Posted on 08/15/2010 5:59:12 PM PDT by PROCON
Today is the 65th Anniversary of VJ Day, or Victory over Japan Day.
Did your Dad or other relatives serve against Japan in WWII?
(Excerpt) Read more at bigjournalism.com ...
No they won't!..:=(
Thanks for sharing!
My father was an electrician in the Navy - on a ship near Okinawa.
He never talked about his service.
Interesting, classified material, I suppose.
Thanks for sharing!
I had to read the first line twice before it sank in.
Guess I was expecting all the ‘relatives’ to have fought for the Allies. LOL!
That was the only time that I knew of where security was broken.
Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Company C, 1st Battalion, 26th Marines, 5th Marine Division.
Place and date: On Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 20 and 21 February 1945. Entered service at: Illinois. Born: 19 October 1920, Abingdon, Ill.
Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as commanding officer of Company C, 1st Battalion, 26th Marines, 5th Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces during the seizure of Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands on 20 and 21 February, 1945.
Defying uninterrupted blasts of Japanese artillery, mortar, rifle and machine gun fire, Capt. Dunlap led his troops in a determined advance from low ground uphill toward the steep cliffs from which the enemy poured a devastating rain of shrapnel and bullets, steadily inching forward until the tremendous volume of enemy fire from the caves located high to his front temporarily halted his progress.
Determined not to yield, he crawled alone approximately 200 yards forward of his front lines, took observation at the base of the cliff 50 yards from Japanese lines, located the enemy gun positions and returned to his own lines where he relayed the vital information to supporting artillery and naval gunfire units.
Persistently disregarding his own personal safety, he then placed himself in an exposed vantage point to direct more accurateIy the supporting fire and, working without respite for 2 days and 2 nights under constant enemy fire, skillfully directed a smashing bombardment against the almost impregnable Japanese positions despite numerous obstacles and heavy Marine casualties.
A brilliant leader, Capt. Dunlap inspired his men to heroic efforts during this critical phase of the battle and by his cool decision, indomitable fighting spirit and daring tactics in the face of fanatic opposition greatIy accelerated the final decisive defeat of Japanese countermeasures in his sector and materially furthered the continued advance of his company.
His great personal valor and gallant spirit of self-sacrifice throughout the bitter hostilities reflect the highest credit upon Capt Dunlap and the U.S. Naval Service.
My Dad was an Aviation Machinists Mate,I was just a twinkle in his eye in 1945.
Dad flew TBM Avengers and PBY Catalinas for the Navy. Never really talked about it, just said it was something he had to do.
He did tell me the story about coming home on leave and flying my mother under the Kanawah River bridge in Charleston, WV. She never got in a plane that he had control of again.
He has been gone three years now, and I will never forget his quiet courage he displayed all through his life. God Bless you Dad.
My FIl was navy first then army.
Explosion in the Aleutians got him a steel plate in the head and a medical discharge prior to Dec 7th.
After Dec 7th he enlisted in the Army.
Battle of the Bulge. Silver Star , I think at Bastogne.
Several Purple hearts.
It saved the lives of many Japanese, too.
Had we not taken out those TWO MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL CITIES, we would have had to kill far more Japanese by conventional methods in order to convince the Japanese to surrender. Once they saw that we multiple atomic bombs, they realized they couldn’t beat us.
And a weapon of that monstrous destruction enabled them to “save face” upon surrendering, as they could blame it on that bomb and not having lost the battles/war.
I’ll second that.
My father was in the SeaBees. He joined the Navy in early ‘42 and as he was very knowledgeable about explosives he ended up teaching demolition in Norfolk for most of the war. He was in California, due to ship out for the invasion of Japan in two days when the first bomb was dropped. He said they were told to stand by and await further word. The next he heard the war was over.
No prob, FRiend, not judging!
Your Dad was just answering your question.
My Dad, who has been gone for 5 years told me of him being in the engine room of his ship during the Battle of Saipan and waiting for the Kamikaze’s to hit his ship.
Who, IMHO is a hero, as are you!
Thank you for your Service to Our Country!
Popular belief is that Indiana draftees tended to get rotated to the Pacific War for that reason. Some small towns like Seymour had hundreds of men sent to the Pacific, and the European Theatre veterans were few and far between.
It's difficult to tell at this late date.
Regarding his uncle who interpreted for Camp Atterbury, he was undoubtedly there when the POWs rioted over being served "cake" every day. That was resolved easily when it was found (through the hard work of the translators) that they wanted rough brown bread ~ American white bread being too much like pastry to them.
The camp command put out requests to the German-American churches in Southern Indiana (gazillions of them) for German bread.
The riots stopped.
The command also put an end to housing Nazis with the enlisted personnel since they were finding reasons to stir them up.
My sister in law's father was sent to Germany in the Infantry. He appears in some combat films made during the war where the American troops and the Germans both encounter a dead cow which they then agree to butcher separately and avoid shooting at each other. Her dad spoke German and did a good job working this out.
PBS owns that material.
My Father who died in July 2008, served in the combat engineers. They landed in Normandy but fortunately for them, a few days after D-Day.
They made their way across Europe through Holland, Belgium, France, and Germany. They were in occasional combat, even sharp at times but mostly were building roads, bridges etc. until the final 3 months of the war. from then to the end they were right in the thick of it.
I have their official Army history. It is interesting and a couple of things stood out to me. First of all their officers (who my Father described as fine Christian men) were real engineers, not some yahoos out building things.
The most impressive thing to me was how fast the got things done. For instance the history would have an entry such as: Company A and C assigned to build a railway trestle across some river. A few days later there would be another entry. RR trestle complete, Company A assigned to repair road damaged by artillery fire, Company B and C assigned to clear mine field. Each time the job would be done very quickly and they would immediately be given another.
They put several pontoon and other types across various rivers including the Rhine and Elbe. The one across the Rhine was under continuous artillery fire.
My dad was a line chief for B-17s...he passed in 85.
My uncle is 88, he was in PBYs and PBMs in the pacific and mentions he was in a black cat squadron. When we A bombed those cities, he was stationed in Korea and said he was delighted the war ended not long after.
My great uncle was awarded the silver star for action in and around Bastogne. I don’t know more about his service than that as he died long ago (in a mugging).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.