Blog Archives
Guam
Guam
In a lot of Pacific War histories, Guam is swept aside and banished as insignificant. How soon they forget, many might say.
In Tokyo, soundtrucks festooned with World War II colors still extol those lost in a gallant defeat. In America, elders like Louis H. Wilson Jr. and George Tweed would never forget.
Masashi Ito and Bunzo Minagawa spent young manhood into middle age in the tropical underside of an island that tourists now praise as a paradise. They were holdouts, soldiers who refused to surrender and would forage for
survival for 16 years.
Soichi Yokoi, before and after
The last known Japanese survivor, Shoichi Yokoi, held out until 1972, captured by chance as he ventured out to empty a fish trap. Yokoi had never crept out of dense cover to hear the happy shouts of Japanese tourists and honeymooners. Nor had he walked the lobby of the Hilton or the Cliffside.
Luxury hotels swarm over the beachfront and jungle growth has covered the faint traces of war, and Guam gets only a passing nod as a battlefield beside Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Okinawa and Leyte. Thirty-six years ago [now it is 76 ½ years ago] shellfire plowed across Guam. Some 18,500 Japanese were trying to pry loose the fingerhold that many more thousands of American soldiers and Marines had fastened on beaches and cliffsides.
Many of the Americans barely had a respite between battles, having first seized Saipan to pull the keystone of the Marianas archway. Guam was almost a point-of-honor afterthought. The island was an American possession until a handful of Marines, soldiers and Guamanian militia made a no-choice surrender only three days after Japanese bombers pounded Hawaii.
The III Amphibious Corps and the 77th Infantry Division are not going in blindfolded that July 21, 1944. Eleven days before the landing, as American warships savage Guam’s coastal defenses, a tall figure sprints down a beach and plunges into the surf, swimming with desperate strength until he is within hailing distance of a destroyer.
George Tweed
George Tweed is pulled aboard and tells an astonishing story. He was one of the 288 men on the island as 5,000 Japanese surged ashore, ignoring the flea-bite firepower of a few .30 cal. machine guns as they overwhelmed the thin garrison and forced the Naval Governor, Capt. George J. McMillin, into quick submission.
Tweed and five others slipped away, hunted by Japanese who probed the underbrush with bayonets. Only Tweed survived, living on land crabs and coconuts, warily evading the patrols that shook every palm tree and banyan for him. Tweed saw his pursuers far more often than they saw him, and his sketchpad mind has taken it all down — every gun emplacement, trenchline and fortified cave. The Japanese failure to capture or kill this ragged stray will cost them dearly.
Exacting naval gunfire singles out visible and concealed coastal guns – all but a few. As the 3rd Marine Division and the 1st Marine Brigade board barges that cut paint-stroke wakes toward the western side of Guam, sharp flashes burst along the coastline. Barges turn over like crumpled buckets.
“You never get it for free,” an older Marine mutters as the barges push ashore — the division between Adelup and Asan Points and the brigade wedging between Point Bangi and the town of Agat. Beachheads are “tightly fastened and the coastal guns erased.
There are already wolfish shouts from the jungle along the coastline. Fierce counterattacks tear into the Marine lines and one lunge rips through the brigade. It is contained after a desperate brawl with bullets, blades and even fists.
The Marines begin moving inland, slowly closing a gap between division and brigade as hey crush across Apra Harbor and Orote Peninsula, squeezing
the defenders between them. But the Japanese put no markdown price tags on anything, heaping fallen defenses with Marine dead. As the two Marine forces grasp .hands, another enemy rush pours forth — the futile bravery of 500 Japanese sailors who die in an inferno of shellfire.
Capt. Louis H. Wilson Jr. is a company commander in the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines. He thrusts ahead of the others to take high and important ground, holding it against human-avalanche counterattacks.
His Medal of Honor citation will stiffly relate that Wilson “contributed essentially” to the success of the assault, passing over the fact that he was wounded three times and fought aside agonized delirium to rally his Marines.
Capt. Louis H. Wilson Jr., USMC
Soldiers of the 77th, fed slowly into the advance, must do the deadly, mop-and-dustpan work in southern Guam as the Marine advance lunges on. The suicidal determined Japanese will tear tiny leaks and large gaps in the line, and the effort to repulse them will often get down to hand-to-hand piecework.
The advance will spider all over the island, with Guam declared secure as Marines reach the northernmost tip on Ritidian Point. Everything is back under American colors by Aug. 10.
The past will be wiped away over the years. Wreckage will be swept aside. Foundations for posh hotels will be sunk along the beachfront. Andersen AFB and Agana NAS will assure a stronger military presence than those unfortunate few of late 1941.
Strangers will be strafed by stiff expense but nothing else.
“Robinson Crusoe, USN” by: George Tweed
Tweed will write a book, “Robinson Crusoe, USN.”
Wilson will become Marine Corps Commandant.
Battle histories will little note nor long remember Guam.
But Wilson, Tweed, many Americans and a few Japanese, will always share a thin fund of private memories.
From the Archives of the Stars & Stripes, August 10, 1980
################################################################################################################
Military Humor –
‘Howitzers at dawn.’
