Bits of War, Nov. 2019; Two USS West Virginia Unknowns from Pearl Harbor Identified, 1st U.S. Flag on Normandy Beaches Shown

**  Navy Fireman 1st Class Bethel E, Walters, 25, was killed on board the USS West Virginia n December, 7, 1941.  His remains were recovered but couldn't be identified.  He was from Bellevue, Texas and his remains were identified with DNA.

**  Hadley Heavin's body was among those unknown from the USS West Virginia when it was attacked at Pearl Harbor.  No decision has been made as to where he will be buried, in Hawaii or back home at his family's cemetery in Baxter Springs, Kansas.

**  The first U.S. flag flown on the beaches on D-Day was displayed at the  Lodge Casino in Billings, Montana, on Saturday, Nov. 23.  Sgt. John Horvath flew it and then sent it home to  his wife in Ohio. This year, Navy veteran Steve Billey saw the flag was for sale and bought it for $162,500.  He also got Horvath's dog tags and Purple Heart.  The flag also has a bullet hole in it.

--GreGen

Cookies and Sewing for the Boys

From the March 13, 2019, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1944, 75 Years Ago.

**  "Cookies for the boys in service of Cortland  Township will be packed Tuesday evening at the Charles Forest  home."

**  "The Fairdale ladies who are interested in Red Cross work sew at the school house each Wednesday."

--GreGEn

Marvin Kornegay of the USS Texas at D-Day-- Part 2

This bombardment continued for the rest of the day, during which a total of 441 shells were fired at the Germans.

Perhaps the best representation of the Texas' power on June 6, 1944, occurred six hours into the invasion when Allied infantry were stopped and forced to cover  by sniper and machine gun fire.  Recognizing the  defense being exhibited around Exit D-1, the Texas moved to within 5,000 yards of the shore.  Accompanied by a few destroyers, she unleashed her main guns on the Germans and "completely demolished all structures in the Exit, reducing them to rubble."

Today, it is a museum ship near Houston, Texas, and the only dreadnaught left in the world.  For four decades she sailed the globe and fought in some of the most important battles of World War II.  She was the most powerful and most complex weapon the world had ever seen when she was commissioned.  For a brief time, in all the world, she had no rival.

--GreGen

War Production for the Northern Illinois Corporation Upped in 1944

From the March 13, 2019, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1944, 75 Years Ago.

"For the past several days the Northern Illinois Corporation, manufacturing division,  has been working a 24-hour a day schedule following an emergency  order received from the ordinance (probably ordnance) division of the War Department.

"Instructions received from the ordinance (ordnance) department were to step up production at the local plant to the limit.  All of the other employees were called back, but with the shortage of available help at the present time, a number of business men and others have been helping in the assembly lines."

--GreGen

See Northern Illinois Corporation (finance company) for more information and on Thomas E.  Courtney

Remains of USS West Virginia Sailor Killed at Pearl Harbor Identified: Hadley Heavin

From the February 4 2020,Four States Home Page.com

The defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency has identified the remains of two Kansas sailors killed at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

One was Rex Wise who I wrote about earlier.

The other was Navy Fireman 1st Class Hadley Heavin who was 23, one of 106 killed aboard the USS West Virginia that day. He was from Baxter Springs.  He will be buried May 23, 2020, in Baxter Springs, Kansas.

--GreGen

Remains of USS Oklahoma Victim Rex Wise Identified

Kansas Public Radio

The remains of a Kansas man who was killed 78 years ago on the USS Oklahoma have been identified.

U.S. Navy Fireman 1st Class Rex Wise was just 21 when he died,  one of 429 who died aboard the Oklahoma that day.    He will be buried in April  near his home in South Haven.

The Defense POW/MIA announced that he was accounted for in the fall of 2019.

Welcome Home.  --GreGen

Two More Pearl Harbor Survivors Die: George Larson and Walter Borchert

December 23, 2019

**  Pearl Harbor survivor George Larson dies at age 101.  He was a radio operator in the U.S. Coast Guard stationed at Pearl Harbor during the attack. 

The first thing he knew about the attack was seeing three planes flying about 500 feet above him.    He held his post as bombs fell.  Messages rolled in and it was his job to sift through them.

After the attack there was fear that the Japanese would land troops on the island.  He said:  "I was put on patrol around the lighthouse.  I walked around the water's edge with my .45 revolver cocked and loaded."

**  Walter Borchert, Pearl Harbor survivor died.  U.S. Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class was aboard the destroyer USS Worden which was anchored near Battleship Row and saw the USS Arizona blow up.

After the attack, his ship went out to look for the Japanese fleet.  When his ship returned to Pearl Harbor he helped pull dead bodies out of the water and said, "It wasn't a pretty sight."

His ship later fought at Midway, Coral Sea, Mindanao and Tulagi Island.

