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PREF'ACE

following waswritten by my wife, The letterimmediately NathanandCaroline 8th Mary, on December to her parents Michiganin the Porter Potterwho wereliving in Lansing, joined them in her own Hotel,whereMary subsequently The aparfment. letterwentout on a clipperplaneTuesday beforetherewasanycensorship of December ihe ninth of mail in place.Natecopiedthe letterandit waspublished It in the LansingStateJournal shortlythereafter. is his copy which is reproduced.

^T/efh_
De c . $ , 1 9 4 1 .
Dearest Qfother

n/h

& Dad:

Siish there were some way I could reaasurs you that lrlx okay 6 such. letter, but here goes Doutt know when, if everr you get this particular for the story an]tray. doesaft it, having Uakes me out kind of foolish, you that oahu would, never be bonbed, but not quite ae Just written foolish ae the Arny & Navy wbo got caught with thcir pants ciowa if anyone over did. J dara say you know a great deal norc about aII of it than we do, as our radio only broadcasts official bulletins frolc Arny headquartors every once in a while. Rumors are rifc, especially were tbey yesterday when things were being organizedr so f shall etart at tbe beginning as beet f caa. Yfe had a lovely tise at Bee & Harlanr s dinner party and the fine cabaret show put on at the Officersr General Shor* wae Club Saturday night. therc aLarong ma-nyother high ranking officers. Hom6 and ia bed by 1 or 1:30. At about 7:30 or after J awoke to the sound of gun firo--machine guns and comos dropping. Thought riilhat a hell of a tine for gunnery practice". it was an "alert" of Then heari rhe airplaneo and ciecj-cied anci went oack to bed to see if I the best kino. ?Ient to the toilet could get back to sleep. Harlan (cireesed in uniforn as he had planned to go to a lecture in town on "Trauntitic Surgery") knocked on the door, burgt in and gaid, "Cone on out and watch th.e Japaneee planes. Thcy are bombi:rg "Wheeler Fiold"--the aircirome acijacont to Schofield.' iTe truly beLreving Iaughed and said "cion't kici us". Brt he iasisted--not it hJ.nse1f, so we robod and dashed out into the streot. Sure enuf there were--how men:I? --50? planee in the air anci definitely zooning and attacking YJbeeler. They were so low we coulci seo the red suns on their wings. half believing ir to be soo kind of nock attach we atood StiII and watched. SIowIy it dawaed oa us that they were uaj-ng rad.l bullets and wc could sea the tracer bullets'aad the great cloud of black smoke risJ-ng fron lfheel-or. or less) se wera joined by aII tho people fliving on Gorgas By non (15 -;n. Standing there like goops vo road in all etates of dregs and undress. eu<idenly realized a couplo of planes were heaciiag for us--very 1ow, etraffing thc road. f canrt say y6 properly dove flat for cover, but re got out of the way in the busbes very quickly. Then went in, dressed, cirank a cup of coffec and Mike got into the car and h.eaded for tovn. TLrc raid, vas largely over and I gueae he nade it 'cause hcts at vork fortunately, me at 6 this A.M. and tofd ne to await further instructioaa nos--called did. fron his. B.rt it You probably tb.ink we acted very stupidly--we sas, and still ie, eo iacredj-b1e that Japan could puII such a completc even have ti-no The fort dida't surprise that no one believed their eyes.

-3 -

woundg on head. Both were cheerful and anxious to set JapB" --said. L2 of their "bud.dies" had been ki[edJand boy who dove under the P.X. when anusing story of one But, and said he saentt scared--give hin a cigarette. put it, he was rrbare aekkedn After they left Listcned nainl,and broadcasts and then went to bed. AIeo called Icft word for !d.ke I was home.

"back at the told, ea attack connonced ae the boys to sonc the [1. and

news really-Thie noraing havo cleaned up--read thc crtrar vErT litt1e and looked at the ehcll bolo i:r to the neighbor storiee, listened a beau.t, canrt gce thc bottoo--about a foot Findeisente drive--itte across and on an anglc Tomorrow will report for voluateer sork at Queene as ugual and horeafter do rhat f am to1d.- OLive Arthurs is not be aloae. com.ing to stay with me, so vill Send all our love, & wo will be 0.K. Itary

Reminiscences
By Mahlon S. Sharp, MD

MY PARENTS
My Father: Fred Newmnn SharP I, Mahlon SamuelSharp,the youngerson of Fred Newman Sharp(Feb. 14, 1878- April lg4g) was less close to my father than was my "first born" brother, Edward. Edward was with my father during the last yearsof his life and I believethat they had in associated business a most pleasantassociation. Edward inherited the hardwarebusinessand did quite well with it, I believe. I think he could have written a much better biography of our father - having known him longer and more intimately. He was elevenyears older than I. Anyway I heard frequently from my father how difficult his early years were. He grew up about 50 miles southwestof Ohio - in Edgerton. He was the eldest of 7 children. After him, there were three brothers. I believe in order of age they were Herbert. Tom, and Harlan. Then there were 3 girls: Esther, Helen, and Madory. The youngestwas another boy, Wayne. Wayne stayedthe longest on the family farm and then acquireda farm of his own. My paternal was Herbert grandmother was Augusta(Gusta)Newman Sharp(1851 - 1911).My grandfather (1851- 1940). Sharp Wayne's wife Catherinewas not a very happy woman and had only one child, Robert, a boy. She raised chickens and, I believe neededthe money. However I attendedhis funeral. Wayne shot his own head off with a shot gun. His son was very nice looking and I think, smart, but was terribly lacking in self confidence. He flew in one day to an airport that was near E. Lansing. He wanted to make contact with me and I would have been happy to entertain him for a few days,but he arrived unannouncedand on a day that I was frantically busy. I told him that I was late and had an office full of patients. If I had known his need, I would have let my patients wait. I heard indirectly that he settled in Chicago and continuedto own and fly his own air plane. Neither I nor anyone else in the family ever heard from him again.It is one of my many sorrows. My father recalled at a very early ageplowing fields that first had to be rid of stumps and large stones. The living conditions were crowded. All the children were hard working and the family cut and split wood and delivered it to a poor family in town. With all the children helping they did eventually have a large brick house- the bricks ware made on the site of red clay. I remember alarge windmill that pumped water into a gravity flow systemin the big house. I was with my father one hot summer day and dug out of the sawdusthuge cakesof ice and. a wonderfully cold watermelon. The ice had been harvestedout of the nearby river in midwinter. The building which held the ice was one room and had been the original first home of his parents. Dad added that at first they had to carry water from the river acrossa large field. My father told the story that there were families that went into debt to buy their own homes. Mv father's family believed that the home came after the bam. Prosperity apparentlycame in time to this early Ohio farm family. Large barns had been built and there were cafile, pigs, and sheep. Carriagehorseswere bred for the market in Fort Pase2

back he stoppedto seeher and gaveher $20.00,almost all of what he had sold the truck load for. He neededthe money badly but felt that she neededit more. Dad was honestto a fault. He trusted everyoneand usually had many un-collectible accountsto charge off at the end of each year. My mother would call this to his attention from time to time.

My father was a very good and kind man or he probably would have clobberedmy mother when she would remind him that she had a better education. She often thought that she knew better how to run their affairs than he did and told him so. She may often have been right. She was deeply hurt at the time of her maniage to Dad when she heard some of his family say "Fred will probably have all of Angie's (Angeline Conant Sharp) family to support some day." Of course it was all the sweeterwhen my mother inherited enoughfrom her family to help many ofthe Sharps. sort I was a "pain-in-the-ass" of son. My two- year- older sisterwas fond of telling me afterthought . He already that she heard my father say that I was an unwanted and unnecessary had his son and daughter. I think that he was dismayedat my taking piano lessonsatmy mother's insistencewhen he thought I should be playing football. Athletics ware never my bag and my father took great pride in my brother'sstaring in track, baseballand basketball. He also was quarterbackfor Flint Central two years in a row.

