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Reporting From the Front
The Writing 69th
After writing one too many stories about troops who had taken off to bomb Germany never to come back, Andy Rooney, along with seven other World War II correspondents, wanted to see the action.
After weeks of begging, the reporters finally got their wish and were sent to gunnery school for a week of intensive training to prepare for the assignment. Despite their noncombatant status as journalists, the military insisted the reporters, who dubbed themselves the “Writing 69th,” needed to have enough combat knowledge to be helpful in case something went wrong during the flight.
Andy Rooney
“We were shot at,” Rooney told On Patrol in 2011. “I was at mid-side gunner. I operated a gun even though I was a correspondent. We weren’t supposed to, but I mean I was up there, and all the other guys were shooting so I had to pay my way.”
“I fired at every German fighter that came into the neighborhood,” Walter Cronkite wrote in his 1996 book, “A Reporter’s Life.” “I don’t think I hit any, but I’d like to think I scared a couple of those German pilots.”
Their planes were damaged, but Rooney and Cronkite made it back alive. One of their colleagues wasn’t as lucky. New York Times reporter Bob Post and the B-24 bomber he was flying in were never found.
Over 1,600 war correspondents flocked to the European and Pacific theaters during WWII to report back to millions of Americans back home.
Some correspondents, like Associated Press reporter Daniel De Luce, were newly minted storytellers with little experience. He worked at the AP for a decade before the war, first on and off as a copyboy and later as a reporter in Europe in 1939.
Dan DeLuce and his wife Alma
Dan De Luce and his wife, Alma pose for a photo during a farewell gathering in March 1939. A few days later they were in New York waiting to travel to Normandy, France. | Photo credit Photo courtesy of Richard De Luce
De Luce wrote stories from the European, African and Russian fronts, including a 1944 Pulitzer Prize-winning story about partisans in Yugoslavia.
“Gee, I was thrilled to death, it seemed so romantic,” De Luce said in Karen Rothmyer’s book, “Winning Pulitzers: The Stories Behind Some of the Best News Coverage of our Time.” “I had this idea that I wanted to go over and see what was happening.”
Walter Cronkite’s War
Other correspondents, like the United Press’ Cronkite, were experienced but relatively unknown journalists at the beginning of the war. They hoped reporting overseas would help them make a name in the business. Cronkite, who dropped out of the University of Texas for a reporting job at the Houston Post, worked a series of print and radio gigs before joining the UP in 1939. After years of begging to be sent to cover the war in Europe, he got his wish in 1942.
Far from a veteran reporter, Cronkite still started the war off with considerably more experience than Rooney, a Stars and Stripes scribe who edited his college newspaper
Though journalists battled both technology and censors, they were mostly free to report anything they dared to get out and see.
“They let those guys do what they needed to do,” said Brian Rooney, who covered the Gulf War. “There was some censorship [in WWII], but they allowed them to be reporters.”
Brian Rooney
From the beginning, Stars and Stripes gave Andy Rooney his own jeep, which allowed him to roam and write poignant profiles on officers, GIs and everyday people at war.
“My father did a story about this touching scene about a popular officer dying,” Brian Rooney said. “And [the military] would allow that kind of stuff to be published because they had free access.”
From Correspondents to Legends
After the war, a few of the correspondents who gained fame at war went on to become journalism icons.
Cronkite worked for years at CBS as an anchor and editor, earning the reputation as the “most trusted man in America.” Rooney also made a name for himself on CBS and hosted the “A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney” segment on “60 Minutes” from 1964 to 2011.
De Luce, never transitioned into the broadcast world, but he reported for AP as a foreign correspondent for 17 years before ending his career with the organization as an executive in New York.
They all said their time as WWII correspondents were some of the most formative years of their lives.
“It was an exciting time,” Rooney told On Patrol. “It was a great experience and I was lucky to come through it alive.”
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War Correspondent Humor –
Political cartoon
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Farewell Salutes –
Donald Carragher – Newark, NJ; US Navy, WWII, ETO, SeaBee signalman
Margery Deluco (100) – OH; US Army WAC, WWII, ETO, nurse
Burt C. Frank – Ravenna, OH; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, pilot
Owen Garriott – Enid, OK; US Navy, / NASA, pilot, Astronaut
David Hart (101) – Montreal, CAN; Canadian Army, WWII,Sgt. / Lt. Colonel (Ret. 24 y.)
Robert Oakley – Long Island, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 511/11th Airborne Division
Salvatore Privitera – Hartford, CT; US Army, WWII, combat engineer
Robert ‘Bruce’ Strick – Portland, OR; US Army, WWII
Richard Thomson – League City, TX; US Navy, Pearl Harbor, Seaman 2nd Class, USS Oklahoma, KIA
Robert Wallace – Pensacola, FL; US Navy, WWII, ETO, PBY pilot
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Crazy Inventions Emerge from WWII
Inflatable Decoy Tank
The desire to outwit the enemy and achieve military success can lead to unplanned military inventions during periods of war. Among these many developments and inventions, one can often see how a creative approach led to interesting results. The following is a list of unusual inventions from the Second World War, though of course it is by no means a complete list.
