|
George H Eastlake and son
George Junior helped in
construction of the camp
between 1942 in 1943 and
Richard Eastlake helped them
tearing down some of the
barracks in 1946 or 1947. |
Dale Eastlake had a garage
that was formally a fire
station on Edgewood Drive
and |
My sister Vie worked at the
Telephone Switchboard at the
camp. Taylor and Lewis
Hillman worked at a PX,
these memories are from 1943
to 1944. |
- Mrs. Eastlake - Local
Resident |
|
While I was in the Army I
was stationed in Germany in
1970 where I met a World War
II German POW in Bamberg
Germany. I was out looking
to have a pair of jeans made
and went into a sewing shop
that was long and narrow. I
didn't see anyone and was
looking around for a sales
person. While waiting for
someone I noticed that there
was an arch behind one of
the displays and I looked
through the arch into
another room. I saw a 4' x
8' piece of plywood covered
with US soldier's patches.
Eventually the owner come
out and we started to talk
and I asked the owner about
how he got the patches. The
owner explained that he was
a German POW captured early
in the war and was sent to a
POW Camp in the United
States where he got the
patches from soldiers. I
asked where in the US he
said it was in some little
place in Pennsylvania. Being
from Mercer, PA and aware of
the Camp Reynolds I asked
him what was the name of the
camp and he said Camp
Reynolds. I thought that was
pretty neat to be in Germany
and run into a World War II
POW that was stationed
at Camp Reynolds back in
1944 to 1946. |
- Tom Waddell - Mercer
Resident |
|
My grandmother who lived in
Youngstown, Ohio had
daughters that used to Camp
Reynolds for Dances. My
grandmother didn't like the
idea of them being around
soldiers and told them to
stay away from those "Dam"
soldiers. |
- Grandson |
|
A friends dad would take
soldiers to bars and then
would pick them up at
closing time. He charged a
couple of dollars for gas
money for a car load. |
- Former Area Resident |
|
I remember our family going
to Greenville to the Keck
and Young grocery store to
get meat. While in town
my father would pass out
envelopes with his address
on them to soldiers and
servicemen and asked if they
would send him a military
patch. He received over 150
patches. One patch was from
a German officer. |
Once I was lost as a little
girl and remember that a
soldier helped me find her
parents. |
There was sugar rationing
during much of the war and
we couldn't get sugar to
make cookies but a family we
knew who owned a restaurant
could make cookies because
they could get sugar through
their restaurant. |
I also remember that the
barracks Thiel College
bought after the camp had
closed were used for married
couples housing. |
- Myrna Kamerer Hefty -
Former Greenville Resident |
|
This story details how most
of the Luciani family worked
at Camp Reynolds, either
during the time it was
active or afterwards. |
Aunt
Sara worked in the
Administration building and
knew which soldiers were
about to be shipped out.
Wanting to give them a good
meal before they left, she
would invite some to
Grandma’s house for Sunday
dinner. When there were
several of them at a
particular meal, my Grandma
would tell her children to
just say they weren’t hungry
for the spaghetti in order
to ensure that there was
enough for the guests.
However, when it came time
for dessert and to be sure
there was enough again, she
would say to the kids “Those
who no eata the spaghetti,
no getta the dessert”. Of
course, the kids were always
fed something later. This
has been a funny memory for
the family ever since.
|
Aunt Antoinette worked
selling war bonds throughout
the Camp. Both she and Aunt
Ann served as hostesses at
the USO facility in
Riverside Park as well.
|
Aunt Ann later worked as Bob
Parker’s secretary at
Pymatuning Telephone Co. and
at the Westinghouse office
in Reynolds Development.
|
Uncle Joe, the youngest of
the family, worked at the
entrance of the camp as a
shoe shine boy.
|
My father, Tony, initially
worked on the highway as a
flagman and got to know a
Colonel from Camp Reynolds
who he waived through
everyday. It was through
this Colonel that he
acquired the job with the
company that erected the
Camp buildings and later
worked for one of the
companies that tore it down.
During the deconstruction,
he was able to purchase a
building for $10.00 which
became the start of my
grandfather’s house (his
father-in-law). The
structure was hauled on a
flatbed truck up to
Meadville! |
Asking how they were able to
get down to Camp Reynolds
from Greenville, I was told
that the Camp was the major
employer at that time and
many people drove there
daily. There was also a bus,
which had been converted
from a car carrier, that
went down every day as well.
You could hitch a ride
either way. |
- Lin Luciani Murrin,
granddaughter and Greenville
Resident. |
|
When the camp buildings were
being sold off after the
camp was closed the
Amphitheater was moved to
Farrell High School's
football field. |
- Area Resident |
|
I remember when jeeps and
other military equipment
came to West Middlesex by
railroad and from there the
equipment was trucked to the
camp on back roads. |
I also remember that there
would be specials
announcements on the radio
when a Prisoner of War had
escaped. |
- Area Resident |
|
I remember on Sundays the
old St. Joseph's Church in
Sharon would be full of
soldiers |
- Sharon Resident |
|
I remember as a young boy I
would run down to the
railroad station in Sharon
PA when I heard a train
coming so I could watch the
troop trains go by as they
were headed to embarkation
points. |
- Sharon Resident |
|
I remember that Fred Bennett
Jr., who owned property
where the camp was to be
built had Bennett's
Evergreen Nursery and when
the government took his
property that he moved his
evergreen trees to Sharon. |
- Area Resident |
|
My parents lived in Mercer
while I was in elementary
school. I remember Army
trucks coming through Mercer
headed to Camp Reynolds. The
Army MPs would block off the
intersections so the trucks
would not have any
interruption. It seemed like
an endless line of trucks
especially to a young boy. |
- Bob Stone, Greenville
Resident |
|
As a young girl I remember
seeing German POWs marched
through Fredonia on Liberty
Street. I would sit on the
curb and watch them pass by. |
- Fredonia Resident |
|
Two of my Aunts who lived in
Sandy Lake, PA used to go to
the dances at Camp Reynolds.
Both of them meet their
future husbands there. |
- Sandy Lake Resident |
|
As a young boy I would visit
my grandparents, Urban and
Martha McCann who lived in a
farm house located on
Cossitt Road, Transfer, PA
just off of Route 18. While
sitting on the front porch
with my brother and cousin I
remember seeing campfires at
the Army camp . This would
have been in 1945 or 1946. |
- Newt
Reash, Grandson
|
|
I remember as a young girl
in Stoneboro. PA that
former Army barracks from
Camp Reynolds were used for
some of our elementary
classrooms. |
-
Stoneboro PA Resident |
|
I remember a lady who worked
in a kitchen at one of the
camp's Commissary's that
recalled that there were
POWs who also helped in the
kitchen |
- Area Resident |
|
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