I was never sure that he thought it worthwhile for me to go to college for so many (8 years) and then work 120 hours a week for $0.85 a day in meal tickets which was what Haqper Hospital paid at that time, in 1939-1940.One could send I shirt a week to the laundry and all the uniforms you could dirty. Both Mary, my wife, and I lived on it until with her prestigious job JD degreeshegot a blessed at Hudson's for $13.00a week selling costume jewelry. My mother is another story and I will come to her later. A sidelight on my Dad was when I was in the South Pacific my mother couldn't write to me even when I beggedher to. Apparently it was distressingto her to think of my being there as she consideredit an unhealthy place -- especially if you were with a combat infantry unit. My father, bless him, wrote and explained it to me. He spelled almost as poorly as I do; his letters however were pure gold. I once rememberedone of my tough old sergeants breaking into concealedtears when after months and the end of "Mail Call" there was nothing for him. Coming back to their home in Flint from Floridain 1949my father and mother stopped at our house on Oxford Rd. in East Lansing. I hadn't seeneither of them since fall. They had no intention of staying but for a minute. His much beloved Springer Spaniel ran awayso they had to stay the night- The effrcient East Lansing Police found the dog the next morning. Becauseof the layover, my father and I visited my brand new office . But foi that, I would never have had the wonderful experienceof hearing my father say "Kid I am very proud of your hanging out your shingle and all thosehash marks and stuff that you got in the South pacific." H-avenly music to my earsand I didn't know how much I wanted to hear until I found myself wiping a tear Pase4

My Mother: Mary Angeline ConantSharp

My mother was born in October 21, (or 24) 1878at Ashtabula, Ohio (died about 1968 at Flint, Mich.). Sheand her twin brother,my Uncle Sam,were the youngestof the family. There were three older brothers and one older sister. The youngestbrother died shortly after she and her twin were born. It isn't exactly clear what took the family to Ashtabula from Maumee where were well established. In fact the main streetof Maumee, Conant her paternal grandparents Street,was named after her grandfather. My mother consideredthe move to Ashtabuia as move to Tennessee. seriousa mistake as was the subsequent Her father was Austin BenezetConant (about 1830- 1924) and was a veteran of the civil war as a member of the Union Army. I once askedher if there was much hostility in Tennessee toward a Northem soldier. She said no, that they were not only acceptedwell but since he was extremely well educatedand also had grown up in the householdof a very active practicing Doctor. As a result,Austin Benezetfreely sort of practicedmedicinewithout having a licenseor quite happily for a few years. It any real recognizedqualification. They lived there in Tennessee was an old plantation and she and I visited it many yearslater, when I was driving her to Florida. She recognizedthe houseand rememberedthe slave quarters;the remnantsof the foundations were still identifiable. The few yearsthat they lived there were most pleasantuntil it was discoveredthat her father had paid cash for a heavily mortgagedproperty and he lost both his money and the properly They had a gardenbut did not farm. He was happy as the medical adviser of the little community of McMinville and probably did better than the "Bleed, Purge, Blister" conventionalschoolof the time. One of Mom's seldom-toldstoriesof the time was of their leaving sorrowfully in an old wagon with all of their furniture. There was much to do with all of the children and things went well until they arrived in the train station in Cincinnati and found that they were dead broke. Her Mother had given her coat to some poor freezing woman. They stayedthere for what seemedto her un u*fully long time and many telegramswere sent and received. After this agonizing wait the private railroad car of Mr. Swain arrived and they boardedit and were taken to Toledo and then on to Maumee. Mr. Swain (first name not certain ) was Presidentof the Pennsylvania Railroad and had married my mother's aunt. The aunt was a half sister of Austin BenezetConant, my grandfather. My grandfather,Austin BenezetConant, married Mary Charles,whose family were farmers in northern Ohio, near Parisburg,Ohio, right acrossthe river from Maumee_ Mary Charles had taught school all through the civil war and was school superintendent and inherited the flag that flew over the school during the civil war. The flag was made into a quilt which I once saw, but it was falling apart.

Page6

-^nal

shecould teach,which shedid for ",nhnolso that

a shorttime andfoundthat shedidn't me otheractivitY. At the time io to learnthe trade' The most hat rge,often ostrich-Plumed, , Oiaao well until all of the SharP reedorgan the : shePlaYed old PumP well but therewasno one e PlaYed that wn Homecoming shewasbYfar i in her oPinionweremuchthe most working andshe lestandthe hardest or twelve)hada reunion' TheYhad from .d3 boYs'I dimlYremember longskirts,andstiff collars' vedbYall. MY motherremembered aftertheir rnshedied shortlY at delivered home. In hermiddle womenof that time suffered. She / the ;regarded bleedingfora longtime cancerof that shehadan advanced

'

..-

Dr-.f!Q_R{r_!o C0NANT
\ r r ( j3tl519 t ot Mauhe, Ohto

PRACTICED MEDICINE FOR 67 YEARS TNU LIV E D THEA GEO F TO 94 -ALTI]OU6II SAft'fuIER AND

wlyrER H OFTEH HAD To Hts H2PfiEACROSS tytl AS I4ANYAS 8 RIVECf_

ON A STCK CALL

le. He thoughtthat therewaslittle milk cansthat tt to leaveoff scrubbing a to start in the Hardwarebusiness lerewasa happytime andthey healthybabyandthey weretyPical yswhich continued whenI wasa small lsnow in the brisk air. I thoughtit a was,"you red.Mother'sonly comment Le brother'swere they had arguments

a and : business opened numberof peopleandlovedto re. Dad loved thenwith a Dr. andMrs. Dyer ( he ;tinguished the time by beinga at 'Michigan. A sonof the Graham's,

World War II
Mahlon S. SharPMD Maior M.C. U.S. ArmY (reserve) C.O. Company"D" Medical Battalion 24thlnfantry Division As a freshmanat University of Cincinnati in 193I I elected to take ROTC instead of the required gymnasiumperiod. I stayedwith, or rather restarted,it at the University of Michigan I Medical School. At graduation was commissionedlst Lt. in the Medical Reserves.At the time I thought, as did many others,that all it would mean was that I was committing myself possibly to two weeks ayear at sometraining basewith PAY during my hospitalresidencyyears. Finishing my rotation year atHarper Hospital in 7940,I applied for the approved residencythere. I was told by the senior residentthat I probably would have had it except that I was beat out by the son of a very dear, life time friend of the Department Chief, Dr. Kamperman. I consequentlyapplied at Woman's which atthe time was the teaching hospital for the University of Michigan. I was acceptedalong with sevenother eageryoung 2nd year men. The group included my long time friend, GeorgeSmith, from GraceHospital. Much later I learned from Don Beaver,chairman of the resident committee and an outstandingpathologist that my recommendationfrom Harper describedme as one of their most outstanding 1st year men. At that time and place one would almost kill for an approved residency. When I was training, it was customary for people to take 3 years of pre-med and then four years of medical school. I took four yearsbefore medical school with one year atthe University of Cincinnati, two years at a junior college in Flint, and then a summer semesterand one full year at the University of Michigan. I had a typical college experience. The first semester the University of Cincinnati I got all A's. The secondsemester discoveredgirls and at I beer. I got an A in trigonometry and in ecology and failed everything else.! With that kind of a record I could not be admitted anywhereexcept at some Jr. College. Fortunately there was avery good one in Flint and I startedto be seriousabout wanting to go to medical school. I worked hard and was admitted to summer school at the U of M and then did a full Sr. year with nearly perfect gradesand was admitted to Medical School in 1935. The Medical School at the U of Mich. was organizedalong the German Tradition and the motivation was to scareyou into working hard. Many yearslater Michigan StateMedical school was organizedsomewhatdifferently and felt that it was acceptablefor the faculty to even be friends of and admired by the students- a much more popular atmosphereamong the student body. I did qualify for a desirableInternship at Harper Hospitar in Detroit.

Page10

an werein orderandit seemed importantpart of trainingto sleepon Bivouacs Frequent . and Kalamazoo BattleCreekandto missmeals I-aterI wasto the hard frozengroundaround this I status, discussed with the high this encounter againin Australia.Relyingon my medical was objectingthat onecouldn'ttrain for hungerandthat necessity the only acceptable brass, for reason it. i hadlittle success. up, to seemed be heating some that at Soon, highlevel,it wasdecided aslongasEurope (MedicalFieldOfficer Barracks, Penn. havemoreOfficertrainingat Carlisle of us should to TrainingSchool). I wasamongthe first to be chosen go. Up to this time it wasalmost regulararmythat weresent. entirely we A "regular"Army officer whoseapartment hadsubletin Battle Creekhadbeenthere to House"asit wasby far the most andadvised to applyimmediately "Mrs. Brigs'sBoarding us goodfood. We wereearlyandwereaccepted evengot the it and and reasonable besides had bestFRONTROOM.Thiswasin Marchof 1941. A picturecomes mind of Mary andme lookingout in the middle of the nightat a to heavydown-pour rain drenching quaintcobble-stoned of the streetandthe old fashioned, but beautifulbuildings. It wassupposed it wasin this little villagethat an old lady,Molly that Pitcher,hadstuckher headout of a second "shootif you mustthis old storywindowshouting, grayheadbut let standmy country's flag.". We hada convenient namedafterMolly Pitcher bar andspentsometime there. Thetrainingthat weresupposed be receiving we to included much"close order"drill and evacuation endless of mock casualties from a mock battlefield. It musthavebeengoodfor us sincelater,much later,I andmy company won a freedayin Honolulu. It wasthe prize in a battalioncompetition the four companies. of It wascustomary while at Carlisleto havea freeweekend mostof us wentto and Washington DC- This provedfor usto be a mostsignificantevent. Mary andI hadbeenthere beforebut we lovedthe opportunity doingall the usual"Touristy Things": of Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial,pan Am Center. while walkingmany mileswe p1ss9d not veryimposing a building. It hada sortof sign on it: "ColonelLull, officer in Charge all Rese*" offi"rrs". Mary of imriediately said,..good, let's go in andseehim. He mightbe someone to know.,, I, in nice my usualnon-pushy way, said,"really,Mary, a brandfresh,newly commissioned, down low tsi rt. doesn,t usuallygo crashing into the office of the high andmightyBRASS. I don'tknow muchbut I do know thatl,, We went in anywayand not only washe nice but also warm and friendly. He seemed, and probably was,slightlyboredanddelighted visit with us. Score to another,'100plus,, my for dear,wonderful'self assured, gate-crashing wife. This tumedout to be anotherof the accidental andfortuitousevents our lucky charmed of lives.

