Nicholas Drahos

Born Ford City, Pa 6/12/18

Read Nicholas Drahos' recollections of the war and excellent history of the 1142nd here.

William Alga Pace

My grandfather, William Alga (Algie) Pace, was born August 13, 1913 in Mebane, NC. He was one of 11 children of Newton Lee Pace and Julia Ann Baker.

Algie entered the US Army on October 21, 1943 and served until his honorable discharge on January 13, 1946. He served with the unit from its formation until November 1944. From October 25th – November 15th, 1944, the headquarters company was stationed in Sichen, Belgium (current day Zichen Zussen Bolder) where the unit made a school house its base of operations. During that period, he was awarded the Purple Heart for shrapnel wounds received from a German “buzz bomb” that landed near the school house. The school house still stands today in Zichen and you can view the pictures of it on the "Photos" page in the Willy Willems gallery.

After his release from the hospital and before he could rejoin his unit, he was swept up in the Battle of the Bulge. Sometime during the battle, he was hospitalized again with severe frostbite of his feet. A US Army surgeon told Algie he was the luckiest man in the US Army to not lose his feet with the extreme frostbite he had received. Even to this day, he wears multiple pairs of socks because his feet are always cold.

As to which unit or units he was attached to after his release from the hospital before the Battle of the Bulge is not known or stated in his service record. He returned stateside from Europe on January 8, 1946. Algie was a switchboard operator and operated both the BD-71 & BD-72 switchboards. The BD-72 switchboard and field phones are pictured to the right.

Algie is married to Annie Mae Davis of Galax, Virginia. They have 2 children, 7 grandchildren, and 14 great grandchildren. Algie and Anne Mae currently live in Siler City, NC.

Photos courtesy of the Museum of Communications

Willliam H. Stephenson

Read Bill Stephenson's recollections of the war and excellent history of the 1142nd here.

On October 30, 1943, I entered active service in the Army of the U. S. (soldiers of temporary rank as opposed to the U. S. Army of permanent ranking soldiers). Inducted at Fort Bragg, NC, we travelled to Camp Crowder for our basic training in the Corps of Engineers, more specifically the 1142nd Combat Engineer Group. It was a joke as to the jobs you were assigned in the Army. Having no typing experience but with experience in an office setting, I became a “typist” for the unit’s Adjutant. While in the Tennessee maneuver area, I had enough spare time to teach myself the touch system instead of my hunt-and-peck approach I had been using. I remember placing my GI typewriter atop a large stump, and practicing my typing. Following the reconstruction of the roads, bridges, etc. in the maneuver area by the engineers, our unit moved to Camp Campbell, KY for some training getting us ready to go overseas. Subsequently, we were moved by train to Camp Miles Standish, just south of Boston, getting us more ready for overseas. Having shipped out of Boston, we landed at Liverpool, England. Approximately 3 weeks later, we crossed the Channel, landing by LST at Omaha Beach in France. During further moves throughout the remaining war period, we crossed into Belgium, Holland, and later Germany, following the movement of the front line of action against the Germans. Our Group along with assigned units of battalions and equipment companies, built and maintained bridges and roads in our areas of assignment. I was fortunate in not becoming subject to front line warfare. After the war’s end, I recall an endeavor I was involved in which cost me one of my rank stripes. Several of us decided one afternoon we wanted to go to a movie some 20 to 30 miles away, and I volunteered to take a jeep out of the motor pool, without an officer’s approval. The movie diversion was great, but someone had reported the jeep taking and the Company Commander arranged a meeting for me when I got back to the Company. The last significant event for me in Europe was a furlough in Switzerland with a couple of my Army buddies.

Later, the GI Bill afforded me a chance to attend N S State University to receive a degree in Electrical Engineering. After many years of employment, I wound up in retirement in Wilson, NC, where I now reside.

Bernard Reams Wicker

Bernard Reams Wicker was born on March 5, 1924 in Sanford, North Carolina. He grew up on his father’s farm, which is located where the Central Carolina Hospital now stands. The street it is located on is named K.M. Wicker Memorial Drive after his father, Kinnie Melton Wicker. During his younger years, Lee County was very rural, made up of mostly farmland. His large family consisted of his parents and 7 children. His earliest memories are of playing baseball and tag football with his siblings and other neighborhood children. During one of those baseball games, he broke his nose, and it is still crooked. Another childhood memory is his father having to stop using his car, a 1919 Chevrolet, during the Great Depression because he could no longer afford gasoline. As a boy, he had to walk when he wanted to go somewhere; church and school were the main places. He attended public school until 12th grade when he was drafted to serve in the United States Armed Forces on October 1, 1943. He was assigned to the 1142nd Engineer Combat Group. His three older brothers, Jim, Bill, and Ken, had already been drafted. He served in the headquarters company until 1946 rising from private to corporal and earning several different medals for his service. After his release from the military in March 1946, he finished what was left of his high school education, and graduated with his high school diploma in June of that year.

He worked on his father’s farm upon graduating from high school. They grew corn, cotton, tobacco, and wheat along with other vegetables, which were canned for private use. After working on his father’s farm, he got a job working at Cornell Dublier, a local electronics factory that produced such things as television condensers and rotaries. It was at this time he started dating his future wife, Mildred Marie Leath Minter, a widow with a small son, Tilla Muscoe Minter. They started dating in 1953 after being friends since 1951. They were married on March 31, 1956 at Buffalo Presbyterian Church where they had met five years earlier. By the time they got married, he had started working for the United States Postal Service as a window clerk. He would continue working at the post office for the next twenty-seven and a half years. On August 25, 1957, the couple had a new addition to their family, Robert Milton Wicker.

Mr. Wicker is currently retired from the United States Postal Service and all other jobs. Both of his sons are now grown; the first married on October 12, 1984, and has a son, Jordan Tilla Minter, born on September 26, 1987. He owns his own business, C.V. Driveshaft Products. His second son has never been married and owns his own business, N.C. Computer Services. Mr. Wicker enjoys woodworking, something he’s done ever since he was young, with his newfound spare time. He also enjoys doing crossword puzzles, watching classic westerns, and spending time with his family. He is an example of an American citizen who has done his part to keep this country running and make it the greatest place in the world.
Bernard Reams Wicker
81
Sanford, Lee County, North Carolina
March 5, 1924
Grandfather
Marie Wicker
March 31, 1956
Tilla Muscoe Minter, Robert Milton Wicker
Kinnie Melton Wicker, Margaret Irene Wicker
James Harold, William Brooks, Kenneth Monroe, you, Annie Louise, Fred Raymond, Mary Margaret
Served in United States Armed Forces from October 1943 to March 1946; engineer combat unit; private moved up to corporal