Inflatable tanks
World-renowned fashion designer Bill Blass fought during the Second World War in the U.S. Army’s 603rd Camouflage Battalion. This special unit had the goal and means for misinforming the enemy about the location of Allied forces.
One of the means for misinformation was Sherman inflatable tanks which were used as dummies, particularly on D-Day, to deceive the enemy.
Garlic Chocolate
When sending spies and secret agents overseas, Great Britain had to make sure that they could blend into the local crowd by any means. Agents had to act, look, speak, and even smell appropriate.
According to Peter Taylor, author of the book Weird War Two, the story goes that agents who were sent to Spain did not have the appropriate smell because they did not eat garlic. In Britain, the attitude towards garlic at the time was not favorable. This problem was solved by adding garlic to chocolates in a bid to make it more enjoyable to eat.
It is not known whether this project was successful or not.
Itchy powder
A powder that acted as a strong skin irritant was disguised as talc and smuggled into Europe. Resistance members in occupied countries distributed this powder in clothing factories and laundry facilities where they could secretly apply it to German uniforms.
It seemed to have worked. Apparently, at least one German U-boat was forced to return to port because the sailors thought they had a strange skin condition.
The scheme was also successful in Norway, where local resistance members began putting the powder in condoms intended for German troops. The treated condoms were sent to the Trondheim Region, where the local hospital was soon filled with German soldiers.
Fake Feet
Fake feet were a good tool for masking a trail, saving time that would otherwise be spent sweeping traces. They was used by agents who landed on beaches in the Pacific theater.
“The idea was that you’d put these fake bare feet over your actual shoes and it would look as if a native was walking over the beach rather than you,” Taylor said.
Stink bombs
The British spent large sums on the development of a super smelly bomb called the S-capsule. Placed in the pocket of a German soldier, once crushed the capsule released a terrible stench which remained even after numerous cleanings.
Since winter clothes in the German army were in short supply, the soldier had to either freeze or suffer a terrible smell. The idea was that a badly smelling officer might lose credibility in the eyes of his subordinates.
The Americans also worked on a similar invention. Taylor said that in the end, “I think in both cases they had to kind give up using it because people that administered it ended up smelling as bad as the people they were aiming it at.”
Exploding poop
There are cases in which the British sent members of the Resistance members throughout Europe imitation manure filled with explosives. The idea was to leave it on the road where it would not be suspected by the drivers of vehicles that would inevitably run over it.
“The actual dung was copied from the real thing supplied by the London Zoo. And there were different kinds of dung depending on which kind of part of Europe” it was going to, Taylor said.
Exploding rats
The British proposed this idea in 1941 after a series of medical experiments. The idea was to fill rat corpses with explosives and toss them into German factories. It was assumed that eventually, one of the German employees, finding a dead rat near the furnace, would throw it into the fire. This, in turn, should have led to an explosion.
The British planned to plant booby-trapped rats in the boiler rooms of German trains, factories, factories, and power plants. In reality, this information fell into the hands of the Germans. The Germans overestimated the importance of the British project and began to spend a large amount of time guarding against it.
In turn, the British considered the project a distracting maneuver: the leakage of information caused a greater panic than the possible use of exploding rats in practice.
Laxatives
The coastline of Norway had an economy based mainly on salted fish. Thus, when the Germans announced that they were requisitioning Norway’s entire catch of sardines, people were outraged. In the ranks of the Resistance was an informant at Nazi headquarters who said that the sardines would be used to feed German troops. Canned food was supplied to U-boat crews.
At the request of Resistance members, the British sent large reserves of croton oil. This oil has a fishy taste and a strong laxative effect. Norwegians secretly delivered it to canneries, where it was mixed with vegetable oil and added to sardines. Soon after, the sardines were sent to German submarines.
In one case, this operation was a great success. However, a large-scale operation based on a laxative was never realized, since the war ended before it could be implemented.
Pink planes
Some fighters during the Second World War were so specialized that they flew only at certain times of the day. To make the aircraft less noticeable both at sunset and at sunrise, they were painted pink.
“That seems [to be] something that’s very very strange and did work surprisingly well,” Taylor said. Although camouflage on aircraft was hardly a novelty, it was a clever tactic at the time to make “invisible” airplanes thanks to pink paint.
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Military Weapons Humor – 
Well here’s the problem. Part # AB5 is a Nuclear Missile. Part # AB6 is an ink cartridge.
