Young pilots learned from Greenwood man how to fly B-25 aircraft

May 20, 2005

By MEGAN VARNER
Index-Journal staff writer

Behind every good pilot in World War II, there was a good instructor.
During his two years of service in the U.S. Army Air Corps, it was Greenwood resident Walter Roark Jr.’s job to teach young pilots how to fly the airplanes that carried out the missions leading to an Allied victory over Germany and Japan.
It was a duty that required an extensive amount of training, and though he never flew combat missions over enemy territory, Roark said it was a duty that could be just as dangerous.
When the news of the Pearl Harbor attack began seeping into America’s living rooms, Roark, now 80, was a high school student in Birmingham, Ala.
That Sunday afternoon, a 17-year-old Roark had gone over to a friend’s house to listen to a musical program on the radio, but what he heard instead were the words that changed the world.
“They interrupted the program and said that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. At first, my friend and I just looked at each other and thought, ‘Where in the hell is Pearl Harbor?’” he said, with a laugh.
But as he returned to school, the weight of those words began to sink in.
“They had gathered all of the students into the auditorium, and I was standing in the hall listening when (President Franklin) Roosevelt declared war,” he said. “At that point, I knew I was going into service sooner or later. But my folks said I was not going in until I was 18 and I had to go.”
By the time he graduated high school in 1942, Roark had seen many of the young men from his school answer Uncle Sam’s call, and he had his own heart set on becoming a pilot.
But at 17, he was too young to register for the draft, and he decided to head to Auburn University to study engineering.
During his first year at Auburn, Roark turned 18, and he took preliminary exams for the U.S. Navy and Army Air Corps.
“The funny thing was, I heard from both of them on the same day,” he said. “I had been accepted by both (the Navy and the Army). If I had taken the Navy’s offer, I could have stayed in college until I finished, but I didn’t want to do that – that was too long.”
Because of his high grades in his engineering classes, the draft board also offered Roark the chance to finish school before he entered the Army.
“I said I didn’t want to do that. There wasn’t going to be anybody at that school but draft dodgers, (rejected men) and girls, and I wasn’t any of the three,” he said, laughing.
That June, Roark was inducted into the Air Corps, and the following month, the 18-year-old reported for basic training at a base in South Miami Beach, Fla.
“It sounds great, but it wasn’t. We were in a little hotel across from the ocean, but we couldn’t go over there. The hotel had an elevator but they wouldn’t let us use it,” he said. “The first two floors could use the inside steps, but the rest of us had to use the fire escape on the back of the building.”
It was a hot summer in Miami that year, Roark said, and the palm trees didn’t provide much shade for the men, who spent hours on barren fields, learning to march, drill and fire weapons.
When he was through with the “miserable mess” in Miami, Roark boarded a train, but he wasn’t told where his next stop would be.
“Seven days after we got on the train, we still didn’t know where we were going,” he said. “We wound up in Ellensburg, Washington. We went from one end of the country to another.”
In Washington state, Roark was supposed to enter a lengthy college detachment program, but after only 30 days, he was sent to a classification center in Santa Ana, Calif. There, he took psychological and physical exams to determine if he would be a pilot, navigator or bombardier.
“Fortunately, I qualified in all three phases, so they said I could take my pick,” he said. “I wanted to be a pilot.”
After preflight school at the Santa Ana base, Roark begin primary flight school in Oxnard, Calif. There, he began training on a PT-13 Stearman aircraft, a small, popular biplane used for basic and acrobatic training during the war. His instructor was English actor Patric Knowles.
“I wasn’t star struck. He was all business, just as anybody else would be,” Roark said of Knowles, whose work included “The Charge of the Light Brigade” and “The Adventures of Robin Hood.”
Following primary flight school, Roark began learning more difficult maneuvers in single and twin engine planes in basic and advanced flight school.
One of the toughest things he had to master was a maneuver called a “forced landing.” The instructor would take the student up in the plane, and sometime during the flight, cut the plane’s engine. The students had to learn how to regain control of the plane and guide it safely to the ground.
During one forced landing, Roark was in the middle of an acrobatic trick when the instructor called out “forced landing.”
“I was at the top of my loop when he pulled the engine. I had to look up to find a place on the ground to land,” he said. “The instructor asked me, ‘Are you going to turn this thing over, or are you going to land upside down?’”
Just two weeks before Roark received his wings for advanced training, his instructor pulled him aside to give him surprising news.
“He said I was going to be an instructor and I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding,’” he said. He reported for instructor school at Randolph Field in San Antonio, Texas, which Roark said was considered the “West Point of the air” at that time.
When he called home to report the news, he also offered a proposal to his girlfriend.
“I told her that we didn’t know how long the war was going to last, so we should just get married,” he said. “I didn’t want to wait.”
Roark earned his wings on Sept. 8, received his marriage license on Sept. 11 and said, “I do,” on Sept. 12.
A week after his wedding, Roark returned to instructor school in La Junta, Colo., and he began training to teach instrument flying and blind flying.
“When you fly blind, you don’t see what’s outside of the airplane. You get on the runway, and when you line up to take off, they put a hood up on the front of the plane,” he said, adding that after a few hours of flight, pilots must rely on radio signals to guide them home.
After perfecting his skills, Roark began instructing future Air Corps pilots on how to fly a B-25 aircraft, a medium-sized bomber used heavily during the war.
Though he never flew over enemy territory, Roark said his job was often stressful and always perilous.
“It was dangerous every time you got in that airplane. Some of those boys had never been in a plane that big,” he said. “It kept you scared to death. When you turned over control of that airplane to a student, you sat there and kept your eyes on the other planes (in the formation).”
Night formation flying – one of the trickiest maneuvers to teach and perform – was typically the most hazardous part of the training. When paired with limited visibility available at night, the inexperience of the young pilots proved to be lethal for some of Roark’s fellow soldiers, including one of his roommates who was an instructor.
“He was flying into a formation at night, and he pulled up into the bottom of another airplane,” Roark said. “I saw the explosion when he hit the ground.”
In summer 1945, Roark had just begun instructing students in Pampa, Texas, when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Japan. The end of the war followed soon after, and Roark returned to Auburn to finish his training in engineering.
He moved to Greenwood in 1962, and eventually found his way to Greenwood Mills, from which he retired as vice president of engineering and service.
“There were a lot of times I regretted very much that I didn’t have the combat experience other people had, but I did what they told me to do,” he said of his time in service. “I really enjoyed the people, and I really enjoyed the flying.”

