. 1 Wednesday, January 3, 1996, newspaper, January 3, 1996; Gilmer, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1479060/m1/4/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Upshur County Library.