################################################################################################################
Farewell Salutes –
Howard Buescher – Cleveland, OH; US Navy, WWII, PTO
Andrew Caneza – New Orleans, LA; US Army, WWII, PTO
Mead Clark – Joliet, IL; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, 17th Airborne Division
George Fry – St. Paul, MN; US Army Air Corps, WWII
Ed Guthrie (102) Omaha, NE; US Navy, WWII, electrician’s mate 2nd Class, USS Banner, last known Pearl Harbor survivor
John Harris – NY & FL; US Navy, WWII, Korea & Vietnam (Ret. 28 y.)
Glen Kloiber – Milwaukee, WI; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, 791st AAA Battalion
Dallas Lehn – Elba, NE; US Army, WWII, PTO, Purple Heart
Michael D. Miller – OH; US Army Air Corps, WWII
John Rudberg – Minneapolis, MN; US Navy, V-12 Program
Ordnance – L-4 Grasshopper in the Pacific
The “L’series liaison aircraft in US army service were often known as “grasshoppers.” These aircraft served with artillery and outfits spotting targets and giving commanders real time information on enemy positions. They also served in Liaison Squadrons, such as the 25th Liaison Squadron which earned fame in the Pacific Theater with their “Guinea Short Lines” aircraft.
L-4 Grasshopper, Piper Cub
Primarily to serve at elimination training bases in World War II the Navy acquired 230 Piper NE-1s , basically similar to the Army L-4s with Continental 0-170 engines. Twenty NE-2s were similar.
deHavilland WWI
As war spread around the world at the beginning of the 1940s, the U.S. military, dominated by old soldiers who expected to fight the next war exactly as they fought the last one, had to be convinced that the requirements for certain weapons needed to be redefined. An example was the Army’s observation airplanes, latter-day versions of the World War I, the deHavilland DH-4.
A two place tandem cockpit, dual-control, modified J-3 civilian light plane built by Piper Aircraft Corporation, Lock Haven, PA. Military models were designated the L-4B, L-4H, L-4J. This lightweight aircraft was among the most useful tactical aircraft of WWII. Dubbed “Grasshoppers” for their ability to fly into and out of small spaces, this military adaptation of the famous Piper J-3 Cub became the center of the toughest inter service turf fights of the war. General George S. Patton, Jr. played a major role in their introduction, a fact often overlooked in light of his other major accomplishments.
The L-4 had a fabric-covered frame with wooden spar, metal-rib wings, a metal-tube fuselage, and a metal-tube empennage. Its fixed landing gear used “rubber-band” bungee cord shock absorbers and had hydraulic brakes and no flaps.
Grasshopper pilots flew dangerous missions over enemy territory without any armor.
The aircrafts flight instruments included an airspeed indicator, and altimeter, compass, and simple turn-and-bank indicator. It was equipped with a two-way radio, powered by a wind-driven generator.
All of the little L-birds land like feathers, but the L-4 is the easiest and softest to land. Put 10 knots of wind on the nose, and all of them seem to come to a halt before gently touching down.
The L-4 retained the metal ribs of the Cub, so only the spar is made of wood. The ribs, however, are trusses of T-sections formed of thin aluminum riveted and screwed together. If poorly treated, these rib trusses are easily damaged and attract corrosion in the corners.
A: Cables or struts braced the Piper L4 tailplanes and wings. These allowed the necessary strength to be built in without resorting to a heavy structure. Rough field operations exert a lot of stress on airframes. B: Mounted semi-exposed, the Continental flat-four engine powered the majority of more than 5000 Piper L-4s delivered to the Army, Several J-4 Cubs owned by civilians were pressed into service. C: Structurally. the Piper L-4 was quite simple and had a fabric-covered wooden framework. The wing had no slats or flaps, but was equipped with large, long-span ailerons, Internally the wing was braced with wire. D: For solo flights the L4 Grasshopper pilot sat in the rear seat, which had a full set of controls but was normally used by the observer. The Grasshopper was also equipped with a map table and the radio fit varied between models.
In Florida, the Civil Air Patrol had a Piper Cub patrolling at a low altitude along the Palm Beach coast (as many other cities had) and on one occasion, the 55-year-old pilot swooped down for a closer look at something he felt was unusual and he was fired on – it was a German submarine. The plane received enough damage to force him to return to the airfield. This is probably the only American plane downed by enemy fire in the continental U.S. history.
While some of the men were confined to fighting up in the mountains, the division’s newspaper called the Static Line, used a piper cub plane to drop bundles of the publication down to the men. This was the only news of the outside world that the troopers could receive. One day, a roll of the papers was dropped with a note attached addressing it: “To the girls, with the compliments of Art Mosley and Jack Keil, Phone Glider 3.” It was discovered later that the WAC camp received the roll meant for the 11th airborne.
21 December 1944, General Swing and Col. Quandt flew to Manarawat in cub planes. Upon landing, the general was said to look “as muddy as a dog-faced private.” (Swing would often be in the thick of things and this description of him was common.) He slept that night in the camp’s only nipa hut, which ended up being destroyed the next day.
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.
###############################################################################################################
Military Humor –
################################################################################################################
Farewell Salutes –
Angel Balcarcel – Canton, OH; US Navy, WWII
Arthur H. Bishop – Philadelphia, PA; US Army, Korea, 505th Airborne Infantry Regiment
Mare Island Cemetery
Jimmy Coy – Columbia, MO; US Army, 1st Gulf War, 3rd Group/Army Special Forces, Medical surgeon, Colonel (Ret. 25 y.)
