What are your feelings about what happened at Pearl Harbor?
During the attack everybody acted very normal; no one got out of control. “I wasn’t afraid of anything, and I wasn’t afraid of getting hit. I was very concerned about what was going on, naturally. You just have to accept it. There isn’t anything you can do about it. I was under attack many times after that, and it never did bother me. I always thought if I was going to get it, then it’s God’s will.
“My feelings now are I don’t hate anyone. I got over that hatred when I was forty years old. I was an executive vice president of a large company in San Francisco, and I dealt with slant eyes all the time. Every time I would see a Japanese, it would hurt me inside, and I had the feeling that I wanted to kill him. I prayed to God to take the hatred away from me, and he did. I don’t hate anybody now. I have accepted the fact I am getting old and on the precipice of leaving this world, which is OK with me.” Paul was ninety-five years old at the time of this writing.
He has been back to Pearl Harbor eleven times. The last time he stayed on the launch. He just couldn’t see the Arizona memorial again. He saw it all happen the first time.
He remembered sights that will always be with him: “Looking out about ten thirty that night and seeing no lights, just the smoke and fire from the Arizona. The flag from the West Virginia, which was sunk in front of the Arizona, was waving through the smoke. It really boosted our feelings. We were downhearted and blue because we knew we had taken a beating, and to see that flag! Today, when I hear ‘The Star Spangled Banner,’ I get cold chills down my back. So it’s just a memory that I just don’t forget.”
He still has a friend from the USS Jarvis who lives locally, and he still talks to him. Most of the others have died.
Paul’s wife dies
Paul’s first wife, Ruth, died on his birthday, December 2, 1944. She died from complications of appendicitis, leaving him with a small baby boy. He received a telegram upon arriving in England informing him of her death. “That was a rough day,” said Paul. “I buried her on December twenty-sixth.” Paul went on to marry three more times—Juanita, Charlotte, and Marie. “I have buried four wives.”
What happened to you after Pearl Harbor?
Pearl Harbor wasn’t the end for Paul. He went on to serve in the Atlantic in 1942. He was on a sub chaser, #715, for eighteen months. The German subs were sinking our ships. “That’s no good.” He discussed one time during a terrible storm the engine stopped off Cape Hatteras, and the ship started to shake. Paul said, “Our ship was like a cork in the water.” The ship was leaning and shaking. The skipper was afraid the ship was going to capsize. He sent an SOS for help. It was a dark, cold morning and the water was cold and rough. “It is the roughest water in the world. I had my leg around the stanchion pole and was holding on to the light with one hand. With the other hand, I sent the SOS. I was able to hold on, but remember crying out ‘God help me.’”
After eighteen months he was assigned to the USS Poole, a destroyer escort. There were six destroyer escorts in his unit. He was the signal man for the ship. The USS Poole sunk ten German subs. “There was one German sub that was unhappy because we put a hole in the bottom of their sub. The German sailor came up and was about ten feet from us when he came out of the water. The first guy out of the sub had a submachine gun and started strafing us. He didn’t live very long before they shot him.”
Paul received a Purple Heart for an injury to his hand during this attack by the German submarine. They took seventeen German sailors and two officers from the sub as prisoners. “There was one German in the water that was cussing us in German, a real troublemaker, and they didn’t want to take him aboard, so they shot him.” They took the rest of the Germans aboard and had them onboard for two days, until they arrived in Ireland.
Did you talk to any of the German prisoners?
“Yes, but most of them couldn’t speak English. They slept in our beds and ate with us. We didn’t put them in the brig or anything.”
In April 1944, “we were escorting a merchant ship to Glasgow, Scotland. It was loaded with fuel.” The Pan-Pennsylvania was blown up by a German U-boat waiting for them. The captain of the Pan-Pennsylvania waved Paul’s ship off, telling them they had it from there, as they were near the coast. Paul looked back, and there was a terrible explosion and fire from all the fuel that the ship was carrying. We picked up three bodies; two were dead and one died aboard ship. There were no other survivors.
