WWII U-Z and Special WWII Collections

Weiss 1982-380 TB 95R8Sd/4

Samuel B. Weiss (15 Aug 1909-19 Jan 1985) Three WWII ribbons in the museum once belonged to Samuel B. Weiss. The textile museum staff is still looking for further information on Weiss. Please contact the museum if you have documented information pertaining to him or his family.

White 2010- 25-155-159, 164 TB 95R8Sd/4 TB72aR8Sd/4

Arthur William White (Sept 3,1923-Nov. 5, 2000) was born in Orange, N.J. During WWII, he arthur-whitejoined the U.S. Army in London working as a war correspondent and was institutional in helping to organize The Stars and Stripes for the European Theatre alongside his friend Andy Rooney.

He met Louie Peeples at the Red Cross in London and they were married in 1947. Louie Peeples, daughter of Russel and Ethel Orr Peeples, had moved to Valdosta, Georgia when she was young. She grew up in Valdosta and graduated from Valdosta High in 1936 as well as Georgia State Woman’s College in 1941 which is now Valdosta State University.

After the war, Arthur White joined the Associated Press team in London. In 1950, he became a writer for the Times Magazine and later a  Foreign Correspondent and Bureau Chief.  (He use to point out that he was born the same year that Times Magazine was founded.) Because of his work, it afforded  Arthur and Louie White a variety of places to live including  New York City in the 50’s, Ottawa, Canada in 1957-61, Washington, D.C. in 1961-78, and London 1978-87.  Arthur White retired from Time Magazine in 1987 and they moved to Valdosta where they had spent many visits during their time away from Louie’s hometown. They were very active members of the Lowndes County Historical Society and Valdosta Heritage Foundation as well as many other organizations and projects promoting Valdosta and Lowndes County. An extensive White Collection is housed in the museum and includes but is not limited to a variety of textiles. Arthur White’s Army garrison hat and his military patches and ribbons are shown here.

In addition three berets were discovered among the Louie Peeple White Collection hats. One is  known to be military and possibly the third all included here.

 

Man’s Beret In Rifle Green 2010-25-002 Louie Peeples White Collection THB40R12Sd

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Size 7 ½
Green wool with two eyelets and black patent leather  band to finish edge
This was probably owned by Arthur White- see above for more information

Man’s beret hat  2010-25-01Louie Peeples White Collection THB40  R12Sd

 

Maker: “El Ramuntcko “
Merinos Imper size 9 ½, 55
Black wool with brown leather inside
Has red rim and pink bow, pigtail on top
Circa 1940’s
Possibly military

 

 Men’s Green Beret Hat 2010-25-03 Louie Peeples White Collection THB40 R12Sd

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For more information on Louie Peeples White in the Red Cross please see our web page https://valdostamuseum.com/collections/textiles/red-cross-textiles/ For more on the White Collection of  hats  and accessories click here https://valdostamuseum.com/collections/textiles/accessories/

 

Williams  2009-50 TB 119R8Sa2

Brigadier General Robert M. Williams  (19 May 1915-14 July 1994) was a Valdosta native. 2009-50-williams-5He graduated from Valdosta High in 1931, and Emory Junior College ( located then in Valdosta) in 1933. He enlisted as a private with Co. G, 31st Infantry, Georgia National Guard and attended Georgia Tech, and West Point where he graduated in 1935 and was commissioned as a  2nd Lt. with the regular Army assigned to the 2nd Field Artillery, 3rd Infantry Division. He was transferred to the 98th Field Artillery Battalion and became Commanding Officer of the 10th Mountain Division, 604th Field Artillery. He lead this unit oversees in April 1945 and participated in the Rome-Arno, Northern Apennines, and Po Valley Campaigns. He was severely wounded by enemy fire on 30 April 1945 and was in hospitals for 2 years. He enrolled in the University of Virginia Law School and graduated in 1951 working in the Office of Judge Advocate General in Washington, D.C. until he was again sent oversees on the 27th of  April, 1952. He served three campaigns as a Deputy Staff Judge, Judge Advocate, and Staff Judge Advocate in Korea and Okinawa.

In 1960, he was again called oversees to serve in the Headquarters of the U.S. Army Communication Zone as adviser to the Army Commander in France, Ministry of Justice.  He retired in 1969 as Assistant Judge Advocate General of Civil Law.

He received the following merits: Distinguished Service, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Army Commendation, Purple Heart, War Merit Cross (Italian), Medaille de Vermeil (French).

He also received the following campaign medals: American Defense, American Campaign, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign, WWII Victory, Korean Service Medal, United Nations, National Defense,and  Presidential Unit Citation.

The Lowndes County Historical Society is proud to display his complete Brigadier General uniform in a permanent  display on the main floor of the museum.

