80 Years On, the Told and Untold Pearl Harbor Stories-- Part 3: Eugene Marchand, Survivor

Some of the 40 Pearl Harbor survivors have told their stories.  Others may not have.  It is a personal decision and often a hard one.

Horror is hard to repeat.

This was the case with Eugene Marchand, one of the survivors no longer with us.    A few years before his death, with the 60th anniversary approaching, he told in an interview with the Sun Chronicle that for many years after the war he could not bring himself to buy anything made in Japan.

At the time, he was a carpenter's mate  first class  on the destroyer USS Cassin, in drydock.  It was hit by bombs.  He wasn't on board at the time, but in a naval hospital recovering from appendicitis.

He watched the attack from the hospital roof and what he was seeing defied any description.  He could see the chaos in front of him and hear the hundreds of wounded below him in pain and agony.

--GreGen

Percy L. Jones Military Hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan-- Part 2

With the outbreak of World War II, local builder Floyd  Skidmore proposed that the nearly vacant sanitarium be converted into a military hospital.    Upon his recommendation, in August 1942, the United States Army bought the buildings for $2.5 million and F.J. Skidmore & Son rebuilt the derelict structure in just six months working around the clock.

The capacity of the hospital was raised from 1,000 beds to 1,500 and ramps and rails were constructed throughout the facility.

On February 27, 1943, the hospital was officially dedicated by its first commander, Colonel Norman T. Kirk.  He was the former chief of surgical services at Walter Reed General Hospital in Washington, D.C.. The new hospital was named after Colonel Percy L. Jones, U.S. Army,  a pioneering Army surgeon who  developed modern battlefield ambulance evacuation.

--GreGen

Percy Jones Army Hospital-- Part 1: A Varied History

From Wikipedia.

This is where former U.S. Senator Bob Dole recuperated for two and a half years after his wound in Italy during World War II.

It is now part of the Hart-Dole-Inouye Federal Center in Battle Creek, Michigan.

Before it became the Percy Jones Army Hospital, it had a long career, first as  the Western Health Reform Institute which opened in 1866 featuring holistic medicine by the Seventh-Day Adventists.  In 1876, it was acquired by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (invented corn flakes) and it became the Battle Creek Sanitarium.

However, the Great Depression caused the place to go into receivership.

With the United States entry into World War II, it became apparent that places would be needed to treat the large number of wounded military personnel.  

A new use was found for the place.

--GreGen

Her Wedding Dress Made From Husband's Parachute-- Part 6: About That Nightgown

For months, Gerald Bonsonto recovered in hospitals in France, England and Capri, Italy.

While in France, he asked a woman to make a nightgown for his bride out of parachute material;.  The long-sleeved, sashed gown even has a nickname, "Edith," embroidered across the top left side.

Aida said that Gerald told her the cost of the seamstresses' work was two packs of cigarettes.

It was a different time, Aida said, and even though she only wore the nightgown on her wedding day, she machine sewed the originally hand-stitched seams to add durability.  She has also hand-washed the gown over the years.

Back then, the parachutes, said Jerry Bonsonto Jr., "were thin and lightweight, designed to get the men down fast so they wouldn't be targets in the air."

Caroline Bonsonto said the parachute nightgown "looks delicate but it is sturdy as steel."

--GreGen

"Last Man Standing" Honors the Whiskey Pact-- Part 2:

Fred Spencer poured a shot of Crown Royal into a bucket of sand in honor of his deceased comrades.  As the name of each was read off, he pored another shot into the bucket.

Mr. Spencer was just 16 when he enlisted in the Army.  Her needed the permission of his parents to join the National Guard.  Just two years later he was under Japanese fire in New Guinea.  He was hit by a Japanese sniper with a shot that went through his right lung and exited his shoulder blade.

He survived but fifteen members of his unit didn't.  However, he spent a year in the hospital.

When Wheeler Bowman, 97, died in April, Mr. Spencer became "The Last Man Standing."

There is still a Company C in the 126th Infantry Regiment.

--GreGen

Ruth M. Gardiner-- Part 2: Died in Alaskan Theater

She entered Army nursing in January 1943 and served in the Alaskan Theater.

She died when her plane crashed while on a medical evacuation mission on July 27, 1943.

A hospital in Chicago was named for her on July 9, 1944.  A crowd estimated at 3,000 attended the dedication.

The hospital had 1,250 beds.

--GreGen

Ruth M. Gardiner-- Part 1: First Nurse Killed In Line of Duty

From Wikipedia.

