Delaware County Daily Times from Chester, Pennsylvania • Page 3

MURRAY MlKD his date with oosliny and a chance to got Ills name In nil the history hooks by 55 minulcs, A lousy 55 minutes time than it lakes to mow Hie lawn or clean out the garage'or' watch half of an Eagles game. Destiny ami Mr. Murray had that di ln 1 kccp ago, on Dec. 7, ,7 when, ho was a young army private stationed at Fort Shatter in' the Hawaiian Islands. Today, Murray is an at tliq city's sewage disposal plant'at Front and Clayton Sts.

Before that, he was a papcrhanger. But in 1941, he was a young guy enjoying'Hie beauty of a a i i and learning to be an a operator. He had been'drafted in January of that year and sent to Fort Monmoulh, N. J. lie hadn't been there too long when advantage of what he thought was a terrific deal.

"I WAS' DRAFTED for one year," he recalled, "but then they came up with a deal where, if you joined up for a two-year hitch, you could go to either Panama or Hawaii. I thought this would be a good way to gel to Hawaii for free so I signed on. Those two years would stretch into four and it would be many, many months before Murray would see his Sun Village home again but usually the Army doesn't tell you those things. At first, Murray thought he had made good move. "I really loved the islands," he said.

"But as nice as the weather and the scenery were, the people were even nicer. I've never gotten over the place." Then came Dec. 7, the day that President Roosevelt said would live forever as a "day of infamy." DP A He missed his date with I i 55 minutes "1 WAS WORKING the U-to-7 Nhlft as a i a operator," Murray "We called our communications center and right on my switchlwd was a big sign with about 12 or 15 mimlicrs to call In case; we had an attack. "All I was supposed to say was: 'This is Uxard. This Is a red alert.

This is not a lest. I A I he inlands Oh is I in as during World War II This is a red alert. 1 1 wasn't Kupiwsed to wait for an answer or say anything else. Just get an acknowledgement and go to the next number." Murray finished his 7 a.tn, that fateful (lay, slopped by the mess hall for a quick snack and was, sitting in his lent writing a letter to the woman who would become his wife when destiny came calling. guy who relieved: me, a i AUenlown mimed McDonald, was on duly when he got a call at 7:55 a.m.

from the radar station on top of a mountain. They called il Opana. "They had blips on their radar screen, hut the officer who was with McDonald said it probably was a flight of B-17s they had been expecting from the West Coasl. lie didn't do anything aboul it. "He's mentioned in all the books about Pearl Harlwr and in the movie, 'Tora Tora' they had a scene of the area where I worked.

If Ihe Japs had hit a lilllc earlier, I would have been the one to give the alert." IT WAS 33 YKARS AGO hut Murray remembers the next few days vividly. "The first tiling we noticed was a plane being shot at. We thought it was one of those tow planes they used for targel practice. We the pilot made mislakc and shot down the wrong plane." Before long, Murray and his tenlmatcs realized it was no mistake. The United Stales had entered World War II.

"It was confusing," he said. "Somebody sjiid the Germans were bombing us. Another guy said, 'How the hell can that be? They don't have any aircraft "We got up on a garage roof to sec better. Pearl Harbor was only a half-mile away. We could see everything.

Then a plane bombed Trippler Hospital. He knocked the whole corner off it. Then he headed back toward us. "He flew over and lilted his plane as lie passed us. He was so low we could have hit him with a stone.

We even saw his face. "ONK (JUY'HAD a rsulio, A guy came on in a shaky voice and said Hie Japanese had attacked but not to worry, the Army was in control. "We had to laugh. What the hell, we were the Army and we were just silting there," The next three days were a frenzy of activity. Murray didn't even have time to change his clothes.

"We were running all over the island, picking up machine guns here, delivering them there. We never stopped. Ed Gebhart My kind of KI.OYD MURRAY missed dule with destiny "YOU WANT TO KNOW the thing I remember most, my most vivid memory? "It was right after the attack. We were in a truck going past the hospital. There was so much traffic wo had to slop.

They were bringing in guys from Pearl and who were in the hospital and could walk were being taken out. "There were stretchers all over the lawn. You never saw so much blood. "Nurses were running everywhere. They'd put a tourniquet on a guy, then take their lipstick and write on his face or his chest the time they put the tourniquet on.

