Welcome to Big Timber
These two articles are from The Big Timber Pioneer newspaper, Thursday, August 30, 1945
Ft. Leavenworth Prison Cemetery; By Gorsedwa, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/
Fort Leavenworth, Kan., Aug. 25 – The Army Saturday hanged 7 German prisoners-of-war in the Fort Leavenworth disciplinary barracks for the murder of a fellow prisoner whom they had accused of being a traitor to the Reich.
All 7 went to the gallows after receiving last rites of the Roman Catholic Church. They were executed for killing Werner Dreschler at the Papago Park, Arizona prisoner of war camp, March 13, 1944.
The hangings took less than three hours. The executions brought to 14 the total number of Nazi POW’s executed at Ft. Leavenworth during the last few weeks.
The 7 went to the gallows without showing any signs of emotion. They had signed statements admitting their guilt. Their defense was that they had read in German newspapers that they should put to death any German who was a traitor. At their trial they said Dreschler had admitted giving information of military value to their captures.
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313th Wing B-29 Base, Tinian – One of the 6th Bomb Group fliers who participated in the pioneer mining mission to northern Korean waters on 11 July was SSgt. Nathaniel B. Clark, son of Mr. & Mrs. J.F. Clark, Big Timber, MT. it was revealed here today with the lifting of censorship rules. He is a left blister gunner and by war’s end had flown 29 combat missions in the war against Japan.
On the longest mission of the war, to deny the use of the eastern Korean ports to the already partially blockaded Japanese, Sgt. Clark explained that the crews were briefed to fly 3,500 statute miles to their mine fields just south of Russia, and back to Iwo Jima where they would have to land for fuel. Then it was still 725 miles back to the Tinian base.
The flight was planned to take 16½ hours which in itself was not out of the ordinary, but the length of time the full mine load would be carried was a record 10 hours and 35 minutes.
Loading an aerial mine layer
The job called for hair-splitting navigation, Midas-like use of the available gas, penetration of weather about which little is known and finally a precision radar mine-laying run over a port whose defenses and very contours were not too well known.
“We sweated that one out from our briefing one morning until we landed back on Tinian almost 24 hours later.” Sgt. Clark recalled.
radar mine
One crew was forced to return to Okinawa because of engine trouble, but the other 5 on the pioneer flight landed within a few minutes of the briefed time. One landed at the exact briefed time. The closest call on gas was reported by the crew which landed with only 24 gallons left, scarcely enough to circle the field.
Click on images to enlarge.
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Herman Brown – Virginia Beach, VA; US Army, WWII, ETO, 385/76th Division/ 3rd Army
Lester Burks – Willis, TX; US Army, Co. B/513/17th Airborne Division
Pedro ‘Pete’ Contreras – Breckenridge, OK; US Army, WWII, Korea & Vietnam, Lt.Col. (Ret. 30 y.)
Paul Jarret – Phoenix, AZ; US Army, WWII, ETO, Medical Corps, Bronze Star / US Air Force
John ‘Nick’ Kindred – Scarsdale, NY; US Navy, Lt.
James Lemmons – Portland, TN; US Army; Korea, HQ/187th RCT
Charles McCarry – Plainfield, MA; CIA, Cold War, undercover agent
Howard Rein Jr. – Philadelphia, PA; US Navy, WWII, PTO
Morton Siegel – Rye, NY; US Navy, WWII
Eldon Weehler – Loup City, NE; US Army Air Corps, WWII / US Air Force, Korea & Vietnam, Lt. Col. (Ret. 30 y.)
Oct 27
This gallery contains 3 photos.
Originally posted on The Letters Project:
Almost as soon as I declared that I hadn’t seen a pilot log that continued from the first one, I picked up a little notebook that served as a log for the remainder of 1944 and 1945 up to September. It notes the first time Walt flew a P-51,…
B-25, “Ormoc Bay”, by: Jack Fellows from the IHRA
By Sgt. Marion Hargrove
SOMEWHERE IN CHINA–This story has been held back for a while because the fellow was mighty sensitive about it, and he happens to be a tech sergeant, 6 feet 2 and weighing 200 pounds. He’s cooled off a little, so now it can be told.
The tech sergeant is Karl May of Yakima, Wash., an aerial engineer and gunner in one of the local Mitchell B-25 bombers. The tale goes back to the time when he was still a buck private, working as an armorer in his squadron and bucking like hell for a job on a combat crew.