In the June 10 post, I wrote about the Chicago Beach Hotel being turned into a hospital named Gardiner General Hospital.  It was named for Ruth M. Gardiner, the first nurse to lose her life in World War II while in the line of duty.

May 20, 1914 to July 27, 1943.  Nurse in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps.

She trained as a nurse at the White Haven, Pennsylvania, Sanitarium and graduated in 1934.

--GreGen

Chicago Beach Hotel/Hospital-- Part 2: Became an Army Hospital

The Algonquin Apartments were built on the original hotel site.  Ludwig Mies van der Rohe designed these apartments.

During World War II, the new wing was taken over by the military and served as the Gardiner General Hospital.

After the war, the building was the headquarters of the Fifth Army.

The hotel/hospital was demolished in the early 1970s.  Regents Park Apartments, constructed in the 1970s are now on the site.

--GreGen

Chicago Beach Hotel (Hospital)-- Part 1: A Luxury Hotel

From Wikipedia.

In my June 2 post, I wrote about art teacher Miss Miner from Sycamore High School (Illinois) who was to teach manual arts to disabled soldiers recovering in Chicago area military hospitals.  One of those was the Great Lakes Naval Hospital in North Chicago.  I'd, however, never heard of the Chicago Beach Hospital.

This hospital was originally a hotel.

The Chicago Beach Hotel was originally a luxury resort hotel at 1660 Easy Hyde Park Boulevard.  It was built in 1892 for the Columbian Exposition and boasted 450 rooms and 175 bathrooms.

In 1921, a 12-story building with 545 rooms was constructed on the eastern portion and the original hotel was demolished in 1927.

--GreGen

Teaching Disabled Soldiers the Manual Arts

From the May 30, 2018, MidWeek  ":Looking Back."

1943, 75 Years Ago.

"Miss Miner, art teacher at Sycohi (I had to look this one up, it stands fro Sycamore Community High School), has been informed that she will be definitely teaching the soldiers who are disabled at the Great Lakes and Chicago Beach Hospitals.

"Among things she will teach will be handicraft, weaving, drawing and any other manual art they might wish to learn to do.  This new job will occupy only the summer months and possible Saturdays of her time as she will continue to teach throughout the school system in Sycamore."

--GreGen

Christmas for the Boys-- Part 4: "And a Blonde With That Pair of Gloves"

The sick recipients were invited to provide wish lists.  Most weren't too particular, but "one patient added a blonde to his request for a pair of gloves."

About 12,000 readers sent gifts, most of them asking to help more than one ailing service member

The reason for giving among readers was varied, but one Elkhart, Indiana, woman shared a common sentiment:  "The best Christmas present I could wish for is the knowledge that thru my puny efforts some of these gallant boys will realize that we on the home front appreciate what they are doing for us."

Pictures accompanying the article:

World War II Battle of Guadalcanal veterans Bernard Sgilagyl, Varner Johnson, George Stevo, Leland Kimrey and Harry Simonetti open gifts in 1943.

Lt. Mary Wrona, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, plays Santa to Pvts. Ray Radke and Stephen Valenti, both from Chicago, in the hospital at Rockford's Camp Grant in 1943.

A Great Deal.  --GreGen

Pearl Harbor Survivor Finally Gets His Purple Heart

From the September 16, 2017, Herald Dispatch (West Virginia)

Wetzel "Sundown" Sanders, 94, was at an anti-aircraft battery at Hospital Point, manning a .50 caliber machine gun.  He shot down multiple Japanese planes, but a chunk of shrapnel hit him and he ran to the hospital.

However, his paperwork for the wound was misplaced.

He remained in Hawaii until may 1942, and after that participated in other Pacific battles.

--GreGen

Pearl Harbor Survivor Al Taylor Was a Reluctant Hero

From the January 19,2017, Quad-City (Iowa) Dispatch by John Marx.

Alvis "Al" Taylor died earlier this week at age 93 on January 16, 2017.

In 2013, there were three Pearl Harbor survivors in the Quad-City area: Eldon Baxter, Al Taylor and Bob Cewe.  Bob Cewe died in 2014.

Mr. Taylor was an Army medic at Schofield Barracks and 18 years old in the attack.  He guided ambulances to pick up wounded soldiers and non-survivors, working 48-straight hours non-stop.  Also, he helped a physician who specialized in traumatic head injuries.  he proudly said that the nineteen soldiers he assisted all lived.

"There was no break.  You just did what you needed to do," he recalled.

