York County sacrificed on homefront and war front to aid Allies in World War II – Part II
The (York, Pa.) Gazette and Daily published this advertisement illustration on Aug. 15, 1945 – in celebration of V-J Day. Here, The Chic, 33 W. Market St., observes women’s contribution in winning World War II. Background posts: York County sacrificed on homefront and war front – Part I and All WWII posts from the start.
York County did its share on the homefront and war front in World War II.
The York Plan is Exhibit A on the homefront.
And no story captures York County’s considerable sacrifices on the war front better than the example of Ross Kurtz.
Notice how matter of factly Ross Kurtz related his considerable injuries sustained in a mortar attack… .
The story comes from York Corporation’s “Shop News” and was revisited in “In the thick of the fight.”
It showed the courage of this Yorkco-employee-turned-fighting-man then recuperating in a military hospital in North Africa|:
Ross Kurtz got in the way of a German mortar shell, and when he awoke, he discovered he had been shot.
His stomach was badly mangled, causing him to spend five weeks flat on his back.
He caught shrapnel in his hips and arms.
“However, my face did not fare as well,” he wrote.
Shrapnel hit his mouth, smashing out all his teeth on the right side of the jaw. It broke several facial bones and the roof of his mouth. Later, doctors found that his lower jaw was also fractured.
“It looks as if Kurtz is going to have to keep his mouth shut for awhile,” he wrote, “as they are going to wire together what teeth I have left.”
To read my recent York Sunday News column for a more detailed view about how the homefront and war front worked together, click here.
Related post: York County WWII nurse: ‘You know, it was the biggest war ever, and they needed nurses’
For additional posts on York Corporation, now Johnson Controls, click here.
