Signed a volunteer enlistment at a recruiting office in Houston, Texas and was sworn into the Corps on December 11, 1942, in San Antonio, Texas. Recieved a First Class ticket on the railroad to San Diego, California where I was assigned to Boot Platoon #1209. Boot training had been shortened to seven weeks due to the war and the resulting need for more men. I am pictured 2nd from the right in the middle row of the picture below. I ran across Corporal Leedy on Oahu in August of 1944 when we had finished the retaking of Guam. He told me then that the 1209 Platoon had finished first among about a dozen boot platoons in their class.
Following Boot Camp I was assigned to Radio School. located there, at the far end of the same base in San Diego. I can't remember how long the course was but it was several weeks.
We were taught Morse Code primarily with some classes on the very basic construction of the radios we would likely use and the operation of them.
CO, Signal Batalion
Code Class
Fixit & Operations
Mainly, replace any tube that is not hot.
Modern power source in the field. If you were on the crank you always hoped your operator was a man of few words. Those cranks turned hard when they keyed the mike.
Upon graduation from Radio School I was given a stripe to Private First Class and a raise of $4 per month which made my pay $54 each month.
Upon graduation I was assigned to the 1st Radio Intelligence Platoon which had just been activated at Linda Vista Camp, Camp Elliot, San Diego, CA. There, I recieved training in the use of a direction finder to locate the source of radio signals. It was a fairly simple procedure but our equipment was not too effective in hilly terrain or beyond the line of sight.
This picture is a bit the worst for the wear and it was taken several months later, because we were formed under the command of 1st Lt. Lesko and this picture is of Captain Marcus J. Couts who is seated left of center, beside Master Tech Sgt. Hedin. I think it was taken on Oahu, T. H. following the Guam assault but the men are the same. We made no changes in personell during the entire war. I am 5th from the left in the middle row.
Following training at Camp Elliot we embarked aboard USS Rochambeau (AP-63) for Noumea, New Caledonia for a short (Thank goodness) stay in a transient center. That camp had the very worst mess hall that we ever ran across. Many of us would go to the PX and buy a can of pilchards (large sardines) and a box of crackers rather than go to the mess hall. The entire camp came down with a bad case of diarrhea. It became so bad that we were required to watch closely where we walked in the company street. The CO must have been asleep to allow it to get so bad. The old Rochambeau was 17 days getting there and most of the troops on board, around 1200, were seasick at one time or another.
On the 21st of December, 1943 we embarked aboard the USS Kinkaid for an 8 day trip to Guadalcanal and were reassigned to the Signal Company, Headquarters Batalion of the 3rd Division where we underwent further training and operations connected with the Consolidation of the Solomon Islands. During this period I was assigned, with four others, Cpl. Reed Kohring in charge, to take a 1 ton 4X4, equipped with communications radio and new direction finder about 15 to 20 miles across the channel to Tulagi and set up a DF station there.
It was six weeks of the best duty we could ask for. Tulagi was a PT Boat base under the control of the Navy. The Executive Officer, a commander, simply told us to pick our spot and set up. The highest hill we could find was just above the hospital and we went there to eat as well, after getting permission from the Exec. We stole a couple of tents and some diesel fuel from a Navy supply depot and snacks from a walkin reefer nearby and made ourselves comfortable. Nobody bothered us. The only sad part of the duty was when we had to leave.
View of the hospital from our perch on Tulagi
On a clear day, which was seldom, Guadalcanal was visible.
One of the most disappointing occurrances of our six week stay on Tulagi was totally beyond our control. We noticed first that they began enclosing all the heads on the island but thought little of it. Then they began setting up a couple of quonset huts on the side of a hill which was above the hospital and neighboring "our" hill. Next, the scuttlebutt in the hospital mess was that they were moving a bunch of nurses in to do their thing in the hospital wards. We were ecstatic! But lo! The powers that be had other plans for us. We were called back to our headquarters on Guadalcanal about a week prior to the nurse's arrival.
On the 3rd day of June, 1944, we embarked aboard USS Appalachian (AGC-1) and went to Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands, arriving there on June 8. We were further transited, June 12, to the Marianas AOA where we stood by in reserve off Saipan and when it was obvious that we weren't needed in the assault there we returned to the Marshalls on July 3, this time to Kwajelein Atoll. On July 16 we left Kwajelein Atoll for Guam, arriving there at July 20. We disembarked on July 24 and participated in operation against the Japanese forces in the seizure and occupation of Guam.
Freddie Goodale and I were sent in with a telephone company in the Agania landing while the main portion of the platoon went in at Agat. We, Freddie and I, were to set up a direction finder, search for and take directional readings on enemy radio stations, logging the readings so they could be plotted when we were able to make connections with the rest of the platoon.
