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Written by Denise Freitag Burdette [Asst. News Editor]
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Thursday, 30 July 2009 |
 World War II veteran Charles “Chick” Hyde Jr., Bright, stands next to a portrait of his father, Charles Hyde, a World War I veteran.
“When the war came along I knew I was going to be drafted. ... I went down and volunteered for early service,” said Hyde.
His father, Charles Hyde Sr., was in the Air Force during World War I. When WWII started, his father tried to get in the Navy, he said.
But it was his son who would end up serving in the Navy- embarking on a high seas adventure that would not only lead to several battles with the Japanese, but with Mother Nature.
No stranger to water
Growing up in the Northeast, Hyde was familiar with sailing and boats. His family spent some of their summers in Cape Cod, Mass., said Hyde.
After graduating from Newton High School in 1942 in Massachusetts, he entered prep school at Tabor Academy, Marion, Mass., graduating in 1943. The school prepared students to attend the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., or West Point in New York.
But Hyde went right into the Navy, attending boot camp in Rhode Island. He went through fire control gunnery school, becoming a petty officer third class. After boot camp he was sent to Norfolk, Va., to pick up a ship. A week later he was assigned to the destroyer, U.S.S. Blue DD744.
The ship was still under construction in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Staten Island, N.Y. He worked with the precommissionary crew to get the ship ready.
On March 20, 1944, the ship was commissioned.
“We went on a shakedown cruise to Bermuda,” said Hyde.
The brand new crew, some who were never at sea before, had a chance to become familiar with the ship while taking part in training from submarine tracking to gunnery practice, he said.
After a month the ship returned to New York for some alterations and minor changes before heading out July 6, 1944, to join a fleet in the Pacific, he said.
The ship went through the Panama Canal on the way to San Diego, then Pearl Harbor before heading out to Eniwetok Atoll, part of the Marshall Islands in the central Pacific Ocean, said Hyde.
Soon the U.S.S. Blue joined the fighting units in the carrier Task Force 58, headed toward battles in both the Philippines and Okinawa Campaigns.
Hold on tight
On Dec. 19, 1944, however, the enemy came in the form of a violent storm.
“We went through a typhoon. We had 90 foot waves. Three destoyers rolled over and sank,” said Hyde.
A lot of airplanes blew off the destroyers, he said.
“Our ship took a 54 degree roll,” said Hyde.
A lot of his time on the ship was spent in a “box” located at the top, spending four hours on watch, with eight hours off, except when the crew was in battle stations, he said.
“We had four men in that box. Two of us in the front of the box were on motorcycle seats with handwheels and a scope. You were strapped into the seat,” said Hyde.
Under normal circumstances the assignment could be tough.
“Four hours you were just hanging on to that handwheel for dear life ... and you would be just completely exhausted after four hours,” said Hyde.
The day the ship rolled, he luckily was not in the box perched on top of the ship, he said.
“I happened to be on watch in the plotting room,” said Hyde.
He was alone in the room with a second class petty officer, he said.
“We were both hanging on. ... It went over slowly it seems, though,” said Hyde.
“Watching his eyes, his eyes got as big as saucers. I guess mine did too,” he said.
That was a scary moment, when he was not sure if he would come back home, said Hyde.
The other enemy ... or not
When the weather did not take over, the crew on the Blue had its human enemies to fight, including Japanese kamikaze pilots. In their fleet of 120 destroyers, 80 were damaged by kamikazes, said Hyde.
“The Blue was one of the lucky ones,” he said.
Of course the first plane shot down by the Blue crew ended up a bit of a mistake.
Right after the ship had entered into the Pacific for the Phillipine engagement, a U.S. pilot had been shot down, with another sent out to pick him up. As the second plane headed back, the recognition officer thought the plane was Japanese. The second plane was shot down, said Hyde.
Both survived, however, to be rescued. But the first pilot “was a little bit upset to be shot down twice,” he said.
Hyde remained on the ship until a message was sent that one of the three fire patrolmen third class was to be sent to advance gunnery school.
The three men, including Hyde, drew cards to see who would go. The first man who won decided to stay on the ship. Hyde won the second time around and chose to go.
He was transfered to a cruiser back to the U.S. After he left school the war was over and he was discharged. He decided to take advantage of the GI Bill, attending Oklahoma A & M, now Oklahoma State, to study engineering, said Hyde.
After college he worked for General Electric, who asked if he would go to work in Korea, during the Korean War, under a U.S. military contract. He accepted.
Under orders of the military, the workers had the rank and privleges of a field grade officer. He was issued a 45 automatic pistol and a noncombatant card, said Hyde.
He was not sure, what he would have done if someone came after him- shown him the noncombatant card or the gun, Hyde laughed.
After a year he returned home, married, then was sent back to do military work through GE in England for two years. Back in the U.S., his job continued to move his family every couple years to places such as Ft. Worth, Texas, or San Diego.
