Monthly Archives: October 2020
Halloween 2020
Halloween this year has many comparisons to that which went on during WWII, but there were no episodes of mass destruction in the cities as I have seen in Philadelphia.
WWII put quite the damper on any activity as chaotic as Halloween was back in those days, people weren’t making heroes out of criminals … according to history, war shortages made everyone edgy, and towns clamped down on Halloween pranking with both curfews and notices sent home from principals and police. There was a national plea for conservation: any piece of property damaged during Halloween pranking was a direct affront to the war effort.
In 1942 the Chicago City Council voted to abolish Halloween and institute instead “Conservation Day” on October 31st. (This wasn’t the only attempt to reshape Halloween: President Truman tried to declare it “Youth Honor Day” in 1950 but the House of Representatives, sidetracked by the Korean War, neglected to act on the motion. In 1941 the last week of October was declared “National Donut Week,” and then years later, “National Popcorn Week.”)
A day for dressing up.
Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when it was believed the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead become blurred. It has since evolved into a holiday when spooky legends, myths and folklore take center stage—each with their own dark history.
The first Halloween during WWII was in 1942, when the nation was in full-tilt war production mode and millions of men were in uniform. Children and teenagers were suddenly set free from adult supervision, as mothers and fathers spent more time working or away from home altogether. There were widespread fears of juvenile delinquency and criminal behavior. Fear was a dominant emotion during the war years and the vandalism one might expect on Halloween now seemed to portend greater crimes. Many communities did, in fact, cancel Halloween that year.
Some folks saw the opportunity to co-opt, rather than ban, the holiday by hosting costume parties, dances, etc. to lure the would-be delinquents off the streets and into safer environments. (Still not much candy available though, due to the rationing of sugar.) It worked. Halloween vandalism feel off in 1942 and after the war, neighborhoods began hosting a kind of roving festival for kids – trick-or-treating.
For templates to create your own military pumpkins ___ CLICK HERE!!
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Military HALLOWEEN Humor ~
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Farewell Salutes –
James Blaney – Milwaukee, WI; US National Guard, Major General (Ret.)
Eric Bunger – Sioux Falls, SD; US Army, Afghanistan & Iraq, Sgt., 82nd Airborne Division
Christopher Crossett – Philadelphia, PA; US Army, WWII, ETO, Silver Star, Purple Heart
Alpha Farrow – Lindsay, OK; US Army, WWII, ETO, Pvt., 10th Mt. Division / Vietnam & Korea, Chaplain, Col. (Ret.)
Morgan Garrett – Weddington, NC; US Coast Guard, Ensign
William Hinchey – Middletown, RI; USMC, WWII, CBI
Duane T. Kyser – Muskogee, OK; US Navy, WWII, Seaman 2nd Class, USS Oklahoma, KIA (Pearl Harbor)Rhiannon Ross – Waxom, MI; US Navy, Lt.
David Mansfield (100) – Thorold, CAN; RC Air Force, WWII
Carlisle Trost – Valmeyer, IL; US Navy, Naval Academy grad ’53, 23rd Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral (Ret. 37 y.)
Walter S. Wojtczak (105) – Newbury, NH; US Army, WWII, Major, Corps of Engineers
Eye-witness Account
Jack Wilde, WWII
Jack Wilde woke up covered in blood. The gore gushed down his leg. His head pounded.
The second lieutenant had been hunched over in the cramped tail section of the B-25, so he didn’t really know what had happened.
He remembered the plane banking and suddenly starting to climb. Moments later he’d heard branches hitting the port tail wing. “I thought to myself, ‘Boy, that’s something to write home about,’ ” he recalled years later. “And about that time, it really was something to write home about because we hit the top of the mountain.”
Jack Wilde had found himself flying over the New Guinea jungle in January 1945 because his infantry division was part of the Allied forces leapfrogging across the Dutch East Indies toward Japan.
Intelligence had come in indicating that Japanese detachments were working their way toward the U.S. base at Sansapor, so commanders ordered an aerial reconnaissance to determine where exactly the enemy was.
