He had bird’s-eye view of WWII

Greenwood man piloted B-24 bombers during war

March 10, 2005

By MEGAN VARNER
Index-Journal staff writer

During his six months of active combat on the European front of World War II, Greenwood resident Dr. William “Bill” Rice never had to step foot onto the turbulent and bloody battlegrounds in France and Germany.
Instead, as a member of the U.S. Army Air Force, Rice spent his time in combat in the air, piloting a B-24 bomber and dropping bombs on enemy targets to help to clear the way for an Allied victory in Europe.
Though he was not on the ground, Rice, a captain by the age of 21, witnessed the violence and destruction of war from the air. He watched as hundreds of fellow soldiers were shot down from the sky around him, and Rice said he never planned on making it through a mission without an injury.
In fact, he never imagined he would make it through the war alive.
Rice, now 83, a native of Georgia, moved to Asheville in 1925.
As a young boy growing up during the Depression, Rice said he sold newspapers on the street corner to help with family expenses after his mother’s death in the early 1930s.
In June of 1940, Rice graduated from high school, and because he couldn’t afford college, he decided the military would be a good option for his future.
“I was an adventurous young person, and I didn’t have the opportunity to go to college, so I joined the North Carolina National Guard on my 18th birthday,” he said.
“A month later, they called us into active duty.”
In September, Rice was ordered to report to Ft. Jackson in Columbia for basic training with the combat engineers of the 30th Infantry Division, nicknamed the “Old Hickory” Division after Andrew Jackson.
“It was pretty rigid training. They started out with close order drill, and they taught you military courtesy and military discipline,” he said. “They wanted you to know that when you did something wrong, you would be punished for it. But we were all young and eager, so most of us did what we were supposed to.”
After weeks of rigorous training, Rice became unhappy with his duties within the combat engineers. He bought a second-hand typing book, and he taught himself how to type using the company clerk’s typewriter at night. In the summer of 1941, Rice was promoted to the rank of corporal as the company clerk with the division.
When it became apparent that the United States would enter the war after the attacks on Pearl Harbor, Rice said he knew he didn’t want to remain with the combat engineers. Instead, he wanted to be a pilot with the Army Air Force, and he took the entrance examination for the program.
“There was no one more surprised than me when I passed it because at that time, you had to have a junior college education,” he said, laughing. “But I had gone to such a good high school that I made one of the higher grades in that unit.”
In the fall of 1942, Rice was ordered to report for his first round of pilot training at an air base in Montgomery, Ala. He trained for months on AT-11 aircraft and twin-engine planes, and by May of 1943, he had completed advanced pilot training in Seymour, Ind. He received his wings and was commissioned as a second lieutenant.
At an airbase in Smyrna, Tenn., Rice began preliminary training on the airplane that he would fly his entire time in combat – the B-24 Liberator, one of the largest four-engine bomber planes at that time.
When it was fully loaded with gasoline and bombs, the B-24 weighed close to 28 tons. Rice said learning to fly the plane was both exciting and stressful.
“It takes quite a bit of skill to fly those planes. They are harder to fly than the planes people fly today because they weren’t as sophisticated, and you didn’t have as many automatic controls,” he said. “To get in this airplane, you had to go up through the nose wheel compartment. The wheel would come down and the doors would open. You would have to be athletic and pull yourself up through there.”
In July of 1943, when his training in Tennessee was complete, Rice headed to Boise, Idaho, where he first met the nine other men who would serve as his crew throughout his time in combat.
“We were all kids. The oldest man on the crew as 32. We had a pretty motley crew, but we were all dedicated to each other,” he said, adding that, as flight commander, he took his job very seriously.
“One of the rules I had on that crew was that the men had to associate with each other. If they went (anywhere), they went together,” he said. “If we were going to die together, we were going to live together. I thought that was a pretty good policy because we really got to know each other and depend on each other for support.”
In August, the crew left for an airbase in Pocatello, Idaho, where they remained until November. It was at this airbase when Rice’s crew began practicing firing on other aircraft and learning how to bomb targets from thousands of feet in the air.
