Lorain Countians in Combat Training – July 13, 1963

When we're not actively at war with another country, it's easy to forget about about the men and women in uniform, and how they must train to be ready for battle. That's why it was nice to see this collection of great photos providing a glimpse of combat training that ran in the Journal back on July 13, 1963. 

As the caption notes, "Lorain Countians with the 83rd Infantry Division at Camp A. P. Hill, Va., this week participated in a 24-hour combat patrol through the hills and swamps of the area. Some of the photos taken by Journal Staffer Hardy Crist, a sergeant with the 83rd, show the men returning to the bivouac area from patrol duty. 

"A 308th Engineer Battalion of the unit also took part in an engineering class, where the troops built a 40-foot timber trestle bridge in the forest of the camp. The span was constructed in one day. The units will be returning to Northern Ohio this weekend after two weeks of intensive drills."

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Elsewhere on the page we have a large ad for the Ohio Fuel Gas Company (sorry, Reddy); an ad for Shoreway Shopping Center in Sheffield Lake; and an ad for Weber's Nursing Home in Wellington (which is still around and doing business as Weber Health Care Center.

There's also an odd ad for Heilman's, the late great restaurant remembered by older Lorainites. The ad's headline – "Be a Trencherman – order a yard of beer. King James II did" – is curious to see the least. I had to look up the meaning of the word 'trencherman.' It means, "a hearty eater." But what does that have to do with King James II, the last Catholic monarch of England?

Only the ad's copywriter knows for sure.