Wayne DeHaven Sr. – Roseville, MN; US Army, WWII, 17th Airborne Division
Richard Fry – Hudson, OH; US Air Force / NASA (Ret. 30 y.)
Georgina Grey – Bristol, ENG; Royal British Navy, WWII, aircraft maintenance
Jessica Mitchell – Topeka, KS; US Army, DSgt., 68E Dental Specialist
David Michaud – Denver, CO; USMC / Denver Police Chief
Joseph Papallo (101) – Meriden, CT; US Army, WWII
Doris (White) Ryan – Como, MS; Civilian, WWII, Memphis Army Dept.
################################################################################################################################################################################################################################
Pre-Christmas post from Star and Stripes – 75th Anniversary
In The Past
1964, a Vietnam Christmas for Bob Hope
Bob Hope brings Christmas cheer to troops in Vietnam
1964 | BIEN HOA, South Vietnam — Bob Hope brought some laughter to a place of war Christmas Eve.
Residents of an outer island of Palau retrieve boxes from the U.S. Air Force’s 1999 Christmas drop.
Airmen prepare for annual Christmas gift drop to Pacific islanders
2005 | ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam — Airmen geared up to deliver items to Pacific islanders who can only dream of department stores.
Santa Claus hands out presents to the men of Detachment 35, Company B, 5th Special Forces Group, in Vietnam at the end of 1968. The Air Force lent Santa six C7 Caribou cargo planes for his deliveries in Vietnam. The planes enabled him to visit some 50 isolated outposts – such as this Special Forces camp in Nahon Cho, 80 miles northeast of Saigon – from Dec. 24th until late in the afternoon Christmas day.
JAMES LINN/STARS AND STRIPES |
Eight deer traded in for 6 ‘Santabou’ in waning days of 1968
1968 | NHON CHO, Vietnam — Santa’s reindeer were constantly bogged down in mud and his sleigh broke on the bumpy, snowless airstrips. The Air Force lent Santa six C7 Caribou cargo planes for his deliveries in Vietnam.
In The Present
Staff Sgt. Hector Frietze, right, and Senior Airman John Allum, left, 36th Airlift Squadron loadmasters, wave to the people of the Island of Angaur, Republic of Palau, during the first bundle airdrops of Operation Christmas Drop 2020, Dec. 6. OCD is the world’s longest running airdrop training mission, allowing the U.S. and its allies to deliver food, tools and clothing to the people who live on remote islands in the South-Eastern Pacific region. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Gabrielle Spalding)
SE PACIFIC – OPERATION CHRISTMAS DROP
Deployed
Service members serve on all seven continents — there is one service member in Antarctica — and on all the seas. Military personnel serve in more than 170 countries.
Service members deployed around the world during Christmas:
- Afghanistan: 14,000
- Bahrain: 7,000
- Iraq: 5,200
- Jordan: 2,795
- Kuwait: 13,000
- Oman: 300
- Qatar: 13,000
- Saudi Arabia: 3,000
- Syria: Unknown
- Turkey: Unknown
- United Arab Emirates: 5,0000
Sailors will man their ships from the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Mexico. Navy officials maintain that roughly a third of the Navy is deployed at any one time.
Air Force missileers and airmen are in the silos, by the planes and in the command centers ensuring the nuclear system is ready if needed.
And Please remember the military families !
###############################################################################################################
Military Christmas Humor –
Humor from deployed Marines
################################################################################################################
Farewell Salutes –
Bennie Adkins – Waurika, OK; US Army, Vietnam, Sgt. (Ret. 22 y.), Green Beret, Silver Star, Purple Heart
Bon Nell Bentley – Russellville, AR; Civilian, riveter / US Navy WAVE, WWII / USN nurse / Civilian, nurse w/ Veterans Admin. (Ret. 30 y.)
Pedro ‘Pete’ Coronel – Hereford, AZ; US Army, WWII, PTO, 7th Cavalry, Bronze Star, Purple Heart
Lee E. James (106) – Spearman, TX; US Army, WWII, CBI, Colonel (Ret. 27 y.)
William Kinney – Toledo, OH; US Navy, WWII
Levi A. Presley – Crestview, FL; US Army, Sgt. 1st Class
Louis Pugh – Courtdale, PA; US Army, Korea, 187th RCT, 2 Bronze Stars, Purple Heart
Jesse O. Sandlin – Granby, VA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, pilot, 8th AF / Korea, Lt. Colonel (Ret. 28 y.)
Owen Tripp – Tacoma, WA; US Army, WWII, ETO, Bronze Star
Donald Urquhart – New Orleans, LA; US Army, WWII, 81st Infantry Division, Purple Heart
########################################################################################################################################################################
Ordnance Mitchell B-25, the Ultimate Strafer
Running a gantlet of flak and enemy fighters on September 2, 1943, North American B-25Ds of the 405th Bomb Squadron employ tactics devised by Major Paul “Pappy” Gunn in an attack on Japanese transports in New Guinea’s Wewak Harbor. “Tokyo Sleeper” by: Jack Fellows
Pappy Gunn didn’t develop the skip-bombing technique. It was first used in battle by B-17s on October 23, 1942 (tail end of Chapter 4 in Ken’s Men, Vol. I). The B-25 was certainly better suited for the job and Pappy Gunn and Jack Fox were the ones to modify the B-25 to make it work. Major Edward Larner deserves a lot of credit for convincing his squadron’s crews that they could pull off the technique in battle after they watched his crew successfully use it on a ship during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea.
