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Post by Arayna Umara on Jan 31, 2007 15:00:31 GMT -5
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Magazine Stuff 4 History
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Post by Magazine Stuff 4 History on Jan 31, 2007 15:06:42 GMT -5
MERRY CHRISTMAS 1944 Hi yah Gang— How could it be anything but a Merry Christmas with memories like these. It sure is a pleasant feeling to be able to look at my scrap books and see what you kids have done for the past twelve years. I must confess that I am slipping and cannot remember the games as you do but I looked them all over yesterday and really was surprised to see what a lucky bunch you were, or perhaps there was no opposition. Have been seeing a few of the boys who are close enough to get home and have received mail from all the fighting fronts. There are too many boys overseas to name them all, more over I guess, than in this country. The only one I know of who is settled is Sally Steinman in Rome, so if any of you are near there look her up at the Red Cross Canteen. School is still keeping and things seem a little more settled than last year although we still lose someone now and then to the Armed Forces. You would laugh to see the janitors we have had since school started. Guess I have hired at least six men and four different kids and they have lasted from one day to one month. For a time I even wondered if they would finish out the day but hope we are set now for Alton Dennis came to work last week and he is still here, or he was on Saturday. Miss Dunn, the nurse, has resigned and is waiting to be called by the Navy and Mrs. Bill Marshman is attendance officer in her place. The rest of the staff has changed so that you would know very few. The kids had rather a tough time in football losing all of the eight games played. They had one nice ball player, Al Kenrick who is captain of every sport this year as well as President of the Student Council. The boy really has something on the ball and I felt sorry for him losing all the time he played his head off. In fact the whole squad looked pretty good but they just couldn't win. Bainbridge won the league and beat Deposit for the first time in 25 years. Windsor also beat us for the first time in football. The basketball team started last Friday and they took a close one from Greene 32-26. The kids looked pretty good and should win a few. Kenrick and Charlie Ward at forwards, Bob Smith, Raymond's brother, at center and Jack Hall and Lovell*, a kid from Windsor at guards. One kid on the jay-vees reminded me of "Long John" Van Pelt. He is Dickie Thomas, Gleason Thomas' kid, and he is about as lazy as Pete was so he is pretty good under the basket. There are no Conklins or Judds or Carls or Hartz or any one like the old gang so don't worry about your records. You know, I have often wondered what would happen if Jack O'Rourke's 1940 Club ran up against Beefy Steinman's ‘33 outfit or if Pete and Skinny, Keith, Ralph, and Charlie tangled with Bucky, Tubby, Legs, Tom, and Beefy. We will have to settle that at the Varsity "D" Reunion and what a bull session that should be. There is only one thing cock-eyed about the affair; you guys are so indefinite about settling the date so I'll fix it for you. I'll see you all next year during Christmas vacation and the boy that doesn't show up is kicked off the squad. You know, like I used to have to kick off Buchanan and Johnny Brown (he just got the D.F.C.) and some others whom I thought were just born to give the coach headaches and grey hair. Have you heard that Bucky (Paul) has captured the objective – one of those sweet Irish Colleens – and is going to tie himself up to more trouble than he realized. And the Van Pelts have another boy, number 3. I guess Pete started out for a baseball team but the delay will cut it down to a basketball quintet. Would like to mention all you kids who have written to me but I have to stop someplace. Thanks for the Christmas cards and I really do wish you the best Christmas possible. I want you to have it as bad as I ever wanted to beat Walton. Enough said!! About myself, I had the crowning glory this fall – shot my first buck, after chasing the darned thing for the past 8 or 10 years. Of course everyone tells me he was lying down asleep, etc. but nuts to them – it was hanging in my back yard. Otherwise nothing exciting happens to me. I have started to get my finger back in athletics by refereeing, worked 11 games of football last fall and now have a few to work in basketball, a dandy this Wednesday - Walton at Hancock. So if you don't hear from me again it is because they never could find my body. Enclosed are the addresses of some to the kids. Maybe you can look each other up. Happy New Year. Good luck and God Bless You. I'll be seeing you, (Signed) Coach
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Post by Arayna Umara on Feb 6, 2007 12:59:34 GMT -5
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Post by ::[Look out! It's Landon!]:: on Feb 6, 2007 13:00:50 GMT -5
whats all this?
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Post by Arayna Umara on Feb 6, 2007 13:06:43 GMT -5
school stuff, just disregard it, Kane.
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Post by Arayna Umara on Feb 6, 2007 13:12:25 GMT -5
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Post by Aiko Kogasu on Feb 6, 2007 23:43:43 GMT -5
Forts Resting After One of Busiest Days ----- Sub Pens, Airfields, Rail Points Hit; Mosquitoes Attack Berlin -----
The Eighth Air Force was grounded yesterday after striking U-boat pens, airfields and railroad yards in one of the heaviest days of USAAF operations in the ETO. Sustaining the offensive on vital German war targets, however, was a Mosquito raid on Berlin early yesterday. Fortresses attacking airfields at Cognac and submarine docks at La Pallice in France flew more than 1,600 miles on their 11-hour round trip Thursday and landed at their bases after dark. In other assaults on German targets in France, the Forts damaged airfields at LaRochelle and blasted Nantes.
