Good to see you drop a line, sir. Stay well.

Falcon, Mike, Scott, Skipper, Jeff,

I'll be back soon, still a one eyed Jack, health is good. Right eye is working better than ever, outside of a swollen left eye lid. If the left eye works out as well as the right, I might be putting the glasses away for a while.

Don't mean to worry anyone, I do thank you all for your concern. Jeff, I did leave instructions to notify you all if I go down for the count, or end up on last muster.

Take care,

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All the Best
Jack

You take of yourself Jack. I hope I will be able to talk to you for many more years to come, your memories are better than libraries.

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My sentiments exactly Skipper!

I hope you can do away with your glasses. I've had to start wearing glasses over the last 5-6 years and I hate it...with a passion.

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Best Regards,
JW

I've been wearing glasses. It just grows on you. Personally, wearing contact lenses is more of a bother. Still, some people take to either of the these things. Some people don't.

Sir, just wondering... answer this when you feel up to it. There was a post in this thread about Miss New Guinea 1944. Were you among the guys that voted for her?

Hello fellas,

So far so good, no glasses, no swelling, no red eyes. I must say, colors appear to be quite vivid as well.

Falcon my friend, I never had the opportunity to cast my vote for Miss New Guinea in '44, Papua is a fairly vast place, comparable by size with the entire West coast of the United States.

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All the Best
Jack

Hello Jack , good to have you back with us with such goos news. Eye surgery has made terrific progress the last decade. It's amazing how they can fix the retine with laser nowadays. It's good to hear it went so well and that your eye isn't even swollen.
It's interesting that you mention the size of New Guinea. I alway thought of it as a small island. Now that I think of a size comparable to the west coast, I can only imagine all the little nooks , bays and creeks where you could land at night. There is no way the Japanese could be eveywhere at the same time and spot you.

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Skipper, you beat me to the reply. I had no idea it was as almost as vast as the US West Coast. It's good to know that your eyes are better.
Sir, your reply means you were somewhere else on the island when the other guys voted for her. So where were you and what were you doing at roughly that time?

Hello Falcon,

I do not know the date or location where the lovely Miss New Guinea was crowned, most likely a rear area around Milne Bay if the Aussies were part of the show. If I knew which month in '44 it took place, I could probably remember where I wasn't.

Remember the size of Papua, I believe all the land mass of the Philippine Islands combined, amount to about 2/3's the area of New Guinea.

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All the Best
Jack

Looking back at your posts, sir, you've done the various jobs of being an infantryman, handled field artillery pieces, joined amphibious assaults, worked with PT boat crews, experienced medical evacuation.
From all these war time experiences, sir, what for you would always be the most memorable?

Hello Falcon,

When I was introduced to my future wife in Sydney in '44, our eyes met, she smiled, and I was done for.

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All the Best
Jack

So it was really love at first sight... I envy you, sir.
Since this is now veering into relationships, what about the rest of your unit? I've read about "Dear John" letters and how did this affect morale? How do you guys help a man who received such a letter?

Hey Jack!
Glad to hear all went well! I missed the earlier posts, but anyway good to have you back!

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This is a pair of Dutch resistance crystal radios, built into a small metal can, and a matchbox. The image is from a postcard bought at a Dutch Resistance Museum in Amsterdam. The matchbox is marked in Swedish, but Swedish matches were sold in Holland for many years..
Scott

Hi Jack, from Iowa/South Dakota,
Boy, is that corn growing out here!!!!!!
Take care,

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Have a great day!
Lefty

Hello Falcon,

Those "dear John" letters were serious business, a few of which resulted in a handful of suicides which I knew of first hand. You watch the men during and after a mail call, word passes around very quickly through a squad, platoon, or company of men. One fella from Boston read a letter from a family member that his wife had moved in with another man, he then shot himself with an M1.

If I remember correctly that might have been on Manus Island, I think my report read to say died as result of head wound by small arms fire.

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All the Best
Jack

Scott,

Good to hear from you, how's that boat? We have the weather for it out here, many remain tied to the dock with these fuel prices the way they are.

Remember, if you are not fixing something, or working on a boat, you're not really boating.

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All the Best
Jack

Lefty,

I'll bet the corn looks like a Forrest.

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All the Best
Jack

That's really tragic, sir. What steps were taken to ease the turmoil such men were undergoing?
War and love can really make the most level headed person do the strangest things. BTW, have you been boating lately?

Hello Falcon,

If the situation permitted, a man could be sent back to a rest area in the rear, or reassigned to temporary duty off the line.

Very hard to tell what is going on in a man's mind, a Lt. who was suffering from tropical skin infections, and skin ulcers, played cards with us in the evenings during the crossing home from overseas in Feb. '45. About four days before we reached our destination, third or fourth of hand of evening poker, he stood up from where we were seated in the ship's wardroom, smiled and said something along the lines of that's all for me, and that was the last we knew of him, it was believed he went over the side sometime during the night. That man's suicide in particular remained the most troubling to me, we were almost home.

Yes Falcon, on a lighter note, I was boating over 4th of July weekend.

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All the Best
Jack

Hello Jack, I'm back again after a week holidays at the Black sea in Bulgaria. I'm still fascinated by all your stories and it took me a while to catch up. Talking about suicide, have you witnessed soldiers going to battle and purposly taking huge risks and knowing they would be killed by doing so (this could also be a heroic attitude to save others or to kill ennemies)

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Hello Skipper,

They say a journey is it's own reward, hope you had a good time.

Yes, to your question, what might be called a death wish in this day and age. One fella, early on at Buna in late '42, said no more, broke cover, took off his helmet, took a few steps in the open and the japs granted his wish.

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All the Best
Jack