December 27, 1922: Japanese Launch the First Purpose-Built Aircraft Carrier in the World

DECEMBER 27, 1922

Japanese aircraft carrier  IJN Hosho becomes the first purpose-built aircraft carrier commissioned in the world.  Set the stage for a certain latter event in 1941, didn't it.

--GreGen

No More War Price and Rationing Boards in Sycamore, Sandwich and DeKalb in 1945

From the November 4, 2020, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1945, 75 Years Ago.

"With the War Price and Rationing Board offices at Sycamore and Sandwich having been closed, the files from these offices are being moved to the office in DeKalb.

"The DeKalb office will no longer be known as the DeKalb War Price and Rationing Board but starting tomorrow, will be the DeKalb County Price Control Board.  With nearly all of the rationing programs at an end, all stress will now be laid in keeping prices in line."

--GreGen

The First New Car Since 1942 Makes Its Appearance in DeKalb in 1945

From the October 28, 2020, MidWeek (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back."

1945, 75 years ago.

"The first new automobile to appear in a Sycamore sales room since  February 1942, went on display this morning at the garage of Drayton and Fredericks.

"At the early hours of 7:30 o'clock this morning people had already begun streaming in  to view the car."

Somewhat Back to Normal.  Wonder What Kind of a Car It Was?  --GreGen

Carl Monk Survived Sinking of the SS Leopoldville on Christmas Eve 1944-- Part 2: A Secret for Too Long

June Monk learned that her husband Carl and the other survivors of the sinking of the SS Leopoldville were told to keep it secret.  But word got out many years later after the events surrounding the sinking were declassified.

Around 1994, some of the survivors began talking about it.  Allan Andrade, a retired New York City police investigator wrote a book about it called "Leopoldville: A Tragedy Too Long Secret."

Despite the book and works by other authors and documentaries it is still one of the least-known events of World War II.  (I had never heard of it before.)

Andrade has helped in the formation of the Leopoldville Memorial Association and is historian for  the Leopoldville.org website.

--GreGen

Carl Monk Survived Sinking of SS Leopoldville on Christmas Eve 1944-- Part 1

From the December 24, 2020, Trib Live "Manor World War II veteran survived little-known Christmas Eve disaster off French coast" by Jeff Himler.

Carl Monk, like many WW II veterans, rarely spoke of what happened to him during the war.  He had a small scar near his left elbow that he received while fighting with his infantry unit in France and a brief tale of surviving a German U-boar attack on his transport ship SS Leopoldville on Christmas Eve 1944 about five miles from its destination, Cherbourg, France.

"All he ever said was the boat was torpedoed," said his widow, June Monk, 95, of Manor, Pennsylvania.  "He told me  somebody puled him out of the water and laid him on the deck of a small French ship."

"He never wanted to go on a large ship after that."

After her husband's death at age 85, in 2008, June Monk learned just how lucky her husband had been to be among the survivors of the torpedoed SS Leoploldville.  The Beligian vessel, a former passenger liner, was transporting  more than 2,000 members of the  U.S. Army's 66th Division from Southampton, England, to join the fighting in France.

The transport's sinking claimed the lives of 763 Americans, including more than 80 Pennsylvanians.  Area casualties included two local boys, Pfc. Glenn Elvin Lowry and PFC. Jack Nevin Lowry, twin brothers and  1942 graduates of Rostraver High School.

The incident is considered to be the largest military catastrophe to strike an infanrty division attacked by a submarine in U.S. History.

--GreGen

Remains of Isaac Parker of the USS Oklahoma Identified

From the December 23, 2020, Arkansas Democrat Gazette "Remains of Arkansas sailor confirmed" by Brianna Kwasnik.

Navy Mess Attendant 3rd Class Isaac Parker of Woodson was assigned to the USS Oklahoma that was moored in Battleship Row by Ford Island in Pearl harbor that day.  He was among the 429 who died aboard the ship.

The reason so many of the crew were unidentified was that their bodies were no recovered until starting in 1943.  In 1947, thirty-five bodies were identified.  In October 1949,  all the rest of the remains were classified as  "non-recoverable."

However, now, using DNA, most of those Oklahoma "Unknowns" are being identified.