Page 12

sum of Effort,, was replacethe rings free. Which he did. The car had cost the enormous $375.00when we acquiredit. In Coloradowherewe had gone especiallyso that we could drive the "Sky Line Drive'" and We found that in May it wasn't open yet so we stoppedin EstesPark, this side of the divide, of wood smoke stayedin a wondertgi tittte log cibin with a big fireplace and the pleasantsmell next in ihe chill air. The following day we rode horsesin the beautiful mountain forests. The through day we heard that the road was open and we set off, soon finding ourselvesdriving point in snow drifts that were much higher than the height of our liule car. Neither of us at that our lives had ever seensnowthat deep . Eventually we arrived in good old San Francisco. We had both been there before and knew the city slightly. I reported "in" to Ft. Mason and found that they, like the rest of the Army, were all ro b.6y thatno one really had time to explain how long it would be that we were to cool our heels in the fascinatingCity that we both loved. Eventually rumor reachedus that all of the army ships were in the Atlantic carrying personnelto islandsand outpoststhat had a higher priority ihan anything in the Pacific. We were told to gal!, a common enoughmaneuver. It was used very frequently in all of the military servicesand what one did was to accustom one's self to doing just that. We found an old hotel that gave enonnousdiscountsto service people and was quite full of them, also "waiting". We becamefamiliar wrth Golden Gate Park and its garden. We did art museumsand window-shoppedall over the magnificent lovely Japanese town. We went back frequently to Fort Mason and were told to "\ /ait" which we did. We found a reasonableplace to eat,"Reily's FrenchRestaurant". It was family style, which meant that you could refill your soup plate from the tureen on the table as long as it lasted. We met many nice people there. Years later we took our two oldest children there and remembertheir comments: "it's no "Forum of the 12 Caesars"",said Caroline who had recently been in New York with her mother. Michael's comment, "you call this a salad?". Someof the shine that it had for us on our first visit had worn off. The patronswere no longer the grateful survivors of the 30s depression as we had been. Our other meal was breakfast in the drug store for $0.15. For a break we drove out to Palo Alto to seethe campus. While we were there we found a difficult-to-resist bargain and bought a Packard-Bellradio with a record player. Somestudenthad hocked it and we acquired it very cheaply.The salesmanwas so delighted to sell it that he threw in a single "long play" record: one side was "Franky and Johnnie Were Lovers" and on the other side was: "the Poet and PeasantOverture". Somenights we played it until the wee hours and then listened to the "War News" in our dinky little hotel room. We were very happy and felt that we were really on the threshold of "ADVENTURE", as indeed we were. Finally the orders came and I was to sail on the brand new luxury ship that the Matson Line hadjust commissioned. Mary was to stay in SanFranciscoand follow me to Hawaii shortly. I found that I was listed as assistantto a Captain Howard Taylor who was C.O. of troops, the troopsbeing some30 odd freshly commissioned 2nd Lts. in the Air Corps. This meant that I had no great big job or responsibility. It did, however, qualify me for pretty Page14

On July 7, in my positionasPort SurgeonI wasableto go out with the pilot andboard at Mary'sship. While shewaslookingsearchingly the dockfor me I slippedup behindher and of man her kissed asI put theLeisoverhead.I hadgivena nicelittle Japanese a couple dollars in TherewereGardenias the bedroom. as to put flowersin the house " Missywascoming". in all overtheliving roomandroses thekitchen.Followingpeacetime Mountain Ginger Officer at his home. Very soon calledon the Commanding I customs the service hadalready of very by afterMary hadanived we wereentertained the Colonelandhis lovely wife; we became with l3 boy chickencurry. my fond of them. Eatingwith thembecame first experience nuts,raisins, chutney, othergoodies. and of "Thirteen thatthere were 13dishes boy" meant the Soonit wasour turn to entertain Colonel,his motherandhis wife. Mary hadalready that and a in the commissary served wonderfulleg of lamb. I do remember we leamedto shop silverbowl andit lookedbeautifulin the centerof the tablewith 3 hugeWater had a magnificent Lilies in it. Beforewe satdownthey hadclosedinto tiny greenbuds. Hors d'oeuweswere (commissary) dyedblack caviar. Thecrackers become had black stained and crackers square pick up. Our guests weregreatlyamused couldn'thavebeen and slobsof doughthat onecouldn't of very goodfriends. Because them moreforgiving. We all hada very goodtime andbecame we both wereinvitedto a greatmanypartieson the postandelsewhere. I wasdancing night with a Mrs. "Colonel"Howard. Sheturnedto me surreptitiously one andsaid,"isn'ta it a pity whathashappened the "Old Army", whatwith all of the reserve to officersandsomeof thempreviously noncoms?"I couldn'tresistandreplied,"you know,Mrs. Howard, reallya reserve I'm "oh, officer!" She wasonly minimallyembarrassed, of course, I didn'tmean Doctors." After the war began,it wasn'tlong beforeI succeeded Captain Arnold in all of the duties that I hadpreviously doneashis assistant.I still remained Lt. andsangwith the restof them a about,"there'llbe no promotions sideof the Oceans."I knew that atmyjunior gradeand this youngagethat I wasn'tgoingto remainat my cushypostfor long. Sureenough wastransferred I to the 24thlnfantryDivision'sMedicalBattalionandappointed Commanding Officer of Co. "A", which waslocated in the middleof a Pineapplefield. I againfelt carefree Mary was out as safelybackin Michigan. I hada few daysof intense anxietyon the 7th whenI didn'tknow whereshewasor for surethat shewassafe. I alsofelt comfortable I hadan "enormous,, as insurance policy of $25,000.00 which I knewwould takegoodcareof her andthe babyfor ever and ever;"whatfools we morlalsbe." It wasthenthat all that close-order cameinto use. We easilywon the contest drill amongthe four companies the battalion.I wasthe only onethat had "Carlisle"in my in background. Initially I foundCo. "A" poorly orgaruzed,and I became C.O. (Commandine a Officer) that couldbe described a GI's hell. The previous as C.O.hadbeena gynecologstirom Chicago.Aboutthe only menthat knewtheirjobs werethe 1stSergeant, iiess Sergeant the and the SupplySergeant. ended havinga truly excellent I up staff of officers:Lt. Moe Harris, Capt. Tuttle,andLt. James.The latterhad completed jam course "TraumaticSurgery" a in under somefamous blokethatI hadheardof thenbut havenow forgotten. "Jamie"aswe calledhim Paee 16

officers better. I also think great responsibility goeswith authority. I also found that unlessyou were willing to do it, don't expect those under your command to do it. A small incident that I from the 19th rememberwell occurredon Leyte. We had receiveda large goup of casualties job of stopping infantry - they had been cut off. Their battalion surgeonhad done heroic bleeding giving good, although inadequate, treatment in a foxhole of sorts. I went out to meet the evacuatingunit with my Co."A". I told them what a goodjob I thought they were doing. I remember opening the doors of an ambulanceand the driver and another soldier were unloading the litters. One wounded man was bleeding from his scalp onto the litter below him. Almost reflexly the one man hung a helmet on the handle of the litter so that it would catch the blood and not drip on the other's face. I would have preferred for him to have placed a pressure bandagebut he was in a hurry. This was my old company doing the evacuationto my Clearing Company (the highest medical unit inside the division.) were lined up alongside the road. We were locatedin a This group of casualties of church without a roof. We had been there since the big blow (Typhoon) and it was still raining and after dark. The action was a last-ditch stand of the Japswho had been reinforced from Luzon and were in temporary control. Most of the wounded had been wet and, if conscious, hungry as well as in shock. Many had a great deal of blood loss. Both platoons were together at this time and there were 12 MDs and plenty of somewhattrained men to take care of them. I felt that there was a big need for bol soup and told the messsergeantto light the field range and produce some,even if it was made from cannedmeat and beans. He refused. I had never had this occur before. The reasonwas that he thought that it might draw enemy fire in the blackness of night. He was immediately relieved of his sergeant's stripes. I found another man to do it but that meant that I had to stand there while the range flared up. I think that it could be seenfor a mile. Active small arms mechanicalfire was going on at not a very great distance. I fully understood why the messsergeant resignedand for a moment wishedthat I could too. i will get to a much fuller story of Leyte beginning with D day and H hour after going back to Dec. 7th a little more fully.

