European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 16, 1959, Darmstadt, Hesse Sunday August 16, t959 the stars and stripes Fig Fri father comes glad face future confidently town takes missile age in stride Dallas Tex. A husky l. E. Pettis a Friendly red headed freckle faced Salesman believes his wife will take him Back. Pettis a machinery Salesman from Asheboro n.c., was believe drowned in a Georgia swamp. His family mourned his death at memorial service then he turned up in nearby Irving easily with newsmen and police Pettis told How he 1 accidentally overturned his boat on a fishing trip june 6 near Dublin -ga., and decided it would be a Good excuse to get away from it 2 was the object of one of the Georgia area s biggest searches while his wife and four children mourned his apparent death. 3 drove to West Palm -Beach,fla., where he and his Mother joined his half brother s family in a trip to Texas. Abandonment charge Pettis 35, is held on a felony warrant charging abandonment of his wife and children. He said he would rpt fight extradition. I m glad it s Over with he said. It was hard on my he said the most difficult Parton his hoax came when his wife contacted his Mother and asked her to come to his memorial serv ices in Dublin. He said he still loves his wife. " three ministers officiated at the services which mrs. Pettis and their four children attended. I wanted to get away for awhile More or less he said in answering questions As to Why he pulled the hoax. It was my Phy Sical Pettis would not elaborate on his condition but Irving police chief c. J. Wirasnik said he was suffering from a near nervous a1 & f of. C base Calif a How does a town feel when it becomes an intercontinental it missile site prime enemy target in the event of War it is simply a new responsibility and you learn to should Rit says or. Russell Williams a Cheyenne wyo., physician first there was Al Emot Mohat reaction among some of the peo ple but the More responsible ones now accept it As a necessity Wil Liams s among Cheyenne civic Lead ers who have been Here on a tour of missile bases and is one of a dozen or it store american cities. Selected for intercontinental missile Sites All Are far from major Industrial Cen ters and their residents never thought they would be prime targets if War cattte., some Don t yet Krotow they be been of these bases have been named Warren air Force base a Cheyenne Offutt fab Omaha neb. Fairchild. Fab Spokane Wash. Forbes fab Topeka kan., and Vandenberg fab which lies Between Santa Maria and Lompoc Calif. All Are bases for 6,000-mile Atla missile squadrons. Eventually there will be nine Atlas squadrons and11 Titan missile squadrons. One of the Titan bases has been announced Lowry fab near Den ver next Atlas base to become operational will be the one a Cheyenne now in the final phases of president r. J. Hoffman chairman of the military affair committee of Cheyenne s chamber of Commerce says before the missile base was started we had 500 of1 600 empty houses in town. Now every one Efthem is occupied and we Are going to have quite a problem providing for the influx expected in the next two ," says Williams we re no worse off than Many other cities. In the atomic age a near miss could mean destruction Hundred Miles away and lust think How Many cities there Are for in stance within 100 Miles of Chicago or new awards contract to Spur sky platforms for transatlantic to Ike delay plea brings action Washington up sen. Paul h. Douglas d-i11. And three other senators have proposed a Bill that would extend the dead line for Navy Marine and coast guard officers to receive Tomb Stone Bill would Advance the dead line from nov. 1 to next july 2.president Eisenhower asked the delay. Douglas said recent Legisla Tion to do away with such promotions would work a hardship on some officers unless the deadline was change the Navy and its sister services now allow promotions of one Grade on retirement to officers decorated for bravery in combat. Since the higher Grade does not increase the salary or other Bene fits paid by the government the promotion is said to be meaning less except for Tombstone purposes. Sens. Mike Mansfield a Mont Thomas h. Kuchel a Calif and George a. Smathers a Fla joined in co sponsoring the Doug Las measure. Philadelphia up the first step in an eventual Chain of sky platforms to provide a Tele vision link Between Europe and the