Searching on the internet, one can locate more stories containing the B-25 Mitchell bomber than most any other. During the Second World War, the high adaptability of the B-25 Mitchell Bomber–named in honor of the pioneer of U.S. military aviation, Brigadier General William L. Mitchell–paid off as it served extensively in missions including both high and low altitude bombing, tree-top level strafing, anti-shipping, supply, photo reconnaissance, and other support.
B-25 Mitchell schematic.
Production of this twin-engine medium bomber commenced in late 1939 by North American Aviation, following a requirement from the U. S. Army Air Corps (USAAC) for a high-altitude medium bomber. By the end of the war, about 9,816 Mitchells were manufactured, with several variants.
Generally, the Mitchell bomber weighed 19,850 pounds when empty, had a maximum take-off weight of 35,000 pounds, and was built to hold a crew of six comprising the pilot and co-pilot, a navigator who doubled as a bombardier, a turret gunner who also served as an engineer, and a radioman who performed duties as a waist and tail gunner.
North American Aviation factory workers mounting an engine on a B-25 bomber, Inglewood, California, United States, 1942.
It was powered by two Wright R-2600 Cyclone 14 radial engines which dissipated about 3,400 hp, and performed with a top speed of 272 mph at 13,000 feet, although it was most effective at a speed of 230 mph.
Anywhere from 12-18 12.7mm machine guns, a T13E1 cannon, and 3,000 pounds of bombs comprised its armament. It had a 1,984-lb ventral shackle and racks, capable of holding a Mark 13 Torpedo and eight 127mm rockets for ground attacks, respectively.
The B-25 performed in all the theaters of the Second World War and was mainly used by the United States Army Air Force, Royal Air Force, Soviet Air Force, and the United States Marine Corps.
North American’s plant in Kansas City, Kan., October 1942. As the first anniversary of Pearl Harbor approached, American industry was growing and flexing its muscles. Photo from the Office of War Information, Library of Congress.
Mitchell bombers participated in campaigns in the Solomon Islands, Aleutian Islands, Papua New Guinea, and New Britain, among others. Owing to the tropical nature of the environment, mid-level bombing was less efficient, and thus the B-25s were adapted to serve as low-altitude attack bombers.
During the Southwest Pacific campaigns, the B-25 enormously contributed to Allied victories as the 5th Air Force devastated the Japanese forces through skip-bombing attacks on ships and Japanese airfields.
In the China-Burma-India theater of the war, B-25s were widely used for interdiction, close air support, and battlefield isolation.
The B-25’s extraordinary capabilities as a bomber were first brought to the limelight following their performance in the Tokyo Raid of 18 April 1942, in which the hitherto impregnable home islands of Japan were attacked.
Armorer cleaning the bore of a 75mm cannon mounted in a B-25G Mitchell bomber of the 820th Bomb Squadron, Tarawa, Gilbert Islands; March-April 1944.
In a military sense, the Doolittle Raid was a failure. The small task force of which he and his crews were the centerpiece was detected while Hornet was still 150 miles short of the intended takeoff point. The B-25s were launched on a contingency plan to save the carrier– to clear the flight deck so its fighters could be positioned for launch to defend against attack.
Doolittle and the Navy had agreed to sacrifice the bombers in the event the task force was detected by the Japanese. With the task force having been spotted, the mission had been compromised and the airplanes were sent out with the crews knowing it was unlikely that they would reach China. They did reach their targets and east wind helped to bring most of the men home.
The power of the B-25 strafers was demonstrated to the world in early March 1943, when the 3rd Attack Group delivered the knockout blow to a 14-ship Japanese convoy that was sitting just outside Lae Harbor during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. A low-level strafing and skip-bombing attack by 12 modified B-25s and a dozen A-20s left every single transport and most of their escorts either sinking or badly damaged. Naval historian Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison referred to the attack as “the most devastating attack of the war by airplanes against ships.”
From the radio operator’s position in a USMC PBJ Mitchell, Japanese POW 2Lt Minoru Wada looks for landmarks to find the Japanese 100th Infantry Division headquarters complex, 9 August 1945, Mindanao, Philippines.
Beginning with the sale of B-25s to the Dutch, North American produced thousands of Mitchell’s for other nations. Considering that the Fifth Air Force was originally headquartered in Australia, it was only natural that the Royal Australian Air Force would operate B-25s of its own. A little-known fact of World War II in the Pacific is that when the 90th Bombardment Squadron was first equipped with B-25s, there were not enough American pilots and gunners to man them. To fill the gap, several RAAF airmen volunteered to fly with American pilots. Most of the co-pilots and many of the gunners in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea were Australian.
Their sturdiness and ease of maintenance under primitive environmental conditions were characteristics that aided the durability of the B-25s during the war. By the end of the war, they had completed more than 300 missions.
This post was suggested by Dan Antion @ No Facilities.
