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Greg Tebbetts, LCDR
to remember
Ott, Eugene Earl, AMC USN(Ret).
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Contact Info
Home Town Toad Suck, Arkansas
Last Address Born in Ward, AR. Lived in Toad Suck, AR, after retirement.
Date of Passing May 02, 2000
Location of Interment Little Rock National Cemetery (VA) - Little Rock, Arkansas
After retirement, Earl moved his family to a 400-acre farm on the Arkansas River at Toad Suck, just west of Conway, Arkansas. He went to work on the construction of the Toad Suck Lock and Dam. After completion, the Army Corps of Engineers hired him on as the facility's repairman. He worked for the Corps for 10 years. He raised catfish and cattle on his farm, and had a love of all types of heavy machinery, such as bulldozers and cranes. It was not unusual for him to make an impulse buy, spending several thousands of dollars on a piece of equipment, only to leave it untouched for months or years at a time! He enjoyed fishing on the Arkansas River and handmade his own fishing nets as taught in his youth by the "River Rats" he knew growing up. He often piloted his own houseboat up and down the river near Toad Suck, accompanied by wife Joan. Most mornings he would go out on a walk down the main gravel road on the farm, ending at the top of a bluff overlooking the river. Later in life, he took up membership in the Gideons to spread the Gospel and stay busy. He enjoyed visits with his daughter Diane, son-in-law Terrell, grandsons Chris and Greg, and most of all with the youngest, granddaughter Nell. He even bought a llama to keep on the farm and called it Nell's llama as a way to entice her to visit more often! On May 2, 2000, he set out on the farm to check on things, but did not return when expected. He was found to have peacefully passed away near one of his favorite spots, a pond where he would sit and watch duck and geese. AMC Eugene Earl Ott led a full life of service to God, family, and his country.
Other Comments:
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/New Guinea Campaign (1943-44)
From Month/Year
January / 1943
To Month/Year
December / 1944
Description The last obstacle in liberating all of New Guinea island was the Vogelkop Peninsula in Dutch New Guinea. The Japanese resistance on the peninsula gathered at Manokwari, and MacArthur did not wish to contest with this force. Instead, his "hit 'em where they ain't" strategy took the Allied forces to a number of undefended beaches near Cape Opmaria and Sansapor. Like Rabaul, the 25,000 men at Manokwari were now stranded, frustratingly idling uselessly.
In Sep 1944, Allied troops occupied the Halmahera Islands, concluding the New Guinea Campaign. MacArthur was now only several hundred miles from the Philippines. In his memoir, MacArthur attributed to the Allied victory over New Guinea to mobility and the ability to achieve surprise at key confrontations. Additionally, he also insisted that his refusal to deploy military governors over conquered regions helped his command focus on the task at hand. Instead, he brought in Dutch and Australian civil administrators immediately after the area had been deemed secure. "The success of this method was reflected in the complete lack of friction between the various governments concerned", he noted.
Although Allied attention would move toward the Philippine Islands by this time, small pockets of Japanese resistance would continue to fight until late May 1945.