Budget vetoes could cost local colleges $1.1 million

May 20, 2005

By WALLACE McBRIDE
Index-Journal senior staff writer

Gov. Mark Sanford issued 149 vetoes of items in the state’s $5.8 billion spending plan on Tuesday, potentially blocking more than $1 million in proposed spending for local colleges.
The budget that passed the House and Senate accounted for all cash borrowed from the state’s rainy-day reserve accounts and repaid $35 million taken from trust accounts to maintain state agencies and programs during the recession.
Still, Sanford voiced concerns that the proposed budget included more spending than the state can currently support.
Vetoed spending included $1 million for deferred maintenance costs for Lander University and another $100,000 for Piedmont Tech.
“That’s in keeping with what the General Assembly did for all colleges and universities,” said Tom Covar, budget director for Lander.
A $1 million supplemental appropriation for the university was attached to the budget to replace the roof and HVAC system of the library, an expense that was vetoed with all deferred maintenance spending for state colleges.
Lander also received a $14,000 budget cut from its general fund by the state.
“Lander, in my opinion, fared pretty well,” Kovar said. “Even though the governor vetoed that million dollars, we hope to get that money back.”
“I believe we’re going to be able to get (the vetoes) overridden,” said State Rep. Gene Pinson, R-Greenwood. “We knew the governor was going to veto a lot of stuff. Piedmont Tech got $200,000 for its nursing program, and I have not seen that vetoed.”
The General Assembly has also appropriated $126,000 for the Greenwood Genetic Center.
“There has been discussion and efforts to privatize the state parks,” State Sen. Tommy Moore, D-Clearwater, said. “There was a proviso that no privatization would take place without the General Assembly’s involvement, and the governor vetoed that.”
The budget still includes spending for various local agencies, including funding for the McCormick County-based John de la Howe children’s home, once targeted for closure.
McCormick County’s Willington on the Way historical society has also received funding, Moore said.
“We spent a lot of time in budget preparation,” Pinson said. “The Senate spent a lot of time in budget preparations, and then the governor said we don’t need all this stuff. Who’s right and who’s wrong? Granted, there are probably some items in here we should not fund. We’ll be taking a look at them as we go through the veto process.”