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DECEMBER 7th,1941
we On the 6th of December wereput on RED ALERT at Fort Armstrong.I calledthe time beforeto a partyat the SchofieldOfficer'sClub and Taylorsaswe hadbeeninvited some Rd., (medicalrow) on Gorgas the to hai planned spend night with themat their quarters parlythereat somelater we Sctrofieta.I told Howardhow disappointed wereandwe agreedto my call and theALERT was lifted. I calledbackandtold him had time. No sooner I finished all. we werecomingafter Hooray! that in I hurriedhomeandquickly dressed my WHITESandwe wereoff for the big parfyof wasthat someof the wiveswereputtingon a floor that the year.The reason it wasso special would be there. It wasa very goodpartyandwe both hada showandall of the high brass ShortandAdmiral Kimble duringthat with both General wonderfullygoodtime. Mary danced and evening.Mary wasa beautifuldancer wasvery popularat mostparties. All the memorable menpickedher out asshewasvery vibrantlybeautiful. I beinga young lst. Lt andnot a terribly gooddancerstruggled with their mostlyquite olderwives. I think that it wasabout03:00whenwe got backto the Taylorsandhadscrambledeggs almostimmediately that we wereawakened. saidto Mary, I andfinally wentto bed. It seemed "Damn,wouldn'tyou know that Sunday Morningwheneveryone needs wantsto sleepthe and blankety blankcoast artillery woulddecide practice?"TheTaylors, mostof us, to like borrowed muchQuartermaster as equipment possible fill in and furnishtheir house.We as to weresleeping two regulararmycotsmiserable on enough eventhoughwe hadpushed them together.We talkedfor a while andthe resounding noiseandvibrationscontinued.Evensome plasterdustseemed shift downfrom the ceiling. Thereweresoundsasthoughour hostswere to stirringandwe decided get up andseewhatwashappening.We heardplanes decided to and to go outsideandseewhatin the world wasgoingon. Therewereplanesflying very low and, unbelievably, brightred sunspaintedon their wings. I remarked I thoughtit was had that carryingthingsa little too far for a drill. The four of us got under avery smallMulberrytreeas a planeturnedsharply camebackwith its gunsblazing. Shellsremoved and laterfrom the eaves became valuable mementos. Soona soldiercameby with his rifle on its shoulder strapandannounced, "the commandingGeneral says that wE ARE AT WAR! --TFIEJAPANESE HAVE ATTACKED. All wivesandchildrenareto go to the hospital.Everyone to reportfor duty immediately,'.I is hadalreadydecided I mustgetbackto my assigned that post. BeaTaylor,dearlady,wasin the process serving coffee. I noticedthat for somereason otherthe cup clattered its fine of us or in chinasaucer.I took off in our little black'37 FORD. My assignment cise of attackwasto in establish threeaid stations aroundtheHarborof Honolulu. As I left Schofield the gate by nearest Wheeler Field I discovered reason all of the noiseandvibrations It wasa the for Pase19

She 28,1942. hadbeenworkingasa on to Mary returned themainland February permission remainin the to would easilyhaveobtained volunteerin eueensHospital. She it with our first child! We decided wasbestfor her to returnto but Islands shewaspregnant from Hawaii to Californiaon a troop were. Shetraveled LansingMichiganwhereher parents from a luxury cruiseship,now outfittedwith triple bunks.I spent tripthe Lurline,transformed and the restof 1942 mostof 1943in Hawaii exceptfor a verybrief visit homein March of 1,943 to my because fatherhada heartattackandwasnot expected live. all why, but my mothersaved I Ever sincei couldremember, hadhatedliver. I neverunderstood me time home,served liver! It wasso wonderfulto and her meatcoupons duringthis precious whereher parents seemy belovedwife andchild. Mary wasliving in the PorterHotel in Lansing duringall of the war. Her fatherhadworkedin a factorybuildingairplane hadbeenresident to badge his wearing Steward UnionSteward he considered He propellers. hadbeenelected felt the Detroit City Club - a poshupperclassclub wherethe members laborunionsweretheir enemy. Carolinehadbeenborn in Augustof 1942andwas6 monthsold whenI arrived. I have the a vivid memoryof walkingmy family, babyin pram,through city park next to thePorter uniform,the babywasbeautiful,the baby'smotherwasbeautiful,and Hotel. I wasin full dress peoplestopped admirethis wonderfulfamily. I wasfull of pride. to I foundmy fatherhad comehomefrom the hospitalandwasno longerconsidered critically ill although occupied hospitalbedin the house he a theyhadrecentlybuilt in the country. My Dad saidhe washappyto seeme but our contact wasbrief andshadowed the by fact that I soonhadto returnto Hawaii. As I recall,I washomeabouta week. Mary andI occupied upperbirth in a train trip to SanFrancisco a berthwe were an lucky to get asthe train wasfull of soldiers.We hadleft with our mindsvery muchoccupied by our comingseparation the immediate and probabilitythat I would soonbe in combat.people werevery tearfi:l saying good-bye the Army shipI traveled to on. I saidgood-bye Mary at the to Top of the Mark Hopkinswherewe hadgoneto the rotatingroof bar. This wasa special place for us and we havegonethereeversincewhenever arein SanFrancisco.The sorrowof our we separation lessened the fact thatin crossing street encountered friend from was by the we a Collegewho was6 feettall andMary borrowed raincoat it hadbeenrainingduringour his as entiretime there. Thecoatwasmuchtoo long for Mary andwe laughed aboutit. Carolinehad stayed homewith a babysitter- Mrs. Sugden, of the manywivesof Mr. Sugden, Army one an bandleaderandwho hadbeenmarriedto my auntEstherat onetime andwasthe father of my cousins'Mary remembers partingwith the confidence I would return. our that I wasconcemed because knew I would be in combatshortly. I

Page2l

New Guinea
we In Augustof 1943 left Hawaii andtraveledto North Australia. We fearedthat we I to transfer the Paratroops. wasturneddown and staythereforever. I even requested might my ideason how to keep 120men at area.I hadexhausted in told that I wasneeded the present eachmorningat daylight and otganized We did an hourof calisthenics busy. leastsomewhat ravines over steep marches.Oneof my Officerswasevenworkingon evacuation cross-country that from cables werepart of all of our big trucks. We all werebored. with li6ers suspended therewaslittle activity exceptof our own nearby, With only onesmalltown,Rockhampton, scrub North New Queensland marchthroughthe desolate one making. I remember several-hour that trees. The landwassobarrenthat oneof the menremarked it would take brushand stunted overa of the one to acres support cow. I washeading columnand several us hadstepped several to trunk whena manfrom the rural southwho wasaccustomed usinghis eyesin largefallen tree did wild woodedcountrycalled out,"Captain, you noticethat that fallen "tree" is really a huge "city boy", I had,of course, recognized This gavethemall a goodlaugh not it. snake?"As a it needed.A few of the menkilled it anddragged manymiles backto camp. which everyone yearsIhad a photograph it draped overthe shoulders ten menwith it touchingthe of For of groundon eachside. We got usedto seeing thesehugereptilesandweretold by the nativesthat theywerecalledBrown Snakes Rug Snakes werea species Boa Constrictor.We had or and of gottenusedto the strange Kookaburrabird whosecall wasvery muchlike a mule braying. The first greenlizardthat ran on its hind legsthroughthe campwaschased a tree andfinally up captured killed so that it couldbe examined and closely. After that theywereignored. We hada dayroom of sortsbut nothingin it exceptsomehomemadefurnitwe. My blessed Motherin Law sentme a wonderfulleathercasecontaining severaldecksof cards. chess checkers, dominos.For troopswaitingfor combataswe were,it wasa a set, and godsend.We hadthe bestdayroomin the battalion. We were"A" company liked to think and we werethe best. To haveplayingcardsandchess helpedto confirm it. Therealsowasin sets this wonderfi.rl package metalcanteen full of whiskeythat it wouldn't gurgle,that only I and a so a few of my closeofficer friendseverknewabout. The few barsin the areihadno liquor, not evenbeer. Rockhampton's main saloon double,half length,two-wayswingingdoorsmuch like had the stage in an old western set movie. The bar attendanihad upp"-uni oia retiredschool the teacher Minister'swife. Sheannounced or sadlythat theyhadnothingto drink andthe yanks haddrunk it all. In mostarmiessincetime began therehasalwaysbeenan unofficial underground supply of informationcalledvariously"scuttlebutt"or "lafrine-o-grams."It wasspread all levels at evenamongofficersthat shouldhaveknownbetter. Besidisow 24thdivisiontherewas another in the sameextensive area. I believethat it wasthe RedArrow Division madeup of primarily reserve regiments from Wisconsin its neighboring and regions.Althoughwell trainedat home theywerefirst, I believe, engage enemyin the equatorial, to the steamiig,mountainous jungle of Paee22