 

Williams 2016-66 TB93R11Sd4

Jack Hendry Williams (28 April, 1918 Perry, FL- 21 Aug 2007 Valdosta, GA)  enlisted in jack-hendry-williams-missouri-1943the Army at Camp Blanding, Fl on Oct 3, 1942. He was first trained as a combat engineer at Fort Belvoir, Virginia but when the program was disbanded, he was transferred to Amphibious School and trained to operate and fix DUKW’s.  He was attached to the 465th Amphibious Unit and the company was sent oversees  August 1943 to Buna, New Guinea. Working without a docking bay, and sometimes under enemy fire, their job was to unload and transport supplies, cargo, and military personnel into Buna and also to Donbodura Air Base located in the jungle near by. Jack Williams in an interview with Jonathan C Sheppard [transcript 10 March 2002 (02.0130) The Institute for World War II and the Human Experience FSU] recalls that they also loaded the causalities from the hospital onto Red Cross ships.

The company was later transferred to Luzon in the Philippine Islands in December 1944  where again their DUKW’s were used for loading and unloading without a docking bay under enemy fire. The 465th  Amphibious Unit was also called to help at Yokohama, Japan to move supplies while the damaged dock was repaired. Jack Williams was honorably discharge December 10th, 1945.

He returned home to his wife Eugenia “Gena Threlkeld Williams. From 1955-1959 he worked for the Owens Illinois Paper Company in Valdosta. He worked for Langdale Lumber Company also in Valdosta and is listed as a manager for Forrest Products Trucking in the 1974 R.L. Polk City Directory. From 1975-1985 he served this area as  Assistant to the Lowndes County Manager Board of Commissioners. He and his wife are buried at Sunset Hill Cemetery in Valdosta, Ga.

His uniform shirt, pants, Ike style jacket, and garrison cap are housed in our museum. His medals include Asiatic-Pacific with two stars, WWII Victory, Good Conduct, and Philippine Liberation with one star. Included  on his uniform are his US and engineer collar disks, his honorable discharge patch, and 4 oversees stripes. Further information is also available through the museum’s Electronic Archival Collection (Textiles/ Textiles Box#-TB93-Williams/ Electronic Collection).

WWII Special Collection

 

Allison/Newton Collection 2009-05 TB72R9Sb1, TB72aR8Sd/4

Dr. Rosalie Newton Allison, a retired professor at Valdosta State University, donated  a p1000343Japanese blanket from WWII with WWII US Military sleeve insignia patches sewn on it. Her father Fredrick N. Newton Jr. (6 Jan 1893-16 June 1979 Sharon, Penn) was the Industrial Arts Teacher at Sharon High School in Pennsylvania. Fredrick Newton Jr.; being a WW I veteran himself, understood what his students, “his boys”, would face as they were called to serve their country during WWII. Dr. Allison wrote about her father “when they [his students] went into the service he wrote to each and everyone. He wrote thousands of letters… At the end of their service and returning home many brought souvenirs to my Dad. The most unusual one was a Japanese white wool blanket”  which had been taken off a fallen Japanese naval solider. During WWII, Rosalie Newton (Allison) also wrote to many soldiers who in turn sent her their US military sleeve insignia patches. As her collection began to expand she decided to sew them onto her father’s Japanese blanket. Her timely 2008 donation of the blanket included also a box of loose patches not yet sewn on and came while the museum was planning a WWII Exhibit Honoring our Lowndes County Military Soldiers. With her permission, some of the loose patches were sewn onto a cotton map of the European and Pacific Theatre made especially for the Lowndes County Historical Museum’s Exhibit while the rest of the loose sleeve insignia patches were organized and  identified in a sectioned archival notebook alongside the blanket during the exhibit. The notebook allowed visitors to the museum to look through the pages while still protecting the patches making it a hands-on exhibit. Finally, an archival custom sized box was made for housing and protecting the notebook of patches for permanent  storage.f-n-newton-2

The blanket was very large and heavy and there was concern of hanging it during the exhibit with the usual loop and tape method, therefore, a fully lined support board was made to properly support the weight of the blanket and patches sewn to it. At the conclusion of the exhibit, the blanket was carefully removed from the support, vacuumed under screen, padded and folded into an archival box which also contained the map.

In reflecting on why she donated the blanket and patches to the museum, Dr. Allison wrote ” This blanket is special to me. I wanted it to go somewhere so other people will see it and remember how America worked together and fought together  for security in our land.”

The blanket, map, and book of patches are pictured here as well as photos of  Fredrick N Newton Jr. and Dr. Rosalie Newton Allison. The patches in the book are pictured individually.

Baker, Juanita TB72aR8Sd/4

Myrtle Juanita Baker’s “Graduation Valdosta High School 1942” scrapbook, housed at the museum, contained an Air Service Command Moody Field (now Moody Air Force Base)  shoulder sleeve patch.  Beside the patch on the scrapbook page was her wedding announcement newspaper clipping from 1944.  Juanita Baker married technical Sergeant Robert P. Feider, son of Mr and Mrs. John A Feilder of Philadelphia on June 7th who was stationed at Moody Field. This patch is then assumed to belonged to Sergeant Robert P Feider.

 

 

 

Cohen 1996-07 TB 119R8Sa2

Harold Cohen owned the Southern Salvage Store, which was located in downtown Valdosta in the historic A.S. Pendleton Company Building. Mr. Cohen donated several items for display to the museum. These included WWII shoe dubbing, a gas mask bag, puttees, grenade bag, and insect powder. These are currently on exhibit in the museum’s permanent display “World at War.” They are shown here in their display but have a box, rack, and shelf number also for further reference. Also pictured here is Harold Cohen’s Southern Salvage Store once home to Valdosta’s military surplus shopping.

