One Who Survived Pearl Harbor and One Who Didn't

**  Ed Johann joined the Navy at age 17, was at Pearl Harbor and just turned 95.  He was on a hospital ship's water taxi when the attack came and spent most of rest of the day rescuing the wounded from the battleships.  Lincoln City, Oregon

**  W. Francis Roberts was ion the USS Arizona and died that day.There is a new exhibit at the Berman Museum of World History in Anniston, Alabama,and a letter of his to his parents on December 5, on USS Arizona stationery is in it.   He was to be temporarily part of the Arizona's crew.  He did not survived December 7, 1941.

This museum also has a piece of the USS Arizona, a large metal piece with rivets.

--GreGen

Kamikaze Strike on USS Tennessee, April 12, 1945

From Wikipedia.

In the last post, I gave Henry Cannon's account of the kamikaze hit on the battleship USS Tennessee.

On the afternoon of April 12, 1945, the Tennessee was one of the fire support battleships when she was attacked by five kamikazes.  Four were shot down, the last three within hundreds of yards of it.  The fifth one, an Aichi D3A Val dive bomber got through and flew at the Tennessee's bridge.

It ended up crashing into the signal bridge. and began sliding aft along the superstructure, crushing anti-aircraft guns and their crews.  It was carrying a 250-pound bomb went through the deck and exploded.

Twenty-tow men were killed or mortally wounded and another 107 wounded.

However, it did not put the ship our of action.  The dead were buried at sea and wounded transferred the following day to the casualty-evacuation ship USS Pinkney.  The ship's crew then did emergency repairs and by April 14, the ship was back in service.

--GreGen

When Kamikaze Hit the USS Tennessee, Henry Cannon Jumped Into Action

From the July 6, 2018, TPR Org.  by Danielle Trevina.

"People throw a rag doll into the air," said Henry Cannon.  "That is how I flew into  the air.  I was hurt pretty good."

After only a few weeks of basic training, Mr. Cannon was assigned to the battleship USS Tennessee (BB-43).  The Tennessee had been repaired and modernized after Pearl Harbor was attacked.  A few days into the Battle of Okinawa, on April 12, 1945, a kamikaze crashed into his ship.

He rushed to help wounded friends, but an officer told him to seek cover because Henry was also badly wounded.  All in all, he helped eight wounded to the medics.

--GreGen

Mr. Luxton Closes His Cafe One Day for Lack of Help

From the July 11, 2018, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1943, 75 Years Ago.

"For the first time since his restaurant was remodeled, Ernest Luxton closed up for the day because of lack of help.

"Mr. Luxton posted a sign on the door of the cafe that the place was closed to allow the help a little rest.

A Severe Labor Shortage Everywhere It Would Seem.  --GreGen

Rabbits Being Unpatriotic

From the June 27, 2018, MidWeek "Looking Back."

1943, 75 Years Ago.

"Following reports coming from residents in some parts of DeKalb that rabbits are destroying much produce in Victory Gardens comes information the animals are raising havoc in the forest preserves.

"Harley Renwick, game warden, was in the south end of the county the fore part of this week and in talking with the custodian of the Simonauk preserves, learning of considerable damage done there."

--GreGen

The DeKalb Township Honor Roll Dedicated in 1943

From the June 27, 2018, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1943, 75 Years Ago.

"Yesterday afternoon at 5:00 o'clock the DeKalb Township Honor Roll which was erected on the Lincoln Highway near Fourth Street was unveiled at a dedication ceremony.

"The ceremony was planned as a part of the Army salute to this country and an honor guard from the 740th Military Police Battalion took part in the dedication."

This was a list of names of those serving in the Armed Forces from DeKalb Township.  The military police were in DeKalb County to guard the war industries.

--GreGen

Soldiers From Camp Grant Come to Sycamore to Help in Canning

From the June 27, 2018, MidWeek  (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back."

1943, 75 Years Ago.

"Approximately 40 soldiers from the Camp Grant (Rockford) area arrived in Sycamore early this morning to work in the fields of the California Packing Corporation in an effort to assist the canning company in putting up what produce is ready at this time and avert heavy spoilage."

Still, the Manpower Shortages on the Home Front.  --GreGen

How Well Do You Know Your WW II Slang-- Part 5: What Was a Pecker Checker?

16.  WHAT WAS A POSTER OF A SEXY MOVIE STAR IN A SWIMSUIT CALLED?   Pin-Up.  Some of the more famous ones were Rita Hayworth, Veronica Lake, Betty Grable.

17.  A PECKER CHECKER CHECKED SOLDIERS FOR WHAT?  Venereal Diseases.  Done by a doctor or medical assistant.  Also known as a Pricksmith.

18.  WHAT WAS R&R?     Rest and Relaxation.  Also known as Rest and Rotation.

Lookin' For A Little R&R Myself.  --GreGen

Jamaicans Arrive to Help in the Fields and Factory of the Sycamore Preserve Works

From the July 4, 2018, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1943, 75 Years Ago.

"An appeal for help to the United States employment agencies by J.W. Thuma, of the Sycamore Preserve Works was answered when a group of about 60 Jamaicans arrived for work in the fields and factory of the canning factory."

Those Manpower Shortages.  --GreGen

Military ID's 100 Sailors and Marines From the USS Oklahoma

December 3, 2017

The military has now identified the remains of 100 sailors and Marines who died December 7, 1941, aboard the battleship USS Oklahoma.  Their remains were recovered when the ship was finally uprighted a couple years after it capsized, but, due to the length of time underwater and the nature of identification process being so poor (before DNA), not many were identified.

Two years ago the the remains of nearly 400 men were exhumed from the Punch Bowl Cemetery ion Oahu Island in Hawaii.  Officials expect to have 80% of them identified by 2020.

