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Japanese-Americans | the Nisei in WWII, part one (1)
Nisei soldiers
Smitty held the Nisei in very high regard and I would be remiss in neglecting to tell their story. Beside, one of these men might have been directly responsible for the safe return of my father. In reality, it would be near impossible to relate a story of the Pacific War without mentioning their service. Some of this unique intelligence force worked ‘behind the scene’ stateside U.S.A. or Australia, but many were up front and fighting at and behind enemy lines.
Smitty always had extreme appreciation for the courage, resilience and down-right crazy stunts they pulled off. They were capable of going behind the lines to acquire information or cut into the radio lines and all the while they remained quite aware that their own units might mistake them for the enemy when they returned. This did happen more than once.
Most everyone is aware of whom the Nisei are, but for clarification purposes, here are some of the terms that might be used in this section or if you continue with your own research:
AJA – Americans of Japanese Ancestry
MISers – the name used for students and graduates of the Military Intelligence Service Language School
Issei – first generation Japanese-American
Nisei – second generation Japanese-American, (this term is for definition only – Nisei prefer to state that they are American)
Kibei – Japanese-American who received education in Japan
At the language school, the students were crammed with courses and put on a strict schedule. Some courses included:
Kanji – a Japanese method of writing based on Chinese logographic characters
Kaisho – the printed form of Kanji and can only be read by someone who has memorized a great number of ideographs
Gyosho – hand written Japanese, very similar to the Palmer Method of Penmanship and is very difficult for Americans
Sosho – the shorthand version of Kanji and almost impossible for an American to learn. Most Japanese field orders were taken down by this method.
Kai Rasmussen
It must be noted that many of these men had family incarcerated in detainment camps and serving in the Imperial Army & Navy, but in school, on the job and in combat they loyally worked to do their level best. The language school began 1 November 1941 at Crissy Field, with Lt. Colonel John Wickerling in charge. His right hand man, educator and recruiter, Kai Rasmussen, was a primary force in the success of the school. He was a West Point grad who spoke Japanese with a Danish accent and would eventually earn the Legion of Merit for his efforts.
A move was necessary from San Francisco to Camp Savage, Minnesota. The change in location was largely due to the bigotry that had overwhelmed California at the time. The most influential white supremacists included: Earl Warren; The Natives Sons and Daughters of the Golden West; William Randolph Hearst and his newspapers and Congressman Leland Ford. Eventually, the school needed to expand and moved to Fort Snelling, St. Paul.
Rasmussen’s right hand man was John Fujio Aiso, an attorney out of Brown and Harvard and had studied at Chuo University in Tokyo. (He was originally assigned to a motor pool because the Army felt they had no need for additional lawyers.) Rasmussen traveled across the country in attempts to find candidates for the school. The Pentagon had kept the paperwork for the operations of the Nisei secret for three decades, but Smitty began talking about them once I was old enough to ask questions.
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Military Humor –
“BECAUSE DOORS ARE FOR SISSIES.”
“AIM FOR THE CAT!”
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Current News – 
Please hop on over to Pat’s blog to help share a veteran’s birthday! Click HERE for equips!!
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Farewell Salutes –
Ruby Atchley – Pine Bluff, AR; Civilian, WWII, ammo plant
Jerry G. Cooper – Hattiesburg, MS; US Army, Vietnam, Captain, 101st Airborne Division, helicopter pilot
Tabe de Vries – Ljmuiden, NETH; Dutch Underground, WWII
Harry E. Elston III – Warren, OH; US Army, Vietnam, H Co/75th Infantry Rangers
William Hodge – New Haven, CT; US Army, WWII, Sgt.
Clyde H. Lane – Greece, NY; US Army, 503/11th Airborne Division
Thomas C. Mayes, Jr. – Coral Gables, FL; US Air Force + Reserves, Captain
Douglas L. Townley – Tonawanda, NY; USMC, WWII
Robert E. Weisblut – Washington, D.C.; US Army
James A. Whitmore – Mesquite, NV; US Air Force, Electronic Warfare Officer on F-105’s & F-16’s
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A Tribute to Andrew Jackson Higgins and the Boats that Won the War
Andrew Jackson Higgins
Andrew Jackson Higgins, the man Dwight D. Eisenhower once credited with winning World War II, was a wild and wily genius.