As WAF (Women in the Air Force) pilots pulled empty aircraft sleeves behind their own planes, Rice and his crew would fire on the sleeves using 50-caliber machine guns. He said he can still remember how loud – and destructive – the guns could be.
“You can’t imagine how damaging those guns were,” he said. “When you would get 10 machine guns firing, that airplane would just shake.”
In November, after a stop in Kansas, Rice was ordered to fly to Florida. On the way, Rice said he deviated from his course in order to fly over Asheville, where he “wiggled” his wings over the courthouse.
From Florida, Rice and the men eventually landed in Natal, Brazil, after a few stops to refuel the large plane. The men had received sealed orders for their deployment, and when they opened the orders, they realized they were headed to Europe.
“The orders gave us instructions about our uniforms and what to take with us. If we were going to (the Pacific), we were to keep our summer uniforms,” he said. “But we kept our wool uniforms, which indicated we were going to England.”
Rice said the crew departed from Natal in the middle of the night, and experienced a rough 2200-mile flight across the Atlantic before landing safely in Senegal.
“For seven hours, we were in violent weather – it was just horrible,” he said. “That airplane would hit updrafts and downdrafts going 500 mph, and it wasn’t built to fly like that.”
The crew made one last stop in Morocco before heading to England, but due to flight regulations, they were not allowed to fly in the airspace above Spain or Portugal.
“We had to fly out over the Atlantic, and that was when we first met our enemy – the German fighter planes. They had come up through France and tried to interrupt our flight,” he said.
“Fortunately, we could see them coming in the distance, and we got in cloud cover to avoid them.”
The crew eventually arrived at an English replacement and distribution center, where American troops were returning after flying bombing missions.
“They would put those men in the same barracks as us, and they would have horrible nightmares that would wake us up and scare us to death,” Rice said. “They were fighting those battles every night, and I hadn’t (been in battle) yet, so all it did was scare me.”
Rice and his crew were assigned to the 389th Bomb Group as part of the 8th Air Force, and they reported to Norwich, England. In March, the 10 men flew their first daylight bombing raid over Germany.
The battles were fierce, and Rice said he expected to be killed on every mission.
“I knew I wasn’t going to survive that war. I never even pretended that I was going to. It was like getting a death sentence every day,” he said. “I hate to think about how many people whose death I was responsible for – there is no way to know. But I wasn’t the only one trying to get rid of people. They were trying to get rid of me, too. There is nothing puritanical about war.”
On one particularly frightening mission, he thought his co-pilot had been killed when an enemy casing came through the windshield, hitting the man in the shoulder.
“He went sailing back almost to the bomb bay, and I knew he was dead,” he said. “But he got up and sort of shook it off and got back in his seat. That was a scary moment.”
On June 5, 1944 after three particularly deadly missions that resulted in heavy losses from his unit, Rice left the air base for a week of mental recuperation.
But just hours after arriving at the Red Cross station in Norwich, Rice’s vacation came to an end when he was ordered to return immediately to his base. He was needed for a June 6th mission over Caen, France, a town near the coast of Normandy, where Allied troops were beginning the invasion that would become known as D-Day.
“We were softening the German forces for the people that were going in on the ground,” he said. “I really felt like I was with heroes – those guys that went in on that beach really had a tough job. There weren’t a lot of survivors that first day.”
Rice completed his last mission on Aug. 14, 1944, just two days shy of his 22nd birthday. During his six months as a pilot in combat in Europe, Rice flew 30 missions – each with his original crew – and was promoted to the rank of captain.
He remained in England to perform non-combat flying missions, and he finally returned from Europe in December of 1944. When he was discharged from duty in September of 1945, Rice finally had the opportunity to attend college. He graduated from medical school at both Wake Forest and Duke universities, and in 1962, he moved to Greenwood, where he practiced anesthesiology until 1988.
Rice said he considers himself lucky to have survived the bloodiest war in history.
“I’m just surprised that I’m here. They had every opportunity in the world to get rid of me,” he said, but he added that he was proud to serve his country. “We knew we had to do what we were doing, and we were very patriotic and very gung-ho about it. Just getting to fly those airplanes was phenomenal. I never expected to get to do that.”

