Decatur Veteran's Diary Details Three Momentous Days

8/12/1945 In the Philippines
“THE BEGINNING OF THE END”

At 10 p.m., Nick Pucci, who had spent the evening downtown, returned to our tug with the news that an entire city (Nagasaki) had been destroyed by a single bomb. We assured Nick, who was highly excited, that he must have got some bad whiskey. However, a boat next to ours confirmed via their radio that the news was indeed true. Thus began the three most momentous days of my life. At the time, we were not aware that this was the second atom bomb that had been dropped on Japan. Later on we found out about the atomic blast at Hiroshima on August 6th. Crew members of our tugs: Pease, Vivino, Hayes, Levitz, Smith, Nick P. and myself decided to go into Manila. Filipino civilians lined the sidewalks shouting “Victory Joe”! There were many other G.I.’s celebrating but due to the military curfew nothing was open so we returned to the boats. The celebrating was premature but finally after more than three years in the SWPA I began to think about going home.

8/13/1945
Everyone was on edge — would the USA accept the Japanese surrender with the provision that Emperor Hirohito would not be treated as a war criminal? Rumors were rife. At 1 a.m. the radio announced that USA accepted with stipulation that a Supreme Commander would rule over the Emperor. Everyone in Manila interpreted this as complete surrender and once again premature celebrations started.  Most of the ships in the harbor blew their horns and rockets were fired in the air. ACK-ACK guns nearby also got in a few bursts. Quiet finally prevailed about 2:30 a.m.

8/14
Expectant — when would it end?

8/15
Jim Parise, Jimmy Mattorela and I were in Manila when at 5:30 p.m. a G.I. leaned out of a window and shouted “The war is over!” We didn’t know who he was but he was right!  At last! Side note — my pastor friend Bill Pruett and I were talking about our service in WWII in 1997 and discovered that we were in Manila during this time. Bill was in the Navy and was on a ship in the harbor. 

8/16
The next day! It was beginning to sink in. All of a sudden the war was over! You could see the difference in everyone’s reaction to what had happened. No one seemed to care about working. However, most G.I.’s weren’t too jubilant as they knew it may be months before they would return to the “states.” I was the oldest man (as to service overseas) in my company. The C.O. had been telling me (since the war in Europe ended) that he was trying to get me back to the states. Sometime after we arrived in Bataan, the C.O. called our company to a special formation to inform us that, as the first harbor craft co. formed in World War II, we would have the honor to be in the fifth wave of the invasion of Tokyo that was planned to happen on October 28, 1945. What a privilege! We were to take over any small boats in the harbor. Needless to say, we were not overjoyed by this news as we knew our chance of survival would be pretty slim. I really thought about the decision I made in March, 1945. The atomic bombs dropped on Japan saved my life and countless thousands of other Americans and Japanese lives.

8/17 to 8/24
Our tug was dead lined (out of commission) for the next eight days. Tug was put on a barge and a steel rudder and post was installed. We also painted the tug.

8/25 to 8/31
Back to port command.  We towed barges and also served as pilot boat.  This duty involved in picking up the pilot (they came on board all large ships that were berthing at the dock and took over as Captain until they were tied up at dock).  After dropping pilot off, we would then help push the ship into the dock while they were berthing. 

8/31
Departed Manila on W.T.53 and arrived in Merivales at 10:30 a.m.

9/1 to 9/11
Miscellaneous tug work. The last mission as a tug boat crew was to secure some errant steel barges that had broken loose from their buoys in the harbor during a severe storm.  We attempted to attach a tow rope to one of the barges but failed to do so because of the high sea and the raging sea. We were able to finally get two crew members on the barge with the tow line. They attached them and after a difficult time got our crew members back on the tug. We got under way but almost immediately the tow line snapped. The Lieutenant, who had come on board to direct our mission, ordered me to put our crew members, at great risk, to attempt to repeat our effort to secure the barge. I told him it was too dangerous to risk the lives of the crew members and refused to follow his orders.  He threatened court-martial; said he over-ranked me. I told him that as captain of the tug W.T. 53, not even Gen. MacArthur over-ranked me. We returned to the dock and dropped the Lt. off.  He vowed to return with the M.P.s. I never saw him again — someone must have set him straight. No one out-ranks a captain of a ship, regardless of size.

Those crew members were my friends and there was no way that I was going to risk their lives. Even if they could court martial me.

9/11
Our company embarked on a L.G.T. for Batangas. This was a prelude to the company moving to Tokyo. My name was on the list of men with 80 points or more (1 pt. for each month of service and 2 pts. for service overseas at this date). I had 3 years and 5 months service (2 pts. only for U.S.A.  time) and 3 years and 3 months overseas (78 pts).

We arrived at Batangas and set up camp. Spent the next 22 days just waiting to return home. Our C.O. called me in and informed me that the company was going to Japan. If I wanted to, I could go with them and he would see that I got shipped home from there.  No way! I thanked him for giving me the option but “no, thanks.”

10/5
Received orders to join the 38th Division in Manila for transportation to the U.S.A.  Recall standing in chow line for breakfast and hearing a radio describing a World Series game between the Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs. A perfect year – the war ended the same year the Cubs won their last pennant in the 20th century – naturally the Cubs lost the series.

10/13
Boarded the “U.S.S. Uruguay.” Returned to U.S.A. via the northern route. The ship was manned by U.S. Navy personnel. The food was great except the traditional (Navy) breakfast of beans. After diarrhea followed two of these meals the C.O. (Army) insisted that “enuf is enuf.”

10/13 to 10/30
With limited facilities and in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, it was a sight to see! Luckily, I escaped as I did not like beans. After seventeen days at sea we came in view of our beloved U.S.A. 

10/30
Land ho! After three years, four months and eight days, I was gazing upon the coastline of California. Words cannot describe the way I felt at that moment. I just thanked God that I was one of the lucky G.I.’s that survived. We berthed at San Pedro and was put on a train for Camp Anza. The first thing that I done after being assigned to a tent was to locate a telephone. How great it was, after all this time to hear my mom and dad’s voices.

11/1
Arrived at Ft. Logan for final processing of discharge from U.S. Army. We, thousands of G.I.’s, were greeted by the brass. It was cold and we all had overcoats on – the first time since April 1942 that I needed a coat. The officer in charge told us to keep our coats as it was cold all over the 48 states, even in the deep South. 

11/1 to 11/5
After five days I finally received my official discharge. Went thru several interviews with Army personnel who were attempting to persuade me to re-enlist. After pointing out to them that I was supposed to have a rating as a Warrant Officer as a skipper of a tug boat and I was a “buck” (3 stripes) Sergeant, they realized that I didn’t have much faith in any promises of the Army.

11/5
Boarded a train in Denver – destination Decatur, with a stop in St. Louis, Mo. 

11/6
Arrived at Wabash depot at 5 p.m. – Dad and Iris were there to meet me, couldn’t take my eyes off Iris. She was eleven years old when I left in 1942 and here she was, 15 ½ years old, and all grown up. But more important, there was 1190 W. Grand and Mom.  That was really a celebration to remember!

Finis