I well rememberedthe heavy promiscuousfire all over the Island of Oahu on Dec. 7th and many days after. In one incident, I was called from Ft. Armstrong where I was stationedto the next door Immigration Station. I wisely chosean Ambulanceas leastlikely to draw fire. I remember vividly the shower of tracer shells acrossthe streetaheadof the ambulanceand similar fire after the ambulancehad passed. Greentroops often, I knew, had more casualtiesfrom their own weaponsthan from the enemy. I announcedto the companythat anyone firing purposefully or accidentally would have his weapon taken away. It did occur and the offenders were relieved of their rifles until after they had received instruction. FortunatelyI had a sergeantthat could capably instruct in field stripping and firing Medical soldiers,according to the GenevaConvention, were to be armed wrth Red Cross arm bands and here we were with arms and ammunition, responsiblefor our own security. Worst of all most of the men had no trainins in their use. Soonafter loadinethe bow doorswere closed and we put out to sea. We presumedthat we were soon off shore of New Guinea and proceedingNorth West. The naval crew were as young and green as we were. However they were friendly and realized that we were all on the same side in this war. Their chartswere made from air photos and lacked much in the way of navigational information. We approachedthe shoreand the big doors swung open and a few trucks went down the ramp to completely disappearunder water. Their drivers fortunately escaped. We didn't loose any men but the rumor was that there was enough artillery ammunition and equipment on this mucky shoredeep out of sight to fight a small battle. We sensibly moved on and did nose into an areawith more substantialbeach. Infantry platoons and vehicles moved off the ship and onto land. Our company assembledand one platoon was instructedto follow and maintain contact with the Battalion Aid station. Mostly they were litter bearers,hand carrying medical equipment in addition to their newlv acquired fire anns. We had been warned that in the tall kunni grassthere would be deadly snakes;not very big but deadly (Pit Adders). I stood for a few minutes near Division Headquarters. The Commander of our Division, Generallrving, was there . Confusion was rampant. GeneralIrving was doing his best to establishorder out of chaos. The great GeneralMacArthur came up to him as I stood there and said, "Irvin q, otganizeyour ground!" of coursethe lesser Generalwas doing just that to the extent of his abilities. I moved on inland with my headquarters. Here and there were cries of "snake bite" which I had to attend. This was especially frequent as it startedto get dark. None of the bites could be confirmed. It was so dark that we were sliding and slipping on a mountain trail and I decided to stop. It was beastly hot and I noticed some of the heavier medical equipment was being abandoned along the trail. we met two Nuns coming out to the shore.They were with a sikh, curly beard and mountainousturban and all. I wonderedwhat we would seenext. The Sikhs, I later heard, Page24

and might be a springsomewherefeedingour dirty stream oneof the menlocatedit. With lots was if we of manpower coulddo almostanything, we hada plan. A smalldetachment sentto cut 5 inchesin diameter.Startingwith the spring like 6 or 8 feettall andmaybe4 or largebamboo, downslope. The cleancold waterwas heightanda gradual was the-bamboo strungat decreasing and broughtto the bankof the stream a long line of menstoodwaitingto get wet. Prettysoona the underthe popularshower.We side-tracked bamboostream largepuddleof mud developed was supplysergeant familiar with bank.The company's at night to preventerosionof the stream knewthat the air corpsunit nearbyhad goingon in the area. He of everything importance that. Anyway, a night *.t. not forcedto wearshirtsaswe wereandwe resented cemlnt. ihry and time requisitiongot usa bagof cement a platformwasbuilt underthe little 6 ft high bamboo men. a long line of hot, dusty,sweat-soiled to waterfall andit continued bath existjust to make of out Sometimes in the field it is felt that higherechelons command a the lives of lower echelons bit miserable.The MedicalBattalionhadanAdjutantwho fell into belovedby the Captains the category.He hadfield graderankandwasnot particularly mustbe doneto controlthe in the commanding companies the Battalion. He felt that something theywent in the Jungle.He went from companyto swannsof flies that followedmenwherever the their latrineswheremostof the flies bred. He had developed nastytrick companyinspecting of lighting a pieceof toilet paperanddroppingit into the pit. He did this to our pit andboom wentthe aviationgas. Thekitchenfly flew off like a hot air balloon. The box waswreckedand was the thing that noneof us wouldhavehadhappened that threemenusingthe latrinewere hadto be sentofffor a while to the hospital.Bums in this terribly hot humid badlyburnedand climatewerenot minor matters infectionwasalmosta certainty.It wasftrnny,however, us as to all to seethe canvas square floatingoff into the Jungle. Whenwe wereearlyon our way into this areal sawthe only live Japsoldierthat I sawin thePacific. He wasbeingbroughtfrom the air field wherehe hadbeenfoundby litter bearers.I asked themwhy theywerecarryinghim andthey saidthat apparently couldn't' move. I he prickedhim slightlywith my trenchknife andhe movedandstoodup. Headquarters had expressed strongdesirefor a prisoner two of my medicalsoldiers a and took him on back. By now a highwayhadbeenconstructed from HumboldtBay (Hollandia)to the airfield andon to the beach wherewe hadlanded.Rumorsagainfloated freely. "MacAfihur hasa castle up on the top of that mountain." The menthat believed werewholesale this canceling their war bonds-I foundthis out from censoring mail of the company. I hatedto readothei peoples the privatemail, but orders wereorders.I took my first sergeant two members the and of "o.puny with me in ajeep andwe wentup the mountain.We drovethrougha campvery muchlike our own. Their latrinedidn't seem be nearlyasniceasCo A's . Theydid havearefrigeratorthat to apparently functioned gas. Themenweresatisfied returned. on and liking our own campsome whatbetter. I readof no morewar bondcancellations. Early in this operation whenwe first reached landingstripswe hadonly the rations the that we hadcarriedwith us. Both our rationsandwe wereexhausted. Suddenly widespread a yell brokeout, our planes weredroppinga new kind of grubandwe all seized madlv. We ii Page 26

backwith civiliansI them. Further, trrl I had abandoned I woulOreer functionin combatand wouldbeuncomfortabieaftercoming,o.i**seeingwhatitwasaliabout. 50Yearslatter,writingthis,I,mgladlstayed.WithD-dayonLel'teandMindoro,Iwas ttt chance I grabbed sivenanother

Page28

LEYTE
MacArthur i'' ''i SiiALL RET-LJ-RN Maior Generai is on 2T,1944, Leyte("-Ii-hour" the hourof the October "D day",the dayof landing, on in operation TanamaraBay New than on our previous ianding)went a iittle moresmoothiy the northcoastof New Guineawith all of Guinea.We left from HumboldtBay in the centerof Ali and of the excitement whatwe knewwasgoingto be a majoroperation it wasincieeci. of the firing asthere and to medicalunitswereaccustomed their armaments therewasno accidental this My company time wasstili quitenew to me. Our operation. haci beenon the previous aid a missionwasto establish beach station. On leavingNew Guinea, I thoughtthat we mustbe oniy everto be assembieci to bejoinedby oneof equaisizefrom the Armada themostenorrnous just north of favorite. He landed division,MacArthur's the containing first Calvary Admiralties twice, the second I it, us. The storygoes andI believe although didn'tseeit, thathe landed , this My company hadbeentransported far in a big Army Transport "D" time for the cameras. we ship. Previously hadaiwaysbeenon landingcrafts;only in cirili hadwe ciimbeddown cargo fleet wasjoined by an LeyteHarborour enonnous netsfrom sucha largeship. As we neared haci equallyiargeforceirom the Hawaiianisiancis.TheNavy , biesstheir hearts, beenpounding that we hadn'tseen before. All personnel of the beachlongahead us includingthe useof rockets oithe possibiiity minesin theharbor. We from thebow of theshipbecause of haci beencieared a our beforean assault landing. As we scrubbed all hadthe treatof freshwatershowers; custom bodiesin the luxury we couldn'thelpbut think thatthis wasa treatto perhaps lessen the probabilityof infectionif wounds weresoonto occur. My company prececieci infantrybut it wasnow our turn. Insteaci the usuaiLSIs was by of we wereexpecting, abiggerrampqpe boatarrivedloaded with wounded.Theywerebeing unloacied we ciimbeddownin andwith a minimumof equipment as prepared get our feet wet to in goingashore. After we landedI well remember of the earlycasualties walkedin. I couldn't one who believehe hadbeenshotright between eyeswith the woundof exitjust behindhis right ear. the The right optic nervewasobviouslysevereci. right eyereflected bright sunlight. I was His the to meetthis managainin threemonths- a life time in that time andplace. On our shorestationwe wereimmobiiizedwith 30 to 50 iitter cases a goodly anci numberof walkingwounded waitingfor transportation backto ihe ship. I remember lot of a noisyfire nearby andmostof our admissions weretiom verynearby wherethey hadbeenhurt. A22 ton truck appeared, ours. It wasloadedwith corpses not stacked fire wood. The poor like driverreally didn'tknow whereto go. I told him that I didn'tcarewherehe dumped them but theydidn'tbelong my aid station.I wouldiike themfar away. in
Page29