At the New Orleans plant where his company built the boats that brought troops ashore at Normandy on June 6, 1944, Higgins hung a sign that said, “Anybody caught stealing tools out of this yard won’t get fired — he’ll go to the hospital.”
Whatever Higgins did, he did it a lot. “His profanity,” Life magazine said, was “famous for its opulence and volume.” So was his thirst for Old Taylor bourbon, though he curtailed his intake by limiting his sips to a specific location.
“I only drink,” he told Life magazine, “while I’m working.”
“It is Higgins himself who takes your breath away,” Raymond Moley, a former FDR adviser, wrote in Newsweek in 1943. “Higgins is an authentic master builder, with the kind of will power, brains, drive and daring that characterized the American empire builders of an earlier generation.”
Higgins was not native to the South, despite his love of bourbon. He grew up in Nebraska, where, at various ages, he was expelled from school for fighting. Higgins’ temperament improved around boats. He built his first vessel in the basement when he was 12. It was so large that a wall had to be torn down to get it out.
He moved South in his early 20s, working in the lumber industry. He hadn’t thought much about boats again until a tract of timber in shallow waters required him to build a special vessel so he could remove the wood. Higgins signed up for a correspondence course in naval architecture, shifting his work from timber to boats.
In the late 1930s, he owned a small shipyard in New Orleans. By then, his special shallow-craft boat had become popular with loggers and oil drillers. They were “tunnel stern boats,” whose magic was in the way the “hull incorporated a recessed tunnel used to protect the propeller from grounding,” according to the Louisiana Historical Association.
The Higgnins’ “Eureka” boat
Higgins called it the “Eureka” boat. The war brought interest by U.S. forces in a similar style vessel to attack unguarded beaches and avoid coming ashore at heavily defended ports. The Marines settled on the Higgins boat, transforming what had been a 50-employee company into one of the world’s largest manufacturers.
“To put Higgins’s accomplishment in perspective,” historian Douglas Brinkley wrote in a 2000 article in American Heritage magazine, consider this: “By September 1943, 12,964 of the American Navy’s 14,072 vessels had been designed by Higgins Industries. Put another way, 92 percent of the U.S. Navy was a Higgins navy.”
Though Eisenhower and even Hitler acknowledged the importance of the Higgins boat — military leaders came to call it “the bridge to the beach” — its builder went mostly unmentioned in histories of the war. That is, until 17 years ago, when the World War II Museum opened in New Orleans and recognized Higgins’ life, displaying a reproduction of his boat.
Still, there’s been just one biography written: “Andrew Jackson Higgins and the Boats that Won World War II” by historian Jerry Strahan.
“Without Higgins’s uniquely designed craft, there could not have been a mass landing of troops and matériel on European shores or the beaches of the Pacific islands, at least not without a tremendously higher rate of Allied casualties,” Strahan wrote.
Higgins Hotel, New Orleans, LA
The WWII Museum in New Orleans officially broke ground on the Higgins Hotel directly across the street from the museum in 2017.
“The one man in the South I want especially to see is Andrew Jackson Higgins. I want to tell him, face to face, that Higgins’ landing boats such as we had at Guadalcanal are the best in the world. They do everything but talk; honest they do.” ___ Warrant Officer Machinist, James D. Fox, quoted in the Shreveport Times, 6 March 1943
AJ Higgins held 30 patents, mostly covering amphibious landing craft and vehicles.
Higgins died in New Orleans on 1 August 1952, and was buried in Metairie Cemetery. He had been hospitalized for a week to treat stomach ulcers when he suffered a fatal stroke.
Article resources: The World War II Museum in New Orleans (2018 Annual Report), The Marine Corps & the Washington Post.
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Current info –
May – Military Appreciation Month –
From: Cora Metz posters
May 18, 2019 – Armed Forces Day
A day set aside to pay tribute to men and women who serve in the United States’
Armed Forces. Learn more…
May 27, 2019 – Memorial Day (Decoration Day)
A day set aside to commemorate all who have died in military service for the United States. Typically recognized by parades, visiting memorials and cemeteries.
The coloring books include pages for Mother’s Day.