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Farewell Salutes –
Kenneth Bellin – Lidgerwood, ND; US Navy, WWII, PTO, gunner’s mate
Travis Brannon – Nashville, TN; USMC, Viper pilot, Captain, KIA
John DePace – Houston, TX; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO
Joseph Gallagher Sr. – Philadelphia, PA; USMC, WWII, PTO
Robert Hitson – South Bend, IN; US Army, WWII, Purple Heart
Howard Lee – NYC, NY; USMC, Vietnam, Captain, 2/4/3rd Marine Division, Medal of Honor
Samuel Malucci Jr. – Northford, CT; US Army, Vietnam, 75/82nd Airborne Division, Purple Heart
Edward Sttewart – St. Paul, MN; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Co. C/127 Engineers/11th Airborne Division
Risdon Westen – Boulder, CO; US Army Air Corps, WWII
Matthew Wiegand – Ambler, PA; USMC, Viper pilot, Major, KIA
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Home Front – Wartime Recipes (3)
We discussed rationing and we’ve discussed just how well our parents and grandparents ate – despite the rationing and time of war when all the “good” stuff was going overseas to the troops! So …. as promised, here are some more of the wonderful recipes from the 1940’s.
Please thank Carolyn on her website for putting these delicious meals on-line!
Recipe 61: Chocolate biscuits & chocolate spread
Recipe 62: Curried potatoes
Recipe 63: Vegetable pasties
Recipe 64: Wheatmeal pastry
Recipe 65: Homemade croutons
Recipe 66: Quick vegetable soup
Recipe 67: Fruit Shortcake
Recipe 68: Cheese potatoes
Recipe 69: Lentil sausages
Recipe 70: Root vegetable soup
Recipe 71: Sausage rolls
Recipe 72: Eggless ginger cake
Bubble n’ squeak #78
Recipe 73: Mock duck
Recipe 74: Cheese sauce
Recipe 75: Duke pudding
Recipe 76: Potato scones
Recipe 77: Cheese, tomato and potato loaf/pie
Recipe 78: Bubble and squeak
Recipe 79: Belted leeks
Recipe 80: Lord Woolton Pie- Version 2
Recipe 81: Beef and prune hotpot
Recipe 82: Prune flan
Recipe 83: Butter making him-front style
Recipe 84: Mock apricot flan
Recipe 85: Corned beef with cabbage
Recipe 86: Oatmeal pastry
Apple brown Betty # 90
Recipe 87: Gingerbread men
Recipe 88: Carolyn’s mushroom gravy
Recipe 89: Jam sauce
Recipe 90: Brown Betty
Recipe 91: Middleton medley
Recipe 92: Rolled oat macaroons
Recipe 93: Anzac biscuits
Recipe 94: Beef or whalemeat hamburgers
Recipe 95: Lentil soup
Recipe 96: Welsh claypot loaves
Recipe 97: Chocolate oat cakes
Recipe 98: Wartime berry shortbread
Recipe 99: Oatmeal soup
Recipe 100: Mock marzipan
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Home Front Humor –
“I understand you’ve been riveting in your name and address.”
“Father, would not the best way to conduct the war be to let the editors of the newspaper take charge of it?”
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Farewell Salutes –
John Albert – So. Greensburg, PA; US Navy, WWII, air patrol
Phillip Baker – San Marcos, TX; US Army Pvt., 101st Airborne Division
The Old Guard
George Carter – Crete, IL; US Navy, WWII & Korea, SeaBee
George Ebersohl – Madison, WI; US Army, WWII, ETO, medic
Hugh Ferris – Muncie, IN; US Army, WWII, ETO, 99th Infantry
Ambrose Lopez – CO; US Navy, WWII, PTO, USS Wake Island
Robert Parnell – Hampshire, ENG; British Army, WWII, ETO, 6th Airborne Division
James Swafford – Glencoe, AL; US Army, WWII, Purple Heart
Floyd Totten – Umatilla, FL; US Army, Korea, Co. B/187th RCT
Louis Ventura – Turlock, CA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 188th/11th Airborne Division
Home Front – Big Timber, Montana
Welcome to Big Timber
These two articles are from The Big Timber Pioneer newspaper, Thursday, August 30, 1945
Prisoners Hanged
Ft. Leavenworth Prison Cemetery; By Gorsedwa, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/
Fort Leavenworth, Kan., Aug. 25 – The Army Saturday hanged 7 German prisoners-of-war in the Fort Leavenworth disciplinary barracks for the murder of a fellow prisoner whom they had accused of being a traitor to the Reich.
All 7 went to the gallows after receiving last rites of the Roman Catholic Church. They were executed for killing Werner Dreschler at the Papago Park, Arizona prisoner of war camp, March 13, 1944.
The hangings took less than three hours. The executions brought to 14 the total number of Nazi POW’s executed at Ft. Leavenworth during the last few weeks.
The 7 went to the gallows without showing any signs of emotion. They had signed statements admitting their guilt. Their defense was that they had read in German newspapers that they should put to death any German who was a traitor. At their trial they said Dreschler had admitted giving information of military value to their captures.
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Sgt. Nat Clark was on Pioneer Mining Mission
313th Wing B-29 Base, Tinian – One of the 6th Bomb Group fliers who participated in the pioneer mining mission to northern Korean waters on 11 July was SSgt. Nathaniel B. Clark, son of Mr. & Mrs. J.F. Clark, Big Timber, MT. it was revealed here today with the lifting of censorship rules. He is a left blister gunner and by war’s end had flown 29 combat missions in the war against Japan.