When his kids reached school age, he decided to work somewhere more permanent, ending up with GE Aircraft in Cincinnati. He still traveled for business, however, as the sales director in Africa, said Hyde.
He even traveled to Washington, D.C., but never saw much more than the inside of a hotel or meeting room, he said.
Through the years he ended up with two daughters and a son, remarrying when his first wife died of cancer after over 25 years of marriage. He also has reached the 25-year milestone with this second wife, he said.
Though he had heard about the Honor Flight trips, which take World War II veterans to see their national memorial in Washington, D.C., for no cost to the veteran, he was never approached to attend, he said.
While attending a recent Tea Party rally, a man mentioned an Honor Flight trip for veterans from Dearborn County and Southeastern Indiana.
The man put his name on the list for the Honor Flight Tri-State trip and on Wednesday, July 22, he finally saw the memorial built in honor of himself, and the many others who served during World War II.
“I must say that was a fantastic experience. I was amazed at the people who put that on, the guides and helpers who took care of us,” said Hyde.
Check out the Thursday, Aug. 6, Dearborn County Register for the next part in the series, leading up to a story on the trip to the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 27 August 2009 )
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Written by Denise Freitag Burdette [Asst. News Editor]
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Thursday, 30 July 2009 |
Dearborn County’s judges and prosecutor expressed concerns about the lack of office holder and department head input into proposed county campus expansion concept plans during a joint meeting held by county commissioners and council members Tuesday, July 21, at the county administration building, Lawrenceburg.
“Folks we need to be included in the process,” said Judge James D. Humphrey, Dearborn Circuit Court.
Requests to talk to RQAW Consulting Engineers and Architects, Indianapolis, have been denied, he said.
He believes RQAW wants to talk to the office holders, who have been told discussions with RQAW design architect and planner Bret Dodd must take place in a public meeting, said Humphrey.
The latest plan was changed three times within a week, he said.
County commissioner president Ralph Thompson said the plans being presented are conceptual, not full-blown plans, to see if there is interest in proceeding. The details will be filled in at that time, he said.
“I think there are a lot of good intentions in this room,” said Judge Jonathan N. Cleary, Dearborn Superior Court No. 1.
But the “devil is in the details,” he said.
Scenario number five
The meeting was the second this month between county commissioners and council members. The first was held Tuesday, July 7, when four concept plans were presented by Dodd.
After considering the comments and concerns expressed during the July 7 meeting, a fifth concept plan was developed.
At the last meeting there were concerns about the county’s downtown Lawrenceburg campus, located off West High Street, being too spread out, said Dodd.
Possible scenarios had the county splitting off into as many as three locations including, downtown Lawrenceburg, the former Miller Motorsports building off Industrial Drive in Lawrenceburg and the former YMCA facility in Aurora.
The fifth scenario would include the current campus and the former Miller Motorsport building with an addition. The building could be further expanded in the future if needed, said Dodd.
According to the plan, the courts, jail, prosecutor’s office, 911 communications and juvenile center would remain downtown, moving administrative offices to the former motorsport building.
At the high end the cost would be about $12.2 million, but would probably be closer to the low end of $10.5 million due to the state of the economy, said Dodd.
If the county decided to move forward now, the motorsport building could be completed in July 2010 with the new superior court construction completed by July 2011, he said.
County council member Tom Cheek asked why the soft cost estimates did not include financing and legal fees.
He is not sure how the county plans on financing the costs. For example legal fees will be much higher using bonds versus cash, said Dodd.
Council member Liz Morris asked if future expansion was included in the cost estimate, to which Dodd replied “no.”
Where to go from here?
Council member Bill Ullrich said he thinks concept plan five is better than concept plan four, which had the campus spread out over three locations. He also knows something needs to be done about the overcrowding, said Ullrich, who works for the Dearborn County Sheriff’s Department.
But the county needs to consider all the different departments involved. They have been left out of the loop for quite awhile, said Ullrich.
Cheek added he was concerned about spending taxpayer dollars during a time many are struggling with the economy. The county already had to lay off people in the county transportation department, he said.
He also does not want the county to follow in the steps of school building projects that put forth how much money was available to spend first and not what was actually needed, said Cheek.
Dodd said the courthouse and administrative facilities of other counties similar in size to Dearborn were considered during the space analysis. He also addressed concerns raised by county commissioner Jeff Hughes about projections on population growth.
Three mathematical formulas are used while forming the projections, said Dodd.
Hughes also expressed concerns about breaking up the campus expansion into different projects with other issues expected to be addressed in the future, including space issues at the jail.
He wants to move forward to solve the problems, but does not want the projects split up to avoid bringing the issue to referendum before the taxpayers, as required by state law, he said.
Thompson said the purpose of the concept plans overall are to create a master plan meeting all the department’s needs over time in a way that can be planned.