LINK – Coloring page for military children
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Military Humor –
Military Contractors
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Farewell Salutes –
Louis J. Abshire Sr. – Amelia, LA; US Navy, WWII, PTO
Courtesy of Dan Antion @ https://nofacilities.com/
Theodore “Bud” Benard – Payson, UT; US Army, WWII, PTO, 96th Infantry Division
Ray Cline – WV; US Navy, WWII, USS Biddle (DD-151)
Owen R. Dievendorf – Fort Plum, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Medical Corps, x-ray tech, Sgt.
Glenn Francis – Santa Monica, CA; US Navy, WWII, PTO, Quartermaster, USS Natoma Bay
Edgar L. Galson – Syracuse, NY; US Army, WWII, ETO, Field Artillery, radio/forward observer
Charles Haughey – Chicago, IL; Civilian, WWII, Dodge B-29 engine plant
Charles ‘C.C.’ Lee – Lexington, KY; US Navy, WWII & Korea, Chief Flight Deck Electrician, USS Corregidor & Block Island
Luther H. Story – Americus, GA; US Army, Korea, Cpl. A Co/1/9/2nd Infantry Division, KIA (Sangde-po, SK), Medal of Honor
Olive Thompson – ENG/CAN; WRoyal Naval Service WREN, WWII
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Mopping-up the Japanese Midget-Submarines
Japanese type-A midget sub salvaged near Pearl Harbor
By definition, a midget submarine is less than 150 tons, has a crew of no more than eight, has no on-board living accommodation, and operates in conjunction with a mother ship to provide the living accommodations and other support. The Japanese Navy built at least 800 midgets in 7 classes, but only a fraction had any noticeable impact on the war. Their intended purpose initially was to be deployed in front of enemy fleets, but their actual use would be in harbor attacks and coastal defense.
Japanese type-D sub sitting at the Yokosuka Naval Base, Sept. 1945
The Japanese midget subs were not named but were numbered with “Ha” numbers (e.g., Ha-19). These numbers were not displayed on the exterior and operationally the midgets were referred to according to the numbers of their mother ships. Thus, when I-24 launched Ha-19, the midget was known as “I-24tou” (designated “M24” in some texts). The “Ha” numbers were not unique either; some Type D’s were numbered Ha-101 through Ha-109.
In mid-1944, with coastal defense requirements becoming urgent, the Japanese Navy developed the Koryu Tei Gata Type D. More than just another improved version of the Type A, this was a new design. They were the largest of Japan’s midgets, displacing about 60 tons, 86 feet (26 meters) in length, with a five-man crew, featuring a more powerful diesel engine, and had improved operating endurance. Koryu’s armament consisted of two muzzle-loaded 17.7-inch torpedoes. As with the earlier types, individual boats had alpha-numeric names in the “Ha” series beginning with Ha-101.
Some 115 units had been completed when Japan capitulated in August 1945. At the end of the war, Allied Occupation forces found hundreds of midget submarines built and building in Japan, including large numbers of the “Koryu” type; nearly 500 more were under construction. Some of these submarines intended for training pilots for Kaiten type manned torpedoes, had an enlarged conning tower and two periscopes.
Kaiten design
Kaiten submarines were designed to be launched from the deck of a submarine or surface ship, or from coastal installations as a coastal defense weapon. The cruiser, IJN Kitakami, was equipped to launch Kaiten and took part in sea launch trials of Type 1s. In addition, several destroyers of the Matsu class were also adapted to launch the weapon.
In practice, only the Type 1 craft, using the submarine delivery method, were ever used in combat. Specially equipped submarines carried two to six Kaiten, depending on their class.
After the end of the conflict, several of Japan’s most innovative and advanced submarines were sent to Hawaii for inspection in “Operation Road’s End” (I-400, I-401, I-201, and I-203) before being scuttled by the U.S. Navy in 1946 when the Soviet Union demanded access to the IJN submarines.
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Don’t Forget :
May is Military Appreciation Month, for this coming week….
May 8, 2019 – VE (Victory in Europe) Day
(Celebrated May 7 in commonwealth countries)
A day which marks the anniversary of the Allies’ victory in Europe during World War II
on May 8, 1945. Learn more…
May 10, 2019 – Military Spouse Appreciation Day
A day set aside to acknowledge the contributions and sacrifices of the spouses of
the U.S. Armed Forces. Learn more…
LINK – Practical insights in caring for a military home front family
May 12, 2018 – Mother’s Day
LINK – Organizations that support deployed military personnel on Mother’s Day
LINK – Coloring page for military children
May 13, 2019 – Children of Fallen Patriots Day
A day to honor the families our Fallen Heroes have left behind – especially their children. It’s a reminder to the community that we have an obligation to support the families of our Fallen Patriots. Learn more…
SHAKE A VETERAN’S HAND TODAY!
