by Mehlo, Noel
Figure 333: 74th General Hospital, Falfield, England 1944 (NARA photo) S/Sgt Hull’s records indicate that he received no treatment while at the 74th GH. From there however, he was prepared to move home aboard the HMS Queen Mary. He departed from England on 20 DEC 44 and arrived at the Port of New York aboard the HMS Queen Mary on 27 DEC 44. He would have come back to the same port where he left from aboard the HMS Mauretania earlier in the year. From there, he was transported to Halloran General Hospital on Staten Island, NY. He travelled home on the Gray Ghost “Queen Mary” according to his medical records. The best available information about troop ship crossings man be viewed at a website known as:
The official records of ships used to carry troops to their theaters of operations were destroyed intentionally in 1951 by the U.S. Government. "According to our [U. S. National Archives] records, in 1951 the Department of the Army destroyed all passenger lists, manifests, logs of vessels, and troop movement files of United States Army Transports for World War II." There was no word on why the records were destroyed. Thus there is no longer an official record of who sailed on what ship, though there are still valuable sources that can be found. So the web page above is an informal collecting ground for information about troop ship crossings.
The HMS Queen Mary is shown proudly entering New York Harbor in Figure 334.
Figure 334: The British liner RMS Queen Mary arrives in New York harbour, 20 June 1945, with thousands of U.S. troops from Europe. The Queen Mary still wears her light grey war paint. Seen from near Hamilton Avenue, Weehawken. June 20, 1945, Source U.S. Navy photo 80-GK-5645; U.S. Defense Visual Information Photo HD-SN-99-03026 [1], (USN)
From December 27 through December 31, 1944, S/Sgt Hull was a patient at Halloran General Hospital. At the time, Halloran was the largest Army hospital in the world, with over 3000 beds. During his evaluation there, it was determined that his injuries were now considered orthopedic and that physical therapy was the best course of action for him. Halloran General Hospital was established in 1941 in structures that had been built during the 1930s to house the Willowbrook State School. Willowbrook State School was located in the Willowbrook neighborhood on Staten Island in New York City. It was planned in 1938 on a 375 acres (1.52 km2) site in the Willowbrook section of Staten Island. Construction was completed in 1942, but was converted into a United States Army hospital and named Halloran General Hospital, after the late Colonel Paul Stacey Halloran for the duration of the war.7 The Army annexed the buildings and set up the hospital for returning wounded soldiers. It is located where the College of Staten Island is located today. Halloran General Hospital is displayed in the images in Figures 335-336.
Figure 335: Halloran General Hospital postcard (public domain – New York Public Library)
Figure 336: Halloran General Hospital aerial photo (public domain – National Institute of Health) Hull was next transferred by train to O’Reilly General Hospital in Springfield, Missouri, leaving New York on 27 DEC 44 and arriving in Missouri 2 JAN 45. Upon arriving at O’Reilly General Hospital in Springfield, MO, S/Sgt Hull was given a full physical. It was noted that his wounds had all healed. It was determined that he should be eventually transferred to a convalescent center for further orthopedic treatment, and the eventual possible return to duty.
Figure 337: O’Reilly General Hospital postcard (public domain – Missouri Digital Heritage, Collections, O'Reilly General Hospital of Springfield, Missouri) In February 1941, Springfield was chosen as the site of the O'Reilly General Army hospital, to be located on a reservation bounded by Division, Fremont, Pythian and Glenstone Avenue, an area later occupied in large part by Evangel University. O’Reilly General Hospital is shown in Figure 337.
The staff of O'Reilly was recognized as among the best among Army hospital staff. This was a result of an early decision made by the post commander. In May 1941, Colonel George B. Foster Jr. declared his intention to make O'Reilly the "hospital with a soul." Foster's emphasis on excellent heath care was later recognized by the Army Surgeon General as a model for most Army hospitals and the "best in the Nation." By the end of 1941, the United States was totally committed to World War II, and the Hospital took on new importance, as long term medical care became necessary for returning soldiers. O'Reilly staff served over 100,000 patients during the hospital's five years of operation. Forty-two thousand of those patients were wounded and injured soldiers. In addition 60,000 military dependents were also cared for. A few P.O.W.s were also treated.
