Local Eagles Begin Nesting
By: Stan Jordan
This picture was given to me by Roger Lilly. It was taken February 1st at the east end of the park in Antwerp. It was taken at about 100 yards with a long range lens. It shows the two adult eagles repairing their nest. It is about mating time.
Eagles add material to their nest each year at mating time. That is part of the procedure. A starting nest is generally 4 – 5 feet wide and 2 feet deep and they add to it each year.
Eagles mate for life and sometimes use the same nest for life, if the area is good and productive.
Photo taken by Roger Lilly
The bald eagle’s nest is made of intertwining sticks and limbs and lined with grass and moss which sometimes keep insects away and then downing feathers of the adult birds.
In this area eagles lay their eggs in late February, early March and it usually take 35 days for Bald Eagles’ eggs to hatch. For the Golden Eagles, the hatch period takes 40 – 45 days. She lays anywhere from 1 – 3 eggs about a day apart and they hatch in that order.
The male and female both sit on the eggs to keep them warm. They both have a brood patch on their belly to help keep the eggs warm.
The young bald eagle is usually ready to fledge, or their first flight, at about 10 – 14 weeks. The juvenile plumage is complete in 10 – 14 weeks and usually they are full grown. Once in a while the fledgling will grow a little more but usually full grown at 14 weeks. The young eagles learn to fly by branching or flying down branch to branch down to the ground. The adults don’t help them much as eagles can only carry 1/3 of their weight. Both adults will feed the young by tearing off pieces and giving them pieces of food. They don’t try to give the food equally. The largest of the eaglets gets most the food. The eagle is ready to breed by 4 – 5 yrs age. He will probably build a nest in the area where he came from. If a juvenile returns to the nest where he is born the adults will send him away.
See Ya!
The Lobo Tank Busters
By: Stan Jordan
We took off at day light this morning for the area of Echternach, Belgium, but anywhere in the bulge, there is plenty of targets.
What we found this morning were not some of Germany’s best tanks. It was not some of their SS Panzer Divisions. There wasn’t much snow on the ground and the ground was frozen and them older tanks could drive off the road.
I lined up on a tank and my rocket hit him in the turret and it blew that whole tank over on its side. What a good shot!
I went up a little ways to give the other boys some room and to look around. I didn’t see any anti-aircraft guns around, so I slowed down a little to make a better shot. I came in from the side and my rocket hit the tank about half way up the side and it must have set off his ammo inside because it was a real explosion with a lot of fire and smoke.
I went around and made another pass. I fired a rocket and at that exact same time that I fired my rocket, that tank driver must have made his mind up to stop, because I had to lead him a little bit, but he stopped and my rocket just exploded on the other side and ahead of him. Now that is a down right shame to waste a rocket like that. I made a big circle and came back again but that tank that I missed, one of the other boys got him. While he had stopped, one of the other pilots put a rocket into his engine area and blew him into two parts and a lot of little pieces.
I was still upset about wasting that rocket, so I swung around and came up on a tank from the rear. I got his rear end lined up in my sights and fired round after round of 50 cal. shells right into the grating over his engine. I might have got a little mad and wasted some ammo, but he started to burn and smoke and the crew bailed out and into the drainage ditch. I went up to about a 1000 feet altitude and looked around. I counted twelve tanks destroyed or burning. I could see over in the next field was a command car pulling a covered trailer that was probably the headquarter unit for the commanding officer.
I lined up my sights on that command car and put my last rocket right in the back seat. When it exploded, it completely destroyed the command car and turned the trailer on its side. I wasn’t satisfied so I came back and put a lot of 50 cal. rounds into that trailer and it started to burn.
We got together up about 1000 feet altitude and we started back to our air base for ammo and fuel; and maybe a lunch. A good day so far.
See Ya!
CABIN 21 AT VALLEY FORGE
By: Stan Jordan
No. 7 had pulled Betsy Willingham from the frozen pond and worked the ladder and brought them to the bank with Betsy on his back. Betsy had passed out.