Wilde headed for the B-25 along with the six other officers involved in the mission, he changed his mind. He turned to Lt. Tom Coghlan, who was seeing the group off.
“How about lending me that .45 of yours,” he said. “I’ll give it back to you after the ride is over.”
Coghlan handed over the gun and shoulder holster.
The plane had been in the air only about five minutes — flying low in a river canyon — when it made the rapid, steep ascent. A moment later the plane shook, throwing Wilde forward. The last thing he remembered was the Plexiglass over the tail gun shattering.
B-25G Mitchell
When Wilde regained consciousness, he realized he had a smattering of cuts on his face, but the real problem was his right leg. There were two deep punctures behind the kneecap, with blood pouring out. He tried to move the leg, sending a blast of pain shuddering through his body.
He climbed out of the mangled B-25 Mitchell and surveyed it. A wing was gone. The nose had been smashed into a disk. One of the engines sat on the ground nearby, still buzzing.
He found the other men in the wreckage. All dead.
The 22-year-old lieutenant didn’t have time to wonder how in the world he had managed to survive the crash. He didn’t even have time to be afraid. But the horrible scene would stay with him the rest of his life.
Turning away from the smoking debris that day, Lt. Jack Wilde took stock. He had on him 10 cigarettes, a lighter — and that .45 automatic, with seven rounds of ammunition.
That would have to be enough. He had to get moving. He figured that, with the noise the B-25 made while going down, any Japanese soldiers in the vicinity would be heading toward the area.
example of New Guinea jungle.
He was confident he could stay alive in the New Guinea jungle. He’d seen proof that it was possible.
The American lieutenant now oriented himself in the jungle as best he could and headed off. At first his damaged leg was so bad he had to drag himself on his belly. He was actually about 10 miles west of his destination.
The first night he found a big rock to hide behind. Rain poured down relentlessly through the darkness. His leg throbbed; he could feel blood still bubbling out of the wound. For the first time, the thought crossed his mind that he might die.
On his third day in the New Guinea jungle, Lt. Jack Wilde came upon a river that offered a series of violent waterfalls and rapids, with sheer cliffs on both sides rising between 50- and 100-feet high.
He sure liked the idea of letting that river carry him along, but he recognized that it was a foolish thought. “I knew that in my condition I wasn’t able to survive that waterfall and what was going on in that river, because it was going down the mountainside at a hell of a clip,” he recalled.
But he also knew that walking wasn’t working out. When he came upon a large piece of balsa wood, he found himself thinking, “If that thing would float, I could just hang on and ride that waterfall out.”
He didn’t let himself consider it too hard: he jumped in the water, holding the balsa wood tight. Over the falls he went. In the pool below the waterfall, the buoyant block of wood pulled him to the surface. He gasped for air, elated.
“That piece of wood and I were friends for two days,” he said.
There was just one problem: he was sometimes riding the rapids right past the enemy along the banks.
So when he saw that he was coming up on open areas where soldiers might be, he would slow down his progress, “find a brushy part and crawl out like an alligator and observe everything from a camouflage position and then sneak my way through the brush to the next place where I had to swim.”
He managed to avoid the Japanese, but more challenges remained. This included the fruitless search for food — and an encounter with a large wild boar that appeared intent on attack.
“I couldn’t shoot him, of course, because that would give me away,” he said. “Finally, I resorted to animal behavior, baring my teeth and like that.” The boar, perhaps bemused, eventually wandered off.
Jack Wilde
Finally, after five full days in the jungle with nothing to eat, Wilde reached the mouth of the river — and found, “to my absolute horror,” a series of sturdy Japanese pillboxes blocking the crossing he needed to make.
“Well, there are times in life when you just have to accept that things are not the way you want them,” he said when relating his adventure 50 years later. “So I pulled back the slide on the automatic and made sure there was a shell in the chamber and took it off safe and put it in my right hand and thought to myself, ‘Well, fellas, here we come.’ ”
He eased his way along the fortifications and peeked in, one by one. He breathed: the pillboxes had been abandoned. But his relief didn’t last long. After he crossed the river and began to push through the brush, he spotted soldiers moving carefully along the edge of the beach.