“There was another time when we were heading back to the States with a bunch of merchant ships, and I was in charge of the quartermaster and signal gang.” A small voice made him feel uneasy, so he went to check on subs in the area during a time when the subs got active. He went up the ladder to the bridge, but as soon as he was halfway up he “saw the torpedo in the water coming at us! You could see the propeller on the torpedo, the wake. I hollered out, ‘Torpedo ho.’ I told them, ‘Ten points off starboard.’”
The captain immediately said, “Full speed ahead, full right rudder.” Paul said, “That ship moved ahead like it had been goosed! It turned right, and we watched that torpedo go right beside us. God was looking out for us.”
Over two and half years, Paul made eighteen trips from New York to different places in Europe. “Another time we were trying to get into New York before a hurricane came in, but we didn’t quite make it. It was so rough that night that everyone was ordered below decks except two lookouts. The ship really jumped around that night. That was a rough night!”
Where were you when you found out the war was over?
“Well, my wife died on December 2, 1944, and I was no good to the navy after that. I was a physical and mental wreck. They shipped me to Great Lakes training station to be an instructor. I was in charge of some kids from Kentucky, and they were finishing up on their training course. They got their first liberty, and I told everyone they had to be back by midnight—that was their curfew. That meant inside by midnight. I was tough!
“There were three guys missing out of the whole group. About one o’clock, here they came down the street just singing, and they were drunk! They came aboard, and I was standing there mad as hell. I told them to go to bed, and I would see them in the morning. One kid said, ‘Who is going to make me?’ I hit him in the mouth and knocked his teeth out! I called the MPs and told them to come and get this guy and take care of him. They sent two MPs over—one for him and one for me.
They put me in a padded cell. I wouldn’t talk to anyone, not even the doctors. After about a month, they gave me twenty-eight dollars—the bus fare to Indianapolis—and my medical honorable discharge. They said go home, and don’t talk about it.”
What did you think about the bombing of Japan?
Paul had just gotten home a couple of days before the bombing of Hiroshima. He said, “Absolutely, no question. There would’ve been millions of dead bodies if we had invaded Japan. Plus the fact that it was retribution. It ended the war!”
Pacific Theater
I was lucky enough to survive the Battle of Okinawa... war is a horrible thing!
—Lester Brown
US Army, Pacific Theater
Pacific Theater Veterans
Lester Brown Paul Kennedy
Scott Brown Richard Kolodey
Robert Buchert Earl Lautzenheiser
Lewis Cowden Cleatus Lebow
James Crabb Charles McDonald
Robert Crouch Arlin McRae
Clell Downey Wilbur Meyer
Glen Eakle John Miller
Paul Feeney Richard Negus
Halbert Gillette Howard Norlin
Wayne Guerin Harold (Pete) Palmer
Edgar Harrell James Pike
Lester Hartley Paul Pitcher
Irvin Herman Robert Poole
William Hill Robert Sisk
Robert Hlavacek Bob W.
Harold Weber
Part 2
The Pacific Theater
The Pacific Theater refers to the f
ighting in the Pacific after the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. Many of the major sea and land battles occurred on the many islands and areas of the Pacific Ocean. Some of the South Pacific Islands included Corregidor, Guadalcanal, Guam, Iwo Jima, Midway, New Guinea, Philippines, Saipan, Tinian, and Wake Island.
Corregidor, located near the entrance of Manila Bay, is on the archipelago of the Luzon Island, Philippines. The Battle of Corregidor took place on May 5–6, 1942. It was a victory for the Japanese and the fall of the Philippines. The Japanese wanted to control Manila Bay. There were thirteen thousand US troops versus seventy-five thousand Japanese troops. The American troops were led by General Jonathan M. Wainwright. General Wainwright was a prisoner of war and sent to Manchuria.
Guadalcanal, located in the Solomon Islands, was the turning point of the war in the Pacific. The Battle of Guadalcanal, or Operation Watchtower, took place from August 7, 1942 to February 9, 1943. Guadalcanal is positioned northeast of Australia. The Allies, six thousand US marines, took control of the island and the airfield that the two thousand Japanese were building on the island. The Japanese were unsuccessful in retaking the airfield.