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Melville R. Anderson (100) – Chicopee, MA; US Navy, WWII, ETO/PTO
Peter Badie Jr. – New Orleans, LA; US Navy, WWII
Memories of them…
Harry Belafonte – NYC, NY; US Navy, WWII (Home front) / Singer, actor, political activist
Alejandro Chavez – Miami, AZ; US Navy, WWII, PTO, USS Aubrain, engine room
Leroy Fadem (102) – Bronx, NY; US Navy, WWII, Lt. SG, USS Stevens & LST-871
Lester Finney – England, AR; US Air Force, SMSgt. (Ret. 28 y.), firefighter load master
Fletcher “Buster” Harris – Atlers, OK; US Army, WWII, 325th Glider Infantry
Richard K. Rowe – Limestone, TN; US Army, Vietnam, Ranger, 82nd Airborne Division, Purple Heart
John Seagoe – Cottage Grove, OR; US Navy, WWII, pilot
Cooper D. Wolfgram – Alamo, CA; US Army, HQ/SISCO/82nd Airborne Division
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OH NO!!
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Occupying and Feeding Japan
MacArthur’s first priority was to set up a food distribution network; following the collapse of the ruling government and the wholesale destruction of most major cities, virtually everyone was starving. Even with these measures, millions of people were still on the brink of starvation for several years after the surrender. As expressed by Kawai Kazuo, “Democracy cannot be taught to a starving people”. The US government encouraged democratic reform in Japan, and while it sent billions of dollars in food aid, this was dwarfed by the occupation costs it imposed on the struggling Japanese administration. Initially, the US government provided emergency food relief through Government and Relief in Occupied Areas (GARIOA) funds. In fiscal year 1946, this aid amounted to US $92 million in loans. ($1,455,004,307.69 today)
From April 1946, in the guise Licensed Agencies for Relief, private relief organizations were also permitted to provide relief.
Once MacArthur met with Hirohito, he had the political ammunition he needed to begin the real work of the occupation.
While other Allied political and military leaders pushed for Hirohito to be tried as a war criminal, MacArthur resisted such calls, arguing that any such prosecution would be overwhelmingly unpopular with the Japanese people. He also rejected the claims of members of the imperial family such as Prince Mikasa and Prince Higashikuni and demands of intellectuals like Tatsuji Miyoshi, who sought the emperor’s abdication.
By the end of 1945, more than 350,000 U.S. personnel were stationed throughout Japan. By the beginning of 1946, replacement troops began to arrive in the country in large numbers and were assigned to MacArthur’s 8th Army, headquartered in Tokyo’s Dai-Ichi building.
Dai Itchi Building
Of the main Japanese islands, Kyushu was occupied by the 24th Infantry Division, with some responsibility for Shikoku. Honshu was occupied by the 1st Calvary Division. Hokkaido was occupied by the 11th Airborne Division.
By June 1950, all these army units had suffered extensive troop reductions and their combat effectiveness was seriously weakened. When North Korea invaded South Korea in the Korean War, elements of the 24th Division were flown into South Korea to try to fight the invasion force there, but the inexperienced occupation troops, while acquitting themselves well when suddenly thrown into combat almost overnight, suffered heavy casualties and were forced into retreat until other Japan occupation troops could be sent to assist.
2 women of Sasebo
The official British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF), composed of Australian, British, Indian, and New Zealand personnel, was deployed on February 21, 1946. While U.S. forces were responsible for the overall occupation, BCOF was responsible for supervising demilitarization and the disposal of Japan’s war industries. BCOF was also responsible for occupation of several western prefectures and had its headquarters at Kure. At its peak, the force numbered about 40,000 personnel. During 1947, BCOF began to decrease its activities in Japan, and officially wound up in 1951.
