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Japan | September 1945
Dai Ichi Building in Tokyo flying both the American and United Nations flags
Soon after the official surrender of Japan, General MacArthur moved his headquarters into the Dai Ichi building in Tokyo. At noon, 8 September 1945, on the terrace of the U.S. Embassy, he met an honor guard from the 1st Calvary Division; they held the Stars and Stripes that had flown over the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. on 7 December 1941 – Pearl Harbor Day. As the red, white and blue began to rise… MacArthur said, “General Eichelberger, have our country’s flag unfurled and in Tokyo’s sun let it wave its full glory as a symbol of hope for the oppressed and as a harbinger of victory for the right.”
Hideki Tojo
Immediately after the ceremony, Major Paul Kraus and his MPs and a throng of reporters, (including George Jones of the New York Times) surrounded the home of Hideki Tojo. The general shot himself in the chest before anyone could enter his office. The bullet missed his heart. At the 48th Evacuation Hospital, he told Gen. Eichelberger, “I am sorry to have given General Eichelberger so much trouble.” The general asked, “Do you mean tonight or the last few years?” The answer was, “Tonight. I want General Eichelberger to have my new saber.”
Prince Konoye, 3-time Premier of Japan, after drinking poison
The night before Prince Konoye was to be sent to Sugamo Prison, he drank poison and died. (I personally feel that the prince might have been acquitted of war criminal charges at the trials. He had tried for years to bring peace, his mistake being, his having chosen the Soviets as mediators and Stalin blocked him at every step.)
In reply of Allied and liberated Japanese press opinions of the Emperor, MacArthur was determined not to humiliate him: “To do so,” the general said, “would be to outrage the feelings of the Japanese people and make a martyr of the Emperor in their eyes.” As a student of Asian cultures, he proved to be correct. It would take two weeks, but the Emperor requested an interview with the general himself.
Gen. MacArthur & Emperor Hirohito
His Majesty arrived in his ancient limousine with Grand Chamberlain Fujita and was met with a salute from General Bonner F. Fellers. When Fellers’ hand dropped, the Emperor grabbed it. An interpreter quickly explained that the Emperor was happy to see him. Fellers replied, “I am honored to meet you. Come in and meet General MacArthur.” Nervously, Hirohito allowed himself to be escorted up the staircase to the general’s office.
Trying to ease the tension, MacArthur told him he had been presented to his father, Emperor Taisho, after the Russian-Japanese War and offered Hirohito an American cigarette. The Emperor’s hand shook as it was lit and the general then dismissed everyone except the interpreter. The conversation before an open fire was observed, unknowingly, by Mrs. MacArthur and their son, Arthur who hid behind the long red drapes.
The emperor had been forewarned not to assume any responsibility for the war, but he did just that. “I come to you, General MacArthur, to offer myself to the judgment of the powers you represent as the one to bear sole responsibility for every political and military decision made and action taken by my people in the conduct of this war.”
The Emperor on the palace grounds, 1940
MacArthur freely admitted being moved “to the marrow of my bones. He was an Emperor by inherent birth, but in that instant I knew I faced the First Gentleman of Japan in his own right.”
The Japanese acknowledged, without reservations, the temporal power of the current shogun, but revered what was eternal. (The Imperial Palace)
Resources: U.S. Signal Corps; “The Rising Sun” by John Toland; Gene Slover’s US Navy Papers; historyinanhour.com
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Military Humor – 
“Cover me Johnson … I’ve got to tweet this!”
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Farewell Salutes –
John W. Andreoli – Huntsville, AL; US Army, 11th Airborne Division (Ret. 20 y.)
Daredevil,
Courtesy of Tofino Photography
William Armstrong (100) – Pasadena, CA; US Army, WWII, PTO & Korea, Lt. Col. (Ret. 28 y.), Combat Engineers
Helen Beckman (100) – Coeur d’Alene, ID; Civilian, WWII, Cole factory parachutes & U.S. Tire
Joseph Chetcuti (103) – Mosta, Malta; Malta defense
William Crites – Saginaw, MI; USMC, Korea, SSgt., Purple Heart
Eleanor (Cureton) Doran (101) – San Antonio, TX; Civilian, WWII, Army Signal Corps
Richard J. Hain – Reading, PA; US Army, Korea, 82nd Airborne Division
Robert E. Klapa – Oshkosh, WI; US Army, Korea, 187th RCT
John W. Morton – Toronto, CAN; RC Air Force, WWII, pilot
Ronald Polit – Slidell, LA; US Army, 11th Airborne Division
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Holdouts and Additional Surrenders
Australian Gen. Sir Thomas Blamey accepts surrender on Morotai Island, Dutch East Indies
The logical demands of the surrender were formidable. So many different ceremonies took place across Asia and the entire Pacific. Here we will some that preceded peacefully and others that refused the peace. In actuality, the state of war between the U.S. and Japan did not officially end until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect 28 April, 1952.
