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Johnnie
Adams
- Aug. 2, 1951
Johnnie Adams of Bellwood on Monday
received a birthday present - something that will make his
daily work much easier.
Now to a strong, healthy man, Johnnie's
twice-daily task of hauling mail from post office to depot
and back to post office would take little effort, but to him
it is quite a chore.
Johnnie received an injury early in life
that left his leg and feet not too good. It is real labor
for him to walk very far, especially pushing an old
iron-wheeled cart full of mail bags. His handicap, however,
didn't stop him from taking the mail- hauling job when the
opportunity arose last October. He is always there early in
the morning and in the evening to make the trip for the
mail. Although the hand cart was old and pushed hard, he
covered the three-block stretch without a complaint.
But last Monday morning events in Johnnie
Adams' life took a change. When he arrived as usual at the
Bellwood Post Office to load his cart with mail and start
for the depot, he found, instead of the old hard-pushing
vehicle, a new rubber- tired, brightly painted push cart,
with the words "U. S. Mail" painted in silver on each side
of the box.
And where did it come from? Well, Johnnie
has lots of friends in Bellwood, and July 22 was his
birthday. That adds up to this: The village marshal, Harry
West, and the Co-op Filling Station attendant, Alfred
Hoshor, decided to do something to make Johnnie's work
easier. They had a conference with more of Johnnie's
friends, Ebert and Chris Kamenske, Garland Mais, Clyde
Creathbaum, O. J. Selzer, Henry Sheldon, Matt Supencheck,
Fred Mansfield and Jim Moyer. These men started contributing
materials, labor and cash for the new cart. For the two
wheels they found some off a motorcycle. They put on rubber
tires, built the box and frame, painted the wheels silver,
the box red, and tied it in front of the post office.
Johnnie says it pushes so easy "I have to
hold back. I can even go down the sidewalks with this
one."
Thomas J.
Anderson
October 25, 1945
Shortly after the close of the war, when the announcement
came to the world of the effects of the atomic bomb, which
was instrumental in effecting a quick conclusion to
hostilities, it was found that Lt. Thomas J. Anderson, 28,
son of Mr. and Mrs. T. L. Anderson, had a hand in the great
scientific work.
Having graduated from the college of
engineering of the University of Nebraska in 1939, Anderson
was inducted into the Army in April 1943. Sent to Orange
Grove, New Jersey, for training, he later studied at Harvard
University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and at
Palm Beach, Florida. At the conclusion of his schooling, he
was sent back to the Massachusetts school to become an
instructor in radar.
After V. E. Day, when the Institute was
dispensed with for Army use, Lt. Anderson was called to
Washington, D. C. and interviewed at the Pentagon building
by General Groves. Following a thorough investigation he was
ordered to proceed to Santa Fe, New Mexico, stopping enroute
to pay a surprise visit to his parents.
Mr. and Mrs. Anderson did not learn until
after V. J. Day, that their son was employed at the
Manhattan Engineering Project at Los Alamos, New Mexico,
which was the proving grounds for the atomic bomb.
On V. J. Day, Lt. Anderson was in
Albuquerque, New
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Mexico, purchasing supplies for his trip overseas, to
deliver the third atomic bomb F. 0. B. Tokyo. This fact
alone is evidence that the young man from Bellwood had a
major part in this great discovery which holds the attention
of all countries of the world.
Mrs. Evelyn Anderson, wife of Lt.
Anderson, was accepted as a co-worker at the Manhattan
Project and was permitted to join her husband and work with
him in the same office.
Col. J. D.
Bell
J. Donald Bell was born in the old
family home west of Bellwood. He received his elementary and
secondary schooling in the Bellwood school, except for three
years the family was in Long Beach, Calif. As Bellwood had
only 11 grades at that time he took his last year at the
David City High School. He attended the University of
Nebraska and received his B.S. degree.
Col. Bell's military career began in 1920
when he enrolled in the Junior ROTC at Long Beach High
School. He completed three more years in the ROTC at the
University of Nebraska and was commissioned a second
lieutenant in the Army Reserve.
In 1938 he was called to active duty to
command a large CCC motor pool at Lewiston, Ida., and later
to command companies at Hermiston, Ore., Pierce, Ida., and
St. Maries, Ida.
In 1941 he was ordered to Fort Warren,
near Cheyenne, Wyo., where he commanded a training company
and later commanded Company B of the Officers Candidate
School. He was promoted to the rank of Major while serving
at Vancouver Barracks, Wash., in 1943 as a training officer
and was then given command of the 614th Battalion at Camp
Adair, Corvallis, Ore. In August of 1943 the battalion
headquarters and four companies were transported by rail and
ship to Oran, Algeria and a month later to Tunisia. In
addition to his duties as a commander he also served as
executive officer to the Quartermaster, Eastern Base Section
in Bizerte, Tunisia.
In the summer of 1944 the battalion
headquarters was shipped to Naples, Italy, then by ship
convoy to Toulon, France, and then overland to Marseille,
France, where the headquarters served as part of a depot
complex until it was deactivated upon cessation of
hostilities in Europe in 1945. In December 1945 Major Bell
returned by troopship to Camp Miles Standish, Mass., then by
troop train to Fort McArthur, Calif., where he was
discharged as a Lieutenant Colonel, a rank he had achieved a
few months earlier.
In June 1946 the War Department offered
him a regular army commission, which he accepted. He was
then assigned to the Training Division of the Office of the
Quartermaster General in Washington, D.C. In September 1947
he was assigned to the student detachment of the Command and
General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kans., for a 10-
month course, in which he specialized in logistics. In the
summer of 1948 he was transferred to the Quartermaster
School in Fort Lee, Va., as an instructor. While still a
member of the faculty he was given seven weeks leave of
absence to attend the Parachute and Glider School at Fort
Benning, Ga. Upon being graduated he returned to Fort Lee
and in September was promoted to the rank of Colonel.
Immediately he was transferred to Fort Devons, Mass., to
take command of a training center consisting of Reserve and
National Guard units that had been called to active duty.
Upon being brought up to strength with draftees the units
went into training for the Korean conflict.
The following June, Col. Bell was assigned
to the
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