Sir, I am just curious but could you share with us the most humorous or touching moment you experienced or witnessed during combat?

Skipper,

To answer your question, Momote on Los Negros, we had landed as a recon in force, the japs were flanking us to our right, the navy CB's moved in behind them.

Falcon Jun, the most humorous things I remember were in rearward areas, I think we were in a chow line, laughing until our sides hurt, watching an adopted company mascot in action. It concerned a certain Cockatoo that could swear and curse like a trooper, having an exchange with the company Chaplain who was trying to teach him to say pretty bird.

I'm remembering a few names and faces, we had a replacement with us for a little over a week or so, he was a redheaded kid, from Ohio I think, and he would do Jimmy Cagney impressions, along with a number of others, he had a few card tricks too, it seemed like he always stayed where I could see him, never wandered far off. I wrote his mother a couple days after we lost him, I wrote of how much he had meant to us all, and he was a great help to everyone, I could never explain to her the manner in which he died.

One of the hardest things to do was to write letters home to the family members of men we had lost. The crying and screaming of the wounded is hard, it's also very hard to see a big tough fellow, the likes of which you would never wish to meet in a bar fight, sobbing his eyes out for hours in the aftermath of an engagement.

All for a while now,
Take care

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All the Best
Jack

Jack the more I read your juicy stories the more I get hooked, please tell us more , this is fascinating .

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Yes, they are captivating!

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Scott

Did you have any contacts with troops from New Zealand and if so what did you think of them ? I hardly ever read anything about their armed forces during the war except for bomber command in the UK.

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I need a bailout of only $500,000

Hello,

TA152, I don't' remember any Kiwi's, I met a lot of Aussie diggers, "got a smoke Yank?" they used that like a greeting.

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All the Best
Jack

There is no nationality after death. Behind each casualty, no matter which side he fought, there is a drama and the grief of a mother, or a wife, or both. It must be terrible having to write the same letter to different mothers over and over again after each battle and yet try to personalize each word because you know the letter will be kept for life and and that each son is unique.
It is something we do not always realize that after going to a hell of fire, soldiers had to recall this events in their minds when writing letters.

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True, Skipper67. Those of us who havent experienced the real hardships can only imagine it and often, our imagination is far short of reality.

My late grandmother, who lived with guerillas in the mountains during the war, often lectured us kids to completely eat everything on our plate, "never leave a morsel," she often said. "We never wasted any food when we were in the boondocks." When I asked her about her friends back then, she declined to answer. "You'll never understand" was often her simple reply.

Sir, it's always an honor to listen to the tales of your experiences. You give life to the books I have read. Thanks.

Hello falcon,

Of the guerrillas I met in late '44 one team included a couple of women, I remember we supplied them, and provided arms, a few needed medical attention. One of the villages had a jap officer held captive, when we arrived they began to question him in a hut, tied to a table, and they were twisting a sharp stick in his right ear, might have been bamboo, there was a lot of it on that island.

The guerrillas had some very innovative ideas, one area in the hills had a ravine with a few damaged jap vehicles caused by a cable running across the bend of a very narrow mountain road. One guerrilla scout pointed it out to us, then said "many dead jap".

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All the Best
Jack

Booby trapped roads. That must have been a nightmare for the Japanese. I read the guerilla was effecient and would have no mercy with pows because they hated them. I'm surprised they kept this one alive. I suppose he was executed later.

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Try this TA:
The Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–1945 | NZETC
50 Volumes and remarkably detailed, all available to read online.

Cheers,
Adam.

50 volumes oh my! That's what I call documentation!

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Interesting read,

I did not know the Kiwi's fought in Italy. The Aussies had pulled their troops from North Africa after Churchill had said in '42; "Australia would have to fend for herself the best she could". My wife's brother had been in Tobruk when they pulled out, they sent his unit to New Guinea to fight the japs. They lost a lot men going from the desert to the jungle with out any training, very tough and rugged fellows the Aussies were.

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All the Best
Jack

There were quite a few Kiwi units in North Africa too actually. They fought bravely and were later sent to Italy. Many New Zealanders joined the airforce. This is how quite a few are buried in many villages of France and elswhere. Same thing for the Aussies. I didn't know thay were sent back all the way from Africa to New Guinea though. That must have been hell. From drought to humidity with no transistion but the long travel on a ship. The Japanese pressure must have been very high. Was there a "they are coming" phychosis in Darwin or were the Aussies certain they wouldn't get through?

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Thanks again Jack for all of the incredible details of this story! It's riveting to me!!

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Scott

Glued to every word here. Nothing like having it from first hand experience!
Salute to you and your "Mates" all nationalities.
A close friend fought with both Aussies & ROKs in the Nam. (was that a secret?) As you say...both...tougher than a 2 dollar steak!
The ROKs got mortared once and a guy killed and some others wounded. They went out after them. Came back with the tube and the heads of the guys using it. That convinced "Jim" they were For Real. He was 9th Division, 3rd Brigade 2/60th.
I know...according to the news they were sent home, but those who didn't have their time in got transferred to the 101 Div. 1/502. He was in Cambodia before CNN (or anybody else for that matter) knew. LRRP.
He's had enough of the jungle and living in the dirt, or should I say ... mud.
It's said it's one of the only places on Earth where you can be in mud up to your waist, and have dust blowing in your face. I imagine your time was similar.