They finally let him go on a few missions to try him out. He got along fine until his third trip. That was the raid on the big Jap base at Hankow, former Chinese capital, on the Yangtze.
There were two minor defects that day in the bomber to which May was assigned: there were no racks in the ship for fragmentation bombs and the interphones were temporarily out of commission.
Well, they were working the thing out all right without fragracks or interphones. They had Pvt. May squatting by the photo hole with a stack of frag bombs and the understanding that when the turret gunner nudged him in the behind he was to cut loose with all he had.
Fragmentation bomb
It happened that the bomber had a passenger that day–maybe an observer from Washington, maybe a newspaperman, maybe just a sightseer.
This worth person grew unaccustomedly chilly, saw that the draft came from the open photo hole and decided to ask the private beside it to close it. The private – yep, it was May – had his back turned, so the passenger sought to attract his attention with a gentle nudge in the rear.
Pvt. May reacted like the eager beaver he was. He held one frag bomb over the hole and let it drop. Then he turned another loose into thin air. He was preparing to drop every bomb in the ship – until he was rudely and violently stopped. To May’s dismay he learned: 1) that the ship was nowhere near Hankow, 2) that he had been given no signal and, 3) that he had just wasted a couple hundred dollars’ worth of U.S. high explosives.
B-25 dropping frag bombs
The mission proceeded to Hankow, where May dropped the rest of his bombs through the photo hole, an armful at a time. But his heart was heavy at the thought of having goofed previously.
When the plane returned to its base, there was an intelligence report from the Chinese Army waiting for it. According to this report, two bombs dropped on a Japanese barge on the Yangtze had scored direct hits, sinking the barge and drowning 160 Japanese soldiers.
T/Sgt. May never tells the story himself and he gets mad when he hears anyone else tell it. Only those who’ve seen the records will believe it.
Click on images to enlarge.
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Wayne Bauer – Las Cruces, NM; US Army, WWII, ATO
Harry Carlsen – Chicago, IL; USMC, WWII, PTO, 2nd Marine Division, KIA (Tarawa)
Images is courtesy of:
https://mywarjournals.com/
James Fleischer – Detroit, MI; US Army
John Guice – Greenville, AL; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO
Robert Hegel – IN; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, 15th Air Force, navigator
Claude A. Rowe – Chuka Vista, CA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, Tuskegee
Elizabeth Schwantes – Kaukauna, WI; US Coast Guard, WWII
Leslie Thickpenny – Pukekohe, NZ; NZ Air Force, WWII, flight engineer
Henry Wheeler (100) – Buffalo, NY; US Army, WWII, 12th Army, Intelligence, Bronze Star
Robert Zeigler Jr. – Ft Lauderdale, FL; US Army, Korea
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Assembling the helicopter at Myitkyina. Shortly after, it would land on a Burma peak for the 1st such mercy mission in this area.
AAF HQ. – Capt. Frank W. Peterson maneuvered the helicopter through the maze of jungled Burma peaks and set the small ship down on a rough strip atop a razorback mountain whose sides fell off steeply to narrow valleys 2,500 feet below.
Twenty-four hours later, after gas and oil had been air-dropped, he took off again, this time carrying a passenger: 21-year-old Pvt Howard Ross, ground observer at an isolated weather station outpost in North Burma who was suffering from a badly infected gunshot wound in his hand.
This air evacuation mission, marking the first time a helicopter had been employed in rescue work in this Theater, climaxed one of the most amazing stories to come out of India-Burma. The story had its beginning when, after the forced landing of a B-25 on an isolated mountain-top in Burma, it was determined that a helicopter would be necessary to effect the rescue of the bomber crew, none of whom were injured. The request was made by radio to Army Air Forces Headquarters in Washington.
A crew at Wright Field, Ohio, was ordered to begin the dismantling of a helicopter and, working all night, loaded it upon a C-54 cargo plane by the following morning. meanwhile, Peterson, a Wright Field test pilot was ordered to accompany the engineering crew to Burma.
Four days later, the C-54 with its rescue mission cargo landed at Myitkyina, only to learn that the men they had been rushed overseas to rescue had already been evacuated. It was decided, however, to continue with the assembly of the helicopter as rapidly as possible in the event another emergency should arise.