USS Segundo SS-398 located this Japanese sub 1-401 and negotiated with the crew being that their captain had committed suicide
One mass surrender did occur at Noemfoor in September 1944 when 265 Japanese enlisted men, angry at their superiors for stealing their food for their own use. And, in August 1945, another starving Japanese military unit surrendered to a lieutenant in New Guinea. On 1 December 1945, Captain Oba and 46 members of his unit were the last Japanese on Guam to surrender.
In 1946, on Lubang Island, Philippines, intense fighting developed on 22 February when American and Filipino troops met 30 Japanese soldiers. Eight of the Allied troops were killed. Then in April, 41 members of a Japanese garrison came out of the jungle, unaware that the war was over.
Australian 6th Div. MGen. Robertson and interpreter explain terms of surrender to Adm. Sata aboard ML-805 (patrol boat) in Kairiru Strait
At the end of March 1947, a band of Japanese led by Ei Yamaguchi of 33 men renewed the fighting on Peleliu Island. There were only 150 Marines stationed on the island by that time and reinforcements were called in to assist. A Japanese Admiral also went to convince the troops that the war was indeed over. The holdouts came out of the jungle in two different groups in late April. Yamaguchi returned to his old tunnel in 1994 and Eric Mailander and Col. Joe Alexander interviewed him. To see the interview go to – http://www.pacificwrecks.com/people/visitors/mailander/
Ei Yamaguchi re-entering his old tunnel
In that same month, on Palawan Island, 7 Japanese troops armed with a mortar launcher emerged from the jungle and surrendered. On 27 October 1947, the last Japanese soldier surrendered carrying a water bottle, a broken Australian bayonet and a Japanese entrenching tool.
Not until late 1948, did 200 well organized troops give themselves up on Mindinoa, P.I. And, in China, 10-20,000 well equipped Japanese troops who were trapped in the mountains of Manchuria between the warring Nationalist and Communist forces, finally found a chance to surrender. In 1949, there was one report of two men living in the shadow of American troops finally turning themselves in.
Japanese weapons collected on Cebu, P.I.
One unusual story – On 3 January 1945, a B-29 Superfortress from the 498th Bomb Group, 875th Squadron, crashed while returning from a bombing mission. On 30 June 1951, men were sent to the area to try and recover the bodies of the plane’s crew. What they encountered were 30 Japanese who did not believe the war was over. They had had a Korean woman with them, but after she spotted an American vessel sailing by and was rescued, the information was received and interest in the “Robinson Crusoes of Anatahan Island” developed.
Kaida Tatsuichi, 4th Tank Regiment & Shoji Minoru on HMAS Moresby at Timor
Teruo Nakamura was the last known holdout of WWII when he emerged from the jungle retreat that housed him in Indonesia, December 1974. There were rumors of men claiming to be holdouts later on, but none that were officially confirmed.
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Military Humor –
“IT SAYS,’I AM AN AMERICAN WITH 94 POINTS AND IF I’M LOST IN ENEMY TERRITORY, PLEASE GET ME HOME'”
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Farewell Salutes –
Mary Amonette (102) – Roslyn, NY; Civilian, Grumman fighter plane construction / WAF WASPS, pilot
Juan M. Borjon – Tucson, AZ; 11th Airborne Division
Douglas Cummings – Euless, TX; US Army, Vietnam, 82nd Airborne Division
Daniel De Anda – USA; US Army, Korea, Cpl., Co G/2/23/2/8th Army, KWC (POW Camp # 5, NK)
James J. Deeds – USA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, 1st Lt., B-24 pilot, 345 BS/98 BG/9th Air Force, KIA (Ploiesti, ROM)
David M. Findlay – Kitchner, CAN; RC Army, WWII, ETO, Scots Fusiliers
Thomas F. Gaffney – Honolulu, HI; US Army, Korea, Vietnam & Lebanon, Capt. (Ret. 24 y.), 101st Airborne Commander, Bronze Star, 3-Silver Stars
Mabel Hlebakos (103) – Petaluma, CA; Civilian, WWII, Hamilton Air Force Base
Melvin B. Meyer – Pattonville, MO; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, 1st Lt., 569BS/390BG/13BW/8th Air Force, B-17G bombardier, KIA (Leipzig, GER)
George J. Reuter – USA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, 1st Lt., B-24 navigator, 328BS/93BG/8th Air Force, KIA (Ploiesti, ROM)
Mark P. Wilson – Elizabethton, TN; US Army, WWII, ETO, Pfc., Co A/1/112/28th Infantry Division, KIA (Kommerscheidt, GER)
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Handling additional Pacific Surrenders
Okinawa surrender
In the Ryukyus Islands, things were far more simple than on the Missouri. The senior officer in the Sakishima Gunto, Lt. General Gon Nomi, Toshiro, whose headquarters was on Miyako Shima, had been given authority to conclude a peace treaty for all Army and Navy forces in the Sakishima Gunto, Daito Islands and the islands in the Okinawa Gunto not already under American control. The official papers were signed on 7 September 1945, with General Stillwell presiding.
