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THE STRANGE NAVY THAT SHIPPED MILLIONS OF JAPANESE HOME
Japanese surrender in Malaya, 1945
When Japan formally surrendered on board the USS Missouri (BB-63) in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945, there still were seven million Japanese soldiers and civilians scattered throughout the Pacific and Asia with no way of returning home. The Allies had so devastated Japanese shipping during the war that few transports remained. There were some grumblings among U.S. officials who thought that it was Japan’s problem to rectify, but it was quickly recognized that after suffering under Japanese occupation for years, countries such as China and the Philippines should be relieved of the burden of stranded Japanese troops. There was also a need to return the million Chinese and Koreans who had been taken by the Japanese for slave labor.
By mid-September, a plan to repatriate Japanese personnel and revive the Japanese economy began to take shape. The U.S. Navy established the Shipping Control Authority, Japanese Merchant Marine and the Japanese Repatriation Group, known collectively as SCAJAP, under the Commander, Naval Forces, Far East (COMNAVFE). RADM D. B. Beary commanded SCAJAP with RADM Charles “Swede” Momsen serving as his chief of staff. SCAJAP developed regulations for Japanese shipping rights, laws of the sea, and safety rules. SCAJAP then assembled a fleet to transport cargo and another fleet to be used for the repatriation operation.
IJN Hosho
To hasten repatriation, SCAJAP gave Japan 85 LSTs and 100 Liberty ships that had been slated for decommissioning. Because the plan called for the ships to be operated by Japanese crews, all the instruments and hatches had to be remarked with Kanji. SCAJAP also repurposed any seaworthy vessel it could, including warships, for the mass repatriation effort. The Hōshō and Katsuragi, among the few Japanese carriers to survive the war, were given new roles as passenger transports, as were destroyers such as the Yoizuki. The ocean liner Hikawa Maru, which had been converted into a hospital ship, was used to gather thousands of men at a time. The fleet of castoffs eventually grew to about 400 vessels. The Japanese government was responsible for providing the crew with all food and supplies. Fuel had to be bought through U.S. authorities.
Because the rising sun flag was abolished following the surrender, the ships of SCAJAP were given their own flags. Japanese-owned ships with Japanese crews flew a blue and red pennant modified from international flag signal code for “Echo.” American-owned ships with Japanese crews flew a flag of red and green triangles based on the signal code for “Oscar.”
IJN Katsuragi embarking Japanese prisoners, New Britain 2/28/1946
Unsurprisingly, many American servicemen who were waiting to be shipped back to the United States were not happy with the effort. They complained that their return was being delayed because resources were being used to accommodate the same Japanese whom they’d been fighting only weeks earlier. Officials explained that Asia would not recover without immediate repatriation, resulting in more Americans having to stay longer to stabilize the region.
The operation was conducted quickly and efficiently with only a few incidents. One fully laden ship sank after hitting a mine near China but only 20 of the 4,300 passengers were lost. In another incident, there was outrage when the public learned of the appalling conditions of a ship that was overcrowded with women and children being returned to Taiwan. Korean refugees on another ship almost mutinied against the Japanese crew because of what they believed was inhumane treatment.
The removal of hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians on Taiwan also was problematic because many had lived on the island their entire lives and considered it their true home. Most wanted to remain, but the Chinese announced that they intended to use any Japanese on the island as slave labor. Against U.S. objections, the Chinese also created ways to extort the Japanese being repatriated by charging them for the transportation and inoculations that the United States was providing for free.
SCAJAP ships also encountered bitter feelings that remained from the war. When a couple of Japanese-operated ships pulled into Hawaii for repairs, the crew was not permitted to go ashore.
The repatriation effort was conducted at a remarkable speed. It was initially estimated that the operation would take until July 1947 to complete, but In March 1946 Momsen projected that the repatriation effort would be complete by that May, with the exception of the 1,700,000 Japanese who were being held by the Soviets. SCAJAP earned additional praise from the Japanese government for returning the exhumed remains of thousands of Japanese war dead from far-flung places.
A SCAJAP LST at Inchon, Korea, 1950
SCAJAP’s repatriation operation was an extraordinary logistical achievement that played a significant role in the postwar recovery of Asia. After completion of the operation, SCAJAP ships would soon be called upon to transport men and equipment to Korea, providing crucial support in the amphibious operations at Inchon and Wonsan.
The signing of the Treaty of San Francisco on 8 September 1951 meant that Japanese ships could again fly the rising sun and operate under policies developed by the Japanese government. On 1 April 1952, SCAJAP was dissolved. Many Japanese-crewed ships remained in the service of Military Sea Transportation Services, drawing the ire of U.S. maritime unions, which charged that the practice was depriving Americans of jobs.
