World War II

The years following our marriage slipped by in a hurry. I will try and fill you in on a few of the events that happened.

About a year after we were married, Dad had a realtor after him to sell the farm. He was offered twice as much as he had paid for it. Dad wanted to sell and make the profit. The folks found a much smaller place. They named it Harmony Point. This farm was next to the Six Corners school that I went to for eight years. They bought it, and Helen and I bought a 147 acre farm that my Grandfather Mawhinney raised his family on. We moved March 1, 1943.

The farm we bought had been rented on 50/50 share basis, so we received one half of the cattle and pigs that were on the farm. We also had half of the cattle and all of the horses from my parents’ farm. This gave us a full barn of cattle and horses. I had made a deal with Dad before, so I already owned all of the machinery. We were all set to farm on our own.

The farm had been neglected over the years by the renters and the lady who owned it. We worked very hard at fixing and remodeling the house. We put new siding on the outside of the house and fixed up the sagging porch. Helen had a lot of red in the kitchen. Red was Helen’s favorite color. It looked real nice and homey. We rebuilt the fences around the permanent pasture, which had Otter Creek running the length of the farm and through the pasture. I repaired all of the out-buildings and the barn and painted all of them red.

We were rewarded with a beautiful baby girl, Jo Ann, on November 7, 1943. Helen and I were doing so well on the farm that a neighbor, Marek Weber, who owned a real large farm about a mile away, wanted us to farm for him. He offered a 40/60 deal and he furnished everything. It sounded great, so we had an auction and sold everything, including the farm. We put our money in the bank and moved to Weber’s farm. It turned out to be a bad move.

The war was going on. I was still in the draft but was deferred because I was needed on the farm. I had always felt like I should give up my draft deferral and volunteer for the service. That is what I did in March of 1945. Helen and I bought a real nice, two bedroom house at 76 South Ringold Street in Janesville. We paid $5,700 for the house. This was close to Helen’s parents. She could walk back and forth to their house. Helen was pregnant when we made this move.

I went into the Armed Forces April 5, 1945 and Sue Ellen was born May 19, 1945. This was a terrible thing that I did to Helen, but I felt it was my duty to go and do my part in the war. As it turned out, it was probably a good move. I went to Ft. Sheridan, Illinois for a couple of weeks or so and was going to get a weekend pass to go home to see my pregnant wife and Jo, but Roosevelt died on April 12, so our passes were canceled and we had to stand in formation to honor the President.

I was sent down to Fort Sill, Oklahoma for training in the Field Artillery. I trained as a surveyor, because I had a good grade on the math test that they gave us. I was being trained for the invasion of Japan. In September of 1945, I had a short leave to go home and see Helen, Jo and Sue for the first time since Sue was born. I had to report to Oregon and then to Seattle for oversea duty. I boarded the General Buckner troop ship that carried 5,500 troops plus the crew. Shortly after going under the Golden Gate Bridge, we hit rough seas. The farther we went, the rougher it got. It was a typhoon. I was seasick for 11 days. It was a terrible ride over to Okinawa. You would have to be there to believe the conditions on that ship. Almost everyone on board was seasick. No one was able to go on deck as the huge waves would have washed anyone overboard.

The area that we stayed in on the ship was located right over the drive shaft for the propeller. The ship’s crew slowed the ship as much as they could and still keep it headed into the storm.

General Buckner would settle way down in the back (aft) and the propeller shaft would grunt and groan. Then it would rise up and the propeller would whirl like it came out of the water. This went on for days. If we had lost power or the propeller shaft had broken, I am sure we would have sunk.

The way they tried to feed us was another story. If you were well enough, and able to walk, you were told to go to the galley. The passageways were jam-packed with the troops. If someone had to vomit, they just did it right there. This happened many times while I was waiting to get in to eat.

As we entered the galley, we picked up a metal tray and were served by KPs as we passed through the line. After we got our tray filled, we tried to make it to a table. The long and narrow tables had a small standing edge on each side. They were open on the ends so they could be cleaned easily. We stood up to try to eat. As the ship lurched in the storm, we grabbed the edge of the table to keep from falling down. Many times the trays slid off the ends of the tables and onto the floor. There were many barrels of slop from all the coffee and food that ended up on the floor. The slop was sloshing from one side of the room to the other. Some guys even fell down in the slop, as they tried to walk to a table with their food. This never happened to me. I made it to the table, but did not feel like eating very much food. It was a big mess in that mess hall!

We had to stop at Pearl Harbor for repairs. They did not let us off the ship. I suppose that it would be impossible to round up 5,500 soldiers who were all ready to put their feet on solid ground. At least we could eat better as we lay in the calm harbor.

At last, after eleven days at sea, we arrived in Okinawa. It was so good to get our feet on dry land.