Late that night, Lt. Leo J. Kenney, commanding officer of the jungle rescue unit, awakened Peterson and told him that a member of a weather station located high on a 4,700-foot mountain in the Naga Hills, with a gun shot wound. With medical aid 10 days distant by mountain trail, air rescue had to be attempted despite the inaccessibility of the station even to parachute jumping.
Pilot Erickson & Igor Sikorsky test the Sikorsky R-4, 1942 The following morning the rescue mission took off. Since the helicopter was not equipped with radio and Peterson and Lt. Irwin C. Steiner, another veteran pilot from Wright Field who accompanied Peterson, were flying over unfamiliar territory, the rescue ship was escorted by two L-5’s piloted by T/Sgt. William H. Thomas and S/Sgt. Gibson L. Jones.
Four times, the helicopter became separated from its guide planes, a low ceiling having enveloped the mountain country. But each time the planes renewed contact. Once the helicopter made three attempts before finally topping a 5,000-foot mountain peak. Another time, the ship ran out of gas and had to make a forced landing on a sand bank in the Chindwin River, where Peterson and Steiner sat down and waited for fuel to be air-dropped from the L-5’s. Up in the air once more, the helicopter climbed up over rocky peaks which jutted sharp above matted jungle, finally landing at the crude air-drop field near the weather station just before running out of gas again. The next day, nine days after engineers began disassembling the helicopter at Wright Field, Peterson flew the wounded man out of the jungle.
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General Joseph “Vinegar Joe” Stillwell, commander of U.S. Armies in the China, Burma, and India Theater, proudly wears his newly received four stars on his collar and the tag on his jeep. October 26, 1944. He was recently promoted to the rank of Full General.(AP Photo)
Uncle Joe Stilwell has returned to the grim but satisfying business of killing Japs – as Commanding General of the U.S. 10th Army, which this week annihilated the remnants of enemy opposition on bloody Okinawa.
Okinawa’s soil today contains the mortal remains of Lt. Gen. Simon Boliver Buckner, Jr., the colorful commander who led the new 10th Army ashore last Easter Sunday. In their last hour of military triumph, G.I.’s and his ranking officers reverently buried the general beside the men of the Seventh Division.
The nation applauded the move that placed four-starred Uncle Joe in command of the 10th Army. While in Chungking and India, Stilwell helped plan and carry out the liberation of North Burma and the building of the Ledo Road which later took his name.
Joe Stillwell, one of the most beloved generals in WWII
Subsequent differences of opinion with Chiang Kai-shek led last October to Uncle Joe’s recall to Washington where he was given command of Army Ground Forces.
Stilwell carried out his job with AGF with determination and spirit, bit no one doubted that it was his prayer to be returned to a combat assignment against the Japanese.
The death of Buckner brought to 34 the number of U.S. generals lost from all causes in action thus far in World War II, including four lieutenant generals. Shortly after the 10th Army Commander was killed, Brig. Gen. Claudius M. Easley, assistant commander of the 96th Infantry Division on Okinawa, also died in action.
Click on some of the images to enlarge.
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“HEY BABE, YOU DROPPED YOUR HANDKERCHIEF – SIR!!
“HERE’S THAT STOVE YOU REQUESTED BACK IN DECEMBER.”
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Timothy Bolyard – Thornton, WV; US Army, Afghanistan, Sgt. Major, KIA
John Breitmeyer – Christchurch, NZ; RNZ Navy # NZ9045, WWII
Warren Foss – St. Louis, MO; US Navy, WWII, PTO
Helmer Holmberg – Brn: SWE; Swedish Army, WWII
John Innes – Brisbane, AUS; Civilian, Pacific War Historian eg: “Guide to the Guadalcanal Battlefields”
Ruth Mesich – Wakefield, MI; US Navy WAVE, WWII
Millard Odom – Bateville, AR; USMC, WWII, PTO, Sgt., 3/2nd Marine Regiment, KIA (Tarawa)
Vinnie O’Hare – Broad Channel, NY; US Army, WWII
Robert Prata – Brooklyn, NY; US Army, Vietnam
Roy Stilwell Jr. – Chicago, IL; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 13th Air Force
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Get an aerial view from an aircraft called MICKEY.