Info from: U.S. Naval Institute
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
John Burson – Atlanta, GA; US Army, WWII, ETO, Bronze Star
Old Glory, courtesy of Dan Antion
Dan Corson – Middletown, OH; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, Lt., 401 BS/91BG/ *th Air Force, B-17 co-pilot, KIA (FRA)
Robert Cross (100) – Yorkton, CAN; RC Air Force, WWII, ETO, mechanic
Charles Crumlett – Streamwood, IL; US Air Force, SSgt., weapons load chief, 90th Fighter Generation Squadron, KWS (Alaska)
Roland A. Hall – Hurricane, UT; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 188/11th Airborne Division, Bronze Star
Richard J. Kasten – Kalamazoo, MI; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, 1stLt., B-24 navigator, 68BS/44BG, KIA (FRA)
Matthew Langianese (103) – Moab, UT; US Army, WWII, ETO / Korea
Gerald W. Miller Vienna, VA; US Army, WWII, cartographer / US Navy, Korea
Ira “Frank” Moseley (101) – Conyers, GA; US Army, WWII, ETO / US Air Force
William L. Reichow – Decorah, IA; US Army, Sgt., 11th Airborne Division
Leroy J. Schoenemann (101) – Lyons, TX; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, pilot, 64th Troop Carrier Wing
Brooks Winfield – San Rafael, CA; US Navy, WWII, PTO, Radioman, USS Oklahoma, KIA (Pearl Harbor, HI)
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Pearl Harbor – your opinion? / “Leora’s Letters” review
This subject is still a topic of debate, even to this day. Please watch these 2 videos before giving me your opinion. Thank You.
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Book Review – “Leora’s Letters” by: Joy Neal Kidney
No one warned me that when you read this book – you must be prepared to join the family.
Reading Leora’s Letters, you do not merely become acquainted with this close-knit, hard-working family – you become one of them. In this tumultuous period of our history, you are transported into the heartland’s home front and the different areas of combat of that age. You can understand their dreams and hopes; feel their anguish, trepidation and heartaches and you pull for each member of that family to succeed just as you do for your own loved ones.
One need not be a WWII buff or knowledgeable of military operations to comprehend the Wilson brothers’ correspondences. You need not be familiar with Iowa in the 1940’s to grasp the emotions and hardships they endured.
This non-fiction experience will not disappoint – and don’t take MY word for that!! After reading it, I researched the opinion of other readers and it has a solid 5-Star rating!! Click HERE or the link above to purchase this treasure or click on Joy’s name above to reach her website.
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Barbara Barnett – Chappaqua, NY; US Army WAC, WWII, nurse
Calvin Beazley – Chesterfield, VA; US Army, WWII, SSgt.,1151st Engineer Combat Group ? Korea
Cecil Crookshanks – Rainelle, WV; US Navy, WWII, Korea & Vietnam (Ret.)
Theodore Fibison (100) – Syracuse, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, pilot, Flight Instructor
Don Howison – Bradenton, FL; US Navy, WWII, PTO, The last officer of the USS Indianapolis to take his final voyage.
Margaret Madden – Berlin, MD; US Navy WAVES, WWII
Colin G. Parry – Hamilton, NZ; RNZ Air Force # 432370, WWII
Wallace Ramos Jr. – Honey Grove, TX; US Navy, WWII / Korea, Chief Petty Officer (Ret.)
Arthur B. Summers – Poplar, MT; USMC, WWII, PTO, Gunnery Sgt., KIA (Tarawa)
LLoyd R. Timm – Kellogg, MN; US Navy, WWII, PTO, Seaman 2nd Class, USS Oklahoma, KIA (Pearl Harbor)
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Pearl Harbor is remembered
Crew of the USS Arizona
When diplomacy failed and power and greed survived – the Pacific skies went dark….
Hickam Field
Aerial view during the attack
Battleship Row, as seen by Japanese pilot during the attack
From the Smithsonian Museum……
USS Oklahoma stamp
This relic marks the movements before the U.S. was launched into WWII….To record when a piece of mail was processed aboard ship, the Navy used wooden postmark stamps. This one bears an ominous date: 6 December 1941 PM. It was recovered from the battleship Oklahoma after it was hit by several torpedoes, listed to a 45-degree angle, capsized and sank in the attack on Pearl Harbor. The ship lost 429 sailors and Marines; one-third of its crew.
For a different view on the Pearl Harbor “surprise”……..