His luck once again held. As he headed toward the men, staying low, he realized it wasn’t the enemy. It was a patrol from his 167th infantry.
He moved onto the beach, took off his hat and started waving it. He now realized he was going to survive this ordeal. That he might have a long life after all. And he did.
Wilde’s fellow soldiers carried him to a forward outpost, and from there they sent him by boat to the main base.
“When I came ashore, who was standing there but Lt. Coghlan,” Wilde said. “I handed him his pistol and holster and said, ‘Thank you.’ ”
He hadn’t needed to use it, he pointed out, but “I was sure glad I had it.”
In a letter home a few days later, Jack Wilde wrote that the base doctors “seem to think it remarkable that I could walk out — but I was damn hungry.”
Jack Wilde passed away in 2011 at the age of 89.
©2020 The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.)
Click on images to enlarge.
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Roger C. Butts – Los Angeles, CA; US Navy, WWII, Cook 2nd Class # 1144738, USS Oklahoma, KIA (Pearl Harbor)
Ralph Cole – Huntsville, AL; US Army, WWII / NASA, electric engineer
By: Howard Brodie
Warren D’Alesandro – Staten Island, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, B-24 flight engineer
Raymond Hawes – Providence, RI; US Army, Japanese Occupation
Howard D. Hodges – Washington, NC; US Navy, WWII, Fireman 1st Class, USS West Virginia, KIA (Pearl Harbor)
Joyce Matthews – St. Petersburg, FL; US Army WAC, WWII, nurse
J. Lee Ogburn (102) – Atlanta, GA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, B-24 pilot, 14th Air Force
Carrie Roberts – Pearsall, TX; Civilian, WWII, built bomb sights
Richard Smith (102) – Guy Mills, PA; US Navy, WWII, Lt. Commander, pilot
Joseph Zaleski – New Britain, CT; US Navy, WWII
Pacific War in art – 1945
I wish all of the distinguished artists of WWII could have been included – here is the final year of the Pacific War…
“Battle of Luzon” by: Yorozujiro Terauchi, 1945
Mandalay, Burma, by: David Pentland, Feb. ’45
Pacific Glory” by: Nicholas Trudgian
| It is March 1945 and the P-38’s of the 475th FG are involved in a huge dogfight with Japanese Zeros over the coast of Indo-China. Flying “Pee Wee V” is Lt Ken Hart of the 431st Fighter Squadron, who has fatally damaged a Zero in a blistering head on encounter. The second P-38L – “Vickie” – belongs to Captain John ‘rabbit’ Pietz, who would end the War as an Ace with six victories. Signed by three highly decorated P-38 pilots who flew in combat with the 475th Fighter Group in the Pacific theatre during World War II. |
‘The Great Tokyo Air Raid’ by: Hashimoto Kimisuke, 10 March ’45, age 7
Raid on China Coast, By: Roy Grinnell April ’45
“Indochina Prisoners of War” by: Donald Friend
‘Ready Room’ by: Tom Lea
“Victoria, Labuan Island” Borneo, July ’45 by: William E. Pigeon
“Standing Guard” by Sgt. John Ruge, USMC, Naha, Okinawa, cover of ‘Yank’ mag.
“Surrender Flight” by: Mike Hagel, 19 Aug. 1945
‘Milk Run to Kyushu’ by: Jack Fellows
“USS Missouri Signing” by: Standish Backus, 2 Sept. ’45
Responsibility, But For What? Kyoto Street by: Barse Miller. Army WWII, 28 Sept. ’45
‘Japan Surrender’ by: Howard Brodie (veteran of 3 wars, Bronze Star)
Resources –
IHRA: for their blog and their books and prints
Jack Fellows website
Howard Brodie sketches
“WWII” by: James Jones
“WWII: A Tribute in Art and Literature” by: David Colbert
For the art of Nicholas Trudgian http://www.brooksart.com/Pacificglory.html
Roy Grinnell
https://www.roygrinnellart.com/ Barse Miller
http://www.artnet.com/artists/barse-miller/
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE AND VIEW THE DETAIL.