Best of both worlds

Erskine’s Jessica Martin named top student-athlete in CVAC

March 10, 2005

By JIM JOYCE
Special projects editor

DUE WEST — Academics is the top priority in seeking a college degree. Athletics falls somewhere below that — or should.
However, there are times when a person can achieve high awards in both academics and athletics.
Such is the case with Erskine College’s Jessica Martin.
The senior cross country runner has been named the winner of the Murphy Osborne Award as the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference Student-Athlete of the Year, an honor that came as a complete surprise to her.
The recipient is picked by Faculty Athletics Representatives of CVAC institutions.
“I did not know I was going to win it,” she said. “Each school in the conference sends one nominee and I knew I was Erskine’s nominee.
“Each nominee (from the 11 schools) was introduced and their accomplishments were listed. I thought, there’s no way they will pick me. I was thinking it’s got to be the girl next to me. I was totally shocked.”
Martin has a 3.9 grade-point-average while majoring in chemistry and Spanish.
Even though Martin enjoys cross country, she does have her priorities in the right order. But, a double major in chemistry and Spanish?
“I chose Spanish because when I was about 15 I went to Mexico and to the Dominican Republic a year later,” she said. “I wanted to be able to communicate with them. And, there was something about their culture that has always interested me.”
More study of Spanish took place in Madrid about two years ago, which added to her knowledge of the language.
The interest in chemistry came as a second choice.
“I started in biology because I wanted to go to medical school,” she said. “Something about it was not a good fit for me. I got the basics out of the way my freshman and sophomore years, then went to Spain.”
That year, she tutored General Chemistry at Erskine, and received encouragement from Dr. Howard Thomas, chairman of the school’s Department of Chemistry and Physics.
Martin switched to chemistry, “because Dr. Thomas kept encouraging me, and having somebody really push me and believe in me made be give it a try.”
Academically, the rest is history. Then comes the athletic side of the picture.
“When I was in elementary school, I thought it (cross country) might be something I would want to do after we would run a mile and I beat all the boys in my class,” Martin said. “I started running in the eighth grade, and joined the jayvee teams because of the competition and the girls on the team. I just fell in love with it.”
She ran four years at North Hall High School in Gainesville, Ga., prior to entering Erskine, where she competed another four years.
There was one runner, however, who played a big role in her decision.
“She was a teammate in high school who was two years older and worked so hard at it,” Martin said. “I never knew anybody who worked so hard. Seeing her never give up challenged me to do the same.”
As she prepares for graduation from Erskine and thinks about grad school, Martin says there is one achievement she will probably never forget.
“I came here with (then cross country coach )John Showalter, and the first thing he said to me was, ‘you can break the school record,’” she said. “That was a goal from the beginning.”
It was sidelined her first year, however, because of a bad case of bronchitis. That discouraged her.
“I still wasn’t quite into it my sophomore year, but I worked hard between my sophomore and junior years,” she added. “I broke the record on Erskine’s home course. It was the hardest course we ran on, but I think I just wanted it so bad. To me, that was a big deal.”
There was one item left. She wanted on the All-Conference first team.
“I didn’t think I was having a very good season this year (senior year), but I broke the record again in the conference meet and got fifth place. That put me on the first team.”
Martin’s accomplishments at Erskine include All-CVAC honorable mention, second team All-CVAC and first team All-CVAC.
She ran the championship course in a personal- and school-best time of 20 minutes, 19 seconds, for that fifth-place finish.
Academic honors for Martin include being a member of the American Chemical Society and Beta Beta Beta.
She studied in Madrid, Spain, and participated in the STAR program (Student Training and Research), a summer research program for undergraduates at the Medical College of Georgia.
Community service highlights include Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Good News Club, Relay for Life Planning Committee and Rotaract.
In addition, she is a supplemental instruction tutor for General Chemistry, works summers at Kanakuk Kamps and Kids Across America, leading a group of high school students overseas to the Dominican Republic, and is a referee for youth basketball at the Abbeville Civic Center.
With that schedule, where does she find the time?
“I find it’s better for me to stay busy,” she said. “I have to use my time wisely and make schedules. I can’t say there has never been a struggle, but I always manage.”
She also said she learned a valuable lesson this year, something probably as good as high grades.
“I know grades are important, but there were times when I was overdoing it,” she said. “Last year, I chose to hang out with some friends instead of studying more. Learning about people is probably more important than accomplishments or perfection, which is important too.
“I don’t regret working hard, but I wish I had started sooner in realizing relationships are important, too.”

