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Smitty’s Letter XIV “On The Move (again)”
LSTs unload at Leyte
By mid-November, Gen. Krueger’s 4 divisions held only a small fraction of Leyte and Yamashita’s reinforcements were still landing. The weather was grounding aircraft on both sides.
18 November, the 11th Airborne joined in on the King II Operation. The 2nd battalion of the 187th Regiment went aboard the USS Calvert to land on Bito Beach. Being as Smitty was part of Gen. Swing’s staff in HQ Company, I do not know if he went aboard this ship.
Berthing
Letter XIV “On The Move (again)”
Dear Mom,
We have been at sea now for three days heading toward someplace the Land and the great white father in Washington only knows.
As I sit here writing this, I just can’t help but feel like a very small insignificant part of something so vast that the mind can’t in any way begin to comprehend what it is all about. Here I am on a ship heading out to something, someplace, and it was all planned probably months ago, miles and miles away from anywheres near here. Suddenly it all takes form. Transports and other ships stream into the harbor and just as quickly and quietly we are made loose and moving out. It all happens so fast and so smoothly that you can’t help but admire it all.
Of course, as serious as it all is, the army just can’t help but be the cause of many amusing incidents. When we first landed in New Guinea we got lost looking for our camp and coming down to the boats, the trucks again got lost and so we had to travel up and down the beach until finally, instead of us finding the boats — the boats found us. Climbing up the gangplank with our packs and duffel bags always provide an amusing incident or two, but at the time seem pretty damn dangerous.
On board ship, we are once again packed in like sardines down in the hold. Once shown our bunk, we proceed at once to get rid of our equipment and dash up on deck to pick out some spot where we can spend the night, It isn’t long after this that the details are handed out — and so — what could have been a very pleasant voyage soon turns out to be anything else but. I was lucky in that I was handed a detail that only worked for an hour each day, but the poor guys that hit the broom detail were at it all day long. All we could hear, all day long, over the speaker system was: “Army broom detail, moping and brooms, clean sweep down forward aft, all decks.” They kept it up all the time until soon one of the fellas made up a little ditty about it and sang it every time we saw a broom coming down the deck.
The food was excellent and really worth talking about. On the first trip coming over from the states, we dreaded the thought of eating, but on this ship, it was more than a welcome thought. Generally, when you go to a movie there are news reel pictures of convoys of ships and the men aboard. They always try to show you a few playing cards or joking and say that this is how the boys relieve the tension they are under. Well, I don’t know about the seriousness of the situation was anything like what the news reels portray.
Of course, it was a strange sight to see the boys at night line up at the side scanning the sky and distant horizon. This was generally though at night and early dawn. What we expected to see, I don’t know and what our reaction would be, if we did see something — I hesitate to predict. It won’t be long after this letter is written that we will land or at least sight our destination, so wishing to be wide-awake when we do, I’ll close this letter now and hit the hay hoping I sleep an uninterrupted sleep.
Till next time, “Good night and pleasant dreams.”
Love, Everett
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Lucius E. Agee – Nashville, TN; US Navy, WWII, aviation radioman, USS BonHomme Richard
Dick Barlow – Manchester, ENG; RAF, WWII, ETO, motorcycle dispatch rider
OUR FLAG
Courtesy of: Dan Antion
Duane E. Dewey – Grand Rapids, MI; USMCR, Korea, Cpl., Medal of Honor
Gabriel J. Eggus – NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, P-39 pilot # 0-669878, 100/71st Recon Group, KIA (Wewak, NG)
Edwin A. Jacoby – brn: GER/ Brooklyn, NY; US Army, WWII, ETO / Korea, Sgt.
Sam Kendrick – Wexford, IRE; US Army, WWII, ETO
David L. Long – Milwaukee, WI; US Army, tank commander, 1/72/2nd Infantry Division
Alan E. Petersen – Brownton, MN; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, 1st Lt., 345/98/9th Air Force, B-24 bombardier, KIA (Ploiesti, ROM)
Joseph M. Robertson – Paragould, AR; US Navy, WWII, PTO, Seaman 2nd Class # 2797547, USS Oklahoma, KIA (Pearl Harbor)
Pete Turk – Scammon, KS; US Navy, WWII, PTO, Seaman 2nd Class # 3422928, USS California, KIA (Pearl Harbor)
Murray Weiss – Kellogg, ID; US Air Force
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The Home Front Role of Sports
Hialeah Race Track postcard. Flamingos were imported from Cuba in 1934
The movies and newsreels of WWII provided information and diversion for many at the home
front, but none could provide the escape and release of stress for the civilian as much as sports.