For a wonderful Pearl Harbor poem, by Lee…..
https://mypoetrythatrhymes.wordpress.com/2018/08/
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Farewell Salutes –
William Barnes – Brookston, IN ,& Lake Worth, FL; First Cavalry Division, Korea
John B. Coffey – Johnstown, PA & Miami, FL; Lt. Colonel (Ret.), US Army Air Corps, WWII ETO, 35 B-17 missions; B-52 crews in
U.S. Marine Mounted Honor Guard
Korea
James “Harp: Gerrity – Milford, CT; US Army Staff Sgt., WWII ETO, Bronze Star & 8th Army African Star
Leo Keninger – Ackley, IA; US Navy, WWII, PTO, Fireman 1st Class, USS Oklahoma, KIA (Pearl Harbor)
Robert Frank Rolls – Napier, New Zealand; 4th Field Regiment, WWII Sgt.
Oscar J. Tenores – Lemoore, CA; US Navy, Master-at-Arms
Orval Tranbarger – Chapel, MO; US Navy, WWII, PTO, Seaman 1st Class, USS Oklahoma, KIA (Pearl Harbor)
Robert Wade – Van Nuys, CA; US Army Air Corps, WWII ETO, (Ret. 22 yrs. Major)
Otto Wilner – Chicago, IL; US Army, WWII
James Wilson Jr. – Decatur, GA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, Sgt., radioman
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Current News – USS ARIZONA MEMORIAL is OPEN
USS Arizona Memorial, Pear Harbor, Hawaii
HONOLULU (Tribune News Service) — With the American flag billowing in the wind and “The Star-Spangled Banner” playing on the loudspeakers from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, the first boatload of tourists and residents in nearly 16 months stepped onto the USS Arizona Memorial on Sunday morning. (1 Sept.)
The 145 visitors on the Navy boat disembarked to spend a few solemn minutes within the white walls of the shrine at the same time, 8:10 a.m., that the Arizona was hit Dec. 7, 1941, also a Sunday, by an armor-piercing bomb that sank the ship and killed 1,177 men. The battleship suffered the greatest loss of life of all the ships and planes attacked that day. Among the dead were a father and son named Free and 23 sets of brothers.
“It was just terribly moving to be over there today,” said Minneapolis resident Patty Drake, 63, who was in Hawaii with her husband, Bob. “All the death and the pain.”
She saw the oil seeping from the sunken ship that she recalled seeing the last time she visited the memorial while living in Hawaii more than 50 years ago.
USS Arizona
“It was powerful,” Bob Drake said. The oil the Drakes witnessed leaks from the million gallons of bunker fuel oil that was aboard the ship when it sank and is known as the “black tears of the Arizona.”
Visitors now can walk on the memorial and see the oil and the names of the dead etched into the marble wall as they reflect on the sacrifice of those who died in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which brought the U.S. into World War II.
The memorial was closed in May 2018 after park staff found major damage to the anchoring system for the boat dock at the memorial. The damage — possibly caused by king tides in 2017 that raised the concrete blocks out of the ground — allowed too much movement of the dock and created a risk that the bridge to the memorial could collapse.
Jay Blount, Pearl Harbor National Memorial’s chief of interpretation said, “The new anchoring system uses giant screws, some longer than 100 feet, that have been driven into the seafloor. Twelve anchors were installed and then were attached to the dock using synthetic rope as part of the $2.1 million repair.
USS Arizona Memorial, JESSICA O. BLACKWELL/U.S. NAVY
Steve Mietz, acting supervisor of the Pearl Harbor National Memorial, said reopening the Arizona Memorial was the top priority of the National Parks Service.
“Reconnecting the American public to the USS Arizona Memorial is very meaningful to me,” Mietz said. “People need to be there at that shrine to pay their respects to those fallen heroes. It’s such a moving sight.”
Mietz said the repair project involved working with several partners, including the nonprofit Pacific Historic Parks and the Navy, which had the equipment to support the parks department and helped compete the project faster and at a lower cost.
Blount said the memorial, which opened on Memorial Day 1962, stands as the symbol of American sacrifice in the Pacific theater during WWII.
For history buff Camden Koukol, 13, of Dayton, Ohio, visiting the sunken battleship was a key reason for coming to Hawaii, said his mother, Dominique Koukol.
In Ohio, Dominique Koukol had heard the memorial might be reopening soon, and because her husband was going to be in Hawaii for business, the couple decided it would be a chance for them to travel to the islands affordably as a family, with the hope that the battleship would reopen in time for their son to visit.
Camden, who learns about military ships and planes while building models for national contests, visited the memorial Saturday with his parents to scope out the park and returned about 5:30 a.m. Sunday to get in line for the first boat. They were the second group in line.
Camden said he wanted to visit the sunken battleship because it was an impressive ship when it was built, and he wanted to “see what it was like after the attack.”
Brian Catron of Pearl City seized upon the idea of visiting the memorial after hearing it had reopened on the 6 o’clock news Sunday morning. He woke his two daughters and brought them and his wife down by about 6:30 a.m. It was a way to spend the day with family for free and finally gave his daughter, Kahealani, 10, a chance to visit the memorial, he said.
