A Secret Mission and a Monument to Bravery-

Finding a Memorial to an Army World War II Battalion

My dad Ed Newvine stands next to military banners honoring family members who served in the military. Chester T. Dean is memorialized with a banner honoring his service in World War II .

Over the past ten years, I have been on a mission to learn as much as I can about my great uncle Army Corporal Chester T. Dean.

Chet was killed in a training accident in Wales on June 8, 1944, just two days after D-Day.

In this space, I have shared new-found pictures, newspaper clippings, and the text of an Army Adjunct General’s letter written to the widow in response to her inquiry asking for more information on how Chet died.

The letter confirmed the worse, but went on to praise Chet as a soldier, leader, and friend to his platoon partners. This past summer, a new search started.

Taking the exact wording from what was inscribed on his headstone a new journey for more information started. What has been found is information that Chet and his battalion worked on a secret Army mission.

There’s even a memorial to that company on the grounds of a former training camp in Arizona.

Corporal Chester Dean and the headstone in the Port Leyden Cemetery.. Photos: Find a Grave.com

Chet served with the 748th Tank Battalion, Medium. They were also known at the time as the Rhinos. On August 20, 1942, they were activated from Camp Rucker in Alabama.

Eight months later on April 15, 1943, they were sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky for training.

Five days later on April 20, they were reorganized as a special battalion ready for a top secret Army mission. The secret mission was all about a powerful lighting device that would be attached to tanks.

The group was trained on and equipped with special CDL spotlights. CDL stands for Canal Defense Light. CDL was a powerful searchlight mounted on a tank that was intended to be used during night-time attacks to disorientate enemy troops.

The Rhinos would be sent to Camp Bouse, Arizona where they would be attached to the 9th Armored Tank Group. Rhinos landed at Glasgow, Scotland on in early April of 1944, and then proceeded to South Wales.

The Rhinos landed in Normandy on Utah Beach on June 6th, 1944, D-Day.

Corporal Dean trained with the soldiers and remained in Wales, presumably to train with more troops that would be deployed sometime after D-Day.

Two days after D-Day, Corporal Dean was killed in a training accident in Wales.

All three locations where Chet trained: Camp Rucker, Fort Knox, and Camp Bouse are confirmed in a newspaper clipping found several years ago when I started looking for more information about my great uncle’s service.

American military history has been compiled on-line in a number of websites and databases.

I learned most of this new information for a Google search that took me to the Historical Marker Database (https://www.hmdb.org).

According to the website Veterans.ND.org, over nine-thousand troops spent time at Camp Bouse.

All were sworn to secrecy about the projects. Solders could not transfer out of the camp and their movements were restricted.

Historical marker honoring the 748th Tank Battalion, also known as the Rhinos. My great-uncle Chester Dean served with the 748th. He died in a training accident two days after D-Day in Wales where the unit prepared for deployments in the European theater. Flanking the photo are Hank Leintz and his wife Leota. Hank served in the 748th Tank Battalion. Photo: hmdb.org

The internet search took me to a stone marker and bronze plaque honoring the 748th Tank Battalion.

The monument is on the site of Camp Bouse Desert Training Center in south western Arizona.

According to the website DesertTrainingCenter.com, Camp Bouse was established in 1943 expressly for the secret CDL training. It closed when the soldiers left for Europe in the spring of 1944.

The inscription on the monument can be found at https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=92814

The man in the photo is Henry “Hank” Leintz who served in the 748th.

Hank’s son Jon was instrumental in getting the monument placed through the group E. Clampus Vitus. Hank passed in 2017.

Like many of our brave men and women who died while wearing the uniform of our armed forces, Chet Dean’s story has not been completely told.

Left: plaque marking the Bouse WW II Desert Training Camp where my great-uncle Chester T. Dean and his unit trained on the Canal Defense Light tank project. Right: Unidentified soldiers from the 399th Engineer Battalion who also trained at that location. Photos: deserttrainingcenter.com

Little by little, new information is being uncovered. We know now that the secret mission, the Canal Defense Light was found not to be as effective as the Army hoped.

That did not stop the 748th from completing the mission to win the war in Europe.