South Florida maintained a carnival atmosphere with the Hialeah Race Track and West Flagler Kennel Club, which took in $100,000 nightly – just to prove my point. And, somehow, travel restrictions did not deter the action at Miami’s Tropical Park. Horse racing went on, despite the war, in every country. All in all, racing boomed as the 68th running of the Kentucky Derby went off with 100,000 in the crowd. Unfortunately, this was the same day that 68 men had been taken by the Japanese at Bataan; they were all members of D Company, 192d Tank Battalion, out of Kentucky.
Sam Snead & Ted Williams
The war did not stop the golfers either as the tournaments and professional tours continued. Sam Snead, fresh back from the Navy, played in the 1944 tourney; he came in second to Byron Nelson. (gpcox met Snead at the ‘Sail Inn’ in Delray Beach, FL when he would drop in for lunch after a game with friends.)
In boxing, Joe Louis started the idea of holding a sports event for the war effort. He announced in 1942 that his profits from the bout against Buddy Blair would go to the Naval Relief fund. The gate was $200,000 and Louis finished off his opponent in 2 minutes and 56 seconds. Louis was drafted three days later.
Not to be outdone, a profitable pro-football contest was held between the National League AllStars and the Chicago Bears and these profits also went to the Naval Relief Fund. The National Football League was forced to reduce to a 42 game season in 1943 due to all the draftees, but
Coach George Halas brought home two championship titles for the Bears, 1940 & 1942; while Curly Lambeau’s Green Bay Packers won it in 1944.
As during most of WWII, 1943 in New Zealand had no Rugby International matches played, but the West Coast did retain the Northern Union Cup. England and Australia were unable to hold their tennis championships, such as Wimbledon, for the extent of the war.
Rose Bowl at Duke Stadium, 1942
In 1942, the Rose Bowl was moved to Duke Stadium in North Carolina to avoid having large crowds converge anywhere on the west coast. Dallas, Texas had 38,000 for the Cotton Bowl that year and 35,505 amassed in Miami for the Orange Bowl: Georgia Bulldogs 46 – Horned Frogs 40. The annual Army-Navy game brought 66,000 to Baltimore’s Municipal Stadium in 1944, when Coach “Doc” Blanchard led the Army, not only to victory, but a perfect season.
For the story of “The Game Must Go On” click here.
Professional baseball was as hot as ever when 37,815 fans watched the American League Browns, in Sportsman Park, beat the New York Yankees for the pennant 1 October 1944. This made the World Series an all-St. Louis affair against the Cardinals. Truman was there watching as the Cardinals won their fifth world crown. The Yankees won it in 1943 against the Cardinals.
As most people are aware, the baseball racial barrier was not broken until 1947 when Jackie Robinson walked out on the field, so during WWII there were two Negro leagues. (As they were called back in the day.) Out of Hometown, Pennsylvania, “Josh” Gibson and Walter Johnson dominated the games. In the Washington Griffith Stadium, he had the long-ball hitter record of 563 feet, (Babe Ruth’s record was 550’) and a .541 batting average in 1943.
And, we cannot close this section of baseball without mentioning the AAGPBL – the AllAmerican Professional Baseball League, also known as the “lipstick league.” They were the “Girls of Summer” depicted in the newspapers as “Queens of Swat” and “Belles of the Ball Game.” They referred to each other by nicknames like: ‘Jeep,’ ‘Flash,’ ‘Pepper’ and ‘Moe.” The league premiered in 1943 and would last for 12 years. There were 545 female athletes that made up the ten teams and their popularity would eventually draw a million fans. These women have been honored by the movie, “A League of Their Own” in 1992 and finally received tribute in the Cooperstown Hall of Fame in 1988.
Young adults (the word “teenager” was not really used back then), used sporting events as a gathering spot for camaraderie among friends and also to help fill the void of adult male influence that was prevalent in so many homes. In the “Corn Belt,” basketball ranked as the number one sport, but there was also tennis, golf, a tumbling club, fencing and even Ping-Pong clubs. High school games were even broadcast on the radio. The girls would join a Booster Club to be their school’s cheering squad and wearing their boyfriend’s sports jacket was a major status symbol.