Crew of the USS Arizona
©2019 The Honolulu Star-Advertiser
e-Quips would like anyone interested, to write a letter to one or all four of the remaining USS Arizona survivors. CLICK HERE!!
Click on images to enlarge.
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Military Humor –
Beetle Bailey
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Farewell Salutes –
Henry Allen – Dayton, KY; US Air Force, Korea & Vietnam, (Ret. 23 y.), Bronze Star
Thomas Burton – Middleburgh, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, HQ Co./511/11th Airborne Division
Frank Checchi – Hooversville, PA; US Navy, WWII, PTO, radioman, USS Oliver Mitchell
Arizona Memorial
Fred Gans Jr. – Daytona, FL; US Navy, WWII & Vietnam, Lt. Commander (Ret.)
“Goodie” Lorentzen – Anacortes, WA; US Navy WAVE, WWII
Harold Lowry – Mollala, OR; USMC, WWII, PTO, PFC, Bronze Star, Purple Heart
Gisela Murray – Milwaukee, WI; Civilian, 128th Airborne, logistics assistant
Jerry Pierce – Turlock, CA; US Navy, WWII, minesweeper USS Scout
Thomas Rostek – East Windsor, CT; US Navy, WWII, USS Yosemite
Roger Schlaak – Michigan City, IN; US Navy, WWII
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The Other Pearl Harbor Story – Kimmel and Short
People around the nation, including some vocal congressmen, asked why America had been caught off guard at Pearl Harbor.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt said he would appoint an investigatory commission. Supreme Court Justice Owen Roberts — a pro-British internationalist friendly with FDR — was selected to head it. Also appointed to the group: Major General Frank McCoy, General George Marshall’s close friend for 30 years; Brigadier General Joseph McNarney, who was on Marshall’s staff and chosen on his recommendation; retired Rear Admiral Joseph Reeves, whom FDR had given a job in lend-lease; and Admiral William Standley, a former fleet commander. Only the last seemed to have no obvious fraternity with the Washington set.
The commission conducted only two to three days of hearings in Washington. Admiral Standley, arriving late, was startled by the inquiry’s chummy atmosphere. Admiral Harold Stark and General Marshall were asked no difficult or embarrassing questions. Furthermore, all testimony was taken unsworn and unrecorded — an irregularity that, at Standley’s urging, was corrected.
The commission then flew to Hawaii, where it remained 19 days. When Admiral Husband Kimmel was summoned, he brought a fellow officer to act as counsel. Justice Roberts disallowed this on grounds that the investigation was not a trial, and the admiral not a defendant. Because Kimmel and General Walter Short were not formally “on trial,” they were also denied all traditional rights of defendants: to ask questions and cross-examine witnesses. Kimmel was also shocked that the proceeding’s stenographers — one a teenager, the other with almost no court experience — omitted much of his testimony and left other parts badly garbled. Permission to correct the errors — other than adding footnotes to the end of the commission’s report — was refused.
The Roberts Commission laid the blame for Pearl Harbor on the Hawaiian commanders. Roberts brought a final copy of the report to FDR. The president read it and delightedly tossed it to a secretary, saying, “Give that in full to the papers for their Sunday editions.” America’s outrage now fell on Kimmel and Short. They were traitors, it was said; they should be shot! The two were inundated with hate mail and death threats. The press, with its ageless capacity to manufacture villains, stretched the commission’s slurs. Even the wives of the commanders were subject to vicious canards.
By 1944, the Allies were clearly winning, and national security would no longer wash as a barrier to trials. A congressional act mandated the court-martials. At last, the former Hawaiian commanders would have their day in court.
In August, the Naval Court of Inquiry opened. A source inside the Navy Department had already tipped Kimmel and his attorneys about the scores of Magic intercepts kept from the admiral in 1941. One of the attorneys, a former Navy captain, managed to get at the Department’s files, and authenticated the existence of many. Obtaining their release was another matter. Obstruction after obstruction appeared — until Kimmel tried a ploy. Walking out of the courtroom, he bellowed to his lawyer that they would have to tell the press that important evidence was being withheld.
By the next day, the requested intercepts had been delivered — 43 in all. The admirals on the Court listened to them being read with looks of horror and disbelief. Two of the admirals flung their pencils down. More than 2,000 died at Pearl Harbor because those messages had been withheld. Navy Department officers gave additional testimony. After nearly three months, the inquiry finished. The verdict of the Roberts Commission was overturned. Admiral Kimmel was exonerated on all charges. Admiral Stark — who had rejected pleas of juniors to notify Hawaii on the morning of the attack — was severely censured.