Mary Lou Engstrand

HODGES, SC – Mary Louise Spence Engstrand, 56, of 111 Long Point Road, Hodges, wife of David Walter Engstrand, died Thursday, May 19, 2005 at Self Regional Medical Center.
Born in Stamford, CT, she was a daughter of the late William Alfred Spence and Mary Elizabeth Curran Spence Close. She was a graduate of Western Connecticut State University, where she received her B.A. and Master’s Degrees. She was a retired mathematics teacher and department chair of 35 years with the Weston CT Public Schools. She was a member of the National Association of Mathematics Teachers, the Association of Teachers of Mathematics in Connecticut, Phi Delta Kappa and assisted in the Teacher in Space Program with NASA. She was a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church, Greenwood, SC.
Surviving is her husband of the home; a daughter, Laura Ruth Mangum of Centreville, VA; two sons, David Robert Engstrand of Naugatuck, CT and Kris John Engstrand of Norwalk, CT; a sister, Margaret Spence of Danville, CA; a brother and sister-in-law, Hugh and Mary Spence of Peculiar, MO and three grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday at Immanuel Lutheran Church with the Rev. John Setzler officiating.
The family will receive friends in the church social hall following the service.
The family is at the home.
Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society, PO Box 1741, Greenwood, SC 29648; the Immanuel Lutheran Church Memorial Fund, 501 E. Creswell Avenue, Greenwood, SC 29646 or to the Mary Louise Engstrand Scholarship Fund, Weston CT High School, 24 School Road, Weston, CT 06883.
Harley Funeral Home of Greenwood is in charge of arrangements.
Online condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.harleyfuneralhome.com
PAID OBITUARY

Bertha Fields

HARTSVILLE, SC – Funeral services for Bertha “Bert” Chewning Fields, 90, will be held 11:00 am Saturday, May 21, 2005 at Wesley Chapel United Methodist Church. The Revs. Richard Hopper, Eddie Spencer and Dan Smythe will officiate with burial in the church cemetery directed by Brown-Pennington-Atkins Funeral Home.
The family will receive friends Friday, May 20, 2005 from 5-7 pm at the funeral home. Memorials may be made to the Wesley Chapel United Methodist Church Cemetery, Box 35, Lydia, SC 29079.
Mrs. Fields, widow of Robert Strom Fields, died Wednesday, May 18, 2005. Born in Clarendon County, SC, she was a daughter of the late Felix and Bertha Ross Chewning. She was a member of Wesley Chapel United Methodist Church and the Ladies Bible Sunday School Class. She was retired from the City of Hartsville Water Department and was a volunteer for Byerly Hospital and Carolina Pines Regional Medical Hospital.
Surviving are her sons and daughters-in-law, Richard “Dickie” and Jean Fields of Lugoff, SC, James “Lukie” and Peggy Fields of Bishopville, SC; daughters and sons-in-law, Anne and Leland Vaughan of Edisto Beach, SC, Jane and James Sparrow of Hartsville, SC; 11 grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren.
www.bpafuneralhome.com PAID OBITUARY

Isabella D. Hackett

Services for Isabella Davis Hackett are 11 a.m. Saturday at Bethlehem Church of God Holiness, conducted by Elder Carter T. Peek, assisted by Elders Joe Warren and Heyward Black. Burial is in Evening Star Cemetery. The body will be placed in the church at 10.
Pallbearers are Johnny Frank Davis, Harold Kersey Jr., Michael Paul Robinson, Michael Edwards, Napoleon Brown and Gregory B. Jordan.
Flower bearers are Patricia Ann Cumming, Barbara Cloud, Laura Davis, Vanessa Bryant, Pamela Lanier, Jacqueline Cooper, Carolyn Hill and Linda Elaine Foster.
Visitation is 7-8 tonight at Parks Funeral Home.
The family is at the home, 315 Sullivan St.
Additional survivors are three sisters, Ella Mae Fortune of Atlanta, Bertha Ouzts of Greenwood and Mary Davis of Philadelphia; and two brothers, James Davis of Wilmington, N.C., and Frank Davis of Columbia.
Parks Funeral Home is in charge.

Lillian R. Kearney

MODESTO, Calif. — Services for Lillian Rayford Kearney, of 3157 Flushing Meadows, are 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Old Mount Zion Baptist Church, Epworth, S.C., conducted by the Pastor Clyde D. Cannon. The body will be placed in the church at 1:30. Burial is in the church cemetery.
Pallbearers are nephews.
Flower bearers are nieces.
The family is at the home of a sister, Julia Goodwin, 210 Little Mountain Road, Ninety Six, S.C.
Robinson & Son Mortuary Inc., Greenwood, S.C., is in charge of local arrangements.