Isaac Parker was a black man and will be buried June 8, 2021 at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis.  His father, Holsey C. Parker was a U.S. Army veteran from World War II and is also buried at that cemetery.

He was born on June 8, 1824, and joined the U.S. Navy at age 17.

--GreGen

Veteran Henry Naruszwiecz to Celebrate His 105th Birthday

From Dec. 22, 2020, WCVB 5 News, Massachusetts.

World War II veteran Henry Naruszwiecz will celebrate his 105th birthday this January 1 or January 3rd (as some of his family think).  But he is absolutely sure it's the 1st.

He and his two older brothers served in the U.S. military in World War II.

Seventy-six years ago he was at the Battle of the Bulge under the command of  General George S. Patton.  "We had one of the best armored field artillery units he'd seen," Henry said.  "So he sent us up there.  It was two days before Christmas."

Humor has served him well over all those years.  As far as the secret to living so long, he says "I don't know, I don't know. moderate living I would say, don't do anything to excess."

He says he still drives the Buick he bought in 2007 and still has an active Massachusetts drivers license, good for four more years and says that when he is 109, he'll give it up.

The Greatest Generation.  --GreGen

Honolulu's Black Cat Cafe-- Part 2:

One very popular concession they had at the Black Cat was the photo gallery where the men could pose for photographs with "hula girls" to send to their families back home.  "Look Mom, I'm in Hawaii!!  Wish You Were Here."

But, for the servicemen, the food was the Big Thing!!  After the war, eating at the Black Cat was one of the sailor's most remembered times of their Hawaiian experience. Prices were rock bottom.

The menu in 1941 listed hot dogs at 10 cents, hamburgers at 15 cents, a roast turkey dinner for 50 cents, and the most expensive  item was the porterhouse steak with mushrooms for a dollar.

One veteran reminisced:  ... the prices at the Black Cat were about the cheapest you could find anywhere, and we would go over and eat breakfast ... as a matter of fact  we would eat all our meals there.  All the sailors knew about the Black Cat."

For those stationed in Hawaii  during the war it was truly "hotsy-totsy" with gravy.

--GreGen

Honolulu's Black Cat Cafe, A Big Navy Hangout-- Part 1: In the Perfect Spot

From Hawaiian Time Machine.

Paul Goodyear of the USS Oklahoma, went here, but would rather go to a small restaurant that he found.  But, the Black Cat was a major destination of U.S. naval personnel when on liberty.

"A river of white flows down Hotel Street..." an observer  poetically described the scene as thousands of off-duty sailors wearing their white uniforms descended on Honolulu's main entertainment drag, quickly filling the shooting galleries pinball palaces and taxi-dance halls, and the cafes with names like the Bunny Ranch and Lousy Liu's.

Nowhere was the hustle and bustle greater than at the Black Cat Cafe.  Ideally situated across from the Armed Forces  YMCA at the corner of  Hotel and Richards  streets --  a stone's throw from the Iolani Palace -- the Cat provided  the men with food, slot machines, and various other types of entertainment.

--GreGen

Life on USS Oklahoma Before Attack-- Part 4: About the Black Cat and Royal Hawaiian

QUESTION:  Did you go to the Black Cat?  (A popular Oahu bar for sailors)

ANSWER:  Yes, but it was not one of my favorite places.  One of the first times I went on liberty, I found a small restaurant.  It had a bar with a few stools.

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QUESTION:  What was the reaction of Hawaiians to people from the Mainland?

ANSWER:  I didn't have much contact with them.  We used to go to Waikiki and the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.  The Royal Hawaiian had a little grass shack with a fence around it.  We would always try to sneak in and get our picture taken in front of that grass shack.

The guard would chase us away and it was a game of cat and mouse.  If  you were not getting your picture taken you were taking someone else's picture.

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

I'll have to find out about this Black Cat Bar.

Oh, Those Were the Days, But, Then....  --GreGen

Life on USS Oklahoma Before Attack-- Part 3: 'We Were in 7th Heaven'

This interview is very interesting.  I haven't read much about what life was like on those old battleships before the attack.  I also did not know  about the collisions with the USS Arizona and Enterprise.  I don't know, two collisions or near-collisions might mean a problem somewhere.

