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5-17-00
About a year ago but I had an unfortunate accident that laid me back for almost a year. I tripped and fell down
a long flight of stairs near our apartment and had very severe brain damage. I don't remember much of it as I was
out cold. After some time in a trauma unit at Erlanger Hospital , I spent some time in the health care facilities
here at Alexian Village Retirement and Health Care Center. I lost lots of my memory. Your material was a help in
remembering the old times. Thanks a million !!
I was raised in Milwaukee but graduated from Campion High School in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin in June of 1942.
I enlisted in a special Signal Corp program in Chicago in July of 1942 and attended the University of Chicago on
an Enlisted Reserve Status to study radio and telephone communications. We were told that when we completed the
courses we would go to O.C.S. It was my ambition to get a commission since my father was a full Colonel in Chicago,
called to active duty in Headquarters for the Six Corp Area. I also had one older brother who was a Captain in
the Army Air Force and another was an Officer in the Artillery and fighting in Africa. I wore civilian clothes
and was paid $ 130.00 a month by the Civil Service. I was not in the active Army but got credit for Army time.
In August my father was assigned as Commander of the First Internal Security District with his Headquarters in
Detroit. He was responsible for the security of all the defense plants and other operations in Michigan. He loved
the duty as he was able to meet with Henry Ford and other VIP's to discuss conditions at Willow Run, the Ford B-24
plant, and Chrysler Tank Arsenal,etc. He was also told to Commission the Ford sons for duty in Detroit so they
would not be drafted. He commanded the troops that put down the Detroit Race Riots.
When my Family went to Detroit, I moved into the Lawson Y.M.C.A. in Chicago. The courses at the University of Chicago
lasted nine months and then we were told to go home and await active duty orders. It was quite a relief since we
had been on a very tough schedule. Our course was split into three session of eight hours a day. Monday thru Friday
with weekends off.
For several weeks we went to our classes From 8:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. Then we had to change to a 4:00 P.M. to 12:00
A.M. schedule. Then several weeks later to the 12:00 A.M. to 8:00 A.M. schedule. The school was run 24 hours a
day and it really messed up our time for sleeping. It was really tough going to classes at midnight. We all began
to think that the program was a farce. The teachers did not seem to care for their work and were often late or
absent. We became very disappointed and discouraged.
It was only years later that we understood why. We were only a plan of deception for the important work that was
really going on with all the scientists and technical people coming and going. We were just a cover plan for the
real program going on below the University. THE MANHATTAN PROJECT.
We soon found out there was no O.C.S for us. Just Army broken promises to get us to serve as cover up. After nine
months of study, I got my orders to report for active duty at Camp Crowder near Joplin Mo. That's where I got my
Basic Training. Then I just happened to see a notice on the bulletin board in the Orderly Room announcing the A.S.T.P.
Program. It seems the Army was worried that the War would last for many years and there would no longer be any
college trained men to fit into civilian life.
I applied for A.S.T.P., passed tests and then got the old Army "Hurry Up And Wait" routine for orders.
Finally I was sent to the University of Wyoming at Laramie. It was called a STAR unit. All the Coeds were happy
to see men back on the campus again, so we were very popular. We got more testing and more waiting then some men
were eliminated. After more tests we were finally asked to choose our first choice for schooling. I had always
thought of going into Engineering, so I was pleased to be assigned to Engineering course at the Univ. of Iowa in
Iowa City. We were told we would go to O.C.S.,(Officers Candidate School) after we had completed the A.S.T.P.-(
Army Specialized Training Program).
As you know, we were assigned to live in the deserted Fraternity Houses. I had a room mate from New Jersey, Leslie
Bell. We got along very well. He was a better student than I. We had a Commanding Officer, a Captain, who did not
think we should be in school but rather on the front lines. He had been a State Trooper and enjoyed throwing his
weight around.
I remember we had to cross a bridge to get to classes and the mess hall (Union Cafeteria.) Since we had to march
everywhere as a unit, we were suppose to break step when we crossed any bridge, BUT, if we saw a cute Coed coming
toward us we would all get in heavy step and cause the bridge to rock and sway and scare her that it was about
to collapse.
I remember we had a Phys, Ed. instructor we called the "Rubber Man" who really put us through the workouts.
The material you sent is full of familiar names but I recall few experiences. As we got near the end of our course
we heard the rumors that no one was going to O.C.S. but instead we would get duty overseas as Privates in the Infantry.
Just another Army Broken Promise.
But I still wanted that Commission, so I asked to be transferred to the Air force for Pilot training. A couple
of my friends agreed with me and five of us were sent to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for more testing. We were accepted
in the Army Air Force but were told we had to finish A.S.T.P first.
After we graduated I was then sent to Keesler Field near Biloxi, Miss. and there we had to take the Air Force Basic
Training. Then take more tests to see if we qualified for Pilot, Navigator or Bombardier training. It was a fun
test of coordination, quick response, eye sight, etc.,etc. in various machines that tested our reactions to various
conditions. It was like a "penny arcade". I finally got word I had passed and could pick what I wanted.
