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Nisei WACs | conclusion
If you were asked to describe a “soldier,” what kind of image does that word conjure up in your mind? History fails to give recognition to the Asian American women who contributed to the U.S.’s victory by taking on many different roles during World War II to assist the armed forces.
Starting in 1943, Japanese women, known as “Nisei”, were accepted by the Army Nurse Corps (ANC) and the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) to work as nurses and doctors to provide medical care and as Military Intelligence Service officers and linguists.. Though Asian American women served many important functions in World War II, they are still overlooked or completely ignored in modern discourse.
Private Shizuko Shinagawa, 21, of the Women’s Army Corps, who was sent to Denver to recruit Japanese-American women for the WAC. May 22, 1944, Denver, Colorado. Courtesy of WRA no. G-563, War Relocation Authority Photographs of Japanese-American Evacuation and Resettlement, BANC PIC 1967.014–PIC, the Bancroft Library
This post focuses on the Nisei women who served as linguists and their struggles balancing their identities as an American woman and a Japanese woman, while studying their mother tongue under considerable pressure at the U.S. War Department’s Military Intelligence Service Language School in Fort Snelling, Minnesota.
Their histories and struggles during the war are just as valid as any other American war veteran’s experiences out on the field. Women began turning them away from their traditional societal roles as homemakers and caretakers towards more proactive roles opening up in the factories and the military.
Nisei in Oregon
For Japanese Americans, on the West Coast, however, with Japan being the “enemy nation” after bombing Pearl Harbor in 1941, they were labeled as “enemy aliens” and by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066, forced from their homes into internment camps. The military recognized the need to improve intelligence operations and trained and recruited specialists in the Japanese language to serve as interpreters, interrogators, and translators, and so around 5,500 Nisei were assigned to the Military Intelligence Service.
With struggles against racism combined with normalized sexism in the military, Nisei women, and many other Asian American women, had a unique experience while serving their country. While Military administrators rationalized the idea of accepting women, especially Japanese American women, it was under gendered and racialized reasoning. The WACs were given assignments that “did not transcend the domestic sphere”, therefore stuck behind desks doing clerical work. Furthermore, they were expected to emphasize their femininity through their physical appearances, “feminine” meaning short skirts and makeup. Along with these demands, the Nisei WACS were also expected to act as “American women” but retain their Japanese linguistic heritage in order “to serve as role models as Japanese women.
Nisei WACs
Like many second or third-generation Asian Americans today, Nisei WACs did not all possess fluency in Japanese, especially not at the level needed to comprehend military-related documents, hence they were sent to MIS school to learn Japanese.
Difficulties:
“I wasn’t very strong in Japanese, coming from an area [Idaho] where there were no Orientals. We just didn’t speak the language… And so, when we were sent to Japan, I had an awful hard time working with [Japanese] military terms…Some of the girls from Hawaii used to work as radio announcers in Japanese. They had a lot more training and they could read and write [Japanese] fluently. At Fort Snelling, I was in one of the lowest classes, just learning the basics.
Nisei Women’s Army Corps, Ft. Snelling
After they graduated from MISLS, they were assigned to various military sectors and helped the military forces immensely. Many of the graduates worked at war crimes trials as translators and interrogators and helped link a number of atrocities to individual Japanese by the captured diaries and letters, written during wartime, that they studied. Maybe one of their most impressive contributions, in the Civil Affairs branch, was censorship- screening the press, inspecting the postal system, watching communications of all kinds, and helping to find out what “has gone on in Japan these many years.” These linguists classified approximately 2,000,000 Japanese documents according to tactical, strategic, or long-range value. In all, they translated some 20,000,000 pages.
The WAC’s and other Nisei linguists’ work for the United States should be honored and remembered. They wanted to serve in the U.S. military for various reasons, but mainly to show their loyalty to the United States. Some were also motivated by reasons that were rooted in their culture and status in their family and community. One former Nisei WAC, Grace Harada reveals her discussion with her parents on why she felt the need to serve in the military:
“They just felt that I shouldn’t be doing something like that, and going so far away from
home. But I told them that I just couldn’t stay home and do housework. I wasn’t accomplishing anything. [Harada’s brother had already joined the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.] I said [to my parents] “There is a war going on and he can’t do it alone.” …I said what I would be doing is replacing all these men to help end the war. I tried to talk with my parents into letting me go, and finally they released me and signed the consent for me to go in.”
With political circumstances so against them, the Nisei had made every effort to forget their Japanese heritage and prove they are “American.” The experience of attending the MISLS was both a challenge and a chance for the Nisei, to balance both of their identities for a cause and prove their loyalty to their homeland, the United States. Furthermore, as Nisei women, they constantly had to navigate social norms and persevere against sexually and racially intertwined expectations to serve as model American women in Japan, yet maintain their “Japanese-ness” to be competent translators. Their experiences are invaluable in that they not only but also expand one’s perspective of what kind of people serve in the military but also add another complex layer to the Asian American narrative.
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.
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Military Humor – 
HEY, MOST CLIMB OVER, BUT WHATEVER WORKS FOR YOU.
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Farewell Salutes –
Martin A. Adler – Bronx, NY; US Army, WWII, 85th Infantry Division, Bronze Star / US Army Reserves, Captain (Ret.)
