News

Chamber changes website - goes from good to bad Recent decisions of the Chamber Board of Directors has resulted in the shift from their highly visited website managed by AWS CREATIVE SOLUTIONS LLC in Dallas to a very disappointing site managed by PRONETCORP and PLANETCHAMBER.com What does this change appear to mean to business members?

MEMORIAL DAY--LT. CLARK ROSS, JR. LT. CLARK ROSS, JR. <br />(1921-2003) <br />First Lieutenant <br />Army Air Corps <br />United States Army <br />1942-1951 <br /> <br /> Clark Ross, Jr. graduated from Marshall High School in 1938 and went immediately to Texas A&M where he entered the engineering program. At that time the school was an all military school. When he was in his senior year, the U.S. Army came to the Aggie campus and made the seniors an offer that was difficult to pass up, so in May, 1942, Clark Ross enlisted in the then called Army Air Corp. He received his flight training at Kelly Field, Coleman Army Air Base, Goodfellow Field at San Angelo and Brooks Field. While in flight training at Goodfellow Field in San Angelo, Lt. Ross met and immediately fell in love with Charlotte Schrier, daughter of Mrs. George Howard Hanks of San Angelo. They were married in San Antonio, Texas, January 14, 1943 on the same day that Lt. Ross received his wings and commission from Brooks Field. Such was not unusual during the war years. It wasn’t long afterwards that he was piloting his B-17 non-stop from Greenland to England by way of Scotland.

MEMORIAL DAY--MASTER SERGEANT EDWARD BOYD, JR. MASTER SERGEANT EDWARD H. BOYD, JR. <br />(1930-1987) <br />Special Agent, OIG <br />United States Air Force <br />1948-1968 <br /> <br /> Ed was a “chosen” infant. At the age of six months he was adopted by Ed Sr. and Stella Mae Boyd. When he was six years old, his parents returned from Warrensburg, Missouri to Marshall, where he was raised. Ed attended public schools in Marshall and graduated from MHS in ’47. He was a left-handed, right half-back on Coach Chester Weidman’s T-formation 1946 football team (record 8-1-1). I remember trying to tackle him in practice---he was very fast and raised his knees almost to his belt buckle when he ran---making it difficult to get hold of him.

MEMORIAL DAY--MAJOR GARY EASTON MAJOR GARY E. EASTON <br />(1939-2000) <br />Pilot <br />United States Air Force <br />1962-1982 <br /> <br /> Gary Easton was born in Idaho Falls, and married his college sweetheart, Karen Moore from Rock Valley, Iowa in 1957. He graduated from Morningside College in Sioux City, where he majored in music and minored in literature---a strange combination for a future warrior. He played the trumpet with the symphony and marching bands before beginning his USAF career.

MEMORIAL DAY--SERGEANT MACK HOPKINS SERGEANT MACK HOPKINS <br />(1917-1996) <br />Air Corps <br />United States Army <br />1942-1945 <br /> <br /> Mack Hopkins, best known around Harrison County for his Tuskegee Airman service in World War II, was born the son of Professor and Mrs. McHenry Hopkins in November of 1917. His parents lived on campus at Wiley College. Mack graduated from Central High School in Marshall in 1937, and from Wiley College in 1941. While at Wiley, where he played football, he met his wife to be, Pauline A. Lewis, to whom he was married until her death in 1990.

MEMORIAL DAY--TECHNICAL SERGEANT PERRY BONNER TECHNICAL SERGEANT PERRY BONNER <br />(1923-2005) <br />Infantry <br />United States Army <br />1940-1945 <br /> <br />As best we can determine, Perry Bonner was the most decorated military hero of the 20th Century from Harrison County, and we have had a lot of heroes from around here. When he was discharged from the Army with 100% disability from his severe wounds in late 1945, after spending months in the 96th General Hospital in England and Brooks Army Hospital in Texas, Perry was but 21 years old. He had earned three (3) Silver Stars, five (5) Bronze Stars, and four (4) Purple Hearts---which we believe to be just one short of the total number of combat medals earned by the most decorated Soldier of World War II, Audie Murphy.

MEMORIAL DAY--TECH. SERGEANT OLIVER ZELL ROGERS TECHNICAL SERGEANT OLIVER ZELL ROGERS <br /> (1921-1944) <br />Infantry <br />United States Army <br />1942-1944 <br /> <br /> Oliver Zell Rogers, known to family and friends as “Zell”, was one of three children born to Cole and Ollie Belle Rogers in the community of Gum Springs near Hallsville. Zell attended school in Hallsville, where he was an outstanding football player in High School. He was a Guard on the Bobcats Championship team of 1939. He played both ways (offense and defense) as was common for good players in those days. His team was neither scored on nor defeated in district play that year as they won Hallsville’s first district championship. They also won bi-district without the opponent scoring on them.

MEMORIAL DAY--TECH. SERGEANT ROBERT PRESSLER TECHNICAL SERGEANT ROBERT C. PRESSLER <br />(1920-2002) <br />Cavalry <br />United States Army <br />1940-1944 <br /> <br /> Robert Clifton Pressler was born in Jan. 1920 to Joe Morrison Pressler and Mabel Sullivan Pressler in Jacksonville, Texas. He graduated from Marshall High School in 1937, and entered the Army of the United States in November 1940 as part of the 36th Infantry Division of the Texas National Guard when it was mobilized for World War II. Bobby was initially stationed at Camp Bowie near Brownwood, Texas. He participated in the famed Louisiana Maneuvers (moving up and down Western Louisiana and Eastern Texas with several Divisions.)

MEMORIAL DAY--LIEUTENANT JACK M. PRESSLER LIEUTENANT JACK M. PRESSLER <br />(1921-1978) <br />Submarine Forces <br />United States Navy <br />1939-1956 <br /> <br /> Jack was the middle child of Joe and Mabel Pressler of Marshall. The story of his older brother Bobby is also on this page. Jack graduated from Marshall High School in 1938 and joined the Navy as an Apprentice Seaman in 1940. He served on the Destroyer USS Alywin. He applied and was accepted to the Naval Academy Prep School in Norfolk for an eight month course. From there he took the competitive exams as an enlisted man for an appointment to the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland and was one of the few dozen accepted from the ranks. Because of the war, the commissioning cycle at the Naval Academy was cut from four to three years, so Jack graduated in the class of 1944 and was commissioned an Ensign in the Submarine Corps.

MEMORIAL DAY--LIEUTENANT WALTER T. CAVEN LIEUTENANT WALTER T. CAVEN <br />(1920-2007) <br />Infantry <br />United States Army <br />1943-1945 <br /> <br /> Walter Caven was born in Marshall to William and Ella Sedberry Caven in 1920. He graduated from Marshall High School in 1937, where he was the President of the Senior Class and a member of the National Honor Society. He graduated from the University of Texas in Austin in 1941 and enrolled in Law School there. However, he deferred completion of Law School and joined the Army in 1943, and was selected to attend Infantry Officer Candidate School at Ft. Benning, Georgia where he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant of Infantry. Walter was 6’4” tall, and a good looking, good natured, intelligent young man with natural leadership abilities.