Met...Wooed...& Wed

So far as I know only one of our Perry County boys has married an Australian girl. I met and had a nice talk with Sergeant William C. Autry of the U.S. Marine Corps this week, the lucky man who is helping to cement relations between our country and the good country of Australia.

Serving as Communications Chief of a crack U.S. Marine unit, Sergeant Autry was located in a town in Australia for eleven months. There he met, wooed, and wed one of the fine girls from the country down under. He hasn't seen her for 17 months, but he is looking forward to the time when transportation will be available for her to visit the country she has dreamed about but never hoped to see until the Marines landed down there.

Sergeant Autry lived at Vicco before entering the service some four and a half years ago. He has served in most important islands of the South Pacific, wears a ribbon with two Presidential unit citations, and has been in numerous major battle engagements.

This fine Marine thinks well of the Australian people and is able to tell more than the average returning service man about the country. The people are quiet, religious, and home-loving, with girls taking an interest in house-keeping and other duties of the homes and farms, he tells me.

In questioning him, I got the impression that jitterbugging roadhouse whoopee, all night parties, hell bent driving of automobiles, and wild life in general has not reached that country yet, which makes some of us cast longing glances in that direction at times.

The old-fashioned girl is not something that brings memories of the past in that country, but a reality, I learn.

Sergeant Autry said nothing against the girls of his own country, except that this was the only country in the world for him. I was genuinely interested in learning something of the character of the people on the other side of the world from us. This Marine is proud of the girl he married, as well he should be. We all look forward to the time she will visit this community. 1945