Peter “Russ” Brankston – Toronto, CAN; RC Navy, WWII
Lucille Esmon (100) – Grand Blanc, MI; US Navy WAVE, WWII
Bryce L. Grecian – Spokane, WA; US Army, 82nd Airborne Division
Henry C. Green (102) – Markham, VA; US Navy, WWII, PTO, Communications officer, USS Belleau Wood
David Kakavas – Moline, IL; US Army, SSgt. (Ret. 22 y. )
Paul Lisun Sr. – Stratford, NJ/ FL; US Army, Korea, 11 Airborne Division
Evelyn McHugh – Wilmington, NC; Civilian, WWII, Wilmington Shipyards
Robert G. Salerno – Rochester, NY; US Army, WWII, Bronze Star, Purple Heart
Tamio “Tom” Sumoge – Hood River, OR; US Army, WWII, ETO, 88th Division
Charles E. Venn – Rochester, PA; US Army, Korea, 187th RCT Rakkasans
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Nisei Soldiers part 2 | Memorial Day 2023
306th HQ Intelligence Detachment, XXIV Corps, Leyte, Philippines, November 1, 1944. Front row, l to r: George Shimotori, Saburo Okamura, Thomas Sasaki, Francis Yamamoto Herbert Nishihara, Warren Tsuneishi. Back row, l to r: Hiroshi Itow, Joe Nishihara, Lt. Richard Kleeman, TSgt George Takabayashi, Lloyd Shimasato.
(Signal Corps photo)
When the first graduates were sent to the Pacific and landed in Australia, they were part of the Americal troops. Many were sent to help with the fighting on Iwo Jima, which MacArthur felt was taking far too long to complete. Some stayed and worked with the Australian troops and others went to British or Canadian units. (Canada also had their own S-20 Japanese Language School in Vancouver, British Columbia to train interpreters.) Only the U.S. Navy rejected the linguists. Admiral Halsey did in fact understand their importance and requested some MIS’ers for his fleet, but as a whole, Nimitz and the rest of the navy wanted to continue using their own intelligence personnel. (A very serious mistake in Leyte Gulf.)
Nisei at work in Manila, 1945
It was difficult to locate the Nisei that worked G-2 specifically for the 11th Airborne and when because the men were rarely ever put on the official rosters. A MISer could train with the 11th Airborne on New Guinea and by December he was in Burma or up in the Aleutians. They were as difficult to track as the 11th A/B themselves. One Nisei found himself stuck at the Panama Canal, not at all certain what he was supposed to do there.
Ben Hazzard (mustache) w/ the 306th Language Detachment
But, I did manage to locate a fair number of fellow paratroopers from Smitty’s division: Clarence Ohta and John Nakahara jumped with the 11th on Luzon. George Kojima, Koshi Ando and James Harada were with the 503d Regiment. Harry Akune jumped on Corregidor without any training, injured his ankle and went to work translating immediately. He was later at Atsugi airfield with MacArthur. After the service he went back to college.
314 HQ Intelligence/96th Infantry Div.
There was also: Robert Kimura and Mitsuo Usui; Takeshi “Jim” Fujisaka (lived in Fresno, CA and passed away 7 Sept. 1996); Tetsuo Koga; Norman Kihuta (with the 511th G-2 was discharged 6 Jan. 1946); Mike Miyatake went back to his customs job after his discharge; Akira Abe took his parachute training, flew to New Guinea and continued with the 11th A/B throughout Leyte and Luzon. Jiro Tukimura and Eddie Tamada were also noted in the records.
Nisei saving lives by flushing out caves.
In February of 1943, the Taiyo Maru, a Japanese transport ship, was sunk and a lifeboat washed up on Goodenough Island, north of New Guinea;s eastern tip. On that boat was a document that included a list of 40,000 Imperial Army officers from Hideki Tojo on down. These papers, once translated, gave the rank of each officer, unit assigned, the order of battle and the amount of men in each of these units. This information along with documents previously acquired and translated established the exact location of all Japanese units. This work alone was worth the time and effort of forming the MIS.
While their families were confined, more than 33,000 Japanese Americans played a major role in the war effort. Many of them loved their country enough to risk their lives in combat. For others, it was the chance to prove their loyalty and the honor of their families; this they did as members of the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team fighting up the rugged Italian Peninsula and across Southern France. Others interrogated Japanese prisoners and translated Japanese documents in the Army’s Military Intelligence Section in the Pacific and China-Burma-India Theaters. Over eight hundred Japanese Americans were killed in action serving their country.
Click on images to enlarge.
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MEMORIAL DAY
I usually prepare a post just for Memorial Day, but after looking through those I did in the past, I felt I should just leave a link for those interested in honoring our fallen. Those who fell giving you the freedoms you enjoy today. Thank you.
https://pacificparatrooper.wordpress.com/?s=memorial+day
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Farewell Salutes –
Frederic M. Ashler – Hamburg, IA; US Navy, WWII
Richard Dow – Albuquerque, NM; US Army, WWII
Alexander Dreyfoos Jr. – W. Palm Beach, FL; US Air Force, Commander of photo recon lab / FL cultural icon, founder of the Dreyfoos Center
Gary Kent – Walla Walla, WA; US Navy / actor, stuntman, director
James Litherland – So. Williamsport, PA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, 2nd Lt. # 325585, 359/303 Bomb Group, B-17 co-pilot, KIA (Le Translay, FRA)
Wilbur A. Mitts – Seaside, CA; US Navy, WWII, PTO, Navy Torpedo Squadron-20, radioman # 351669, USS Enterprise, KIA (Malakal, Palau Is.)
Leroy C. Nordby – Nisswa, MN; US Army, 187th RCT
Richard D. Rigdon – Bowling Green, KY; US Army, NATO, 187/101st Airborne Division, Sgt. (Ret. 20 y.)
Eugene “Butch” Skoch – East Meadow, NY; US Army, Vietnam, Pfc. # 298459, KIA (Gia Dinh prov., SV)
Henry “Joe” Tilk – E. St. Louis, IL; US Army, Korea, 187th RCT
Dominick R. Tranquilli Sr. – Summit, NJ; US Army, Korea, 187th RCT
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Japanese-Americans | the Nisei in WWII, part one (1)
Nisei soldiers
Smitty held the Nisei in very high regard and I would be remiss in neglecting to tell their story. Beside, one of these men might have been directly responsible for the safe return of my father. In reality, it would be near impossible to relate a story of the Pacific War without mentioning their service. Some of this unique intelligence force worked ‘behind the scene’ stateside U.S.A. or Australia, but many were up front and fighting at and behind enemy lines.