On the longest mission of the war, to deny the use of the eastern Korean ports to the already partially blockaded Japanese, Sgt. Clark explained that the crews were briefed to fly 3,500 statute miles to their mine fields just south of Russia, and back to Iwo Jima where they would have to land for fuel. Then it was still 725 miles back to the Tinian base.
The flight was planned to take 16½ hours which in itself was not out of the ordinary, but the length of time the full mine load would be carried was a record 10 hours and 35 minutes.
Loading an aerial mine layer
The job called for hair-splitting navigation, Midas-like use of the available gas, penetration of weather about which little is known and finally a precision radar mine-laying run over a port whose defenses and very contours were not too well known.
“We sweated that one out from our briefing one morning until we landed back on Tinian almost 24 hours later.” Sgt. Clark recalled.
radar mine
One crew was forced to return to Okinawa because of engine trouble, but the other 5 on the pioneer flight landed within a few minutes of the briefed time. One landed at the exact briefed time. The closest call on gas was reported by the crew which landed with only 24 gallons left, scarcely enough to circle the field.
Click on images to enlarge.
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Military Humor – 
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Farewell Salutes –
Herman Brown – Virginia Beach, VA; US Army, WWII, ETO, 385/76th Division/ 3rd Army
Lester Burks – Willis, TX; US Army, Co. B/513/17th Airborne Division
Pedro ‘Pete’ Contreras – Breckenridge, OK; US Army, WWII, Korea & Vietnam, Lt.Col. (Ret. 30 y.)
Paul Jarret – Phoenix, AZ; US Army, WWII, ETO, Medical Corps, Bronze Star / US Air Force
John ‘Nick’ Kindred – Scarsdale, NY; US Navy, Lt.
James Lemmons – Portland, TN; US Army; Korea, HQ/187th RCT
Charles McCarry – Plainfield, MA; CIA, Cold War, undercover agent
Howard Rein Jr. – Philadelphia, PA; US Navy, WWII, PTO
Morton Siegel – Rye, NY; US Navy, WWII
Eldon Weehler – Loup City, NE; US Army Air Corps, WWII / US Air Force, Korea & Vietnam, Lt. Col. (Ret. 30 y.)
RAF in the Pacific War
British Flight Training School No. 1, Terrell, TX
After the fall of the Dutch East Indies, the British RAF contributed six squadrons to the Pacific Air War.
March 1941 allowed for the training of Allied pilots on U.S. soil and the formation of British Flying Training Schools. These unique establishments were owned by American operators, staffed with civilian instructors, but supervised by British flight officers. Each school, and there were seven located throughout the southern and southwestern United States, utilized RAF’s own training syllabus.
The aircraft were supplied by the U.S. Army Air Corps. Campuses were located in Terrell, Texas; Lancaster, California; Miami, Oklahoma; Mesa, Arizona; Clewiston, Florida; Ponca City, Oklahoma; and Sweetwater, Texas.
AT-6 2A RAF Texan (aka Harvard)
During the period of greatest threat to Australia in 1942, Winston Churchill agreed to release three squadrons of Spitfires from service in England. This included No. 54 squadron plus two RAAF expeditionary squadrons serving in Britain, Nos. 452 and 457. The Spitfire was at the time the premier Allied air defense fighter.
Pilots of RAF No. 54 Squadron
The squadrons arrived in Australia in October 1942 and were grouped as No. 1 Wing. They were assigned the defense of the Darwin area in January of 1943. The Wing remained in that role for the remainder of the war. In late 1943 two additional RAF Squadrons were formed in Australia, Nos. 548 and 549. These relieved the RAAF Spitfire squadrons for eventual duty with the 1st RAAF Tactical Air Force.
RAF C-47 Dakota over Burma
No. 618 Squadron, a Mosquito squadron armed with the Wallis bomb for anti-shipping missions was sent to the Pacific in late 1944 but never saw active service and was disbanded in June 1945.
In 1945 two Dakota squadrons, Nos. 238 and 243, were sent to the Pacific to provide support for the British Pacific Fleet.
The RAF’s No. 205 squadron, which was stationed in Ceylon, was responsible for air services between Ceylon and Australia during the war.
Raf ground crew & Singhalese lowering a Catalina of the 240th Squadron into the water, Red Hills Lake, Ceylon, 4 August 1945
Should the war have continued beyond VJ day, the RAF planned to send the “Tiger Force” to Okinawa to support operations against the Japanese home islands. As of 10 July 1945, the “Tiger Force” was planned to be composed of No. 5 (RAF) Group and No. 6 (RCAF) Group with 9 British, 8 Canadian, 2 Australian, and 1 New Zealand heavy bomber squadrons. The Force was to be supported by Pathfinder Squadron and a Photo/Weather Recon squadron from the RAF and 3 Transport and one air/sea rescue Squadrons from the RCAF.
