Veterans Day - Dad's journal of his WW2 voyage from New Guinea to Manila (dial-up warning)

[bigtree]

(Dad, second from left, with locals)

[Swede]

1. 'Old soldiers never die, they just fade away'

We have to let them live on in our memories.

[Captain Hilts]

2. Great stuff!

[bigtree]

9. memories are all that's left me of him

. . . am the only one left to recall. It's a privilege.


The Major (later, The Lt. Colonel - Army Reserve)

[tomm2thumbs]

3. wish I could rec a dozen - but thanks for the work on scanning & uploading this

super stuff

[peace13]

4. Thank you for posting this!

How sweet that your father kept the record. Thanks!

[Love Bug]

5. Thank you for sharing this, bigtree!

I liked the passage about sneaking a shower in the middle of the night and how "Filipino women are lacking in budoir talent"! lol I also didn't know the Coast Guard went so far from our shores. Very interesting. Is your dad still with us?

The PBS show "History Detectives" did a story this year about a WWII pilot who had the diary of one of his fellow pilots and wanted to find the family so it could be returned to them. In the story the investigator visited the Library of Congress and they are interested in collecting copies of wartime diarys for their archives. You might want to consider sending them a copy of this.

[bigtree]

7. no, dad's gone. We had a inseparable five years together before he died of Alzheimer's

He kept this in the softest leather binder I've ever seen. Must have kept it dear for years.

He had one story about being promised he'd have the time of his life if he paid for passage to an island where ladies were waiting. He paid the money, was rowed to the island, only to find a group of 'scary heifers' who frightened him back to the boat and back to shore, curing him of his youthful curiosity. :rofl: Wonderful to recall him telling the stories.

[Love Bug]

11. I'm sorry to hear that. I lost my mother to Alzheimer's

so I know what you went through. How fabulous is it to have all of those memories of his younger self written down, isn't it?

My father was in the Royal Canadian Army in WWII and he died at 49 of heart disease. I miss him every day, still.

[bigtree]

12. yep. you do know.

I actually found this after he was in any condition to explain it, but I'd heard other stories about his trip. He was right out of a Quaker High School in Reading, Pa. - had been working for the Conservation Corps there -



and he joined up and took off on this adventure. His unit was mostly a clean-up crew after the forces had gone through. But he had the time of his life. On the way home, he said that he had to switch off of the integrated train and wait for the 'colored' one the rest of the way back home. He discharged from the Army shortly afterward, went to college on the GI bill and met my mom there. He later joined the Army Reserves and rose to the rank of Lt. Colonel before he retired (not until after protesting the advancement of several whites before him to a sympathetic commander). It was, interestingly enough, that first small bit of service which enabled him to be buried in Arlington Cemetery with full honors. Yeah, great to have the memories. Sorry about your dad. Theirs was a fascinating generation.

[Love Bug]

15. My dad served in Europe with the Royal Canadian Army

He drove a tank in his unit and was wounded and left for dead in Holland. When he came to, he had been stripped of everything except his shorts! He had no use for Hollanders after that! His injuries healed and he returned to fighting. After the war he met my mother at a USO dance and eventually he became a tool and die maker for Chrysler. Mom told me once that for years after they were married Dad would have occasional nightmares of the war. Like many who've been through it, he didn't talk much about the worse of it, but mainly about his friends and any good times he had. Three of my dad's brothers served, too, and even though one was in the D-day invasion, they all came through it ok.

Yes, they were a fascinating generation. I think going through the Depression toughened them up and enabled them to survive the hardships and sacrifice required of them during the war perhaps better than they would have been able to otherwise. I am sure they would have preferred NOT go through all that, of course.

[bigtree]

18. .

thanks, Love Bug. Best wishes.

[unhappycamper]

6. Thanks for posting this.

k&r

[dionysus]

8. awesome. great read!

[Bonhomme Richard]

10. Thanks n/t

[Brother Buzz]

13. Cool beans! What unit was your father assigned to?

My uncle was a Major with the 93rd Division. His unit first went to Guadalcanal then Bouganville. He was finally located to New Guinea, November 1944, until the end of the war.

[bigtree]

17. I'm not sure what the unit was in New Guinea

. . . but he was discharged from the regular Army in '45 listed with the 628 Ordinance Company Ammunition as a Staff Sergeant. He called it a 'clean-up' unit. I think I remember him telling me that he got that promotion in the field because he seemed to be able to exercise some authority over the other blacks he was serving there with. (asked him to 'keep an eye on them')

[Zomby Woof]

14. My wife needs to see this

Her father served in New Guinea and the Philippines, in the U.S. Army. I have no idea what unit, etc, but she has told me many of his stories (he passed away 11 years ago, and I never met him), including enduring meals of rice infested with maggots. He never ate rice again for the rest of his life. So many things they saw and experienced we could scarcely imagine.

Thank you for sharing this.

[malaise]

16. WOW!

What an amazing read. Thank you!

Big time Rec!! :hi:

[nini]

19. I remember these pictures.. and our dads both being in the same place in WWII

I really need to find out if this was the exact ship etc.. my dad got there on. New Guinea and the Phillipines is where he was too. Here is in in a picture from back there.





Reading this reminds me so much of my dad today. Thanks for posting.

[bigtree]

20. I think it's a big dad day

My wife was drawn to thinking about her 'Sarge' dad.

Handsome guy, your dad. Wonderful photo.

[nini]

21. yep.. good dad day

sorry I missed your reply last night. I don't know if you remember the pics I posted last year of my dad with some local women LOL.

I think I told you the story of when he was in the hospital before he died and had a Filipina nurse. When she found out he was in the Phillipines during the war she thanked him for what he did. He was overwhelmed and said no one had thanked him before. It was a great moment and it meant so much to him and me.

Thanks to our dads - 'Sarge' too ;-)