BE IT EVER SO HUMBLE DEA:,..' H. ASHTO:,..' Be It Ever So Humble The Story of Hopewell, New JeTsey, and Its Servicemen During W OTld War II * DEAN H. ASHTON Hot,eweU. New Je-rsq, 1947 Coprridlt, :IS4,. by DEA..'- H. ASSTOX FIRST EDITION Printed by K.llutBAll,I & Gt:Tmm: i'u::<TO:<, XEW .1l!:R!ln' ACKNOWLEDGMENT This volume has been prepared through the co-operation of many individuals. Requests for information invariably brought a cheerful re­ sponse. The author is deeply grateful for the assistance given from the inception to the com­ pletion of the undertaking. Mistakes undoubtedly have found their way into the printed text; for sins of commission and omission the undersigned asks forgiveness, pointing out that every possible safeguard was employed in the interest of ac­ curacy. DEAN H. ASHTON. TABLE OF CONTEl'li"TS Introduction xi I. Singular Census 1 II. Around Town 4 m. War Clouds 12 IV. Gold Stars 22 V. Honor Roll 43 VI. North Africa. Sicily and Italy 54 VII. Prelude to Invasion 75 vm. Invasion of France 87 IX. Germany's Downfall 122 X. Prisoner-of-War 157 XI. Saved by Parachute 165 XII. India-Burma-China 167 XIII. Pacific Campaign 181 XIV. Okinawa and Japan 216 xv. With the Navy 232 XVI. Service in the States 260 XVII. Home-Front Activities and Restrictions 276 XVIII. Stores and Wartime Shopping 282 XIX. Town Celebrations 298 xx. Church and School 305 XXI. This Is Hopewell ! .. ·325 ix ILLUSTRATIONS Dean H. Ashton, Author .................... Frontispiece Hopewell Borough Honor Roll . 48 Sample Page, "Hopewell News" ........ 176 Calvary Baptist Church, Hopewell ...... 304 X INTRODUCTION News flows at various levels during wartime. There is the official military commmtique. the rumor "grapevine" a:id the dehoerate propaganda story. There are letters written by those serving in the armed forces and commmtications from back home. Each type seems to fill a definite need. supplying facts or feeding the imagination. conveying words of reassur­ ance to or from the fighting fronts or building morale. A countless number of industrial concerns, organizations, churches and commmtities sought to keep in touch with those who had gone from their midst for military service during World War II. Some were late-starters, others found them­ selves submerged because of address lists that required con­ stant changes, and a few forgot that the basic need was to carry "down-to-earth" news rather than to achieve printing perfection. Early in 1943, a handful of fellows from Hopewell, New Jersey, began to receive an odd, but appealing, little news­ sheet. It was designed to serve as a novel sort of personal letter. The first issue was limited to half a dozen copies. Soon it appeared as a mimeographed job. Gradually it expanded from one sheet with two printed sides to two sheets, then four sheets containing enough news to fill the front page of a standard, eigllt-eolumn newspaper. It was the "Hopewell News," although the first few issues were known as "Hopewell This-'N'-That," consisting, as the name implies, of numerous short items. At the outset, it appeared once a month but it was soon apparent that issues should appear with greater frequency if fellows in the service were to be kept well informed about home-town doings and the service activities of their former schoolmates and acquaint­ ances. As the "Hopewell News" was a one-man spare-time proposition on the editorial end, the decision reached was that the "Hopewell News" should go out every third week. That schedule, once adopted, was followed for the remainder of the months during which the "Hopewell News" existed. It was issued for three full years, a total of fifty editions being pub­ lished from January, 1943, to January, 1946. xi For the first few months, the publication was sent exclu­ sively to those whose names appeared on the Honor Roll of Calvary Baptist Church, Hopewell, inasmuch as the news-sheet originally was designed in part as a link between the church and the fellows who were members or had attended the Church School. However, the church was not the official sponsor, largely because the editor wanted to give it more of a personal touch than might have been possible if confined too closely to church news. But it was soon discovered that copies could not be restricted to a small group. As others learned of its existence, requests for copies multiplied. Town residents asked for copies to read and to transmit to sons in the service who were away from home, serving their country. Gradually the list of those receiving copies expanded and lengthened, until the faltering little publication which began as a smudgy carbon copy, catch-as-catch-can news-sheet, eventually had .a distribution of approximately 500 