Willie Mays playing stick ball
Not all sports were organized. Boys played stick ball in the city streets and in the suburbs, a basketball hoop attached to a garage door attracted neighbors. Church picnics and block parties always included a multitude of games and sports to occupy the younger set. Communities were kept closely knit that way, like Kerry Corner, the Irish working-class neighborhood not far from Harvard yard. They organized their own baseball and basketball games. John “Lefty” Caulfield formed a baseball scholarship program before he enlisted in the Navy because it had done so much for him. Those that returned from the war became part of the ROMEO Club, (Retired Old Men Eating Out), to maintain those childhood friendships.
Harry James, better known as a big band leader for the ‘Swing Era’ was also a one-time Detroit Tigers prospect. He organized his own band into a team, complete with uniforms. Louise Tobin, singer with many of the big bands, said, “The boys were hired first because they could play baseball; second for their instruments.” Fellow musicians said you had to have a .300 average to get an audition with Harry. The band’s manager added, “They carried more equipment for baseball than music… Another bus on the road would probably be a band and we’d stop and play a game.” Mr. James gave his all for baseball as captain, pitcher and the heaviest hitter.
For the home front, living during a world war was an experience no one of today’s generation has experienced.
I’m certain I have missed at least a million or so stories out there that are related to the sports of the 1940’s – so let’s hear some!
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.
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Military Humor – Stars & Stripes style –
“TODAY IT REALLY IS”
“… and don’t try any of that funny stuff, Slim….”
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Farewell Salutes –
James C. Broughton – Barbersville, KY; US Army, WWII, Sgt. Major (Ret.), Bronze Star
Robert Campbell – Richmond, VA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, B-17 navigator
Joseph DeMaria – Albany, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, Distinguished Flying Cross
Warren Gale – No. Sydney,NS, CAN; Canadian Army, WWII
Albert Haimes – Boston, MA; OSS, WWII, ETO
Michael Mandzak – Pittsburgh, PA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, Korea & Vietnam, pilot, Lt. Col. (Ret. 26 y.)
Charles Queen – Brooklyn, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, P-47 pilot, Col. (Ret.)
Frank Rees – Newfoundland, CAN; RC Air Force, WWII, 409th Squadron “Night Hawks”, navigator
Joseph A. Richards (100) – Sellersburg, IN; US Army, WWII, CBI, MSgt., 691st Engineers
Louise Ullman – Miami, FL; Civilian, US Navy employee
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The U.S. Marine Corps in China – part II
China 1945
In the meantime, the 29th Marine Regiment, 6th Division was supposed to have landed at Chefoo, but plans had to be changed. The communists had already seized the city, and they were extremely uncooperative. And so it was that young private Stevens and the 29th Marines found themselves at Tsingtao (now Qingdao), a port on China’s Yellow Sea coast.
In the early afternoon of October 11, 1945, the first Marines landed at Tsingtao. When the main body arrived on October 15, they were given a tumultuous welcome by the Chinese population. Private Stevens tried to learn a few words of Chinese on the trip. When Colonel Roston, the battalion commander, heard that Stevens “knew Chinese”—a great exaggeration —he appointed the young leatherneck as official interpreter. Stevens did his best, even though all he knew were a few stock phrases like, “Do you have your own rice bowl?”
Marines in China
Tsingtao was a fascinating city, but some aspects took some getting used to. Ragged beggars swarmed through the streets, a number that included many impoverished children. In fact, Private Stevens’ own outfit, Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 29th Marines, unofficially adopted a little Chinese beggar who they nicknamed “Little Lew.” He was cleaned, fed, and dressed in cut-down Marine uniform items.
But elsewhere in China the news was not so heartwarming. Chiang had made a major tactical mistake that would ultimately cause his regime to collapse. The generalissimo concentrated on winning back Manchuria, in the process withdrawing many of his troops from northern China. This created a power vacuum that the communist Chinese were all too happy to fill. Tsingtao became a Nationalist “island” in a communist-dominated Shantung Province “sea.”
