Soldier News continued, 1944

Pvt. Edward Craig Killed in Action

Bainbridge News & Republican, October 12, 1944

Another Delaware County soldier, Private Edward M. Craig, of Roxbury, has been killed in action in France, according to the latest casualty lists released by the War Department.  Private Craig, who was killed on Aug. 15, was the second son of the Rev. and Mrs. David A. Craig to lose his life in World War II.  His brother, Tech, Sgt. Samuel L. Craig, was killed in England last Dec. 25.  A Presbyterian minister at Hamden for 20 years, Mr. Craig retired and moved to Roxbury after the death of his first son.  Private Edward Craig served at Camp Adair, Ore., before being assigned to overseas duty around three months ago.  Surviving are his wife, who resides in New York City; his parents; two brothers, Lieut. William C. Craig, who is serving in Nebraska as a bomb and navigation instructor, and David Craig, Jr., stationed in the Aleutians; and a sister, Miss Betty Craig, a member of the school faculty at Walton.

 

Pvt. Douglas Bailey Appears on WAC Poster

Bainbridge News & Republican, October 12, 1944

 

Home with a fractured leg after seven months of service with the Coast Artillery in England, Private Douglas A. Bailey, gunner of Bainbridge [Chenango Co., NY], is pictured in this month's WAC Magazine getting X-rayed through his plaster cast!  Manipulating the complicated mechanism is Private First Class Clara King, of Cottageville, W.Va.  Private King enlisted in the Women's Army Corps on May 22, 1943.  She received her basic training at Daytona Beach Fla.  Then, because of her two and one-half years of nurse training, she was assigned to Halloran General Hospital to work in the isolation ward.  Last November she was chosen to attend the Army X-ray technician school where she was given a thorough and specialized training in X-ray work.  She not only prepares the patients for treatment and manipulates the switch which controls the duration and intensity of exposure, but also develops and dries X-ray film.  Army doctors, of course, make the actual interpretations from the X-ray plates and diagnose accordingly.  Those trained in it stand on the threshold of important and promising careers.  A picture of Pvt. Bailey appears on the WAC poster on display in the Bainbridge News window.

 

Emerson Dedrick Promoted

Bainbridge News & Republican, October 12, 1944

 

Major E.H. Dedrick, USMC

 

Marine Major Emerson H. Dedrick, 25, a veteran of 11 months' service in the Southwest Pacific and son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Dedrick, South Side, Oneonta [Otsego Co., NY], has been promoted to that rank at the Marine Corps Air Station, Mojave, Calif.  He is serving with a Corsair fighter squadron there. A native of Bainbridge [Chenango Co., NY], Major Dedrick was graduated from Oneonta High School and the University of Iowa.  He entered Marine Aviation in May, 1941, and won his wings and commission in January, 1942.  He served in the Solomon Islands, leading a division of fighter planes, and is credited officially with shooting down two Zeros, sinking five oil barges and helping to sink two destroyers.  Major Dedrick assisted in providing air support on the first bombing run made over Bougainville, and flew numerous strafing missions.  He holds the Air Medal and Presidential Unit Citation.

 

S/Sgt Gordon Packer Receives Award

Bainbridge News & Republican, October 12, 1944

 

With the Fifth Army, Italy:  Staff Sergeant Gordon M. Packer, of Unadilla [Otsego Co., NY], brother of Wesson Packer, of Bainbridge, has been cited by his regiment of the 88th Infantry Division and awarded the Combat Infantry Badge for actual participation in combat with the enemy on the Fifth Army front in Italy.  Standards for the badge are high.  The decoration, which was recently authorized by the War Department, is awarded to the infantry soldier who has proved his fighting ability in combat.  The handsome badge consists of a silver rifle set against a background of infantry blue, enclosed in a silver wreath.



 

Louis Finch Promoted

Bainbridge News & Republican, October 12, 1944

 

15th AAF in Italy:  Louis W. Finch, R.D.2, Bainbridge [Chenango Co., NY], waist gunner on a B-24 Liberator bomber, has been promoted recently to the rank of sergeant.  The announcement was made by Col. Robert E.L. Eaton, Belleville, Ill.  Sgt. Finch has participated in major attacks on such strategic targets as the Szolnok Railroad, Hungary, the Szeged Railroad, Hungary, and other important targets in Austria, Germany and Italy.  His veteran bomb group has twice been cited for "outstanding performance of duty in armed conflict with the enemy."  After graduation from Deposit Central High School, Sgt. Finch was employed as a machinist for Casein Co.  He entered the Army on Jan. 29, 1943, and received his training at the Buckley Field armorer school, Colo., and the Harlingen gunnery school, Tex.  Sgt. Finch's wife, Mrs. Doris Finch, lives at the Bainbridge address.  His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Clifford Finch, live at R.D.1, Afton.

 

Citation for Lt. Donald Patchen

Bainbridge News & Republican, October 12, 1944

 

When 11 wives and mothers of Central New York Army fliers received decorations at the Syracuse Army Air Base last week Thursday, one of the mothers was Mrs. Earl V. Benedict, of Bainbridge [Chenango Co., NY].  Following the awards presented by Col. A.W. Martenstein, commanding the Rome Air Service Command, as Lt. Col. Harry P. Galligher, commanding officer of the Syracuse Air Base, read the citations, the wives and mothers of the fliers were honored at a formal retreat on the parade grounds. The women, wearing the decorations, were members of the reviewing party.  Each lady was escorted by an officer of the same rank as the recipient of the medal at the time the citation was awarded, Mrs. Benedict being attended by 2nd Lieut, Cohen, of Seattle, Wash.  Mrs. Benedict received the Air Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters for her son, 1st Lieut. Donald J. Patchen, who is a war prisoner in Germany.  One of the mothers, Mrs. Alice Dmoch, of 401 Boyden street, Syracuse, had been notified just before going to the Air Base that her son, T/Sgt. Thaddeus S. Dmoch, previously reported missing in action, had been killed.  While in Syracuse, Mr. and Mrs. Benedict were guests of their sister, Mrs. Nina E. Baker.