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U. GA. MAIN LIBRARY I ATHENS, GA 30602 I Oaawiß VBI ■ %'W WWW I Page 3A I Houston Times-Journal Volume 124 No. 45 1 Section, 8 Pages Inside I Today | Church News 3A Classifieds 7A Death Notices 2A Editorials 4A Outdoors 6A Sports 5A Rack Rates Will Be $52/yr Buy a Subscription For $25 + tax & Save $25.75 Cong. Bishop discusses the fate of RAFB By VETO F. ROLEY Staff Writer U.S. Congressman Stanford Bishop said Wednesday afternoon that Robins Air Force Base had an excellent chance of surviving BRAC 1995. "The chances (of Robins surviv ing BRAC 95) arc excellent," said Bishop, who represents Georgia's Second District. He added that the base was strengthened by a strong workforce, leadership, strong local support and strong state support. Bishop said that new Pentagon spending, and a new air wing, scheduled for the base were positive signs for Robins. "It indicates that the Pentagon is placing real confi dence in the operations at Robins Air Force Base," he said. Bishop said that the Pentagon would probably not make "significant investments" in a base that was about to close. "We are going to do everything that we can to put equity into the base," he added. "The bases in Georgia are near and dear to the people of Georgia," said Bishop, adding that the Congressional delegation, led by Senator Sam Nunn, was "unanimous in support of the bases." BRAC should also do its work in 1995, not in 1997, said Bishop. "We ought to move ahead and not prolong the anxiety," said Bishop. "We need to face whatever is going to happen." Bishop was in Perry Wednesday afternoon to meet with members of the 21st Century Partnership. The 21st Century Partnership was formed when Robins Air Force Base was added to the list of bases slated for closure by BRAC 93, and is an organization composed of civic and business leaders in Middle Georgia working to keep Robins open. Pete Rucker, executive director of the 21st Century Partnership, said the nurnber one goal of the group was "to stay off the list." The second goal, he said, was to de fend the base if it was put on the closure list ir. 1995. Rucker reminded Bishop of the base's strong contribution to the Middle Georgia area, having a workforce of over 20,000 jobs, in cluding 1,500 construction jobs, and an economic impact of $2.5 billion in the area. The top 25 companies in the Macon Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) amounted to 75 per cent of the base's economic impact, with about half of the workforce in the MSA coming from the base. "It will be a long time before we can do something about it (if the base closes," said Rucker, quoting from a statement made by Georgia Department of Labor commissioner David Poythress. Rucker said the 21st Century group continued to work with the base to clear up problems identified in 1993. i • . tjy , ■—t jH ’ vi'.’ Tt_ ' S ■ " jtej 'jj iSi ; - vr-Tjrvi > fSftihdl *■“ ••»—- r *».<• - Bmku j_ * iV Perryan Don Norris discusses his experiences on D-Day for the first time In this exclusive Interview. On Monday, the country will observe the 50th anniversary of this turning point event which liberated the European Continent from the Nazis and started the end of World War 11. Remembering D-Day.. Norris gives first interview, 50 years later BY BRENDA THOMPSON Staff Writer As the 50th anniversary of D- Day closes in, millions of Ameri cans the nation over have been bombarded with media coverage of the turning-point event which liber ated the European Continent from the Nazis and started the end of World War 11. There have been dozens of doc umentaries and video clips, mil lions of written words and twice as much talk, all of which, even com bined, has yet to do little more than scratch the surface of what really happened on the beaches and be tween the hedgerows of Normandy; the valor, the sacrafice, the loyalty and the duty .. .the pain. Truth is, unless you were there; unless you saw the hundreds of dead bodies floating in the waters or stacked up like cordwood on the beaches... . . .Unless you heard the foot steps of the enemy in the pitch black darkness of night or saw your buddies falling like flies in the misty light of dawn. .. . . . Unless you heard the screeching crescendo of burp guns, the muffled crunch of exploding mortar shells, the rat-a-tat-tat of machine guns or the booming of ar tillery and the screams of wounded and dying soldiers... . . . Unless you are like Don Norris of Perry and actually stormed those legendary beaches on June 6, 1944, it is surely impossible