Aircraft Carriers Serving As Air Transports

Continued from previous blog entry.

During World War II, smaller aircraft carriers often performed the role of aircraft delivery.

More recently, in the late 2000s, the USS Bon Homme Richard transported "red air" aggressor jets to Hawaii for exercises.

In 1992, two B-25 Mitchell bombers took off from the aircraft carrier USS Ranger to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Doolittle Raid on Japan in 1942.  That operation involved sixteen b_25s taking off from the carrier USS Hornet.

The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson brought another group of warbirds to Hawaii for the 50th anniversary of the end of the war.

--GreGen

USS Essex Delivers Warbirds to Hawaii for 75th Anniversary of End of WW II

From August 11, 2020, Drive  "Amphibious assault ship USS Essex carries load of gorgeous World War II warbirds to Hawaii" by Joseph Trevithick.

The U.S. Navy's Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Essex recently served as a transport ship, bringing  a load of WW II-era warbirds to Hawaii.  Included were  a P-51 Mustang fighter,  and a B-25 Mitchell bomber.  They are to take part in the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II on Friday, August 14.

There were other planes as well, such as two Catalina flying boats, an F8F Bearcat fighter, an FM2 Wildcat  fighter, two Texas  trainers and a Boeing -Stearman PT-17  biplane.

There were a real lot of photos of them moving the planes off the ship.  Go to the site and check them out.

Hopefully the Planes Will Remain for the 75th Official Anniversary of the End of the War with the Signing of the Japanese Surrender on the USS Missouri.   --GreGen

World War II Surrender Ceremony on Board the USS Missouri to Be Held September 2, 2020

From the August 24, 2020, "WW II surrender ceremony in Hawaii limited to local veterans" by Hannah Patrick.

This 75th World War II anniversary at Pearl Harbor will likely be the last  opportunity for many of that war's aging veterans to attend a commemoration, but sadly will only be limited to those veterans living in Hawaii because of coronavirus concerns.

Originally plans called for 200 to assemble on the deck of the battleship USS Missouri, where the original surrender ceremony took place in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945.

Organizers are working on a way to make the event virtual for WW II veterans on the mainland.

Here's Hoping They Find a Way to Make It Virtual.  --GreGen

Another Way to Tell the War is Over: End of Lend-Lease

On August 21, 1945, 75 years ago, President Harry Truman ended the massive Lend-Lease program that shipped $50 billion in aid to Allies during World War II.

--GreGen

Floyd Welch, Pearl Harbor Survivor on the USS Maryland, Dies at Age 99-- Part 1

From the August 18, 2020, West Hawaii  "Floyd Welch, survivor of Pearl Harbor, dies at 99" by Pat Eaton-Robb.

Floyd Welch, who is credited with saving  the lives of fellow sailors in the attack, has died at age 99 on August 17 in East Lyme, Connecticut.

He was born in February 1921 in Burlington, Connecticut and was serving on the USS Maryland that December 7, 1941.

He said he was coming out of the shower when he heard the first alarm and later the explosions from bombs and torpedoes.  Coming deckside, he saw a raging fire and the USS Oklahoma, tied up next to the Maryland, was turned over.  He first started helping pull Oklahoma survivors out of the water.

"By using blueprints of the Oklahoma, so as not to burn into a fuel void, we began the long and extremely difficult process of  cutting holes through the bottom steel plates of the Oklahoma," he said in his remembrance of the battle.  "When we could see the planes coming, we would try to find cover.  We would cut near where we heard the trapped crewmen tapping.  In all, I believe 33 men from the Oklahoma were rescued through these holes."

--GreGen

75 Years Ago Today Was V-J Day, the Real End of World War II

From Wikipedia.

Victory Over Japan Day (also known as V-J Day, Victory in the Pacific Day, or V-P Day) is the day Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect, bringing that war to an end.

The term is applied to both days in which the initial announcement of the end of the war was made --  August 15, 1945, in Japan, and, because of time zone differences, August 14, 1945, when it was announced in the United States.  It also applies to September 2, 1945, when the official surrender document was signed.

The long nightmare was finally over.

--GreGen

Death of One of Nevada's Last Two Pearl Harbor Survivors, Leonard Nielsen, 98-- Part 1

From the August 12, 2020, Las Vegas (Nevada) Review-Journal.

November 30, 2018 Veterans Reporter News.

He died on August 9, 2020.

