North Street Is On The Move, Hello Roberta Lane

I write to report a big development on the North Street-Forby Road project in Eureka.  Today, the first use of the right-of-way, which will become the main road in the future tract of land next door to my home, began as something like 10,000 yards of fill dirt coming from Forby Road hill, started to arrive.  The name of this new street will someday be:  Roberta Lane, the name being derived to recognize my late wife,  Frances Roberta Weber, nee Harrison. 

I take this space to go farther into recognition of a small group which was called to my attention recently after we saw the tribute to Dovey Berry, and then Lynn Berry both recently passing. 

That, along with my viewing of the membership list of O'Brien Post #177 here in Eureka, prompts me to note that I am the ranking member of the post in number of years as a member.  I also see the hundreds of other members who have died. 

During the Lynn Berry memorial, it was determined by Stanley "Boots" Wallach, an honorary life member of the Post, that he, I, and Thomas Wayne Wehrle, make up the list of native Eureka military members of World War II who remain alive and still are citizens of the city of Eureka.  So, in this month of memories, perhaps this is worthy of comment. 

Tom Wehrle's father, Walter Wehrle, was in the U.S. Marines in World War I and wounded in France. In 1919 he became the first Commander of O'Brien Post, in the first year of the American Legions' existence.  One of the reasons so many from our area became Marines was because of Walter.

Tom entered the Marines in November of 1944, and Stanley and I entered the same day about a month later.  My serial number was 981062, and Stanley ended with 981063. 

Tom must have had a more gentle drill instructor, as he managed to come in from the rifle range at Parris Island to visit us in boot camp.   After Boots and I had our boot camp furlough, we three were together at Camp Lejuene, NC, until Tom was headed west to Camp Pendleton for more training. 

One month later, about this time 66 years ago, I went into Marine Corps School, and Boots headed west. It happened that he caught Tom at Pendleton, and they went overseas together on the same ship. 

Since Tom had one month more training, he was assigned to take part in the Okinawa battle and was wounded there. Stanley went to Guam, and struggled through the boondocks there until doing duty in Sasebo, Japan, following the Nagasaki bombing. 

One of the places Marines sometimes spent their liberty at Pearl Harbor was at the Aiea Hospital on a nearby hill.  I never went there, but I found years later that Tom did some healing there while I served at Pearl. 

This is a personal memory, but I think that since we grew up together, were all grads of and spent a lifetime here, it is a fitting memory to share.