After about five days or so Freddie went with the Captain of the telephone outfit to Agat and reported in to Captain Couts. Captain Couts didn't know him and had forgotten that he had sent us in at Agania. They had flooded their DF equipment with water during the landing and didn't have any readings at all. They did get ashore with the 2 1/2 ton trailer and generator intact so they were operating the intercept search for enemy stations. With the DF equipment out we were assigned the job of entering and searching the many caves used by the Japanese. During this search mission we came across a cave full of Japanese rations and nearly a truckload of Saki. Big mistake! but we survived.
On August 20 we boarded the USS Clymer (APA-27), along with three Japanese prisoners, and transited therefrom to Pearl Harbor, T. H., arriving and disembarking there
on August 31. The mess cooks treated us to 16 oz T-bones, fresh baked bread and pie a-la-mode. Incidentally, the prisoners got the same.
We were shuffled around some but finally settled down to Pacific Fleet Radio Unit 128,
Wahiawa, Oahu, T. H. They handled all communications between the fleet and Washington, D. C. Some of the intercept operators continued with intercept work, some were assigned to the message center to handle traffic to and from the "States" and some of us were sent to school to learn the Japanese code so as to be qualified for intercept work. I was in the latter group. Below is a writeup about the Kana code of the Japanese.
This qualified me as an intercept operator but was not accompanied by a raise in pay.
On 15 December, 1944 we boarded ship in the harbor to begin preparations for another assault. The designation was unknown to us. The Platoon was divided at that time, some boarding the USS Auburn and I was in the group assigned to the USS Eldorado (AGC-11).
It was essentially a floating radio, the command ship of the coming operation. Old "Howlin' Mad" Smith was on it, another Maj. Gen. Smith, two or three admirals and at one time the Secretary of the Navy, Forrestal. Someone said the ship's compliment consisted of 750 enlisted and 750 officers. That's a lot of brass in one place. We were confined to the harbor without liberty for what seemed like a very long time, quartered on board ship all the while. We had crew's quarters though so it was comfortable. I don't recall when we left the harbor but the book tells me that, "At various times and routes we closed on Iwo Jima, Bonin Islands, arriving there between February 16 and 19. We participated both afloat and ashore in operations against the Japanese." I was fortunate in that I was required to make only day trips ashore and never had to spend the night there. Our telephone section spent the entire duration of the battle ashore, while the intercept operators spent all their time afloat. I was assigned to one of the many message centers to distribute traffic.
We boarded the USS Monroe (AP-104) on March 25 and began heading back on March 27.
We stopped at Eniwetok Atoll again on April 2, left there on April 4, and arrived at Maui,
disembarking at Kahului Harbor on April 12, 1945.
While at Maui, Captain Couts was replaced by a 1st. Lt. Irwin, not the "old corps" man that Couts was but eager to do what he could for us. He was from Jenks, OK. He organized a major party (Luau) for us but I was on restriction and couldn't attend. I had gone on liberty one day, got off the bus, wondered why I was there and got back on the bus for camp. On arriving in camp I failed to drop my liberty pass in the drop box and the Top Kick thought I needed something to make me remember. I didn't really mind until the Lt. cooked up this party.
Crater of Suribachi
Japanese KIA
We didn't see many of them.
Japanese planes scrapped & another KIA
Burial at Sea
The price of Freedom that is too soon and too often forgotten.
Most of following pics taken with Brownie camera.
Just back.
Flag over the 5th Division Cemetery
The Joe Rosenthal picture that made Iwo Jima famous. Criticized by some because it was represented as the first flag to go up on Suribachi when it was actually the second, the dramatic nature of the picture made it extremely popular and it sold a lot of War Bonds when the country needed the money.
1st Radio Intelligence Platoon on Maui
Direction Finder & Plotter Section
Telephone Section
Intercept Section
Staff
NCOs with Lt. Irwin on the right
1st Lt. Irwin
OFS at home on Maui
Adams
"Fry" Frietag
"Boomer" Baumer
BAM, platoon mascot since Guam
Archer
Ferguson
Barker
Blacky Bordeaux
Long John Scofield
Joe Pace
Freddie Goodale
Pappy Griffin & Lehto
Johnny Johnson
Joe Gaulding
Johnny was from Rockford, IL and his brother was serving on Iwo also. We went ashore one day, late in the campaign and intended to try to find his brother's outfit. We happened by the 5th Division cemetery and found his grave instead. Another price of freedom.
R. C. W. Crom
OFS on liberty, .10 photo
Mac
Willy J. Stephens
Tex Goodrich & Long John
R. D. Colwell
1st R.I. Softball Team (I watched)
Mail Call---important!
Midnight Mess, less important but important never the less.
Big Falls, 45 feet
Little Falls, 15 feet
Both falls were close behind the camp and since there was no fence or guard system, we went here often to swim and just relax.