Even in Hubei Province the communists were suspicious and generally uncooperative. Marine Brig. Gen. William Worton had a meeting with Zhou En-lai, later famous as Mao’s right hand man and foreign minister for the People’s Republic of China. Zhou was a brilliant diplomat, and he made it clear that the communists would fight hard to prevent the Marines from entering Peiping.
Worton was not intimidated, even after a stormy hour with Zhou. He pointed out that the IIIAC was a battle-hardened unit with superior air power support. He was not looking for trouble, but his Marines could push through any opposition if they had to. Zhou En-lai had met his match, and he withdrew after insisting he would have Marine orders “changed.” The Marines arrived in Peiping without major incident.
American Marines armed with a Browning .30-caliber water-cooled machine gun and other light weapons pose during efforts to evacuate former Japanese Army personnel after their surrender in China following World War II.
The formal surrender of the 10,000-man Tsingtao Japanese garrison took place on October 25, 1945. The whole Marine 6th Division was on hand for the ceremony, conducted by division commander Maj. Gen. Lemuel Shepard and Chinese Nationalist General Chen Chao-Tsang. However, some Japanese troops were still needed to help keep the major rail lines open in Shantung. There were not enough Marines or Nationalist troops to guard all the railroads.
Even so, Marines often found themselves in the role of train guards, one of the most dangerous assignments in China. Winters were bitterly cold in China, and the great city of Shanghai, a metropolis of three million souls, needed a constant stream of northern coal to keep it going. Shanghai needed 100,000 tons of coal a month, so Marine riflemen, shivering from the icy blasts than swept in from the Gobi Desert, stood guard to keep the trains running.
Click on images to enlarge.
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Jacob Alphen – Green Valley, AZ; US Navy, WWII
Gerald Bruno – North Andover, MA; US Army, Korea, 82nd Airborne Division
Greg Farison – Columbia, SC; US Army, Vietnam, 1st Cavalry Division
John Gill – Huron, OH; US Navy, WWII & Korea, Lt. Commander
Charles Jackson – Camillus, NY; Merchant Marines, WWII / US Army, Korea
Cecilia Krulikowski – Yeadon, PA; US Army WAC, WWII, Medical Tech, ETO
Ervin Licko – Chicago, IL; USMC, WWII & Korea
Ian Michie – Toronto, CAN; RC Navy, WWII & Korea
Allen Penrod – Dunmor, KY; US Air Force, WWII, Korea & Vietnam, CMSgt. (Ret. 29 y.)
Richard Wenneson – Fredericksburg, VA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Co. C/511/11th Airborne Division
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1 April 1945 – Okinawa
Okinawa invasion map
Codenamed Operation Iceberg, this was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by U. S. Marine and Army forces against the Imperial Japanese Army.
The United States created the Tenth Army, a cross-branch force consisting of the 7th, 27th, 77th, and 96th infantry divisions of the US Army with the 1st, 2nd, and 6th divisions of the Marine Corps, to fight on the island. The Tenth was unique in that it had its own tactical air force (joint Army-Marine command), and was also supported by combined naval and amphibious forces.
On this day in 1945, after suffering the loss of 116 planes and damage to three aircraft carriers, 50,000 U.S. combat troops of the 10th Army, under the command of Lieutenant General Simon B. Buckner Jr., land on the southwest coast of the Japanese island of Okinawa, 350 miles south of Kyushu, the southern main island of Japan.
Marine & Navy aircraft destroyed all enemy aircraft on land. Shown here is Yontan Airfield
Determined to seize Okinawa as a base of operations for the army ground and air forces for a later assault on mainland Japan, more than 1,300 ships converged on the island, finally putting ashore 50,000 combat troops on April 1. The Americans quickly seized two airfields and advanced inland to cut the island’s waist. They battled nearly 120,000 Japanese army, militia, and labor troops under the command of Lieutenant General Mitsuru Ushijima.
See some of the action in this 4 minute video………
The naval campaign against Okinawa began in late March 1945, as the carriers of the BPF began striking Japanese airfields in the Sakishima Islands. To the east of Okinawa, Mitscher’s carrier provided cover from kamikazes approaching from Kyushu. Japanese air attacks proved light the first several days of the campaign but increased on April 6 when a force of 400 aircraft attempted to attack the fleet.