Another of the Greatest.  --GreGen

Shorpy Home Front: Toys to Heal

Again, you can see the actual photograph by typing in the capital letters.

SEPTEMBER 5, 2016  PINE & SECOND 1943    February 1943  "Daytona Beach, Florida, street scene.  Gordon Parks, OWI.  This was one of several photos he took in the black section of town.

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016  TOY HOSPITAL : 1942   November 1942.  Babies' Hospital, New York.  "Nurse training.  Through classes in pediatrics, student nurses learn how the right toys can be almost as important as medicine and diet in getting a sick child well.

Encouraging an interest in play and normal activity of childhood hastens convalescence.  Fritz Henle, OWI

Another aspect of the war you don't think much about.

--GreGen

Shorpy Home Front Photos: A Need for More Nurses

You can see the photographs by typing in hand the name of the photo.

June 14, 2016, A Shot In the Arm: 1942.  November 1942.  "Nurse training at Babies' Hospital, New York.  Student nurses like Susan Petty of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, are rendering their country a great service by making it possible for experienced nurses to join the Army or Navy Nurse Corps.

"Relieved of such civilian duties as administering injections like this smiling youngster, graduate nurses are attending American fighting men in distant parts of the world."  Fritz Henle, OWI.

Comment:  Susan Petty graduated from Linden Hall, Northwestern University and Columbian Presbyterian School of Nursing and was the war photo icon for the national recruiting campaign for nurses during World War II.  She lived to be 94.

My comment:  Why was the youngster receiving the shot smiling.  Perhaps because the nurse was so pretty and young or perhaps the photo was staged and he really wasn't getting a shot.  I know I would not be smiling under any circumstances if I was getting a shot.

I Don't Care How Pretty She Was.  No Smiles for Shots Unless Alcohol.  GreGen

Looking Back: April 1941: A Need for Nurses

From the April 20, 2016, MidWeek (DeKalb County, Illinois)

1941, 75 years ago.

"The job of taking care of more than 1,400,000 young men in camps over the United States for a year of military training has fallen more or less into the hands of trained nurses because in such a large concentration of people the need for vast hospital facilities and nurses to watch over 62,000 beds is most urgent."

We weren't at war yet, but those war clouds were on the horizon.

--GreGen

Illinois Pearl Harbor Survivor Dies in 2013

From the Feb. 8, 2013, (Il.) Journal-Standard by Travis Moore.

Dean Garrett, 92, of Freeport, Illinois, died Sunday.

He was a young hospital corpsman at the base hospital that day and spent the next 72 hours helping the wounded and dying.

He was the former president of the Northern Illinois Pearl Harbor Survivors Association.

He lost his best friend and fellow corpsman John Mulick on the USS Oklahoma.

--GreGen

New York's Grand Central Palace

From Wikipedia.

I had never heard of this building when I wrote about it earlier today for my February Calendar blog entry about the World War posters.

It was an exhibition hall in New York City built in 1911, replacing an earlier Grand Central Palace on the same site.  Standing 13 stories tall and occupying Lexington Avenue between 46th and 47th Streets.  It was built over the railroad tracks leading into the Grand Central Terminal.

It served as New York City's main exposition hall until it closed in 1953.  In the late 1920s, early 1930s, the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show was held here

Besides dances and the hospital mentioned in the previous blog, it also served as an induction center during World War II.  many physical fitness exams were given here.  I was unable to find out any other information about its role during the two world wars, but being by the railroads, I am sure many military personnel passed through it.

It was demolished in 1964 to make way for 245 Park Avenue building which has 48 floors and was completed in 1967.

--GreGen

World War Calendar Posters-- Part 4: 7th Vacation Ball at Grand Central Palace

This one is from World War I.

7th Vacation Ball.  February calendar.

On the poster, an army soldier and a navy sailor saluting a young woman holding an American flag.

"Under the Auspices of the Vacation Association, Inc. 7TH VACATION BALL --  GRAND CENTRAL PALACE --Lincoln's Birthday --  Feb. 12, 1918 --  8 P.M.  --  Admission  Fifty vents  --  Including Hat Check  --  THE BALL WITHOUT AN INTERMISSION."

Two floors of the Grand Central Palace's twelve floors served as a dance hall until September 1918 when the building was leased to the U.S. government.  Once the government refitted the building, the Grand Central palace became the largest military hospital in the nation, caring for 18,190 injured and sick returning World War I veterans.

I wonder if they also took care of those who had the influenza from the Great Epidemic?

--GreGen