Semisopochnoi privy – July 18, 1943
We left Amchitka by tug boat pulling a big flat barge loaded with our equipment. We arrived on Semisopochnoi at 4:00 pm, and we started to unload the beached barge. This took until 3:00 pm the following day. I helped pile sand to edge the barge so we could drive the (big) D8 Caterpillar off. Next we used it to pull off our 12 two-ton crates of tower and gear. Then we set up our six tents, four for us, one for the lieutenant, and one for the chow hall. While the others set up the tents, oil stove, cots, etc., I dug a latrine trench and assembled the excess power hut. (We had to build a better all-season one for the diesel generator.) The power hut became the enclosure for our latrine. Four ventilated sides!
I had lots of complaints for not helping set up the tents but, later they sure appreciated my efforts. Headquarters had sent only a four foot board with a hole cut in it. The “power hut privy” got well used the 28 days we were there.
Mail in the Aleutians
One of the worst times, while away at war, is to go to mail call and get no mail.
8/26/43 one letter.
8/30/43 one letter written 5/9/43 telling of Grandma’s death. It had been forwarded six times to old APO’s.
9/4/43 I got two letters brought up on the Toloa the old cruise ship we came to Alaska on.
11/28/43 I got a new Elgin watch from home and 19 letters.
12/22/43 I got packages from Bell Telephone, Ella, Aunt Stacia, church, and home in seven days.
1/18/44 One letter from home in seven days.
2/22/44 I received 23 letters (first in five weeks).
3/5/44 No mail for five weeks.
3/13/44 Snowed in for four days.
4/27/44 I got my orders to go to the USA and got no more mail.
5/13/44 Arrived home.
Basic training at Fort Monmouth – 9/26/1942 to 1/11/1943
At Fort Monmouth I did so well they offered me a teaching job.
I had a course in basic telephone equipment at Fort Monmouth tech school. I did so well, checked off multiple choice answers as fast as I could read them. While others studied and then took the test, I checked off the answers standing by the supervisor’s desk with no study or reading the test. The final test one day was to put snap connectors on a bread board of parts and make the phone work by dialing “O”. The instructor gave me snap cord and bread board. Then he headed to the other phone to await my call. I had it ringing in seconds, even before I was finished putting cords in place for ring back. I became a “miracle man” and was offered a teaching job. This I turned down, hoping for something better.
Three days later I was sent to a different building and met Lt. Angier. He read my army file and welcomed me to the 17th VHF crew. I was told of my new T2 rating (technical sergeant) and given a one-week pass to go home. I sold my shoe skates at the Philadelphia skate rink and went to a pawn shop and bought a battery radio. This was a good idea but unworkable because the radio didn’t last long in a barracks bag via baggage. Too bad they didn’t have transistors then.
My first bath in five months
On October 27, 1943 we flew from Shemya to Attu and put up tents near the “fighter plane” airport at Alexai Point.
Some went to hunt for souvenirs while we set up camp. That evening I saw that they had found an old steel washtub at an old fisherman’s camp site. Not having had a bath in five months, I cleaned up the tub, heated water on the oil heater stove, and took a bath. The next time we saw the tub, it had been converted to a bass fiddle by Keith Holden, a Chicago musician. We were in a quandary; we liked baths and we liked music, but we found we could convert it back to a tub by taping up the bolts. We all ended up taking baths for weeks until the tub disappeared!
Spam sandwiches
I landed in Adak, got my bedding and began to “move in”. A major Morale Officer came and said he heard we might be able to fix his battery radio. I took a look and could see an open filament in the power tube (a dual heater tube). I strapped out the open filament and turned it on. It worked and was tuned to a Japanese (propaganda) station aimed at the USA. “Tokyo Rose” was welcoming us, the 17th VHF Crew, to Adak. VHF meant Very High Frequency, but she thought it meant Very High Flyers since we lived as a part of the Air Corps.
It sure was scary to be welcomed (two hours after arrival) by Japan’s main propagandist. The major offered to pay, but we agreed it was free. He pressed the deal and sent us a loaf of bread and a tin of Spam.