The high point of the naval campaign came on April 7 when the Japanese launched Operation Ten-Go. It was during this operation that they attempted to drive their battleship Yamato through the Allied fleet with the goal of beaching it on Okinawa for use a shore battery.
Initial U.S. landings began on March 26 when elements of the 77th Infantry Division captured the Kerama Islands to the west of Okinawa. On March 31, Marines occupied Keise Shima. Only eight miles from Okinawa, the Marines quickly emplaced artillery on these islets to support future operations. The main assault moved forward against the Hagushi beaches on the west coast of Okinawa on April 1. This was supported by a feint against the Minatoga beaches on the southeast coast by the 2nd Marine Division. Coming ashore, Geiger and Hodge’s men quickly swept across the south-central part of the island capturing the Kadena and Yomitan airfields (Map).
US Army 77th Infantry soldiers trudge thru the mud & flooding on Okinawa
Having encountered light resistance, Buckner ordered the 6th Marine Division to begin clearing the northern part of the island. Proceeding up the Ishikawa Isthmus, they battled through rough terrain before encountering the main Japanese defenses on the Motobu Peninsula.
Click on images to enlarge.
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Current News –
The remains of five Australians who were murdered by the Japanese in World War II appear to have been discovered on the island of Nauru. The five men were working as civilians on the island in 1943, not soldiers, so there is, unfortunately, no money available to repatriate them.
Frederick Royden Chalmers volunteered to remain on the island along with four other men in order to help the islanders deal with the Japanese invasion they knew was coming. Chalmers was 62 years old when he was killed. The other four men were Bernard Quin, 48, Wilfred Shugg, 39, William Doyle, 47, and Frederick Harmer, 44. They were captured by the invading forces and eventually dragged onto the beach where they were killed on March 25, 1943.
The family of Chalmers wants his body returned to Australia. The Unrecovered War Casualties Unit of the Australian Army Defense Force and the Department of Foreign Affairs both claim to be unauthorized to bring the remains of the men back home.
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Stevie Barnett – Matthews, MO; US Navy, Vietnam,Chief Petty Officer (Ret.)
Ira ‘Pete’ Chesley – North Platte, NE; US Army, WWII, ETO, 9th Armored Division
Thomas Eager – Watertown, NY; US Navy, WWII, USS Princeton
Bob Funderburke – Rock Hill, SC; US Army, Korea, Sgt., 11th Airborne Division
Jessie Gale – Tetonia, ID; US Navy, WWII, ATO
Michael Littrell Sr. – Louisville, KY; USMC, Vietnam
William Patterson – Santa Barbara, CA; US Army, WWII, ETO, Col. (Ret.), 42 Ordnance Div.
Lloyd Robertson – Cralk, CAN; RC Navy, WWII
John Siler – Banner, OK; Merchant Marine, WWII
Francis Weniger – Plankinton, SD; US Navy, WWII, PTO
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CHRISTMAS
TO ALL THOSE THAT BELIEVE IN FREEDOM AND PEACE: MERRY CHRISTMAS, from THE PACIFIC PARATROOPER !!
PLEASE REMEMBER THOSE THAT FOUGHT FOR US THEN….
AND THOSE THAT PROTECT US TODAY….
TO ALL MY FRIENDS AND NEW READERS – I WISH YOU ALL THE VERY BEST OF HOLIDAY SEASONS!!!
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MILITARY CHRISTMAS HUMOR –
Humor from deployed Marines
Click on images to enlarge.
OOPS !!
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FAREWELL SALUTES –
Loren Abdulla – Fox Lake, IL; USMC, WWII, PTO, Purple Heart (Yankton Sioux)
Robert Boyd – Auckland, NZ; RNZ Army # 136394, WWII, driver
Alfred Chew – Giddings, TX; US Army, Korea, demolition / US Air Force, TSgt. (Ret. 24 yrs.)
Steven Erceg – W.AUS; 3rd & 4th RAR, Vietnam
William Fields – Birmingham, AL; US Army, WWII, PTO
Daniel Martin – Portland, OR; US Army, WWII
Bruce R. Linzy – Gay, FL; US Army, Korea, Co. C/1st Batt./187th RCT
Toby Ortiz – Nambe, NM; US Army, WWII, PTO, 25th Infantry
Fred Persinger – Dover, TN; US Army Air Corps, WWII, (Ret. 28 years)
Ralph Wetmore – Lodi, CA; US Army, WWII, PTO, Sgt., medic
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Personal Note – Please be patient, it’s been very busy around here and it may take me a while to get back to you. I appreciate each and every one of you!!