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Military Humor – 
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Farewell Salutes –
Lawrence Beller – Bisbee, AZ; US Air Force, Korea, 67th Airborne Reporter Corps
Jack Bray – Madison, WI; US Army, Korea, 82nd Airborne Division + 187th RCT
Adam M. Foti – Moyack, NC; US Navy, Chief Petty Officer, USS Jason Dunham
Juan Garcia – Brownsville, TX; US Army, Vietnam, Sgt. Major (Ret.), Co. E/3/506/101st Airborne Division
John Hoyt – Reading, MA; US Army, Vietnam, 101st Airborne Division
Leon Kneebone – State College, PA, US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Co F/187/11th Airborne Division
George E. Lineham – Sanbornville, NH; US Army, Korea, 187th RCT
Edward C. Meyer – Arlington, VA; US Army, Korea & Vietnam, General, Army Chief of Staff, West Point grad ’51, Bronze Star, 2 Silver Stars, Purple Heart
Earl Smith Jr. – Oakland, CA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 2nd Lt., 80th Fighter Squadron, P-38 pilot, KIA (Paga Point, New Guinea)
John Waterman (100) – Tunbridge Wells, ENG; Royal Army, Special Boat & Air Services, WWII
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Pacific War in art – 1944
As promised, here is an example of other works of art for the following year of the Pacific War…
USMC in the Marshall Islands, 31 Jan 1944, by: James V. Griffin
Truk Island, Carolinas, by: Frank Lemon
RNZAF, May 1944 with Corsairs
Saipan Jun-july 1944, by: Robert Benney
War Weary, by: Jack Fellows
Guam, July-Aug. by: Howard Gerard
Peleliu Invaded, Sept. 1944, By: Tom Lea
Avengers of the Philippines, by: John D. Shaw
November 14, 1944 . . . As smoldering enemy ships mark a trail to Manila Bay, Avengers and Hellcats of Air Group 51 overfly the isle of Corregidor on their return to the carrier U.S.S. San Jacinto.
With the misty mountains of Bataan standing as a silent sentinel, Naval LT (JG) George H.W. Bush pilots his TBM in one of his last combat missions of WWII. The valor of Bush’s group in the Battle of Leyte Gulf and in the strikes on Manila Bay helped pave the way for MacArthur’s campaign to liberate the Philippines
Kamikazes in the Philippines, by Usaburo Ibara
Japanese paratroopers, Leyte, by Tsuruto Goro
Some 750 men, mainly from the 2nd Raiding Brigade, of this group were assigned to attack American air bases on Luzon and Leyte in the night. They were flown in Ki-57 transports, but most of the aircraft were shot down. Some 300 commandos managed to land in the Burauen area on Leyte.
The paratroopers of the 11th A/B, including Gen. Joseph Swing and Smitty, found themselves fighting Japanese parachutists who had landed near the San Pablo airstrip. The Japanese were wiped out in a 5-day engagement. In a continuous series of combat actions, Japanese resistance was reduced on Leyte by the end of December 1944.