Resources used: National Interest; Air History on line; Boeing; History.com and pacific War Encyclopedia and the IHRA.
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.
###############################################################################################################
Current News – 7 December 2020, Pearl Harbor Day
For Pacific Paratrooper’s past posts for this date: Videos with a different view
################################################################################################################
Military Humor –
“I’ll get onto it in a minute. Everything is so darn steady.”
From November 14, 1942
“One thing I can’t understand about this sentry business. Can you imagine anybody answering ‘Foe’?”
From December 6, 1941
WWII humor from the Saturday Evening Post magazine.
################################################################################################################
Farewell Salutes –
Robert Adams – Fairfield, CT; US Army, WWII, ETO
Orville Cox – Des Moines, IA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO
Alfred Dawson (103) – Bailieboro, CAN; RC Air Force, WWII, ETO, radar
Stephen Gudek Sr. – Dracut, MA; US Navy, WWII, Korea & Vietnam, Chief Petty Officer (Ret. 20 y.)
Keith Hobson – Chico, CA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO
John Lappin – Washington D.C.; US Army, WWII / FBI
Betty Murray – Salisbury, MD; Civilian, WWII, military uniform seamstress
Harold F. Trapp – LaPorte, IN; US Navy, WWII, Fire Controlman 2nd Class, USS Oklahoma, KIA (Pearl Harbor)
William H. Trapp – LaPorte, IN; US Navy, WWII, Electrician’s Mate 3rd Class, USS Oklahoma, KIA (Pearl Harbor)
Carl Zumbano – Venice, FL; US Navy, WWII, SeaBees
################################################################################################################################################################################################################################
Pacific War Trials – part three
Kempeitai
The British prosecuted Japanese along the Malay Peninsula, in Borneo, New Britain, Rangoon and Singapore. In Malay, 35 Kempeitai (secret police) were tried and 29 went to the gallows. The most publicized trial involved those at the “River Kwai” for causing almost 600 deaths of the 2,000 POWs that built the Burma Siam railroad.
Shiro Ishii
Australia listed 35 separate charges, including cannibalism and mutilation of a dead body. The most famous was Shiro Ishii of Unit 731 for subjecting prisoners to horrendous experiments. These crimes against humanity were normally held in cooperation with British and American officials. One trial held on New Guinea was for a Japanese officer who ate part of an Australian POW. The defense claimed starvation as a reason for his mental demise – he was hanged.
The largest trial of 503 Japanese was held by Australia for cruelty to prisoners on Amoina and 92 were convicted. In Rabaul, New Britain, 1,000 American and British POWs were forced to march 165 miles and only 183 made it the entire route. The Japanese commander executed the survivors. The officer had survived the war – but not the court.
Michiaki Kamada
The Netherlands tried an ugly case for Vice Admiral Michiaki Kamada who ordered 1,500 natives of Borneo murdered. Four others were executed for their participation in the awful treatment of 2,000 Dutch prisoners on Flores Island. Another case involved the treatment of 5,000 Indonesian laborers, 500 Allied POWs and 1,000 civilians.
China tried 800 defendants, whereby 500 were convicted and 149 sentenced to death.
The French held the least number of trials and dealt with them as ordinary crimes. Five Japanese were given the death penalty for the murder of American airmen in Indochina. The French were still holding their trials as late as November 1951.
As mentioned previously, the Russian “trials” were held as propaganda against the West. The charges would be dismissed, due to “arrested development.” ( suggesting that the Japanese were hindered in their development since they were not subject to Soviet culture and education.) The Soviets publicly made it clear that they were “on to” Japan and her American friend’s plot against them.
Abe Koso under guard.
The U.S. Navy tried the Japanese accused of crimes on the Pacific islands. Three were held on Kwajalein, in the Marshall Islands and 44 were put on trial on Guam. These were closely held in conjunction with British, Australian and Indonesian officials. Abe Koso, became the naval commander at Kwajalein and ordered the beheading of nine Marine Raiders that were left behind after the Makin Raid. Koso defended his acts by claiming the Marines were U.S. spies. The tribunal rejected his claim and 19 June 1947, he was hanged.
To be continued…
Click on images to enlarge.
################################################################################################################
Military Humor – 
################################################################################################################
Farewell Salutes –
La Fayette A. Bronston – Springfield, OH; USMC, VIetnam, SSgt., 3 Purple Hearts, Bronze Star, Silver Star
Max W. Daniels (103) – Lake Como, PA; USMC, WWII, cook
WHAT IS A VETERAN?
Joe, Francis & Harry Doyle – Arthur, CAN; Canadian Armed Forces, WWII, KIA (in Memorandum by the Doyle Family)
James Fleming – Hawkes Bay, NZ; NZEF, WWII # 103747, NZ Engineers
Leo Hines – Albany, NY; US Army, Vietnam, 506/11/101st Airborne Division
Wally McLaughlin – Minneapolis, MN; US Army, Korea, 187 RCT/11th Airborne Division
William Schroeder – Boise, ID; USMC, Korea, B Co./1/7th Marines
Michaela Ticha – CZE; MFO Sgt. (Multinational Force & Observers), KIA (So. Sinai)
Gregory Troutman – Salisbury, NC; US Army, Korea & Vietnam, 187th RCT / Pentagon, Col. (Ret. 30 y.)