Ansel Parris

Greenwood, SC - James Ansel Parris 76, resident of 110 Rosemont Drive, husband of Anne Boling Parris, died May 19, 2005 at the RoseCrest Retirement Community in Inman, SC.
Born in Chesnee, September 16, 1928, he was a son of the late James Archie and Mary Pratt Scruggs Parris. He was a 1945 graduate of Chesnee High School and attended Wofford, Lander and Augusta Colleges. He received his B.S. degree from the University of New York. Mr Parris retired in 1984 from me U.S. Army with the rank of Colonel. At the time of his retirement he was serving on the U.S. Military Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon in Washington, DC. He also retired from the SC National Guard with the rank of Brigadier General and was formerly employed by Greenwood Mills where he held various positions in supervision and management.
He was a member and past Commander of American Legion Post #20 and was awarded as State Commander in 2002. A member of Callie Self Memorial Baptist Church, he was also a member of the Greenwood Lions Club, Greenwood Moose Lodge and was a Mason.
Mr Parris was a gifted musician always involved in creating and enjoying music as a member of the Phase III Band. He was a dedicated and caring husband and a loving and tender father and grandfather.
Surviving in addition to his wife of Inman are two daughters, Judie P. Hamilton and husband, John W. “Sonny” Hamilton and Patti P. Hines and husband, Scott Hamilton Hines, all of Spartanburg; three brothers, Bobby Joe parris and Ronald Yates Parris, both of Chesnee and William Keith Parris of Spartanburg; a granddaughter, Amy Hamilton Hoover and Husband, Todd Duncan Hoover of Suwanee, Ga; two grandsons, John matthew Hamilton and wife, Happi Smith Hamilton and Jefferson Scott Hines, all of Spartanburg; a great-grandson, John Hamilton “Jack” Hoover of Suwanee, Ga.
Mr. Parris was predeceased by a brother, Hugh GIenn Parris.
Cryptside services with full military rites will be conducted at 3PM Saturday at Oakbrook Memorial Park Chapel Mausoleum with Rev. David Caughman officiating.
The family will receive friends from 2 to 3 Saturday afternoon at the mausoleum.
Memorials may be made to American Legion Post #20, 806 Calhoun Avenue, Greenwood, SC 29649.
For additional information please visit www.blythfuneralhome.com.
BLYTH FUNERAL HOME IS ASSISTING THE PARRIS FAMILY
PAID OBITUARY

Ellen Robinson

ABBEVILLE — Ellen Robinson, 96, of 94 Maggie Lane, widow of Willie Robinson, died Tuesday, May 17, 2005 at her home.
Born in Abbeville, she was a daughter of the late Louis and Maggie Wooden. She was a midwife and nurse and a member, missionary and church mother of Fairfield Baptist Church. She also served as a foster mother.
Survivors include a daughter, Mrs. Joseph (Mary) Tucker and three great-grandchildren.
Services are 2:30 Sunday at Fairfield Baptist Church, conducted by the Rev. Michael Peppers. The body will be placed in the church at 1:30. Burial is in the church cemetery.
Viewing is 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday at Richie Funeral Home.
Visitation is at the home.
Richie Funeral Home Inc. is in charge.

Lisa Anne Attaway Szymanski

DALLAS, TX – Lisa Anne Attaway Szymanski, of Dallas, Texas was born December 10, 1960 in Greenwood, South Carolina. She passed on to God on May 12, 2005 in Dallas, Texas. She was the daughter of Ann Joan Bowers and Wilford E. Attaway of Greenwood, SC.
Survivors include: beloved husband of 19 years John Szymanski, mother Ann Joan Bowers, father Wilford E. Attaway, sisters Mary Jane Riggins and Linda Jefferson Minor of Greenwood, SC, brother Kenneth Jefferson of Columbia, SC, daughter Heather Lynn Nelson, granddaughter Katelyn Nelson and grandson Ty Nelson of Lafayette, LA, and a host of nieces, nephews and extended family members.
Lisa was a lover of life with a great sense of humor and made an impression on everyone she touched. Lisa loved animals and collected angels.
A memorial service is Saturday, May 21st at 3:00 pm at New Market Baptist Church, conducted by Reverend Charles A. Sprouse, Jr. and Stanley Sprouse.
The family is at the home of her mother, Ann Joan Bowers, 106 Columbia Ave., Greenwood.
PAID OBITUARY

James Louis Ware

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — James Louis Ware, of 100 Cheerio Lane, Apt. 45-B Arrowhead, died Wednesday, May 18, 2005.
A son of Willie Ruth Ware and the late Clarence Ware Jr., he was of the Seventh-day Adventist faith.
Survivors include his mother of Greenwood, S.C.; five daughters, Patricia Ann Ware and Tyaisa Ware, both of Greenwood, Melissa Ann Smith, Angela Michelle Ware and Stacy Darlene Ware, all of Ware Shoals, S.C.; three sons, Bryant Smith, James Clarence Ware and Derick Smith, all of Greenwood; a sister, Frances Wilson of Greenwood; and five grandchildren.
The family is at the home of a sister, Frances Wilson, 656 Grier St., Greenwood.
Services will be announced by Robinson & Son Mortuary Inc., Greenwood.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at robson@emeraldis.com