Most of the newly identified have been reburied in their hometowns.  Others have been reinterred back in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (The Punch Bowl).  Only this time, their names are given and they are buried in individual graves.

Again, Thanks Military.  --GreGen

More USS Oklahoma "Unknowns" Come Home

It is so great seeing these brave sailors and Marines who were entombed when the battleship USS Oklahoma capsized being identified through DNA and now coming home.

Here is a partial list of them:

WILLARD ALDRIDGE, Seaman 1st class, from Kansas.  To be buried at Highland Cemetery, Ashland, Kansas.  Born August 26, 1921.

QUENTIN J. GIFFORD,  Radioman 2nd class,  Declared officially Lost In Action in February 1942.  Funeral held at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.  He is the 4th Minnesotan to be identified from the Oklahoma.  There will be a 5th one later this year.

HOWARD W. BEAN,  Radioman 3rd class.  From Everett, Massachusetts.  Buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Thank You U.S. Government.  --GreGen

Trucks From Distant Cities Helping Haul the Peas

From the July 4, 2018, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1943, 75 Years Ago.

"Observation along the highway disclosed that many truckers are making extra money hauling peas for the California Packing Company.

"The need of trucks is almost as great as that for man-power, and machines are seen here from cities a long distance from DeKalb."

Wartime Shortages.  --GreGen

DeKalb Township Honors Those Serving in 1943

From the July 4, 2018, MidWeek (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back."

1943, 75 Years Ago.

Since the dedication of the DeKalb Township Honor Roll and the unveiling of the beautiful new board which was erected to honor those from the township which are in service, many more names have been received.

"Every effort was made to secure all the names before the Honor Roll was unveiled but through various misunderstanding some failed to call in the names and a number are not on this board at the present time."

Honoring Those Who Serve.  --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

"Last Man Standing" Honors Whiskey Pact-- Part 1

From the July 3, 2018, CBS  "Last survivor of World War II unit finishes its whiskey pact."

Fred Spencer, 93, was honored July 1 in Kalamazoo as "The Last Man Standing" from a group that hailed from Kalamazoo during the war when he was presented with a bottle of whiskey.

The 126th Infantry Regiment was largely composed of men from Southwest Michigan.  And the members of Mr. Spencer's Company C were made up of 94 men from Kalamazoo County.

All of them were under the age of 20 when they left Kalamazoo for training in 1940.

They made the whiskey promise nearly 80 years ago and it was carried out on Sunday.

--GreGen

When Did Independence Day Become a Federal Holiday?

The other day, I went into our local bank and did some transactions.  They always have a question up on a board and I like to guess the answer.  The question was, "In what year did the 4th of July become a federal holiday?"

Answer possibilities:  1776, 1870, 1938, 1941

I thought and thought.

Hard question.

I thought perhaps 1870, but, maybe not   That was about the time we were getting into Decoration Day, now memorial Day.

I knew it wasn't 1776.

That left 1938 and 1941.  A real hard call.

In 1870, it became a federal highway, but unpaid.  In 1941 it became a federal holiday with federal emplyees being paid.

So, the answer was 1941, just before we went to war.

--GreGen

The Odyssey of the Utah Man and Ploesti-- Part 4: Many Awards

Steward was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his role in the bombing, one of more than 30 bombing raids during his five years of active duty in the Air Force.

Other military awards he holds are the Silver Star and five awards of the Air medal.  He was also awarded the coveted "Bronze Minute Man" awarded by the Utah National Guard after serving more than 30 years in the Air Force Reserve.

His full story of the Ploesti, Romania, bombing is told in the television documentary "Wing and a Prayer."

--GreGen

The Odyssey of Utah Man and Ploesti-- Part 3: Bullet-Riddled

Walter Stewart's plane was so seriously damaged and leaking fuel that he was going to belly land  it.

But then his other crewmen discovered they had bombs still aboard that had gotten hung up in the bomb bay. They pried those loose and dropped them over open areas before continuing the flight home, expecting to run out of fuel at any moment.

He then nursed his four engine B-24, bullet-riddled and perilously low on fuel, back across Yugoslavia and over the Mediterranean to its home base in Libya, landing safely after 1,200 miles and 14 hours in the air.

--GreGen

The Odyssey Of Utah Man and Ploesti-- Part 2: We'd Sing "God Bless America"

The commander saw the target and made a 90-degree turn.  But then both the commander and his right wingman were shot down, leaving Stewart to lead the bombers behind him to the target.

The bombers flew 50 feet off the ground to devastate three of the five refineries, which seriously hurt Germany's war effort.  The victory did not come without sacrifice, however.  Of the 154 bombers that crossed the target area, 54 were shot down.

Years later, Stewart still remembered the event with absolute clarity.  "When we hit a target we would all sing 'God Bless America', he said, adding, 'We really sang it that day."

He also remembered how emotions ran from excitement to extreme fear during the operation.  "We were scared to death, but you really don't let that bother you," he recalled.

--GreGen

The Odyssey of Utah Man and Ploesti-- Part 1: The 31st Mission

From the 2018 Paralyzed Veterans of America calendar.

In the scene, the exhausted crew of the B-24 Liberator Utah man, has returned to their base near Benghazi, Libya, on August 1, 1943, after bombing the great oil refineries around Ploesti, Romania.  The pilot, 1st Lt. Walter Stewart, is describing his mission experience to Major Ramsay D. Potts, who had returned earlier that day.

Stewart had already flown his required 25 missions and could have returned home, but he decided to stay to carry out his 31st mission.  he was appointed deputy leader as the group of bombers approached Ploesti.  With few ground features, the target was difficult to pick out and radio silence was mandatory.

Then, one of his crewmen spotted the refineries "at 9 o'clock."

It's On.  --GreGen