Smitty always had extreme appreciation for the courage, resilience and down-right crazy stunts they pulled off. They were capable of going behind the lines to acquire information or cut into the radio lines and all the while they remained quite aware that their own units might mistake them for the enemy when they returned. This did happen more than once.
Most everyone is aware of whom the Nisei are, but for clarification purposes, here are some of the terms that might be used in this section or if you continue with your own research:
AJA – Americans of Japanese Ancestry
MISers – the name used for students and graduates of the Military Intelligence Service Language School
Issei – first generation Japanese-American
Nisei – second generation Japanese-American, (this term is for definition only – Nisei prefer to state that they are American)
Kibei – Japanese-American who received education in Japan
At the language school, the students were crammed with courses and put on a strict schedule. Some courses included:
Kanji – a Japanese method of writing based on Chinese logographic characters
Kaisho – the printed form of Kanji and can only be read by someone who has memorized a great number of ideographs
Gyosho – hand written Japanese, very similar to the Palmer Method of Penmanship and is very difficult for Americans
Sosho – the shorthand version of Kanji and almost impossible for an American to learn. Most Japanese field orders were taken down by this method.
Kai Rasmussen
It must be noted that many of these men had family incarcerated in detainment camps and serving in the Imperial Army & Navy, but in school, on the job and in combat they loyally worked to do their level best. The language school began 1 November 1941 at Crissy Field, with Lt. Colonel John Wickerling in charge. His right hand man, educator and recruiter, Kai Rasmussen, was a primary force in the success of the school. He was a West Point grad who spoke Japanese with a Danish accent and would eventually earn the Legion of Merit for his efforts.
A move was necessary from San Francisco to Camp Savage, Minnesota. The change in location was largely due to the bigotry that had overwhelmed California at the time. The most influential white supremacists included: Earl Warren; The Natives Sons and Daughters of the Golden West; William Randolph Hearst and his newspapers and Congressman Leland Ford. Eventually, the school needed to expand and moved to Fort Snelling, St. Paul.
Rasmussen’s right hand man was John Fujio Aiso, an attorney out of Brown and Harvard and had studied at Chuo University in Tokyo. (He was originally assigned to a motor pool because the Army felt they had no need for additional lawyers.) Rasmussen traveled across the country in attempts to find candidates for the school. The Pentagon had kept the paperwork for the operations of the Nisei secret for three decades, but Smitty began talking about them once I was old enough to ask questions.
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Military Humor –
“BECAUSE DOORS ARE FOR SISSIES.”
“AIM FOR THE CAT!”
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Current News – 
Please hop on over to Pat’s blog to help share a veteran’s birthday! Click HERE for equips!!
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Farewell Salutes –
Ruby Atchley – Pine Bluff, AR; Civilian, WWII, ammo plant
Jerry G. Cooper – Hattiesburg, MS; US Army, Vietnam, Captain, 101st Airborne Division, helicopter pilot
Tabe de Vries – Ljmuiden, NETH; Dutch Underground, WWII
Harry E. Elston III – Warren, OH; US Army, Vietnam, H Co/75th Infantry Rangers
William Hodge – New Haven, CT; US Army, WWII, Sgt.
Clyde H. Lane – Greece, NY; US Army, 503/11th Airborne Division
Thomas C. Mayes, Jr. – Coral Gables, FL; US Air Force + Reserves, Captain
Douglas L. Townley – Tonawanda, NY; USMC, WWII
Robert E. Weisblut – Washington, D.C.; US Army
James A. Whitmore – Mesquite, NV; US Air Force, Electronic Warfare Officer on F-105’s & F-16’s
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A Tribute to Andrew Jackson Higgins and the Boats that Won the War
Andrew Jackson Higgins
Andrew Jackson Higgins, the man Dwight D. Eisenhower once credited with winning World War II, was a wild and wily genius.
At the New Orleans plant where his company built the boats that brought troops ashore at Normandy on June 6, 1944, Higgins hung a sign that said, “Anybody caught stealing tools out of this yard won’t get fired — he’ll go to the hospital.”
Whatever Higgins did, he did it a lot. “His profanity,” Life magazine said, was “famous for its opulence and volume.” So was his thirst for Old Taylor bourbon, though he curtailed his intake by limiting his sips to a specific location.
“I only drink,” he told Life magazine, “while I’m working.”
“It is Higgins himself who takes your breath away,” Raymond Moley, a former FDR adviser, wrote in Newsweek in 1943. “Higgins is an authentic master builder, with the kind of will power, brains, drive and daring that characterized the American empire builders of an earlier generation.”
Higgins was not native to the South, despite his love of bourbon. He grew up in Nebraska, where, at various ages, he was expelled from school for fighting. Higgins’ temperament improved around boats. He built his first vessel in the basement when he was 12. It was so large that a wall had to be torn down to get it out.
He moved South in his early 20s, working in the lumber industry. He hadn’t thought much about boats again until a tract of timber in shallow waters required him to build a special vessel so he could remove the wood. Higgins signed up for a correspondence course in naval architecture, shifting his work from timber to boats.
In the late 1930s, he owned a small shipyard in New Orleans. By then, his special shallow-craft boat had become popular with loggers and oil drillers. They were “tunnel stern boats,” whose magic was in the way the “hull incorporated a recessed tunnel used to protect the propeller from grounding,” according to the Louisiana Historical Association.
The Higgnins’ “Eureka” boat
Higgins called it the “Eureka” boat. The war brought interest by U.S. forces in a similar style vessel to attack unguarded beaches and avoid coming ashore at heavily defended ports. The Marines settled on the Higgins boat, transforming what had been a 50-employee company into one of the world’s largest manufacturers.