If council shows willingness to put a financial plan together for a particular concept the county can move forward with the departments to work out the details. He did not want to give RQAW money for more detailed work until a concept was in place that seemed to work for the county as a whole, said Thompson.
Dearborn Superior Court No. 2 Judge Sally Blankenship, however, pointed out the concept plan as presented left a lot unknown, including if extra bathrooms would be built for probation department drug testing.
Council is being asked to make a decision on money before the departments have had input, said Humphrey.
It is not about us, but how to best serve the people of this county, said Humphrey.
There had been talk at one point about conducting charrettes with the departments to gather input. Conducting charrettes would be his suggestion, said Dearborn/Ohio County Prosecutor Aaron Negangard.
Dodd said charrettes would be a good next step.
Council passed a motion to appropriate up to $15,000 from the contingency fund for RQAW to get every entity in the county involved within a 45 day window. Commissioners then passed a motion for RQAW to work up charrettes to include all the departments. Hughes voted against the motion because he wanted to look into signing a contract with RQAW for the charrettes.
Thompson said the concepts were formed “not to exclude anyone but to get some options on the table.”
Cheek urged all public officials to talk to the people they represent to see what taxpayers have to say about campus expansion plans. |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 20 August 2009 )
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Written by Register Staff
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Thursday, 30 July 2009 |
 Beast of the Southeast 5K Run winner Ron Perry (right) was paced by Rising Sun High School runner Anthony Nierlich early in Saturday’s third SIRC-it race at Siekman Park.
A telltale sign of the degree of difficulty in Rising Sun’s Beast of the Southeast 5K cross country run saw veteran champ Ron Perry, 34, of Versailles, finish in a heavy-legged jog, with a winning time of 19:06.
The first of at least three Saturday thunderstorms that rumbled across the area around 5 a.m. saturated the hilly course, slowing times. Some runners also complained that walnut trees, which had dropped their fruit along the path, made footing more treacherous.
It didn’t stop machine-like runner Perry, who came close to his own 30-39 age group course record (19:04), set two years ago. Perry went on to win Sunday’s 5K St. Martin’s Country Run at Yorkville to convert one very difficult weekend double.
The Beast’s course record of 17:19, set a year ago, under more favorable conditions, by Brookville’s Jeremiah Vaughn, wasn’t challenged this time around.
Rising Sun alumnus Joe Cunningham, still the 20-29 course record holder in 18:28, finished second Saturday in 19:37 - the only other runner to break 20 minutes.
Overall women’s champion Megan Carter, a 20-29 division entrant, came in eighth overall in 21:15.
Over-40 male top finisher was Rising Sun native Jeff Smith, seventh overall in 21:10. Women’s Over-40 winner LeeAnne Beiser came in 65th among 77 total runners, in 34:06.
Race-walker Bill Cannon made it 3-for-3 for the 2009 Southeast Indiana Racing Circuit so far, winning Saturday’s 5K Walk with a new course record 34:08.41 time. Cannon will go for his fourth-straight walk victory in this coming Saturday’s Knight Flight 5K event in downtown Aurora.
Despite the difficult conditions Saturday, three other new Beast of the Southeast age group records were established by some hardy souls Saturday.
Overall 12th finisher Brad Anneken, dropped the boys 13 & under 5K Run division record to 22:37 (from 23:29).
Cannon’s 34:08 (also the top Over-40 time) shattered the old overall 5K Walk record of 39:47, set by Chad Terrell a year ago.
Top female walker Jamie Gish set the pace for the women’s 5K Walk 40-49 age group, as well as Over-40, with a new record of 43:40.
Byron Wilber broke the men’s 50-59 age group mark for the 5K Walk with a time of 42:42.96.
John Keeton broke the men’s 60 & over division 5K Walk record with a solid 39:52.13 effort. |
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Last Updated ( Monday, 17 August 2009 )
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Written by Register Staff
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Monday, 27 July 2009 |
Funeral services for Paul Vernon Tague, 67, Indianapolis, were held Monday, July 27, 2009, at Morgan & Nay Funeral Centre, Madison, with burial in Indiana Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Madison.
Mr. Tague died Wednesday, July 22, at his home. He served in the U.S. Air Force and had a long career with the federal government, Jefferson Proving Ground, Yuma Proving ground and Harry Diamond Labs.
He is survived by his wife, Debbie Scott Tague, Indianapolis; two sons, Jason Tague and Bryan Tague, both of Madison; a daughter, Suzanne Tzifas, San Carlos, Calif.; a sister, Jeanie Scudder, East Enterprise; a brother, Donald Tague, Rising Sun; mother, Delores Scudder, Vevay, and six grandchildren.
Memorials may be made to Jefferson Post No. 9 of the American Legion Relief Fund. |
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Last Updated ( Monday, 10 August 2009 )
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