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SANFORD SOLDIER
KILLED IN CRASH
Three Other Persons Injured
When Bus and Auto Collide
near Cameron Sanford July 18 — Cpl William Homer Willett 18 of Sanford who
was stationed at Camp Mackall was killed instantly about 4:30 pm 'Saturday when the car in which he was riding collided with a Queen
City bus on Highway 1 near Cameron in More [sic] County.
Three other persons were serious4y injured and several of the passengers on the bus suffered minor injuries.
The automobile was driven by David Junius Hobbs, 30, warehouse man of Aberdeen and the bus was driven by Frank Alexander Broome, 33, of Charlotte.
Hobbs is in Lee County Hospital here suffering from chest and head injuries. Two other soldiers who
were riding with Hobbs —George E Seadon, Jr. and Charles B Stevenson both of the
11th Airborne Division at Camp Mackall — were critically injured. They were given treatment at the local hospital and :then removed by ambulance to the Station hospital at Camp
Mackall.
State Highway Patrolman J. H. Coman who investigated the accident
said that the bus was en route south and the car was headed north.
The bus was apparently on the wrong side of the road, Coman said. Hobbs' car, a sedan,
when rammed by the bus was carried back about 140 feet by the impact, Coman said. The
bus was jammed about halfway into the car.
Broome was ordered held under 5500 bond on a charge of reckless driving pending the outcome of an inquest next Friday. D. C. Frye, Moore County coroner,
impaneled a jury at the scene of the accident yesterday and then adjourned until Friday.
None of the bus passengers required hospital treatment.
Willett had been in the Army about a year and was a member of Regimental Headquarters Company
of the 508th Parachute Infantry at Camp Mackall. He was the son of Mr. and
Mrs. Alex Willett of Sanford. Funeral arrangements have rot been made
[The News and Observer, Raleigh, NC, 19 Jul 1943, Mon, Page 2] |
AUTO-BUS COLLISION CLAIMS SECOND VICTIM
Camp Mackall Soldier Dies at Hospital From Injuries;
Willett Rites Held Sanford July 21--Funeral services for Cpl Homer Willett, 18, of Regimental Headquarters 508th Parachute Infantry,
Camp Mackall, who was killed Saturday afternoon in an automobile-bus collision near Cameron were held Tuesday afternoon at East Sanford Baptist Church. The Rev Roy A Morris, the pastor of the church, officiated.
Burial was to be in the cemetery at Bethany Baptist Church, Gulf.
Corporal Willett was injured fatally when the automobile in which he was riding driven by D. J. Hobbs of Aberdeen collided with a Queen City bus driven by Frank A. Broome.
The son of Alex Willett of Sanford and the late Mrs. Willett, Corporal Willett attended Sanford High High School and was connected with the Sanford Cotton Mills before entering service in May 1942.
Surviving are his father, a brother, Richard Willett of Durham; three sisters,
Mrs. Gertrude Lamb of Atlanta Ga., Mrs. J. A. Crutchfield of Sanford and
Mrs. Herman Choplin of Wake Forest.
George E Fenton Jr of the 11th Airborne Division. Camp Mackall and Springfield, Ohio, was injured critically in the accident, succumbed early Tuesday at the Station Hospital at Camp Mackall. He and Charles B. Stevenson of the
11th Airborne Division who sustained serious injuries in the accident were taken to the hospital for treatment.
According to information from Lee County Hospital the condition of Hobbs who sustained painful injuries in the accident is showing improvement.
Broome is under bond for $500 on charges of reckless driving pending the action of the coroner's jury which is scheduled to hold an inquest Friday.
[The News and Observer, Raleigh, NC, 22 Jul 1943, Thu, Page 3] |