Repatriated child, 30 August 1946
The Far Eastern Commission and Allied Council for Japan were also established to supervise the occupation of Japan. The establishment of a multilateral Allied council for Japan was proposed by the Soviet government as early as September 1945, and was supported partially by the British, French and Chinese governments
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Lena Clark – Pryor, OK; Civilian, WWII, ammo plant employee
James E. Dooner – Garfield Heights, OH; US Army, WWII
Ben Ferencz (103) – brn: Transylvania, ROM / Boynton Beach, FL; US Army, WWII, ETO / Prosecutor at Nuremburg Trials
Robert Gavigan Jr. – Miami, FL; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO
Warren Groves – Toronto, CAN; RC Army, WWII, Royal Canadian Legion
Henry Link – Buffalo, NY; US Navy, WWII
Wallace R. Nark – St. Clair, PA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, Pilot and Flight Instructor
Harry L. Prater (100) – Richmond, CA; Civilian, Liberty ship construction / US Army, WWII, PTO, truck driver, 3744 QM Truck Co/473rd Truck Regiment
Matthew Rybinski – Pompey, NY; US Navy, WWII, PTO, gunner, USS Minneapolis, Bronze Star
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Chocolate in WWII
Chocolate is a fighting food.
Seventy-five years ago, more than 160,000 Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy during the D-Day invasion. And while we all know that day served as a huge turning point for the Allied cause, you probably haven’t thought much about what those soldiers carried with them to eat during and after the invasion.
Food had to be lightweight, nutritious and very high in energy; after all, these men were about to invade Nazi-occupied land. As it so happens, the one substance that could fulfill all those requirements was a very unlikely it — a Hershey’s chocolate bar.
The Hershey Chocolate company was approached back in 1937 about creating a specially designed bar just for U.S. Army emergency rations. According to Hershey’s chief chemist, Sam Hinkle, the U.S. government had just four requests about their new chocolate bars: (1) they had to weigh 4 ounces; (2) be high in energy; (3) withstand high temperatures; (4) “taste a little better than a boiled potato.”
The final product was called the “D ration bar,” a blend of chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter, skim milk powder and oat flour. The viscous mixture was so thick, each bar had to be packed into its 4-ounce mold by hand.
As for taste, well – most who tried it said they would rather have eaten the boiled potato. The combination of fat and oat flour made the chocolate bar a dense brick, and the sugar did little to mask the overwhelmingly bitter taste to the dark chocolate. Since it was designed to withstand high temperatures, the bar was nearly impossible to bite into.
Troopers had to shave slices off with a knife before they could chew it. And despite the Army’s best efforts to stops the men from doing so, some of the D-ration bars ended up in the trash.
Later in the war, Hershey introduced a new version, known as the Tropical bar, specifically designed for extreme temperatures of the Pacific Theater. By the end of the war, the company had produced more than 3 billion ration bars.
In 1942, 200,000 pounds of M&M’s were produced weekly in the Newark, NJ factory, most of it going to the military. Soldiers in WWII carried the m&m’s with them. By the end of the war, the factory was producing 600,000 lbs each week. In 1946, with the war over, M&M’s was readily available to the general population. In 1947, a ¼ lb bag of m&m’s was sold for 15 cents. Going to the tropics, now you know why they were created to melt in your mouth and not in your hand.
Along with the D rations, troops received 3 days worth of K ration packs. These were devised more as meal replacements and not sustenance snacks like the D rations, and came complete with coffee, canned meats, processed cheese and tons of sugar. The other chocolate companies would soon join in with the production.
Soldier with a Tropical Bar
At various points during the war, men could find powdered orange or lemon drink, caramels, chewing gum and of course – more chocolate!! Along with packs of cigarettes and sugar cubes for coffee, the K ration packs provided plenty of valuable energy for fighting men.
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Military Humor –
JOINING THE SPACE FORCE
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Farewell Salutes –
C.A. “Jack” Bates – Sterling, OH; US Army, 188/11th Airborne Division, Germany
Edgar L. Mills – Tampa, FL; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, SSgt. 816BS/483BG/15th Air Force, B-17 gunner, KIA (recently identified)
Anthony Mitchell – Ogdensburg, NY; US Navy, WWII, dive bomber pilot, USS Bennington
Charles A. Spencer – Trinidad, CO; US Air Force
John ‘Mike’ Stetson – Stuart, FL; US Air Force
FROM: the 2 Black Hawk medevac helicopter’s crash – 101st Airborne Division
Jeffery Barnes – Milton, FL; US Army, Afghanistan, Warrant Officer
Emilie Bolanos – Austin, TX; US Army, Cpl.