Gen. Hata at the Soviet surrender table.
General Shunroku Hata and his Army had taken only three weeks in April-May of 1944 to rout 300,000 Chinese soldiers in Honan to secure the Peking-Hankow railroad. He then moved south and then west to meet up with the Japanese forces in French Indochina. The 14th Air Force and the Chinese Air Force could not stop the offensive and by the end of May, General Marshall and the Joint Chiefs of Staff basically wrote off the Chinese Theater. Yet in the end, Gen. Hata signs the surrender.
Lord Louis Mountbatten with MacArthur
12 September, Lord Mountbatten accepted the surrender of all enemy forces in Southeast Asia in Singapore. Once again, the Union Jack was flying over Government House. But, due to Britain’s overstretched resources, Japanese soldiers were used to maintain law and order in the region. Europe’s colonialism was severely damaged and in 1947, Britain granted independence to India and Pakistan.
17 August, American parachutists landed near Nanking on the Wse-hsien interment camp. The Japanese were forced to protect the troopers from the unrest (actually chaos) erupting in the area between Communist and Nationalist armies. On 9 September, General Ho Chin accepted the Japanese surrender of China (except Manchuria, Formosa [now Taiwan] and Indochina north of the 16th parallel in the name of Chiang Kai. Mao’s forces stayed away even though Allied officials were present. By not being at Central Military Academy in Whampoa, he was in violation of the Potsdam accords and went on to accept his own regional surrenders.
Lt. Gen. Masao Baba at Borneo surrender
The British had been slow in retaking Hong Kong and revolts broke out. The POWs were not receiving food and the Chinese population caused riots in the streets. The British civil servants eventually took over while the Japanese kept the order. 16 September, the official surrender took place, but not until November were all Japanese troops in the New Territories relieved, disarmed and repatriated.
After a meeting in Rangoon, Mountbatten arranged for the Allied forces to enter Siam and Indochina. Thirteen days later, he flew his 7th Indian Division to Bangkok to move onward to Saigon. They were to assist the French in securing the southern half of Vietnam again as a French colony. The Americans felt that the French had already bled the country dry over the past century and so here – the start of the Vietnam War that would last until 1974.
Thailand had survived by playing both sides while attempting to appear neutral. Japanese General Hamada, responsible for heinous POW atrocities, committed seppuku.
Indonesia was grateful to the Japanese for throwing out the Dutch and declared their independence. Although British and Dutch troops made attempts to return them to colonization, they resisted. The Americans moved in with orders to disarm the Japanese and then leave. It would take four years of fighting before the Hague would recognize Indonesia as a sovereign country.
THE JAPANESE SURRENDER IN BURMA, 1945 (SE 4821) Brigadier E F E Armstrong of British 12th Army staff signs the surrender document at Rangoon on behalf of the Allies. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205208318
Burma disliked the Japanese, but they had given them a taste of independence from the British. They took no part in the surrender proceedings. After the Japanese were shipped home and fighting resumed with the British, the independent nation nation was established 4 January 1948.
India had acquired their own army under the Japanese Co-Prosperity Sphere, but not independence. After the war, the British tried in vain to hold the country, but hostility forced them to grant India their freedom in 1947. The transition was overseen by Governor General Mountbatten.