Relaxing by big falls
OFS swimming below the little falls. Water was deep here and we used the rope to help climb the rocks and dive.
Joe Gaulding and I often came to the little falls at night with a bottle of rum and some coke along with something to eat and just enjoyed the sound of the water. One night we heard someone call out and looked up above us to see a Puerto Rican calling us. We invited him down and he had a qt. jar of home made liquor. He offered us a drink and I don't think I ever tried anything hotter than that stuff. We visited for an hour or so and he told us about a man, Manuel Santos, at Hamakuapoko, a little canning town five or six miles away. He said he would introduce us and he did. Manuel invited us into his home any time so we started slipping out of camp and going there. We would take something to eat for all of us and Manuel would prepare it. He had lost his wife, or had run her off after catching her with another man and he was glad for the company, I guess. We even spent the night there once, getting up before daylight and slipping back into camp. He was a nice old guy and we were glad for the change from camp life.
Manuel & Joe
Just Manuel
All the houses looked alike so they must have been company housing, owned by the cannery.
Relaxed
Fry, Freddie, Long John & Pappy
It was a relaxing time but a boring one. We had absolutely nothing to do except answer roll call in the morning. That was done before daylight so there was much substitution and there was never a full platoon there to answer up.
An impromptu party at the Trade Winds on Maui. It was a sort of glorified slop chute.
DF team, sent to the "Big Island", Hawaii, T. H.
We never knew why. They didn't send any equipment with us or any orders that I ever heard of. Reed Kohring, standing on the right in the picture was a Cpl. in charge. I did get my first ride in an airplane, a C-46 cargo plane. We almost froze the first night. They sent us with 1 blanket and a shelter half on our pack and the quarter-master was closed when we got there so we couldn't draw extra bedding until the next day. We were well up on a mountain side and it was cold! Stayed there two weeks and then went back. Did nothing but watch tank maneuvers while they worked with artillery firing bursts above them to ward off anyone with a satchel charge. Fun!!
The party I was forced to miss.
Roast pig, Hawaiian style!!
Lt. Irwin may have been "green" rather than "old Corps" but he certainly knew how to throw a party. I'm sorry I missed it.
This was the first stateside draft. I came back in the second draft about a week later on the USS Copahee, a carrier escort. We came back to San Francisco as the war ended and they quaranteened us. We couldn't get liberty to celebrate. Then to add insult to injury, they sent us to San Diego, put us up in the old Boot Camp huts and would not let us have liberty there either, unless your wife or blood relative came to visit.
We were sent home after about two weeks for a thirty-day delay enroute leave, on the way to the Philadelphia Navy Yard to serve in a Guard Batalion and Riot Squad while waiting for discharge. Wallace, who came home in the first draft advised me to apply for mess duty, which sounded strange. However, on mess duty your day off was yours whereas if you were on guard duty you stood inspection on your day off and you were always "on call" for riot squad duty. That was a no-brainer. After discharge Joe Gaulding and I hitch-hiked our way home.99% of the people would pick you up if you were in uniform in those days so you soon learned to be particular about the rides you tried to get. Patriotism, love of country and appreciation for veterans was running high. Such has not been the case since the formation of the United Nations and the surfacing of anti-national sentiment and the growing desire in some circles for world government.
Reed Kohring and his wife, Virginia
They were living in St. Louis at the time (about 1947) and Lois and I spent the night at their house for a short visit. I lost track of Reed when they moved to California later on but have heard that he opened a small jewelry business and operated it very successfully before he passed away in the early 70's.
This is the poem inside a Christmas Card of at least thirty years ago. The poetry reads like Pappy's writing but I imagine there was full approval from Freddie.
Pappy was a nickname for Neal Griffin because he was around 24 or 5 years old while most of us were high school kids of 18 to 19. I didn't know Freddie extremely well but he seemed to be from the monied set back in Colorado where he and Pappy lived. He mentioned once, while on leave, that he accidentally took a bite out of his mother-in-law's egg-shell china teacup. Pappy was a mail carrier in Wheat Ridge CO until he retired. He is still living but Freddie passed away several years ago.
By way of a post script or footnote I would like to add that there are no "sea stories" here. I cannot remember all these dates, ship names and designations or even many of the other goodies that I have copied here. I took them from a military book, produced by the Corps which lays out the lives and times of the seven Radio Intelligence Platoons. We were the first of the seven. In fact, until I received this book, I was not aware of more than three R. I. Platoons. A few of the things written here are not in the book, such as the party, Joe and my escapades out of camp on Maui, and I don't think there is any record of the saki find on Guam and the party afterward. Many more stories could have been written but were not.
I will admit that there were times, while an active Marine, that I would have liked to be elsewhere but looking back now those times seem minor to all the good times we had.
The old saying,"Once a Marine, always a Marine" rings very true.
