WWII stories

[Panamoka_Bassin]

The Flags of Our Fathers thread got me thinking about WWII and my grandfather's journal one of my aunt's found and put into an email.  I thought you guys might like to see it, though it isn't much...

"I've been reading Daddy's letters that he wrote to Grandma. Most of them are reports of letters received and letters he need to respond to. He didn't want to worry Grandma and so I've found that he didn't write much due to that and censorship restrictions. I found that he started on the Aaron Ward, then went to the USS Chestatee (AOG-49) in Oct 23 1944 which hit a mine or something Aug 15, 1945; then on to the USS Dyson DD 572 January 1946 and  April 11, 1946 on the the USS Roosevelt. His friend Stanley Poirier (after whom Michael is named) was from Ipswitch, Ma. Daddy got to know the Poirier family because he and another mate roomed at their home while one of the ships was being built at a shipyard in Ipswitch.

I located a small, black, leather book that had the only personal information of Daddy's detailing the sinking of the Aaron Ward. I thought I'd send it to you all in case you were as interested in it as I am.

If any of you have any other information, I'd really appreciate receiving it. I wish I was interested in this when there was someone around that I could ask...

I will type it as accurately as possible. Some of Daddy's spelling was fairly creative and I'm not sure if it is a Navy word or misspelled.

love, Weezie

April 7 1943

4:20 Bombed by Japanese dive bombers off Guadalcanal. Three bombs: first near miss stoving in Fwd. F.R. bulkhead. Second direct hit Aft. E.R. Third near miss Aft. F.R. and Fwd. E.R. floods entire space.

Tugs began to tow us to Tulagi harbor twenty five miles away. Ships hull six inches above water. I have head set on connected with bridgeduty steering from fantail. Ships stern started sinking fast at 10:00 water near me is three foot deep at shalow side ship has 25 degree list to stbd. Sterring control secured. No word to abandon ship. Water to arm pits am holding to rail to keep from floating off. Rest of fantail crew in liferafts. Lost my hold on rail and start swimming for rafts 10:20. While swimming heard orders shouted for tugs to cut all tow lines. Abandon ship.

Reached raft just in time to look back and see the ships bow raise perpenduclular throwing many men into the oily water. Their cries are unexplainable. Somewhere lost in the tug screws.

Ship sunk at 10:25 one mile from our goal.

49 dead or missing about 25 wounded.

Picked up at 11:20 by whale boats and put on tugs. Tugs crew swell to us. Gave us coffee and smokes. Put ashore at Tulagi and taken to army camp. Slept a couple hours and at morning

April 8th 1943

Woke up tired and without clothes (abandoned oil soaked ones on tug). Given Army trousers, shirt, shoes, socks, hat, toothpaste, brush, carton on cigs.

Attended services for our dead  visited graves of our dead of Nov 13, 42

April 9th

Went aboard U.S.S. Strafford (transport) p-41 at 9:30. Ship under way and anchored in Purvis Bay, Tulagi. Remained aboard ship

April 10th

Anchored in Purvis Bay aboard U.S.S. Strafford

April 11th

No change. Condition Red in A.M.

April 12, Still anchored in Purvis Bay on U.S.S. Strafford    Six condition reds

April 13 No change Condition Red 9-11 Much A.A. fire and planes all over Mighty Nervous

April 14 still in Purvis Bay.

April 15 Thurs still anchored in Purvis Bay. At 3:30 LCT5 took all survivors to spot where A.W. was sunk. A memorial to our dead. Was surprised to see how close we were to our destination. Another 10 minutes she would have been beached. We threw three wrethes on the water after a prayer by chaplin of Tulagi. Marines fired a three gun salute and taps were played.

Washing Machine Charlie hasent been over for two nights.

April 15 still in Purvis Bay. Made out chit to get money that was on the books when the A.W. went down. Gyro started this P.M might get under tomarrow I HOPE!

April 16 Still in Purvis Bay. Air Raids on Guadalcanal visibal from here. Also some A.A. fire from tulagi.

April 17 Anchored in Purvis Bay on Stafford AP41 One air raid at night.

