Forum Flashbacks: May 21-27
MARYVILLE DAILY FORUM, MAY 25, 2001
25 YEARS AGO: Principal For The Day – Sara Frueh, a third grader at North Nodaway Elementary School in Pickering, sits behind the principal’s desk May 11, because she was “Principal for the Day.” She earned the honor for getting 300 points in the Accelerated Reading Program.
25 years ago
Maryville Daily Forum, May 27, 2001
Witnesses of Pearl Harbor share stories
Almost 60 years after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, painful memories still creep in, haunting those who were there and anyone who remembers.
This year, Hollywood has made an attempt to honor the courageous soldiers who were ambushed by the making of “Pearl Harbor,” a movie which opened nationwide Friday.
The Hangar added to the movie’s premiere by hosting a Pearl Harbor Remembrance Ceremony, which brought with it two local survivors who witnessed first-hand the destruction inflicted by the Japanese, Dec. 7, 1941, Wilbur Wright and Oscar Hilding. …
The Sunday morning the U.S. soldiers were attacked, Wright was aboard the USS Ogalala. He was in charge of a crew who was cleaning the top deck in order to have the rest of the day off. Wright said the Ogalala was the only ship that wasn’t bombed, but still sank.
“The concussion of the Helena blew a hole in our ship,” Wright recalls. “It was about 20 minutes before it capsized and sank belly up.” …
Wright said one plane, after dropping its torpedoes, came back and started firing its machine gun. The bullets hit two feet from him and his men.
Yet he remembers the face of another pilot — a pilot with perhaps a little mercy.
“On his forehead he wore a banner with red and white stripes and the rising sun,” he said motioning with his hands. “I could see this pilot, but this pilot didn’t fire and I’ve always wondered why.”
Years later, Wright learned of this pilot’s name and that “he became a born-again Christian.”
Though the Japanese pilot is deceased now, Wright said, “I have always wanted to go meet that man and ask him why he didn’t fire at us that day.”
50 years ago
Maryville Daily Forum, May 26, 1976
Boundary Arbitration Board To Review Schools’ Petitions
The Missouri Department of Education has named a three-member special board of arbitration to decide the boundary line between the Worth County R-III and the North Nodaway R-VI school districts.
The special arbitration board will review petitions presented to the boards of education for both school districts which asked that a western part of the Worth County district be allowed to join the North Nodaway district.
Petitions asking for that request were presented and accepted by both boards, and an election was held on April 6. Election results, however, were divided: voters in Worth County turned down the proposal 574-279, while in North Nodaway the proposal passed 410-22.
Thus, the arbitration board was appointed. State regulations provide that if one district fails to approve the merger and the other passes it, the matter is then resolved by a board of arbitration selected by the department of education.
The special arbitration board has until June 13 to set a hearing on the matter. After the hearing, the board has 30 days to render a decision.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The 50-year flashback is courtesy of the Missouri Digital Newspaper Project from the State Historical Society of Missouri, accessible at shsmo.newspapers.com.