“To put Higgins’s accomplishment in perspective,” historian Douglas Brinkley wrote in a 2000 article in American Heritage magazine, consider this: “By September 1943, 12,964 of the American Navy’s 14,072 vessels had been designed by Higgins Industries. Put another way, 92 percent of the U.S. Navy was a Higgins navy.”
Though Eisenhower and even Hitler acknowledged the importance of the Higgins boat — military leaders came to call it “the bridge to the beach” — its builder went mostly unmentioned in histories of the war. That is, until 17 years ago, when the World War II Museum opened in New Orleans and recognized Higgins’ life, displaying a reproduction of his boat.
Still, there’s been just one biography written: “Andrew Jackson Higgins and the Boats that Won World War II” by historian Jerry Strahan.
“Without Higgins’s uniquely designed craft, there could not have been a mass landing of troops and matériel on European shores or the beaches of the Pacific islands, at least not without a tremendously higher rate of Allied casualties,” Strahan wrote.
Higgins Hotel, New Orleans, LA
The WWII Museum in New Orleans officially broke ground on the Higgins Hotel directly across the street from the museum in 2017.
“The one man in the South I want especially to see is Andrew Jackson Higgins. I want to tell him, face to face, that Higgins’ landing boats such as we had at Guadalcanal are the best in the world. They do everything but talk; honest they do.” ___ Warrant Officer Machinist, James D. Fox, quoted in the Shreveport Times, 6 March 1943
AJ Higgins held 30 patents, mostly covering amphibious landing craft and vehicles.
Higgins died in New Orleans on 1 August 1952, and was buried in Metairie Cemetery. He had been hospitalized for a week to treat stomach ulcers when he suffered a fatal stroke.
Article resources: The World War II Museum in New Orleans (2018 Annual Report), The Marine Corps & the Washington Post.
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Current info –
May – Military Appreciation Month –
From: Cora Metz posters
May 18, 2019 – Armed Forces Day
A day set aside to pay tribute to men and women who serve in the United States’
Armed Forces. Learn more…
May 27, 2019 – Memorial Day (Decoration Day)
A day set aside to commemorate all who have died in military service for the United States. Typically recognized by parades, visiting memorials and cemeteries.
The coloring books include pages for Mother’s Day.
LINK – Coloring page for military children
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Military Humor –
Military Contractors
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Farewell Salutes –
Louis J. Abshire Sr. – Amelia, LA; US Navy, WWII, PTO
Courtesy of Dan Antion @ https://nofacilities.com/
Theodore “Bud” Benard – Payson, UT; US Army, WWII, PTO, 96th Infantry Division
Ray Cline – WV; US Navy, WWII, USS Biddle (DD-151)
Owen R. Dievendorf – Fort Plum, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Medical Corps, x-ray tech, Sgt.
Glenn Francis – Santa Monica, CA; US Navy, WWII, PTO, Quartermaster, USS Natoma Bay
Edgar L. Galson – Syracuse, NY; US Army, WWII, ETO, Field Artillery, radio/forward observer
Charles Haughey – Chicago, IL; Civilian, WWII, Dodge B-29 engine plant
Charles ‘C.C.’ Lee – Lexington, KY; US Navy, WWII & Korea, Chief Flight Deck Electrician, USS Corregidor & Block Island
Luther H. Story – Americus, GA; US Army, Korea, Cpl. A Co/1/9/2nd Infantry Division, KIA (Sangde-po, SK), Medal of Honor
Olive Thompson – ENG/CAN; WRoyal Naval Service WREN, WWII
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Mopping-up the Japanese Midget-Submarines
Japanese type-A midget sub salvaged near Pearl Harbor
By definition, a midget submarine is less than 150 tons, has a crew of no more than eight, has no on-board living accommodation, and operates in conjunction with a mother ship to provide the living accommodations and other support. The Japanese Navy built at least 800 midgets in 7 classes, but only a fraction had any noticeable impact on the war. Their intended purpose initially was to be deployed in front of enemy fleets, but their actual use would be in harbor attacks and coastal defense.
Japanese type-D sub sitting at the Yokosuka Naval Base, Sept. 1945
The Japanese midget subs were not named but were numbered with “Ha” numbers (e.g., Ha-19). These numbers were not displayed on the exterior and operationally the midgets were referred to according to the numbers of their mother ships. Thus, when I-24 launched Ha-19, the midget was known as “I-24tou” (designated “M24” in some texts). The “Ha” numbers were not unique either; some Type D’s were numbered Ha-101 through Ha-109.
In mid-1944, with coastal defense requirements becoming urgent, the Japanese Navy developed the Koryu Tei Gata Type D. More than just another improved version of the Type A, this was a new design. They were the largest of Japan’s midgets, displacing about 60 tons, 86 feet (26 meters) in length, with a five-man crew, featuring a more powerful diesel engine, and had improved operating endurance. Koryu’s armament consisted of two muzzle-loaded 17.7-inch torpedoes. As with the earlier types, individual boats had alpha-numeric names in the “Ha” series beginning with Ha-101.
Some 115 units had been completed when Japan capitulated in August 1945. At the end of the war, Allied Occupation forces found hundreds of midget submarines built and building in Japan, including large numbers of the “Koryu” type; nearly 500 more were under construction. Some of these submarines intended for training pilots for Kaiten type manned torpedoes, had an enlarged conning tower and two periscopes.
Kaiten design
Kaiten submarines were designed to be launched from the deck of a submarine or surface ship, or from coastal installations as a coastal defense weapon. The cruiser, IJN Kitakami, was equipped to launch Kaiten and took part in sea launch trials of Type 1s. In addition, several destroyers of the Matsu class were also adapted to launch the weapon.
In practice, only the Type 1 craft, using the submarine delivery method, were ever used in combat. Specially equipped submarines carried two to six Kaiten, depending on their class.
After the end of the conflict, several of Japan’s most innovative and advanced submarines were sent to Hawaii for inspection in “Operation Road’s End” (I-400, I-401, I-201, and I-203) before being scuttled by the U.S. Navy in 1946 when the Soviet Union demanded access to the IJN submarines.