This was from an interview with USS Oklahoma survivor Paul Goodyear in 2002.

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QUESTION:  What do you hear when the Oklahoma collided with the Arizona?

ANSWER:  I recall the scraping of metal, and crunching sound, but you are so busy, you don't pay attention.

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QUESTION:  When you were going above the armored deck, where were you going?

ANSWER:   I was heading toward the signal bridge.  (His station)

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QUESTION:  When did the ship pull in the first week of December (1941)?

 ANSWER:  It was Dec. 5.  I went on liberty  and went to Capulani (Kapiolani) Park and listened to 'Hawaii Calls'.  We put on bathing suits and went swimming.  We were in 7th heaven.  We didn't have much money so we couldn't do much.

(I am going to have to do some research on the Enterprise and Arizona collisions.)

--GreGen

Life on the USS Oklahoma Before That Day-- Part 2: 'A Good Ship, It Was A Happy Ship'

Questions asked of Paul Goodyear who was on the USS Oklahoma.

QUESTION:  What was your average day on the USS Oklahoma?

ANSWER: The Oklahoma was a good ship, it was a happy ship.  Capt. Foy was our captain and he was a straight shooter.  We had to get up and do some cleaning and studied to take a test for the next rate.  We worked with other guys and tested each other.

We had to swab  the decks, but we never  holystoned the deck because we had battleship linoleum.  We didn't have the wooden decks.  We had to keep or area clean.

All our watches were on the Signal Bridge.  That was on the superstructure.

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

QUESTION:  Tell me about the maneuvers you made in the Oklahoma.

ANSWER:  I think just around Hawaii.  I was  on board when we collided with the Arizona and then near miss with the Enterprise.

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QUESTION:   What happened with the Enterprise?

ANSWER:  I don't know, but the next morning our flagstaff was bent.  "Collision" was sounded and since we were below the armored deck. we had a hatch to go through to get above that deck.  We had a phobia about being  trapped down there.  That hatch was heavy and once it was closed, it was hard to open.  It was the same thickness as the armored deck.  We headed out so we wouldn't get trapped down there.

I remember right before we collided with the Arizona, nothing came over the loudspeaker but we heard the propellers suddenly reversing and we were up through the hatch.  We didn't know what was going on, but we were out of there, just to get above the armored deck.

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

After reading this and knowing what happened to so many aboard the Oklahoma on that December 7, this is strange.  "We had a phobia about being trapped down there."

--GreGen

Life On Board the USS Oklahoma Before That Day-- Part 1: Stay Up Late

From the December  12, 2020,  Examiner-Enterprise  "Goodyear served as signalman on USS Oklahoma"  by Joe Todd.

This was from the second installment of an interview Joe Todd did with Pearl Harbor survivor Paul Goodyear in 2002.  He was aboard the USS Oklahoma in the attack.

It was interesting to find out what life was like aboard the ship before.  His rating was 3rd Class Signalman.

QUESTION:  WHERE WERE YOUR QUARTERS ON THE OKLAHOMA?

ANSWER:  Turret Number 2 came  into our compartment just a couple of feet and we were below the armored deck.  The compartment went from port to starboard.

Radio One was on the port side where the radiomen stood their watches.  It was about ten feet wide and the signalmen had the starboard side of the ship, but we all berthed together in the same compartment.

Since we were below the armored deck, we didn't have darkened ship while at sea.  We could stay up late, write letters, play Acee Deucee or read because we could keep our lights on.

--GreGen

Pearl Harbor in My Other Blogs This Past Monday, 79th Anniversary-- Part 2: Why Must We Remember Pearl Harbor

Continuing with my other four blogs.  Go to the My Blogs section to the right of this, click on the blog and scroll down to December 7 entry.

CIVIL WAR II:  THE CONTINUING WAR ON THE CONFEDRACY:  Mickey Granitch of the USS Pennsylvania getting ready for a football game with the USS Arizona's team.  Fought the battle in his uniform.

SAW THE ELEPHANT:  THE CIVIL WAR:  Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors carry on after the original Pearl Harbor Survivors Association disbands because of age and loss of members.