Guam is an island in Micronesia in the Western Pacific and the largest of the Mariana Islands. The Japanese captured the island and occupied it following the attack on Pearl Harbor. American forces freed the people of Guam on July 21, 1944. Guam has a Liberation Day to celebrate this victory.
Iwo Jima is located 750 miles south of mainland Tokyo. The Battle of Iwo Jima, or Operation Detachment, was fought from February 19 to March 26, 1945. The battle, a famous and important fight, has been made more recognizable by the famous picture of soldiers hoisting the American flag on Mount Suribachi. It was an American victory that was not without loss; more than six thousand US lives were lost. It was one of the bloodiest battles of the Pacific warfare.
Midway is an atoll located about halfway between North America and Asia. Six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Battle of Midway took place, on June 4–6, 1942. The leaders of the offensives were American Admiral Chester W. Nimitz and Japanese leader Isoroku Yamamoto. The United States lost a carrier, a destroyer, and 150 aircraft versus the Japanese loss of four carriers, a heavy cruiser, and 248 aircraft. It was also an important naval battle of the Pacific Theater.
New Guinea is the second largest island in the world and is located in the Southwest Pacific, in the Malay Archipelago. It is north of Australia. New Guinea was occupied by the Japanese for a time but was freed later in the war. The New Guinea Campaign was from January 23, 1942–August 1945. The Australians and American forces were responsible for starving the Japanese by way of naval blockades that prevented food and medical supplies from getting to them.
Warfare in the Philippines included the Battle of Bataan, December 1941–May 8, 1942; the Battle of Leyte Gulf, October 23–26, 1944; the Battle of Luzon, January 9–15, 1945; and the Battle of Manila, February 3–March 3, 1945. By 1944 Allied force had freed the Philippine islands from Japanese domination. The Filipino people were fierce fighters and aided the Allied forces. General Douglas MacArthur made his famous promise: “I shall return.” He returned in October 1944 to liberate the Philippines and said, “I have returned. By the grace of almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil.”
Saipan is part of the Mariana chain and the scene of the Battle of Saipan, Operation Forager, which took place June 9–June 15, 1944, and resulted in an American victory. The US Navy Fifth Fleet was led by Admiral Spruance, who had lost some friends at Pearl Harbor and was going to get even. Saipan was commanded by Admiral Nagumo, who had directed the air raids on December 7, 1941. American troops boarded assault LSTs for this invasion, and there was fierce fighting on the beaches. LSTs were ships used for transporting troops, tanks, and jeeps from one area to another.
Tinian Island, located in the Mariana Islands, is an important name in WWII history because the USS Indianapolis delivered atomic bomb parts there. The Battle of Tinian was fought July 24–August 1944. Many American and Japanese lives were lost while Allies secured the island to be a base during the Pacific Campaign. The Enola Gay took off from Tinian to make history by dropping the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Bockscar also took off from Tinian and dropped Fat Boy on Nagasaki, Japan which ended WWII.
Wake is an atoll of three islets—Peale, Wake, and Wilkes—and belongs to the Marshall Islands. This area is about two thousand miles west of Hawaii. The Battle of Wake Island took place December 8–23, 1941. The Allies were overrun by the Japanese forces, fresh off the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Japanese army held the island for the remainder of the war.
Lester Brown – US Army
“I was lucky enough to survive the battle of Okinawa.”
Les went into the army in August 1944, at Ft. Ben in Indianapolis, when he was eighteen years old. “They got our clothes and boxed them up to send them back to our parents,” Lester remembered. He took the oath of induction two days later. He went to training camp at Ft. Hood, Texas (IRTC camp). This included seventeen weeks of basic training, which is very strenuous. In December he was given a ten-day leave; he took the train to Indianapolis, then the bus on to Paoli, where he lived.
Lee Allen was one of Lester’s best friends. They inducted together and went to high school together. They even stayed together at the same camp. Lee’s death would affect Les all his life.
