April 2024 e-edition - 15

The story jumped to the next page and
concluded with: " The [Wyoming Game and
Fish] Commission wishes to extend its deep
appreciation for the support accorded its
periodical in the past. It hopes and sincerely
believes that the mutual goodwill fostered by
it will survive this interruption, and will be
continued on an ever-enlarging scale, when
the big job at hand has been accomplished. "
The March 1944 issue was 30
pages. When the magazine returned
in January 1946, readers were
rewarded for their wait with an
increase to 38 pages.
The March 1944 issue was 30 pages. When
the magazine returned in January 1946,
readers were rewarded for their wait with
an increase to 38 pages. The remaining issues
that year were 40 pages, including a color
picture on the cover of the March 1946 issue
of elk feeding in the winter. It was only the
second time the magazine featured a color
photograph on the cover.
In the January 1946 issue, there was a
two-page story about some of the new old
faces who held prominent roles within the
Wyoming Game and Fish Department and
Commission. William R. Eberhart of Laramie
and Carl Jorgensen of Pinedale were
new members of the Commission. Archie
Pendergraft of Ten Sleep was the State Game
Warden, and R.R. Rousseau and James R.
Simon were State Fish Wardens.
Another story was about Game and Fish
employees who returned to the department
from military service in the war. Nineteen
employees were granted indefinite leave by
the Commission to serve. Twelve of those
were honorably discharged, eight returned to
their former positions with the department
and three accepted employment elsewhere.
As of the writing of the article, the job status
of one other Game and Fish employee was
uncertain. There were no casualties among
those employees who served.
According to the story, the list of those
who served in the war and returned to Game
and Fish were: Simon Charles Ritter, office
World War II scrap metal drive at the town railroad depot in Kemmerer in 1942. (Wyoming State Archives)
deputy, Kenneth Winter, fish technician,
Floyd Roberts, state spawner, Melville Baldwin,
hatchery assistant, James W. Spriggs,
deputy game warden, Norbert Faass, deputy
game warden, and Dee Linford, information
agent.
Game and Fish employees who were still
enlisted in military service when that article
ran included: Jim Grasse, former deputy
game warden, James C. Simpson, state fish
warden from Jan. 1943-March 1944, Earl
Wilde, hatchery assistant, Wilbur Huggins,
hatchery superintendent, Malcolm D. Martin,
who surveyed sage grouse, Kenneth W.,
deputy game warden and Bernard W. Johnson,
hatchery foreman.
The story jumped from page 10 to 27,
and the final two paragraphs read: " Military
service in the interest of their country had
taken department employees into every
major Allied combat theater of the war, from
Greenland to New Guinea and the Solomon
Islands, from Germany and Italy to the Philippines,
China and the Japanese mainland.
Fortune had favored them, however, and
none were known to be casualties at the time
of writing. With the exception of Grasse
(a captain in the Army), none were known
to have been wounded or to have suffered
serious illness.
" To them all, the Wyoming Game and Fish
Commission and Department, their members
and personnel, extend sincere congratulations
and thanks - for a job well done. "
- Robert Gagliardi is the associate editor of Wyoming
Wildlife.
Wyoming Wildlife | 15

April 2024 e-edition

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