hesitate. He askecione of my men to <iiga cieephoie anti got in it ancicarefuiiy piacecithe grenacie the bottom . We then fiiieci in the hoie, aii in close proximity to the tents fuii of in casuaities.i wouici have giadiy given him a meciaifor <ioingthat iinie job. We left "San Juan" and leap-froggedacrossthe Ormac Corridor, one platoon at a time as we were supposedto <io,trying not to become immobiiized anciwere very lucky as the casualty rate was not great. Somethingbaii seemedto happeneverywherewe were but it waited to happenuntii arter we haciiert. Other units cailed us iuciry but we didni taik about it. e Corps to Ciearing Company was supposed reiieve us anciindeecithey <iid repiace our unit on the beach. japs that hacibeen, eariy on, by-passeci.R buiiciozerhaciburiecitheir There was a nest of concrete "piii box" in face of their fire. -Whenthey ciugthemseivesout they overran the Corps company that had replacedus on the beach. They killed many of them including unarmed of with the absence evacuation casualties heipiesson iitters or cots. This, of course, combineci further burcieneci units that were frrnctioning very well. our In war, as in other times, the best iaici pians orten go astray. The Leyte operation haci cailecifor air evacuationof casualtieson'D" Day plus one. Tiris ciicinot occur. We ianciedin hot ciustthat cakecion our skins oniy to have a few ciaysiater a heavy cieiugeof rains. i remember seeinga sizabieunit oi i tirinh "P 38s" sitting in the oniy lanciingfieid on Leyte in about a foot of water. That was the only landing place other than Tackloban. This had more far reaching effects than buiiciing up massesof casualties. We didn't have the Air cover that was planned. That made us more than ever dependenton the naval planes. We often were over joyeci to seethesepianeswhen we heard that things were not going well at the Front. There aimost never was a "Front" in the South Pacific. Action with our part of the Army was aimost aiways by regiments,or even more frequentiy, battaiion forces. The fanhest that my whoie company went was to aimost the western enciof the Ormac corridor. We were located in a rootless church and had some ward tents set up when a horrible storm hit. It took away ail of our canvasbut fortunateiy the poles had beenanchorecito the 22 ton truck bumpers and mostly remained standing. We were holding sick call for the natives and were popuiar becausewe had a very bright energeticman that hacibeen born in the piriiippines anciwas fluent in Tagaiog even though he haciiived in Chicago for most of his iife. I askeciirim once what he hacicionebefore the army ancihe toici me that he haciorganizecia union of the Fiiipinos in the atea andchargeci them all ayearly rate for which they receivecian invitation to a party once ayear ancioccasionaiiyheipecithem with empioyrnenrprobiems. He saicithat he made a good income fiom this activity and thoroughly er4oyedit. One of our admissionswas a woman who had been living with a Jap officer and was pregnant by irim. His farewell had been to stab her in the belly into the uterus. Having haci the experiencein my young iife of cioing aiair number of C-Sections,I couidn't beiieve that she hacin'themorrhageci <ieath.i did a hysterectomyan<icioseciher abciomen.No to remperature, no <iistention'no vomiting. She ciicireceive a i000 cc of ftuici anciwe figurecithat it was time for her to voici- I watchecisiientiy fiom a iiuer i0 or 20 fr..away in semi-darkness. The corpsman oft'eredher a bed pan and when he finaliy made her uncierstand what it was for, shepushedhim Page3l

Time flew by, but beforeI ieavethis sceneI must tell of one more incident. The flood of casualtiesthat were so hungry and shockingly exposedfor daysto rain, having lain part of the time in water, were heroically cared for by a battalion Surgeonby the name of Rosencranz,a Jew. He should have had some kind of award for working under the worst possible conditions and undoubtedlysaveda number of lives. i pointedthis out to someof my friends that were so tags on themselvesand didn't come critical of the two Jewish MDs that had hung psychoneurosis with us on the operation. In early December,two months after arriving on Leyte, I received orders that one platoon (one half of the company) was to report aboardan LST in the harbor. Fortunately the iarger ships were the onesreceiving most of attention from the Jap airplanes. I decided that I had to go with the platoon on this new operation called the Western VasayanTask Force. It turned out to be the most exciting and interestingof all the military action in which I participatedin the Pacific. I didn't tell Mary until a long time afterwards,but I had turned down rotation home that I was long overdo for while in New Guinea so that two officers from the Battalion couid go home. I was told that it would only be a month and i would come up again. That month turned out to be more like six. After all of the training and preparationfor combat it would be an unbearable anti-climax to come home while there was still so much action in this theater. I had, like most men in the military, steeledmyself for action, I wondered sincerelyhow I would stand up when a real fire-fight involved me and my men, much as I deplored everything about war and the unfortunate loss of our generation's finest.

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WESTERN WSAYAN TASKFORCE Early December, 1944

Thenew "Portable Surgical" moved had into an areacloseto us andhadquicklylearned theycouldn'tspend threehourson a laparotomy whentherewereothermenwith opengutslying around. We wereprimarilyconcerned with caringfor casualties hadpreviously that had emergency treatment.Onedayafterthe new unit hadarrived,an ordercameto immediately movea platoonto boardshipin LeyteHarborandprepare a taskforceaction. I decided for that go andpreffymuchchose otherofficersby their previoussurgical I must 6 training. This includeda Captain James whomI havepreviously to referred.He hadrecentlyhada refresher course traumaticsurgery in undera "hot shot"in New York. He alsowasshowingsignsof comingdownwith the blahs. Someof the alcoholthat we had landedwith wasdisappearing and I knewwhat washappening it. Jamiehadfoundthat it went splendidly to with the "batteryacid" which is how we referred the canned juice which waspart of our provisions which to orange and we all drankasour nearlyonly source vitamin "C". of I do not remember exactlyhow we got backto the staging areabut we did andloaded half of the company supplies personnel. do recall askingJamie,"how shallwe go?',It and I seems hada choiceasto how I wasgoingto dishibutemy company.Many hadto go *ith ou. I vehicles the two of us couldgo on eitheranLCI which wasa very small targetfromthe air but or an LST, which wassome300 or morefeet in length carryingaviaiion andlots of Ammo. gas We hadpracticed both sothat we knewtheir characterisiics TheLCII standing on . for Landing Craft- Infantry,wasliule with scarcely roomto lie down evenon the narrowdeckand when theypokedtheir bow into the beach theywould run two narrowramps,not unlike ladders onto the sandor waterdepending how closethe little shipgot to shore. we on votedthesedownand decided go for it with the LST andthe possibilityof bunk with possibly to a sheet it, solid on comfort' Not that sleeping a litter wasthatbad, but, comewhatmay. on We knew that we were a big anddesirable targetfromthe air andalsowerevery explosive,a quick way to go andless messy' We satin the harborfor several daysandfoundihut *" wereoneof thirty very similar LSTs' we really didn'tmind aswe wereout of the mud and if our premonitions wereat all correctsomething excitingwasaboutto happen.I think that we carriedour own ..iron,,chow, meaning canned, of course our canteens mess and had and kits on our web belts. Medical officersalsohad sidearms'at leastI did, aswell asa modicum of medicalequipment.I made roundsof my menandtheir vehicles.Theymostlysleptin their trucksandusLtty they had somecomfortarticlesstowed away- havinga bigvehicle at time wasa definiteadvantage. At last we weresignaled getunderway.A hugecruiserhove to into sight. I wastold by our youngandinexperienced captain that it wasto be our flagshipandall of tte armyandNavy Brassinvolvedin the operation aboard was her. when we movedout we lookednot unlike a motherduckfollowedby herlittle ones. our shipwas oneof the bigger,,littleones.,, we watched shoreline Leytego by andknewthatthe the of straits,a ratherlong narrowpassage Page 34