Criticism of the president, incidentally, was forbidden to the proceedings as beyond their jurisdiction. But FDR held ultimate responsibility for Pearl Harbor, and the warnings he had received — some of which have only recently come to light — far exceeded anything they might have dreamed.
Naturally, the inquiry findings wrought dismay in the administration and Pentagon. But a solution was swiftly concocted. It was announced that, in the interest of national security, the court-martial results would not become public until the war’s end.
Other rather staged shows were carried out afterward. Witness reversed their original testimonies or memories were “refreshed.” It was discovered that just four days after Pearl Harbor, Rear Admiral Leigh Noyes, director of naval communications, told his subordinates: “Destroy all notes or anything in writing.” This was an illegal order — naval memoranda belong to the American people and cannot be destroyed except by congressional authority. Stories circulated of a similar information purge in the War Department. Some files, however, escaped destruction.
Congress did conduct a probe in 1995, at the urging of the families of General Short (died 1949) and Admiral Kimmel (died 1968). The families hoped to restore the ranks of their libeled, demoted fathers. The 1995 probe requested that the Pentagon reinvestigate Pearl Harbor in light of new information.
However, on December 1, 1995, Undersecretary of Defense Edwin Dorn concluded his own investigation with these comments: “I cannot conclude that Admiral Kimmel and General Short were victims of unfair official actions and thus cannot conclude that the remedy of advancement on the retired list is in order.”
However, on May 25, 1999, the U.S. Senate approved a resolution that Kimmel and Short had performed their duties “competently and professionally” and that our losses at Pearl Harbor were “not the result of dereliction of duty.” “They were denied vital intelligence that was available in Washington,” said Senator William V. Roth Jr. (R-Del.). Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) called Kimmel and Short “the two final victims of Pearl Harbor.”
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Farewell Salutes –
David Bone – Livonia, MI; US Navy, WWII, USS Kretchmer
Joe Carter – Lodge, SC; US Navy, WWII, Chief Petty Officer
Harry Grim – Aransas Pass, TX; US Army Air Corps, WWII
Henry Kaufman – Jersey City, NJ; US Army Air Corps, WWII
Wallace Lutz – Lake Worth, FL; US Navy, WWII
Linda Milton – Tucumcari, NM; US Army, Sgt.
Jack Riley – Shelton, NE; US Army, Korea
William Stanley – Cheshire, CT; US Army, WWII, Ordnance
Bryan ‘Jim’ Whitmer Jr. – Waterville, OH; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 11th Airborne Division
Jess Wise – Spokane, WA; USMC, Korea, Force Recon
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Pearl Harbor battleships after WWII: part I
A series here that deserves attention!
HERE find the 5 myths about Pearl Harbor!!!!
Except for USS Arizona, all of the battleships attacked at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 were later raised, and saw the end of WWII. This three-part series will show their peacetime use and final fates after WWII.
(Recovered in 1945 during the occupation of Japan, this photo was taken by a Japanese airman and shows the opening seconds of the 7 December 1941 attack, and the location of the American battleships: 1) USS Nevada 2) USS Arizona 3) USS West Virginia 4) USS Tennessee 5) USS Oklahoma 6) USS Maryland 7) USS California and 8) USS Pennsylvania, out of the picture to the right. Two other warships are a) USS Vestal and b) USS Neosho. Circled are two Aichi D3A “Val” dive bombers of the strike force.)
View original post 6,433 more words
News Day
Western Union, Labor Day, 1942
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO WERE EXPECTING A LABOR DAY POST, I HAVE HERE A LINK TO MY POST FROM LAST YEAR WHICH DEPICTED THE DAY’S CELEBRATION IN THE STYLE OF THE 1950’S. I’M SURE MANY OF YOU WILL REMEMBER IT, BUT – WE HAVE HAD NEW READERS JOIN US SINCE THAT TIME. PLUS – I’VE ACCUMULATED A LOT OF CURRENT NEWS THAT NEEDS TO BE POSTED. THANK YOU….
Labor Day Post – HERE
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WWII VETERAN – STILL HAS WHAT IT TAKES!
Arthur Lewis
Arthur M. Lewis, 89, an Army veteran of the Pacific Theater, was working behind the counter of The Jewelry Exchange in Lake Park, Florida when an armed robber entered the store. Lewis grabbed the attacker’s gun and pulled out his own weapon. Shots were fired. Lewis was grazed on his arm and the would-be thief escaped carrying 6 bullets in his body. The man and his get-away driver were caught by the Boca Raton police when they sought medical attention. The suspect faces felony charges when he is released by the hospital.
Click on images to enlarge.
