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Lewis Cotton, 2nd Lt., U.S. Army Air Corps, son of Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Cotton of Andalusia, has been reported missing in action. Lt. Cotton’s wife, Mrs. Jenelle Tollison Cotton, who lives in Mobile, Al., received the news in a telegram from the War Department, Washington, D.C., on May 4. Lt. Cotton graduated from Pleasant Home High School in 1941 and entered the service in Nov. 1942.

The telegram to Mrs. Cotton reads as follows:
“The Secretary of War desires to express his deep regret that your husband, 2nd Lt. Lewis Cotton, has been missing in action over Czechoslovakia since April 17,^, 1945. If further details or other information are received, you will be promptly notified.”

2nd Lt. Cotton has been overseas since Dec. 1944. He was a pilot of a B-17 bomber and had flown some 26 missions over occupied territory and Germany. Lt. Cotton was married to Miss Jenelle Tollison on Jan. 17, 1942. They have a two-year old son.

Willie R. Henderson, Corporal, U.S. Army Air Corps, son of Mr. and Mrs. Dove Henderson, Rt. 3, Andalusia, and husband of Mrs. Mary E. Henderson of Sanford, has been honored by a special commemoration that was given to the support personnel of the 445th Bombardment Group in England. The base commander, Col. William W. Jones, said, “No one realizes better than those who fly in combat, the essential work on the ground accomplished by these men who back them up.” The 445th Bombardment Group was also cited by the commanding general, 2nd Air Division, Major General William E. Kepner, for “distinguished and outstanding performance of duty in combat, that included high-altitude bombing attacks on key industries, airfields and transportation centers throughout Europe, from the first landings at Normandy on D-Day, through the Ardennes campaign and the Rhine River crossings.”

Corporal Henderson is a mail clerk at the B-24 Heavy Bomber Base.

Georgia W. Harp, PFC, U.S. Army WAC, of 194 Barton St., Andalusia, has recently been awarded the Good Conduct Medal, in recognition of one year of faithful and efficient service. The recognition was by Col. Richard T. Kight, commander of the AAF Air Transport Command at Morrison Field, West Palm Beach, Fl. The WAC detachment was honored for completing it first year of service at this ATC Caribbean Division base and was part of the Army’s celebration of the third anniversary of the Women’s Army Corps.

Louis M. Prestwood, Jr., PFC, U.S. Army Air Corps, of 420 S. 3 Notch St., Andalusia, has recently been promoted to Corporal. He was a student at Andalusia High School before entering the service in July 1944. CPL Prestwood is a gunner on a B-24 Liberator bomber in the 4th Air Force.

Pugh B. Flowers Jr., SN, U.S. Navy, son of Mr. Pugh B. Flowers Sr., 405 S 3 Notch St., Andalusia, has graduated from Signalman Training School, Great Lakes Naval Training Base, Great Lakes, Il. Graduates from the school are sent on for further training in specialized courses or sent to the fleet.

Earl Edward Brown, SN1, U.S. Navy, of Rt. 2, Andalusia, is serving aboard the USS Platte [AO-24], a fleet oiler with the U.S. Pacific fleet. The Platte is a veteran of the “Big Five,” the first group of fast oilers of the Service Forces, Pacific Fleet. SN1 Brown and the Platte have provided fueling support for the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway. They also provided refueling for ships during the Battles of Leyte Gulf and Philippine Sea. Platte has also backed up landings at Tarawa, Guadalcanal, Kwajalein, Eniwetok, Saipan, Guam, Peleliu, Iwo Jima and the Aleutian Islands. She has also supported carrier air strikes against the Marshalls and Gilbert Islands, Rabaul, Truk, Formosa and the recent attacks on Tokyo.

Abihue J. Batson, 1st Lt., U.S. Army Air Corps, husband of Mrs. Martha Batson of 414 2nd St., Andalusia, was recently awarded the Soldier’s Medal in ceremonies at Albrook Field, Canal Zone. Two enlisted men, SGT Mike B Jimenez, of El Modena, Ca., and CPL James Stacy of Garrard, Ky., were also honored. Lt. Batson and those two men evacuated an injured soldier on Christmas Day, from an outpost in Panama to a vessel located offshore. They braved the heavy seas in a rescue boat after local boatmen refused to enter the rough surf. Before entering the service, Batson attended Alabama Polytechnic Institute.

Cyrus E. O’Neal, PFC, U.S. Army Air Corps, son of Mrs. Cyrus R. O’Neal of Andalusia, is a member of a Photo Reconnaissance Squadron that recently received a Presidential Unit Citation “for extraordinary performance of duty in action against the enemy during the month of May 1944.” At the time, his unit was charged with photographing beaches on the continent where Allied forces would subsequently land on June 6, 1944. The citation further reads, “In order for the photographs to be of requisite quality, detailing beach and shore defenses, it was sometimes necessary for the aircraft to fly as low as 25 ft. over the beaches. Despite intense fire from some of the strongest anti-aircraft installations in Western Europe, these pilots produced excellent photographs.” PFC O’Neal is currently assigned to Col. James M. Smelley’s 363rd Tactical Reconnaissance Group. They are the first air force organization to operate from a base in Germany. O’Neal is a radio mechanic and entered the service in Oct. 1942.

He traveled overseas in Apr. 1944.

— John Vick