Mr. Nielsen joined the Navy in 1940 and trained at San Diego.  Upon completion of boot camp, he was assigned to the USS Arizona and sailed to  Pearl Harbor where he was transferred to the heavy cruiser  USS Pensacola where he was a ship-fitter (a sailor who made underwater repairs to the hull of the ship).

On November 30, 1941, the Pensacola left Pearl Harbor to transport Marines to Midway Island, but he had gotten sick and remained at Pearl and had an emergency appendectomy on the hospital ship USS Solace four days before the attack. He was still on that ship on December 7.

And, he had quite the view of the unfolding carnage.  "The wave after wave of Japanese planes never seemed to stop," he said.  "What startled me most  was seeing a Jap plane fly by so close I could clearly see the pilot's face."

--GreGen

McHenry's Keep the Spirit of '45 Alive 2020 Commemoration-- Part 2: Come On, We need More Publicity About the Event

I just found out about the ceremony the night before it took place this past Sunday, August 9.  We were at Sunnyside Tavern in Johnsburg, Illinois, when my buddy Mark showed a copy of the commemoration events.  I knew right then I was going to attend.  Again, it is something I do in remembrance of what truly was the Greatest Generation (which is also my sign-off for this blog, GreGen in case you're wondering) and it is so sad to see them leaving us at such high numbers these days.  Even the youngest WW II veterans are around 95.

This year, instead of all the ceremony taking place at Veterans Park in McHenry as it has always done before, there was to be a flagpole and flag dedication at four local cemeteries which did not have them.  It was to take place one after the other from 10 am to 1 pm.

I made the mistake of not writing the times and places down as I figured I'd have no problem finding this information on the computer at home.

BIG MISTAKE

I should have known better.  Even though this is a really large ceremony, one of if not the very largest in the state and country (where sadly the vast majority of towns and cities have nothing), there is very little publicity of any sort.  Every year, I have a difficult time finding out any particulars about it.  But, at least I knew where it would be.

But, this year it was a moving commemoration and I needed to know where and at what time it would be.

I checked Yahoo Search, but only found information about the past nine or ten years.  Nothing for 2020.  This event is put on by McHenry's three veterans organizations:  the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Polish Legion of American Veterans.  So I checked their websites.  Nothing.  Then I checked the City of McHenry and McHenry County websites, but again, nothing.

--GreGen

McHenry's Keep the Spirit of '45 Alive Ceremony-- Part 1: Dedicated to Uncle Delbert and Roy S. Hume

McHenry, Illiniois, commemorated the end of World War II yesterday for the 11th straight time.  Only this year it was different.  The first ten times the ceremony was held in Veterans Park downtown and the guests of honor were originally the World War II veterans (but now has been extended to the Korean War veterans).

They had special seats near the gazebo bandstand where a Big Band played before and afterwards.  Speeches were given by various politicians and commanders of veteran organizations.  McHenry has three of these:

American Legion
VFW
Polish Legion of American Veterans

Each veteran had their name read and branch of service, years served and something about their service.  Then there was a rifle salute by the Combined Veterans Honor Guard and white doves were released.  American flags were all over the park.

It is a striking ceremony and one that I have attended the last eight years.  But this year, I almost didn't get to go to it.  I wasn't even sure they were going to have it.  The ceremony is always scheduled for the second Sunday in August.  This is also the same day that Johnsburg's St. John the Baptist Church has their Parish Fest.  We always go to that as well, then I leave early and drive over to Veterans Park.

With the coronavirus this year, Parish Fest was canceled and I figured the Keep the Spirit of '45 Alive was as well.  With the advancing ages of our WW II and Korean War veterans, having their presence at a ceremony, even one outside did not seem to be a good idea.  But on Saturday night I found they were going to have it.

I will dedicate this year's Keep the Spirit of '45 Alive to my Uncle Delbert, who was a member of the 101st Airborne and at the Battle of the Bulge where he and one other member were the only two in his company to survive unscathed.

I also dedicate this to my buddy Mark's dad, Roy S. Hume, USN, who served on board the aircraft carrier USS San Jacinto along with a young officer named George H.W. Bush.

--GreGen

The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki-- Part 1: "Prompt and Utter Destruction"

From Wikipedia.

The United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6, 1945, and August 9, 1945, respectively.  The two bombings, between them, killed  between 129,000 and 226,000 people. most of them civilians.    These two bombings remain the only two times atom bombs have been used in conflict.