Korea – September 1945 – being relieved of all weapons
In Korea, the Japanese were ordered to sweep Inchon harbor of mines before the American fleet arrived. The Japanese, here again, were needed to maintain order until Koreans could be trained to contain the mobs. Korea had actually been ignored as far as surrender and removal of the Japanese. The U.S. had gone there to disarm the enemy. The end result of the incompetent handling of Korea during and after WWII attributed to the Korean War.
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Military Humor –
Best Before end of the world
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Farewell Salutes –
Robert M. Abbott – Arvada, CO; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, HQ Co/11th Airborne Division,
‘Japan Surrender’ by: Howard Brodie
Patrick Blanchard Jr. – Minot, ND; US Army, Operation Iraq & Afghanistan, B Co/2/506/101st Airborne Division
Armada “Joe” Cafazzo – Hartford, CT; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 11th Airborne Division
Louis J. Demotsis – Talladega, AL; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, B-17 belly gunner
George “Bob” Gamble – Liberty Lake, WA; US Navy, end of WWII, PTO, bringing troops home
Richard E. Johanson Sr. – Orofino, ID; US Navy, WWII, LST USS Oceanus
Gladys Le Breton (102) – St. Louis Plantation, LA; Civilian, WWII, submarine watch, Gulf of Mexico
Bill Moffett – Shawnee, KS; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO
Edward Puzio – Binghamton, NY US Army Air Corps, WWII, B-17 pilot
Vernon Sommerer – Jefferson City, MO; US Army, Japanese War Trials, MP
May-Blossom Wilkinson (101) – Wahiawa, HI; Women’s Army Volunteer Corps, Army Transport
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SURRENDER
11th Airborne Honor Guard
The above photo shows the 11th Airborne Reconnaissance Battalion Honor Guard as they presented arms to the Allied and Japanese delegations upon their arrival to the USS Missouri, 2 September 1945.
General Douglas MacArthur, despite the irate fuming of the Soviets, was to be the Supreme Commander in Japan for the Occupation and rebuilding of the country. No occupational zone was given to the Russians regardless of their protests. The Soviets were insisting that they were to receive the Kuriles and Hokkaido in Northern Honshu as their ‘spoils of war.’ Stalin sent an emissary with these plans to MacArthur, who in reply threatened to sent the messenger back to Moscow rather than allow him to remain in his observer status. Stalin also sent a telegram to Truman with the same demands. At first, the president felt he would just ignore the irrational request, but then decided to just send a negative reply. The Soviet plan for the takeover was in effect until 23 August, when the Russian leader realized that Admiral Nimitz controlled the Japanese waters and he would be risking an armed conflict.
Instrument of Surrender
At 0700 hours on Sunday morning, 2 September, guests to the Japanese surrender ceremony began arriving as destroyers pulled up to the USS Missouri and unloaded their passengers, military officers and correspondents from around the globe. At 0805 hours, Admiral Nimitz climbed on board and MacArthur at 0843. Finally, the Japanese delegation went up the starboard gangway at 0855. Foreign Minister, Mamoru Shigemitsu, using a cane and in agony because of a poorly fitted artificial leg, and General Umezu were followed by nine representatives, three each from the Army, Navy and Foreign Office. They paused, awaiting directions, each wearing a Shiran Kao (nonchalant face). The proceedings began at precisely 0908 hours with men draped from the decks and 450 aircraft from Task Force 38 roaring above in the overcast skies.
An invocation was read by the ship’s chaplain with the entire company standing at attention and a recording of the “Star-Spangled Banner” played through the speakers. Kase, the Foreign Minister’s secretary, felt his throat constrict upon seeing the number of small painted Rising Suns on the bulkhead. Each miniature flag represented a Japanese plan or submarine destroyed. Admiral Tomioka wondered why the Americans were showing no signs of contempt for them, but also, anger seared through him at the sight of the Soviet presence. The eyes of General Percival and Colonel Ichizi Sugita (interpreter) locked as they both remembered an earlier surrender and their painful memory at the Ford factory in Singapore.
MacArthur making history.
Generals Wainwright and Percival stood with MacArthur as he began to speak, “We are gathered here to conclude a solemn agreement whereby Peace may be restored…” (There was a brief interruption by an inebriated delegate [thankfully NOT American] who began making faces at the Japanese.)
When the general had finished and the U.S. and Japan had signed the documents, as if on cue, the sun broke through the clouds. The next to sign was China, Britain, Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands and New Zealand. MacArthur announced, “These proceedings are closed.” He then leaned over to Admiral Halsey and asked, “Bill, where the hell are those planes?” As if the pilots could hear the general’s irritation – 400 B-29s and 1,500 aircraft carrier planes appeared out of the north and roared toward the mists of Mount Fujiyama.
