Minico spirit rock vandalized - News Journal

14 Weekly News Journal Thursday, March 7, 2013“Unsung Heroes”By Lisa DayleyWeekly News JournalRUPERT – Convinced that a massiveGerman army filled the Bastogne forest,a West Point-trained Lt. Colonel orderedyoung soldier Ed Hillis to set out on foot tofind the enemy.Despite repeated flights over the regionwhere pilots reported no evidence of enemytanks, the Colonel insisted there was a massivearmy laying in wait.“I said ‘something’s wrong – there’s nosmoke; no vapor showing in the air. TheColonel told me ‘I’m West Point, and I knowa tank when I hear it,’” Hillis recalled.On orders from the Colonel, Hillis andthree fellow soldiers crept into the woodswhere they did indeed hear the sounds ofa massive army.“Finally we saw the source of the sounds– a German soldier sitting with his handsover his ears. He was playing records on amachine that had huge loudspeakers on it,”he recalled.While his buddies provided him cover,Hillis snuck up to the German and stuck hisgun under the soldier’s chin. The shockedsoldier jumped several feet into the air.“But he came down with his hands upand a big smile on his face. The war wasover for him,” he said.Hillis’ story is told in the former “SouthIdaho Press” compilation of World War IIveterans’ stories featured in the publication“Unsung Heroes: 2006.” Sarah Blasiuswrote the stories of the Mini-Cassia menCourtesy PhotoRupert’s Marguerite Kearns Sandman served as a Navy Nurse during the war.At just 25 years of age, she supervised a 140-bed medical floor at the MareIsland Naval Hospital. Located on a peninsula adjacent to Vallejo, California,the hospital provided medical care to soldiers wounded while fighting in theSouth Pacific.Courtesy PhotoRupert’s Marguerite KearnsSandman answered an urgentcall for nurses to help tend towounded soldiers during WorldWar II. Sandman says she neverforgot how resilient the youngsoldiers proved to be in the mostarduous situations.Courtesy PhotoEd Hillis’ story is straight out of an episode of “Hogan’s Heroes.” Heand three fellow soldiers crept into the German forest looking for amassive enemy army but instead found a lone Nazi playing a recordingof army sounds over and over again. Hillis said that the very boredsoldier was never happier to have been captured.Courtesy PhotoEd Hillis also served as a pilotduring World War II. Here he’sshown in his WWII craft. Hillisserved in 48 missions, receivingnumerous medals. Following thewar he returned home to Texasand eventually moved to MinidokaCounty.and women who served during World WarII. The book is kept at the Minidoka CountyMuseum.Hillis served 48 missions, receivingnumerous medals. Following the war hereturned home to Texas and eventuallymoved to Minidoka County.Rupert’s Marguerite Kearns Sandmanserved as a Navy Nurse during the war. Atjust 25 years of age, she supervised a 140-bed medical floor at the Mare Island NavalHospital. Located on a peninsula adjacentto Vallejo, California, the hospital providedmedical care to soldiers wounded whilefighting in the South Pacific.She recalled tending to young men rescuedfrom the doomed US battleship TheArizona following the Japanese bombing ofPearl Harbor.“They were just kids. That’s what’s soperverse about war time,” she said.She recalled one patient with severeburns.“I can’t forget the 19-year-old kid whocame back with burns over most of hisbody. He had to smoke – he just had tosmoke. It was so wrong that he was smokingwhen he was burned so badly,” KearnsSandman said.Eventually, Kearns Sandman was sentto New Caledonia in the Coral Sea whereofficials assigned her to a mobile Navyhospital. She also served six months onGuadalcanal – where allies prepared forthe invasion of Okinawa and Guam. ThereMarines guarded the nurses 24-7.Kearns Sandman said that the soldiers,despite their circumstances, proved extraordinarilyresilient.“Those kids were so much fun, and theywere in such a serious situation. What doesthat say about their character? They had somuch spirit,” she said.Burley’s Leon Street had a most propheticname. While he enlisted in aviationordnance training, his commandingofficer, looking for a promotion, insteadshipped his troops to India to help build thefamed “Ledo Road.” The road connected toBurma in the China-Burma-India Theaterof the war.While sailing to Calcutta, the troopsheard the famed Tokyo Rose’s radio broadcasts.“She knew where we were and told us‘You won’t make it,’” he recalled.The troops did make it, and, while inIndia, the soldiers provided transportationfor maintenance crews, hauled gravel andhelped with much of the construction.“Our biggest problem was getting culvertsin to take care of the water – over 200inches of rain a year,” he said. Monsoonseason prevented the soldiers from workingas powerful rains quickly destroyed workdone on the roads, he added.Combat engineers provided cover forthe workers who spent about two and halfyears in India. During that time, the governmentair dropped food to soldiers.“The worst was the mutton from Australia.Things got better when we got a kerosene-operatedrefrigerator,” he said.While Street and his fellow soldiersdidn’t fight Japanese or Germans, theyinstead battled monkeys.Yes, monkeys.“One ripped up a man’s razor blade.They tore up anything they could get a holdof, and they would bite,” he said.The monkeys proved more frighteningthan the headhunting natives.Yes, headhunters.“Actually, they were pretty friendly –our black soldiers told them that they werenatives of India,” Street said.While in India, the soldiers had no ideawhat was going on in the rest of the world.“We were always wondering who waswinning the war,” he said.The “South Idaho Press” editors saidthat printing the book proved a way tohonor World War II veterans.“This project became a way to make surethe courage, dedication and perseverance ofthese men and women are not forgotten byyounger generations. By honoring their serviceto a nation in peril, when nothing lesswould suffice, they will live in our heartsand minds forever,” they wrote.For more information on the book, callthe Minidoka County Museum at 436-0336or stop by the facility located at 99 EastBaseline.Courtesy PhotoBurley’s Leon Street helped build the Ledo Road connecting India to Burma inthe China-Burma-India Theater of the war. While Street never fought Japaneseor Nazis, he and fellow soldiers battled monkeys that occasionally tore apartsoldiers’ razors and bit anything in sight. The monkeys were more threateningthan the native head hunters who instead proved quite friendly.