RUNNING THE BLOCKADE: CIVIL WAR NAVY:  Wayne Rader of the U.S. Army at Schofield Barracks.

ROADDOG'S ROADLOG BLOG:  Why we must remember Pearl Harbor (and why it isn't remembered).

--GreGen

Pearl Harbor in My Other Blogs This Past Monday-- Part 1: The USS Oklahoma Unknowns

This past Monday was the 79th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor and yo commemorate it, I posted about the event in all eight of my blogs.  You can go over to the My Blogs column to the right of this and click on the blogs and go to that date to find out what I wrote.

But, here is a short synapsis of what I wrote:

NOT SO FORGOTTEN: WAR OF 1812:  Walter Ray Pentico on the USS Oklahoma.  Still unidentified.

COOTER'S HISTORY THING:  USS Oklahoma Unknown Grant Cook Jr. of Cozard, Nebraska identified.  Also two brothers from Nebraska William and Howard Trapp.  A total of 22 Nebraskans were killed aboard the USS Oklahoma that day.

DOWN DA ROAD I GO:  Identifying the Unknowns of the USS Oklahoma.

--GreGen

Tulsa, Oklahoma's Last Pearl Harbor Survivor, Arles Cole, Laid to Rest

From December 9, 2020, Channel 6, Oklahoma's own: Pearl Harbor survivor laid to rest."

The last surviving member of Tulsa's Last Man Standing Club will be laid to rest  Thursday.  World War II veteran Arles Cole (I've also seen it spelled Arlis) was aboard the USS West Virginia during the attack.

You do not have to be a veteran to attend the funeral service.  It's at 2 pm at Floral Haven Cemetery.

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

A flag that normally only waves at Memorial Day over Floral Haven Cemetery flew at half staff today in honor of the life and legacy of Arles Cole.  It was a flag that he had given to the cemetery as a donation in 2001 for the Tulsa chapter of a Pearl Harbor survivors association of which he was a member.

The flag has 48-stars, like the one flown December 7, 1941.  It once flew over the USS Arizona Memorial in Hawaii.

Arles was just 17 and on board the USS West Virginia and managed to survive the attack when a dud bomb created o hole in the ship which allowed him to escape.

--GreGen

Pearl Harbor 79th Anniversary: Finding the USS Oklahoma Unknowns-- Part 1

Continued from today's post on my Cooter's History Thing blog.

Of the 2,403 American deaths at Pearl Harbor, 429 were from the Oklahoma.  Of those, only 35 were recovered and identified.  That means there were 394 unaccounted for.

In fact, most of the men who lost their lives that day were not recovered until 1943,m when the vessel was finally uprighted and searches able to be made.  By then, there wasn't much left.

Eventually, all the recovered unidentified remains were  buried together in communal graves at the National Memorial Cemetery  of the Pacific in Honolulu, better known as the Punch Bowl.  That's where they stayed until 2015 when they were disinterred for DNA analysis.

In the five years since, the USS Oklahoma Project  has resulted in 279 identifications.

And, there is hope that they will be able to make a dent in identifying the final 115.  Of those, sadly, so far there has been no family members known for 25 of the men.  That means they will remain unidentified, sadly.

Here's Hoping for Their Identification.  --GreGen

Heroes of Pearl Harbor: Ensign Herbert C. Jones (1918-1941) of the USS Maryland

From the December 6, 2020, Chattanoogan "Jerry Summers: 15 heroes of Pearl Harbor- No. 2" by Jerry Summers.

Ensign Herbert C. Jones was commissioned an officer in the U.S. Navy in 1945, after enlisting in the U.S.  Naval reserve in 1935.  He reported to the battleship USS California in November 1940 and the ship was assigned to Pearl Harbor.

On December 7, 1941, he was about to relieve the officer-of-the deck when the attack came.

In the first wave, the California was hit by both a bomb and a torpedo.  Jones organized and led a party to supply ammunition to the anti-aircraft battery aboard the ship after the mechanical hoists were put out of action.

He was fatally wounded by another bomb and although two sailors tried to pull him from the area which had caught fire, he refused to  do so, saying, words , in effect, "Leave me alone!  I am done for.  Get out of here before the magazines go off!"

