I have a few miscellaneous items from recent research. The first comes from Jackie James, who said the following:
"... Of course I am old and do remember WWII very vividly.
I remember a small wooden building which was on Oyster Creek right at the end of where my Dad's park is now. There was no road but all fields at that time. The women of the town would go there and make bandages for the soldiers. They also looked for foreign airplanes. My mother would take me with her when she went and I was five years old when the war ended but I do remember this so well.
About a year ago I found something of my mom's that I had never seen before. It is a Certificate of Service from the U.S. Army Air Forces, III FIGHTER COMMAND, Aircraft Warning Service. It then says, "This is to certify that Mrs. T. L.James, Observer, OBSERVATION POST, PALM 129, faithfully and voluntarily served in the Aircraft Warning Service, III Fighter Command, U.S. Army Air Forces.
Witness my hand this FIRST day of JUNE in the year one thousand nine hundred forty-four"!
It is signed by a Major Signal Corps Acting Regional Commander and a Brigadier General, United States Army Commanding. I can't read their signatures or would have added them."
I hope Jackie can get a good image of her mother's citation - I'd love to have one. I've known about the observation post, but never heard its designation, "PALM 129." It would be a hoot if any of their reports turned up in a government archive.
I'm sure I've said in the past that my grandmother Kelly was also an observer. So was Mrs. W. T. 'Sallie' Matlage, Sr. Here's her patch:
Jackie mentioned the location of the observation shack. Other people have given me the rough location. Here's an aerial photo taken in April 1941, which I've marked to show the general area. The hut wouldn't be built until sometime in 1942, I presume. (Click the image to magnify it.)
One more WWII item. Here's a piece of V-Mail Jean McCord Babineaux had in the McCord family archive. W. W. Jenkins (I don't know which Jenkins boy that was) sent it to Jean's mother at Christmas 1943 from somewhere in the Pacific theater of war.
I saw this item on the KPRC History Page on Facebook. I remember some of these people: Bob Byron (who was co-host of the Tim & Bob radio program), Buck Buchanan (who was married to Marjorie Wappler [SLHS '48] at one time), Tom Fox, Bruce Layer (sportscaster), and Dick Gottlieb.