O’Reilly was a state-of-the art hospital in its day. The 12 operating rooms had the latest equipment available. Surgeons performed plastic surgery, orthopedic, neurosurgery and maxillofacial surgeries on wounded soldiers as well Surgeons performed plastic surgery, orthopedic, neurosurgery and maxillofacial surgeries on wounded soldiers as well bed hospital would be considered very large today. O’Reilly had six times that many. In addition to offering medical treatment, O’Reilly was also used as a training facility for the Army. More than 16,000 enlisted personnel were trained as laboratory, X-ray, medical/surgical and dental technicians in the technician school at O’Reilly. The hospital also housed prisoners of war for a time.
His evaluation and diagnosis at O’Reilly stated the case very well. On 2 September 44 in Brest, France, this soldier was struck by fragments from a landmine sustaining wounds to the left arm and left knee. He was treated the same day in the 108th Evacuation Hospital and debridement and application of a long leg plaster splint on the left was carried out. On 16 September 44 at the 94th General Hospital, there was a removal of the foreign body and a secondary closure of his wounds was carried out. Two weeks following this, the soldier had physiotherapy and since that time has improved very well. Soldier was then transferred through channels arriving at O'Reilly General Hospital on 2 January 1945. At the present time, the soldier has 70 degrees of flexion of the left knee and full extension. Collateral ligaments seem intact. Working Diagnosis: Wound, penetrating, severe, knee, left. The land where O’Reilly hospital was located is now Evangel University (Assemblies of God) in Springfield, Missouri. A map of the facility is shown in Figure 338.
Figure 338: O’Reilly General Hospital postcard (public domain - Springfield-Greene County Library, Springfield, Missouri) Herbert Hull remained in Missouri until he was transferred to Percy Jones General & Convalescent Hospital, Battle Creek, Michigan, Company B, 2nd Battalion, arriving by train on January 14, 1945. A photo showing patients arriving by rail at the hospital is shown in Figure 339. The Battle Creek Sanitarium opened in 1866 as the Western Health Reform Institute. The institute was founded on health principles advocated by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. In 1876, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg became the medical superintendent at the sanitarium. Kellogg's many innovations included the use of radiation therapy for cancer patients and the invention of flaked cereal. The sanitarium burned in 1902; the following year a six-story Italian Renaissance Revival-style building, designed by Dayton, Ohio, architect Frank M. Andrews, was constructed. Kellogg's brother W. K. Kellogg worked at the sanitarium for twenty-six years before leaving to establish the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flakes Company. The Battle Creek Sanitarium is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Battle Creek Sanitarium and later Percy Jones Medical Center were what John Hopkins or the Mayo Clinic are today. The former hospital is shown in Figure 340.
Figure 339: Medical Train arriving at Battle Creek Michigan to deliver patients to Percy Jones General Hospital (NARA Photo http://www.dispositionservices.dla.mil/pubaff/hospital.shtml )
Figure 340: Hart Dole Inouye Federal Center, Battle Creek, Michigan (Federal Government Photo) In 1928 the Battle Creek Sanitarium was enlarged with a fourteen-story "towers" addition and dining room annex designed by M. J. Morehouse of Chicago. After the stock market crashed in 1929, business declined; the facility went into receivership in 1933. The sanitarium continued to occupy the site until 1942 when the U. S. Army purchased the buildings and established th
e Percy Jones General Hospital, named for an army surgeon whose thirty year career included commanding ambulance units during World War I. The facility had over 1,500 beds. The hospital specialized in neurosurgery, plastic surgery and the fitting of artificial limbs. Approximately 100,000 military patients were treated at the hospital before it closed permanently in 1953. In 1954 the building became the Battle Creek Federal Center, now known as the Hart Dole Inouye Federal Center. The address for the former Percy Jones Hospital is: DLA Disposition Services, Hart-Dole-Inouye Federal Center, 74 Washington Ave, Battle Creek, MI 49037-3092. A period postcard of the hospital is seen in Figure 341 showing the hospital grounds.