Delivered to the AAF on July 8, 1944, this “H” model went into service with the 389th Squadron in March 1945. The pilot was Maj. James M. Wylie, the 389th Squadron C.O., and he named the aircraft MICKEY, after his wife’s nickname. When S/Sgt. Orian E. Hackler, the crew chief, asked about a tail identifier, Wylie replied that it would be nice to have “X,” for “X marks the spot.”
Wylie claimed this aircraft was a “pilot’s dream,”, and he flew most of his missions in it. On one, he almost lost control of it over Nichols Field on February 6, 1945. An unexploded 20mm shell tore through one wing and the plane swooped towards the ground before Wylie regained control and returned his damaged mount to Mangaldan. Afterwards, the aircraft received only occasional small arms hits. The profile painting shows MICKEY at Mangaldan during April 1945, with 67…
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400,000 PAY TRIBUTE TO DEPARTED LEADER IN SIMPLE LAST RITES
Roundup Staff Articles from 19 and 26 April 1945 issues
The body of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 31st President of the United States, was lowered to its final resting place in the soil of his Hyde Park, N.Y., home this week as 140,000,000 Americans from Washington to New Delhi paid tribute to their leader.
The last rites at the White House and at Hyde Park were of extreme simplicity to follow through to the end the Lincoln-esque democracy that has characterized the 12 year and 80 day duty of President Roosevelt as head of the Republic of the United States.
A special train brought the body from Warm Springs, Ga., where he died of cerebral hemorrhage last week, to Washington, D.C., thence on to his native State of New York.
As the President’s casket was carried into the White House the Marine Band played Lead, Kindly Light.
General Stratemeyer
HUMOROUS TIMES IN WAR!
Cpl. Joan Reidinger was a “little scared,” she admits, when Maj. Gen. George E. Stratemeyer, Eastern Air Command commanding general, invited her to tea recently.
It seems that Joan had written a poem entitled The Army Goes to Tea for Yank, and although the verses went on to “rib” the brass for their take-off on the British customs in India, Stratemeyer liked the poem; hence the invitation. Here is The Army Goes to Tea:
I should like to see the captain,” said the colonel to the WAC,
“I’m sorry, sir, he isn’t here, but he will soon be back.”
“But come, we’re going on a flight; the plane, it leaves at three.”
“I’m sorry, sir,” the WAC replied, “the captain’s out to tea.”
The telephone it jingled, and the WAC with voice of cheer
Said, “Colonel Doodle’s office, but the colonel isn’t here.”
“This is General Snipe,” the answer came, “so tell me, where is he?”
“I’m sorry, sir,” the WAC replied, “the colonel’s gone to tea.”
“I’ve got to get an order through,” the irate major said.
“If we don’t get some rations soon, my men will be all dead!
Please take me to Lt. Snoot, I know my point he’ll see.”
“I’m sorry, sir, Lt. Snoot has just stepped out to tea.”
And so it goes across the world, wherever tea they serve,
This strange civilian custom that the officers observe.
But if you’re just a poor G.I., you’re frowned upon, you see,
If you should try, at four o’clock, to stop your work for tea!
Handling snakes, Army style
AIR SERVICE COMMAND BASE, INDIA – The guide books say, “If a snake crawls onto your body, freeze in your tracks! The snake will not harm you and will soon go away.”
Cpl. Pleasant C. Templeton, photo lab wallah of an Air Service Group, had the unpleasant opportunity to test this theory while on guard duty one recent night.
Stooping over to avert the icy wind and blinding rain of the winter monsoon, Templeton felt a “sizeable” snake creep up into his lap. Remembering the advice, he remained perfectly still while the reptile playfully investigated such curiosities as his luminous-dial wrist watch and shiny overcoat buttons.
Friend snake apparently had read the same guide book and behaved accordingly. Fifteen minutes later, he wriggled off into the grass. Templeton still can’t comb his hair down. – Cpl. RAY LOWERY.
Partial view of the P-61 Pierre Lagace made for me.
10TH AIR FORCE USING P-61 PLANE IN THEATER
HQ., 10TH AIR FORCE, BURMA – Presence of the P-61 Black Widow in the India-Burma Theater has been officially announced by the 10th Air Force.
During the past months, this deadly night fighter, operating under a blanket of security restrictions, has practically wiped out all nocturnal Jap raiders from Burma skies. Today, for lack of its particular type of target, the Black Widow has been transformed into a fighter-bomber, blasting retreating enemy forces with 500-pound bombs.