MacArthur then went over to another microphone to broadcast back to the United States, “Today the guns are silent. A great tragedy has ended…” Japan’s delegates, now no longer considered the enemy, were saluted as they left the quarterdeck.
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Historical note – Almost a century before these proceedings, Commodore Perry had opened the West’s door to Japan. In commemoration of this, Admiral Halsey arranged for the actual Stars & Stripes, flown by Perry’s flagship in 1853, to be flown out to Japan for the ceremonies.
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Note of Interest – Truman was very pleased that the “USS Missouri” was chosen for the momentous occasion. It was one of the four largest battleships in the world, it was named after his home state and christened by his daughter, Margaret. (I find it hard to believe that this was just a coincidence.)
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Humorous note – On 1 September, the “Missouri’s” gunnery officer, Commander Bird, held a dress rehearsal for the ceremonies with 300 of the ship’s sailors. Everything went well until the band began to play the “Admiral’s March.” The stocky chief boatswain’s mate nicknamed, Two-Gut,” froze in his steps and scratched his head saying, “I’ll be damned! Me, an admiral!”
When the real Admiral Nimitz came aboard, he nearly went unnoticed. In desperation, Commander Bird shouted, “Attention, all hands!” Everyone on the ship became so silent that you could hear the waves lapping at the ship’s hull.
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SHOUT OUT !!!
Please take a look at a current 11th Airborne story that Rosalinda Morgan was kind enough to post. It just
happened to have occurred very close to where I live…
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Denis Neil Boak (100) – Northcote, NZ; RNZ Air Force, # 436452, WWII
Anthony Di Petta – USA; US Navy, WWII, PTO, Ordnanceman 1st Class, USS Enterprise, Torpedo Squadron 20, KIA (Malakai, Palau Is.)
Thomas F. Green – Ramona, CA; US Army, Vietnam, Pfc., 68 Aviation Co/52 Aviation Batt./17th Aviation Group, door gunner on Chinook helicopter “Warrior 143”, KIA (Nha Trang, SV)
Loretta Hanson (100) – Detroit, MI; US Woman’s Marine Corps, WWII
Tessie Kindos – Asbury Park, NJ; Civilian, WWII, Brooklyn Army Terminal
Harold Kretzer – Odin, IL; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, TSgt., 66BS/$$BG/8th Air Force, B-24 gunner-engineer, KIA (Ploiesti, ROM)
George Lewis – Cleveland County, OK; US Army, WWII, ETO
Hershey Miyamura – Gallup, NM; US Army, WWII, 100th Infantry Batt. / Korea, POW, Medal of Honor (Author dis a post on Mr. Miyamura a while back. If you care to read more of his story… https://pacificparatrooper.wordpress.com/2014/03/24/intermission-stories-5/
David J. Riley – Juda, WI; US Navy, WWII, PTO, Seaman 2nd Class, USS Oklahoma, KIA (Pearl Harbor, HI)
Harry Wickham – Floral City, FL; US Merchant Marines, WWII, Ensign, radio operator
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MERRY CHRISTMAS 🎄
TO ALL THOSE THAT BELIEVE IN FREEDOM AND PEACE: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
FROM: PACIFIC PARATROOPER!!
PLEASE! REMEMBER ALL THOSE THAT FOUGHT FOR US IN THE PAST…
THOSE THAT FIGHT FOR US TODAY…
AND FOR THOSE SPECIAL PEOPLE WHO WAIT PATIENTLY AT HOME…
TO ALL THOSE WHO DO NOT CELEBRATE THIS HOLIDAY … I WISH YOU THE WARMTH AND PEACEFUL CONTENTMENT THAT IS REPRESENTED BY THIS SEASON !!!
Peace to ALL. Embrace the love.
Military Christmas Humor –
General Yamashita, conclusion
General Yamashita – click to enlarge
One of the most monumental surrenders in the Pacific War was General Tomoyuki Yamashita. He had joined the Japanese Army in 1906 and fought the Germans in China in 1914, graduated Staff College in 1916 and began a military attaché in Switzerland as an expert on Germany, where he was to meet Tojo Hideki.
