SMITTY WAS HERE !!

Miyajima Hotel

Miyajima Hotel

Being that Smitty so enjoyed taking in the sights of 1945 Japan and it is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, this post will continue with the brochures he brought home with him. Above is the Inland Sea and Miyajima Island that is approximately 45 minutes from Hiroshima; the entire island is considered a park being that two parks are actually on the island, The Omoto and the Momijidani, both famous for their cherry blossoms in spring and colored leaves in autumn.

The Great Torii

The Great Torii (52′ tall [16 metres]) is the red religious structure within the bay is from the 16th century. The earlier one had been destroyed by a typhoon. The Itsukushima Shrine has stone lanterns that remain lighted throughout the night. Senjokaku is the hall of a thousand mats and beside the shrine is a hall filled with countless rice ladles offered by worshipers. There is a five-storied pagoda (100 feet high) for Buddha close by and in the Omoto Park is a two-storied pagoda built by “Hidari-Jingoro” an ancient famous artist.

The center photo showing a patio, Smitty indicated that that was where they ate. And the circle to the right, dad wrote, “Damn good fishing and crabbing here.” It seems you can’t even take the Broad Channel, NY fisherman out of the soldier.

At the bottom picture here, Smitty wrote, “I slept here in a room like this.” On the right-hand side of the page is written, “I managed to get behind the bar at this place.” (Can’t take the bartender out of the trooper either, I suppose.)

Gamagori Hotel

At the Gamagori Hotel, above the bottom-left photo is written, “Good Food. Chef here studied under a Frenchman. Boy was the food tasty.” The right-hand photo has, “Fishing good here.”

Gamagori Hotel, interior

On this page of the Gamagori brochure, Smitty marked on the center diagram where his general stayed. (If viewing is a problem, please click on the photo to enlarge.) The bottom-left photo is marked, “Had a room like this at this place.”

Gamagori Hotel, interior

This brochure is entirely in Japanese and therefore unable to give the reader a clue as to where it was or still is located.  Thanks to our fellow blogger, Christopher, we have a translation here…

1. The colorfully illustrated brochure says “Sightseeing in Miyagi Prefecture” （観光の宮城縣）and lists several of the highlights (skiing, cherry blossoms, shrines). The 3-D illustrated map shows the whole area, featuring the famous destination of Matsushima. Now, today it’s considered old-fashioned, but there is this thing called “The Three Sights of Japan” （日本三景）, pronounced Nihon Sankei, which refers to what were traditionally considered the three most beautiful places in the country: Matsushima, Miyajima, and Ama no Hashidate. It looks like your dad hit at least two of them — I wonder if he also made it to Ama no Hashidate! Here is a modern link to “things to do in Miyagi Prefecture”: https://www.google.com/search?ei=42UuXZ7LMc3B7gLEwpzACQ&q=%E5%AE%AE%E5%9F%8E%E7%B8%A3&oq=%E5%AE%AE%E5%9F%8E%E7%B8%A3&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0l2j0i30l8.29273.32641..38871…1.0..0.80.438.6……0….1..gws-wiz…….0i71j0i4i37.nNS_NTAA6-Y
   Fun stuff… Thanks for sharing!

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Military Humor –

Paratrooper School.

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Farewell Salutes – 

William J. Bumpus (101) – Broken Arrow, OK; US Army, WWII, PTO

Melvin Cakebread (100) – Alpena, SD; US Army, WWII, PTO

Melvin Dart (100) – Santa Ana, CA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, B-17 navigator

Edward Eisele (102) Cinnaminson, NJ; US Army, WWII, US photographer

Dale Ferguson – Atlantic, IA; US Army Air Corps, Japanese Occupation, 11th Airborne Division

Robert Gallagher – Cumming, GA; US Navy, WWII

Joseph B. Love Jr. – Atlanta, GA; US Army, Defense Intelligence Service

Charles McCarthy – Detroit, MI; US Army, WWII, 87th Infantry Division

Carroll “Terry” Newman – New Orleans, LA; Merchant Marine Academy grad / US Coast Guard, WWII, (Ret.)

Anthony Romero (101) – Sante Fe, NM; US Navy, WWII

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The Postcard Read… “Your Son Is Alive!”

James MacMannis and his wife listen to their ham radio

James ‘Dad Mac’ MacMannis is believed to have sent as many as 33,000 postcards during World War II.

