Twenty-one
Oklahoma parachutists were disclosed Monday as members of the 82nd
airborne division which fought brilliantly and for 33 days! without
relief in Normandy. They landed on D-day.
A front line dispatch from the division headquarters said the
Oklahomans and others, unable to gather as a tactical unit, set up a
pocket of resistance in enemy territory.
They captured towns and bridges, accomplished every mission, and
held every inch gained in the 33 days. The dispatch said the group
struck "terrific blows" at the enemy. Oklahomans included were:
Cpl. Cecil W. Cassity, Balko; Pvt. Henry S .McMasters, Duncan; Pvt.
Getts. Eagletown: Pfc. Jack W. McKinster. El Reno; Cpl. Don L Ricks,
Enid; Cpl. Bennie W. Fesmire, Hammon, Sgt. Delbert R. Roper, Kaw City;
Pfc James H. Talley, Mangum; Pvt. Forrest L Loflin, Pvt. Buford L.
Brown. Pvt. James W. Hill, all of Oklahoma City;
Cpl Wilbur C. Hall Ponca City;
Pfc. Smith C. Baugh Rush Springs; Cpl Mark J. Bradley, Stillwater;
Cpl. Kenneth J. Merritt, Tishomingo;
Pfc. Hugh Q. Queen, Tulsa, Sgt. Raymond B. Wolf, Wewoka.
[The
Daily Oklahoman,
Oklahoma City, OK, • Page
5]
Death Claims Wilbur Hall, City Salesman
Wilbur C.
Hall, 45. of 3421 NW 24, died Thursday at his home following a long illness. Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Luke's Methodist Church, with burial in Ponca City under direction or Bill
Merritt funeral service.
Born in Ponca City, he came to Oklahoma City four years ago. He was a salesman for the Bill Daniel Agency of the New England Life Insurance Co. He had been a sheet metal worker for the Sheet Metal Service Co. and was a member of the Sheet Metal Workers Union.
A board member of St. Luke's Methodist Church, he was a veteran of World War. II where he was
a member of the 508th Parachute Battalion. He was a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1857 and past chancellor of Knights of Pythias in Ponca City.
Survivors include his wife Jo Dean; three stepsons, Charles Adams,
Michael Adams and Steven Adams; and two stepdaughters, Kay Adams and Darla Adams, all of the home; a sister, Mrs. Gladys
Yazbeck, Ponca City; four brothers, Clinton, Ponca City; Arthur, of Kildare; Cecil, Oklahoma City;
and John, West Longbranch, NJ. and his father, John F. Hall, Ponca City.
[The
Daily Oklahoman,
Oklahoma City, OK, n,
Page 22]
[courtesy of Judy Mayfield]
Grave marker for Wilbur C. Hall in Odd Fellows Cemetery,
Ponca City (Kay county), Oklahoma.
Wilbur enlisted in the
Army at Tulsa, OK on 18 June 1942.
Pvt Hall's date of arrival
in Hq 1st, 508th PIR is unknown but on 31 August 1943, he was appointed
to the grade of T/5.
That rank was bumped up to
T/4 on 21 July 1944.
His military decorations
include the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Bronze Service Arrowhead
device.