Tojo soon became very envious of the success and advancements Yamashita was achieving. This was especially true after the campaign in Malaya and bluffing the British into surrendering to his inferior forces in Singapore. Tojo used his influence to have Yamashita transferred to Manchuria before he could even announce his win to the Emperor. The general was sent to the Philippine Islands in 1944. A man who believed in the Samurai traditions and was highly devoted to the Emperor.
Many times, my friend Mustang Koji has given me information on this war, his site, http://p47koji.wordpress.com and he supplied much of the data included here in today’s post. A visit to Koji’s website will give you stories about having relatives on both sides of the Pacific too. Very interesting!
The initial contact with Gen. Yamashita
30 August – negotiations with the general were drawing to a close, but he remained in his mountain headquarters sending word with thanks to the American Commanders for their “sincere efforts and concerns,” and his regrets that he was unable to contact his forces in Cagayan Valley, Balete Pass and the Clark Field areas.
Small groups were beginning to turn themselves in and Major General Yuguchi, of the 103d Division in the Cagayan Valley had already agreed to the surrender terms, but was awaiting word from Yamashita. The 37th Infantry Division was expecting 3,000 to surrender on 2 September. Throughout the Philippine Islands, capitulations were being delivered from Japanese officers.
correspondents at the trials.
Some Japanese soldiers refused to believe that the Emperor had aired a demand for peace and skirmishes were reported on various islands. No American troops were listed as casualties. Those killed during that action with unfriendly combatants were Japanese, Filipino, Korean. General Yamashita arrived for his surrender and behaved as a gentleman officer would, then was led away to Baguio City for confinement, surrender and trial.
Gen. Yamashita testifying.
In Time magazine, the writer ranted about Yamashita’s brutality during the Bataan Death March. The truth of the matter was – Yamashita was in Manchuria at the time. All in all, 5,600 Japanese were prosecuted during 2,200 trials. More than 4,400 men and women were convicted and about 1,000 were executed and approximately the same number of acquittals.
Translator, Masaksu Hamamoto,.
General Tomoyuki Yamashita’s case was the most famous of the American trials and was presided over by a military commission of 5 American general officers (none of which had any legal training) and held in the ballroom of the U.S. high commissioner’s residence. The charge was “responsibility for the death and murders tolerated – knowingly or not.” The general’s defense council, Col. Harry Clark, argued that no one would even suggest that the Commanding General of an American occupational force would become a criminal every time an American soldier committed a crime – but, Yamashita was just so accused.
The American Military Court in Manila sentenced Gen. Yamashita on 7 December 1945 and he was hanged on 23 February 1946.
The above is a modern photo of the Home Economics building of the Kiangan Central School where General Yamashita was first contacted. Later, he was sent to Baguio City for the formal surrender.
Photo is credited to, Dr. Walter Johnson
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From: GP To: ALL WHO DARE TO ENTER …
HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY HALLOWEEN
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Raymond J. Border – W. Lafayette, OH; US Navy, Iraq & Afghanistan, Chief Petty Officer, SeaBee, Bronze Star, KIA (Yahya Khel, AFG)
Loy E. Boyd – Wesley, AR; US Army, WWII, Signal Corps
“You Are Not Forgotten”
Ash Carter – Philadelphia, PA; US Government, Former Defense Secretary
Floyd F. Clifford – Douglass, KS; US Navy, WWII, PTO, Seaman 2nd Class # 3423274, USS Oklahoma, KIA (Pearl Harbor, HI)
David N. Defibaugh – Duncansville, PA; US Army, Korea, Cpl. # 13308573, C Co/3rd Combat Engineers/24th Infantry Division, KIA (Taejon, SK)
Robert Garza – Eagle Pass, TX; US Army, Vietnam, 173rd Airborne Brigade, Purple Heart
Zelwood A. Gravlin – New Britain, CT; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, Sgt. # 31125292, gunner, 343 BS/98 BG/9th Air Force, KIA (Ploiesti, ROM), DFC
Howard G. Malcolm – Jefferson County, IL; US Army, Korea, Sgt. # 16307893, Speed Radio Operator, HQ Co/9/2nd Infantry Division, POW, KWC (Chosin, NK)
David Norcross – Shreveport, LA; USMC, Korea, Cpl., Charlie Company/1st Marine Division, wounded 3 times, one of the Chosin Few
Gregory Schall – Buffalo, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII
William T. Wall – Marion, NC; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Co G/187/11th Airborne Division
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Potsdam Conference conclusion
Potsdam Conference, July-August 1945. President Harry S. Truman introducing his driver, Private First Class Warren E. Baker to Secretary of State James F. Byrnes, both from the same home town. President Truman had been inspecting the 3Rd Armored Division near Frankfurt, Germany. Photographed by CPhoM William Belknap Jr., released July 26, 1945. Official U.S. Navy Photograph,
26 July, the same day that Clement Attlee defeated Winston Churchill in the election for Prime Minister, the Potsdam Declaration was sent to the enemy. The exact wording of this document made it unthinkable for Japan to accept. Once again, the lack of understanding for a foreign culture would hinder the road to peace.