John ‘Val’ Wachtel IV – Topeka, KS; US Army, Vietnam, Green Beret
Veterans Day 2020 Remembrance and Gratitude
My post for this Veterans Day is dedicated to Sgt. Walter Morgan Bryant Jr., USMC; R.I.P my dear friend!
… there is an old Marine poem… it says: ‘When I get to heaven, To St. Peter I will tell, Another Marine reporting sir, I’ve served my time in hell.” ______ Eugene Sledge, USMC veteran of Peleliu & Okinawa
For the U.S. Marine Birthday, 10 November – CLICK HERE!!
I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze
A young Marine saluted it, and then
He stood at ease.
I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud
With hair cut square and eyes alert
He’d stand out in any crowd.
I thought, how many men like him
Had fallen through the years?
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers’ tears?
How many Pilots’ planes shot down?
How many foxholes were soldiers’ graves?
No, Freedom is not free.
I heard the sound of taps one night,
When everything was still.
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times
That taps had meant “Amen”
When a flag had draped a coffin
of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard
at the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, Freedom isn’t free!!
by: Kelly Strong, posted at vietvet.org
For Remembrance of the Pacific War, from: “The Voice of the Angels” newspaper of the 11th Airborne Association
For All Those In Free Countries Celebrating Remembrance 0r Poppy Day
###############################################################################################################
For The Military Today –
###############################################################################################################
Farewell Salutes –
Robert Avrutik – Yonkers, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, CBI, radioman
Grover “Spook” Browning – Newdale, ID; US Army, WWII, ETO, Purple Heart
Anthony Colavito – West Calwell, NJ; US Army, WWII, PTO, demolition
James Dunn – Lubbock, TX; US Navy, WWII, Purser, USS Franklin
Morris Horton – Sidney, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Co. F/187/11th Airborne Division
Adrian Miller – Winamac, IN; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, 101st Airborne Division
Albert Sakey – Boston, MA; US Navy, WWII, ATO & PTO, PT-boat radioman
Ottis Stout (101) – TX & CA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, B-17 tail gunner
James Thomas – Dry Ridge, KY; US Army, 188/11th Airborne Division
Paul W. Wilkins – USA; US Army, Korea, Cpl., B Co./1/21/24th Infantry Division, KIA (Choch’iwan, SK)
#############################################################################################################
I have a list of parades and celebrations, if anyone is interested, tell me where you’ll be 11 November 2020 and I will see if I can locate one near you!!
No Veteran Should Be Without a Place to Call Home
Free Help for Homeless Veterans Dial 1-877-4AID-VET (1-877-424-3838) for 24/7 access to VA services for homeless and at-risk Veterans
Homeless Veteran Chat Confidential, 24/7 online support for homeless Veterans and friends
https://www.va.gov/homeless for more information
Are You a Veteran in Crisis or Concerned About One?
Did you know that VA offers same day services in Primary Care and Mental Health at 172 VA Medical Centers across the country? Make the Connection Resource Locator
Contact the Veterans Crisis Line (1-800-273-8255 and press 1, Chat, or Text 838255.)
Don’t know what number to call?
1-800-MyVA411 (800-698-2411) is never the wrong number
Have a concern, compliment, or recommendation for VA?
Call the White House VA Hotline at 1-855-948-2311
#####################################################################################################################################################################################
Halloween 2020
Halloween this year has many comparisons to that which went on during WWII, but there were no episodes of mass destruction in the cities as I have seen in Philadelphia.
WWII put quite the damper on any activity as chaotic as Halloween was back in those days, people weren’t making heroes out of criminals … according to history, war shortages made everyone edgy, and towns clamped down on Halloween pranking with both curfews and notices sent home from principals and police. There was a national plea for conservation: any piece of property damaged during Halloween pranking was a direct affront to the war effort.
In 1942 the Chicago City Council voted to abolish Halloween and institute instead “Conservation Day” on October 31st. (This wasn’t the only attempt to reshape Halloween: President Truman tried to declare it “Youth Honor Day” in 1950 but the House of Representatives, sidetracked by the Korean War, neglected to act on the motion. In 1941 the last week of October was declared “National Donut Week,” and then years later, “National Popcorn Week.”)
A day for dressing up.
Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when it was believed the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead become blurred. It has since evolved into a holiday when spooky legends, myths and folklore take center stage—each with their own dark history.
The first Halloween during WWII was in 1942, when the nation was in full-tilt war production mode and millions of men were in uniform. Children and teenagers were suddenly set free from adult supervision, as mothers and fathers spent more time working or away from home altogether. There were widespread fears of juvenile delinquency and criminal behavior. Fear was a dominant emotion during the war years and the vandalism one might expect on Halloween now seemed to portend greater crimes. Many communities did, in fact, cancel Halloween that year.
Some folks saw the opportunity to co-opt, rather than ban, the holiday by hosting costume parties, dances, etc. to lure the would-be delinquents off the streets and into safer environments. (Still not much candy available though, due to the rationing of sugar.) It worked. Halloween vandalism feel off in 1942 and after the war, neighborhoods began hosting a kind of roving festival for kids – trick-or-treating.
For templates to create your own military pumpkins ___ CLICK HERE!!