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Electrical Section, 127 Wing, Christmas, 1943
From Pierre Lagacé, the gentleman who works tirelessly to bring our ancestors home to us!
Was your father, grandfather, uncle, granduncle, or someone you know was with Electrical Section, 127 Wing around Christmas time in 1943?
Well chances are that he is on this picture.
Lorne’s father is.
This picture is probably not precious unless your father, grandfather, uncle, granduncle, or someone you know was with Electrical Section, 127 Wing around Christmas time in 1943.
If you find someone you know, please write a comment and I will get in touch.
USS Alabama – Then and Now
USS Alabama, Cruise book
The USS Alabama (BB-60) is a South Dakota Class Battleship, launched on April 16, 1942. It served during World War II in both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
The Alabama served in British waters protecting supply convoys to the Soviet Union.
Later it joined U.S. forces fighting in the Pacific. It was involved in the Gilbert Island, Marshall Islands, and Marianas Islands campaigns, and in the Battles of the Philippine Sea and Okinawa.
The Alabama was awarded nine battle stars for her service.
On January 9, 1947, the Alabama was decommissioned. Her last journey under her own power was to the United States Pacific Reserve Fleet at Bremerton, Washington. She remained there until removed from the Naval Vessel Register on June 1, 1962.
US Navy poster
However, that was not the end of her life. Some citizens of the State of Alabama formed a ‘USS Alabama Battleship Commission’ with the aim of raising funds to preserve the Alabama as a memorial to the men and women who served their nation during World War II.
The money, including $100,000 raised by schoolchildren in the form of nickels and dimes, and a $1,000,000 corporate donation, was found, and the Alabama was awarded to the state on June 16, 1964. She was formally handed over at a ceremony in Seattle on July 7.
She was then towed to Mobile Bay, Alabama, where she lies in Battleship Memorial Park. It opened as a museum on January 9, 1965. She was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1986.
The Alabama is one of the most well-known American ships of World War II. The 1992 movie Under Siege, starring Steven Seagal, featured it, though not by name.
Though the action in the film is supposed to have occurred on board the Missouri, the Alabama is actually shown in most of the battleship scenes.
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Carlton Blackmore – Westfield, NJ; US Army, WWII, Captain
John Cleary Jr. – Bronx, NY; US Army, Korea
Allan Dally – Hawke’s Bay NZ; RNZ Army # 056129, WWII, East Coast Mounted Rifles
Harold Gordon – New Bern, NC; US Merchant Marine, WWII & Korea, radioman
Fred Johnson – Park City, UT; US Navy, WWII, PTO, USS Snowbell (AN-52)
Larry Jordal – Sisseton, SD; US Army, Korea
Stanley Levine – Cincinnati, OH; US Army, WWII
Richard Rose – Battle Creek, MI; US Air Force
William J. Simon Jr. – W.Scranton, PA; US Army, Korea, 187th RCT
Marcey Jack Wilson – Wichita Falls, TX; US Navy, WWII
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Smitty ~ Getting Close to Shore ~ Letter VI
Ships in anchor at Milne Bay, 1944
Just as Smitty expected, their destination was quickly coming up over the horizon. The fleeting glimpse of solid land, Milne Bay, New Guinea was only a short stopover for water (such a disappointment) and they continued their cruise north. The 11th Airborne Division came upon the humming waterfront of ships manipulating to unload troops, supplies and equipment in Oro Bay. They witnessed a paradoxal view of organized chaos.
Down the rope ladders they went to the beach taxis, DUKWs (2 ton amphibious vehicles commonly called “ducks”) and onward to the awaiting shoreline. At latitude 8*52’60S and longitude 148*30’0E, this would become the first step for many a G.I. on foreign soil. Once they actually hit the beach, the heat seemed to slam into the troopers and their uniforms became soaked within minutes, but they proceeded on to the Buna-Dobodura area to make their new base camp.