Jones was posthumously awarded a Medal of Honor and in 1943, the destroyer escort USS Herbert C. Jones, was named in his honor.

--GreGen

USS Arizona Survivor Lou Conte-- Part 3: Plans On Being at Pearl Harbor Next Year for 80th Anniversary

After Pearl Harbor, Lou Conter stayed in the U.S. Navy, eventually becoming a pilot and flying in the VP-11 Black Cat Patrol Bombing  Squadron.  While serving in the Pacific, he was shot down twice and "helped rescue 219 Australian Coast Watchers from  upper New Guinea behind the lines and living with local  tribes," he recalled.

He stayed in the Navy until 1967, retiring as a lieutenant commander.

In 1991, during the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, he met fellow naval aviator George H.W. Bush.

Mr. Conter had plans to go to Pearl Harbor for the observance this year, but COVID-19 canceled his plans.

Yet, he has every intention of being there on December 7, 2021, for the 80th anniversary.  He says he will be turning 100 just before it.

He also has a book coming out about his life.  Should be very interesting reading.

He Sure Has Lived Through a Lot.  --GreGen

'I Just Did My Job': USS Arizona Survivor Lou Conte-- Part 2: 'I'm No Hero'

To this day, Lou Conter says he wasn't surprised when he saw the Japanese planes coming in.  "We knew  hat something was going to happen long before that; we'd been training for a year and a half."

On that morning, he was fortunately near the back of the ship when the bomb hit that destroyed the USS Arizona.

"The fire was all around the ship where the oil was," he remembered.

But, despite the flames and damage, he stayed aboard the ship for thirty minutes along with others attempting to rescue the wounded and burned sailors.  "We got everybody into the motor launches, got them to the hospital and fought the fire until Tuesday.

In the next days, he returned to his stricken ship several times, going into the ship to retrieve bodies.

"I'm no hero.  I don't believe myself as a hero, I just did my job and did what had to be done to protect America and the American flag," Conter said.

--GreGen

'I Just Did My Job" Recalls USS Arizona Survivor Louis Conter-- Part 1

From the December 2, 2020,  Fox 40 News (California) "'I just did my job:' Grass Valley Navy sailor recalls being aboard the USS Arizona during Pearl Harbor" by Doug Johnson.

Monday, December 7, is the 79th anniversary of this event.  Sadly, every year there are fewer and fewer survivors of it to commemorate it.

However, one local man was there.

"Everyone of us did our job well.  There wasn't one person on the ship that didn't do their job on the ship the way he was trained."  Lou Conter, 99, is one of just two men aboard that ill-fated ship still alive today.  He was a quartermaster 3rd class that day and had just turned 20 two months earlier.

His ship had just arrived at Pearl Harbor on the afternoon of December 5.  Little did they know that at that very time, a Japanese attack force was nearing its destination.

--GreGen

We're Four Days from the 79th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor: Death of Lambert Turner, 92, Served on USS Pennsylvania After the Attack

Since we are now just four days from the 79th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor which plunged the United States into World War II, I will begin devoting this blog to recent events which have a Pearl Harbor connection.

Although, it is very clear that the United States had been preparing for entry into World War II for several years prior to it.

LAMBERT (LARRY) TURNER, 92

Died November 21, 2010.

Born and raised in Minnesota.  Joined the U.S. Navy  during his senior year and was posted to the USS Pennsylvania, which was damaged at Pearl Harbor during the attack and preparing for the invasion of Japan when the atomic bombs were dropped.

Sadly, all too often any news involving Pearl Harbor in WW II these days involves one of the survivors dying.

--GreGen

Relocated Japanese in Union Grove, Wisconsin, Moving to Shabbona, Illinois, to Work in Hemp Industry in 1945

From the September 23, 2020, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1945, 75 Years Ago.

"Announcement was made at Union Grove, Wisconsin,  that approximately 25  relocated Japanese  who have been working on government  contracts there, will leave to work at Shabbona"

They will be employed at the war hemp industries at Shabbona, according to the announcement, leaving Union Grove for Shabbona today."

I didn't know there were relocated Japanese this far east.

--GreGen