Bert H. Oldham (1904 – 1978)
US Navy, 1919-1946 Bert Oldham grew up on a farm four miles south of Marceline, the youngest of six children. He was born in 1904 and his mother died two years later. His two sisters died as children. His oldest brothers served in WWI, George in the Navy and Henry as a pilot in the Army. The youngest sons, Russell and Bert, began getting into trouble and playing hooky, so their father enrolled them in Kemper Military Academy in Boonville. At 16, Bert was waiting to graduate so that he and one of the older brothers could travel and see the world, but that brother suddenly fell in love and eloped, and Bert, in a fit of anger, ran away to St Louis, lied about his age and joined the Navy. His first ship was the USS Huron, outfitted for tropical duty. The sailors slept in hammocks on deck, and as they sailed up the coast of China they sometimes woke to find snow on top of their blankets. At that time China was known as “the sick man of Asia,” ruled by warlords and filled with foreign merchants, whose interests were protected by their national navies. These sailors often fought amongst each other and formed various alliances. The Americans could depend on the Indian Sikhs to come to their aid in a confrontation, while the French navy was mainly composed of convicts and in bad favor with almost everyone. Bert was in China for most of the 1920’s, serving on the Yangtze River shore patrol and at one time running an officer’s club. He was what was known as a “China hand.” He was also a “mustang,” an officer who came up through the ranks rather than going through officers candidate school. He achieved the rank of chief petty officer, and after he retired he was promoted to Lieutenant, J.G. As a chief he was on board ship once and overheard a conversation between two sailors who were out of view; one sailor, obviously new to the ship, asked what the chief was like. The other replied, “Oh, he’s an old mustang, a real s.o.b…” at which point Bert walked into view and the sailor finished “…but you’ll like him!” In WWII his ship, the aircraft carrier USS Wasp, was torpedoed in the South Pacific. Bert was in the water for 17 hours waiting to be rescued, while there was burning oil on the water, and sharks. He was one of a group of sailors hanging onto a floating piece of the ship, while one sailor who couldn’t swim was spread-eagled on top of the debris and wouldn’t let anyone else on it. 26 officers and 167 men died, while 171 officers and 1798 men survived. After the war, Bert retired and was living in San Francisco when he met the woman who would become his wife, Ada Ferne MacDougall. They had two daughters and eventually moved to Bert’s hometown of Marceline. Barbara (Oldham) Garvey and Nora (Oldham) Othic still live on farms outside of Brookfield and Marceline, respectively. Bert died in 1978 and Ferne in 1981.
Dell W. Epperson
Captain, United States Navy, Retired Captain Dell W. Epperson is a native of Marceline, Missouri. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from Northwest Missouri State University Maryville in 1975. After working several years in the broadcasting industry in Missouri and lowa, he received his naval commission in July 1982. Captain Epperson first served aboard USS ENTERPRISE (CVN 65) as First Division Officer and in the Supply Department. His next assignment was aboard USS ARKANSAS (CGN 41) in the Combat System Department. Following shore duty Captain Epperson returned to the fleet from January 1990 to May 1993 aboard USS COWPENS (CG 63) as the pre-commissioning Weapons Control Officer and later as the Combat System Officer during her maiden deployment. He served as the Executive Officer aboard USS PAUL HAMILTON (DDG 60) from May 1997 to December 1998, and returned to Pearl Harbor as the Commanding Officer, USS Fletcher (DD 992) from November 2000 to April 2002. From July 1994 to May 1996, Captain Epperson served in the Pentagon on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations as a Surface Warfare Combat Trainings Requirements Officer. He also served in London as the Warfare Requirements Officer on the staff of Commander in Chief, U.S. Naval Forces Europe, and was the Warfare Requirements Branch Head on the staff of the Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet. He also served as the Commanding Officer, Afloat Training Group Middle Pacific, Ford Island, Hawaii, and was the Commanding Officer/Professor of Naval Science at Naval ROTC Unit, Auburn University-Tuskegee University Consortium, in Alabama from December 2008 to July 2010. He served as Chief of Staff, Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific from August 2010 until his retirement in July 2012. Captain Epperson attended the Defense Intelligence College, Washington, D.C.., earning a Master of Science degree in Strategic Intelligence. He also holds a Master of Arts degree in Diplomacy and Military Studies from Hawaii Pacific University. He attended the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and is also a graduate of the Armed Forces Staff College. Dell is the son of the late Paul and Shirley Coram of Marceline and is a 1972 graduate of Marceline High School. Dell married his college sweetheart, Janet Kelley, a 1975 graduate of Northwest Missouri State University, and together they celebrated their 45th anniversary in 2022. The Eppersons returned to their home state of Missouri in 2015 and now reside in Columbia. Captain Epperson has served as a board member and volunteer with Mobility Worldwide-Columbia, and volunteers with Meals on Wheels. He currently serves as president of the Columbia South Rotary Club, and he and his wife are active members of Community United Methodist Church. They continue to travel extensively and have now enjoyed visiting over 50 countries.