With its twin engines and twin tails, the Black Widow resembles the P-38 Lightning although much heavier and carrying a three-man crew – pilot, observer and crew chief. Its climbing power, tremendous speed and special radio detection equipment enables the P-61 to achieve great tactical surprise on enemy aircraft.
The 10th Air Force’s Black Widow squadron is commanded by Lt. Col. James S. Michael, veteran of North Africa and Italy campaigns. His operations officer is Maj. Thomas N. Wilson.
Capt. Walter A. Storck, who, at 38, is probably one of the oldest active fighter pilots in the service, is flight leader of the Black Widows. In the past 16 years, Storck has accumulated more than 6,000 hours in the air, flying everything from an L-5 liaison plane to the newest jet-propelled aircraft.
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“AND JUST WHERE IS THAT GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL I WAS SUPPOSE TO GET?”
“THIS IS THE OUTFIT I BOUGHT TO GO ON A DATE WITH AN ENLISTED MAN.”
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Leonard Applebaum – Bronx, NY; Merchant Marines / US Army
Robert G. Buchert (100) – Cincinnatti, OH; US Army Air Corps, WWII, Sgt. Major, 152nd AAA/11th Airborne Division
Frank C. Carlucci III – Scranton, PA; Defense Secretary to Pres. Ronald Reagan
William Clark – Canberra, AUS; RA Air Force, 692 Squadron
William Flowers – Topeka, KS; US Navy, WWII
Walter Kane – Ware, MA; US Army, WWII
Fred Love – Delray Beach, FL; US Army, Medical Corps
John McIntyre – NZ; New Zealand Army # 477617, Vietnam
Carolyn Losee Spears – Westfield, NJ; US Navy WAVES, WWII, Chief Petty Officer
Harold Wilkerson – Clinton, IA; US Army, WWII, ETO, 1277 Engineers, Bronze Star
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USS Montpelier
From “Pacific War Diary” by James J. Fahey of the USS Montpelier
Friday, March 16, 1945 – We left Subic Bay, traveled to Mindoro and anchored. We may be ordered to troops on the southeast side of Mindanao. We had plane recognition every day as usual. We have movies of our planes and the enemy’s so we can tell the difference. Tonight many B-24 bombers returned after a raid on China. One of the planes came in on 3 motors.
The Press News reported that the Japanese lost approximately 4000 airplanes in the Philippine campaign. British Lancaster bomber loads were increased to carry 11-ton bombs for the first time yesterday. They are capable of destroying 5 city blocks each, being the largest bombs in the world.
James J. Fahey
Tuesday, March 20, 1945 – B-29s dropped leaflets on Japan telling the inhabitants that the bombing would cease when they stopped fighting. They also warned people to stay away from military areas, Bomber from Iwo Jima will bomb Japan soon.
I left the ship today for recreation on the beach at Mindoro. We received a ride from an Army truck and went to the town about 10 miles away. HQ for the 5th Air Force was also accommodated on the island. I saw a couple of Red Cross girls there. Some of the men bought corn whiskey from the soldiers. They paid $17 for one pint. That must be some kind of record.
Sunday, March 25, 1945 – Today is palm Sunday, our third in the Pacific. The Australian cruiser Hobart was here, but left yesterday with the Phoenix and Boise. The Cleveland, Denver and Montpelier are the only cruisers here now. The men would like to join Bull Halsey’s Third Fleet, but they are only letting the newer ships go with the 3rd.
The other night we were ordered to battle stations. Around midnight, Jap bombers struck at Manila. They did not attack the ships in the bay.
USS Franklin, in the Task Force, 60 miles off the coast of Japan. This is what Seaman Fahey was missing. One Japanese “Betty” bomber dropped 2 bombs. All planes on deck were lost as were 832 crew members.
The Press News reported that 274 tons of bombs have been falling on Germany every hour for the past 3 weeks. This is more than England received during the entire war. The Japs lost 10,000 aircraft in the past 7 months.
Sunday, April 1, 1945 – A British task force is now operating with the American Fleet off Japan. Today at noon approximately 100 LCIs arrived. Some action must be in store.
Click on images to enlarge.
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Ted Brewer – Omaha, NE; US Army Air Corps, WWII, Korea & Vietnam, CM Sgt. (Ret. 26 y.)