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There's one way to find out if a man is honest-ask him. If he says "Yes", you know he's a crook. Groucho Marx

actually this was one of questions used by Resistance networks in France when they interogated downed airmen to make sure they were not spies. The answer however was "Texas" (this is not another joke to tease our Texas friends). There was apparently a real "tropical conditions" training camps there). Amercians could have answered that question, not German spies.

This drive me to another question Jack. Were you prepared to tropical warfare, or were your dropped from one theater to another, a bit like the Aussies who went from Norhh Africa to the Jungle without a respite?

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Skipper,

We had a hot summer in California in '41, we spent couple weeks in Oahu at Pearl for the month of November, put to sea and crossed the equator into the South Pacific, landed in Australia in their summer, then went to Darwin in Jan of '42, parts of Northern Queensland are quite tropical. So we were somewhat acclimated as best as I can remember.

I grew up in the mid-west of the United States, Cold winters, snow, wide open farm land, and cattle country. The thought of a dense steamy tropical jungle filled with birds, wildlife and a primative native population was quite difficult to imagine in the mind's eye, for me anyway.

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All the Best
Jack

During the war did you feel you were well lead and had trust in the government and how it was handling the war ? Did you feel the European theater had more priority and more publicity than where you served ? Were incompentant officers gotton rid of quickly ?

Lastly do you trust the Japanese government of today to stay peaceful in the future or do you see them being aggressive again ?

I grew up during Viet Nam and Watergate so it is hard for me to trust the government doing anything right.

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I need a bailout of only $500,000

Hello TA152,

Well, my generation tended to follow orders, and execute instructions to the letter. Rank and authority went hand in hand, hard to explain but that's how we were brought up, we didn't know any other way of going about things. As far as trusting the government goes, yes we did, the enemy leadership, and the nature of the enemy were not something anyone I was acquainted with was willing to accept.

The war in Europe was sent the lion's share of men and material, many today in the U.S. seem to think that world war two began June 6 of '44. No I don't trust the government of Japan, past present or future. The convenient lack of historical memory they claim, while the deaths of millions are swept under the rug. The smiles and bows I do remember, the same expression they wore when they would say "surrender surrender" then pull a grenade on you.

We had some poor leaders, and some good ones. After a time under fire living closely with men in extreme moments, one becomes a fair judge of people and human nature, you quickly learn who are the ones you can count on, and certain behavior that can be expected of others.

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All the Best
Jack

Thank you once again Jack, I really enjoy reading your accounts. Believing the war started on D-Day is a common thing in many countires especially in the west, not as much in Europe because we phisically sufferered from its effects as early as 1939, but even the younger generations tend to forget what happened before. D-Day is a victory for all allies and you don't need to be a WWII buff to talk about it.
The Pacific Area is far away for many of us. Those who are interested know and/or want to learn like me, but when I quote the "I shall return" from Mc Arthur most people wonder whether I am talking about Termninator II.... so it's a bit sad.

Regarding the Japanese, I understand your feelings, so many of your buddies died because of their traps. I personnally think that in 2008 they are just like our youth, which means many are overfed with junkfood and video games and not drilled like during WWII and certainly not ready to die for their country like back then. The surrender trap is not a specific Japanese trick. It happened all the time and everywhere. I know a lady who saw it happen in my hometown when a German officer threw a grenade in the middle of a bunch of Gi's who came to accept his surrender.

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Skipper,

I can not comment on the Germans, I have only known a few who had seen combat, and they were living in the United States. I wont get into the rights or wrongs of what happened in ETO.

We the American Army did not to my knowledge send any of our men to surrender as bait for one of our machine gun positions. At no time did we fillet any captured enemy soldiers alive, in order for his screams to be heard by the enemy calling for them by name to help him. I never witnessed any of our troops cutting up the bodies of enemy personnel, and spending time arranging body parts and limbs in macabre displays. I am also unaware of any American troops found to be carrying human flesh cut, and prepared for consumption as the japs were in New Guinea.

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All the Best
Jack

These attrocities must have kept you in a permanent disgust. Being caught must have been a synonym of terror. Even had your troops retaliated and done the same: it was war, I wasn't there you were and you certainly did the right job.

I perfectly understand the reaction of someone who would find out such horrific deeds were done to his buddies. There is no humanity in such a situation it's just instinct and survival and I will never blame you.
I know you have not done anything that got close to this, but even if you had, my respect would be the same.
I have a deep gratefulness for all the things you have been through and having been able to return to civilian life after the war.
I am also aware that it must be difficult to tell such things and wanted to thank you for trusting us and thinking we are ready to understand.

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I am new to all of this Jack, but I too am unaware of these atrocities you mentioned being committed by any of the Allied forces. I echo the sentiments of Skippers words above Jack!
Getting back to when the war started though, my Father was a young boy when the war started in Europe, he was in Holland, so I know from his stories what they experienced in 1939 and later. But it does surpirsed me that most people here do think the war began on "D-Day" June 6, 1944, we all know here that there were many "D-Day"'s! No mention is made of Norht Afirca or the PTO and it is a shame, which is why I think it all the more reason for me to spread the news of what you are sharing with us here!! And I do spread this, to most everyone who will listen!!

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Scott

Skipper, Bigfun,

Thank you for your understanding.

Below is a photo of me as a 2nd Lt. taken in late '43, I'm the one on the left, the tall one who looks like he had not eaten in a week. To the right is the PT boat crew.

Attached Images

pt2.jpg (35.2 KB, 66 views)

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All the Best
Jack