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Don’t Forget :
May is Military Appreciation Month, for this coming week….
May 8, 2019 – VE (Victory in Europe) Day
(Celebrated May 7 in commonwealth countries)
A day which marks the anniversary of the Allies’ victory in Europe during World War II
on May 8, 1945. Learn more…
May 10, 2019 – Military Spouse Appreciation Day
A day set aside to acknowledge the contributions and sacrifices of the spouses of
the U.S. Armed Forces. Learn more…
LINK – Practical insights in caring for a military home front family
May 12, 2018 – Mother’s Day
LINK – Organizations that support deployed military personnel on Mother’s Day
LINK – Coloring page for military children
May 13, 2019 – Children of Fallen Patriots Day
A day to honor the families our Fallen Heroes have left behind – especially their children. It’s a reminder to the community that we have an obligation to support the families of our Fallen Patriots. Learn more…
SHAKE A VETERAN’S HAND TODAY!
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Melville R. Anderson (100) – Chicopee, MA; US Navy, WWII, ETO/PTO
Peter Badie Jr. – New Orleans, LA; US Navy, WWII
Memories of them…
Harry Belafonte – NYC, NY; US Navy, WWII (Home front) / Singer, actor, political activist
Alejandro Chavez – Miami, AZ; US Navy, WWII, PTO, USS Aubrain, engine room
Leroy Fadem (102) – Bronx, NY; US Navy, WWII, Lt. SG, USS Stevens & LST-871
Lester Finney – England, AR; US Air Force, SMSgt. (Ret. 28 y.), firefighter load master
Fletcher “Buster” Harris – Atlers, OK; US Army, WWII, 325th Glider Infantry
Richard K. Rowe – Limestone, TN; US Army, Vietnam, Ranger, 82nd Airborne Division, Purple Heart
John Seagoe – Cottage Grove, OR; US Navy, WWII, pilot
Cooper D. Wolfgram – Alamo, CA; US Army, HQ/SISCO/82nd Airborne Division
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OH NO!!
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Post War Asia
Cold War Asian map
In eastern Asia, the end of the war brought a long period of turmoil. In the European colonies occupied by Japan, liberation movements were established–some strongly Communist in outlook. In Indochina, Indonesia, and Malaya, wars were fought against the colonial powers as well as between rival factions.
The messy aftermath of war precipitated the final crisis of the old European imperialism; by the early 1950s, most of Southeast Asia was independent. In Burma and India, Britain could not maintain its presence. India was divided into two states in 1947, India (Hindu) and Pakistan (Muslim), and Burma was granted independence a year later.
Japan was not restored to full sovereignty until after the San Francisco Treaty was signed on September 8, 1951. The emperor was retained, but the military was emasculated and a parliamentary regime had been installed. Japanese prewar possessions were divided up. Manchuria was restored to China in 1946 (though only after the Soviet Union had removed more than half the industrial equipment left behind by the Japanese). Taiwan was returned to Chinese control. Korea was occupied jointly by the Soviet Union and the United States, and two independent states — one Communist, one democratic — were established there in 1948.
The most unstable area remained China, where the prewar conflict between Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists and the Chinese Communists led by Mao Zedong was resumed on a large scale in 1945.
After four years of warfare, the Nationalist forces were defeated and Chiang withdrew to the island of Taiwan. The People’s Republic of China was declared in 1949, and a long program of rural reform and industrialization was set in motion. The victory of Chinese communism encouraged Stalin to allow the Communist regime in North Korea to embark on war against the South in the belief that America lacked the commitment for another military conflict.
The Korean War began on June 25, 1950, when the troops of Kim Il Sung crossed the 38th parallel, the agreed-upon border between the two states. By this stage, the international order had begun to solidify into two heavily armed camps.
In 1949 the Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb. That same year, the U.S. helped organize a defensive pact, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), to link the major Western states together for possible armed action against the Communist threat.
By 1951 Chinese forces were engaged in the Korean conflict, exacerbating concerns that another world war — this time with nuclear weapons — might become a reality. The optimism of 1945 had, in only half a decade, given way to renewed fears that international anarchy and violence might be the normal condition of the modern world.
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.
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Military Humor –
“I HOPE YOU’RE NOT ANGRY WITH ME FOR TAKING YOU AWAY FROM YOUR FRIENDS.”
“WELL, NO… BUT I DO HELP RUN IT.”
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Farewell Salutes –
Andrew H. Anderson – NYC, NY; US Army, Pentagon, Vietnam, 1/5/25th Infantry Division commander, MGeneral (Ret. 40 y.)
David M. Blum – Newark, NJ; US Army, counterintelligence
Vernon J. Cox – Edison, NJ/Port St. Lucie, FL; US Merchant Marines
Christopher R. Eramo – Oneonta, NY; Chief Warrant Officer 3, 1/25/11th Airborne Division Arctic
John C. Grant – Detroit, MI; US Navy, US Naval Academy graduate 1956
Harvey R. Hathaway – Rocky River, OH; US Air Force, captain, Medical Unit M.D.
Joseph P. Kuc – Buffalo, NY; US Air Force
Kyle D. McKenna – Colorado Springs, CO; Chief Warrant Officer 2, 1/25/11th Airborne Arctic
Rafael A. Oliver – W.Palm Beach, FL; US Army, WWII, PTO
Thomas E. Perugini – Philadelphia, PA; US Army
William C. Talen Sr. – Delray Beach, FL; US Army, WWII
Grace Uhart – Oakland, CA; US Army WAC, WWII, secretary, General Staff Pentagon,
Stuart D. Wayment – North Logan, UT; Warrant Officer 1, 1/25/11th Airborne Division Arctic
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OKINAWA 78 years ago Stars & Stripes – Pacific
Stars and Stripes Pacific
By PFC. WILLIAMS LAND | STARS AND STRIPES May 22, 1945
Stars and Stripes presents these archive reports as they were written by the reporters in the field. The graphic and politically incorrect language used may be offensive to some readers.