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Fallen WWII Soldier Comes Home
David Rogers holding his uncle’s WWII picture
Dog tags of Pvt. Bernard Gavin
DNA testing and a set of dog tags has positively identified the missing US Army Pvt. Bernard “Max” Gavrin who fought in the PTO and went missing in Saipan. He will be laid to rest on 12 September. The remains were discovered by the non-profit Japanese organization, the Kuentai Group.
Gavrin’s nephew, David Rogers of Delray Beach, Florida, last saw his uncle when he was years old, said in an interview: “I am completely in awe of where he is going to be buried. Arlington Cemetery is the single most hallowed ground in this country. Beneath its surface contains the who’s who of American history. To think that my uncle will also be buried there is incredible to me.”
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Java Sea Wreck Confirmed
A wreath is passed to sailors for the tomb of 700.
More than 70 years after the heavy cruiser, USS Houston, was sunk by the Japanese during the Battle of Sunda Strait in February 1942, the grave for 700 of its sailors and Marines has been confirmed. Nicknamed the “Galloping Ghost of the Java Coast” had only 291 survivors. The commander, Captain Albert H. Rooks, was killed during the battle and awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously.
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U.S. Military Downsizing
The 1/9 Marine insignia
The Walking Dead
A Marine Corps battalion decorated for extensive combat in WWII and Vietnam earned the nickname “Walking Dead.” The 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, which also saw action in Iraq and Afghanistan, was deactivated during a ceremony at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The unit had a reputation for heroism that included Medal of Honor recipients at Guam and Iwo Jima and two in Vietnam.
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Did You Know?
__ Elvis Presley did a benefit concert and raised over $50,000 to help in the cost of erecting the Arizona memorial.
Ticket for the Elvis’ USS Arizona Benefit
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Merchant Navy Day – New Zealand – 3 September
Capt. Inkster
The men and boys of the New Zealand Merchant Navy had one of the most perilous wartime occupations as they carried supplies to the troops and wounded to safety. Their virtually unarmed ships were sitting ducks for the enemy. Hundreds of mines were laid by German raiders in the early years of the war and several vessels were sunk, including the minesweeper, Puriri, May 1941 off Whangarei, NZ.
Around 130 New Zealand seafarers lost their lives and around 140 were taken prisoner. Captain Inkster, pictured above, served for 60 years, including all six years of WWII. Let’s join them this Wednesday in honoring these civilians who put their lives on the line for the Allied troops!
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A Current Political Cartoon____
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Farewell Salutes –
Heroes R.I.P.
Stuart Avery – Tauranga, NZ; RNZ Air Force # W327494
William “Dan” Boone – Adelanto, CA; US Air Force, MSgt. (Ret. 20 years), Vietnam
Charles Catanzaro – Syracuse, NY; US Army, Sgt., Vietnam
Morris “Moose” Fontenot – Longmeadow, MA; US Air Force, LtCol., 104th Fighter Wing, F-15 pilot
Gerald McHaffie – Ozark, MO; US Navy, Korea
Walter Pacholka – Pointe-Claire, CAN; RC Air Force [attached to RAF Squadron 199], WWII
Harry Peterson – Oak Park, IL; US Army, 99th Div., WWII, ETO, [author]
Bertrand Vachon – Augusta, ME; US Army, Sgt., WWII
Herbert Waits – LaPine, OR; US Army, Corps of Engineers, WWII
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First-Hand Account – corpsman
USS Solace
James F. Anderson
Hospital corpsman, USS Solace
James Anderson of Fort Worth, Texas was aboard the USS Solace looking out across the bay on 7 December as he awaited a liberty boat to take him to shore as 5 planes flew overhead. He spotted the red balls on the wings, “My God, those are Japanese. Let’s get this damn hatch shut!, he said. “Normally it took an electric winch to pull it shut. How 3 of us did it I’ll never know.”
“I remember very clearly what looked like a dive-bomber coming in over the Arizona and dropping a bomb. It rose out of the water and settled. I could see flames, fire and smoke…and I saw 2 men flying in the air…and screaming as they went. Then we went into the ward and checked everything and made ready for patients to arrive. Four of us set to with plaster-of-Paris.
Japanese view
“At this point, the Japanese planes were coming in alongside us… We could look straight into the cockpits and see the pilots as they went by us. Almost immediately we started getting casualties…only one of the men could tell us his name. He did not have a stitch of clothing on. The only thing left was a web belt with his chief’s buckle, his Chief-master-at-arms badge and the letters ‘USS Nevada.’ He survived…
Surgery aboard ship
“We were using tannic acid for the burns… All we could do for these poor fellows was to give them morphine and pour the tannic acid over them. We were making it from tea, boiling it up as strong as we could get it and bringing it straight to the ward from the galley.
“I think we must have gone through 48 hours without any sleep – all spent tending to our patients. There was so much adrenalin pumped into the body, a person couldn’t sleep… I got to the point I was staggering around… Nobody ever thought of asking for relief.”
