Obituaries - Issue of Sept. 6, 2007 - Tina McAlister-Haynie Funeral Services Held September 1 Tina Dawn McAlister-Haynie joined the Lord Monday, August 27, 2007. She left us peacefully in her sleep of natural causes. She was laid to rest at Forest Glade Cemetery in Mexia beside her father, Larry Joe. Remembering her life is her husband, Thomas W. Hayne, her brothers, Skeeter and Joseph McAlister and step-mother Tammy McAlister. Her adopted family, Bill, Sherrye, Will and Andrea Iannazzo will also miss her greatly. Tina devoted her personal and professional life to taking care of others - serving as a nurses assistant for over 6 years, most recently at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. Arrangements under the direction of Blair-Stubbs Funeral Home in Mexia. Services were held on Saturday, September 1, 2007. Clyde M. Williams Passes Away in Oregon on July 28 Clyde Mitchell Williams, age 74, died in Klamath Falls, Oregon on Saturday, July 28, 2007. A cremation was performed by Klamath Cremation Service. Clyde was the youngest of six children. He was born on May 8, 1933 in Groesbeck to Dora Jean (Hulce) and John Henry Williams. In 1950, he enlisted in the Air Force and served during the Korean Conflict. He transferred to the Army in 1954, and served over twenty years as an Army Mess Sergeant. He married Altha Pearl (Walton) McCaffetty on January 6, 1956. He later moved to Colorado, and recently he moved to Klamath Falls, Oregon. Clyde loved to fish, hunt, be out-of-doors, and watch John Wayne movies. Survivors include two sons: Mitch Williams and wife, Debra of Fletcher, OK and Clyde Williams, Jr. and wife Laura of Ennis; one daughter, Glenda Williams of Wortham; eight grandchildren: James, Scott, Melissa, Linda, Rex, Taylor, Shawn, and C.J.; and eight great-grandchildren. Earlyn B. Harding Former P.O.W. Dies in Kerrville Earlyn Black Harding ("Blackie") passed away on Thursday, Aug. 16, 2007, in the Kerrville VA Hospital at the age of 88. Earlyn was born in the rural community of Fort Parker in Limestone County, Texas, and was brought up on a farm during the depression years. After graduating from Groesbeck High School, she attended Baylor University School of Nursing, where she obtained her RN in 1938. Her first two years of experience in the nursing profession were as a staff nurse at W.I. Cook Memorial Hospital in Fort Worth. In September 1940, Earlyn was accepted in the regular Army Nurse Corps and initially was stationed at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. In June 1941, she volunteered to go to the Philippine Islands, where she was stationed on Corregidor Island on Manila Bay. On Dec. 8, 1941, she was in the group of military nurses who established a field hospital in the Malinta Tunnel on Corregidor Island. Six months later, on May 6, 1942, the American forces on Corregidor, including the nurses, surrendered to the Japanese forces and became prisoners of war. Second Lieutenant Black and her fellow nurses spent the next 33 months under quite challenging, primitive and unhealthy conditions on Corregidor and at the Santo Thomas Internment Camp in Manila until liberation by American Forces on Feb. 3, 1945. The 66 Army Nurse Corps POWs in this group were fittingly named the "Angels of Bataan" and were awarded the Bronze Star. First Lieutenant Black also was awarded the American Defense Medal, the Philippine Liberation Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Medal, the Philippine Defense Medal and the Distinguished Unit Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters and the POW medal. Their story is immortalized in Dr. Elizabeth Norman's "We Band of Angels, the Untold Story of American Nurses Trapped on Bataan by the Japanese" and "All This Hell, U.S. Nurses Imprisoned by the Japanese" by Evelyn M. Monahan and Rosemary Neidel-Greenlee. Upon her return to the United States after liberation, Earlyn was Chief Nurse at Randolph Field Flight Nurse School. Subsequently, she was stationed at Lowry Field, Colorado, in the Army Air Corps, until she resigned the military to marry Lt. Col. Harry Harding, an Ex-POW also captured by the Japanese in the Philippines. Mrs. Harding returned to Groesbeck from time to time to attend homecomings and class reunions. After returning to the United States, Lt. Black (Mrs. Harding), was honored by her hometown of Groesbeck with a special observance. After her military service, Earlyn lived in several areas of the Southwest. During this time, she became an accomplished weaver. As a result of her interest and fascination with Native American culture, she taught weaving in Santa Fe and Los Alamos, N.M. The appeal of native arts and culture led her to study and learn the Maya Indian weaving technique in Guatemala. She was a member of the American Ex-Prisoners of War Organization, Texas Hill Country Chapter of the Retired Officers Association, Military Officers Association of America and the Daughters of the American Revolution. She resided in Kerrville for the past 21 years. She was preceded in death by her husband, Lt. Col. Harry J. Harding. Earlyn is survived by her son, Jac Harding, who resides in San Antonio with his wife, Pat; a daughter, Sandra Harding, of Santa Fe; four grandchildren: Kristin Harding Rees and her husband, Ricky, Clare Harding, Annalis Juillard and Skyler Juillard; and two great-grandchildren, Gabriella Rees and Alexandra Rees. Memorial contributions may be made to The Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation or to a charity of one's choice. A graveside memorial service was held at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery on Friday, Aug. 24. A memorial service in Kerrville is planned for September. The family invites you to send condolences at www.grimesfuneralchapels.com by selecting the "Send Condolences" link. Funeral arrangements were entrusted to Grimes Funeral Chapels of Kerrville. This is an on-line publication of Groesbeck Journal P.O. Box 440 Groesbeck, TX 76642-0440 254-729-5103 For comments or questions, email Publisher: Thomas Hawkins thawkins@groesbeckjournal.com The Web Site contains material which is protected by international copyright and trademark laws. No material may be copied, reproduced, republished, broadcast or distributed in any way or decompiled, except that you may download one copy of the Materials on any single computer for your personal, non-commercial home use only, provided you keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices. On-line publication, Copyright 2000, Groesbeck Journal. Web page design, Copyright 2000, EZ Edit Web Publishing.