Sun  April 18 Attended church meeting consisting of crew. Saw movie Back street this P.M.   **** droped flares and bombs off Guadalcanal and Tulagi.

Mon. 19 Left Stafford this P.M. in LCT boat and went to Tulagi. Left Tulagi in LCT boat and boarded transport Fuller. Steamed away from Guadalcanal at dusk. Headed for Nomeau, New Caledonia.

April 20 en route to New Caledonia on Fuller PA7. Meet a fellow named Lyons from Sag Harbor talked all P.M.

April 21 en route to New Caledonia.

April 23 Arrived at Noumeau Cal.   Stayed on ship.

April 24 left Fuller PA7 at 9:30 made Navy landing and went by freight train up in the mountains to survivors camp (concentration camp)

April 25 Easter at survivors camp.   24th Batt. Seabees.

Church this morning. Movies Johnny comes marching home

May 10  - Still at Navy Casual Camp New Caledonia. Expect to leave for U.S. any day.

Next duty new destroyer.

May 19 left Casual camp on trucks this P.M. Took passage on Dutch ship.

May 20 expect to leave Nomeau tomarrow on  Dutch cargo ship.

May 21 Underway from Nomeau at 0600 on Dutch ship S.S. Japara

California here we come.

June 1 En route from Nomeau to San Francisco should dock the sixth.

SS. Japara

That's all he wrote except at the back of the book he drew two maps (one was a zoomed in version) showing where the RR tracks came through the mountains and where the tents were. He drew a creek where they could swim and wash clothes, where the latrines were and where they watched movies and where his tent was. He titled these pages, Survivors Camp (Noumea)  -- which he spelled differently than in the other pages and which I believe is the correct spelling."

-Sounds like a very brutal experience, and I'm very grateful that I never had to go through anything like it!

     

[BASS fisherman]

Thanks for taking the time to type all that out.  It is scary enough reading about it, let alone to be there.

Just keep "Aint_texan" in your thoughts since he is currently over in Iraq.  On the news this morning, they said that October is one of the most dangerous months over there yet.

[Zel]

My father served in the Navy on a Liberty Transport in WWII, a favorite target of the enemy. He never really talked much of his experience in WWII. But occasionally he told a couple interesting stories before he passed on.

Many of the trips involved ferrying German prisoners of war to the U.S. On one occasion the trip involved transporting only German SS troops. They beefed up security for the transport because these were considered the elite troops of the Third Reich. My father said the SS troops were a big surprise to them. They were well mannered, very polite and gave them absolutely no problems, contrary to what they expected. Often my father would trade smokes or food items for medals and patches of the prisoners. On this particular trip my father was making hand gestures to an SS officer about trading for his SS lightning bolt and skull & crossbones patches. The prisoner smiled at my father and said in an American accent something like Sure, I would love to trade my patches for a taste of home. It appears he was an American university professor who was visiting family in Germany before the U.S. got involved in the war, and was conscripted into German military service against his wishes.

One other story was about several trips to and around Japan right after the war. He told me stories of some of the massive caves where the Japanese had their secret weapons. Some of the things I remember him telling me he saw were rocket bombs, rocket suicide aircraft, jet planes, and mini suicide subs. Their job was to load the secret weapons onto the Liberty Transport, and take them back to the U.S.

An aside My grandfather (on my father's side) was an immigrant to the U.S. from the Slovak Republic.  He once showed me a letter he received and was signed by Adolf Hitler, before Germany went to war with the U.S.   It seems the Slovak Republic was an ally of the National Socialist Germany (Nazi).  From what I garnered, apparently Germany got hold of lists of Slovak immigrants to the U.S., and was targeting individuals who had vast experience in certain U.S. manufacturing process, which was considered beneficial to the Nazi war effort.  I remember the letter asking my grandfather to return to the Solvak Republic, because his loyalty was expected to be with Hitler and his cause, and not with the United States.  Hitler implored him to return and provide his experience to the efforts of the Third Reich.  I asked my grandfather what he did when he got the letter.  He said he laughed when he read the letter because he knew his country (America) was soon going to war because all of Europe was falling into the control of the Nazis.  He felt war with Germany was the only way to free his family from tyranny in Europe, but was dismayed when it got into the hands of the U.S.S.R. after the war.  He told me that after the war, his family had a novel way of getting money into the hands of their family in Communist Czechoslovakia.  They would send their 80+ year old aunt to Europe by boat, and then she would take trains into Czechoslovakia with money sewn into her clothes.  If she was ever approached by the police or the army, she would yell so everyone would hear her on the train that she was an American visiting family.  She yelled that they would have to shoot her before she would allow them to put a hand on her.  This tactic worked for her on several occasions I'm told, and she was never caught.    