Keep in mind, while still at sea on the ‘Augusta,’ Byrnes had received a message from Sweden stating that Japanese Major Gen. Makoto Onodera, having authorization from the Emperor, wished to enter into peace negotiations. The only stipulation being that the Emperor remain in power.
By this time, Prince Konoye had spent two years laboring to uncover a route to peace. The prince had had the correct procedure all along, but mistakenly had chosen the Soviet Union as the go-between. Stalin had his own agenda in mind for the Japanese and their territories and therefore he deceitfully strung the envoys along with various delaying tactics. OSS Allen Dulles, who assisted in negotiations when Italy fell, was working on the same premise in Switzerland.
Nevertheless, as spring turned to summer, militarists in Japan continued to plan for Operation Decision (Ketsu-Go) and ignored their government’s attempts for peace. Disregarding Japan’s concern for their Emperor, the Potsdam Declaration was considered by Premier Suzuki and the military to be a re-hashing of the Cairo Declaration which deemed it to be marked as “mokusatsu” (‘ignore entirely’ or ‘regard as unworthy of notice’)
In regards to the A-bomb, Secretary of War, Stimson and his assistant, John McCloy, told Truman, “We should all have our heads examined if we don’t try to find a political solution.” Truman laughed.
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So many maneuvers, conversations and secrets go on behind the main headlines, but here is one story I hope you take the time to click and read. This obituary was in “The Week” news-magazine and I could not resist including it here. Could any of us do this job today?
Bomb babysitter
Resources: U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian; “The Week” magazine; “The Last Great Victory” by Stanley Weintraub; University of Virginia, Miller Center.
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Note of interest – 17 July 1945, kamikaze units were no longer voluntary.
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United States Air Force celebrates 75 years !!! 18 September 1947
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Military Humor (actually political, haha) –
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Farewell Salutes –
Geraldine (Ingold) Able – Mogadore, OH; Civilian, WWII, Akron Tire life belts
Duane E. Acker – Rittman, OH; US Army, 3rd Armored/11th Airborne Division
Code Talker’s monument
Robert P. Bixby (101) – Apache Junction, AZ; US Army, WWII
Ben Carpenter – Waco, NC; US Navy, WWII
James B. Gallinatti – Lakewood, WA; US Army, Lt., 11th Airborne Division
David E. Grange Jr. – Lake Ronkonkoma, NY; US Army Air Corps; WWII, ETO, 517/82nd A/B Div. / Korea, US Army, 2nd Lt. 187th RCT / Vietnam, 506th Infantry Reg & 101st A/B Division, Lt. General (Ret. 41 Years)
Fred Hedges – Atlanta, GA; US Army, WWII, ETO, 20th Armored Division
Eli Johnson – Jetts Creek, KY; USMC, WWII
Paul J. Manning – Rochester, VT; USMC, WWII, PTO, Purple Heart
George Nashen (100) – brn: Kishinev, ROM; RC Air Force, WWII, ETO, Sgt.
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4th of July 2022 🇺🇸
HAPPY 4TH OF JULY 2022
Respect – Honor – Celebration
Celebrating the birth of our nation and dedicated to those who have served and fought to preserve our freedom.
PLUS A CHANGE OF PACE FOR PACIFIC PARATROOPER – A HUMOROUS LOOK AND 5 MINUTE HISTORY OF America’s BIRTH!
ONE TEAM UNITED – LET’S TRY THAT AGAIN AMERICA!!
Military July 4th Humor – 
Farewell Salutes –
William Anderson Jr. (100) – Ninety Six, SC; US Army, WWII, ETO, Purple Heart
Zane Baker (100) – Dayton, OH; US Army, WWII, PTO
William Coward Sr. – Ramseur, SC; USMC, WWII, PTO, MGunnery Sgt. (Ret. 33 y.)
