The Early Days of the War at Wilmington, NC

From the Feb. 1, 2012 Wilmington (NC) Star-News "Back Then" by Scott Nunn. These are articles taken from the papers from back then.

JANUARY 18, 1942: Air warden McKean Maffit (one of the Maffitt family?) announced plans for sentries to stand guard on top of several tall downtown buildings to be on the lookout for fires or bombs set off by saboteurs. (This would not be surprising coming just over a month after Pearl Harbor was attacked. However, I notice they weren't on the lookout for enemy bombers.)

JANUARY 20, 1942: Herbert Frank Melton, 25, of Masonboro Sound (near Wilmington) was killed at Pearl Harbor. He was a B.M. 2nd Class on the USS Oklahoma and the son of Mr. and Mrs. George Melton. Graduating from New Hanover High School in Wilmington, he enlisted in the Navy in 1936. (His remains were never found.)

There was another sailor killed from the Oklahoma with the same last name, Edward Rudolph Melton, but evidently no relation. John Russell Melton died aboard the USS West Virginia at Pearl Harbor, also no relation.

The War Hits Home. --GreGen