WEST PALM BEACH — Dad Mac sat in his living room and furiously scribbled the names the German propaganda machine rattled off. Names of GIs whose moms and dads and siblings and sweethearts in Florida and Iowa and Oregon. Loved ones who for weeks or months had wondered and worried and wrung their hands. Mac would fill out and address a postcard. It would say: Your boy is alive.

As World War II raged, and before and after D-Day, James L. MacMannis wrote as many as 33,000 postcards to families across America. After a while, people called him Dad.

At first, he said, he sent out just a few cards, and he got few responses.

“I was discouraged,” he told Palm Beach Evening Times Editor Tom Penick for a June 1944 column. “It was weeks before I heard from any of the folks I had written. Then they started.”

One parent wrote, “You are doing marvelous work. May God bless you.”

The date of Penick’s column was June 2, 1944. Neither he nor most of the country knew at the time that in four days, on June 6, the world would change.

 ‘Keeping faith’

Postcard for Ray J. Sherman

James L. MacMannis was a veteran of both the Army and Navy and both world wars. He’d been a barnstorming pilot in those first days of flight — a relative claimed he got America’s fourth-ever pilot’s license, something that couldn’t be independently verified — and taught pilots in World War I, when military aviation was in its infancy

He was a parachute jumper who later became an airplane inspector. He joined World War II via the Coast Guard in the Baltimore area.  Around 1943, he moved to West Palm Beach, believed to be about a block south of what’s now the Norton Museum of Art.

MacMannis did have a hobby: shortwave radio.

In August 1943, he tuned in to a Berlin station. Naturally, it was a propaganda broadcast by the Third Reich. Night after night, the feminine voice would rattle off each soldier’s name and serial number, along with messages the GI hoped would get back to their families in the U.S. The Berlin fräulein even gave the GI’s home address so that anyone listening could drop a line to the family that he was OK, at least relatively.

Whether the idea was to show how humane the Germans were or was a ploy to get parents to pressure the U.S. government to push for peace, only the Nazis could say.

But for Dad Mac, a light went on.

Ray J. Sherman

Every night at 7, Dad would settle into his rocking chair. He listened even when the static made broadcasts pretty much undecipherable. Some nights he would listen until dawn.

“He doesn’t dare leave because he fears he may miss some of the broadcast with the prisoners’ list,” Mary MacMannis said, “And he tries to get all.”

Some nights it was 20 names, some nights 60 or 80. One night he heard 157 names. Some nights, there was no list.

Dad Mac didn’t tell families everything. Sometimes the broadcast would impart that a boy had had both legs blown off or had bullets still lodged in his body.

“It’s enough to let them know that Berlin says they (soldiers) are alive and a POW,” MacMannis said.

He also worried at times if he was a dupe, forwarding details to desperate families about which the Nazi propaganda machine might be lying. He said he felt better when the War Department began verifying to him what he was hearing.

Once word got out about “Dad’s Listening Post,” others stepped up to help; fellow radio enthusiasts, the West Palm Beach fire chief, an assistant chief and a printing firm donated everything from radio parts to postcards. Dad Mac graduated from a small radio to a big receiver.

By January 1945, MacMannis estimated he’d heard 20,000 messages about American POWs and mailed out about 15,000 cards.

Life magazine got wind of him and ran a photo of Dad and Mary in their living room in front of a giant radio. That story quoted a total of 33,000 messages from POWs, including Canadians.

“War Prisoner Information,” Dad Mac’s cards said. “A free humanitarian service given by ‘Dad MacMannis’ Listening Post.′ ” And, “A veteran of both wars keeping faith with his buddies.”

“Howdy, folks,” one postcard quoted G.I. Ray Sherman. “I won’t be long. These Germans treat us mighty well. I will write you soon. Don’t worry. Love Ray.” The form was dated July 22; no year.

A search of databases shows a Ray J. Sherman, born in 1923, had enlisted in Milwaukee and served in the infantry in both the North African and Italian theaters before the Germans captured him at Anzio on Feb. 16, 1944.

Article located in the Palm Beach Post.

We spoke once before about the ham radio operators during WWII and the great job they did, read HERE!

 

Click on images to enlarge.

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Ham Radio Humor –

AARS Cartoon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Farewell Salutes – 

Robert Blake (Michael James Vijencio Gubitosi) – Nutley, NJ; US Army   /   beloved actor

Robert C. Blair (103) – New hope, PA; US Army, WWII, PTO

Rosemary Campbell – Braidwood, IL; Civilian, WWII, Joliet Arsenal

William H. Dillow – Kingsport, TN; US Navy, WWII, PTO, gunner’s mate & disarming mines, Sr. Chief (Ret. 20 y.)