In the final year of World War II, the Allies were preparing for what surely was to be a very costly invasion of the Japanese homeland.  The undertaking was preceded by a conventional firebombing campaign which devastated 67 Japanese cities.

The war in Europe had ended May 8 with the German surrender.  Now the Allies turned their attention to Japan.  They called for an unconditional Japanese surrender of their armed forces under the terms of the Potsdam  Declaration on July 26, 1945.  If they did not, the Allies promised "prompt and utter destruction."

The Japanese fought on despite the ultimatum and dire warning.

--GreGen

Today Is Also "Keep the Spirit of '45 Alive"

This is a day to honor World War II veterans (and now Korean War veterans) as it also marks the anniversary of the end of World War II.

And, I went to one of the ceremonies where four new flagpoles and U.S. flags were dedicated in cemeteries in and around McHenry, Illinois.

The flagpoles were given by a family, with construction donated by a local company and a year's worth of large U.S. flags donated by the McHenry American Legion.

I have been to this commemoration in McHenry for the last eight years.

I was afraid it wasn't going to be held this year because of you-know-what.

--GreGen

75 Years Ago Today: Nagasaki

Seventy-five years ago today, the United States dropped the second atom bomb on Japan.  This time on he city of Nagasaki.

The dropping of these two bombs finally made the Japanese government realize the futility of further resistance and World War II end a few days later.

--GreGen

Death of Pearl Harbor Survivor Phillip G. Tveten, 99

From the April 16, 2020, Cavalier County (ND) Republican.

Died April 9, 2020, in his sleep.

Born October 28, 1920, on his family farm in Hatton, N.D..  Went to elementary school in a one-room schoolhouse and graduated from Hatton High School in 1938.  Enlisted in U.S. Navy  in December 1939 and went through training at Great Lakes Naval Training Station and was assigned the the battleship USS West Virginia.

He was on it during the December 7, 1941, attack which he survived and spent the rest of the war serving on destroyers in the Pacific.    He was on the USS Henley (DD-391) when it was sunk by a torpedo off the coast of New Guinea in October 1943 and spent six hours in the water before rescue.

The rest of the war he was on the USS Leutze (DD-481).  Aboard this ship, he survived a kamikaze hit that resulted in 38 casualties and put the ship out of commission for the remainder of the war.

Mr. Tvetin was discharged from the Navy in December 1945.

Quite a Naval Record.  --GreGen

75 Years Ago Today: Hiroshima

Seventy-five years ago a single bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and its detonation and another one a few days later ended World War II.  The atom bombs.

They were a horrible weapon without a doubt and it is my belief that had they not been dropped, the capture of Japan would have resulted in even more deaths than those two blasts.  And, I am talking about both Japanese lives and American ones.

I have no doubt that the Japanese were prepared to fight to the last man, woman and child.  And that is considering they no longer really had the ability to win the war or stop the Americans.  American casualties would have been a minimum of 100,000 and perhaps many more.

So, as bad as their use was, it ended the war right away and that was a good thing.

--GreGen

Lt. John Fox, Black Medal of Honor Recipient

Last week I wrote in my Civil War II: The Continuing War on the Confederacy blog that one person thinks one of the Army bases named after a Confederate should be renamed for this man.  I'd never heard of him so looked him up in good ol' Wikipedia, and would have to say he would be a worthy person to name the base after in his honor.

From Wikipedia.

JOHN R. FOX  (May 18, 1915-December 26, 1944)

United States Army 1st lieutenant  who was killed in action after calling in artillery fire on the enemy during World War II.  In 1997, he was awarded the nation's  highest military decoration for valor, the Medal of Honor,, for his actions on December 26, 1944, in the vicinity of Sommocolonia, Italy.

Fox and six other Blacks who served during World War II were awarded the Medal of Honor by President Clinton on January 13, 1997,  in a ceremony at the White House.  The seven recipients were the first and only Black Americans  to be awarded the Medal of Honor  for World War II service.

This is considering that 25 Blacks received the Medal of Honor in the Civil War (including one at Fort Fisher).  Eighteen received the medal during the Indian Wars, six during the Spanish-American War and two during World War I.

Personally, i would like to see recommendations for the Medal of Honor opened again for deserving Blacks from World War II.

How So Few Blacks Were Awarded Medals of Honor Just Doesn't Sound Right.  --GreGen