Back in the States
When I returned to the states after 14 months in the Aleutian Islands, I was sent to Hog Island near Philadelphia, PA. We got new uniforms and at 120 pounds, nothing they had fit. I swapped with guys who wanted my smaller size, and they were happy. That night I got dressed and headed to Philadelphia, but they wouldn’t let me off base looking as I did. I waited an hour or so and tried to tuck the uniform in to look better. Finally, I got off base and headed for the USO in central Philadelphia. The Gray Ladies were there, and one came up to me with a bathrobe and a tape measure. She took four measurements and went off with my uniform for 20-30 minutes. When she came back she had a uniform that fit like wallpaper fits the wall. I was so proud of the new form-fitting uniform, I kept it for years.
My new assignment in Hawaii
After the Aleutians and a furlough at home where I got married, I reported to Headquarters Philadelphia. While awaiting transfer to my second job, I was sent to the golf course at Ardmore, PA. I drew head of guards and walked – armed at night – around the equipment area. I also led a parade of 200 men through the center of Philadelphia for a bond drive! Next, I was the NCOIC (Non Commissioned Officer In Charge) for a troop train going from Philadelphia to San Francisco. Following that, I was the NCOIC of a ship load of GI’s going to Hawaii on the ship General McRea. This was the first trip out for the brand new ship so we never went full speed! It was never provisioned correctly, so we ate beans three times a day (those who were not too seasick from the half speed.) The radar quit functioning and no one (including me) could fix it, so we sailed on and on.
When we finally got to Hawaii, they had a shut down, no new people in or out, so they could shut down the red light district. The girls were buying up all the good real estate. After a week aboard ship, we were allowed to disembark, and I reported to Headquarters at Hickam Field. They saw my orders, but had no knowledge I was coming. They said to go to supply, get a tent, and pitch it on the lawn outside. This I did and in an hour or so a big semi flat bed truck parked next to my tent. At 7:00 pm that evening, Betty Grable was there, and I had a front row spot for the show.
I enjoyed the privileges of the NCO club, and three days later they got my orders. I was sent as NCOIC to Kipapa Tunnels Radio Station WZJ5. We put in new radios to replace temporary ones at Hickam Field. We also had a couple of big radio teletypes (Manila and Washington).
This is where I got a 5000 volt jolt trying to tune and get rid of antenna standing waves. They revived me with artificial respiration, and we headed to the hospital at Wheeler Air Base. It was overflowing with a new shipment of war wounded, so I went on sick call and had my burns dressed. The burns went straight in and were hard to heal. The real injury was to my spine caused by the artificial respiration.
I was given a seven-day furlough with Chase Shaw for a stay at camp near Kilauea. We went instead to see a buddy of his who was in charge of the motor pool at the (former) country club. We slept in swings on the porch of “Motor Pool” and got free rides all over the island. I saw the stage show The Man Who Came to Dinner with the author playing the lead part. It was really a nice vacation.
I got promotions for all my men. When I asked where my promotion was, I was told I was at top grade, so I requested to go to Officer Candidate School at Monmouth. At graduation time I had an interview where I found I was set to graduate, and it meant I would be discharged as tech sergeant and sign up for three years as a lieutenant. They could not predict where I would go – could be to college, or could be a field commission job. Or third choice: get out as tech sergeant! I took #3.
The Kipapa tunnels
I was sent to the radio tunnels in Kipapa area installing new radios to take the place of the old temporary ones at Hickam field. The tunnels were full of 3.2 beer – stored there for a couple of years. We were told to “throw it out”. Throw it out we did, one empty bottle at a time.
The Kipapa mousetrap
We put a 16” metal plate on the floor, added 4 insulators and stacked a 14” metal plate on that. This was wired to 5000 volts from a transmitter. This killed off all the mice in about ten days as they came for our lunch bags.
Welcome home
I flew back to San Francisco to attend OCS after a furlough, etc. I arrived Friday at 5:15 pm. They closed at 5:00 pm until Monday 9:00 am. I waited. The USO put me up in a hotel and at 9:00 am, I was at the door. I was the first customer. They were unaware I was coming. They read my orders and said “the only way to get to the airport was down the parade route”. We piled in an olive drab sedan, turned on the roof lights, and sped to the airport. I got to my plane OK. On the way, mobs of people lining the parade route were waving at me. They must have mistaken me for President Truman who was scheduled for a bond drive parade.