copies! The appeal for copies grew so overwhelming that finally the distribution took in all Hopewell fellows, more than 200, who were in the armed forces. And the growth was entirely effortless. Enthusiastic letters came pouring in, urging the editor of "Hopewell News" to "keep 'em coming." One GI \\Tote that "It gets into the foxhole where circulation really counts"­ another spoke of it as the "rag" but quickly added that it wasn't meant in any respect as a disparaging term. It wa.,; read in all parts of the world for Hopewell's servicemen had been sent to all quarters of the globe. Some wrote back that they had read it by flashlight; another sent a "thank you" note written by candlelight with a drop of wax on the paper as visible proof; another saved a copy to read until he was aboard a troop-train enroute to a port of embarkation; still another carried a copy with him when starting on a bombing mission over Germany, and after the ordeal by ack-ack was ove'!" a."l.d the run over the target completed, had read its pages on the return flight to England. From Assam, India, came a report that a copy had been stuffed into a pocket by a GI when he was about to start on a cargo-dropping mission "over the hump," with the home-town news absorbed as the plane re­ turned after delivery of sacks of rice for advance parties push­ ing down to recapture Burma. The ''Hopewell News" was quite unlike the average news­ paper. The news it contained consisted chiefly of information xii such as would be heard by a person moving leisurely around town-with most of the routine news eliminated. While important events were covered, stories were preferred that possessed a human-interest angle or would bring to mind asso­ ciation with persons well-known around Hopewell or that might throw a spotlight upon some trait of character. Actually, it was a rather comprehensive town history for the years of 1943-1945, inclusive. Then came the end of the war. The "Hopewell News" car­ ried on until most of the sen-;cemen had returned from over­ seas. Many Hopewell residents hoped that the "News" would continue publication indefinitely. This was net considered feasible. Another wish repeatedly expressed was that much of the material that the "Hopewell News" bad contained might be preserved in more permanent form, since it had dealt in part with war experiences of those who bad been in the armed forces. Others pointed out that the news pictured how an average American town and the average American citizen had fared during the war years-the restrictions, regulations and rationing affecting their day-by-<lay activities. These comments and suggestions resulted in a decision to publish "Be It Ever So Humble." Included is some of the material that appeared in the "Hopewell News," re-edited and re-arranged, but this volume actually contains a vast amount of material that has never previously appeared in printed form. Experiences of men and women who served in World War Il are more fully told as the result of personal interviews follow­ ing their return. Items dealing with town happenings are placed in more logical sequence. "Be It Ever So Humble," derives its title, of course, from the verse, "Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home." That sentiment was echoed countless times in the letters of men while they were in military service, and it also echoes the pride that the average resident of a small-town takes in his home community. 'fhe stories that appear in the pages that follow are true stories in every sense of the word, barring human failings as to accuracy of minor details. They run the gamut of human emotions-love, faith, hope, loyalty, sacrifice, misfortune, gayety, good-luck and disappointment-all these and many more. This is Hopewell-this is America. xiii DEDICATED To Those Who Left Home - Be It Ever So Humble - To Carry Out Assigned Tasks, Sacrificing Self To Win The Victory BE IT EVER SO HUMBLE CHAPTER I Singular Censu8 OPEWELL Borough, situated in the rolling hills of Central H New Jersey, is descn'bed in the Industrial Directory of New Jersey for 1943-44 as follows: HOPEWELL (Boro.) population, 1,691. Tax rate, $3.51. Net valuation $1,451,647. Twelve miles north of Trenton. Incorporated 1891. Philadelphia & Reading Railroad. One public school, one parochial. Six police­ men, 130 volunteer firemen. One bank. Fire insurance rating E. Industries: Hopewell Herald, newspaper pub­ lishing and printing, four employees; Hopewell Jewelry Co,. four employees ; Hopewell Mfg. Co., ornamental iron work, five employees; and Smith, H. A., Machine Co., screw machine parts, instruments, 290 employees. Sixty years earlier, the town was descnoed in somewhat different fashion by Major E.