Resources:
IHRA: for their blog and their books and prints
Jack Fellows website
Barse Miller –
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-C-WWII/index.htm
Frank Lemon lithograph –
James V. Griffin –
https://www.jamesgriffinillustration.com/works
Robert Benney
https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/art/artists/the-art-of-robert-benney.html
Tom Lea
1000 Yard Stare by: Tom Lea
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_C._Lea_III
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Bruce Bacon Sr. – Toledo, OH; US Army, Vietnam, 101st Airborne Division
Roy Brumbaugh – Platte, SD; US Army, German Occupation + Middle East, 11th Airborne Division
Margaret Fletcher – Woodland, CA; Civilian, Civil Air Patrol, pilot
John G. Herring – Copperhill, TN; US Army
Joseph Kelly – New Canaan, CT; US Army, WWII, ETO, Forward Observer
Mary LaPlante (100) – Kansas City, MO; US Navy WAVE, WWII, encryptor
Jack Martin – Greensboro, NC; US Army, Korea, 77th Special Forces (Green Berets)
John Morrison (101) – Moose Jaw, CAN; RC Army, WWII, 1st Survey Regiment
Gerard Simpson – Staten Island, NY; US Army, Vietnam, 82nd + 101st Airborne Divisions, Purple Heart
Bill Wingett – Salem, OR; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, Co. E/506/101st Airborne Division, Bronze Star, Purple Heart
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Pacific War in art – 1943
TO CONTINUE OUR MINI-GALLERY OF DISTINGUISHED ARTIST’S VIEW OF WWII ……
RAAF Kittyhawk Squadron, Milne Bay, New Guinea, by: William Dargie
5th Air Force & RAAF, Battle of the Bismark Sea
USS Bailey, Battle of Komandorski, by I.R. Lloyd
“Mission Accomplished”, Yamamoto shot down, 18 April 1943, by Roy Grinnell
Japanese postcard, Aleutian Campaign
The Solomons, by: Peter Dennis
IJN Amagiri ramming PT-109
‘Marine Raider’ Bougainville, by: Marc Erickson
Tarawa by: Tom Lovell
Pappy Boyington, F-4U Corsair, by: Craig Tinder
Cape Gloucester, Solomons, 26 Dec. 1943
Resources:
IHRA: for their blog and their books and prints
Jack Fellows website
William Dargie artwork
“WWII: A Tribute in Art and Literature” edited by David Colbert
Nicholas Trudgian
http://www.nicolastrudgian.com/
I.R. Lloyd
Roy Grinnell
https://www.roygrinnellart.com/
Craig Tinder artwork
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Jack D. Baker – New Salisbury, IN; US Navy, WWII, USS Iowa
Gilbert Clarin – Turlock, CA; US Army, 511th Regiment
Randall Edwards (103) – Ruskin, NE; US Navy, WWII, Pto & CBI, USS Canopus, radioman, POW
Paul Ernyei – Burton, OH; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Co. A/127th Engineers/11th Airborne Division
Mary Fusselman – Davenport, IA; Civilian, WWII, military cartographer
Winston F. Groom Jr. – Fairhope, AL; US Army, Vietnam, 2nd Lt., / author: “Forest Gump”
Leslie Kessler Jr. – Columbus, TX; US Army, WWII, PTO, Marine Engineman, Co. C/593rd Engineer Boat Regiment
Jason E. Pelletier – Presque Isle, ME; US Army, Iraq & Afghanistan, 2nd. Lt. (22 y.)
Donald Stoulil – Olivia, MN; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, B-17 pilot, 303rd Bomb Group
Carl L. Ware (101) – Odenville, AL; US Army, WWII, ETO, SSgt., Co. E/159th Combat Engineers
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Pacific War in art – 1941 – 1942
From some of our most prestigious artists come their depictions of the war…
PLEASE CLICK ON THE IMAGES TO GET THE FULL EFFECT.
“Tora, Tora, Tora”, by Robert McCall
“Battle of Slim River” by: Mark Stille
Japanese and war horses in Hong Kong
Japan in Dutch East Indies
Japan bombs Darwin, Australia, by” James Baines, Feb. 1942
Bataan Death March, by Ben Steele, himself a death march survivor from Montana, April 1942
Doolittle Raid, B-25 over Japan, by: Francis Bergese
18 April 1942
“Cactus Air Force” by: Jack Fellows, Guadalcanal
RAAF Kittyhawk Squadron, Milne Bay, New Guinea, by: William Dargie, Sept. 1942
“Action Over Salamaua”, by: Jack Fellows
Pictorial series to be continued…
Resources:
IHRA: for their blog and their books and prints
Jack Fellows website
William Dargie info
“WWII: A Tribute in Art and Literature” edited by David Colbert
This idea for this post arose from a discussion with Pat at equipsblog
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.