Willie Cardin – Hartford, CT; US Army, 11th & 82nd Airborne Divisions
Robert Gilmour – Manitoba, CAN; RC Navy, WWII
Wendell Hawley – Burlington, VT; US Army, WWII
Alan Konzelman – Patterson, NJ; US Navy, engineer, 6th Fleet
William Lynch – Washington DC; US Navy, WWII, Radioman 3rd Class
Mark Pitalo – Biloxi, MS; USMC, WWII & Korea
Harry Sergerdell – Broad Channel, NY; US Coast Guard, WWII
Thomas Turner – Gaffney, SC; US Navy, WWII, submarine service
Willis Williams – Memphis, TN; US Navy, WWII, Korea & Vietnam, Commander (Ret.)
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This is some of what our airmen were up against in the Pacific.
One of the better fighter designs operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War Two but not built in enough numbers, was the Mitsubishi J2M Raiden (“Thunderbolt” – Allied Code Name: Jack) land based interceptor used to attack Allied bombers such as the USAAF Boeing B-29 Superfortress. It was designed to be fast with a top speed 596km/h (370 mph – examples captured and tested by the United States using 92 octane fuel plus methanol, flew at speeds between 655km/h and 671km/h!), with an excellent rate of climb, to quickly reach the enemy bombers at altitude and later variants packed a punch with 4 x 20mm Type 99 wing mounted cannons to bring them down. It was armoured but maneuverability was sacrificed for speed and this pilot protection. Unfortunately performance at high altitude was hampered by the lack of an engine turbocharger on the main production Raiden aircraft.
Mitsubishi…
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The Veterans Day National Ceremony is held each year on November 11th at Arlington National Cemetery . The ceremony commences precisely at 11:00 a.m. with a wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknowns and continues inside the Memorial Amphitheater with a parade of colors by veterans’ organizations and remarks from dignitaries. The ceremony is intended to honor and thank all who served in the United States Armed Forces.
For 98 years, Americans have remembered those who served our country in uniform on 11 November – first as Armistice Day, and then, since 1954 as Veterans Day. In this 99th year of commemoration, the Department of Veterans Affairs is broadening that tradition of observance and appreciation to include both Veterans and Military Families for the entire month of November.
For more information on Veterans Month acitivtes in your area – check out the calendar below or visit your local VA facility.
Remembrance Day (sometimes known informally as Poppy Day) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth of Nations member states since the end of the First World War to remember the members of their armed forces who have died in the line of duty. Following a tradition inaugurated by King George V in 1919,[1] the day is also marked by war remembrances in many non-Commonwealth countries. Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November in most countries to recall the end of hostilities of World War I on that date in 1918. Hostilities formally ended “at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month”, in accordance with the armistice signed by representatives of Germany and the Entente between 5:12 and 5:20 that morning. (“At the 11th hour” refers to the passing of the 11th hour, or 11:00 am.)
Information here today is from the US Veteran’s Administration and Wikipedia.
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Albert Cheese – Hampstead, NC; USMC, 1st Sgt. (Ret. 20 y.)
Stephen Cribben – Rawlins, WY; US Army, Afghanistan, Sgt., 10th Special Forces Group, KIA
Norman Dyke – Warwickshire, ENG; RAF, WWII
Adrien Einertson – Camas, WA; US Navy, WWII
Jack Gustafson – Athabasca, CAN; RC Army, WWII, ETO
Edward Keane – Warwick, RI; US Army, 11th Airborne Division
Louis Manci – Scranton, PA; US Army, Korea, 187th ‘Rakkasans’
Charles O’Neill Jr. – Cleveland, OH; USMC, WWII, PTO
John Trudden – Broad Channel, NY; US Air Force, Korea
Tony Victor – Huntsville, AL; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, B-17 gunner/radioman
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The 54th Troop Carrier Wing was established on 26 February 1943 [one day after the 11th A/B Div. at Camp MacKall] and commenced air transport and medical air evacuation operations in support of Fifth Air Force on 26 May 1943. advancing as battle lines permitted.
The unit took part in the airborne invasion of Nadzab, New Guinea in September 1943 by dropping the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment, as well as Australian engineers and heavy equipment.
The wing employed C-47’s almost exclusively, but during late 1943 and much of 1944 also used 13 converted B-17E’s for armed transport missions in enemy-held territory. The 54th supported every major advance made by the allies in the Southwest Pacific Theater operating from primitive airstrips carved from jungles and air-dropping cargo where airstrips unavailable.