He was the last Pearl Harbor survivor of the Lakes Region area.

--GreGen

Earthquake Bomb Found and Detonated in Poland

From the October 12, 2020, U.S. News & World Report.  Reuters.

It was a five-day operation to defuse the largest-ever WW II bomb found in Poland.  During the war, this earthquake bomb was dubbed the Tallboy and used by the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and weighed nearly 5,400 kg and packed 2,400 kg of explosives.

It was found in the Piast Canal which connects the Oder River and the Baltic Sea and was dropped in 1945 during an attack on the German cruiser Lutzow.

That's One Really Big Bomb.  --GreGen

Ten Little Known Facts About WW II-- Part 3: City Tricked the Allies, Oops and the Author

 3.  A GERMAN CITY TRICKED ALLIED BOMBERS INTO THINKING IT WAS IN SWITZERLAND

The city of Konstanz (birthplace of Ferdinand von Zeppelin, famous for his airships and giving part of the name of that rock group).  However, during the war, three companies in the city were producing military hardware for the Germans.

How'd they do this?  Read the article and find out.

2.  NAMING BLUNDER

CINCUS to COMICH  to drop.  Now CNO.

1.  THE PROMISING YOUNG ENGLISH AUTHOR WHO DISAPPEARED

Dan Billany had already published two books.  Then he was captured in Italy.  Then?

--GreGen

Ten Little Known Facts About WW II-- Part 2: Tsars, Missing Nazi Uranium, a Volcano and the French Bretons

Remember, if you want to know more, go to the ListVerse site.

7.  TSAR BORIS III OF BULGARIA DIED

But the question is, who killed him?   Tsar Boris III had done a lot for Bulgaria, rebuilding it after World War I.  He kept his country neutral during WW II.  But, he died in 1943, apparently poisoned.  

6.  MISSING NAZI URANIUM

The Nazis were getting close to harnessing nuclear energy.  But, no one today knows exactly what happened to several hundred Nazi uranium cubes.

5.  THE US AIR FORCE VS. AN UNDEFEATABLE ANCIENT ENEMY

And that ancient foe was none other than Mt. Vesuvius.  The Allies occupied the region around it in mid-March 1944, when it erupted again.

4.  BRETON SEPARATISTS WERE NAZI COLLABORATORS AND RESISTANCE FIGHTERS

From the French region called Brittany near where D-Day took place.

--GreGen

Ten Little Known Facts About World War II-- Part 1: American Soil, Fought Together and an American Massacre

From the October 13, 2020, ListVerse by C.J. Phillips.  I am just going to write a little bit about each one.  For the complete story, go to the site.

10.  A BATTLE ON AMERICAN SOIL

Japan actually invaded U.S. territory in Alaska.

9.  THE GERMAN ARMY AND AMERICAN ARMY FOUGHT TOGETHER

At the Battle for Castle Itter.  It wasn't a big battle, but the two sides did fight together.

8.  THE MIDNIGHT MASSACRE

On July 7, 1945, an American soldier opened fire on German and Italian prisoners in Salina, Utah, with a machine gun, killing nine.

--GreGen

10 Odd Jobs of World War II-- Part 3: Field Artillery Sound recorder and Airplane Woodworker

9.  FIELD ARTILLERY SOUND RECORDER

Until the development of radar, sound ranging was one the most effective ways to locate enemy artillery, mortars and rockets.  The process was first developed in World War I, and then continued being used through the Korean War.

From a forward operating post, a field artillery  sound recorder would monitor  an oscillograph and recorder connected to several microphones.  When the sound of an enemy gun would reach a microphone, the information would be recorded on sound film and the data from several microphones could be analyzed to locate an enemy gun.

The technology is still in use today by many countries, which often use  sound ranging in concert with radar.

10.  AIRPLANE WOODWORKER

Although wood was largely phased out and replace by tubular steel in airplane construction by the time World War II started, there was still a need for airplane woodworkers to repair and maintain existing aircraft-- especially gliders and some training aircraft.

Wooden gliders like the Waco CG-41--  the most widely used American troop/cargo glider of the war--  played critical parts in the action.  The CG-4A was first used in the invasion of Sicily in July 1943.  They most commonly flew airborne troops into battle, most famously on the D-Day assault on France on June 6, 1944 and in Operation Market Garden in September  1944.

They were also used  in the China-Burma-India Theater.

--GreGen

 

10 Odd Jobs of World War II-- Part 2: Coopers, Model Makers, and Pigeoneers

6.  COOPER--  Built and repaired wooden buckets, barrels, casks, kegs used to pack, store and ship supplies and equipment.  Wood was used for much of WW II, but improvements in cardboard and metal packaging  marked the beginning of the end for wooden transport items.