Medic on Okinawa
Editor’s Note: A fortnight ago Bill Land, one of our battlefront reporters, learned that he was a father. Back to us by radio came this story of Oki’s orphans. Unable to go home to see his own daughter in Baton Rouge, La., Bill let himself go on Oki’s orphans – being left to die by the Sons of Heaven. But the GIs wouldn’t let the kids die…
OKINAWA – Here’s a story you could call “The Children’s Hour.” Ever since I got that radio about my new baby daughter I’ve had in mind writing a children’s story, especially since the material is so plentiful.
It is said that there are more children on Okinawa than there are goats, and, brother, that is some statement.
Very rarely does one see a woman who isn’t carrying either a born or unborn child around and most of the time it’s both.
For doughboys and leathernecks, the care of children started on the first day of the invasion, and from the way it keeps on, it looks as though “the Children’s Hour on Okinawa” will outlast Lillian Hellman’s play on Broadway.
Military government has even set up an orphanage, probably the first the island has seen.
“Since the natives showed interest only their own babies, we had to do something to care for children whose parents were killed or missing,” said Army Capt. W. W. McAllister of Iowa City, Ia., the officer in charge.
Nipples are made from surgical gloves and the orphans seem to take kindly to their new diet of canned milk through a glove.
Okinawa 1945
In another part of the island, Chief Pharmacist’s Mate Hugh Bell of Iberia, La., found himself playing the role of a mother when his outfit, a Marine reconnaissance unit, was scouting for suspected enemy installations and suddenly came upon a whole colony of natives hiding in a cave. Most of them were starving and sick and 35 children required immediate medical attention.
Bell, being the only “doctor in the house,” had all of them on his hands. For 24 hours he treated them, giving them plenty of food and feeding them canned milk while his buddies drank their coffee black.
“The kids thought I had used magic to fix them up,” he said, “and followed me around whenever I went. The headman of the group of cave dwellers told the unit command later that Bell was called “Mother” whenever they referred to him.
It is not at all a strange sight to see kids running around in cut-off GI woolen underwear or rompers made of fatigues, but Sally’s diapers made of green camouflage cloth really take the cake. Sally’s one of the orphans.
Sitting on the hard coral rock playing with the ration can, it looks as if she selected a soft tuft of grass to place her little behind on.
Pfc. John J. Stroke of Olmsted Falls, Ore., found her. She’s a two-year-old girl, and Stroke supervised her bath and sprinkled her with anti-vermin powder. Then, with the help of marine fatigues, a jungle knife and couple of pins, he went into the diaper business.
With most able-bodied Japs in the Imperial army or navy there seems a definite shortage of obstetricians among civilians and therefore many deliveries have to be performed by American soldiers and medics.
Relating his first attendance at childbirth here, First Class Pharmacist’s Mate Richard P. Scheid of Napoleon, O., warned, “I knock down anybody who calls me a mid-wife.”
Medic, Okinawa
As in the play, “The Children’s Hour,” and everywhere else, for that matter, there are good little children and naughty ones.
The other day, Sgt. Elvis Lane, marine combat correspondent from Louisville, Ky., ran across a couple of them who didn’t want to take to the American way of life at first. Dressed in a ragged Jap soldiers’ suits, they kept hoping to fight the “American devils” who were soon to be blasted by superior Japanese power.
That night, enemy units attacked the camp in which the two boys were staying and the air was filled with screams of the Jap wounded, the rat-tat-tat of machine gun fire and explosions of hand grenades. When morning came, the boys stared in horror at the Jap bodies and one of them said:
“Jap is a big liar. I think my brother and I want to be like our father – farmers.”
Marine First Lieutenant Hart H. Spiegal of Topeka, Kansas, uses sign language as he tries to strike up a conversation with two tiny Japanese soldiers captured on Okinawa. The boy on the left claims he is “18” while his companion boasts “20” years.
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.
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SHOUT OUT !!!
ANZAC DAY
MAY WE ALL REMEMBER ON ANZAC DAY
Please keep in mind that Tuesday, 25 April is a remembrance day for Australians and New Zealanders.
It is one that I have tried to show respect and honor to…
https://pacificparatrooper.wordpress.com/?s=ANZAC+Day
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Thomas E. Button – NZ; RNZ Navy, CPO (Ret. 20 Y.)
Australian soldier pays tribute
Robert G. Cole – Montague, NJ; US Army, Vietnam, 101st Airborne Division, Bronze Star
Trevor Crawley – Hawkes Bay, NZ; RNZ Air Force # D80250, Flight Lt.
James Graham – Dunlap, TN; US Army, Korea, 187th RCT/11th Airborne Division
Ernest E, Hamilton Sr. – Key West, FL; US Air Force, Korea
Noah Evans – Decatur, GA; USMC, Pfc, M Co/3/Recruit Training Regiment
Peter W. Leufkens – Palm Springs, FL; US Army, Korea
William Peterson – Tamp, FL; USMC / US Coast Guard
Ken Potts (102) – Honey Bend, IL/Provo, UT; US Navy, WWII, PTO, coxswain, USS Arizona survivor
Robert R. Samples – Charleston, NC; US Army, Japanese Occupation, 187/11th Airborne Division, Army boxing team
Jozef Subritzky-Kusza – NZ; RNZ Army # A483345, Sgt.
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From GP –
I apologize if I happen to be missing some posts lately. The routine here has been disrupted somewhat.
Thank you for being understanding.