When I arrived on Okinawa, I was sent to a Quarter Masters squadron. The commanding officer had his new recruits line up to assign our new duties. The first thing he said was, “Jennings, I see you were an electrician before you entered the service.” I said, “Yes, Sir.” He asked, “Do you think you could make these lights stay on at night.” I said, “Sir, I will give it a try.” And that’s how I got my job.

The situation was, several tents were serviced by temporary wires running from two generators that were housed in another tent. A small shop with some tools was also in the tent with the generators.

The first thing I did was to put the Officers’ tents on a separate circuit and fused strong enough to hold their lights. It worked, and their lights never went off until 11:00pm when it was time for me to shut down the generators. I never had any other duties assigned to me, such as KP or guard duty, which all the rest of the guys had to do.

The only bad part about my job was that I was the first man the guards would wake in the morning. I had to start the generators so the cooks could prepare breakfast. I then went to the mess tent, and the cooks served me and themselves with the best things they had. I did eat good.

The day was mine to do as I pleased. After I got all the circuits routed to the tents properly, about the only thing I had to do was service the generators with oil and fuel. I was the last man to go to bed at night, since I had to shut down the generators.

When the Quarter Masters squadron broke up and was sent home, I was transferred to the Air Force to work as an electrician to keep the lights going at the Kadena Airport. We had much larger generators there. They were big diesel three phase generators.

This explains how I happened to be trained in the Field Artillery as a surveyor, and ended up being discharged from the Air Corps.

While I was on Okinawa I wrote some poems and I will insert a couple of them here.

 

  A TRIBUTE

 

I've known a lady for 24 years,

She's had much happiness and many tears.

A sweeter lady, I’ve never met,

And I never will, I’ll just bet.

 

She raised six children, without money to burn.

Which gave her much trouble she was later to learn.

Four girls and two boys is what she had.

They were sometimes good and sometimes bad.

 

Her girls were easier to raise than the rest.

Even though she tried her best,

The boys lives hung awful thin,

But she fought hard to finally win.

 

I'll never forget as long as I’m alive

How she fought to make me survive.

There was many a night she never slept,

She was right by my side as I wept.

 

We both shared and suffered the pain,

But thank the Lord it was not in vain.

For now I can walk like other men,

That’s what we were striving for back then.

 

There were hours and hours though I wasn’t able,

We walked around the old oak table.

When I would falter and cry with pain,

She’d say, “Come on son, once again.”

 

Then she would lay me on the bed,

And slip a pillow beneath my head.

Then with alcohol she’d rub in vain,

To help relieve some of my pain.

 

It did not matter how tired she’d be,

She’d always manage to attend to me.

She would not even go away,

For she would work with me all day.

 

It is to her my Thanks belong,

For finally my body got well and strong.

Do you know this women from any other?

You should!---Its my MOTHER.

 

This next poem I wrote was sent home as my Christmas card to the family.

 

Everyone is around the tree,

Whoops! everyone except me.

I know you’ll miss your husband, son and brother,

And I’ll miss my wife, sisters and mother.

 

I know that I won’t be home to see your tree,

or you won’t be over here with me.

But my thoughts will be with you this Christmas Day,

and every hour while I am away.

 

There’ll be presents piled high under the tree,

but none will be addressed from me.

I’d give anything if there were to be,

just a couple of packages from me.

 

I know that you can be well assured,

that my Christmas Cheer will not be heard,

by any of you as you undress your tree,

for I am too far across the sea.

 

I’ll have to open my presents alone,

for I’m miles and miles from your home.

But maybe when Christmas rolls around again,

I'll be back home and then!

 

There’ll be some presents underneath your tree,

for all of you, from Me.

This little poem is all I can say,

to bring you cheer this Christmas Day.

 

It’s not very good or very long,

and even words may be spelled wrong,

but I am sure it will find all of you,

underneath a tree with lights of blue.

 

There’ll be Helen, Jo and Sue,

beneath the tree with all of you.

They will help to take my place,

all that’s missing is my face.

 

When you sit down at the table to eat,

with duck and dressing and candy so sweet.

Just think of me and how I’d love to be there,

to fill the spot in that vacant chair.

 

And now I’ll say my wish so true,

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU

 

           Harold

 

After my mother passed away, these two poems were given to me by my sisters. They found them in the family bible where Mother kept her valued things that she cared about. She kept them many years.

Luckily for all of us, Japan had surrendered before I got to Okinawa. I spent the winter on Okinawa as an electrician. I got home by way of the Marine Fox, another troop ship. The sea was much kinder on the voyage home. We docked at California and then went by train to Camp McCoy, Wisconsin. It was a beautiful sight to see Helen, Jo and Sue.