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Click to jump to a profile of members of the 1142nd Combat Engineers Headquarters Company:
Click here to view the full roster of the 1142nd Headquarters Company.
Nicholas
Drahos
Born Ford City, Pa 6/12/18
Read Nicholas Drahos' recollections of the war and excellent history of the 1142nd here.
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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.
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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. |
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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
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