Flashback
Flashback
Roy Werner barely survives prisoner of war experience
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| ROY WERNER’S B-17 CREWMEMBERS taken sometime during 1944 or 1945. Front row: Horace Lundy, co-pilot; Bob Krahn, pilot; Russell Fritzinger, bombadeer; Glen Hull, navigator. (It was Hull who saved Werner’s life by carrying him when Werner was unable to walk while a prisoner of war.) Back row: Brown, waist gunner; Doyle Green, ball turret; Flem Williams, top turret; Roy Werner, tailgunner; Paul Climko, radio. |
Roy Werner was born in Fayette on Christmas Day, in 1925. Like many other Fayette boys his age growing up in town, he sledded down Church Street during the winter, climbed trees in the summer, bought penny candy at Mattingly’s, and hung out around the downtown square on Saturdays, just to see everything going on in the bustling town. Little did he know that looming in the future was World War II, and unimaginable circumstances during the war would change his life forever.
Following the Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, >>> click on headline for full web story.
Nov 11, 2008
Flashback
Ned Triplett got a taste of Hollywood in the Army
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| BELOW: Ned Triplett, SP-4 in the U.S. Army, about 1960. At 24 years old, he is holding the clipboard he used while working on Army training films. Triplett still owns that clipboard. |
After finishing basic training at Ford Hood, Texas, I was sent to the Army Pictorial Center, Long Island City, N.Y., in October of 1959.
The Army Pictorial Center was originally the Paramount Movie Studios where many of the “young” Mickey Rooney motion pictures were made. That was the era of black and white films of the 1920s, 30s, and 40s.
I was assigned to the motion picture film department as a script clerk. My job was to record all phases of the set and >>> click on headline for full story.
Nov 11, 2008
Flashback
A history of the Fayette and Howard County Fire Protection District: Part III of III
Editor’s note: In honor of the many fine firefighters who serve the city and county and of National Fire Prevention Week, the Democrat-Leader is pleased to present the final installment of a history of the Howard County Fire Protection District.
by Sylvia Forbes
Democrat-Leader Correspondent
Fire Department Equipment
In the nineteen “teens,” the city acquired a big hose truck with a bell, which was used to fight fires in town. This replaced an earlier hose cart, which had hooks on the sides for buckets. George Frink, one of the oldest veterans on Fayette’s current firefighting team, thinks that this earlier cart probably had big wooden wheels with wooden spokes.
In the 1930s, Fayette acquired its first fire engine truck, a Diamond T pumper. Joe Mounter remembered using it when he started as a firefighter in 1934.
For many years, the city only had one fire truck. While fires in the county were devastating, the city fire department didn’t feel they could drive out to fight a fire in a rural area and leave the city unprotected, especially when the city residents were paying taxes so they could have fire protection. So that left the rural farmers without fire protection. Once the city and rural fire departments got more equipment, they started a mutual agreement, where they would join together to fight large fires, or cover one area if the other was at another fire.
In 1956 Fayette acquired a >>> click on headline for full story.
Oct 10, 2008
Flashback
A history of the Fayette and Howard County Fire Protection District: Part II of III
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| A LONG-STANDING TRADITION continued Sunday as Fayette firefighters and their families joined to serve barbecued pork and all the fixin’s to a good crowd of attendees at the annual Hog Roast at Fire Station No. 1 on West Morrison. Proceeds from the annual event are used for purchase of firefighting and life saving equipment. |
Not a paying proposition
Joe McClammer came back to Fayette in 1954 after serving in the armed forces, and became a volunteer fireman for the rural fire district in 1959. He served as fire chief for the rural fire district from 1964 through 1978 and retired as a volunteer fireman in 1989, after 30 years of dedicated community service.
When he started, a fireman got paid $3 per run. “That was just for gas,” he said. “We were volunteers, and didn’t get paid for the work.” He remembered they didn’t have much money for equipment, either, and didn’t have much to work with to fight a fire.
Joe noted that the city of Harrisburg once >>> click on headline for full story.
Oct 7, 2008
Flashback
A history of the Fayette and Howard County Fire Protection District
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| Howard County Fire Protection District volunteers in October 2006. Lower left: William “Benjie” Conrow. Lower right: John Markland. Back row, from left: Kyle Conrow, Jeff Oswald, Tyler Howell, Jamie Conrow, Jon Sutton, Jamie Lawson, George Hilgedick, Sonny Conrow, Josh Craig, Wally Eaton, David Kunze, Jason Hutchinson, George Frink, Bryan Kunze, and Marvin Hilgedick. |
Editor’s note: National Fire Prevention Week begins Sunday. In honor of the many fine firefighters who serve the city and county, the Democrat-Leader is pleased to present a history of the Howard County Fire Protection District. A reminder: the Fayette Area Firemen’s Annual Hog Roast will be Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the fire station. For more pictures, see the Oct. 4 Democrat-Leader and the Oct. 8 Fayette Advertiser.
By SYLVIA FORBES
GUEST Writer
FIRE! FIRE! These shouted words have always brought fear and dread into the hearts of people. Fires have occurred every year in Fayette for as long as the city has existed. Fayette was founded in 1823, and not long after, in 1835, there was a large fire in the middle of town.
Early fires
The Missouri Intelligencer of March 7, 1835, reported that about daylight, several buildings were demolished, including >>> click on headline for full story.
Oct 3, 2008
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