7.  MODEL MAKER--  Created scale models of military equipment, terrain and other things used as training aids and operational planning.

One of their proudest moments came in Operation Fortitude which was aimed at fooling the Germans as to where Allied troops would be landing on D-Day.  Dummy buildings, aircraft and landing craft were constructed by modelers and positioned near Dover causing the Germans to withhold reinforcements to the Normandy beaches.

This was the famed "Ghost Army."

8.  PIGEONEER--  Responsible for all aspects of the birds' lives.  They would breed, raise, train and care for their birds which were used to deliver messages.  Birds would be trained to fly at night and that food and water would be located at different locations.

According to the military, some 90% of their messages were delivered successfully.

--GreGen

10 Odd Jobs of World War II-- Part 1: Blacksmiths and Those "Foxhole Radios"

From Dec. 28, 2019, World War I

From Department of Defense.

1.  BLACKSMITHS

Made items to repair machinery and make horseshoes for the tens of thousands horses and mules still used in the military.

2.  MEAT CUTTER

Hey, the troops ate meat.  Somebody had to carve it up.

3.  HORSEBREAKER

Train horses and mules to do their job.  Horses and mules not used as much as in WW II as WW I, but still around.  For example, the 5332nd Brigade in Burma  had 3,000 mules assigned to it.

4.  ARTISTS AND ANIMATION ARTISTS

Maps, illustrations, film,

5.  CRYSTAL GRINDER

Many radios required crystals to operate.  Personal radios not allowed on front lines, but crystal sets lacked power to be detected by the enemy.  So those on front lines improvised crystal radios.  These were known as "Foxhole Radios."

--GreGen

New Aircraft Carrier to be Named After Doris Miller

It was announced that a future Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier will be named after Pearl Harbor  hero Dorie Miller.  It is the first aircraft carrier ever to be named after a black sailor or an enlisted man because of heroic actions.

He was ship's cook on the USS West Virginia when the attack came and manned a .50 caliber Browning anti-aircraft gun until he ran out of ammunition and then helped other sailors.

Later,he died on the USS Liscome Bay when it was hit by a torpedo and sank in 1943.

This is the second Navy ship named for him.  The other one was the USS Doris Miller (FF-1091) which served 1973-1991).

A Well-Deserved Honor.  --GreGen

Winston Churchill & Barbara Frietchie-- Part 2; "Shoot If You Must"

In May 1943, in the midst of World War II, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill visited President Franklin Roosevelt in Washington to firm up the Allied alliance.  For a weekend break, President and Mrs. Roosevelt, Churchill, and presidential aide Harry Hopkins journeyed to Shangri-La, the presidential retreat in the Catoctins in Maryland (now Camp David).

As they drove through Frederick, Maryland, Churchill, a close student of American history, inquired after the house of Barbara Frietchie.  That moved Harry Hopkins to quote the famous line, "Shoot if you must, this old gray head...."

"When it was clear that no one else in the car could add to this quotation," Churchill recalled, "I started out."  He proceeded to recite, from memory, in those resonant Churchillian tones, the 30 couplets of Whittier's "little ballad," to the astonishment and delight of his audience.

All pitched in when he got to "Shoot, if you must...."

Wonder if they took a detour by Barbara's place?

--GreGen

Winston Churchill and Barbara Frietchie-- Part 1

Here is a story that goes between two wars.

The Winter 2019 issue of Civil War Monitor had an article titled "The Barbara Frietchie Caper" by Stephen W. Sears, which in effect debunked the whole story of the famed Barbara waving the U.S. flag at Confederate troops passing through her Frederick, Maryland, on their way to the Battle of Antietam in 1862.

You know, the poem by John Greenleaf Whittier that had the couplet:

"Shoot if you must, this old grey head,
But spare your country's flag."

Well, that story gets another line during World War II with that great English statesman Winston Churchill.

Wonder What It Was.  See the Next Post.  --GreGen

Dutch Taking Care of American Graves in Their Country-- Part 3

The American Cemetery in Margraten put out a call put out a call to local residents to see if they would like to adopt the grave of an American soldier.  Harrie's grandmother called and found out that William Herron's grave had not been adopted.  She immediately adopted it.

"Often I bring her by car from Beek to Margraten, "Harrie said, "She did this for 42 years."

In 1986, I took it over with love and passion, he said.  "I feel it as a duty, a desire  to take over what my grandmother started.

The family has adopted the graves of three other American soldiers and have photographs and addresses for Darrell M. Tranbarger and Garland W. Monzingo, but not of Jerome R. Lane or William Herron.

There is a waiting list to adopt a grave, and all 8,301 graves there have been adopted, according to Harrie.

"We must never forget the brave people from another country who died for our freedom." he said.