in with a cigarette his mouth raisinghis headalready manwith my clampon his femoralartery unit runninginto his veins. He almosthada smileon his face' andaplasma We were soonsetup on shoreandthe shipsall left. Matting wasrapidlybeingput down landingandtakingoff. Our casualties andit wasn'tlong beforewe sawsomeof our own planes rations. Not long afterwe setup, a big werenot heavyandwe growledaboutbeingon half camein with somekind of minor inj.ry andI don'tknow how I foundout that he blondeSwede baking, we did haveflour andyeast. The wasa bakerandknewhow to makebread. He started and aromaspread not longbeforemenfrom otheroutfits camecalling. We did hangon to as aspossible we hadafield rangeandplentyof flour andyeast.I think that he was him as long their knockingdowna singleJAP aircraft,although gunnerandI don'tremember an anti-airCraft they may haveand it went into the drink so that I didn't seeit. carryingsmallbombs. smallbombers from the Zeros, We seldomwerewithoutattention They flew day and night and,exceptfor the soundof our firing at them,therewasno alarm or to ourselves expectasa signalto seek we sirenswhich elsewhere hadaccustomed anti-aircraft fire, be it on with shelter.Therealwayswasa cold chill associated the soundof the anti-aircraft to attention the usually weekswe got so we didn'treally payenough or shipboard land. In a few however, wasa pilot who crawledunder solitaryJapplanes. Oneof our worstcasualties, wounded him instead into a hole anda smallbombburstnearhim. A fragment of something ina hut badlyin the left sideof his abdomen.We did a laparotomy sugarcane that wasraisedon feet above ground.Jamiewasthe leadsurgeon Al from Mayo the a cement baseseveral and helpedhim. The field wasfloodingwith bloodasoneof themannounced the splenicartery that wasclampedandthe left kidneywasa fragmented messandtheyweretrying to get the left renal artery. Therewasno bloodpressure. hadinfuseda unit or two of plasma I drew a few We and hundred of blood from oneof the company's who gladlygaveit. With no crossmatch, ccs men only the dogtagsto go by, the transfusion racedwith his failing heartbeatsandresuscitation failed. He wasa nice lookingintelligentappearing youngmana 2ndLt. in the Air Force. Christmas, 1944, appeared shortlyandtherewasno waythat I could comfortably figure to keepthe officersout of the medicalalcoholsoI decided getrid of it. It waspart of the to landingsupplies;intended the manufacture tinctureandtonicsfor which we hadno real for of needandI oftenthoughtthat some high up Medical SupplyOfficer hadhis tonguein cheek whenit wasadded the basiclandingsupply. WhatI did with it wasto have alargefield kettle to filled with the proverbial"battery acid" andI dumped remaining the alcoholinto it sothat the entireplatooncouldhaveaboutthe equivalent a smallglassof wine. I preferred to of that dumpingit on the ground. Theplatoonhadsortof a festiveair -- morefrom the idea,I think, thanfrom any significantalcoholingestion.Almost immediately thoughI regretted thereeverbeingany alcohol. A tankercamein andbeforetherecouldbe an effort to unloadthe aviationfuel it was hit by oneof thoseJapplanes thatbttzzedabout mosquitoes.It blazedmightily in the night like sky. Page 36

jealousyby the hospitalauthorities who werenot goinghome,unlikethe rest of us andthe mattermuchto us aswe wereusedto eatingfrom our messgearand wounded.The mud didn't aboutleaving. After aboutthreeweeksan old ship,"The in standing the rain. We wereecstatic loadingthe casualties. boardtherewerethree On Pierce",pulledin andwe started President eachcaringfor about50 patients. deepbunksall on opendeck.Therewereabout6 physicians on The soldierwho hadbeenthe first casualty Leeytewith the woundin the middle of his nervewasagainoneof my patients.I wasgladto seehim asI Optic forehead his severed and eye. how he got along. His visionwasgoodin his remaining hadoftenwondered stateside.The air Therewasalmostno bitchingaseveryonewassohappyto be headed treatment werequartered regardless rank in the hold of corpswhich wasoftengivenpreferential we a afterleavingNew Guinea, encountered storm.I sawAir Corpsquarters of the ship. Shortly Most the morningafterthe ship,top heavywith guns,nearlyrolled over.All wasa tangledmess. about heading home. The captainlatertold me of themleft it that way.Theywereso ecstatic it that hadthe shiprolled a few moredegrees, would not havebeenableto right itself.

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und RecuPeration Rest

Our landfall was in San Francisco. We arrived after the post exchangehad closed. We couldn,t obtain a city uniform. Army policy required us to be in city uniform for traveling in the city. Another field grade medical officer and I were determinedto bar hop. The first thing I did, however, was go to the lower floor of the St. Francis Hotel and called Mary. My friend and I decided to have dinner acrossthe street. Still in our fatigues, an elderly couple sitting at a table near the entranceinvited us to be seatedwith them and bought our dinners. During dinner, they that we hadjust come told us of their only son being lost in the SouthPacific. They recognized from there. There was little that we could say to comfort them' We went on to visit many other places in the city. Becauseof our rank we were well received- in spite of our appearance. Soon I was appointedcommandingofficer of a troop train headedfor Chicago. During one stop in route I left the train to get abeer and when I returnedexpecting to board discovered threetrains that all looked exactlyalike. I had visions of being court martialedbut I luckily boardedthe right train and we were soon in Chicago. was almost impossiblefor civilians but shehad Mary met me there. Transportation finagled herself there somehow. We met at the Palmer House - a hotel we had been in before and have stayedat many times since. The meetingwas sweet,intenseand passionate.Shortly we went on to Lansing where I met my 2 ll2 year old child for the first time since her birth except for the brief week when she was six months old. Caroline was accustomedto the full time attention of her mother. She was an adorable child but we discovered that our relationshipwas going to take sometime to develop. After just a few days she said, "daddy why don't you go back to the war -- we don't need you around here?" I realized that I had quite a ways to go before this 2 7/2 year old was going to have much of any affection for me and I must make a special effort towards her. It was apparentthat in the eyesof little Caroline I was getting too much attention from her Mother. To make life more complex at the moment I had orders to go to Miami for rest and recuperation. We decidedto get out of the apartmenton Walnut St. in Lansing which Mary had moved into from the Porter Hotel. We bought an old Buick. I think we paid $375.00 -- almost no cars were available at that time. Mury had savedthat much out of the rather meager allotment that was my salary. Fortunately,I had not been able to spendmoney. We were paid in Dutch Guilders and there was little to spendit on -- a wild expensewas $0.50 to get a Native to climb a tall tree for a coconut. I had even bought a water Buffalo for the company cook on Leyte. We all wanted meat and lo and behold the Army came through with turkeys -- for Page39

"You arejust the man. With your experience, you'rewhatthe Col commanding Commandant. me Unit the Convalescent wants. ThenewColonelgreeted againwith: "Good,I seeyou'vehad You will be my ExecutiveOfficer". I knewthenthat as long asI wore somefield experience. patientasa physician. I would neverseea live andbreathing the mufti uniform me a The Coloneltried to convince to become regularArmy. It wasattractive because my of I however, I wantedindependence in that rank andthe securityof the service. decided, and from the Army andre-entered Ob-Gynresidency September 1945,I wasdischarged of my at Women'sHospitalin Detroit. I wasgladto be a civilian again.

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GoodInterveningYears
I look at my beloved 79 year old wife having just placed a recent picture of her on a corner of a photographof her in her wedding dresstaken on the stairs of her parents' Barton Hills Home. I think for a nostalgic moment of all the yearsthat have intervened. Good years, mostly, and the good so largely came from her. We were married, September17,l938,at St. Andrews Church by an old friend of hers and her family's. Her very dear parentsacceptedme as though I had been their own born son. Her parentswere as I wished my own parentsto be. My Father and I had never been close and I cringed a little at the contrastof this dear hard working and honestman in his unaccustomed evening wear and my Mother trying to look at home in an evening dress. My brother, young and the acting as my bestman sort of redeemed family. handsome Our "extensive" honeymoonwas nearby,a night at the Dearborn Inn so that I could be back Monday to work on the line. The line was where senior medical studentsgave physical examinationsto incoming freshman. I neededto earn the $10.00. If my beloved had gotten up and stalked out of the room I wouldn't have blamed her. The first night at the Inn we occupied a deluxe room and I drank a bit too much. The difference betweenthe reality and the anticipated and eventwas rather considerable none of the short comingswere her'sin the least. In 1938-39,we lived in a one room aparfment in ObservatoryLodge one block from the Hospital and two miles from the Law School - this was to become somethingof a pattern to unfold. The year went weli. My gradeswere good and hers were superlativeand she worked part time for a ProfessorSimes as a researchassistantand was mentioned on the fly leaf of his subsequent new book.

It was June 1939my wife was wearing the Black velvet stripes of the law school and I was wearing Green from the University of Michigan Medical School and both of our parents were attending the GraduationExercises. It was a typical hot summer day and even the flowers were blooming more brightly than usual. We graduatedand moved to a one room apartmentin Detroit. It was unusual then for a first year lntern to be married. Two of my goo4 long-time classmates were also looking for placesto live with their wives. One was with me at Harper and the other was at Grace,a block away. We were all in the sameboat financially speaking. We were going to be paid $0.85 a day in meal tickets and it was possibleto have one civilian shirt included in the laundry with any number of uniforms each week. We were expectedto live in the quarterswhen on call. We all hoped mightily that we would have time to sneakoff to our wives for a nieht or two durine the week.

