10
With rapid demobilization, service
news has become as scarce as a "H eil
H itler,” thanks to our service men.
However, as long as there are state em
ployees in the armed forces, or the sons
and daughters of state employees, we
will continue to run the service items
we receive.
We have been giving considerable
thought to running a sort of a “ Telum-
about” column. For the few who do
not know what, “ telumabout” means
let us explain:
Joe returns home after months in
Asia or Europe. With his proud folks
about him, their ears pitched forward
so as not to miss a word, he relates
some of his experiences or the experi
ences of his buddies. Soon some admir
ing friends drop in. A fter hand shakes,
pats on the back and congratulations
are over, it’s Pop’s turn. Seated on the
edge of the chair with both feet planted
firm ly on the floor he fixes Joe with a
hypnotic stare and says, “ Now son,
telumabout this and that experience.”
We believe it possible to publish a
column that will be most interesting
to our readers if the discharged veter
ans and those who still are in the armed
forces will tell them about their exper
iences through The Oregon State Em
ployee. So write us about them.
Here are a few to start with:
Howard Cox of Bend writes the fo l
lowing about one of the islands he was
on while stationed in the Pacific:
“ As I look back over a National
Geographic map I carried overseas, I
see a crude hand bearing the single
word HOM E. Its pointed east and sets
over a tiny dot which is labeled Tinian.
Back tracking from Tinian runs a
heavy blue line bearing south-east and
running through another tiny dot lab
eled Enimetok.
“ Enimetok, which is called Brown
Atool on some maps, is about 11° 30'
north of the equator and is one of the
most westward atolls in the Marshall
group. The atoll is roughly oval in
shape and encloses a lagoon which is
perhaps 22 or 23 miles long and 1$
miles wide. There is only one deep en
trance, although the reef is broken in
a number of places, some of them deep
enough for passage of smaller ships.
Numerous low coral islands rise from
the reef. The two main islands in this
atoll are Enimetok and, Engebi, the
former being in the southeast portion
of the atoll and the latter in the north
portion.
“ During the Pacific engagement of
less than two years ago, our forces took
this atoll in a matter o f only a few
days. A t that time, due to military
secrecy, very little was written about
it and the uses to which these islands
were placed.
“ The only Seabees on Enimetok Is
land at the time of the invasion were
the 110th Battalion. They landed even
while the last so-called mopping-up
operations were under way and imme
diately started unloading equipment
and getting organized for work. W ith
in two days the equipment was all
ashore and work was started on a
bomber strip. As Enimetok was origin
ally a cocoanut plantation, clearing