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Occupying and Feeding Japan
MacArthur’s first priority was to set up a food distribution network; following the collapse of the ruling government and the wholesale destruction of most major cities, virtually everyone was starving. Even with these measures, millions of people were still on the brink of starvation for several years after the surrender. As expressed by Kawai Kazuo, “Democracy cannot be taught to a starving people”. The US government encouraged democratic reform in Japan, and while it sent billions of dollars in food aid, this was dwarfed by the occupation costs it imposed on the struggling Japanese administration. Initially, the US government provided emergency food relief through Government and Relief in Occupied Areas (GARIOA) funds. In fiscal year 1946, this aid amounted to US $92 million in loans. ($1,455,004,307.69 today)
From April 1946, in the guise Licensed Agencies for Relief, private relief organizations were also permitted to provide relief.
Once MacArthur met with Hirohito, he had the political ammunition he needed to begin the real work of the occupation.
While other Allied political and military leaders pushed for Hirohito to be tried as a war criminal, MacArthur resisted such calls, arguing that any such prosecution would be overwhelmingly unpopular with the Japanese people. He also rejected the claims of members of the imperial family such as Prince Mikasa and Prince Higashikuni and demands of intellectuals like Tatsuji Miyoshi, who sought the emperor’s abdication.
By the end of 1945, more than 350,000 U.S. personnel were stationed throughout Japan. By the beginning of 1946, replacement troops began to arrive in the country in large numbers and were assigned to MacArthur’s 8th Army, headquartered in Tokyo’s Dai-Ichi building.
Dai Itchi Building
Of the main Japanese islands, Kyushu was occupied by the 24th Infantry Division, with some responsibility for Shikoku. Honshu was occupied by the 1st Calvary Division. Hokkaido was occupied by the 11th Airborne Division.
By June 1950, all these army units had suffered extensive troop reductions and their combat effectiveness was seriously weakened. When North Korea invaded South Korea in the Korean War, elements of the 24th Division were flown into South Korea to try to fight the invasion force there, but the inexperienced occupation troops, while acquitting themselves well when suddenly thrown into combat almost overnight, suffered heavy casualties and were forced into retreat until other Japan occupation troops could be sent to assist.
2 women of Sasebo
The official British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF), composed of Australian, British, Indian, and New Zealand personnel, was deployed on February 21, 1946. While U.S. forces were responsible for the overall occupation, BCOF was responsible for supervising demilitarization and the disposal of Japan’s war industries. BCOF was also responsible for occupation of several western prefectures and had its headquarters at Kure. At its peak, the force numbered about 40,000 personnel. During 1947, BCOF began to decrease its activities in Japan, and officially wound up in 1951.
Repatriated child, 30 August 1946
The Far Eastern Commission and Allied Council for Japan were also established to supervise the occupation of Japan. The establishment of a multilateral Allied council for Japan was proposed by the Soviet government as early as September 1945, and was supported partially by the British, French and Chinese governments
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Lena Clark – Pryor, OK; Civilian, WWII, ammo plant employee
James E. Dooner – Garfield Heights, OH; US Army, WWII
Ben Ferencz (103) – brn: Transylvania, ROM / Boynton Beach, FL; US Army, WWII, ETO / Prosecutor at Nuremburg Trials
Robert Gavigan Jr. – Miami, FL; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO
Warren Groves – Toronto, CAN; RC Army, WWII, Royal Canadian Legion
Henry Link – Buffalo, NY; US Navy, WWII
Wallace R. Nark – St. Clair, PA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, Pilot and Flight Instructor
Harry L. Prater (100) – Richmond, CA; Civilian, Liberty ship construction / US Army, WWII, PTO, truck driver, 3744 QM Truck Co/473rd Truck Regiment
Matthew Rybinski – Pompey, NY; US Navy, WWII, PTO, gunner, USS Minneapolis, Bronze Star
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How Disney aided the troops in WWII
Disney in WWII
Just one day after Pearl Harbor, Walt Disney received his first military contract and began creating promotional reels, war bond advertisements, short training and instructional films, and other WWII materials. Also at this time, he received requests from military units all over the world requesting Disney-designed insignia’s and mascots.
David Lesjak, a former employee and Disney historian says, “Insignia helped build morale. Having a cartoon character you grew up with on your plane or shoulder patch helped remind you of home. In my mind it was a happy diversion from the horrors of war.”
Hank Porter designs for Disney
One of the purest expressions of Walt Disney’s genuine patriotism during the war years was his decision to establish a unit devoted to producing customized military unit insignia free of charge for U.S. armed forces and their allies. Headed by the talented draftsman, Hank Porter, whom Walt referred to as a “one-man department,” a unit of 5 full-time artists worked steadily throughout the war, turning out 1,300 insignia.
By far, the single most requested and used Disney character was Donald Duck, who was featured in at least 146 designs. The numerous requests for Donald’s likeness resulted in a wealth of drawings that successfully channeled his irascibility as patriotism and military zeal, often with a comedic flourish.
Next, the character that appeared most was Pluto in about 35. Pluto was popular and his trademark facial expressions made it easy for the artists to incorporate him into a variety of insignia. Goofy followed in popularity at 25 insignia and Jiminy Cricket appeared in 24.
B-29 Disney design
Sometimes a unit had a special design in mind and was seeking a Disney artist’s skill to bring it to life, attaching a rough sketch to their request letter for reference.
The bulk of insignia were designed for Army units and Navy vessels, but occasionally individuals requested their own personal design. These requested were accommodated and executed with the same level of care as an insignia for an entire ship, bombardment group or battalion.
The requested letters were often addressed simply: Walt Disney, Hollywood, California. Once a letter was received in was placed in the queue of pending requests, and the turnaround time was usually 3-4 weeks, though a wait of several months was possible when the insignia unit was particularly swamped.
The procedure for the creation of the insignia design varied, but it typically involved a preliminary pencil drawing in which the image was established, then a full-color pencil version and finally a full-color gouache on art board that would then be forwarded to the requesting unit or party. This would often hang in the unit headquarters and serve as a template for reproducing the emblem on aircraft, tanks, and other military equipment – as well as uniforms and letterheads.
