C. E. "Bill" McCutcheon

Charles Eugene (Bill) McCutcheon was born at Gilboa, West Virginia, on November 15, 1922, the son of the late Earle and Elizabeth Rader McCutcheon.

He entered WWII in December, 1944 and had his basic training at Camp Atterbury, IN.  He was sent to Fort Riley, KS, Fort Meade, MD and to Camp Stoneman, CA.  In May, 1945, he was shipped to Luzon in the Philippines.  He was stationed in Japan for 1 year and 8 days when the war ended.  Coming home, he was sent to Fort Lewis, WA and received his discharge at Fort Bragg, NC in November 1946.

The ship he was on in Japan was docked beside the USS Missouri at the time the peace agreement was signed with Japan.  He received the following medals (1) Asiatic Pacific Theater Service Medal, (2) Philippine Liberation Service Medal, (3) Good Conduct Medal, (4) WWII Victory Medal and (5) Occupation Medal Japan.

 As Squad Leader, he performed duties in Japan while assigned to Troop “F”, 7^th Calvary.  He was in charge of the activities of a squad of 12 riflemen trained in the use of an M-1 rifle and various small arms to destroy enemy personnel and to capture and hold enemy strong points.  He supervised squad in Close Order Drill, Physical Training Exercises, Manual of Arms and various routine duties.  He was responsible for the Health and Safety of the men.  He supervised, instructed and stationed men on various guard details and duties.

 While on Luzon, Bill and 5 members of his squad became separated from their troop and were lost for 3 nights and 2 days.  They finally came upon another troop at dawn, unloading supplies from a ship docked on a beach in the Pacific Ocean.  They hadn’t had anything to eat or drink for 2 nights and 1 day.  Bill told a sergeant that they were  hungry and was told they would have to wait.  Bill pulled his pistol and said:  “Do you want to stand there and watch us eat or do you want to lay down?”  The sergeant backed down and each one grabbed a carton, not knowing what was in it.  Bill got a box of one-gallon can of crushed pineapple.  Using his knife, he opened a can and ate almost all of it.  To this day, he can smell pineapple a mile away and cannot stand to eat even one bite.

 After returning home, he married Elsie Strickland on April 17, 1948.  They have 2 sons, James Earle and Charles Eugene II.  They also have 5 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren.

have lived at Enon for 42 years of their 53 years of marriage.