Zachary Esparza – Jackson, MO; US Army, Afghanistan, Chief Warrant Officer
Isaac Gayo – Los Angeles, CA; US Army, Sgt.
Joshua Gore – Morehead City, NC; US Army, SSgt., flight paramedic
Aaron Healy – Cape Coral, FL; US Army, Afghanistan, aeromedical evacuation pilot
Taylor Mitchell – Mountain Brook, AL; US Army, SSgt., flight paramedic
Rusten Smith – Rolla, MO; US Army, Afghanistan, Chief Warrant Officer, instructor pilot
David Solinas – Oradell, NJ; US Army, Sgt., combat medic Flag, courtesy of Dan Antion
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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…
- 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!
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.
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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.)
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.
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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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Smitty | Still in Japan
No matter where he is or what he’s doing, Smitty will be seen touring the sights. In Japan, he also did his best to absorb the culture that surrounded him.
Inside the above brochure, Smitty wrote, “Right after we left this place, it burnt down. This was really a million dollar joint! Wow! The girls here, by the way, are very nice. I like these people much better than the Filipinos.” (Just to remind the reader, and in all fairness, Smitty had lost his best friend to a Filipino Japanese sympathizer (makipilli) with a grenade booby-trap in his cot)
In October 1945, General Pierson was transferred back home. He was replaced by General Shorty Soule who had commanded the 188th regiment in both training and combat. He was later promoted to assistant division commander of the 38th Division and at this point he began to head the Miyagi Task Force.
Hereafter, the troopers began to return to the States as they collected their “points” and the replacements that were arriving were not jump qualified. Gen. Swing established yet another jump school, the fourth one in the history of the 11th Airborne. This one was established at the former Japanese Air Corps base near Yanome; about 15 miles from Sendai.
Following through with his own requirements that all men in the division be both paratroopers and glidermen, Swing started a glider school in the summer of 1946 at Yamoto Air Base. [renamed Carolus Field, in honor of Cpl. Charles Carolus, killed in a glider crash near Manila, 22 July 1945]
Smitty, in Japan
On the reverse side of the picture above, Smitty wrote, “a beauty of a flock of ducks were going by just as the jerk snapped the camera.”
The 187th Regiment, was by this time, now being called “Rakkasans” (umbrella men) by the Japanese, a name which stayed with them through four wars: WWII, Korean War, Vietnam War, Desert Storm and the Operations of today.
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
John W. Archer III (102) – Mount Holly, NJ; US Army, WWII, 5th & 7th Armies
Jackson W. Baumbach (100) – New Cumberland, PA; USMC, WWII, PTO
Patricia Carbine – Aberdeen, SD; US Army WAC, WWII, ETO, nurse
Ethel (Marder)Donley – New Bedford, MA; US Navy WAVE, WWII, Pharmacist’s mate
Charles W. Eeds – Durant, OK; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Cpl., 48th Materiel Squadron, POW, DWC (Cabanatuan Camp)
Michael T. Ernst – MA; US Navy, SEAL, Chief Special Warfare Operator
James E. Farley Sr. – -Columbus, OH; US Merchant Marines & US Coast Guard, WWII
Obed D. Howard – Corsicana, TX; US Navy, WWII, PTO, coxswain for Adm. Nimitz
Martin L. Nass – NY & La Jolla, Ca; US Navy, WWII, USS Topeka
Leroy M. Slenker – Portland, OR; US Army, WWII, PTO, Pvt. # 19004368, 75th Ordnance Depot Co., POW KIA (Luzon, P.I.
Mark Williams – Delray Beach, FL; US Air Force, pilot,
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MOVIN’ ON for the 11th AIRBORNE
Smitty and friends in Japan
This photograph was signed by two of my father’s buddies, John S. Lodero and Phil Martorano, both of Brooklyn, New York. Smitty (Everett Smith) circled, but which two men are John and Phil is unknown.
When the SCAP Headquarters was set up in Tokyo, MacArthur was determined to create a “Peaceful and responsible government…” He also had to administer to a nation with nearly 70 million near-starving civilians and a constantly growing population of soldiers. The Japanese made the transition of being under one totalitarian rule to another quite easily and the general proceeded to supervise the writing and implementation of a new constitution. This was adopted in 1947, retaining the Emperor as a constitutional monarch and reestablished the primacy of the Diet. The zaibatu industrial combines were broken up and women were given rights.
