Miss Edna Halbur was honored by being elected delegate from the 9th district for the National encampment of the G.A.R. Women's Relief Corps to be held at Washington D.C. the week of September 20th, 1936.

Manning Monitor articles ------ 1944

OBSERVE MANNINGN V-DAY PROGRAM. . . AND
Buy WAR BONDS On V-DAY

 
Melvin Kuhse .................. Robert Beese

A representative group of men of the armed forces is coming to Manning to do its bit. Touring a large number of cities throughout Iowa, the battle-scarred service men will be in Manning on Saturday, Dec. 2, and will take part in the program to be staged at the high school auditorium at 2 o'clock in connection with the 6th War Loan drive.
No admission.
The returned combat veterans will tell of their experiences in theaters of war that have been making the big headlines. The program to be presented will include the showing of official films of some of the most recent action in the Pacific theaters.

A Navy chief petty officer will be in charge of the visiting service men's unit. The group's tour of the state has been arranged through, the cooperation of the Commandant of the Ninth Naval District, Rear Admiral Arthur S. Carpender.
Similar groups are touring other states in the District in the interest of the drive.

Included in the group coming to Manning will be: Chief Machinist's Mate Ulpian Gray Robbecke, 58, of 719 1/2 Fulton street, Keokuk, Iowa, who served on convoy duty in World War I. Chief Robbecke was called back into service in 1941, after he had been retired in 1935.
He joined the Navy in 1905, and served in the South Atlantic, with the army of occupation in Cuba in 1906, in the Nicaraguan expeditionary force, and the Mexican campaign. His decorations include Cuban Pacification, Nicaraguan campaign, Mexican campaign, the Victory Medal for World War I, the Good Conduct Medal, and the Fleet Reserve ribbon.

Howard Simmons, seaman, first class, who served aboard a ship that, on one occasion, a sub's torpedo missed by two inches. He entered Naval service on July 1, 1942, and has seen action in the North Atlantic and South Atlantic.
He holds the American Theater and North African campaign ribbons. Seaman Simmons is a native of Pittsburgh, Pa. Private First. Class Cordaro, 21, of Des Moines, who is a veteran of Roi-Namur in the Marshalls as well as Saipan.

He wears the Purple Heart and the Asiatic-Pacific Area medal, with two battle stars. He also holds the Presidential Unit Citation.
He served as a rifleman with the assault troops at Saipan, where he was wounded.

Howard Simmons Seaman First Class

It was while on duty on the way to Africa. A marauding submarine discovered his ship. Before his skipper could maneuver, a torpedo was on its way.
It missed its mark by two inches.
But just as its whizzed past, a depth charge went off close by, and raised the ship out of the water. The crew thought the torpedo had hit, and it was a relief to find that the terrific jolt was caused by the depth charge, which left the ship trembling, but undamaged.
Seaman Simmons is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Howard Simmons, 17 Beltzhoover Ave., Pittsburg, PA. He entered the service on July 1, 1942.

Chef Machinist's Mate Ulpian Gray Robbecke

George S, Cordaro Private First Class, USMCR

More than 2000 bundles of these belongings, carefully collected and packed by the armed forces, are sent monthly from a Kansas City depot to homes throughout America.
That's the current price of victory over enemies who forced this war upon you.
These "souvenirs" are enveloped with heartaches and drenched with tears.
How long this tragic depot stays in business is up to you.
Every second prolongs the slaughter.
Every extra $100 War Bond in the Sixth War Loan helps to shorten the fighting.
Can you do less than to lend your money for speedy victory?
THE EDITOR.

The speakers were introduced by Chief Machinist's Mate Gray Robbecke, called back into the service after his retirement in 1935.
Howard Simmons, seaman first class, Pittsburgh, Penna., was the first to speak. He was on a ship that saw action in the North and South Atlantic and was in the invasion of Casablanca in North Africa.
He narrowly escaped death several times and on one occasion when the ship was hit, he declared had there been more medicine for the wounded many lives would have been saved. War bonds are the only answer!

Second to take the floor was a turret gunner who had just completed bombing missions over Sicily, Italy, and France. He remarked that no matter how brave the men seemed, they couldn't express their fright; also, that when the enemy located them they knew where they would be miles ahead of time and were ready for them.
When they opened fire, the flak was so thick at times it seemed as though they would be able to land on it! No matter how much they were fired on they had to fly straight on through, and one time their gasoline tank was hit, several gunners wounded, and a tire punctured.
The pilot was even blind but so accurate was his timing and the navigator's instruments so precise that they managed to get back.

The coastguardman's talk was a gruesome account of their landing the soldiers on the newly established beachheads of the South Pacific.
He described the construction of the landing barges, made of a thin plywood. The soldiers lie fiat in the boat and at the opportune moment jump over the side into knee-deep water.
They attack in waves of boats and many times these boats are blown completely out of the water, and sometimes a whole wave destroyed at one time. But they must keep on coming, trampling over their own (lead, some without arms, some without heads, and some with their very insides torn out. He concluded by saying that even this morbid description was only a small part of what was really taking place.

Last on the program was Pfc. George Cordaro of Des Moines.
He regarded the people by saying that as usual they had a small attendance; and, that like the congregation of a church, those who came were never the ones who needed the sermon. He was a rifleman with the troops who invaded the disease-infected, jungle of Saipan.
Their march was a slow one. For days they wore rain-soaked clothes, slept on the swamps, and ate "K" rations, or cracker jack boxes, as he referred to them. Their assignment was the capture of the one big hill on Saipan. Jap pillboxes were installed all over the island.
The only possible way to take a pillbox was to get a charge of dynamite in the small slot where the guns were located and then set off the dynamite by using a flame thrower. Machine gun nests were also a problem. Practically all the Jap installations were suicide groups, which made them doubly hard to take out.

Everyone who was present at this program was truly deeply moved. Some of the men were badly wounded and are just recovering. They commented on the fact that it was not their idea to relate, their horrible experiences; in fact, they detested it; but they were picked by superior officers and l were compelled to obey. Anyone having heard them could not help doing something sensational in reciprocation of their urgent pleas for "BUYING WAR BONDS!"
Ed. Note: It might be gratifying to veterans to know that our poor attendance at the program does not reflect our bond purchase.

We have over-scribed EVERY QUOTA ever set for us since war began!
WE ARE PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THAT MANNING HAS OVERSUBSCRIBED ITS 6th WAR LOAN QUOTA.