Oro Bay, New Guinea
As written in the Australian newspaper, The Canberra Times, 1944: “New Guinea was a country out of the Stone Age that was whizzed through the centuries. A country that had previously known only natives, grass huts and raw nature has been blitzed from all angles with every piece of equipment known to modern engineering and warfare … the skies are as busy as a beehive with bombers and fighters and transports.”
The 11th had entered the jungles amidst torrential rains, mud and heat. On their first day, the meals were prepared in Australian chuck wagons and the idea of fresh food would be a distant memory from the past. From here on out, everything would be canned, dehydrated or cured. Having come from the fishing town of Broad Channel, Smitty was accustom to eating seafood and was even teased in boot camp for liking the creamed chipped beef on toast (more commonly known as -“shit-on-a-shingle”), but those days were long gone. I remember him saying more than once, “It wasn’t that the powdered eggs tasted bad — they just didn’t have a taste.”
Although General Swing, commander of the 11th A/B, had contracted malaria and was hospitalized when his men shipped out of the U.S., he boarded a plane for Brisbane, Australia to attend a meeting with Gen. MacArthur. Swing was briefed on the immediate plans for his command and was reminded that the 11th A/B was considered a “secret weapon.” Swing managed to be in Dobodura in time to meet his men as they disembarked.
Dobodura, 1944
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Letter VI Land Ho! On the port side
Dear Mom, Well, land is in sight so I’ll just hold off this letter awhile until I can find out for sure if this is what we have all been waiting for or just another island…. Yep and yes siree this is finally it and from what I have seen up to now it is going to prove not only an interesting place, but picturesque as well. Don’t know yet if we can say where we are, so I won’t attempt it.
Everyone is standing along the railings with glasses while those less fortunate are straining their eyes trying to get a glimpse of our new and strange surroundings. It is all very exciting and thrilling and must say one gets sort of feeling down deep that is hard to explain. It might be that the sight of this long awaited place has sub-consciously awaked us to the fact that we are one heck of a long way from home.
Now that we are here in a port with a chance of possibly getting this letter mailed, I’ll close this letter and mail it as I know how anxious you must be about me and would like to hear from me as soon as possible. I promise you though that I will continue to write my letters like this and would like you to save them all so that when I get back I will have something to read back on and maybe remember.
I did finally get around to part of this was censored so don’t worry any on that account. I know how you worry about things like that so thought it best that you know. the next two lines were also censored That is just about all there is for now, so with regards to all and hoping this letter is the answer to your nightly prayers, I’ll close with all my love and millions of hugs and kisses.
Your son, Everett
Click on images to enlarge.
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Military Humor – 
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Farewell Salutes –
Leonard Allen – Kawakawa, NZ; RNZ Navy # 733871, WWII/ # 12333
Herbert Dake – Monroe, WA; US Army, WWII, PTO
Peleliu Cemetery
Charles Foss – Ipswich, MA; US Army, WWII, PTO
Cyril Gill – Jersey City, NJ; USMC, WWII, PTO
James Harkness – Elk Point, SD; US Army, WWII
Creed Jones – Robbinsville, NC; US Army, WWII
Sam Macri – New Rochelle, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 457 Artillery/11th Airborne Div.
Brad Prince – Sante Fe, NM; US Army, WWII & Korea
Aloysius Schmitt – St. Lucas, IA; US Navy, Chaplain, USS Oklahoma, Pearl Harbor, KIA
Georgianna Schroeder – Huntington Park, CA; USO, WWII
Victor VanFleet – Kalamazoo, MI; US Navy, WWII
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Personal note – 
We are expecting quite a storm here on Thursday, Oct. 6th, [Hurricane Matthew], I suspect we will NOT have electricity for long. So, please be patient with me as I try to keep up with my Reader page, visitors, and replies to the comments – I WILL be back sooner or later! Thanks to you ALL !!
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Current look back at the home front
My Years of Eating Dangerously
by: William Jeanes, former editor-in-chief of ‘Car and Driver’
Marie Osmond told me on tv that she lost 50 lbs. eating prepackaged meals sent to her home, and not too long ago, the nation’s first lady ran off the White House pastry chef. That reminded me of childhood mealtimes and my grandmother’s nutritional malfeasance.
Until well after WWII ended, I lived on 6th Street in Corinth, MS, with my grandparents. Two aunts also lived with us. All the men were in the Pacific, leaving my grandfather (Pop), to provide. My grandmother (Mom), ran the house.
