The recent induction of Charles Elias, 26, of 1151 Washington street, marked the fifth brother to enter the armed forces, and put the well-known Elias family of the South Norwood section in close chase of the Breens for having the most sons in the service.
Longest in the service of the five brothers has been Louis, now 22, and attached to the Medical Corps somewhere in Africa, who has been in uniform almost three years, Twenty-seven-year-old Luie, a private first class, has been in for more than two years, and is now stationed in Panama. At Gulfport, Mississippi, serving as a sergeant in the Army Air Corps, is brother George, 24, who marked two years of uniform-wearing on Christmas.
Entering the service at the same time as George, but choosing a different branch, nineteen-year-old Michael is a seaman first class and is undergoing submarine training at New London, Connecticut.
An older married brother, Jim, 36, is the proprietor of the South End Market, but his wife wouldn’t be surprised to see him join his brothers in khaki before long, while a sister-in-law may enroll in the WAACs.
The family is one of the oldest in Norwood, having settled here more than thirty years ago. All the boys were prominent in high school athletics and are well known locally.
March 12, 1943 – The Norwood Messenger