Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 29, 1995 TAG: 9503290039
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In the most massive operation since D-Day, four allied armies ripped Germany's Rhine River line in an historic crossing, invaded the bomb-ravaged Ruhr and north German plain on a solid front and plowed five miles inland in a long-awaited end-the-war offensive.
Superfortress bombers in the greatest yet demolition raid on Japan struck at the mammoth Mitsubishi aircraft engine factory near Nagoya.
Robert Murphy, political adviser on German affairs to Supreme Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower, warned the German people that they must choose between unconditional surrender and pulverization. Murphy revealed plans for re-educating the German people after the war to make them a peace-loving nation.
Rep. A. Willis Robertson eliminated himself as a candidate for Virginia's governor. The Lexington Democrat, one of three men mentioned as a possible successor to Gov. Colgate Darden, said he could be of more service to Virginia and his district in Congress.
Byron Nelson shot a 67 to take the lead at the halfway point of the Greensboro Open golf tournament. Nelson held a one-stroke lead over veteran Johnny Revolta and was six strokes up on Virginian Sam Snead.
Japanese broadcasts reported American forces were attempting landings on Tokashika and Aka Islands. Tokashika Island was just west of the southern tip of Okinawa Island, which had been bombarded over the weekend by the U.S. fleet.
Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Great Britain crossed the Rhine to inspect British and American bridgeheads and came within 50 yards of being struck by a German artillery shell.
Germany called upon its children - girls as well as boys - to throw themselves into the war's last battles.
A second mighty Soviet army had entered an offensive bound for Vienna and had slashed to within six miles of the Danube.
David Lloyd George, who guided Britain to victory as prime minister in World War I and who had warned of the coming of World War II, died peacefully at his farm home in North Wales at age 82.
Solid Fuel Administrator Harold Ickes urged soft-coal operators and the United Mine Workers to keep working until May 1 under terms of their expiring contract to give the nation the "bare minimum" of coal needed to fight the war. Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins said she expected an end to the labor dispute before the March 31 contract expiration date.
Roanoke City Council authorized an additional case worker for the welfare department to help out the two-person staff that was currently handling 140 juvenile cases apiece. The caseload had greatly increased with employment of a full-time judge for the juvenile court.
Veteran troops of the Eighth Army's Americal Division landed on Cebu Island against well-prepared beach defenses as Japanese defenders set fire to Cebu City, second city of the Philippines.
Dave Levin, the glamour boy of Scotty Dawkins stable of wrestlers, attempted to the rip the mask off the Black Shadow at the Roanoke Auditorium.
Tanks of the U.S. First Army, scattering all resistance on a dazzling 55-mile sweep, roared to within 186 miles of Berlin and all but cut off the Ruhr River basin from the rest of Germany.
E. Douglas Nininger, former principal at William Fleming High School, was named superintendent of Roanoke County Schools, succeeding Roland Cook.
by CNB