###############################################################################################################
Military HALLOWEEN Humor ~
################################################################################################################
Farewell Salutes –
James Blaney – Milwaukee, WI; US National Guard, Major General (Ret.)
Eric Bunger – Sioux Falls, SD; US Army, Afghanistan & Iraq, Sgt., 82nd Airborne Division
Christopher Crossett – Philadelphia, PA; US Army, WWII, ETO, Silver Star, Purple Heart
Alpha Farrow – Lindsay, OK; US Army, WWII, ETO, Pvt., 10th Mt. Division / Vietnam & Korea, Chaplain, Col. (Ret.)
Morgan Garrett – Weddington, NC; US Coast Guard, Ensign
William Hinchey – Middletown, RI; USMC, WWII, CBI
Duane T. Kyser – Muskogee, OK; US Navy, WWII, Seaman 2nd Class, USS Oklahoma, KIA (Pearl Harbor)Rhiannon Ross – Waxom, MI; US Navy, Lt.
David Mansfield (100) – Thorold, CAN; RC Air Force, WWII
Carlisle Trost – Valmeyer, IL; US Navy, Naval Academy grad ’53, 23rd Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral (Ret. 37 y.)
Walter S. Wojtczak (105) – Newbury, NH; US Army, WWII, Major, Corps of Engineers
Pacific War in art – 1945
I wish all of the distinguished artists of WWII could have been included – here is the final year of the Pacific War…
“Battle of Luzon” by: Yorozujiro Terauchi, 1945
Mandalay, Burma, by: David Pentland, Feb. ’45
Pacific Glory” by: Nicholas Trudgian
| It is March 1945 and the P-38’s of the 475th FG are involved in a huge dogfight with Japanese Zeros over the coast of Indo-China. Flying “Pee Wee V” is Lt Ken Hart of the 431st Fighter Squadron, who has fatally damaged a Zero in a blistering head on encounter. The second P-38L – “Vickie” – belongs to Captain John ‘rabbit’ Pietz, who would end the War as an Ace with six victories. Signed by three highly decorated P-38 pilots who flew in combat with the 475th Fighter Group in the Pacific theatre during World War II. |
‘The Great Tokyo Air Raid’ by: Hashimoto Kimisuke, 10 March ’45, age 7
Raid on China Coast, By: Roy Grinnell April ’45
“Indochina Prisoners of War” by: Donald Friend
‘Ready Room’ by: Tom Lea
“Victoria, Labuan Island” Borneo, July ’45 by: William E. Pigeon
“Standing Guard” by Sgt. John Ruge, USMC, Naha, Okinawa, cover of ‘Yank’ mag.
“Surrender Flight” by: Mike Hagel, 19 Aug. 1945
‘Milk Run to Kyushu’ by: Jack Fellows
“USS Missouri Signing” by: Standish Backus, 2 Sept. ’45
Responsibility, But For What? Kyoto Street by: Barse Miller. Army WWII, 28 Sept. ’45
‘Japan Surrender’ by: Howard Brodie (veteran of 3 wars, Bronze Star)
Resources –
IHRA: for their blog and their books and prints
Jack Fellows website
Howard Brodie sketches
“WWII” by: James Jones
“WWII: A Tribute in Art and Literature” by: David Colbert
For the art of Nicholas Trudgian http://www.brooksart.com/Pacificglory.html
Roy Grinnell
https://www.roygrinnellart.com/ Barse Miller
http://www.artnet.com/artists/barse-miller/
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE AND VIEW THE DETAIL.
################################################################################################################
Military Humor – 
################################################################################################################
Farewell Salutes –
Lawrence Beller – Bisbee, AZ; US Air Force, Korea, 67th Airborne Reporter Corps
Jack Bray – Madison, WI; US Army, Korea, 82nd Airborne Division + 187th RCT
Adam M. Foti – Moyack, NC; US Navy, Chief Petty Officer, USS Jason Dunham
Juan Garcia – Brownsville, TX; US Army, Vietnam, Sgt. Major (Ret.), Co. E/3/506/101st Airborne Division
John Hoyt – Reading, MA; US Army, Vietnam, 101st Airborne Division
Leon Kneebone – State College, PA, US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Co F/187/11th Airborne Division
George E. Lineham – Sanbornville, NH; US Army, Korea, 187th RCT
Edward C. Meyer – Arlington, VA; US Army, Korea & Vietnam, General, Army Chief of Staff, West Point grad ’51, Bronze Star, 2 Silver Stars, Purple Heart
Earl Smith Jr. – Oakland, CA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 2nd Lt., 80th Fighter Squadron, P-38 pilot, KIA (Paga Point, New Guinea)
John Waterman (100) – Tunbridge Wells, ENG; Royal Army, Special Boat & Air Services, WWII
#####################################################################################################################################################################
Pacific War in art – 1944
As promised, here is an example of other works of art for the following year of the Pacific War…
USMC in the Marshall Islands, 31 Jan 1944, by: James V. Griffin
Truk Island, Carolinas, by: Frank Lemon
RNZAF, May 1944 with Corsairs
Saipan Jun-july 1944, by: Robert Benney
War Weary, by: Jack Fellows
Guam, July-Aug. by: Howard Gerard
Peleliu Invaded, Sept. 1944, By: Tom Lea
Avengers of the Philippines, by: John D. Shaw
November 14, 1944 . . . As smoldering enemy ships mark a trail to Manila Bay, Avengers and Hellcats of Air Group 51 overfly the isle of Corregidor on their return to the carrier U.S.S. San Jacinto.