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British Military Humor – 
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Farewell Salutes –
Eileen Brown – London, ENG; WRAF, WWII, ETO
Irving Fenster – Tulsa, OK; US Navy, WWII
Tedd Holeman – Sugar City, ID; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, HQS/127 Engineers/11th Airborne Division
Stanley Jones – Shrewsbury, ENG; RAF, Chaplain
Daniel Lynn Jr. – Krupp, WA; US Army, WWII, ETO / Korea
Stanley Mellot – Grand John, CAN; RAF, WWII, navigator
James Raymond – Katanning, AUS, RAF, WWII
Paul Seifert Sr. – Bethlehem, PA; US Army, Korea, 82nd Airborne Division
David ‘Ken’ Thomas – Brown’s Bay, NZ; RAF # 1669434, WWII
Arthur Wan – Milwaukee, WI; US Navy, WWII, PTO
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The Forgotten Fleet
Five British aircraft carriers at anchor at war’s end: HMS Indefatigable, Unicorn, Illustrious, Victorious, and Formidable
The Royal Navy was struggling to overcome its failure earlier in the Pacific, but during 1945, this forgotten fleet fought back dramatically to stand with the U.S. Navy against a storm of kamikaze attacks.
British naval operations in the Far East in World War II started badly and went downhill from there. Years of underfunding in defense meant that Britain simply did not have the means to defend its huge empire, and for 18 months prior to the Japanese attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, it had stood alone against Nazi Germany.
Barracks at Tokishuma airfield, Shikoku Province, in the Japanese home islands, under attack by British naval aircraft, July 24, 1945. The planes were launched by HMS Victorious, Formidable, Indefatigable, and Implacable.
The Royal Navy was primarily committed to the Battle of the Atlantic, keeping open the all important sea lanes upon which the island nation’s survival depended. In the Far East, there were only token naval forces available to meet the Japanese attack, and in that part of the world Britannia’s claim to rule the ocean waves was immediately exposed for the empty rhetoric it had become.
The Pacific Ocean had never been a main operating area for the Royal Navy, so it was not geared or experienced for that sea’s vast distances in the way the U.S. Navy was; its vessels did not have the same cruising ranges and could not remain on station as long as the Yanks. So Task Force 57 started its operational life at a distinct disadvantage. This was compounded by having an inadequate supply fleet.
An auxiliary ship of Task Force 57 (center) refuels a British destroyer at sea. The Royal Navy struggled with logistics and resupply over the vast distances of the Pacific.
Because of the nature of the war it had been fighting in the Atlantic, the Royal Navy also had relatively little experience in large-scale carrier operations against land targets, which were the bread and butter of the U.S. Navy. For that reason, Task Force 57 practiced against targets in Sumatra when en route to the Pacific to gain experience and at the same time wreck some Japanese oil refineries.
Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, the senior American naval officer in the Pacific, gave Task Force 57 a gracious welcome, signaling, “The British Carrier Task Force and attached units will increase our striking power and demonstrate our unity of purpose against Japan. The U.S. Pacific Fleet welcomes you.”
A British-marked Grumman TBM Avenger aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm, returning from an attack on Sakishima Gunto, flies above the HMS Indomitable in March 1945.
It was certainly not a token contribution. The combat elements of Task Force 57 at that time comprised four fleet carriers embarking 207 combat aircraft, two battleships, five cruisers, and 11 destroyers. There were also six escort aircraft carriers guarding the fleet train and ferrying replacement aircraft.
Commanding this formidable naval armament was Vice Admiral Sir Henry B.H. Rawlings. He and Admiral William F. “Bull” Halsey, at the helm of the American Fifth Fleet and directly in charge of all naval forces at Okinawa, worked well together.
By the end of April, the verdict on Task Force 57’s actions so far was generally considered “not bad.” The British were on a steep learning curve, getting used to a type of operation for which they were not properly equipped or trained. It had to refuel and resupply more frequently than the U.S. Navy and were still having serious problems with replenishment at sea.
An obsolescent Fairy Swordfish torpedo bomber approaches the HMS Victorious during operations. The ship was hit by three kamikazes during the Okinawa operation but survived.
In late May 1945, Task Force 57 broke off after 62 days at sea, returning to base to refit, resupply, and repair battle damage. Its first major missions of the Pacific War were over.
There would be more action to come, including Operation Inmate (June 14-16), involving air attacks on the main Japanese naval bastion at Truk in the western Caroline Islands, as well as raids on Japan itself in the run up to the planned invasion.
The British raids—both by air and shore bombardment—continued right up to August 15, 1945, and the Japanese surrender to the Allies; the second British task force, built around another four fleet carriers and one battleship squadron, arrived too late to take part in the fighting. By VJ Day, the Royal Navy Pacific Fleet had 80 principal warships (including nine large and nine escort aircraft carriers), 30 smaller combat vessels, and 29 submarines.
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British Military Humor – 
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Farewell Salutes –
Gerald Ballard, Scranton, IA; US Coast Guard, WWII / USNR (Ret.)