--GreGen

Bits of War: A Congressional Gold Medal and Two More Remains Identified

**  Nicholas Robolino awarded Congressional Gold Medal posthumously.  He was a member of a top secret air group of B-24 bombers in the 492nd Bombardment Group called "The Carpetbaggers" tasked with dropping supplies and spies behind German lines.

**  Marine killed at Betio, Tarawa, identified and buried in Iowa.  Marine Corps Reserve Pvt. Channing Whitaker.  He was only 17 when he enlisted in 1942 and was killed Nov. 22, 1943.  Many Marines killed there were not identified at the time and DNA is being used.

**  U.S. Army Air Forces Tech Sgt. Max W. Lower was on a B-24 when it was shot down during Operation Tidal Wave on August 1, 1943, over the oil fields at Ploiesti, Romania.  Some 310  died that day but his body was not identified and buried in Romania and then in a U.S. military cemetery in Belgium.

His body was identified using DNA.  He is now buried in Utah.

--GreGen

Dutch Taking Care of American Graves in Their Country-- Part 2

The Dutch family, however, is missing a photograph of William A. Herron and would like to have one.  Harrie Visschers discovered that William was born August 19, 1924 in  Keokuk, Iowa.  He wrote to the City of Madison in hopes of finding  a descendant with a picture to place on his grave.

The library found a death notice, but no photo with the obituary.

STORY FROM A CAFE

During the war, German soldiers would look for places .  Cafe owners had to take them in or risk being shot. Harrie's grandmother and grandfather had a cafe  and said that the Germans were polite and "normal young people."

"Nearing the end of the war, the liberators -- American and Canadian soldiers passing through to the front lines -- also found shelter in the cafe of my grandparents,"  Harrie said.  "Grandmother was a great cook, and so she indulged the boys, their heroes.  But with one soldier she had a special mother-son relation."

That was William Herron.

After he left town, he sent her another letter asking her that if he was killed in Germany that Tina should send the letter to his parents, who lived in Ohio.

Once Tina discovered that William had been killed in the town of Wesel on March 24, she mailed the letter.

--GreGen

Private Tranbarger's Grave Is Cared For By Netherlanders-- Part 1: Also Take Care of Grave of William A. Heron of Keokuk, Iowa

From the December 8, 2016, Daily Gate City (Keokuk, Iowa)  "Netherlanders care for American graves" by Chis Faulkner.

In April 1945, Tina Visschers-Cleuskens of Beek, Limburg, Netherlands  adopted the grave of an American soldier who died there in World War II and is buried in the town of Margraten.

His name was William A. Herron, a private first class from Iowa as the war was nearing its end and Americans were in the process of  liberating their country from the Germans.  William Herron died  on March 24, 1945, just a few days before the end of the war.

Every year, on March 24, Tina visited his grave, and also on Christmas and Memorial Day, and placed gladiolas on his grave.

She died in 1988 at the age of 91, but her grandson, Harrie Visschers, has continued the tradition.

The family also takes care of Darrell M. Tranbarger's grave at the cemetery.   Darrell's brother Orval was killed on the USS Oklahoma on December 7, 1941, and his remains just identified this year.

--GreGen

World War II on April 14, 1945

The death of Darrell Tranbarger came on April 14, 1945 when I read that 338 U.S. military personnel also died.  So, I decided to look up what was happening that day and which one he might have been involved in.  

From HistoryHowStuffWorks site

Things Happening on April 14, 1945.

APRIL 14--  Allies march through the center  of encircled German troops in the Ruhr Pocket, taking prisoners and splitting German ranks.

APRIL 14--  The Allies launch Operation Teardrop to locate German U-boats in the North Atlantic rumored to be carrying V-2 Rockets to be used against New York City.

*****************************

Events around April 14.

APRIL 12--  President Franklin Delano Roosevelt dies suddenly after suffering a stroke at his Warm Springs, Georgia, vacation home.  Vice President Harry S. Truman is sworn in as president.

Most likely, he was involved in the battle known as the Ruhr Pocket.

--GreGen

Private Darrell M. Tranbarger, Orval's Brother, Killed in 1945

In my April 8, 2020,  blog entry, I wrote about Seaman 1st Class Orval Austin Tranbarger's remains from the USS Oklahoma being identified.

I came across his name in Find-A-Grave and see that his poor family lost a son not only in the opening minutes of the war, but also another one in Europe on 14 April 1945.  Germany's official surrender came on May 7, 1945.  His parents most likely didn't find out until after Germany's surrender.

The sorrow they had to feel had to be indescribable.  Losing sons at the beginning and end of the war like that.

PRIVATE DARREL M. TRANBARGER

Born:18 Mar 1923 in Missouri

Died:  14 April 1945  (age 22)  in the Netherlands

Burial:  Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial, Netherlands.

He was the family's second-born.  Orval was the first-born.

--GreGen