Stephen “Squint” Douglas Still (1946 – )
US ARMY 45th Signal Battalion (1966-1969) In 1966, after getting in a little bit of trouble, Gary Wylie and I decided to join the Army on the buddy system. He decided he wanted to go into the Green Berets. Not me. I went to AIT (advanced individual training) at Ft. Gordon, GA as a teletype operator. Most hated job ever. Working in a telecom wasn’t for me. Wished I had went with Wylie. I got to Vietnam sometime in the fall of 1966, 90th replacement, hold over three weeks. Made friends there. Stationed at Nha Trang. Worked at Com Center three months. Old Sgt took pity on me and put me in the air courier department. I loved it there and every day saw so much beautiful country. I was a door gunner courier. Had to have a secret clearance (but that’s another story.) I delivered documents all over the Central Highlands. I thanked God I wasn’t stationed in some of the places, like Mang Buc. We flew into the 2nd Battle of Dak To. I loved my job. Besides the obvious we were always worried in the chopper about birds. Leaving Nam for Cam Ranh Bay we hit a flock of birds in the chopper: one day more and I was done. Birds! Ft. Hamilton, Brooklyn, 9 months more. Ft. Meade, MD till I was out. Made it okay, got out, steaks and home. I cried the day Wylie left Vietnam. He and I went to college together later. We were best friends until he died.
Michael Garvey (1946 – )
D Company 1st Battalion, 1st Marines United States Marine Corps0311 Infantry RiflemanYears of Service: Jan 5, 1966 – Jan 5, 1968Wounded Sept 23, 1966Vietnam war I was drafted but when I arrived at Union Station in Kansas City we could sign a “dream sheet’ indicating which branch we wanted to join. Out of 150 other guys I was the only one that wrote my name under the Marines. But because they wouldn’t send just one guy to the Marines, a couple guys from Brookfield, plus a few more guys I didn’t know, were also chosen to join the Marines with me. I traveled to many places I had never been before-San Diego for boot camp; Tijuana, Mexico, where I ran for the border one night, and of course Vietnam. What surprised me was how medieval Vietnam was, with the way it looked and the resources people had. Someone once said “we’re going to knock them back to the Stonehenge,” meaning take the Viet Cong back to prehistoric times. I looked around me and thought, they’re already only a few steps ahead of prehistoric times. I was awarded a Purple Heart in 2018, 52 years after being wounded in Vietnam. When boarding one of the big cargo planes, we walked on and another Marine looked at the pilot and said, “this plane stinks!” The pilot replied, “it’s not the plane, it’s you that you’re smelling.” We didn’t know though; we wouldn’t shower for weeks on end. Favorite quote about the Marines: “The Marines I have seen around the world have the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale and the lowest morals of any group of animals I have ever seen. Thank God for the United States Marine Corps!” – Eleanor Roosevelt
Ralph Thomas
US Air Force 1967 – 1990 Enlisted United States Air Force May 3, 1967 and sworn in at Federal Building in St Louis, Missouri. Shipped to Amarillo AFB, Texas for six weeks of basic training. Amarillo was a hot dry desolate place, with no trees. For six weeks practiced marching, military classes on USAF history, uniform, and military bearing. In August, sent to Keesler AFB, Mississippi for air traffic control school. Graduated January 1968 and assigned to Ellsworth AFB Base Control Tower, near Rapid City, south Dakota. From control tower could observe Mt. Rushmore 21 miles away. One year later in June 1969 sent to Binh Thuy Air Base, South Vietnam, where assigned to GCA (Ground Control Approach) radar unit to control air traffic. Binh Thuy was in Mekong Delta and built by Navy Seabees who dredged sand from a river and made a 4 mile island with a runway. A Vietnamese C-47 cargo plane slid off the runway and hit out GCA unit, destroying it. I was then assigned to an Air Route Traffic Control Center on Binh