In July 1944, the wing dropped 1,418 paratroopers on Noemfoor Island to aid the allied invasion forces. Then assumed the task of handling all freight and personnel moving in troop carrier aircraft in the Southwest Pacific, in addition to scheduled and unscheduled air movement of cargo and troops, and air evacuation of wounded personnel.
In preparation for airborne operations in the Philippines, the 54th TCW conducted joint training with the 11th Airborne Division. August and September 1944 were held in Nadzab. Due to the demands of transport resources in building up Allied strength in Netherlands, New Guinea, the wing rotated the squadrons in Doboduru where they received refresher training in paradrops and aerial supply. The training proved to be of great value at Tagatay Ridge, Corregidor and in the Cagayan Valley, Luzon, when the 11th A/B need a lift for their paratroopers and gliders.
Early December 1944, the 5th Air Force HQ was attacked as well as the 44th Station Hospital. The 187th HQ Company [Smitty was there], set up a perimeter. They stood there through the night, rifles ready. By morning there were 19 dead enemy soldiers. Col. Pearson sent out patrols that located another 17 Japanese hiding out in the rice paddies..
Okinawa
By late 1944 and during the early months of 1945, most wing missions were flown to the Philippines. In February 1945, the wing flew three more airborne operations, all in the Philippines, to help encircle Japanese concentrations. For the 11th A/B Division’s jump on Aparri in north Luzon, the first plane off the ground was piloted by Col. John Lackey. Wing C-47s dropped napalm on Caraboa Island in Manila Bay in March 1945.
11th Airborne Division paradrop, June 1945
When hostilities ended on Luzon, the wing moved the entire 11th Airborne Division (11,300 personnel) from the Philippines to Okinawa on short notice. It would take the 54th Troop Carrier Wing two days to transport the 11th Airborne using 351 C-46s, 151 C-47s and 99 B-24s; with their bombs removed and crammed with troopers. The planes had carted the men; 1,161,000 pounds of equipment and 120 special-purpose jeeps for communication and supply.
Glider training
The 54th then began transporting occupation forces into Japan, beginning with General Swing, the 187th Regiment (and Smitty). On the first day, 123 aircraft brought 4,200 troopers to Atsugi Airfield. During September 1945, the wing also evacuated over 17,000 former prisoners of war from Japan to the Philippines.
The wing served as part of the occupation forces in Japan from 25 September 1945 to about 26 January 1946, while continuing routine air transport operations and a scheduled courier service. Beginning in December 1945 and continuing into mid-1946, most of the wing’s components were reassigned to other units or inactivated, and on 15 January 1946 the wing became a component of the Far East (soon, Pacific) Air Service Command.
Towing a glider.
Moving to the Philippines, the wing gained new components and flew scheduled routes between Japan, the Philippines, Australia, and the Hawaiian Islands. Replaced by the 403rd Troop Carrier Group on 31 May 1946 and was inactivated.
Further, more detailed information can be found in the publications by the IHRA.
This article incorporates material from the US Air Force Historical Research Agency, “The Angels: The History of the 11th Airborne Division” & “Rakassans”, both by Gen. E.M. Flanagan; Wikipedia and US Airborne Commando Operations.
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John Bettridge – Denver, CO; US Army, WWII & Korea
Gerard Caporaso – Chatham, NJ; US Army Air Corps, WWII, (author: “From the Top Turret: A Memoir of WW2 and the American Dream”)
Daniel Cooney – Plandome, NY; US Army, WWII, ETO
Prosper “Trapper” Couronne – Whitewood, CAN; RC Army, Korea, Warrant Officer (Ret. 24 yrs.), 1st PPCLI
Bruce Goff – Elmwood, NZ; RNZ Air Force # 4214914, WWII
Fred Hartman Sr. – Horsehead, NY; US Army, WWII & Korea
Myron Hollman – Wausau, WI; US Navy, WWII/ US Army, Korea/ US Air Force, Vietnam
Theodore Matula – Lantana, FL; US Army Air Corps, WWII, P-47 pilot
Lloyd Urbine – Ft. Wayne, IN; US Army Air Corps, WWII
Robert Winton – Bowie, TX; US Army Air Corps, WWII
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Smitty - artwork by Priorhouse.wordpress.com/
Our Silent Observer
Jeep crossing