Patient ward aboard ship
James Anderson made his career as an enlisted man and continued his service until his retirement in 1960 when he returned to Texas.
This story was taken and condensed from, “The Pacific War Remembered” edited by John T. Mason Jr. and published by the Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD. Photos are courtesy of the USS Solace website.
TO SEE WHAT THESE MEN ACTUALLY WITNESSED – Fellow blogger, Koji was kind enough to send a link for us to do just that – watch the short video from – the Naval History $ Heritage
Click on images to enlarge.
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Humor –
Bill Mauldin cartoons
Just give me the aspirin, I already got the Purple Heart.
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Farewell Salutes –
Walter Bailey – Jupiter, FL; US Army, WWII & Korea, Major (Ret. 25 years)
Irene Brainerd – Prairie Village, MO; US Army WACS, WWII, Quartermaster Corps
Harvey A. Chesley, Sr. – Clinton, ME; USMC, Vietnam
Gordon Conquergood – Toronto, CAN; RC Army, WWII
Richard Haas – Freeport, IL; US Army, Korea
Kenneth Irving Sr. – Clinton, ME; USMC, Korea
Michael Martin – Palm Bch Gardens, FL; US Army, WWII
Theodore Perry – Petaluma, CA; US Army, Rangers, Sgt.
Mark Priestly – Masterton, NZ; RNZ Navy # E746216
Fred Schrager – Brooklyn & Miami; US Army, WWII, POW, Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart
Charles (Bud) Willis – Bastrop, LA; US Army, Vietnam
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Eroni Kumana – Obituary
One of the Solomon Islands scouts who assisted in the rescue of the PT-109 crew passed away exactly 71 years after JFK’s boat was rammed while in the Pacific. Mr. Kumana was 96 years old. Kumana and fellow scout Biuku Gasa had discovered the Naval crew on Naru and Olasana islands.
Eroni Kumana
A more complete story of this event will be posted when this series reaches August 1943.
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First-hand Account
Major Doody, (Ret.)
Major Kathryn Mary Doody
Kathryn Doody was enrolled in nursing school by her mother, but following her graduation, the United States Army would not accept her until they lowered their height requirements. Kathryn was at the Tripler Army Hospital, Hawaii on 7 December 1941 as one of eighty-two nurses.
Kathryn Doody, RN
Her baptism of fire came that fateful morning when the sound of bombs woke her. She ran into the yard and saw aircraft smoke. Thinking that an accident occurred, she went to see the night nurse on duty, only to be informed otherwise – Oahu was under attack. Finding the news a bit unbelievable, Kathryn turned on a radio and listened to the broadcast herself – now she believed. “I hadn’t been there long [Hawaii] before the bombs descended.”
Hawaii
She was summoned to the operating room to begin treating those coming in injured from Hickam Field. As she worked with her patients and preparing for new arrivals, she heard the sound of bullets hitting the pavement outside, but neither she nor the hospital were hit. She began to wonder what life would be like in wartime as she assisted in her first major limb amputation. She continued to work until midnight with troops standing guard outside the doors.
The horror of the attack continued the following morning when Kathryn checked on her patients. Some of the wounded had accidentally ripped out their tourniquets during the night and some had bled to death.
Later, Kathryn was given a leave and then assigned to Germany where she was awarded a Bronze Star. During the Korean War, she was part of the original 8063rd Mobile Army Surgical Hospital – the first MASH unit in Korea. Kathryn Doody retired as a Major in the US Army and passed away 3 October 2010 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
HQ tent of the 8063rd MASH, Korea
This story was composed from information found at the Veteran’s History Project – Library of Congress.
Click on images to enlarge.
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Humor –
DIARY OF A NURSE
I dreamed I’d see the country, If I ever had the luck; But in my wildest fancies, It was never made by truck. Nurse Nightingale before us, Carried candles through the mist; The modern maid of Mercy, Totes a helmet in her fist. Nostalgic waves encompass me Though I’m still patriotic; Tonight, my dear, I long to see A land that ain’t exotic! _____Lt. Rose C. Craig; Puptent Poets, Stars and Stripes##############################################################################################
Farewell Salutes –
Richard Attenborough (Lord) – London, England; RAF Film Unit, WWII, ( famed actor, producer, director)
Boyce Bates – Springfield, OR; US Air Force, Airman First Class, Korea
courtesy: Cora @ A Fresh Start
Reginald Broadfoot – Waihi, NZ; RNZ Army, WWII # 622619, tank battery
Henry Doering – Regina, CAN; RC Army, WWII
Lloyd Dumond – Fort Kent, ME; US Army, WWII
Kenneth Jones – Liverpool, AU; 2 AIF, Major, Korea & Vietnam
Jeremiah LeFlore – Durant, OK; US Army, Vietnam
Lyman Oliver – Burlington, KY; US Coast Guard, Chief Warrant Officer (Ret. 20 years)
Teddy Patton – Lady Lake, FL; US Army, WWII & Korea, LtColonel (Ret.)