Philip Corfman – Bowie, MD; US Navy, WWII, PTO / World Health Org. & FDA
Paul Gifford – Troy, NY; US Navy, WWII & Korea, corpsman, USS Shangri-La & Tranquility
Joe Jackson – Kent, WA; US Air Force, Vietnam, Medal of Honor
Charles Kettles – Ypsilanti, MI; US Army, Vietnam, Medal of Honor
Fernand Martin – Debden, CAN; Canadian Army, WWII, ETO
Gabriel Nasti – St. Augustine, FL; US Army, WWII, PTO, 20th Infantry/6th Division
Svend Nielsen – Copenhagen, DEN; Civilian, Danish Resistance, WWII, ETO
Jan-Michael Vincent – Hanford, CA; Army National Guard / beloved actor
Allen Wright (102) – Red Willow City, NE; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, MSgt., Chemical Corps / USAR, Major (Ret. 31 y.)
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OSS in Kunming, China
Julia Child with OSS colleagues
The OSS group that included Julia Child and her future husband Paul found themselves in a flood in mid-August 1945. But what they were encountering was nothing compared to the civilians. Chinese villages of mud huts were “melting like chocolate.” Farmers drowned in their own fields. As the flooding began to subside, Japan was hit with the second atomic bomb.
The incoming Russian soldiers only added to the Pandora’s box that was already opened in China. The OSS HQ in Kunming went into overdrive. Eight mercy missions were launched to protect the 20,000 American and Allied POW’s and about 15,000 civilian internees.
Elizabeth McIntosh w/ colleagues during Kunming flood
All the frantic preparations – for rescue operations, food and medical drops and evacuation – had to undertaken despite the weather conditions. Adding to the drama was the uncertain fate of the 6-man OSS team dispatched to Mukden in Manchuria to rescue General “Skinny” Wainwright, who endured capture along with his men since Corregidor in May 1942.
There was also evidence that other high-ranking Allied officials were held in the camp, such as General Arthur E. Percival, the former commander of Singapore.
On August 28, 1945, General Jonathan Wainwright steps down from a C-47 transport in Chunking, China, after three arduous years in a Japanese prison camp.
The OSS mercy missions were treated very badly. Officers were held up by Chinese soldiers and robbed of the arms and valuables. The mood in China was changing very quickly. Even in Chungking, the Chinese troops were becoming anti-foreign and uncooperative.
Word from Hanoi was that the OSS was beset with problems there as well. Thousands of still-armed Japanese were attempting to keep order in French Indochina. Paul Child told his brother he well expected a civil war to start there very soon. The French refused to recognize the Republic of Vietnam and worked with the British to push for “restoration of white supremacy in the Orient”.
OSS in Ho Chi Minh, Indochina
The French were becoming more and more anti-American. They were using agents with stolen US uniforms to provoke brawls and cause disturbances. The British were dropping arms to French guerrilla forces to be used to put down the independence movement.
In Kunming, the streets were littered with red paper victory signs and exploded fireworks. Some of the signs were written in English and bore inscriptions reading, “Thank you, President Roosevelt and President Chiang!” and “Hooray for Final Glorious Victory!” Paper dragons 60-feet long whirled through alleyways, followed by civilians with flutes, gongs and drums.
The weeks that followed would be a letdown. Most of them were unprepared for the abrupt end to the war. Peace had brought a sudden vacuum. One day there was purpose and then – nothing had any meaning. The OSS would go back to their drab civilian lives.
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“Secret ?” Military Humor –
CIA, ‘It’s Ferguson, our ‘Master of Disguise,’ sir — he’s having an identity crisis.’
‘I don’t have any formal training, but I do own the complet boxed set of ‘Get Smart’ DVD’s.’
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Farewell Salutes –
Robert Dalton Jr. – Charlotte, NC; US Army, WWII, ETO, Bronze Star, Purple Heart
Clinton Daniel – Anderson, SC; US Army, WWII, PTO
Richard Farden – Rochester, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, 95th Bomber Group/8th Air Force
Murphy Jones Sr. – Baton Rouge, LA; US Air Force, Vietnam, Colonel, ‘Hanoi Hilton’ POW
Robert Haas – Toledo, OH; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Co C/127 Engineers/11th Airborne Division
Dorothy Holmes – Colorado Springs, CO; US Air Force, Korea & Vietnam, Chief Master Sgt. (Ret. 30 y.)
Arnold ‘Pete’ Petersen – Centerville, UT; US Army, Vietnam, 101st Airborne Division, Purple Heart
Alfred Rodrigues Sr. (99) – HI; US Navy, WWII, Pearl Harbor survivor
Tito Squeo – Molfetta, ITA; US Merchant Marines, WWII, diesel engineer
Joseph Wait – Atlanta, GA; US Navy, WWII, PTO, pilot
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PT Boats – August 1945
PT boat operating at Guadalcanal
In mid August, 30 squadrons of PT’s were in commission. Nineteen were in the 7th Fleet.