The 11th Airborne was amazed by the change of attitude of the populace; without ever having actually been invaded, the Americans were being accepted. It made their future missions so much easier to accomplish. The Americal Division relieved the 11th Airborne on 14 September at their present locations and the following day, they began moving out by truck and railroad to their newly assigned zones in northern Honshu. Gen. Swing requested Gen. Dorn, who had served with Gen. Stilwell in China, to head the convoy.
In the Sendai area and billeted at the Japanese arsenal [name to be changed to Camp Schimmelpfennig, [named after the chief of staff who was killed in combat] were the – Division Headquarters, 127th Engineers, 408th Quartermaster, 711th Ordnance, 511th Signal, 221st Medical, Parachute Maintenance and the 187th and 188th regiments. The 511th went to Morioka [ name would be changed to Camp Haugen, for their leader killed in combat], the 457th and the 152d moved to Akita, the 472d went to Yamagata, the 674th was divided and sent to Jimmachi and Camp Younghans and the 675th went to Yonezawa.
In the Sendai area, Japanese authorities turned over hotels in the Matsushima area for officer’s quarters and their staff, which explains how Smitty came home with these beautiful brochures you will see pictured here. If you click on and enlarge the photo, you can see where Smitty pointed to the sort of room he was given.
At one point while moving supplies, Eli Bernheim (S-4 Section of the 187th reg.), remembered the convoy of 40 Japanese charcoal burning trucks always breaking down and they became lost. The interpreter and Eli took out their map and became surrounded by curious townspeople. Eli slung his rifle over his shoulder and they scattered. The interpreter suggested laying the weapon down, the civilians regrouped and began touching his hair – turns out they had never seen an American before.
I suppose the word must have spread, because after that incident, the convoy was warmly greeted in every town they passed through. Once in their respective areas, the first priority was living conditions and the Japanese barracks were primitive with ancient plumbing and sewage deposited in reservoirs to be picked up later by farmers and used as fertilizer. The division historian recorded that of all the traffic accidents within the 11th A/B’s zone, NO trooper was ever guilty of hitting one of those “honey carts.”
General Swing made General Pierson commander of the 187th and 188th joint group which became known as the Miyagi Task Force. They set up their headquarters in an insurance company building in Sendai. The principle responsibility of the Miyagi Task Force was to collect and destroy all arms, munitions and armament factories. They were also charged with seeing that General MacArthur’s edicts were all carried out. Many of the military installations had underground tunnels filled with drill presses and machine tools of all types. The entire zone needed to be demilitarized and equipment destroyed. Colonel Tipton discovered a submarine base for the two-man subs and a small group of men still guarding them. They told the colonel that they just wanted to go home.
Inside this brochure my father wrote, “No liquor here so didn’t have to go behind the bar, we drank our own. This is where I had my first real hot bath since coming overseas.”
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Military Humor – 
Click to enlarge.
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Farewell Salutes –
Burt Bacharach – Kew Gardens, MO; US Army, / composer, musician, producer
Emett “Ole Sam” Brown – Spirit Lake, ID, US Navy, WWII
Donald Cherrie – Nanticoke, PA; US Army, WWII
Donald L. Dupont – WI; US Army, Korea, Cpl., B Co/1/32/7th Infantry Division, KIA (Chosin Reservoir, NK)
Morton L. Gubin – Mount Vernon, NY; US Navy, WWII, PTO, LCT command
Julia LaFlamme – Gardner, MA; US Army WAC, WWII, aircraft mechanic, Windsor Locks Army Air Base
Vivian Nostrand – Kearny, NJ; US Navy WAVES, WWII, Aerographer’s mate
Robert Reynolds – Pasadena, CA; US Army, 11th Airborne Division
Rand K. Shotwell – Dallas, TX; US Army, Vietnam, 173rd Airborne, 3-Bronze Stars, West Point class of ’67
George W. Winger – Chicago, IL; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, 1st Lt., 66BS/44BG/8th Air Force,B-24 pilot, KIA (Ploiesti, Rom)
John P. Younger (103) – Himlerville, KY; US Army Air Corps, WWII (ETO), Korea & Vietnam
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Pacific Paratrooper 