Grave marker for Fred E. Yates in the
Memorial Park Cemetery, Oklahoma City (Oklahoma county), Oklahoma.
Fred
registered for the draft in North Carolina stating his place of
residence as Pricilla Mill, Ranlo (Gaston county) and a mailing address
of Ranlo station, Ranlo, NC.
The Priscilla Spinning
Company (incorporated in Ranlo in 1920) was one of three textile mills
in the tiny town of Ranlo which was but 1.7 square miles in size.
All three were owned by John Calvin Rankin and William Thomas Love, two
prominent area industrialists, in fact, the town's name of "Ranlo" was a
contraction of RANkin and LOve.
Fred was called for the
draft and enlisted in the Army on 8 September 1943 and volunteered for
parachutist duty.
On 23 April 1945 Pvt Yates
transferred into Company A from the 51st Reinforcement Battalion.
Eleven months later, now a Sergeant, he re-enlisted but was subsequently
released on 25 September 1947. |