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Eye-witness Account
US Seaman, Victor E. Stefl
Victor E. Stefl
Seaman, US Navy
In the fall of 1941, I was a 19 year-old seaman not long out of the “Great Lakes” school (the US Navy boot camp). My first assignment was aboard the USS Case, a Mahan-class destroyer commissioned in Boston in 1936. We had sailed south from Pearl Harbor in November, toward New Zealand, then north again, crossing back and forth over the international dateline.
A few weeks later, as we returned to port, we were informed we would not be dry-docking. The USS Shaw, we were told, had collided with another ship and would be occupying our ships space. So we moored in a destroyer nest next the USS Whitney, (a destroyer tender), breaking down our main guns and performing general maintenance – – this was the condition of our ship when the Japanese showed up.
USS Case, Destroyer-370
On the morning of 7 December, most of the officers were ashore. I was lying in my bunk reading and looking forward to a quiet Sunday breakfast. I heard an explosion, then several others. I remember wondering who the heck was taking target practice on a Sunday. Then one of my crewmates ran in and yelled, “Stef, get out of bed, the Japs are here?”
I was getting ready to tell him he was crazy when general quarters sounded. I ran to my station and realized the gun I was assigned had been broken down for maintenance. We scrambled to ready the 50 cals and gather ammunition. Our officer of the deck, an ensign named Beard, had to break into the ammo locker because no one could locate a key.
We returned fire as soon as we could, but were limited as to when we could shoot. If we fired on the Japanese aircraft as they leveled out for their torpedo runs we would be shooting across the harbor at our own men; so we had to wait for them to dive down before their runs or until they climbed out afterward. Usually the Japanese turned toward the destroyers and strafed the hell out of us. As the Japanese pilots flew between the masts they smiled and waved at us. Obviously, that angered us.
During the attack a number of the crew were busy putting our main guns back together and making preparations for getting underway. Many of my crewmates were trying to catch rides back to the ship on small transports; others simply swam. We managed to down a few of the Japanese planes but not before they had inflicted heavy damage on the battleships. After the attack was over, we threw all non-essential items overboard and took on fuel, food, water and ammunition. When we got underway we cleared the harbor and depth charged an enemy sub.
USS Case – offical Navy log entries
Later on, we heard that the Shaw, sitting in our docking space had taken a direct hit. I couldn’t help but think that it could have been us. When night fell we darkened the ship and patrolled around Ford Island waiting for the Japanese to return. That night was one of the scariest in my life. At times we heard screams of wounded men trapped in the wreckage. The only lights in the harbor were fires, which sometimes revealed bodies floating in the water.
Remember…
Then, there were moments of almost complete silence, when the only sound we heard was the low hum of our ships in the harbor. At such times we looked at each other and wondered just what the hell had we gotten into. After 9 p.m., once we had been ordered to stand down, we spotted planes coming in over the harbor. We opened up on them until the skipper ordered us to cease. The Marines didn’t get the message and shot them down. It turns out that those planes were American bombers scheduled to be delivered to the Army Air Force. The rest of the night we circled the island and kept our eyes on the sky.
Victor Stefl was from Farmington Hills, Michigan. He passed away October 2012 at the age of 90.
This story was taken directly from the ‘History Channel Magazine’ Jan/Feb 2013. Images from the Stefl Family collection and US Naval History
Click on images to enlarge .
For a realistic view of Pearl Harbor, Mustang Koji supplied this video of footage, Click Here.
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Beetle Bailey – he knows how to keep things Top Secret!!
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Farewell Salutes –
Keith Bosley – Sydney, Aus.; RA Air Force, Vietnam
courtesy, Cora @ A Fresh Start
Rudolph Dansby Jr.; WPalm Beach, FL, US Navy (Ret. 21 years)
Frank Fee – Harlan, KY; US Army, Sgt., Korea
Cyril Goetten – Jerseyville, IL; US Army, WWII
Christine Hartigan – Mission, KS; US Air Force, nurse, Captain, Vietnam
Alistair McLaggan – Forest Hill, NZ; Argyle & South Highlanders, WWII
John Sadeir – Edmonton, Can; RC Air Force, pilot, WWII (Ret)
Richard Ward – Oro Valley, AZ; USMC, F-4 Black Knights
Larry Zoski – Bartiesville, OK; US Army, Sgt. Vietnam, 2nd Batt/9th Inf.Div/4th Field Artillery
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Pacific Paratrooper 