Children
Living Daughter
|
Notes:
Easton Express, Thursday, June 10, 1943, page 1
Hines Was Killed in Action, War Department Message Says
Wife Clings to Hope Aerial Gunner is Still Alive
Staff Sgt. John W. Hines, 22 years old, former composing room
employee of The Express, is reported killed, in a telegram
received yesterday by his wife, Mrs. Anita N. Hines, 2300 Forest
Street, Wilson Borough, from Adjutant General Ulio.
The Telegram received by Mrs. Hines was as follows: "Report
now received from the German Government through the International
Red Cross that your husband Staff Sgt. John W. Hines, previously
reported missing since Jan 1, in Northwest African area is
now reported killed in action date unreported. The Secretary
of War shares your grief and extends his deep snympathy, Letter
follows."
Despite this message, Mrs. Hines who with
her 15-month old daughter resides with her mother, Mrs. Emma
Erwin is confident that her husband is alive and points to
several discrepancies since he was first missing for her conviction.
The first telegram to Mrs. Hines form the War Department,
received January 22, stated that Sgt. Hines was missing on
January 1, but Mrs. Hines received a cablegram from her husband
dated January 2, which extended best wishes for the new year
and said that "all is well""
"Why would the announcment come from the German Government," Mrs.
Hines asked today as she fought back her tears and fondly caressed
her child. "This shows that he must have been taken a
prisoner and Iwill not give up hope"
Aerial Gunner
Sgt. Hines the son of Mrs. Myrtle Hines, 11 South Second street,
enlisted in the Air Force October 7, 1941, and qualified
as an aerial gunner after periods of training at Biloxi,
Miss., Shreveport, La., Tyndall Field, Fla., and Fort Wayne
Ind. In the latter part of 1942, he was assigned to a combat
crew of a Flying Fortress which was sent to bolster theAmerican
Air Forces in Tunisia.
In one of his last letter ot relatives in Easton, Sgt. Hines
express in simple but stirring words the ideals he felt he
was fighting for.
"I am learing just how much I miss the old homestead,
and I have to confess I'm a tiny bit homesick. I have been
out of the U.S. for only a short time now, but already I can
see exactly what we are fighting gor. We have a beautiful and
splendid country, and a few months from now, I'll still be
saying the same thing, only more emplatically. I have seen
the way other people live and now I appreciate America. I think
it's certainly worth fighting for."
Sgt. Hines was a graduate from Easton High School in 1929
and shortly after commencement went to work in the composing
room of The Express, remaining until his enlistment.
Easton Express, Friday, November 11, 1949, page 21
Easton Airman To Be Reburied in St. Louis, Mo.
S-Sft. John W. Hines, 23, Easton World War II Casualty, will
be among the five servicemen to be reburied together in Jefferson
Memorial Cemetery, St. Louis, Mo., sometime this month. No
definite date has been set for the services.
Sgt. Hine and the four other servicemen, were killed in action
on Jan. 1, 1942, when their plane was shot down while particpating
in a bombing mission over Tunisia. The bodies of the five crewmen
arrived in the States on Oct. 31.
The son of Mrs. Myrtle Hines, of 11 South Second Street, Sgt.
Hines was a former employee of the Easton Express. He was graduated
from Easton High School in 1939, and went to work shortly afterward
in the composing room of The Express.
He enlisted in the Army in October, 1941 and qualified as
an aerial gunner after periods of training at Biloxi, Miss.,
Shreveport, La. Tyndall Field, Fla, and Fort Wayne, Ind. Late
in1942, he was sent overseas, landing in North Africa. He met
his death while flying his first mission.
Sgt. Hines is survived by his mother, who will attend the
services in St. louis, Mo, and a daughter. Mrs. Frank Creveling,
an aunt, also will attend the rites. |