Admiral Kinkaid could not foresee a need for patrol boats around Japan and Korea, so The 7th Fleet boats became the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons Philippine Sea Frontier. The shooting was over but there were still jobs where they could be useful.
25-26 August – at Morotai, 16 PT’s under Lt.Comdr. T.R. Stansbury and Gen. Johnson got underway for a rendezvous with the commanders of the Japanese forces on Halmahera. The Japanese commanding general was not there. That was unacceptable.
PT boat w/ native scouts aboard
(possibly PT-171)
The following day, BGen. Warren McNaught went with 6 PT boats and this time Lt.Gen. Ishii and Capt. Fujita, IJN commander were waiting. The boats carried them to the 93rd Div. headquarters on Morotai. It was here that they surrendered 37,000 troops, 4,000 Japanese civilians and a very large quantity of equipment. This was the force that the PT boats had held at bay for almost a year. The garrison commander, Col. Ouchi, reported that since 12 May, when 3 barges brought sorely needed supplies from Halmahera, not a single barge had crossed the 12-mile strait between the 2 islands. Two of those barges were destroyed by PT boats when they attempted to return.
PT-174 at Rendova, Solomons, Jan. 1944
In the central Philippines, Pt 489 and 492 of Squadron 33 carried U.S. Army personnel and members of the Japanese surrender commission to isolated enemy outposts on Samar, Masbate and Romblon to accept the surrender of more than 500 enemy troops.
The Navy Depart. properly got rid of most of the PT’s; their job was done. Because of their light wooden construction they could not be stored away for future use as the steel-hulled ships were.
All the boats in the western Pacific were carefully surveyed. It was found that 118 hulls were defective due to broken frames, worms and dry rot, broken keels, cracked longitudinals * or battle damage. These boats were stripped of all salvageable material and the bare hulls were burned on the beach at Samar.
Squadrons 4, 41 and 42 were being saved for training purposes and experimental work.
Behind the decision to cut the PT force so drastically, besides the obvious reason of economy, there was a realization that in the end of the old boats was the beginning of a new PT boat. There were no major changes in design in the 80-foot Elco and the 78-foot Higgins, but with the war’s end, they could afford to take their time to redesign in light of 4-years worth of experience.
In 1951, the Navy accepted the first post-war PT’s. They were all aluminum hulls and powered by 4 Packard engines of considerable higher horsepower than the original. The first one built, PT-809 was built by the Electric Boat Co. The overall length of the boat was 98 feet and the max beam was 26 feet. PT-810 by Bath Iron Works; PT-811 by John Trumpy & Sons and the last experimental one, PT-812 was built by Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and equipped with gas turbines. These boats operated as Motor Torpedo Squadron-1 from 1954-59.
* Longitudinals – (a system for framing vessels in which light, closely spaced, longitudinal frames are connected by heavy, widely spaced transverse frames with deep webs.)
Information derived from: “At Close Quarters, PT Boats in the United States Navy” by Robert J. Bulkley
Click on images to enlarge.
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Anthony Bosico – Haverstraw, NY; US Navy, WWII, submarine service, USS Grouper & tender Proteus
Jerry Cruce – Grayson, GA; US Merchant Marine, WWII
William Duncan – Tofield, CAN; RC Army, WWII, 5th BC Coat Brigade/25th General Pioneers
Frank Greco – Hendersonville, NC; US Army Air Corps, WWII, Korea & Vietnam (Ret. 30 y.)
Charles Heath Gauley Bridge, WV, US Navy, WWII, USS Wyoming
George Johnson – Terre Haute, IN; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 11th Airborne Division, artillery
William Lewis – McGuffey, OH; US Navy, WWII, PTO, radioman, USS New Orleans
Jack Meyers – Seattle, WA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, B-29 mechanic
Stanley Szuba – Linden, NJ; USMC, WWII
John Widelski – New Bedford, MA; US Navy, gunner’s mate, USS Wingfield & Bronstein
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Poems
I think we are all in need of a more light-hearted post by now …..
A FRIEND, YOUR AMERICAN M.P.
When soldiers go out and have some fun,
They always forget about some other one.
That someone’s on duty every day,
To see that these soldiers are safe at play.
They call him names that we can’t print,
But they should sit down and try to think.
These men are detailed for this tough job,
So why go around and call him a snob?
When a guy’s in trouble, and things look bad,
They call on this fellow, and then he’s not bad.
At the end they will say, “this fellow took up for me.”
And the fellow that did it was your American M.P.
One thing to remember fellows when you’re down and out,
There’s a fellow that will help you if he hears you shout.
He will stand beside you and fight like hell.
So do the right thing, and treat him well.
Just remember fellows on your holiday,
One of your buddies can’t go out and play.
You call him an outcast, and other names,
But he’s your buddy, just the same.
We envy no one, try never to do harm.
We’re here to keep you safe, in every form.
So if you see us on duty, please don’t get mad.