Thuy and we monitored all air traffic flying in the Mekong Delta. I extended a year in Vietnam and was assigned to Pleiku Air Base in the central highlands in a Radar Approach Control facility. From Vietnam I was assigned to Yokota Air Base in Tokyo, Japan to work air traffic in the world’s busiest radar approach control. a very demanding facility. In 1972 I was transferred to Takhli, Thailand and remained there two years in a radar facility. In 1974, transferred to Wiesbaden, Germany for a year in a mobile communications unit. In 1975 the unit was reassigned to Patrick AFB, Florida. In 1977 sent on a two year tour to Mildenhall Royal Air Force Base in England to work in control tower. In 14979 returned to United States and joined an airborne unit as a paratrooper. Assigned to Dyess AFB, Texas (Abilene) and McChord AFB Washington (Tacoma). Completed 284 military parachute jumps all over the United States, Panama, and Korea. September 1, 1990 retired from USAF as E-6 Technical Sergeant and returned to Missouri with young family.
Harold Brown Reed (1890 – 1970)
US ARMY, 1918 – Army CO G 07 Infantry Division Harold Brown Reed was born September 20, 1890 in Pleasant Hill, Missouri to Thomas Brown Reed and Iva Nora Gillespie. In the lean years of the early 1900’s many young men hopped trains in search of work. HB hopped off the train in Garden City, Kansas. The boarding house that he lived in was next- door to Miss Mary V Schrock, his soon to be wife. He said he could look into her room from his. When the work ran out he left and ended up in Columbus, Ohio. Mary V was not one to be left behind and so at the ripe old age of 20 she followed him. They were married on August 18, 1917. He was inducted into the Army CO G 07 Infantry Division August 8, 1918. The commanding officer asked if any of the new inductees could cook. HB raised his hand and became the company cook. Due to the Spanish flu and the signing of the Armistice in November 1918 his Regiment disbanded early. Private Reed was honorably discharged on December 16, 1918, never seeing combat but with acquired cooking skills. The family moved to Hammond, Indiana. Two sons, Thomas (Mabel Tomlin) and Tully (Mary Ann Owen) were born. HB went on to develop and patent a product called Black Beauty from coal slag. This abrasive is the original coal slag grit that is used in the marketplace, leading the industry for nearly 80 years. The product is used in roofing and in road blacktop surfaces. There are four companies across the US that produce this product. He also developed a home insulation and cinder blocks used in building. He retired to Hale, Missouri to raise black Angus cattle. He died November 9, 1970. submitted by Mary Ann Reed
Tully Brown Reed (1982 – 2021)
US ARMY – Army Artillery Division, Korean War, First Lieutenant Tully Brown Reed was born to H. B. and Mary V. Schrock Reed on August 27th, 1932 in Hammond, IN. He soon moved with his parents and older brother Thomas to Linn County, MO, graduating from Linneus High School in 1950. He studied Agricultural Science at the University of Missouri-Columbia where he was a member of Farmhouse Fraternity and ROTC. After graduation he was in the Army Artillery Division stationed at the DMZ during the Korean War and became a First Lieutenant. He returned home to further his studies in Minerals and Soils at MU, choosing next to run the family farm in Purdin, MO raising Angus cattle and growing Scotch Pine and walnut trees. He was well-known across the county for his Christmas trees, donating a number each year to ensure those who needed one did not go without. His sense of empathy led him throughout life to constantly help others, whenever he saw a need. While in the Army Tully taught himself to play the banjo, much to the chagrin of his fellow soldiers, he always said. He eventually mastered the instrument, joining the Kansas City Ararat Rockets Dixieland Band, recording several albums and making lifelong friends. His children also enjoyed nightly serenades growing up as Tully used bath time for banjo