[Crabcakes]

My Grandfather served in the 295th Jasco and was responsible for establishing radio lines and other communications equipment. He was in over 15 landings including Saipan Tinian Tarawa and Enewetok. Their unit had incredibly high casualty rates. His brother served on a supply ship in the Mediterranean that was sunk. He was a skinny guy so he was able to swim out through a porthole and was rescued at sea. He was sent to the pacific after that. By a freak chance they met each other when their units passed through the same island. They had no idea the otherwas their and I can only imagine their surprise.

His stories were unbelievable. He'd tell me about hearing the bullets bouncing off the metal door of the landing craft. I never learned much more than that as my Grandpa became very ill.

[Ky_Lake_Dude]

my great-grandfather marched on Omaha Beach 3 days after d-day but never really saw any action he was a private 1st class i am not sure what regiment he was in but he has since passed away he died in 2004.

[paparock]

During my summers, I worked for Amoco Oil Company, which allowed me to pay my bills during the school year. During those summers, one of the men I worked with was on the Bataan Death March during 1942 and he spent the rest of WW II in a prison camp in Japan at hard labor much of it under ground in a mine. The treatment he received was such I could not bring myself to relate a lot of it here but it is safe to say he was lucky to have survived it because most did not. He was in his forties but had to eat baby food because it was all his body could handle. His story and his struggle to maintain his dignity was an inspiration to me as a college student of what my father and those of their generation sacrificed for me. My father said very little about his experiences, he lost his entire company to Japanese torpedoes as they were going to attack some island in the Pacific. My father had been removed and put under quarantine with scarlet fever. After that his files were flagged and he was transferred to the medical service corps from the infantry. He became a male Psyc Nurse. When I was older he talked just a couple of times about some of the men he helped treat that came back from the Pacific Theater of War with their bodies whole but with their minds shattered. Those stories flooded me with so many emotions all at the same time heart rending, rage, pity, agony, and helplessness. Not all wounds at visible and those not visible can be some of the hardest to heal. We need to also remember our soldiers that are in war today as you read this, no matter how you feel about Iraq. Those brave soldiers have nothing to do with politics but they do suffer the consequences of political decisions no matter who is in the White House. Support our troops!

[cart7t]

My Dad was a bombardier on a B-17 during WWII.  He doesn't talk much about it but did say the movie Memphis Belle had some pretty realistic scenes in it that portrayed what they went through up there.  It's a far cry from the aim the laser at the target and push a button style of bombing today.

He also said that had Hitler used the ME-262 as a fighter from the git-go the European war would've gone on a lot longer.  The gunners on the 17's couldn't hit the things because they were too fast and our fastest fighter, the P-51, could only keep up with them if it started out from a high altitude and went into a steep dive.  

[Catt]

My Dad served in the Navy and was at Normandy, later he was sent to the Pacific Theater. He didn't talk much about it but when he did I was horrified at what these heroes lived through and then with.

My father-in-law was in the Army Air Corps, his was a photographer, he pasted away in 60s but his wife has dozen of photos from all over. Some are of Queen Elisabeth, many movies stars who served, USO shows, and some of down town London on Victory in Europe Day. I have 6 or 7 undeveloped rolls that we can not find anyone willing to develop; no one wants the responsibility in case some thing goes wrong.

My sister-in-laws Dad and Mother were both in the Army Air Corps and were the first ever couple married who were both in the military.