There was a small crowd of people watching the action and someone had built a bonfire. Sgt. Baker was waiting to help with the ladder and its occupants. He asked, “Who is the mother of this child?” Then he said, “Please take off all of her wet clothes and boots.” Two soldier boys were warming an army blanket over the fire. A young Lt. from the army post said, “You guys can get in trouble destroying government property.” Sgt. Baker said, “Sit on it Lt., sir.” The Lt. was getting ready to reprimand the Sgt. and then he thought better of it. Sgt. Baker said, “Sir, as soon as the mother gets the wet, cold clothes from the girl, we are going to wrap the girl in this warm blanket. It will help warm her up, it will help her circulation and help dry her off.” The Lt. could see that the old Sgt. knew what he was doing, so that was just what they done and had some people to rub Betsy’s feet and legs, and the Sgt. warned, “Not to brisk, her skin is not as tough as ours.” The boys had warmed up a second blanket and the Lt. held the girl in his arms as the blankets were changed.
The Sgt. asked, “Where does the girl live?” and he found out it was the second house on the left and the Sgt. said, “Lets move over to her home.” Well, the group arrived at Betsy’s house, the mother had lain a warm comforter on the kitchen table and the Lt. laid Betsy on the warm cover.
Sgt. Baker said to softly massage her feet and legs and arms to help with circulation. The kitchen was warmed from a wood cooking stove. Betsy’s mother had put on three kettles for hot water and made a lot of tea and some of the neighbor ladies brought in sugar cookies.
Then, Dr. Addam came in and had the people to stop and give him some room to examine the girl. He said to back away and have some refreshments. The doctor made a few hums & haws and then after a couple of minutes he said, “You folks seemed to have done everything right. I’m amazed, that girl is in pretty good condition for what she has gone through, and she has youth on her side. But, I want her mother to stay right by her side and talk to her. I don’t want her to be scared by all the people in the room when she comes around.”
Everyone drank tea and ate cookies and talked to the doctor and the soldiers.
After a while Betsy started to move a little bit and then she opened her eyes and looked around and then said, “I’m thirsty.”
The doctor said to give her some warm tea and a sugar cookie would help her.
Dr. Addam said, “She will be alright now and I must go now and see old Mrs. Murphy, she thinks she is sick.”
Some of the folks left to go home. The young Lt. asked Sgt. Baker for the names and serial numbers of Sgt. Baker and No. 7, he said, “I am going to recommend that these boys are awarded the Soldier Medal for such quick action and undoubtably saved that girl’s life.”
See Ya!
Craneville, OH
By: Stan Jordan
Over the years people have asked me if there was a town called Craneville and if there was, where was it located?
I will tell you what I know and don’t know about a town named Craneville back in the 1830’s or so.
Back in 1825, Gen. Horatio Curtis settled in Crane Township and established a trading post to deal with the Indians trading their furs for supplies.
It had a post office, and Mr. Ehrhart’s book of 1941 said that it was named Craneville because it was located in Crane Township. The township was organized in 1829, so it must have been after that date.
As I understand, the first member came to Crane Twp. about 1822. It was a man named George Crane and the township and the post office carried his name.
Now the book, Paulding County in 1892, states that Craneville was in the area of New Rochester, maybe it could have been across from New Rochester.
The mail route from Ft. Wayne to Defiance went through what became Antwerp following Gen. Wayne’s trail from Ft. Wayne to Toledo.
I assume that the soldiers cut down some trees to make a road or trail and there was plenty of timber to make bridges, but I also assume that the troops and mail man stayed on the south side of the Maumee River, and used it as it was already blazed trail.
I have heard of a couple of post offices in this Antwerp area, but it was not an office post office until after 1841. One of these was two miles east of what is now Antwerp and was called Paulding–Williams. The first mail carrier was John Owens and he made the rounds on horseback.
See Ya!