practice. The Masonic Lodge played a significant role in Tully’s life following college. He was active for more than 61 years both as a faithful member and pass master of Jackson Lodge #82 and a dual member with Brookfield #86. Tully met Mary Ann Owen during one of many Colorado ski trips, marrying and then introducing the city-born girl to farm life in 1970. As their four children grew up, Tully taught them and many of their friends to play chess, camp, ride horseback, canoe, sail, skate and ski, to drive a stick shift on the farm and freeway, collect rocks and to generally try anything new at least once including scuba. In addition to the banjo Tully played the piano, violin and harmonica with music and by ear, instilling a lifelong love of music in his children, and turning family gatherings into impromptu concerts. After retiring from the farm, Tully worked as the caretaker for Immaculate Conception Church, using the basement as a stained glass repair shop for the church windows, and finding a new talent and hobby. Throughout his incredible life Tully was known for his notoriously dry humor, his gentle quiet demeanor and his ability to talk to anyone about anything. He loved his family and his family loved him beyond compare. He died on February 20, 2021. He is survived by his wife Mary Ann and his four children: Amy (Jason) Montgomery, Nancy (Tim) Deily, Andrew (Stacy) Reed, and Julie (Corey) Freeman and six grandchildren.
Charles L. Fry ~ 1942-2019
United States Army (1960-1963) – B Company, 122nd Ordnance Battalion Charles Fry, or “Charlie” as many knew him, was born and raised on a farm near Mendon, MO. He went to school in Marceline, MO, and then in Keytesville, MO, where he graduated in 1960. After graduation, he enlisted in the United States Army and was stationed in Gelnhausen, Germany – a former German Wehrmacht town during the Nazi regime that became a U.S. Army garrison town and tourist site after World War II. His battalion provided support and supplies to neighboring Army bases, and some of his fellow soldiers went on to serve in Vietnam. Some of the newer bases were located near borders to countries such as the former Czechoslovakia and East Germany. During his enlistment, Charlie would see a lot of beautiful natural scenery with nearby mountains and traveling to several Western European countries, including Holland, Italy, and Austria. His favorite Bible passage – Psalm 121:1-2 – appeared on a tourist site placard when he saw the Alps, and it was one of his treasured off-duty memories. He was only in Paris for one day, yet he brought home many postcards, and mementos from there. Many of his buddies became lifelong friends, and their respective families would stay in touch for many years. What he didn’t expect to see – let alone read – was a “Dear John” letter from his high school sweetheart. The necklace displayed in the Zurcher Jewelry Box once held a mother-of-pearl cross, which he immediately gave to his best friend who has it to this day. Upon returning to the family farm in Mendon, Charlie often ran errands for his father, which included trips to Marceline State Bank (now Regional Missouri Bank-Downtown Marceline). One day, in the window, he caught sight of a brunette who worked in the accounting department. He later married Linda Switzer on July 19, 1964, and two years later arrived their only daughter, Robin. Charlie worked for Walsworth Publishing Company, provided custodial services for two churches and the local bank, and worked as an Air Evac membership consultant. His family took seasonal trips and enjoyed attending crafts festivals as vendors selling a variety of baked goods, candies, and relishes. He was an avid Marceline Tiger football and basketball fan, and he and his daughter enjoyed traveling and attending car shows after Linda’s passing in 2010. Charlie had a strong love for his country and for serving in the U.S. Army, and afterward he often thanked veterans for their service – a tradition that Robin has continued since his passing after a sudden ice accident in 2019.