The soldiers of the 748th Tank Battalion made it to Omaha Beach, and would remain in France through the end of the war. The memorial at the site of the former Camp Bouse stands, along with several other monuments as a tribute to all the soldiers who passed through that aptly titled Desert Training Camp for that short time during the critical days of the war.

Chet Dean was there too. He paid the ultimate price.

-Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

He is indebted to four groups:

Citizens of Bouse, Lost Dutchman Chapter 5917, Billy Holcomb chapter 1069, John P. Squibob Chapter 1853, and E. Clampus Vitus for making this and other monuments at Camp Bouse possible.

Steve will launch his newest book Beaten Paths and Back Roads at the October 3 meeting of the Merced Women’s Club.

His California books are available at the Merced County Courthouse Museum or online at Lulu.com

The Virtue of Work-

Labor Day Holiday a Reminder of the Value of Doing Well at Work

A successful participant in a skills training initiative is honored by Merced County WorkNet. Photo: Merced County Workforce Investment Board

I'll never forget a Friday before Labor Day when I got a call from one of the program managers at Merced County WorkNet.

He was asking if I could attend a completion ceremony that afternoon.
The event was set up to award certificates of completion for a skills training program I played a small role in putting together.

WorkNet is the agency that helps employees upgrade their skills while helping employers by providing better trained workers.

It is the public facing arm of the Workforce Investment Board. These boards direct the expenditure of state and federal tax dollars earmarked for job training.

The Friday before Labor Day was one of the quietest work days of the year for me. Most of the company leadership was already starting their three-day weekend.

But I was in the office, and told WorkNet program manager I would be there for the ceremony.

Earlier in that summer, we were able to secure skill training resources from my company with resources that WorkNet received from the Obama-era American Resource Recovery Act (ARRA).

By leveraging these resources, training was provided that targeted older youth (defined as ages 16-22). WorkNet had the infrastructure to provide program. My company had the specialized job training skills ready to teach.

As a result of this collaboration, about thirty older youth got specialized training in energy efficiency alongside job readiness training in soft skills.

Completion of the program helped these young people prepare for careers in such fields as heating and air conditioning service repair.

Through an on-the-job training incentive, some of the class members got jobs in the field upon completion of the program.

The job skills program was recognized by my employer with a community service award in 2016. Photo: Newvine Personal Collection

Several months later, the program was nominated for a community service award sponsored by the company.

In the late spring of 2016, I received word that the program would be recognized at a ceremony to be held in San Francisco.

My wife accompanied me to the ceremony. Our daughter who lived in San Francisco was also able to attend the event.

Awards were presented in such categories as safety and diversity. In the community service category, the program that helped Merced County workers improve their job readiness skills was recognized.

Most of my colleagues were based in San Francisco so they assembled in the company auditorium along with other work teams and families. I could hear our team cheering when I was called up to accept the recognition.

It was a special day, but not as special as that particular Friday before Labor Day a decade ago when I was asked to come by the local WorkNet office for the completion ceremony of the job training program.

Attending that ceremony helped me see the real value of these programs.

I saw satisfying looks on the faces of the participants, proud smiles from family and friends, and a sense of purpose from the WorkNet staff.

It made we feel good knowing that my company played a role in making it possible.

From about that time going forward, I stopped looking at Labor Day as just a signal that summer was over

The holiday now became associated with the virtue of honorable work. It is a time to be grateful for the job and to work diligently to improve skills that add value to the workplace.

The words on my arms in this art presentation from about a decade ago still holds true. A job is a blessing. Photo: Newvine Personal Collection

A few years later at a conference of Workforce Investment Boards, I met an artist who was asking attendees to allow him to paint our forearms with a few words about how we feel about the virtue of work.

He took my picture and included it in his project called “Dear World”.

My key words were: A job is a blessing.

Now three years into retirement, I feel the same way about the virtue of work now as I did back when that photograph was taken.

The virtue of work coming into clearer focus on this Labor Day.

-Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His new book is titled Beaten Paths & Back Roads.

It will be formally released on October 3 at the fall meeting of the Merced Women’s Club. He will talk to the group about the project, and the book will be available for sale at that time.

Two of his books: California Back Roads and Can Do Californians, are available at the Merced County Courthouse Museum gift shop or online at Lulu.com