Figure 341: Postcard of Percy Jones General Hospital, Battle Creek, Michigan (Public domain) During the winter months, his parents literally borrowed tires for their car from neighbors and friends and made a road trip to see their son in Michigan. This was the first time they saw each other since he was drafted and left for war. Undoubtedly, they saw that their son had grown up as did many other young men subjected to the rigors of war. By March 1, 1945, further medical evaluation revealed that S/Sgt Hull had developed moderate atrophy and limited motion in his left knee. The doctors recommended a four week course of physical therapy to see if any improvement could be made. It was then decided that he would be sent to permanent limited duty. By April 4 he had completed the physical therapy with no signs of improvement and was seen by a Disposition Board for final recommendation. His psychiatric evaluation revealed no issues of concern.
Figure 342: Herb Hull Bus ticket stub home upon discharge from Army At this board, it was recommended that he be separated from service under the provisions of AR 615-361, because of the following diagnosis: Ankylosis, fibrous, partial, left knee, secondary to wound, perforating, left patella, due to enemy action when struck by shrapnel 2 September 1944 in Brest, France. He was then discharged on April 19, 1945, and sent home under a disability discharge classified as Honorable. The Administrative folks at Percy Jones General Hospital did not fully document all of his appropriate citations and other information from his military personnel record. In the process of preparing his paperwork, his WD AGO Form 20, Soldier’s Qualification Record was not copied and advanced to the VA as it should have been.
He returned home by bus the same day (Figure 342). When he arrived home a hero, he had been awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, Good Conduct Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Theatre Ribbon with two bronze star devices, and the Combat Infantrymans Badge and these all appeared on his uniform. He was then evaluated further by the VA and he was awarded a 30 percent permanent disability rating for his wounds.
We reunited with family and friends, including his parents, Stanton Hull and Ethel Hull, brother, Raymond and four sisters, Helen, Shirley, Lucile, and Doris. He returned to his old job at Brittain Motors in East Palestine, Ohio. He later would take a job as a police officer in the East Palestine Police Department. In 1945, he met and married Mary Mae Whitehouse. They eloped to West Virginia to marry as she was underage by Ohio law at the time. They started a family. First born was my Aunt Linda in 1946, followed by my Mom in 1947. They later had two sons, Herbert in 1949 and Thomas in 1951. The picture below (Figure 343) is of him, my mom, aunt and uncle Herb taken in the early 1950s’. I know I presented this picture earlier in the book, but the story has now come full circle. I do not have a photo of all four kids with him. I have always liked this picture of them. His children knew him as a loving father who liked to sing, hunt, swim and play. They remembered the two war dogs he adopted and kept. They loved their dad and still do to this day.
Figure 343: Herb Hull and three of his kids, taken early 1950’s (author’s collection) In 1954, crack began to appear in the marriage between Herb and Mary Hull. It is known that my grandma had an extra-marital affair with another man. In a small town, this news got around. My grandpa implored his parents to allow him to take the children and move in with them. His mother told him no, thinking about divorce consistent with the sensibilities of the era. He moved in with his parents without the kids to figure his next move.
On May 4, 1954, he was shot in the chest with his .38 caliber police service pistol. His body was found on the floor of the Herb and Mary Hull home by young son Herb Jr. There were questions surrounding the death. A suicide note was found a week later stuffed in a coat pocket, written on a love note between the adulterous lovers. The police and coroner ruled his death a suicide. Various members of the family still consider whether he committed suicide or if he was murdered.
The real cost was to his children. My mom has always been haunted mightily by his death. My grandma remarried shortly after the death to a man who was abusive to the Hull children that exacerbated their pain and hindered emotional healing. My grandma forbade her children from talking about their dad. They all bore scars from this. After the second marriage failed, she remarried a third time to the man I always knew as my grandpa. His name was George Parks. Herb Jr., and Thomas took the name Parks. The Hull family was torn asunder. The kids were kept from their grandparents, aunts and uncles at a time when they all needed each other the most. Deep rifts formed in the family. Through all of this, the thread of who Herbert Stanton Hull was as a man became lost to the family. I never knew him. All I had been told and knew for sure was that he was a Ranger in World War II, had been a police officer and had killed himself. It was for this reason to me that that this Lost Ranger had to be found.