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Canadian Thanksgiving – 12 October 2020
To all our Canadian friends…..
ENJOY, MY FRIENDS!
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U.S. Navy’s Birthday – 13 October 2020
U.S. Navy emblem
https://pacificparatrooper.wordpress.com/2019/10/13/u-s-navy-birthday/
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Clifford Blain – Hogsett, WV; USMC, WWII
Raymond Cohen – St. Louis, MO; US Army, WWII, ETO, Sgt., 89th Infantry 
Division
Leonard Davidson (101) – Valley City, ND; US Army Air Corps, WWII, Navigator
Eugene Figurelli Sr. – Pittsburgh, PA; US Army, WWII, munitions instructor
Edward “Whitey” Ford – NYC, NY; US Army, Korea / Pro-MLB pitcher
Donald Horn – Arba, IN; US Army Air Corps, WWII, Africa
Joseph Messina – Boston, MA; US Navy, WWII, PTO
John O’Malley – Bronx, NY; US Navy, WWII, USS Tausig
George ‘Clint’ Shay – Madison, NJ; US Navy, WWII
Dale Tatman – Modesto, CA; US Navy, WWII, PTO, USS Antietam
Poem for the end of a war
B-29 air raid damage in Hachioji, Japan, 1 Aug. 1945
The End and the Beginning
After every war
someone has to clean up.
Things won’t
straighten themselves up, after all.
Someone has to push the rubble
to the side of the road,
so the corpse-filled wagons
can pass.
GI hooks a tow rope to a Type 97 Te-Ke tank during cleanup of the Okinawa battlefields at the end of WWII in 1945.
Someone has to get mired
in scum and ashes,
sofa springs,
splintered glass,
and bloody rags.
Someone has to drag in a girder
to prop up a wall,
Someone has to glaze a window,
rehang a door.
Photogenic it’s not,
and takes years.
All the cameras have left
for another war.
We’ll need the bridges back,
and new railway stations.
Sleeves will go ragged
from rolling them up.
U.S. and Japanese soldiers collaborate to rebuild Japan
Someone, broom in hand,
still recalls the way it was.
Someone else listens
and nods with unsevered head.
But already there are those nearby
starting to mill about
who will find it dull.
From out of the bushes
sometimes someone still unearths
rusted-out arguments
and carries them to the garbage pile.
Those who knew
what was going on here
must make way for
those who know little.
And less than little.
And finally as little as nothing.
In the grass that has overgrown
causes and effects,
someone must be stretched out
blade of grass in his mouth
gazing at the clouds.
The author was located by Hilary Custance Green – it is Wislawa Szymborska.
(Translated from Polish by Joanna Trzeciak)
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.
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Military Humor –
“WHO SAYS THE NAVY CLEANS UP BETTER THAN THE ARMY?”
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Farewell Salutes –
Edward Burst – Cannelton, IN; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Co. G/511/11th Airborne Division
Francis Flaherty – Charlotte, MI; US Navy, WWII, Ensign, USS Oklahoma, KIA (Pearl Harbor)
Tom Freeman – Frostproof, FL; US Navy, WWII, PTO, radarman, USS Abercrombie
E.H. ‘Jack’ Hoffman – Canton, OH; US Army, WWII, Corps of Engineers
William Long – NY; US Navy, WWII, PTO & CBI, Corpsman, USS Repose & LCI-1092
Robert A. McKee – WI; US Navy, WWII, PTO, radioman, gunboat LCI-70
Donald Hugh Moore – Carrolton, GA; US Navy, (Ret. 34 y.)
Guy Natusch (99) – Hastings, NZ; RNZ Navy, WWII, ETO, Sub-Lt., / Hawkes Bay architect
Thomas Roycraft – Jacksonville, FL; US Navy, Korea (Ret. 20 y.), USS FDR, Lake Champlain + others
Harold Wagner – Cincinnati, OH; USMC, WWII, PTO
Current News – Missing In Action
Video from the U.S. Army, filmed 2 weeks ago.
