THE WARS OF OUR GENERATION TTHE WWARS OF OOUR GGENERATION BY MEMBERS OF THE SENIOR MEN’S CLUB OF BIRMINGHAM, MICHIGAN WHO SERVED IN WORLD WAR II AND THE KOREAN WAR. 2004 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS PROJECT CHAIRMAN: Chip Forbes EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Alvie Smith START-UP COMMITTEE: Tom Clapp, Chip Forbes, Dick Golze, Don Grant, Alvie Smith, Tom Van Voorhis EDITOR GROUP: Chairman, Dick Judy; Dick Davis, Al Fleming, Chip Forbes, Jack Harned, Harold Jackson, Bruce McCristal, Paul Pentecost, John Reddy, Alvie Smith PHOTOS: John Dudash COVER DESIGN: Jim Crabb COPY EDITING AND LAYOUT DESIGN: Lee Trumbull, The Community House MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION: Jim D’Allemand, Jerry Heller, Marvin Malik, Tom Shipley, Bill Sprague PROMOTION OF SALES: Co-Chairmen, John Reddy and Alvie Smith; Harold Jackson, Tom Van Voorhis SPECIAL THANKS: Dr. Jane Karolyn Vieth, who reviewed the prefaces to World War II and the Korean War, is a member of the History Department of Michigan State University. She teaches, gives seminars and has published articles on World War II. Baldwin Public Library provided valuable research on World War II and the Korean War. PRINTER: KTD Printing Associates, Madison Heights, Michigan Copyright © 2004 Senior Men’s Club of Birmingham All Rights Reserved DEDICATION The history of nations is scarred by many wars. When nations war, it is the young men and women in the “flower of their youth” who are called to do the fighting, and also to perform all of the support activities for military operations. The 1940s and early 1950s were the years of youth for members of the Senior Men’s Club of Birmingham who have contributed to this book. Those were the years of World War II and the Korean conflict - “the wars of our generation.” For the authors, writing for this book has brought memories, good and bad, of the experiences and hardships they faced, most as “citizen soldiers” and we are proud to share those experiences. The book also honors our comrades in the defense of freedom who did not survive or who came back wounded in mind or body. We hope our book is read by our children and grandchildren and by other young people. It is important that they not only understand our contributions to the cause of freedom in the world, but also of the terrible costs and futility of wars. Lest we forget. TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE—WORLD WAR II................................................................................................ vii Bradley Ballard, “Guns Were My Business” .......................................................................... 11 David W. Zimmer, “Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941” ....................................................... 13 John Lavrakas, “Luck Was a Lady for Me on December 7” ................................................... 16 Al Baur, “From Panama to Pacific to Washington, D.C.” ....................................................... 19 Robert G. Campbell, “I Took to the Air with the Greatest of Ease” ......................................... 21 Donald E. Clark, “Rain of Fire: Mt. Vesuvius, Then German Bombers Laid It on Us” .............. 23 George C. Peters, “Service in Four Battles in the War on a Battleship” ................................... 25 Dick Thomas, “From D-Day Casualties to Celebrities” .......................................................... 27 Harry Mitchell, “Communications Vital to Military Success” ................................................. 29 John Crawford, “My Best Day of WW II” ............................................................................. 31 Harold Twietmeyer, “Naval Experiences in the Pacific” ......................................................... 33 Cyril D. Duffy, “Anti-Aircraft Downed Nazi Planes” .............................................................. 35 George Lumsden, “Some Funny Things Happened on My Way to Japan” .............................. 37 Chris Montross, “An Experience That Spanned World War II” ............................................... 40 George R. Mosher, “A Recognition Officer Spotted Planes in the Pacific” ................................ 41 Chase C. Cooper, “The Life Not Taken, My Buddy’s Shout, a Timely Turn”............................ 44 Edwin H. Hoagland, “Notebook of European Service” .......................................................... 47 Jack Loviner, “Arming Navy Planes for Battles in the Pacific”................................................ 48 Russell H. Fisher, II, “Notes from the Coding Rooms” ........................................................... 50 Richard R. Golze, “Advancing in the Pacific” ........................................................................ 53 Bill Bratton, “Serving in the Naval Armed Guard” ................................................................ 