21 MY JOURNEY TO FIND A LOST RANGER
I have always been fascinated with American history and World War II history in particular. The fact that several relatives of mine including my Grandpa Hull fought in the War drives home valuable lessons from this part of American and world history. The answers as to why America did what she did to help defend the world for freedom is important not just to our society, but to the lives of millions worldwide. The American Ranger was a deadly weapon in the “arsenal of democracy” as President Roosevelt described our military might of the day.1 The fact that my Grandpa Hull served as a Ranger has always instilled me with a sense of great pride. I proudly served in the Army in part because of his example. In my mind, it is the duty of every American to serve the nation.
I can’t help the past in terms of family history that transpired in the years following the war. I am little issue to that part of the story, and it is my hope that this work can renew family bonds that should have never been broken as a result of his death through people talking and getting to know each other again, or for the first time. As stated in chapter 1, upon the passing of my grandma in Florida, I was blessed to inherit his uniform from my Aunt Linda along with a copy of his discharge paper WD AGO Form 53-55. Upon receiving this treasure, my immediate family embarked with me on a journey that has taken the better part of two years to undertake in order to explore Grandpa Hull’s military history. Pictured below is one of his great-grandchildren, Christian Mehlo. This photo was taken the day that the uniform arrived on January 30, 2012. In his own words, Christian said that he was “happy and proud that he got to see, touch and put on his uniform.” This is the same little boy who put an American flag on his grave in 2004.
Figure 344: Great-Grandson Christian Mehlo on January 30, 2012.
Figure 345: Grave of Herbert Hull being honored by Great-Grandson Christian Mehlo in September 2004. I always saw my Grandpa as one of my childhood heroes. His son, my Uncle Herb, was another. He was known as Herb Parks. He worked as the Crew Chief for NHRA Drag Racing legend Mr. Don “Big Daddy” Garlits. Together, the two men won, and won, and won. Pictures of him are shown in Figures 346-347. They worked together to create and race some amazing machines. I remember as a boy when my uncle would come into town between races and I would actually get to touch the dragsters. How exciting was that for a boy under twelve? One of their last cars, Swamp Rat 30, broke all manner of records and found its way to the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. Herb’s name adorns the vehicle as the Crew Chief. This is but one
of the legacies of Herb Hull that is a good one. His children went into banking, nursing, professional drag racing and appliance sales and repair. His grandchildren and great-grandchildren span the country and most of us who are old enough have good professional careers.
Figure 346: The picture above is Herb Parks holding revolutionary wheel used on the record setting “Swamp Rat 30” dragster (left) and Herb with his sister and Mehlo family in Youngstown, Ohio during the late 1970s. My mom and dad are to his right, I am on his lap, and my sister is to his left. Figure 347: Herbert Hull, Jr “Herb Parks” standing with his boss, racing legend Don Garlits (photo courtesy of Don Garlits) Herb Parks died on December 4, 1988 in a freak accident after being struck in the head by a dragster at the NHRA 1988 Snowbird Nationals at Desoto Dragway in Bradenton, Florida. He was 38 at the time of his death. Don Garlits had taken a hiatus, and Herb was helping another racer, Rocky Epperly that year. For anyone who knows top fuel drag racing, the cars warm up at the line and peel out briefly before the main race to ready the car for the run. After the “burnout” as it is called, Herb bent over to pick some debris off the track, and the racer accidentally put the car into full reverse, the wing of the car cutting away a portion of my uncle’s head and then running him over on television. This event was also devastating to our family as Uncle Herb looked and acted quite a bit like his father. He also had many of the fine qualities of his adoptive father, George Parks as he was a true dad to him over the years. Both Herb Hull and Herbert Hull, Jr. were taken from the family in their thirties. This aside might seem disjunctive, but think about how it affected our family emotionally.