Opinion

Zoning schools tough job, but someone has to do it

March 10, 2005

Holding elective office means that sometimes the going will be tough. We see it often, like every time school zoning requires that some students be moved from one school to another.
For example, Greenwood School District 50 trustees have heard a zoning proposal that would shift more than 100 students from Northside Middle School to Brewer Middle School for the 2005-2006 school year.
No doubt there will be some disagreement among parents. There always is. To some of them, it seems ludicrous that some students should be moved, although they know that others will have to be for various reasons. Socio-economic factors, for instance, are part of the process, as are other mandates of one kind or another.

AS THE PUNDITS SAY, IT’S a dirty job, but somebody has to do it. School trustees know that when they voluntarily seek the job. They can’t always be right. Neither will they always be wrong. Nevertheless, decisions have to be made, and the consequences have to be accepted.
No matter what they decide, there will be critics. That’s OK. That’s how the system works ….. thank goodness for freedom of speech. Agree with them or not, though, they assumed the responsibility when they ran for office. At least they are willing to try. Too many of the rest of us find it easier to be critics. That way we don’t have to face the slings and arrows that come with making difficult decisions.

MAYBE THAT’S PART OF the problem these days, in schools and other public areas. Maybe we’d rather just let somebody else do it. That way, when they are right we can join in the amen chorus. When they are wrong, we can say “we told you so.”
Granted, there always seems to be a candidate – or two – especially for school boards, who have personal agendas and could care less about all children in district schools. It’s a funny thing, though. The public doesn’t take long to “get a handle” on those kind. Consider those who are willing to step up and be counted on tough issues. They usually are the ones who last for more than a term or two. And they deserve our thanks instead of our derision. They let the rest of us off the hook. For that, some of us should be grateful.

Editorial expression in this feature represents our own views.
Opinions are limited to this page.

Obituaries

Ione Adams

SALUDA, SC – Sara Ione Kitchings Adams, 83, of 241 Country Pond Rd., died Tuesday, March 8, 2005 at Self Regional Healthcare.
Born in Edgefield County, and a daughter of the late James William and Edith Parkman Kitchings, she was the wife of the late Walter Byron Adams, Mrs. Adams was a homemaker and a member of Good Hope Baptist Church.
Surviving are five sons, Hosey Laverne Adams of Ninety Six, John Quincy Adams of Atlanta, Thomas Johnny Adams, Clyde Hamilton Adams and Cecil Wesley Adams all of Saluda, five daughters, Melma Adams Hawkins of Ninety Six, Sara Ophelia Dunn, Fannie Mae Turner, Mary Alice Davis and Linda Willette Bledsoe all of Saluda, a daughter-in-law, Betty Ann Adams of Ninety Six, twenty-seven grandchildren and thirty-five great-grandchildren, A son, Walter B. Adams, Jr. preceded Mrs, Adams in death.
The Family will receive friends from 7 until 9PM, Thursday, March 10, 2005 at Ramey Funeral Home.
Funeral service will be held 3PM, Friday, March 11,2005 at Good Hope Baptist Church with the Rev. Steve Justice and Rev. Caries Fincannon officiating. Interment will follow in the church cemetery.
Memorials may be made to Good Hope Baptist Church, 1738 Greenwood Hwy., Saluda, SC 29138.
PAID OBITUARY

Jay Brown

MARION — James Jeremy “Jay” Brown, 34, of 1510 Galveston Court, died Monday, March 7, 2005 in Gainesville, Fla., from injuries sustained in an automobile accident.
Visitation is from 7-9 Friday at Harley Funeral Home, Greenwood.
The family is at the home of an aunt, Belinda Witteborg, 2501 Highway 246 South, Ninety Six.
Services will be announced by Harley Funeral Home, Greenwood.