Charles Dougherty – Clarkston, MI; US Navy, WWII & Korea, diesel mechanic

Frank C. Ferrell – Roby, TX; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, TSgt., 328BS/93BG/9th Air Force, B-24 navigator, KIA (Ploiesti, ROM)

Virginia Hanson – Odessa, NY; US Navy WAVE, WWII

Terrance Larkin (102) – Davenport, IA; US Army, WWII, PTO, Cpl., 1881st Engineer Battalion

Bill McNeil – Wheeling, WV; US Army, 11th Airborne Division / Chairman of the 82nd Airborne Association

Robert McHugh – Woburn, MA;  US Air Force, pilot, flight instructor

Paul R. Sheridan – Detroit, MI; US Air Force, Vietnam, F-4 pilot, Colonel (Ret. 24 y.)

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The Occupation Olympiad

11th Airborne troopers attempting to fix a coal-burning vehicle.

 

While some of the troopers continued to await the arrival of the good ole’ American jeeps to replace the coal-burning vehicles in Japan, General Swing was striving to make the occupation as bearable as possible. They had endured some horrendous hardships and accomplished more than anyone expected from them and he felt they deserved whatever he could provide. On his orders, a Japanese auditorium was transformed into the 11th Airborne Coliseum. The complex was large enough to hold a theater that would seat 2,500, four basketball courts, a poolroom with 100 tables, a boxing arena that held 4,000 spectators, six bowling alleys and a training room.

The camp entrance.

Aside from the sports theme, the coliseum contained a Special Services office, a snack bar, a Red Cross office and a library. I can just picture my father spending some off-duty time in the poolroom or bowling alley. When I was growing up, we had a pool table in the basement and Smitty would teach me how every shot was related to angles and geometry. My aim improved – once I figured it out.

The post NCO Club.

In the fall of 1945, an Olympiad was held in Tokyo for all the troops stationed in Japan and Korea. Football became the highlighted game. The 11th A/B Division coach, Lt. Eugene Bruce brought them to winning the Japan-Korea championship. They then went on to take the Hawaiian All-Stars in Mejii Stadium with a score of 18-0. This meant that the 11th Airborne Division held the All-Pacific Championship. The troopers went on to win in so many other sports that by the time the finals were held for the boxing tournament at Sendai, the headlines read in the Stars and Stripes sports section:
Ho-Hum, It’s the Angels Again”

Japan

On the reverse side of the photo seen above, Smitty wrote, “This is the hotel where we are now staying. That dot in the driveway is me.” The 11th A/B commander had made his home here on 16 September. After the occupation, it re-opened for business as a hotel, but unfortunately was destroyed by fire on 2 March 1969.

Smitty on far-right.

The division had a reputation for mission accomplishment despite being nearly half the size of other divisions. This was often attributed to their somewhat unorthodox methods. This carried over into their occupation of Japan. General Swing converted an old Japanese factory and had it turning out American-style furniture for the troops. General Headquarters wasn’t very happy about the project because they wanted the Japanese to build furniture for the entire command. But Swing was not one to wait for all the red tape. After General Eichelberger inspected the better-than-GHQ- standard brick barracks under construction, he said to Swing, “Joe, I don’t know whether to court-martial you or commend you.” (Later on, he was commending Swing.)

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Military Humor – 

‘I TOLD YOU GUYS,,, TO GO BEFORE WE LEFT!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Farewell Salutes –

Albert D. Accurzio – Utica, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Co A/675 Artillery/11th Airborne Division

George H. Anderson – Brockton, MA; US Army, WWII

Carroll Bierbower – Los Angeles, CA; US Navy, WWII, USS Comfort, hospital ship

Harding Bossier (102) – Baton Rouge, LA; US Army, WWII, PTO, Signal Corps

Harold E. Conant – Wyandotte, MI; US Merchant Marine / US Army Air Corps, WWII, (Ret. 20 y.)

Jack E. Dutton – Gardena, CA; US Army, Vietnam, Pfc.

Kenneth Fuller – Bacolod City, P.I.; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 511/11th Airborne Division, MP

Jane Hansen (101) – Portersville, PA; US Army Air Corps WAC, WWII, dietitian

Adeline Ney – Wilkes-Barre, PA; Civilian, WWII, ammo production

Frank C. Roop – Fairfax, TX; US Army, WWII, ETO, tank gunner

Ida (Mitchell) Wongrey – Nova Scotia, CAN; Canadian Civilian Navy Intelligence

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