With the misty mountains of Bataan standing as a silent sentinel, Naval LT (JG) George H.W. Bush pilots his TBM in one of his last combat missions of WWII. The valor of Bush’s group in the Battle of Leyte Gulf and in the strikes on Manila Bay helped pave the way for MacArthur’s campaign to liberate the Philippines
Kamikazes in the Philippines, by Usaburo Ibara
Japanese paratroopers, Leyte, by Tsuruto Goro
Some 750 men, mainly from the 2nd Raiding Brigade, of this group were assigned to attack American air bases on Luzon and Leyte in the night. They were flown in Ki-57 transports, but most of the aircraft were shot down. Some 300 commandos managed to land in the Burauen area on Leyte.
The paratroopers of the 11th A/B, including Gen. Joseph Swing and Smitty, found themselves fighting Japanese parachutists who had landed near the San Pablo airstrip. The Japanese were wiped out in a 5-day engagement. In a continuous series of combat actions, Japanese resistance was reduced on Leyte by the end of December 1944.
Resources:
IHRA: for their blog and their books and prints
Jack Fellows website
Barse Miller –
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-C-WWII/index.htm
Frank Lemon lithograph –
James V. Griffin –
https://www.jamesgriffinillustration.com/works
Robert Benney
https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/art/artists/the-art-of-robert-benney.html
Tom Lea
1000 Yard Stare by: Tom Lea
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_C._Lea_III
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.
###############################################################################################################
Military Humor –
#################################################################################################
Farewell Salutes –
Bruce Bacon Sr. – Toledo, OH; US Army, Vietnam, 101st Airborne Division
Roy Brumbaugh – Platte, SD; US Army, German Occupation + Middle East, 11th Airborne Division
Margaret Fletcher – Woodland, CA; Civilian, Civil Air Patrol, pilot
John G. Herring – Copperhill, TN; US Army
Joseph Kelly – New Canaan, CT; US Army, WWII, ETO, Forward Observer
Mary LaPlante (100) – Kansas City, MO; US Navy WAVE, WWII, encryptor
Jack Martin – Greensboro, NC; US Army, Korea, 77th Special Forces (Green Berets)
John Morrison (101) – Moose Jaw, CAN; RC Army, WWII, 1st Survey Regiment
Gerard Simpson – Staten Island, NY; US Army, Vietnam, 82nd + 101st Airborne Divisions, Purple Heart
Bill Wingett – Salem, OR; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, Co. E/506/101st Airborne Division, Bronze Star, Purple Heart
###############################################################################################################################################################
Pacific War in art – 1941 – 1942
From some of our most prestigious artists come their depictions of the war…
PLEASE CLICK ON THE IMAGES TO GET THE FULL EFFECT.
“Tora, Tora, Tora”, by Robert McCall
“Battle of Slim River” by: Mark Stille
Japanese and war horses in Hong Kong
Japan in Dutch East Indies
Japan bombs Darwin, Australia, by” James Baines, Feb. 1942
Bataan Death March, by Ben Steele, himself a death march survivor from Montana, April 1942
Doolittle Raid, B-25 over Japan, by: Francis Bergese
18 April 1942
“Cactus Air Force” by: Jack Fellows, Guadalcanal
RAAF Kittyhawk Squadron, Milne Bay, New Guinea, by: William Dargie, Sept. 1942
“Action Over Salamaua”, by: Jack Fellows
Pictorial series to be continued…
Resources:
IHRA: for their blog and their books and prints
Jack Fellows website
William Dargie info
“WWII: A Tribute in Art and Literature” edited by David Colbert
This idea for this post arose from a discussion with Pat at equipsblog
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.
#############################################################################################################
Canadian Thanksgiving – 12 October 2020
To all our Canadian friends…..
ENJOY, MY FRIENDS!
###############################################################################################################
U.S. Navy’s Birthday – 13 October 2020
U.S. Navy emblem
https://pacificparatrooper.wordpress.com/2019/10/13/u-s-navy-birthday/
###############################################################################################################
Military Humor –
###############################################################################################################
Farewell Salutes –
Clifford Blain – Hogsett, WV; USMC, WWII
Raymond Cohen – St. Louis, MO; US Army, WWII, ETO, Sgt., 89th Infantry 
Division
Leonard Davidson (101) – Valley City, ND; US Army Air Corps, WWII, Navigator
Eugene Figurelli Sr. – Pittsburgh, PA; US Army, WWII, munitions instructor
Edward “Whitey” Ford – NYC, NY; US Army, Korea / Pro-MLB pitcher
Donald Horn – Arba, IN; US Army Air Corps, WWII, Africa
Joseph Messina – Boston, MA; US Navy, WWII, PTO
John O’Malley – Bronx, NY; US Navy, WWII, USS Tausig
George ‘Clint’ Shay – Madison, NJ; US Navy, WWII
Dale Tatman – Modesto, CA; US Navy, WWII, PTO, USS Antietam