Leon Diamond – Brooklyn, NY; US Navy, WWII
Donald W. Emery – Searsport, ME; US Navy, WWII, PTO, USS Hancock (CV-19), aviation ordnance
Grover Long – Adolphus, KY; US Navy, WWII
Howard McGhee – Sioux City, IA; US Army, WWII, ETO
Donald Morehead – St. Paul, MN; US Navy, WWII, signalman
Robert Pogna – Gunnison, CO; US Navy, WWII, USS Pocomoke
Hershel W. Williams – Quiet Dell, WV; USMC, WWII, PTO, Chief Warrant Officer 4 (Ret.), Purple Heart, Medal of Honor
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4th of July 2021
SEEMS WE DON’T SAY IT ENOUGH – SO, I’M TRYING TO FIX THAT RIGHT HERE – GOD BLESS THE USA!!!
We can rant and we can complain, but we should thank the troops for giving us the right to do so! Today we celebrate our country’s birthday. Traditional BBQ’s, fireworks, family and friends, we have a day off and have a ball! – and to whom do we owe it all? You guessed it_____
THE SOLDIER’S POEM
When this is over
And we come home again,
Forget the band
And cheers from the stand;
Just have the things
Well in hand –
The things we fought for.
UNDERSTAND?
_____Pfc C.G. Tiggas
ONLY A SAILOR
He’s only a sailor on the boundless deep,
Under foreign skies and tropical heat.
Only a sailor on the rolling deep,
In summer rain and winter sleet.
Fireworks and cookouts
And time spent with friends.
Swimming and playing
The good times never end.
But lest we forget
The reason for today
Let’s all say it now
Happy Independence Day!
Freedom’s Price!
Today we celebrate freedom
thanks to those who came before.
Those brave men who fought and died
in each and every war.
Freedom always comes at a price,
And while we celebrate
We should tip our hats to the heroes
who made our country great.
Red White and Blue
Hamburgers and hot dogs
cooked on the grill,
Fireworks in the night
giving us all a thrill.
The country all decked
in red white and blue.
Friends all saying
‘Happy 4th of July to you.’
Where does your state rate in its patriotism?
https://wallethub.com/edu/most-patriotic-states/13680
Comic hero from the 1940’s , courtesy of Balladeer…
https://glitternight.com/2021/06/18/first-fighting-yank-stories-from-the-1940s/
FUN FACT:
Denmark is the only country outside of the United States that holds an official 4th July celebration. Celebrated annually since 1911, thousands of people from across the country gather in Rebild National Park in Jutland for picnics, speeches and to sing some American classics. Known as Rebildfesten, its organizers claim that it is is the biggest celebration of US independence outside of the USA.
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4TH OF JULY HUMOR –
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Farewell Salutes –
Walter S. Belt Jr. – KS; US Navy, WWII, PTO, USS Oklahoma, KIA (Pearl Harbor)
James Cummings – Minneapolis, MN; US Atmy, Korea, 11th Airborne Division
Jack DeTour – USA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, B-25 pilot and instructor
Max Foster – Brownstown, IL; US Army, WWII, radio operator
Philip T. Hoogacker – Detroit, MI; US Army, Korea, Pfc # 16315593, 1/29th Infantry Reg.; POW, KIA (Pyongyang, NK)
John E. Hurlburt – Madison, CT; US Army, WWII, PTO, Sgt. # 20126929, 105/27th Infantry Division, Bronze Star, KIA (Saipan)
James A. Kilgore – El Paso, TX; US Army, Korea & Vietnam, 187th RCT, Pvt. > Colonel (Ret. 30 y.), Bronze Star, Silver Star
Frank Kokernak (101) – Dudley, MA; US Army, WWII, ETO, medic
Rogene Laut – Minister, OH; US Army WAC, WWII, nurse
Jerome Lerner (100) – San Francisco, CA; US Navy, WWII, Lt. JG
Chad Peyton – Chandler, TX; US Army, Iraq, Captain, pilot, Bronze Star
Donald H. Rumsfeld – Taos, NM; US navy, pilot / 60 years of public service
Bernard J. Sweeney Jr. – NYC, NY; US Army, WWII, ETO, Sgt., # 32645733, Co I/330/83rd Infantry Division, Bronze Star, KIA (Hürtgen Forest, GER)
James C. Willis – Albuquerque, NM; US Air Force, Qatar, Lt. Col., 557th Expeditionary Red Horse Sq/Heavy Construction Engineers
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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
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Military Humor –
‘Howitzers at dawn.’
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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
Pacific Paratrooper 