I'll never forget it." When things got back to normal, Murray took a test for radar training and was one of three men selected to set up stations. He put his station on the outer island of Hilo and spent the rest of the war there. "A beautiful place," he sighed, "and what beautiful people." MURRAY MISSED a date with destiny on Dec. 7, 1941, and he regrets it. A little earlier, he missed another one.

He doesn't regret that. "On the boat coming to Hawaii, we learned some of us weren't stopping. Some of us were going to be sent to the Philippines. "We felt sorry for the ones who went on because of the long boat ride. Later, when the war began, we felt even sorrier.

We wondered how many ever made it back." PAGE 3 Delaware County If AX i4fe FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1973 METRO Oi I pro next on Hot Seat Ahmed W. Salam, who wrote his doctoral dissertation on the American oil industry, will be the Daily Times Hot Seat guest Monday. Salam, 36, was born in'Cairo, Egypt, and was graduated from Ein Shams University, Cairo. He came to this country 13 years ago and has received degrees from Northwestern University and the University of Illinois. was an assistant professor at St.

Louis University, and has been teaching finance at Widener College, Chester, for four years. He is an associate professor of management at Widener. He 'and his wife, Mahi, and their 10 month old daughter, Lobna, live in Upper Chichester. He was interviewed by reporters Linda DeMeglio and John Roman. UHLENBURGAV.

'Street Where You Live' Signs say 'urg; but 'erg' correct RIDLEY TOWNSHIP Two wrongs don't make a right so despite the fact that two of the three street signs on Muhlcnberg Avenue spell the street as "Muhle'nburg," Hie "erg" ending is correct. Following UK; Swarthmore tradition of naming streets for institutes of higher learning, the avenue honors Allentown's Muhlenberg College, named for Colonial patriot and Lutheran clergyman Maj. Gen. Peter Muhlenborg. The street is only four-tenths of a mile long and runs from Michigan Avenue (where the correct sign stands) to Swarlhmnre Avenue, intersecting Amhcrsl Avenue about mid-point.

The dilemma of the street signs was brought to the attention of the Iward of commissioners by 3rd Ward commissioner John who said the error was pointed out lo him by some Muhlcnbnrg- Avenue residents. New signs arc on order and it won't belong' before it will "Muhlenbcrg" all the way. The mix up is a mystery. HENRY BLENKENHE1M the Kaiser JANE HOGAN Crosby's buddy ELSWORTH ROBSON bowler ANNA BRANSON ccnls per dozen CHARLES DE MOSKE Hupmobile JAMES FINCH too big Ethei Waters, Joe Louis, Bing Crosby recalled Memories ore golden at nursing home By GKETCHEN SCIIWOEBEL Daily Times Correspondent MARPLE Reminiscing is a i guests at Resthaven Nursing Home in Broomall. The "I Remember When" game, you might call it, is 'played' on a regular basis with the patients and Mrs.

a Dole, a i director at the home. "I remember playing with Ethel Waters when I lived in Chester," Mrs. Cprclie Black said. Mrs. Black, 82, was 12 when she and Miss Waters, who lived across the street from her, were playmates.

Mrs. Black, a small silver a i a displays a plaque stating that she is an honorary member of the Republican Club in the 9th Ward, -1th Precinct of Chester. She was a committeewonmn for 15 years, back when "we couldn't get three Democrats. Now you can't defeat them." Mrs. Anna Branson, 88, from Philadelphia, recalls her first job, at age 13, in a shirt factory.

She trimmed the loose threads from the shirts, six days a week, nine hours a day except Saturday when she got off at 1 p.m. She was paid cents for a do7.cn shirts. "I was an amateur fighter in 1934, James Finch of Springfield remembers, "and I wanted to go professional. I would have, loo, if it hadn't been for Joe Louis's manager. He told me my eyes were too big to be a professional Finch, although disabled and in a wheelchair, is an avid gardener and plants a vegetable garden in the spring on the grounds of the home.

He's a member of the i a i a i a Society. Mrs. Jane Hogan, 73, from A a pleasant memories of Bing Crosby visiting her neighborhood for get togethers with Burt Miller, Crosby's piano player. "He was a real swinger in those days," Mrs. Hogan adds.