I Picked Pilot training. Again it was "Hurry Up And Wait" for a Preflight Class to start. So we had to
kill time by visiting in New Orleans and Biloxi. Tough Duty ! My brother, a Captain and a flight instructor at
Randolph Field in Texas flew down and gave me my first flying lesson and also checked and was able to confirm that
I was scheduled for flight school. I was walking on air and thrilled and then I got the "FINAL BLOW"!
We were all called into the camp theatre and were given a copy of a telegram, said to be from General "Hap"
Arnold Commander of the Air Force. It said that the War in Europe was progressing so well that they had enough
men as Pilots but that they had an urgent need for Ground and Service Corp men to prepare for the invasion of Japan.
SO, unless we were originally in the Air Force, we had to go back to our old Branch of Service as a Private for
our training for the Jap Invasion.
"SO AGAIN ANOTHER SNAFU SITUATION AND MORE BROKEN PROMISES.
I wound up back at Camp Crowder for more training in communication. We finally got orders to prepare for transfer
over seas. We were not told where, but since we were issued fresh suntan uniforms we knew it had to be the Pacific.
We went to San Francisco and boarded Liberty transport ship. We sailed alone, not in Convoy, and had to Zig-Zag
to avoid Jap Submarines. We had no idea where we were going. Our ship docked at several ports in the South Pacific
but we never got off. We unloaded cargo and then also loaded other cargo on to move supplies to other combat areas.
We earned quite a few theatre ribbons that way.
We were often under fire from "Midnight Charlie", a lone Jap bomber in most ports. He would fly in late
at night. We would get warning sirens from our Radar units and take cover. He would always bomb the airstrips to
try and keep our planes grounded. He tried to avoid our ship's gunners by flying low between ships. Our gunners
were not supposed to lower their guns to shoot the plane for fear they would hit one of our own ships in the harbor.
But some trigger-happy sailor would want to be the one to knock down a Jap plane and would fire away. We saw the
tracer bullets headed our way and we would duck behind something to take cover for protection.
One time one of our night fighters, with radar in a new plane called "The Black Widow", (It was an enlarged
black P-38 with a radar operator in back of the pilot) started chasing the Jap, and our trigger-happy sailors started
shooting at our plane. The pilot had to blink his landing lights to get them to see he was one of ours and quit.
One day when I was on deck watching our planes come and go, I thought I saw some thing fall out of a Navy Corsair
Fighter plane. Then it opened into a parachute. The pilot had to ditch his shot up plane. He did it over the harbor
to make sure he was seen and picked up. Of course the plane now went into a dive and hit the water hard right between
two of our ships. He was safe but he could have killed a lot of men had it hit a ship. This type of action earned
us a number of BRONZE BATTLE STARS.
The weather of course was very hot. I would not go below deck except for a smoke behind blackout curtains. Our
bunks were stacked five high and if you used them you had someone above you about six inches from your face. The
place always stank horribly from sweat and vomit. My buddies and I would spread a GI blanket on the steel deck
and then lie down with our life preserver as a pillow. One night after weeks on deck, I got so bored that I did
a foolish thing. I decided to take a swim. I could climb down the anchor chain through the anchor well since the
links were very large. It was just like going down a ladder. To go down I squeezed through the anchor well between
the chain and well walls.
It did not dawn on me that the ship will shift while at anchor. When I started up again I noticed that the chain
was moving in the well. I knew then that I was about to be caught between the chain and the anchor well walls.
I was sure I was about to be squashed. I managed then to switch around the chain and get back on deck. I never
tried that again.
Someone must have told the Captain because he came on the loud speaker and said, " No one will be allowed
to swim. There are sharks in the harbor attracted by refuse tossed over the side".
Well, we were on board for almost two months. We saw a lot of the Pacific Islands. I remember that in New Guinea
we docked at Finchhaven and Hollandia. They were Dutch Colonies then. We were almost to the point of mutiny when
we were told we would be landing in Manila as soon as it was secure. The Japs were still fighting there. After
59 days on board we finally pulled into Manila harbor and saw the parachutes of the invading U.S. Paratroopers
still hanging in trees on the Island of Corregidor. They were not there long because the natives got them to use
as clothing, etc.
We climbed overboard on rope ladders into Navy Landing Boats. We were told to stay down because some of the sunken
Jap ships'hulls were still above water and had snipers.
We went to a little village called OAGUPAN and set up a Signal Supply Depot. Later we had to move closer to the
combat area to supply troops. We went to San Fernando on Leyte Gulf. It was strewn with sunken ships. Our Navy
had demolished a lot of ships in the Battle of Leyte. We did a lot of swimming there. We would take a mattress
cover, get it wet and blow it full of air to use like a surf board and ride the large waves.