to fully understand what really hap pened in that famous turning point invasion dubbed D-Day. With the D-Day anniversary on Monday, Mr. Norris, one of the few area veterans to have participated in these battles, graciously agreed to sit down and talk about his experi ences. This writer, however, was unaware until the end of the inter view that this marked the first time Mr. Norris had ever attempted to verbalize what happened to him as a soldier in combat; the memories are just that painful, even after a half century. “The only way you can really know is to have been there; then you would understand why it is so very difficult to put it into words,” said Norris, who moved to Perry in Sports b Page 5A I Official Organ For Houston County, City of Perry & State of Georgia 1962 when he was transferred to Robins Air Force Base as a civil service employee. “The memories will never leave me; the experiences and what I’ve seen are engraved in my mind forever; seeing people die before you eyes and knowing there is nothing you can do about it is just.. .indescribable.” Norris, a native of Ohio, was drafted into the Army in June 1943, a young lad right out of high school. He attended basic training at Fort McClellan in Anniston, Ala., and, six months later was sent to Camp Orange, New Jersey where he spent Christmas and New Years awaiting to go overseas. Like the thousands of other fel low soldiers, he was told little about where he was going and knew little about what he was about to see. “All they told us was to get our papers together, because we might not be coming back. But we were kids and we laughed . . .we just didn’t know,” Norris said, adding that on Jan. 2,1944 he and approx imately 900 other soldiers boarded the El de France, a Poop Pansport ship and headed out to sea. The boat Pip, according to Nor ris, was a long one filled with 12 days of sea sickness and little fear since their destination was un known. Their first stop was in .Scotland where the poops were split up and sent in different direc tions; Norris’ destination being Wales. In Wales, Norris joined hundreds of others in his division for more basic paining; still unaware of what lie ahead, but very conscious that something was indeed brewing. Equipment and artillery was every where and the soldiers spent endless hours in sPenuous maneuvers, go ing through inspections, checking and re-checking their weapons and waterproofing their vehicles. “The next thing we knew, on the night of June 3, 1944, they got us together and we packed everything up,” said Norris, his face starting to give into the many emotions his memories were conjuring. “Although we didn’t know it at the time, we were headed for the mid lands of England, Southhampton, and shortly after boarded another For News And Subscriptions Call 912-987-1823 Saturday, June 4, 1994 troop carrier bound for Omaha Beach and what we now know as D- Day.” For six hours on June 6, while unbeknownst to them other poops were initializing the start of the famous D-Day Invasion on Normandy’s beaches, Norris and the 400 other soldiers on his ship, sat idle about a mile from shore, surrounded by a ring of submarines and artillery ships whose sole purpose was to ensure the Poops’ safe arrival on shore. And, though they did make it to the shore successfully and safely, none were prepared for the many sight they would see as they waded their way to the beach. “There are a lot of details that have slipped my mind over the years, but the site of dead people ly ing all around and floating in the waters remains vivid in my mem ory,” Norris said. Despite it all, however, Norris said the Poops pushed their way up hills and rocks and spent the next two weeks adjusting to the realties of battle, talking out their fears with each other, looking out for snipers and preparing for their first major battle-the battle of Hill 192. Like nearly all of the battles fought in Normandy, Hill 192 was terraced with hedgerows, fences of large Pee-like shrubs which once served as property lines for farmers and which completely encircled the fields. The soldiers moved from one hedgerow to the next, unable to see the hiding enemy and, yet, still slowly pushing the enemy back. They rested only short periods be fore attacking across the next field and the next hedgerow. All in all, Norris said the Amer icans were under fire at least half of the time and, by the time it was all over, had lost about 40 percent of its fighting Poops sent up the hill. Still they won the battle, took the hill and were sent back to regroup and get