"And my cousin used to play with Perry Como when he lived in Cannonsburg as a child." Henry Blankenheim, whose a a a i a proudly recalls being in the German Army in 1917 when he met Kaiser Wilhelm II. "I bought a second hand Hupmobile, 1903 model, with a handcrank," recalls silver a i Charles DeMoske, "and it worked real well for me. Except a friend of mine borrowed it and broke his hand cranking it." Getting patients to recall their past is one of Sandy projects she compiles all the memories to put into a newspaper that the patients publish every month. Sandy has other activities to keep the patients happy and busy, such as a bazaar which is coming up Sunday. It will feature articles and baked goods made by the patients.

i is a popular activity, with plastic pins. Elsworth (Robby) Robson, one of the patients, is especially fond of the game. He wears the gold watch he awarded in 1959 for bowling a 300 game. Happy Hour at Resthaven is once a month when the patients are encouraged to get dressed for cocktails (sherry) and hors d'oeuvres in the living room. Arm chair travel is another popular activity at the home.

Films are shown accompanied by a travelogue. Mrs. Dole is the energy behind most of the programs at Resthaven. "I love to work with the elderly," she said, "they are so responsive." She recalls Pearl Harbor By HARRY MAITLAND Daily Times Staff Writer MARPLE December 7, 1SM1, the day of infamy for Americans in the Pacific, is only a blur in the memory of a Broomal! woman who was as a i when Japanese bombers attacked Pearl Harlxir. Mrs.

Richard (Grctchen) Schwocbel, of H'l Lindberg was living on the outskirts of Honolulu. Her father Rear Adrn. Gleim (U.S. a a a commander at the lime and was assigned to the cruiser USS Raleigh, which operated oul of Pear! Harbor. Is a i i correspondent in Newtown.

In a a i i Mrs. Schwoebol ami hur mother tint! had been there only six months when I ho Japanese! Hucnk a I lack occurred. Within several weeks I hoy were uvacimlcd wllh other military dependents. Mrs. Schwocbcl was 7 at the linie of the attack.

The family lived high on a hillside overlooking Honolulu. She and her sister, Betty, awakened early on the Sunday morning the Japanese attacked. Grclchcn and her sister were looking out the window. Her sister saw geysers rising from the water where tmmbs were dropping. She awakened her a and told him whales were inside Hie reef and spouting water.

He was annoyed by the awakening and figured the child's comment as 'Soon after he gol a telephone call Instructing him lo report to Pearl Harbor. He came home once for additional clothing and gone for a long period of time, One of the vivid memories a i a i i Mrs, Schwocbel Is Iho sight of her fullicr leaving Ilia house lo report lo Pcnrl Hnrbor. "lid was in uniform and wearing i i a recalled. Adm. Husband E.

Kimmel, (1KKTCHKN the a commander at a a i officers lo war a Hawaiian straw hat and it became known as the Kimmel hat. The Gleim family remained in their house. Two American a i i who lived in Honolulu, were assigned to live in the three bedroom dwelling. Within a short lime six American families were there. "Il was very cramped but the children enjoyed it.

We had a dog, another family had a bird and another family had a dog," Mrs. Schwocbcl recalled. Marines guarded the houses U.S. awaited transportation lo the West Const. "It got dark so quick that night (Dec, 7) my mother had no 1 time to prepare dinner nor bathe us.

There Is no sunset. The sun just disappears. My mother tried lo fix food in the dark and tried lo wasli us, II was kind of a fiasco," she said. Mrs. Virginia Gleim, who lives in Washington, D.C.

with her husband, became the a i storyteller of the children sharing the house. To pass the hours of darkness in the blackouts she told stories to the children over and over. She was the society news editor of the Honolulu Star. The family returned to San Francisco on a civilian cruise ship. They wore lifcjackets all the time they were aboard.

One experience remains sharp in Mrs. Schwoebel's mlnrt. It was Christmas, 2 weeks after the attack on a a American dependents had food but other items were difficult lo obtain. "Our Christmas tree was a i It consisted of three pine branches that someone had gotten from the hills. It wasn't much, bill il was Chrislmas," she said.

Bell seeks opinion on gasoline bill State Sen. Clarence D. Bell (R-15th District) of Upland is i his constituents' opinion on a bill he has introduced to help combat the gasoline shortage. He said he has sent out about 300 letters to a variety of citizens asking their reaction and that of their friends lo his bill which would permit disconnection of emission control devices on late model automobiles. Bell contends a if emission control devices, weren't in use, there wouldn't be a gasoline shortage.

He said the bill has gotten "quite a bit of support," Including that of Sen. Frank Ma us a co-sponsor..