56 Walter Cornelius, “Naval Aircraft Engines and Japanese Surrender Photos” ........................... 59 George Jobin, “Three War Years in the Air”.......................................................................... 60 Fletcher D. Street, “From Washington, D.C. to Okinawa” ...................................................... 63 Sherwin Vine, “Hell’s Road Across Europe, the Real Fight Was to Stay Alive” ........................ 64 Henry Barnes, “Liberating France and Holland” ................................................................... 66 Frank W. Garland, “Military History of Frank W. Garland” .................................................... 70 John Horiszny, “Serving in Two Wars” ................................................................................73 John M. Rady, “Well-Traveled Radio Technician”.................................................................. 75 TABLE OF CONTENTS Alvie Smith, “35 Bombing Missions Over Germany”............................................................. 78 Richard W. Smith, “Pacific Night Fighter” ............................................................................ 81 E. Leroy Wheatley, “Driving the Germans Out of Holland” ................................................... 84 Luel Simmons, “Supplying the Pacific Fleet” ........................................................................ 87 Charles R. Gates, “Support Forces Aided Drive from Beaches” .............................................. 90 James (Jim) F. Peters, “Navigator Over Germany” ................................................................ 92 Guilford W. (“Chip”) Forbes, “Destroying Enemy Supply Lines” ............................................ 95 James O. Nordlie, “Flying P-51 Ground Support for Chinese” ................................................ 98 Amos O. Winsand, “My Journey to Iwo Jima and Beyond” ................................................. 100 Roy Albert, “Why Did I Live and Not Joe?” ........................................................................ 103 Clarence G. Carlson, “Serving in War on Two Fronts” ......................................................... 106 Jack Corey, “Tales from an Aircraft Armorer” ..................................................................... 109 Donald J. Grant, “From Stumbling Start to Victory in the Pacific” ........................................ 112 Arthur Leonard Held, “We Build, We Fight” ....................................................................... 116 Bill Crabtree, “Intelligence Can Be Tedious” ....................................................................... 118 Paul Cicchini, “Speaking French Helpful to this Italian-American” ....................................... 122 Ernie Bergan, “Naval Duty on a Rocket Gunship” ............................................................... 125 Donald R. Doty, “Tales from an Ammunition Specialist” ..................................................... 128 Benjamin E. Ewing, “One Lucky Soldier” ........................................................................... 130 John Prior, “Ugly War from Beautiful Islands” .................................................................... 133 Robert Pullar, “Chasing the Germans Across Europe” ......................................................... 135 Frank M. Allen, “Log of an Engineering Officer”................................................................. 138 Will Braisted, “Lucky” ...................................................................................................... 141 John Dudash, “A Shoebox of Old Letters” .......................................................................... 143 Jack Fawcett, “Christmas Eve in 1944” .............................................................................. 146 Robert Serazin, “Old Expendable” ..................................................................................... 147 Norris Lee, “Fate Favors Chance Over Smarts” ................................................................... 152 William F. Gray, “A ‘Nurse Maid’ to Bombs and Gas Masks”............................................... 154 Kenneth E. Brooker, “I Fought My War in Dayton, Ohio” .................................................... 155 Maurice Allen, “One Hurricane; No Combat” ..................................................................... 156 TABLE OF CONTENTS Norman Clarke, “The Final Push Through Germany” ......................................................... 157 King Ruhly, “On the Brink: Preparing for the Invasion of Japan” ......................................... 160 Clifford Armstrong, “A Chemical Engineer Worked on The Manhattan Project” .................... 162 Robert M. Hebert, “The Timing Was Lucky” .....................................................................