Message to co-workers: ‘We are fortunate to be Americans’
While Private Lash Rushing was fighting on the Italian front during World War II in December 1944, his Mississippi Power co-workers were on his mind.
“Give my best wishes to everyone for a Happy New Year,” Rushing wrote in a letter published in the January 1945 edition of Mississippi Power’s “Power Lines.”
“I am doing fine and am proud you folks will never have to endure the things the civilians here are going through. We are fortunate to be Americans. I am looking forward to the day I will be back working with the Company again.”
Rushing, a lineman from Hattiesburg, never saw that day or many others after writing that note.
He died on March 4, the third Mississippi Power employee killed during United States military duty in World War II.
John Hilton Pittman, an accounting clerk in the billing office, was on an ill-fated flight from Luxembourg to Boxted, England, on Nov. 19, 1944. The plane was not seen or heard from after takeoff.
Pittman, a Master Sgt. in the U.S. Army Air Force, is memorialized at the Tablets of the Missing in the Ardennes American Cemetery in Neupre, Belgium.
Capt. John Ellard, a commercial clerk in the General Office, died in a Japanese prison camp in June 1943 after being captured when Bataan fell.
This article, reprinted from the June 1943 edition of Mississippi Power’s “Power Lines,” announced Ellard’s death:
“Captain J.A. Ellard, employed as Commercial Clerk in the General Office between his graduation from Mississippi State and his being ordered to service under his reserve officers commission, died in a Japanese prison camp on June 11, 1943. Red Cross advice of his death was received by his wife and parents on June 16, 1943.
“Captain Ellard, who was on Bataan when it fell, was reported missing for a long time before his family was advised that he was a Japanese prisoner of war.
“Entering the army about two years ago as second lieutenant, Ellard was twice promoted, having been made a captain while fighting on Bataan.
“His death and the hopeless but heroic fight in which he and his comrades helped give time to America, stiffens our determination to leave unturned no stone or withhold no effort in the part we play toward accomplishing the cause for which he gave his life.”
This article, reprinted from the March 1945 edition of Mississippi Power’s “Power Lines,” announced Rushing and Pittman’s death:
“After hearing that Pvt. Lash Rushing was in a hospital in Italy and receiving letters from him, written while in the hospital stating that he was having some throat trouble, his wife received a message that he had died on March 4.
“Lash was a well-liked member of “Heavy” Lewis’ line crew in Hattiesburg, and prior to entering the service in June 1944, had worked for the Company in Hattiesburg for the past five years. He went overseas in December 1944 and had served on the Italian front since that time.
“Pvt. Rushing is survived by his widow, two children, his father, four brothers and six sisters. Mr. A.D. Johnson, one of our linemen, is Lash’s brother-in-law.
“Lash is the third Mississippi Power Company employee in the armed forces who has been reporting as having died or as missing in action. John Hilton Pittman, of the Billing Office and nephew of Division Auditor B.A. Pittman, is the second such employee still being unreported. Hilton has been employed by the Company for 3 years before entering military service in October 1940.
“We extend our sincere sympathy to the families and friends of these MPCo men in this hour of loss and uncertainty.”
Mississippi Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), produces safe, reliable and environmentally responsible energy for more than 187,000 customers in 23 southeast Mississippi counties. With nearly 160 megawatts of approved solar energy capacity, Mississippi Power is the largest partner in providing renewable energy in the state of Mississippi. Visit our website at mississippipower.com, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and YouTube.
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