Disney war bond
It is difficult today to fully appreciate how it felt for a serviceman to have his unit represented by a Disney-designed insignia. For the generation that fought WWII, Disney character images possessed and iconic heft that has no analog in contemporary animation
A Donald Duck insignia boosted morale, not just because it reminded soldiers of home, but also because it signified that the job they were doing was important enough to be acknowledged by Walt Disney.
The 127th Airborne Engineers/11th Airborne Division’s first insignia was Donald Duck with combat engineer equipment and aviation goggles.
This article and information was printed in the “Voice of the Angels” 11th Airborne Division Association newspaper.
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.
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Military Humor –
Disney humor
Tracking
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Farewell Salutes –
Dominick Amoscato – Hypoluxo, FL; US Navy, WWII
George E. Bisk – Oaklawn, IL; US Army Air Corps, WWII, Purple Heart
C. Boyd Call – Magna, UT; US Navy, WWII
George “Rudy” Greear – Kingsport, TN; US Navy, WWII, PTO, Quartermaster, USS McCoy Reynolds (DE-440)
James ‘Dick’ Hopkins – Midland, MO; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Sgt., 11th Airborne Division
Don Kepler – Massillon, OH; USMC, Korea
Donald Klein – Hayward, CA; US Army Air Corps, Japanese Occupation, 11th Airborne Division
Bernard Lipoff – Brooklyn, NY; US Army, Army basketball team
In Memoriam: Amzi R. McClain; Chester, NJ; US Army, WWII, ETO, TSgt., Batt A/721 Field Artillery/66th Infantry Division
William ‘Billy’ Waugh – Bastrop, TX; US Army, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Green Beret, (Ret. 20 y. Special Forces and 30 y. CIA), Silver Star, 8 – Purple Hearts
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A BAD Military Monday!
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Chocolate in WWII
Chocolate is a fighting food.
Seventy-five years ago, more than 160,000 Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy during the D-Day invasion. And while we all know that day served as a huge turning point for the Allied cause, you probably haven’t thought much about what those soldiers carried with them to eat during and after the invasion.
Food had to be lightweight, nutritious and very high in energy; after all, these men were about to invade Nazi-occupied land. As it so happens, the one substance that could fulfill all those requirements was a very unlikely it — a Hershey’s chocolate bar.
The Hershey Chocolate company was approached back in 1937 about creating a specially designed bar just for U.S. Army emergency rations. According to Hershey’s chief chemist, Sam Hinkle, the U.S. government had just four requests about their new chocolate bars: (1) they had to weigh 4 ounces; (2) be high in energy; (3) withstand high temperatures; (4) “taste a little better than a boiled potato.”
The final product was called the “D ration bar,” a blend of chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter, skim milk powder and oat flour. The viscous mixture was so thick, each bar had to be packed into its 4-ounce mold by hand.
As for taste, well – most who tried it said they would rather have eaten the boiled potato. The combination of fat and oat flour made the chocolate bar a dense brick, and the sugar did little to mask the overwhelmingly bitter taste to the dark chocolate. Since it was designed to withstand high temperatures, the bar was nearly impossible to bite into.
Troopers had to shave slices off with a knife before they could chew it. And despite the Army’s best efforts to stops the men from doing so, some of the D-ration bars ended up in the trash.
Later in the war, Hershey introduced a new version, known as the Tropical bar, specifically designed for extreme temperatures of the Pacific Theater. By the end of the war, the company had produced more than 3 billion ration bars.
In 1942, 200,000 pounds of M&M’s were produced weekly in the Newark, NJ factory, most of it going to the military. Soldiers in WWII carried the m&m’s with them. By the end of the war, the factory was producing 600,000 lbs each week. In 1946, with the war over, M&M’s was readily available to the general population. In 1947, a ¼ lb bag of m&m’s was sold for 15 cents. Going to the tropics, now you know why they were created to melt in your mouth and not in your hand.
Along with the D rations, troops received 3 days worth of K ration packs. These were devised more as meal replacements and not sustenance snacks like the D rations, and came complete with coffee, canned meats, processed cheese and tons of sugar. The other chocolate companies would soon join in with the production.
Soldier with a Tropical Bar
At various points during the war, men could find powdered orange or lemon drink, caramels, chewing gum and of course – more chocolate!! Along with packs of cigarettes and sugar cubes for coffee, the K ration packs provided plenty of valuable energy for fighting men.
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Military Humor –
JOINING THE SPACE FORCE
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Farewell Salutes –
C.A. “Jack” Bates – Sterling, OH; US Army, 188/11th Airborne Division, Germany
Edgar L. Mills – Tampa, FL; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, SSgt. 816BS/483BG/15th Air Force, B-17 gunner, KIA (recently identified)
Anthony Mitchell – Ogdensburg, NY; US Navy, WWII, dive bomber pilot, USS Bennington
Charles A. Spencer – Trinidad, CO; US Air Force
John ‘Mike’ Stetson – Stuart, FL; US Air Force
FROM: the 2 Black Hawk medevac helicopter’s crash – 101st Airborne Division
Jeffery Barnes – Milton, FL; US Army, Afghanistan, Warrant Officer
Emilie Bolanos – Austin, TX; US Army, Cpl.
Zachary Esparza – Jackson, MO; US Army, Afghanistan, Chief Warrant Officer
Isaac Gayo – Los Angeles, CA; US Army, Sgt.
Joshua Gore – Morehead City, NC; US Army, SSgt., flight paramedic
Aaron Healy – Cape Coral, FL; US Army, Afghanistan, aeromedical evacuation pilot
Taylor Mitchell – Mountain Brook, AL; US Army, SSgt., flight paramedic
Rusten Smith – Rolla, MO; US Army, Afghanistan, Chief Warrant Officer, instructor pilot
David Solinas – Oradell, NJ; US Army, Sgt., combat medic Flag, courtesy of Dan Antion
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Pacific Paratrooper 