Catherine Cohen Dunlap

PEEK SKILL, N.Y. — Catherine Cohen Dunlap, 63, died Monday, March 7, 2005 at Hudson Valley Hospital in New York.
Born in Greenwood County, S.C., she was a daughter of the late Sidney and Rosa Lee Kinard Cohen. She was a 1960 graduate of Brewer High School and a former member of Springfield Baptist Church in Greenwood. She was a member of Mount Lebanon Baptist Church in Peek Skill, and retired from the Veteran Hospital in Peek Skill.
Survivors include a daughter, Michelle Cohen of Atlanta; a son, Gary Cohen of Peek Skill, N.Y.; two sisters, Janie C. Holmes of Greenwood, S.C., and Mary A. Nedwards of Petersburg, Va.; two brothers, Freddie B. Cohen of Greenwood and Frank Cohen of Leeville, Ga.; and two grandchildren.
Services are at noon Friday at Mount Lebanon Baptist Church in Peek Skill.
Curry Funeral Home is in charge.
Announcement courtesy of Parks Funeral Home, Greenwood, S.C.

Genora Jones

McCORMICK — Genora Talbert Jones, wife of George Jones, died Wednesday, March 9, 2005 at Self Regional Medical Center, following an extended illness.
Born in McCormick, she was a daughter of the late Jeff D. and Eliza Sibert Talbert. She was a member of The New Hope Baptist Church and a homemaker. She was also a member of The Women’s Home Aide Society No. 1 and the Bethany Burial Aide Society.
She was the last survivor of her immediate family.
Survivors include her husband of New York; and nieces who were her caregivers Mamie Lee Harrison and Eartha Lee Lester of the home.
Visitation is at Westowne Apts., No. H-4, McCormick.
Services will be announced by Walker Funeral Home, McCormick.

John Ledford

CALLISON — John Berry Ledford, 56, of 4507 Callison Highway, husband of Jeanne Cooper Ledford, died Wednesday, March 9, 2005 at Self Regional Medical Center.
Born in Cherokee County, he was a son of the late John Berry Sr. and Mildred Nelms Ledford. He was a graduate of Blacksburg High School and attend Berea College in Kentucky. He was a Air Force veteran during the Vietnam Conflict, a state constable, and was president of Contract Data Inc. He was a member of Bethel United Methodist Church.
Survivors include his wife of the home; two sisters, Sylvia L. Phillips and Jeanne L. Snead, both of Gaffney.
Services are at 2 Friday at Rehoboth United Methodist Church, conducted by the Rev. Joseph Curtis. Burial is in Greenwood Memorial Gardens. The body will be placed in the church at 12:30.
Pallbearers are Morgan Cooper, Pat Cooper, Robin Cooper, George Flores, Brice Cole, Todd Quattlebaum, O’Neal Yeardin and Bob Underwood.
Visitation is from 12:30-2 Friday in the church’s Fellowship Hall.
The family is at the home.
Memorials may be made to Bethel United Methodist Church, c/o Rehoboth United Methodist Church, 1808 Callison Highway, Greenwood, S.C., 29646.
Blyth Funeral Home, Greenwood, is in charge.
For additional information, visit www.blythfuneralhome.com.

Dwight Rehberg

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — Dwight Franklin Rehberg, 78, of 13102 Mill Road, husband of Harriett Joan Levy Rehberg, died Tuesday, March 8, 2005 at Wesley Commons in Greenwood, SC.
Born in Independence, Iowa, he was a son of the late August and Gladys Rehberg. He was a graduate of Coe College in Iowa and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass. He retired in 1969 from the US Air Force after 23 years of service. He served during the Korean and Vietnam Wars and obtained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He also retired from Thompson-Ramo-Woolridge after 20 years of service.
Survivors include his wife of the home; a daughter, Mrs. John (Deborah) Hicks of Greenwood, S.C.; three sons, Dr. Neal Rehberg of Renick, West Va., Richard Rehberg and Robert Rehberg, both of Fredericksburg, Va.; three brothers, Forrest Rehberg of California, Charles Rehberg of Nebraska and Roger Rehberg of Michigan; and six grandchildren.
Services will be announced by Blyth Funeral Home, Greenwood, S.C.
For additional information please visit www.blythfuneralhome.com