Later I got a jeep and drove to visit the summer capital of the Philippine Islands, Baguio, up in the mountains.
It was in total ruins. The Japs demolished everything before they left the city.
We stocked up millions of dollars worth of supplies for the invasion. We were being indoctrinated for the invasion
when we got word of the Atom bomb and the Jap surrender. We were elated because we had been told many of us would
never survive the invasion.
After the Japs surrendered we were told we would go to Japan at once to take over communications. It was thought
that the Japs would sabotage everything to prevent our use.
We were to set ip a new communication system. We were loaded on LSMs with our equipment and sailed in convoy.
We had a Navy Destroyer escort that had to seek out and blow up all the Jap mines protecting their Islands. Then
I got the biggest scare of all my time in the service.
Enroute to Japan we ran into very high seas and the Convoy had to split up and separate to avoid colliding with
one another. Then it turned into a very severe typhoon. We lost track of the other ships but heard that some had
lost their landing ramps and were taking on water
I decided I did not want to go down with the ship while trapped below deck. Although we were to stay below, I climbed
into the cab of one of our very large heavy trucks that were chained to the deck. The waves broke over the side
and splashed down on me. I said my prayers.
When we hit the "Eye" of the storm, (very calm), we put into a harbor for shelter but were told we had
to leave by the Harbor Master. He said we would be safer at sea. He was right because we heard and saw in the news
that many ships in the harbor had collided and sunk or were washed up on shore.
We got other sad news also. Ernie Pyle, the famous war correspondent, was killed by a Jap sniper while touring
one of the Islands near us.
I was surprised to learn that about that time the Big Cruiser Indianapolis had been sunk by a Jap sub as it was
returning from transporting the Atom bomb to the Island Airstrip that was the take off point for flying the bomb
to Japan. It was an awful tragedy since everyone thought the war was over. The ship sank and many lives were lost
at sea from shark attacks. The Navy was unaware of the sinking and it took days before a patrolling PBY just happened
to spot the men in the water and rescued the survivors. If you saw the movie JAWS, there is a dramatic scene where
the captain of the shark boat searching for JAWS relates his experience of seeing his shipmates on the Indianapolis
being eaten by the attacking sharks and how he was able to survive.
We finally reached the Tokyo-Yokohama harbor and went ashore. We were billeted in an old brick and steel warehouse
because our fire bombings had burned everything else. I was surprised at the attitude of the Japanese people. At
first they were afraid of us because they did not know what to expect. They thought we would be arrogant and threatening.
But they soon became friendly with G.I. Joe and almost treated us as liberators. I visited with several Japanese
families and enjoyed trying to communicate with them. I learned a little Japanese and they learned some of our
easy expressions. They called me "JIMMISAN"
I was promoted to Technical Sergeant and assigned to command a telephone Central Office. My army designation was
"Central Office Repairman,OS5". All the equipment was very familiar since it was all made by WESTERN
ELECTRIC in USA. However, I could not read the Japanese designations so I was assigned an interpreter. I enjoyed
his company and he kept asking about America. He wanted to go to the USA. He would want me to give him all the
Armed Forces newspapers and magazines so he could learn more about America. One day he came to me very puzzled.
He had read that General Mac Arthur had given a speech to the Japanese people. When he had made a certain point,
the editor said he had "HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD". My man said, "Sergeant, why he drive nails while
giving speech ?"
When I finally explained the expression to him he was very elated an said, " AH SO, VERY GOOT, VERY GOOT !!
". I enjoyed my stay in Japan and took in as many sights as I could. Our fire bombing had destroyed most of
the major cities and all you would see were either brick chimneys or burned out iron safes. I visited many of their
temples and shrines. The Buddha at Kamakura was a huge iron statue and shrine with a lot of history over looking
the sea.
Well after almost four years in the service and over a year in the Pacific, I had enough service points to get
out. We sailed back to San Francisco. We sailed straight back without worrying about submarines because we were
unaware of the fate of the Indianapolis at that time.
Well I guess I got carried away with this and need to stop soon. Today I am 77 years old, still recovering from
my accident but almost back to normal. My long memory is a lot better than my short memory. I have trouble remembering
names.
I have been married to my beautiful and devoted wife Julie for over 50 years. She is a talented artist. We have
a wonderful son named David who lives in Florida with his wife Adriana who is from Bogota, Colombia. They have
a beautiful daughter, Nicole, who is bilingual. David is employed in the hotel marketing business. He travels extensively
on business in the Caribbean to promote business for his resort hotels.
Our lovely and talented daughter Melanie is an R.N. and lives in Colorado with her husband Charlie McGee and daughter
Megan. They operate a camp and retreat center sponsored by the Baptist Southern Conference. Charlie is also an
ordained Baptist Minister and we are extremely proud of all of them.
Well, I'll sign off now and wish you and the gang a very successful reunion of the University of Iowa A.S.T.P.
Veterans.