M.H. “Slick” Taylor, Jr. (1909-1986)
US Navy, 1942-1945 On Friday, November 1, 1940 The Marceline News printed a List of Serial Draft Numbers. MannHowe Taylor was #457. On Friday, October 23, 1942 The Marceline News carried the following: Mr. Taylor Leaves Nov. 3 Equipped with three pipes, four cans of smoking tobacco and three large boxes of matches, M.H. Taylor Jr., will report the morning of November 3 in Kansas City for active duty with the construction corps of the navy. He will be sent to Norfolk, Va., for training and after a month or two there, will be sent to some other naval base for construction work. By January 1, if he hasn’t taken over the duties of General MacArthur in Australia, his many friends in Marceline certainly will be disappointed. In the navy, Mr. Taylor will be a carpenter’s mate and he has been practicing several weeks on some chicken coops at the Taylor farm. In 1943 an Official Report on Marceline Group was reported in The Marceline News via a letter to W.V. (Doc) Drennan from Lt. Irl McNeal, son of Mr. and Mrs. A.I. McNeal of Marceline. Excerpts follow: “Somewhere in the Southwest Pacific, Oct.15, 1943. Dear Mr. Drennan: This is the official report of the Marceline personnel in the Pacific. To date, there are four of us. “Slick” Taylor is on the same island with me. Harry Carter was here but now has moved up to a new point. Maj. Cotter Murray is on and off this island. Slick is doing fine but was very much upset because he did not get the contract for the new ice cream parlor that just opened here. However he feels there will be more in the future and he will be able to gain his share. While Carter was here, the three of us – “Slick”, Harry and I – spent several evenings together.” Excerpts from The Marceline News, Friday, February 23, 1945 “Slick” Taylor Has Qualified For WPA Back home after 2 years in the South Pacific, M.H. “Slick” Taylor says he is now the best pick-and-shovel man in the business and now is fully qualified to become the WPA director after the war is over. Mr. Taylor, who is in the Seabees of the navy, arrived here early Sunday for a visit at the home of his mother, Mrs. M.H. Taylor, other relatives and his many friends. Before entering the navy, “Admiral” Taylor was a general sales manager, the director of personnel and the ambassador of good will for the Mcallister Brothers organization here. His two years in the Southwest Pacific have been devoted entirely to construction work for the navy; and bragging about Marceline, Musselfork water and the pretty girls in this section of the world… He told all of his “buddies” that Marceline was the capitol of Missouri and that Yellow Creek was wider than the Mississippi. And they believed him.
David Lee Ankeney (born 1941)
US Navy, 1959-1962 Enlisting during his senior year of high school, David left Oskaloosa, IA, before his graduation and headed off to boot camp at Camp Nimitz, San Diego. David’s mother Peggy actually walked for him to receive his high school diploma. After training to become a Radio Man (RM) he received orders for Pearl Harbor and shipped out on a destroyer from the Black Cat Division. It seemed to take days but he remembers observing gunnery practice in route. At Pearl Harbor he was assigned to the USS Ponchatoula AO 148 (Auxiliary Oiler). She was the second U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name and was commissioned in 1956. As part of the 7th Fleet, Ponchatoula was homeported at Pearl Harbor in early 1958 and received her introduction to support under hostile conditions while operating with 7th Fleet units during the Quemoy-Matsu Crisis in the fall of that year. Carrying 40,000 tons of NSFO (Navy special fuel oil), as well as oil and fuel for airplanes on carriers, the Ponchatoula made several refueling trips while David was on board. Ports he experienced include Sasebo, Yokosuka, Hong Kong and Nagasaki in Japan and Subic Bay, Philippines. Support for experimental operations occurred in April 1962 as the Ponchatoula provided POL (petroleum, oil, lubricants) services to Joint Task Force 8 engaged in “Operation Dominic I” (the Christmas Island nuclear test series). David witnessed the testing of two hydrogen bombs while aboard ship. On the way to the Christmas Island tests, David experienced the his Shellback Initiation on April 11, 1962. As a Radio Man David had a 24-hour shift on the O-2 deck, usually with one other RM, followed by 48 hours off. Hours off included ship maintenance on the O-2 level where he worked. Card games followed a close second. During refueling of other ships, David would be on the O-3 deck manning the headphones.