Right now, there are about 82,000 total people still missing from every major conflict since World War II. Of those, 81 are from Nevada. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) is a government agency that is actively searching for all of those people.
The DPAA is working to get DNA swabs of family members related to those missing so that if and when they’re found, they can be identified. They then work to actually locate the remains of the people missing.
Last year, 217 people were found and identified. About 75% of those are former unknown soldiers. The DPAA researches what is known about the unknown soldiers, then if they are confident they can identify them positively, they’re able to do DNA testing on the remains.
The other way MIA are identified is through a search. The DPAA researches anything from where the person was last seen to where planes went down to where major battles were fought. They conduct interviews with any witnesses then determine the best area to search. Then, they bring in teams of dozens of people and dig for about a month, hoping to find any human remains. Even if it’s just a tooth, that’s all it takes to ID a person and solve the mystery of what happened to them.
The DPAA held a meeting in Henderson to update local families on their loved ones’ cases. Attendees heard updates on new technology being used to search and their own personal cases. There were also chances for family members to give DNA swabs.
For the families of the POWs and/or MIAs – CONTACT
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Robert C. Agard Jr. – USA; US Army, Korea, Cpl., 2/24/24th Infantry Division, KIA (Taejon, SK
Jacob Cruz – Los Angeles, CA; USMC, WWII, Pvt., Co. D/1/6/2nd Marine
HONOR
Division, KIA (Tarawa)
Elmer E. Drefahl – USA; USMC, WWII, Cpl., USS Oklahoma, KIA (Pearl Harbor)
Henry E. Ellis – USA; USMC, Korea, Pfc., HQ Co./1/1st Marine Division, KIA (Koto-Ri, NK)
Harry Gravelyn (101) – Grand Rapids, MI; US Army, WWII, Captain, Co. D/331/83rd Division
Jesse D. Hill – Highland Park, MI; US Army, Korea, Sgt., Co. C/1/32/7th Infantry Division, KIA (Chosin Reservoir)
Marilyn Mackson – Lansing, MI; US Army WAC, WWII, Signal Corps decoder
Aurekui Ortiz – San Diego, CA; US Army, Korea, HQ Co./2/187th RCT
Joseph Pincinotti – Charleroi, PA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Co. D/457 Artillery/11th Airborne Division
Jimmy Young – Johnson City, TN; US Army, 89th Artillery, 11th Airborne Division
[The MIA’s recovered from the Korean War, and gradually being identified to come home, have been made possible by the joint talks between President Trump and North Korea]
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Home Front – Hard to keep the good times rollin’
[ This post was originally a guest post I wrote for Judy Guion @ Greatest Generation Lessons. Being as times are rough these days, I thought a bit of comparison with what our parents and grandparents went through was in order. ]
Columnist Marquis Childs said after Pearl Harbor: “Nothing will ever be the same.” Thirty-five years later he added: “It never has and never will be.”
We need to remember that in 1941 as much as 40% of U.S. families lived below the poverty level, approximately 8 million worked for less than minimum wage and another 8 million were unemployed. The median income was about $2,000 per year. The government, in virtually fighting two separate wars, entered into civilian lives by raising taxes, rationing, controlling prices and allotting jobs.
Once the war began, truck convoys became commonplace and train depots burst into arenas of activity. The movement was not entirely servicemen as women began to migrate into towns and communities near the military bases and jobs when they entered the workforce. Judy Guion’s Aunt Jean did just that by going to Florida to be near her husband Dick. Minorities headed for higher paying positions in defense plants and shipyards.