Getting their kicks in

Greenwood Toros have first of 2 tryouts for upcoming season

May 20, 2005

By RON COX
Index-Journal sports writer

Scores of youngsters took to the Phoenix Street fields Thursday evening looking to make their own individual mark.
The boys and girls, some returning players and some newcomers, were at the new home of the Greenwood Toros soccer club, taking part in the first of two mandatory tryouts for the upcoming club season.
The players have another tryout Tuesday, and the teams, which include boys and girls Under-11 through Under-18, could be selected as soon as Wednesday.
“You have to see them,” said Toros director of coaching Brad Nickles, who coaches the Emerald High School boys soccer team. “You really do have to as a coach. You’re mandated by law that you can’t tryout recreational teams. So, now you have to start looking at them closely.”
That’s why Thursday was such an important night for the Toros coaches. For some, it was the first time they’ve seen their teams on the field since the season ended a few months ago.
“I haven’t seen these boys in a couple of months and I want to see if some had been practicing,” said Tomas Kluszczynski, who will coach the Under-12 boys.
“It’s always important to see the kids play. You’re trying to get the best talent you can get. We’re trying to evaluate the different players. This is a major event for our teams.”
Between the two tryouts, the coaches will have plenty to look at in making their final decisions on the teams for this season.
“The biggest thing I think all of us are trying to do here is to see their skill ability on the ball, and how they apply that skill under pressure,” said Ben Freakley.
Freakley will head up the under-14 boys squad. “The areas of their skill ability, their work rate and their attitude are what we look for.”
Freakley just finished his first season as the Erskine College men’s soccer coach. This will be his second year with the Toros.
Nickles said that some new playing guidelines set down by the state governing board might help the growth of the Toros.
Starting this year, under-11s and under-12s will go from 11 players on the field to eight, while the under-10s will play six-on-six.
But changes aside, Nickles was pleased with the turnout at the first tryout.
“Obviously, we’ll know better next week, but we expect to grow a little bit,” he said. “Based on the registration Tuesday, we do expect to grow some. For just the turnout for registration of new players, it was a packed house.”
Kluszczynski said he had 16 of his 18 players from last season’s squad at Thursday’s tryout, along with a handful of new kids.
Freakley also noticed the increased numbers in his under-14 squad.
“Having five or six new kids come out for an age is a testament that we’re doing the right things here,” the Flying Fleet coach said. “Our club has all professional coaches and licensed certified coaches, and that means the training the kids get is better.”

Tracking freed criminals leaves a lot of questions

May 20, 2005

There have been a rash of kidnappings and/or murders in recent times, with many of them being children. That’s a sad commentary on all of us. What adds insult to injury, though, is that some of those heinous crimes were committed by people with criminal records but were out of prison for one reason or another.
The question can always be asked, of course, and should be, why these killers were free in the first place and in a position to do such drastic things. On top of that, it’s obvious that any system intended to track and keep up with those convicted criminals on parole or release is not very effective. If one murder is committed by one parolee, the system is a failure.

THERE’S ANOTHER PROBLEM, though, that plays a heavy role in the whole situation. That’s society’s philosophy on how to handle criminals. To begin with, many of us are opposed to the death penalty. Some of us have liberal views on the pardon and probation system. We have strong feelings that criminals most of the time can be rehabilitated and deserve to be freed from incarceration after they have demonstrated good behavior over a period of time.
They believe there are ways to keep up with registered sex offenders, for example, that will keep them from violating their parole by reverting to past practices.
There are, to be sure, those who take the opposite view. Many of them subscribe to the “lock ‘em up and throw away the key” theory as the best preventative measure available.

IN OTHER WORDS, IF A convicted criminal is not out of prison where he can commit a crime, a lot of crimes would not occur ….. and a lot of people, including children, would still be alive.
This is no new argument, of course. What to do about criminals and how to do it have been debated forever it seems. After so many recent murders, though, it’s very obvious that something’s not working as intended. These awful crimes against children have shocked the public like few things have in a long time. Because of that, maybe now the public pressure will be so intense that the powers that be will be forced to come up with new and better ways to cope.
There appears to be an effort to make sure that society is fair to criminals. There’s a better argument that says it’s past time for society to be fair to victims. As it is, that doesn’t seem to get much attention.