Marauder Anniversary For the Marauders, the offensive marked the start of their third month of continuous attack against German fighter forces screening vital industrial areas of northwestern Europe. On their 59th and 60th missions, the Marauders swept over France, hitting targets at Beaumont le Roger and Tricqueville and damaging the railroad yards at Serqueux and a power station at Rouen. In its 58 missions in two months against German fighter forces and installations in Western Europe, the Eighth Air Support Command lost only 11 planes. More than 2,700 tons of bombs were dropped in more than 2,500 sorties. Marauder attacks on landing fields and airdrome facilities have forced German fighters to withdraw from many frontline fields, Col. Samuel E. Anderson, a medium bombardment wing commander, said. In heavy blows against German submarines the Fortresses bombed U-boat pens at La Pallice and the Marauders went to Cognac to smash the Chateaubriand airfield, used by German fighters and by bombers on the anti-shipping patrol. From the base Focke-Wulf Kuriers range in a wide arc over the sea to attack convoys and inform submarines of convoy positions.
Intense Opposition Intense fighter opposition, lasting for more than half an hour, was encountered by some of the groups attacking Nantes. Little fighter opposition was met over the other targets Thursday, but crews reported medium to intense flak over La Pallice. Pilots reported the Luftwaffe appeared to be more anxious to fight than it has been during recent Allied attacks on industry and airfields in occupied territory. In the Beaumont le Roger raid, the Germans sent up their famous yellow-nosed FW190s. "The Hun seemed fairly anxious to fight if he thought he had a chance," one pilot said. "He seemed to realize, however, that he was getting the worst of it." Twenty-seven enemy fighters were destroyed by the Forts and two by escorting Thunderbolts. Thirteen heavy bombers and three fighters did not return.
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Post by Aiko Kogasu on Feb 6, 2007 23:48:46 GMT -5
Japan now totally blockaded
In Guam... An American communique announces that US B-29 Superfortress bombers dropping mines over Japan have now sealed off all of the main ports, leaving the country totally blockaded. In a report by the US 20th Air Force, it is noted that every harbor of consequence in Japan and all those in Korea have been mined and it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of tons of shipping have been sunk or damaged since the mining program began in March. In Burma... Organized Japanese resistance comes to an end as the Allies win the "Battle of the Breakthrough." Of 10,000 Japanese troops defending the Pegu Yoma range, 8300 are estimated to be dead.
In Czechoslovakia... All ethnic Germans and Hungarians are deprived of citizenship.
In France... The battle cruiser Strasbourg is refloated at Toulon. It was scuttled in 1942. In London... The Atlee government announces the appointment of 19 new ministers, including Aneurin Bevan as Minister of Health and Emmanuel Shinwell as Minister of Fuel and Power
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Post by Aiko Kogasu on Feb 6, 2007 23:54:57 GMT -5
The Bataan Death March First Person Story
"One of the most horrifying aspects of this march was that some of our American soldiers were even buried alive? Yes. They were buried alive in slit trenches, which we used for bathroom facilities.
When the trenches were almost full, the Japanese would take a detail of prisoners to fill them up with dirt. On one occasion I saw a soldier who had diarrhea really bad and went to the bathroom. After he finished, he could barely get up. He slipped and fell backwards into the trench. The Japanese ordered the prisoner detail to cover him up right there, which they did. They had no choice"
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Post by Aiko Kogasu on Feb 6, 2007 23:57:35 GMT -5
What were you feeling and thinking about as you were walking along? Once the march started, everything just sort of froze in my mind. I was pretty numb the whole time. I didn't think and I didn't feel. I was like a robot and just kept moving. Other than daylight or dark, I lost all track of time. I had to blank everything out and focus straight ahead. I lived from day to day, in fact, hour by hour. The only thing I thought about was the moment and, "The good Lord willing, I'll get through the day."
The Hell Ships
What kind of ship was the Noto Maru? She had been an inter-island freighter before the war. The ship would sail from Japan to the Philippines, pick up sugar, and return to Japan.
The Noto Maru was one of the "hell ships?" Yes.
When you boarded, how many ships were in the harbor picking up prisoners? They took us by ferries to the middle of the harbor. The Noto Maru was the only one loading American prisoners. The harbor was quite congested with ships. I don't know the reason they were there. We boarded the Noto Maru by walking up a big old gangplank. Then the Japanese ran us down into the ship's hot hold. It was in the middle of the day. It was hotter than Billy Blazes!
How big was the hold? It was about 1,000 square feet and rectangular in shape. It sure wasn't much for five companies totaling 1,162 men. Each company had an officer in charge. Some companies were more than 200 men, some were less. We boarded the ship in companies and stayed in these companies throughout our captivity. Company One was the first to board way back in the hold.
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Post by HEADLINES LINK on Feb 8, 2007 20:14:50 GMT -5
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