The greatest annoyance to civilians was the fact that new automobiles were no longer being produced. The public’s status symbol and route to financial and social activities had been curtailed and this caused boot-leg markets to spring up selling tires and taking their chances with the law. The La Salle Motor Company in Indiana was the first firm to be cited by the government. The Office of Price Administration would regulate everything from soup and shoes to nuts and bolts and was responsible for all domestic rationing. J. Edgar Hoover issued warnings about car thefts; alerting owners to be wary of where they parked their cars, especially during evening hours. In Southwest Harbor, Maine, reports of gasoline siphoning were a constant problem.
The use of taxicabs grew throughout the world in the early part of the 20th century. In the 1940’s, the taximeter was developed and the new two-way radio was a great improvement over the old callboxes. DeSotos, Packards and the GM “General” were the common vehicles utilized for this purpose.
Streetcars were heavily used in the 1930’s, but companies began to fail as gasoline buses (”trackless trolleys”) took their place. The most prominent name was the Greyhound. In 1936, they introduced their “Super Coach” for family travel and it was so well received that within four years, they opened a chain of restaurants called “Post House.” When war began, they became a major carrier of the troops heading to the east and west coasts. Since nearly 40% of their workforce was eventually drafted, women were offered training as bus drivers. Local buses where often late and overcrowded, having standing room only. A person was often unable to keep a reliable daily schedule due to the situation.
Delta Airlines’ ad, 1940’s
Air travel was certainly difficult with a war in progress and the airlines did not have the systems they have now. Case in point: the Hoover Airport (where the Pentagon building is now), had a major highway running smack through it. When a plane took off or landed, the red traffic light was switched on to halt car and truck movement.
Train transport
Trains were the dominate mode of transportation since the transcontinental was completed in 1869 and up until just before the war era when cars and trucks became predominate. The massive movement around the country pressed heavily on the antiquated railroad network. Most of the system had been built in the decades following the Civil War. The Office of Defense Transportation urged people to only travel on “slack days” and take one-day vacations. The Director stated, “Needless passenger movement is getting to the point where it is embarrassing the war effort.” One rail line that came out of Saint Louis, called the “Jeffersonian,” had only reserved seating, but people continued to line up in the aisles.
1944 Arnold Schwinn ad, Chicago, IL
In congested areas, such as N.Y.C., vendors began to spring up to rent out bicycles. In fact, the summer of 1942, when the gas pumps went dry, drivers followed a gas truck to its delivery point, (as many as 350 would line up) so the bicycle business erupted. When walking became more important, leather for shoes became scarce and shoe rationing went into effect February 1943. In the U.S., three pairs per year was the quota and in England it was only one. By 1944, the U.S. civilian ration was dropped to two pair.
Greyhound 1940’s ad
The old saying, “Let the good times roll” proved difficult and often the stories seem to be from another world rather than another decade. Do any of our readers have stories they remember or were told? How would any of you deal with this lifestyle?
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Home Front Humor –
Chattanooga Times, the overburdened railroads
“When you boys finish with your Civil Air Patrolling stuff, I’ll have some iced tea ready for you.”
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Farewell Salutes –
Paul A. Avolese – USA; US Air Force, Vietnam, Major, radar/navigator, 4133 Bombardment Wing, KIA (South China Sea)
Neil Bohner – Des Moines, IA; US Army, WWII & Korea
Bernard Brown – Rutland, VT; US Army, Korea, 187th RCT
Kevin Dobson – NYC, NY; US Army, Military Police / Actor
Fred Ferry – Clarksville, TN; US Army, Co. A/544 Artillery/11th Airborne Division, (Ret. 23 y.)
Rosanna H. Gravely (102) – Camden, NJ & CO; US Navy WAVES, WWII, PTO, Yeoman 1st Class
Joseph W. Hoffman – USA; US Navy, WWII, Navy musician 1st Class, USS Oklahoma, KIA (Pearl Harbor)
John P. Langan – Columbus, NE; USMC, WWII, PTO, Pfc., Co. C/1/6/2nd Marine Division, KIA (Tarawa)
Neal ‘Lil Pa’ Stevenson – Houma, LA; US Army, WWII, ETO
Patricia Warner – Lincoln, MA; OSS, WWII, undercover agent
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Pacific Paratrooper 