Pop was a superb provider. He worked as a carpenter for the TVA and had a green B sticker on his car’s windshield, meaning that we had income and gasoline. He also had a green thumb and grew green vegetables in a huge backyard garden. Pop also fished, and he put fresh bream and crappie on our big dining room table at least twice a week. He also oversaw a backyard chicken house that delivered eggs as well as raw material for the big, black frying pan that dominated Mom’s cooking.
Mom was a canner and preserver. We had – in what seemed to be endless quantity – green beans, pickled beets, peaches, strawberry preserves, and goodness knows what else.
Mom supplemented this bounty by going to the tiny Kroger store once a week for meat, which was rationed, and such staples as Luzianne coffee, Domino sugar, Clabber Girl baking powder and Crisco shortening.
Many things were served fried: chicken, green tomatoes, fish and pork chops. Steak, scarce in wartime, was “chicken-fried.” Meatloaf was baked of course, as was macaroni and cheese.
Mom always overcooked the steak and pork chops. In those times, the idea of a rare steak or hamburger could disgust whole neighborhoods. A typical summer meal included fried fish, tomatoes, green beans or butter beans and turnip greens or collards. I hated greens more than I hated Tojo or Hitler. If we had salad, it was a wedge of iceberg lettuces doused with French dressing, an orangey liquid unknown in France.
Modern nutritionists would hyperventilate just thinking about what we ate in the 1940’s. On the healthy side were the vegetables and greens that were available 6 months out of the year. From there, things went nutritionally sideways. Nowadays my grandparents would be guilty of child abuse.
Can you imagine a germ-laden hen house in a backyard of today? How about wringing the neck of a chicken on the back steps? Those activities would have brought the SWAT teams from PETA and the EPA pouring through our front door.
The Dept. of Agriculture never inspected Pop’s garden, let alone the hen house, and Mom adhered to no federal guidelines when it came to canning and cooking and cake making. As fore fried food, the only questions were, “Is it crisp enough?” and “May I have some more?”
Out house was heated by coal, we drank non-homogenized milk and we rarely locked doors. It’s a wonder I wasn’t overcome by fumes, poisoned or stolen by gypsies. Yet we survived. Pop lived to be 88 and Mom 82. Both aunts made it well past 80 and I was 77 on my last birthday. [This was originally published in Sept/Oct. 2015].
That’s what 400 year’s worth of fried chicken and beet pickles can do for you.
Condensed from the Saturday Evening Post.
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Military Humor – on their food –
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Farewell Salutes –
Robert Arthur – Louisville, KY; USMC, WWII, PTO
Charlton ‘Chuck’ Cox – Seattle, WA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, B-17 navigator/Korea
Edward Fuge – Otaki, NZ; RNZ Navy, WWII
Delva Gess – Chewelah, ID; USO, WWII
Roy Hart – Saskatchewan, CAN; RC Air Force, WWII, CBI & ETO
Cecil Jarmer – Portland, OR; US Navy, WWII, CBI
George Macneilage – San Bernadino, CA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 11th Airborne Div., artillery
Nita Rinehart – Ashtabula, OH; US Navy, WWII WAVES, WWII
Ernest Sprouse Jr. – Knoxville, TN; US Navy, WWII, USS Frost
Gene Wilder, Milwaukee, WI; US Army, (beloved actor)
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From a Layout to a Book: Behind the Scenes at IHRA
Publishing non-fiction may not be as easy as you first imagine.
Let the IHRA historians know how you feel about their work!
Last week, we gave you an idea of how we get our information, compile it, and begin to write a compelling narrative. We left off with the chapter layout process and now we’ll finish the book. Before we get to the rest of the chapters as well as the appendices, let’s focus on the color section.
The color section consists of color photos we received, aircraft profiles, nose art closeups (this is a recent addition as of Rampage of the Roarin’ 20’s and Ken’s Men Against the Empire, Volume I), paintings, and patches. As for plane profiles, one plane from each squadron during each quarter of the war is chosen based on availability of photos, unique attributes (such as camouflage schemes and hardware), coverage of a plane, and elaborate nose art.
Once planes are chosen, we gather up all the photos and written information we have into what…
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Pacific Paratrooper 