The next stop for Les was Ft. Ord, California, and then Ft. Lawton, Washington, for additional training. As a young man who had not been many places in his life, passing Pearl Harbor in Hawaii was something. He saw the wreckage from the Japanese bombing. He was stationed at Schofield Barracks in the city of Honolulu on Oahu. After passing the pineapple fields, Les said, “I thought it was one of the most beautiful places I’d ever seen.”
Les said he remembered K rations—Spam, hash, and pork and beans. Les said, “The pork and beans were a treat.”
Leyte, Philippines—January 1945
Les was assigned to the 96th Infantry Division as a replacement. He was in K Company, 383rd Infantry. He spent some time on Leyte shortly before the island was secured. The 96th was nicknamed the “Deadeyes” while in the Philippines. Les said, “They got that name because, well, we were such good shooters...sharp shooters.”
The Battle of Okinawa—April 1, 1945–June 1945
Okinawa is seventy miles long and eighteen miles wide. It is three hundred miles from Japan. “We knew that there was an invasion coming up,” said Lester. “There was a beachhead landing. We were loaded on LSTs and hit the beachhead. Some LSTs had gates, but luckily ours drove all the way up on the beach. The first day a man yelled to get in this ditch and stay there to keep safe. We felt fire and resistance coming our way.”
The navy bombarded the Japanese with heavy artillery. After four days the Japanese pulled back. The Japanese caught the American soldiers in a trap going up a hill. They were surrounded on three sides. They lost a hundred and fifty men, with only thirty men surviving. Fortunately, Les was one of the latter. He fought in the battle of “Hacksaw Ridge,” then called “The Big Encarpment.”
On the fourth day, a sniper wounded Les. He was treated with sulfa drugs and put in the back of the group. He stayed in the back for one day. The division was short on men, so he went to the front lines again. The American troops would break the Japanese line of resistance, penetrate it, and move forward, then hit another hill. The battle lasted for eighty-two days.
Les was wounded again. He and the company medic remained friends until Doc’s death. During the invasion he and his fellow soldiers dug into foxholes. They carried spades on their backs. A foxhole was a place to sleep, and there were three men in each. One would stand guard, and the other two would try to sleep.
Okinawa was full of caves and tombs. The GIs would take cover in the caves when shelling began. Sometimes there would be dead Japanese soldiers in the caves. Later in life Les had scars on his back from a fungus that was in the cave environment.
“The officers got right up front with the fighting.” Les remembered Colonel May, who was looking through field glasses and was killed by enemy fire. Sadly, on day four, Les’ friend Lee was hit with shrapnel and died at age nineteen. Les went over to see Lee, but he was already dead. Les would never forget Lee and the sacrifice he made for his country.
“I was lucky enough to survive the Battle of Okinawa.” Les described kamikaze pilots, one-man planes loaded with explosives, hitting the ships in the water. He said the US forces lost thirty ships to these kamikaze planes. He saw many of the hits on the ships.
Prior to America’s capture of Okinawa, many of the Okinawan people dove off cliffs and killed themselves. After the battle, when Okinawa was secured, engineers came in and laid tracks for airplanes and fighter planes to land and fight from Okinawa.
Les recalled graveyards and trucks loaded with bodies stacked like cords of wood. The trucks were bringing the bodies back from the battle.
What were your feelings about the war?
“I was young and hardly realized how quickly things would be happening. It was something you had to do. War is a horrible thing!”
After the battle Les was sent to Mindoro, a rest camp; he was there when he learned the war was over. Harry Truman “saved my life by dropping the bomb. I was on the list and the ships were in the harbor to start the invasion of Japan,” said Les. The division was deactivated, and many of the soldiers were sent back to the States. Les did not have enough points to come home, so he was sent to Corregidor, a scene of fierce fighting during the war. He worked as a duty guard at a Japanese stockade for about thirty days, until he had enough points to go home.
WWII Heroes: We Were Just Doing Our Jobs Page 3