Beulah R. Sawyer

INMAN, SC – Beulah Rainwater Sawyer, 86, of Camp Care, went to be with the Lord, on Sunday, March 6, 2005, at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center. Born October 25, 1918, in Dandridge, TN, she was the daughter of the late Allen Grant and Sarah Elizabeth Eledge Rainwater and wife of the late William Claude Sawyer, Sr. She was retired from S&S Manufacturing and the Peach Blossom Motel. She was a member of Harvest Baptist Church and Order of the Eastern Star.
Survivors include three sons, William Claude Sawyer, Jr. of Cape Cod, MA, and Lynne Sawyer of Spartanburg, Tommy “Tom” Sawyer and his wife Sandy of Chesnee, and James Sawyer, Sr. and his wife Ann of Inman; three daughters, Lovera S. Taylor and her husband Dennis, Louise S. Benfield and her husband Jimmy, and Sarah S. Coates, all of lnman; a son-in-law, Ray Henderson, Sr. of Cowpens; three brothers, Paul Rainwater and his wife Lorene of Oklahoma City, OK, Arthur Rainwater and his wife Martha of Columbia, and Monroe “Buddy” Pye and his wife Sandra of Spartanburg; two sisters, Sarah Cooper of Ware Shoals, and Eulalah Wright of Boiling Springs. She was predeceased by a daughter, Geraldine S. Henderson; a grandson, Little Ray; three brothers; and four sisters.
Graveside services were held at 3:00 p.m. Tuesday, March 8, 2005, at Good Shepherd Memorial Park conducted by the Rev. Ray Lanford. The family received friends following the service at the home of a son, James Sawyer, Sr., 200 Bobo Drive, Inman.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Harvest Baptist Church Missionary Fund, 9261 Asheville Highway, Spartanburg, SC 29316.
An online guest register is available at www.floydmortuary.com.
Floyd’s North Church Street Chapel
PAID OBITUARY

Phillip B. Smith

CLINTON — Phillip B. Smith, 54, of 104 Young Drive, husband of Susie Smith, died Monday, March 7, 2005 at his home.
Born in Clinton, he was a son of Ruth Sparks Smith of Clinton and the late Donald Brooks (D.B) Smith. He was an independent property manager. He was a member of the Campbell Masonic Lodge No. 44; The Shriners and of Broad Street United Methodist Church.
Survivors include his wife of Clinton; his mother of Clinton; and a son, Robert Brooks Smith of Clinton.
Services are at 2 today at Broad Street United Methodist Church. Burial with Masonic Rites is in Rosemont Cemetery.
The family is with his mother, Ruth Smith at Bailey Manor in Clinton.
Gray Funeral Home, Clinton, is in charge.

Elmer Smith

WATERLOO — Elmer Leo Smith Sr., 78, of 205 Relax St., husband of Mary Jeanette Goff Smith, died Tuesday, March 8, 2005 at the VA Medical Center in Augusta, Ga.
Born in Honea Path, he was a son of the late Charles Clayton and Vergle Land Smith. He was a Army veteran of World War II and was employed with Walker Ford in Augusta for more than 29 years. He retired from the City of North Augusta. He was a member of New Beginning Baptist Church, where he also served as Deacon.
Survivors include his wife of the home; a son, Elmer Leo Smith Jr. of North Augusta; three sisters, Lillie Mae Ethridge of Augusta, Jeanette Smith of Greenwood, and Betty Brown of Waterloo; a brother, J.C. Smith of Savannah, Ga.; and three grandchildren.
Services are at 3 Thursday at Blyth Funeral Home in Greenwood, conducted by the Revs. Jack King and James Debose. Burial is in Oakbrook Memorial Park.
Pallbearers are James Key, John Coats, Charles Aker, Olin Johnson, Elmer Harvey, Carl Henderson, Bob Meyers, Charles Sparks and Gene Hornsby.
Visitation is from 1-3 today at the funeral home.
The family is at the home.
Memorials may be made to New Beginning Baptist Church, P.O. Box 32, Waterloo, S.C., 29384.
Blyth Funeral Home, Greenwood, is in charge.
For additional information, visit www.blythfuneralhome.com.

Rose N. Smith

HODGES — Rose N. Smith of 3533 Cokesbury Road, died Wednesday, March 9, 2005 at Self Regional Medical Center.
The family is at the home.
Services will be announced by Percival-Tompkins Funeral Home, Greenwood.