Unidentified WWII

Despite the textile staff’s diligent efforts, there are still a few items which have not been identified. If you or a family member have given the museum WWII items, please take the time to look through this listing to see if you can help us identify whom these belonged to. We really appreciate your time and assistance.

Army Ordnance Officers Uniform TB 60aR8Se2

Made in 1942 this uniform has a “37 L” size tag. This dark green gabardine uniform with captain pins on the epaulets, a GA (Georgia) pin in gold on right lapel, and an ordnance disk pin on the left lapel, army buttons and an ordnance school patch on the left sleeve. Two pairs of pants match this uniform and are the same size in the waist and length, one pair buttons at the fly and the other pair has a zippered fly.

Army Wool Green Shirt TB60aR8Se2

This wool shirt buttons down the front, and has two large rounded patch pockets with buttoned flap and a placket facing on the inside down center front attached to left and buttons on the inside to right. Two regular size buttons are sewn to the collar back in collar stand. The collar and collar stand are cut in one piece. This shirt is tagged at the inside neck 16-34.

Army Shirt TB60aR8Se2

This shirt has two squared patch pockets that secure with a buttoned straight flap. The inside back yoke and inner neck stand is lined with a silky lining and a tag reads  “The Captain Shirt, shaped to fit.” Epaulets of the same material as the shirt button to the shoulder. A long neck tab buttons the collar with two buttons, one being off set of center.

 

 

Army Bag TB60aR8Se2

A small army bag has a black inked stamp $2 10 on the back of it may indicate that it had been a purchased surplus item donated to the museum. This bag measures  14 1/2 inches wide, 11 inches long and 3 1/2 inches deep when fully closed. The top of the bag folds over to the front and is secured by two heavy cotton 3/4 inch green belt webbing that loops into two metal buckles. The heavy cotton green bag is unlined and the inner seams are unfinished.

Sewing kit TB60aR8Se2

This green army issued plastic sewing kit is 4 inch wide and 2 3/4  inches tall and snaps closed. It includes scissors, a card wrapped with sewing threads, and a felt with pins and needles.

Gas Mask TB60aR8Se2

Made of a rubberized material, plastic, metal, cotton webbing, and elasticized material, this gas mask has markings that say “SR- P621-2” stamped on right webbing. It is on display in case 32 in the main floor of the museum.

Other items in our unidentified box include: Canvas leg shields, 3 green garrison gabardine hats piped with the gold and blue (Army Air Corp); one with captains bar, one with lieutenant bars, one with no bars. There is also one khaki (summer uniform) garrison hat with blue and gold pipping and captains bar. An ammo belt, a grande 3 pouch bag, a sailor’s hat and 2 mohair khaki ties including one with a “Fold Back” label complete the list.

Honor Flight Flag 2009-44 TB 55b 

Among our special collection of WWII is a U.S. Flag presented to the second of three  Honor Flights. South Georgia was the first in Georgia to fly WWII Veterans on a one day trip free of charge to see the WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C. Alton “Buddy” Johnson and Bert Powell members of the South Georgia chapter of the Military Officers Association of America spearheaded the project. In the March 7, 2007 Valdosta Daily Times Newspaper Bert Powell comments about the magnificence of the project as saying, “Given what  these guys did for our country when we needed them, it seems a small price.” The flight was open to any WWII Veteran who lived in the South Georgia region including Valdosta-Lowndes County, Berrien, Echols, Brooks, Cook, Clinch, Lanier. While the South Georgia chapter of the Military Officers Association of America sponsored the South Georgia Honor Flight, the American Legion Post 13 was asked to handle the funds raised by the community.  The first flight was scheduled for May 19, 2007. This trip was met with such enthusiasm from  local contributors that a second Honor flight was scheduled for August 11, 2007. Senator Saxby Chambliss presented a flag that had flown over the capital building in Washington, D.C. to the Honor Flight as he had done for the first South Georgia Honor Flight. It was decided that the person who should receive the flag from this second flight was the WWII Veteran Bert Powell who had spearheaded the project in South Georgia but had been unable to fly either of the first two trips due to health concerns. On the the second anniversary of this second flight, Powell donated the flag to the museum. Bert Powell’s scrap book of all three Honor Flights was also donated to the museum by his son George Powell in 2015. The flag is on display on the main floor of the museum.

 

 

2019-107 TB 9b German Prisoner of War Items

Renata Milner, a former Lowndes County Historical Museum Director, brought the museum a couple of items that were aquired from German prisoners of war held in the U.S. during WWII.  Moody Air Force Base in Lowndes County, Georgia had a POW camp for awhile during this time.  When Renata Milner was working on her masters degree, she went to Germany and interviewed several  POWs whose camps were in south Georgia. The former POWs she interviewed were not held in Lowndes County. However, they gave her several items that she recently donated to the museum that they made during their POW encampment. This acquisition contained two rattlesnake skins and a padfolio that was quilted or a schreibmappe.