more soldiers. Shortly after the Battle of Hill 192, Norris was among the Poops that just before dawn on July 26 began one of the biggest pushes of the war-the push out of the Nor mandv Peninsula. Please see NORRIS, page 8A I Classified g Page 7 A Farmer offers big reward for chemical thief BY BRENDA THOMPSON Staff Writer A SSOO reward is being offered to anyone who supplies informa tion leading to the arrest of the per son or persons who burglarized ABS Farms in Henderson this past week, Sgt. Mickey Dees of the Houston County Sheriff’s Depart ment said Friday. According to Dees, the burglary occurred sometime between 11:30 p.m. Tuesday May 31, and 6:30 a.m. the next morning. Apparently, the perpetrator(s) crawled over a fence surrounding the farm’s main tenance bam and loaded approxi mately $7,000 worth of farm chem icals on a farm-owned truck. They then made their get-away by using the truck to run down the front gate. Also on the truck, which is val ued at $5,000, was a $750 air »vt ' iurHpv ■K m i " ®^Hk. IhmmHKi j£ ™ '' S; ' * "* ■ j,_'tnf ; ''' 1 * illPlilv ■ Billy Hunter Commission contender no stranger to political races Editor’s note: The following article on Billy Hunter Is the fourth of a six part series Intended to Introduce Houston County voters to the six candidates running for Houston County Commission Post 2. The first three candidate’s Ronald Wayne Rag In, a democrat from Perry, Nora Reese-Laughlln, a republican from Warner Robins and J. B. Carter were featured In our May 4, May 14 and May 18 editions, respectively. As they consent, the re mainder of the candidates will be profiled between now and the July 19 General Primary Elections. BY BRENDA THOMPSON Staff Writer A close contender in two previ ous elections, Billy Hunter is again off and running in the race for a seat on the Houston County Commis sion. A Democrat from Bonaire, Hunter made it to the commission’s run-off elections in both 1984 and 1986 and is currently campaigning for the Post Two scat being vacated by Archie Thompson. Thompson, who is the commission’s current vice-chairman, announced that he would not seek re-election last month. Hunter, along with two other Democrats, Ronald Wayne Ragin of Perry and Randolph E. Wynn of Warner Robins, and three Republi cans, John F. Wylam of Warner Robins, James Carter of Kathleen and Nora Reese of Warner Robins, will go head to head in the first leg of the race July 19 when Houston County voters go to the polls for the General Primary Elections. If necessary a run-off election will be held in August with the surviving candidates moving into the final stage in the November General Elections. When asked why he wants to Perry, Georgia -50 Cents ilaiMiiiiiriiMiHiMtfMMiSHMiaiMMiiaiMHaaai compressor. The stolen truck was later recovered near Byromville in Dooly County; however, the com pressor and chemicals were no where to be found, said Dees. Decs added that the Houston Sh eriff’s Department is currently working closely with law enforce ment in Dooly County as they ex perienced a similar burglary about three weeks ago. A connection be tween the two is suspected. “We definitely feel like it was more than one person and they defi nitely knew what they were after,” Dees said. “Out of all the chemicals in the bam, they only took a certain kind; a certain brand that has an ex clusive, specific use.” Anyone who thinks they might have any information to aid in this investigation should call Sgt. Dees 987-2800. The SSOO reward is be ing offered by ABS Farms, Inc. serve on the Houston County Commission, Hunter is quick to answer. “I love this county. I’ve been here for 35 years. I married here, reared my children here and it is home,” Hunter, a former Warner Robins police chief and the current owner of the Houston Mattress Fac tory, said this week. “I feel like I know this county well and really think that my presence on the commission would make a differ ence.” According to Hunter, 54, he first moved here from his native home of Fitzgerald when he was just 19 years old. He came here to join his sister and started work with Inland Container in Macon. In 1963, he joined the Warner Robins Fire Department as a fire fighter and three years later joined forces with the Warner Robins Po lice Department He started. out.as a patrolman and worked his way up to the rank of captain before joining the county sheriffs department in December 1971. Working under Sheriff Cullen Talton, he served the county as chief deputy from 1972 until 1976 and, in 1976. returned to the Warner Pleasa sea HUNItR, page 8A