Remember we’re here for you, and that M.P.’s aren’t bad.
– S/Sgt. GODFREY J. DARBY
WAR AND HELL
When reception is poor and the signal stinks
And you think of bed and your forty winks
And the PE coughs and pulls high jinks
That ain’t war, that’s hell.
When your grease is cold and your rear guns fails
With a Zero riding each of your tails
And you curse your luck and bite your nails
That ain’t war, that’s hell.
When you’ve hiked all night and your feet are sore
And your throat’s all parched and your clothes are tore
And the C.O. says just ten miles more
That ain’t war, that’s hell.
When you’re climbing a hill and the motor’s hot
And the left read blows like a pistol shot
You hope its a back fire but you know it’s not
That ain’t war, that’s hell.
When the whistle blows for the day’s mail call
And you’re sweating a letter from your butter-ball
And Jones gets a card and they say that’s all
That ain’t war, that’s hell.
When the chow bell rings and you hope for ham
But the guy who cooks don’t give a damn
So all you get is a slab of Spam
That ain’t war, that’s hell.
But when the war’s been won by your nation
And you dream of home with anticipation
But the order says Army of Occupation
Brother that will be hell.
– Sgt. CARL BROOKMAN
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More Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Bennie Adams Jr. – Barnwell, SC; US Army Air Corps, WWII, Korea & Vietnam, SM Sgt., Bronze Star
H. Carl Boone – Atlantic City, NJ; US Navy, WWII, ETO, LST, Purple Heart
Andrew Curtis Jr. – Yakima, WA; US Army Air Corps, WWII,B-24 pilot, 15th Air Force
John Eilerman – Fort Laramie, OH; US Navy, WWII
George Fuchs – Pinehurst, NC; US Army Air Corps, WWII, 152nd Artillery/11th Airborne Division
Allan Goodwin – Houston, TX; US Merchant Marines, WWII
Michael Hession III – Harwich, MA; US Coast Guard, WWII, PTO
Eileen “Gertie” Joyner – NYC, NY; US Army WAC; WWII, nurse
Ernest Reid – Toronto, CAN; RC Air Force, WWII, Flight Sgt.
Shirley Zumstag – Bradenton, FL; US Navy WAVE, WWII
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Kamikaze Pilot Took His Wife On Fatal Flight
Tetsuo Tanifuji and wife, Asako
Even though World War Two had come to an end, the story of a Japanese couple who met their death in a deliberate kamikaze suicide flight against Soviet troops has come to light and has been turned into a television program.
Tetsuo Tanifuji was a trained kamikaze pilot for the Japanese Imperial Navy, however, for his very last flight, he decided to take his wife, Asako with him.
Even though the bombs had been dropped and Japan was on the verge of surrender, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan and was trying to take large areas of Japanese-controlled land in North China and the Northern Territory islands off Japan. Thousands of Japanese troops and civilians were making their way back to the Japanese mainland in defeat, so the invasion by Soviet troops was causing more chaos, attacking any military or civilians they came across.
Japanese Emperor Hirohito surrendered to Allied forces and four days later ten pilots from the Japanese Imperial Navy’s First Kyoiku Unit decided to launch an aerial attack on the incoming Soviet troops, to help other Japanese military and civilians in their retreat to the mainland.
Tetsuo was a Second Lieutenant and just 22 years old. He collected his wife, and together they climbed inside the Type 97 fighter plane. It is reported that another woman also joined another of the unit’s pilots in another aircraft.
Kamikaze memorial
They took off from their airbase and were never to be seen again. None of the aircraft that took part in the attack returned, and no records of the mission existed or survived. It wasn’t until 1957 that the Japanese military declared Tetsuo was killed in action and not until 1970 that Asako’s family received her death certificate.
The story has been turned into a television drama in Japan. However, the families of the couple are concerned about the story being dramatized. One family member said that no war stories are ‘heart-warming’ since they are shrouded in the misery of war. Another family member said that she would have done the same thing as Asako if she had made the decision to die with her husband.
Overall the family hopes that it will educate the younger generation about the devastation of war, and to oppose any attempts by politicians to get involved in armed conflict.
This author agrees.
From War History on line.
For a more personal look at this situation click HERE…..
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Military Humor – 
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Farewell Salutes –
Gordon Banks – Elgin IL; USMC, WWII & Korea, Captain
Alexander Disanto – Mantua, NJ; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 507/11th Airborne Division
Phillip Goddard – Des Moines, IA; US Army, WWII, PTO, Corps of Engineers
John Horrall – Spokane, WA; US Army, WWII, ETO, 10th Mountain Division
Henning Knudson – Havre, MT; US Navy, WWII
Richard Luchsinger (102) – Moline, IL; US Army, WWII
Hugo Meyer – ID; US Army, WWII, PTO
Howard Nelson – Kathryn, ND; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO
Stanley Raynham – Eltham, ENG; Royal Navy, WWII
John Widelski – New Bedford, MA; US Navy, gunner’s mate, USS Wingfield & Bronstein
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