Page 42

but to blackneighbors to no avail. We our wereto be allowed.We expressed willingness greet mustmove. 1941the War Dept. sent The windsof war wereblowingmorestronglyand in February Army. My a first Lt. in theMedical Corpsof the United states greetings I became and Fort at was assignment to the Fifth InfantryDivisionbeingbroughtup to strength the nearby HarborandI hadthree "D" Daysin Pearl Custer. Fouryearslater,aftermy wife andI survived the SouthPacificwith the TwentyFourthInfantryDivision,I camebackto Woman's.Little had exceptthat therewasno competition. I haveneverfelt asold asthe first dayback. I changed glanced me andsaid, "Hey, in at and wasshowering a medicalstudent the "hurryup" program for a manof your age,you'refairly well preserved." I wasthirly threeandhe wasmaybetwenty child,first born from September 1945 September to 1947.My second lasted one. My residency son,wasbornin Julyof 1946. practice Lansing, time for the baby I in Michiganin 1947, After my residency,started would wantto seeme. I hadgained greatdealof a boom. I couldn'tbelievethat patients ragein Lansing. in anesthesia" whichbecame current the in my residency "caudal experience of lovedit andsoonI wasgivingtwo or threeat a time to the patients the busiest Patients I decided only do it for my own patients. practice to My swelled in Obstetricians town. Soon as weredesirable and I wasgoingat a fastpacedayandnight. I alsogaveotherblocks. These the babieswerenot narcotized. It wasstill the first yearandmy cheerfulyoungreceptionist hanging the telephone up announced shehadjust madeappointments morningfor ten newpatients.I recall quite that that vividly the first vacation abouttwo years later. I signed for a weekend whenI cameback out and Monday,the relievingdoctorhaddelivered13patients.He asked, it alwayslike this?" I "is repliedwith a smalllie, "yes, course." In realityI wascaringfor 30 to 50 deliveriesa month. of I foundmy first office nurseat theApestHouse, we oncecalledthe InfectiousDisease as Hospital. Shewasnursingthe "iron lung" patients doinga splendid of it. Two of them job and weremine,both well alongin to the lasttrimester. Polio wasa dreaded disease childrenand of it alsoseemed pick busyhardworkingstudent's to wives. I published paper Bulbarpolio in a on pregnancy gaveit beforethe prestigious and "CentralAssociation Obstetrics Of and Gynecolory". Thebottomline wasthat between writing the paperandthe monthslaterthat I gaveit, Salkhadproducedhis vaccine.I wasrelegated a Saturday to morningearlywhenthere wasa very smallattendance. It wasthebabyboomtime asa few hundred thousand othermenreturned from the theaters war. President of Hannah enormously enlarged Universityto accommodate the them as did manyotherinstitutions higherlearning. Quonset of Hutswerebuilt to accommodate the many newly marriedveterans anxious catchup on both family andeducation.This areawas to knownas:"Fertile Vallev".

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Room"and Section for Othergoupscameandwent. I campaigned a "Ready C-Sections. mothercouldbe admitted bragthat a hemonhaging it, furnished finally. We thencould Sparrow andoften saveboth livesby havingthe babyin minutes. Our groupwasthe first to useepidural of the is whichI believe still considered anesthetic choice.

to Thepracticethrivedandsodid we. Onedaya youngassistant Dr. Kirshbaum, at cameto us andsaidthat he was Department the Medical School, of chairman the Ob-Gyn him to and tired of teaching wanted do "PrivatePractice",incomebeing afactor. We accepted The threeof us hadnever only washe brilliant but alsovery street-wise. andfoundthat not have for should expenses our familiesandwe probably of the questioned deduction medical youngambitious Hazen took the office for the costof a Jon madesomerulesbut we hadn't.The for -staticair conditioner eachof two houses andby offeringdoublesalaryto oneof our himself in alongwhenhe established nurses took her anda copyof all of our records excellent solopractice! party. The It wasjust a shorttime ago,possibly1996, that I wasinvitedto a Christmas partywasvery nice andI hadattended numberof similaronesfor several a years. The partywas beinggivenby whatused be my old Ob-Gynoffice staff. I only knewthreeof the womenas to havingbeenoncemy employees. Both of my old, alsoretired,partners werein attendance. In yearssinceI hadleft we threemenhadbeenreplaced freshsparklyyoungpeople, the sixteen by threemenandtwo womenwith a muchextended staff. The five BoardCertifieddoctorswere supported a Ph.D.motherlywomanwho alsowasan expertin Ultrasound another by and that did mostlyMammography. Thereweresurgicalnurses, receptionists, appointment book and keeping people.I likedtheirlooks,only theyseemed look at me asthough werea fossil to I specimen.Theyasked to speak.I thoughtwhatcouldI saythat would interestthese me young people soI declined.. and On the way homeI madea "speech" myself. to You,youngwell trainedpeoplehaveall lived in the ageof antibioticsanddon'treally know how it waswhenwe hadthe careof that mostimportant person: motherat term with a ruptured membranes. therehadbeena few dayssincethe membranes If broke, thereoften would be a spikingtemperature. darednot do a C-Section fatal peritonitiswasalmosta We as certainty.If the fetuswasdeadandthe cervixdilatedwith a uterusunresponsive oxytosics to we did the dreaded morcelation procedure.This required to mutilatethe babyto deliverit and us wasa horribleexperience all. for If the fetuswasliving we usedforceps.We spent yearsin learning Pipersmaneuver the andothercomplexhigh forceps procedures. Axis tractionwasin usesomeplaces.I learned to do extra-peritoneal Sections unheard in the present C. of era. When*e did this on an infectedpatientwe heldour breathfor fearthat we might accidentally openthe peritoneum which couldmakethe difference between long-draining a vaginalabscess possiblya death and from wide-spread peritonitis.
Page46

to my Because practicewasvery largeI hadopportunity seemanyrarities. A general callssentme a greatmanycases.He villagewho madehouse practicedoctorin a nearby generation German Catholics.Onedayhis of practiced a rural community largelysecond in Hospitalandshewas was office saidthat an emergency on it's way into St.Lawrence just asshedid. Shewason the tablein a matterof minutesandI I hemorrhaging. arrivedthere full openandan orderfor blood. I foundthe peritoneum of blood,a ruptured hadher abdomen to it the of uterusandababy afloatin the mass fluid. I hauled infant out andhanded squalling it sisterfelt it washer prayerthat saved andfor sureit would have The surgery the assistant.. beendeadin a few moreseconds women that related distantly of practice yieldeda number possibly also My enormous to womenthe duplicationextended includea septats haddoubleuteri. In onemultiparous fully this had Her cleverhusband discovered on his own. Onesidehadfailedto develop vagina. they the of therewasnot productive pregnancy, otherwassurefire. Fortunately andintercourse at The wasno complication the time of delivery. AnotherDoctor in a desiredalargefamily. for smalltown senta 14 yr. old girl who hadbeenmenstruating little morethan ayearandhad genital for and revealed duplication no opening painfulpelvicmass. Examination a developed underlocal anesthesia solvedthat problemandI put her on the one vagtrna.An office procedure providedan idealculturemedium. The situationwas an antibioticasthe old collectionof blood was motherandpremarital examination to explained the family doctorandto the patient's recommended. fortunate this dayof flourishing, million-dollarlaw suitsto haveonly in I wasextremely two cases provokedlitigation- Onewaswith a SouthAmericanstudent's that wife that I had attended with an uneventful termpregnancy had subsequently a postpartum and done sterilization. During the sterilization had foundmassive I adhesions around siteof the left the fallopiantubethat hadbeenpreviously removed therewasno possibilityof doinga proper and procedure there. Her understanding Englishwasquitelimited but I thoughtsurethat she of understood therewasstill a smalllikelihoodthat shecouldget pregnant.Shedid later that pregnant both sheandher husband become and weresuprised angry. Her husband and was awarded few hundred a dollarsby my insurance company.Theyfelt that wascheaper than defending suit. the My othercaseinvolvedthe art teacher two of my childrenhadnot particularlyliked that in EastLansing High School. Shewasa beautifulyoungwomanmarriedto a compulsive gambler that liked nothingbetterthana weekor two in Los Vegas.He hadlost heavilyrecently andwasaboutto loosetheir house. All of this I leamedmuchlatter. I received noticeone day that I wasbeingsuedfor $500,000.00 a lawyerfrom the nearbycity of Saginaw and was handlingit for the teacher.I hadfriendswho werelawyers alsoonethat wasajudge in the and and community they reassured that the plaintiffs lawyerwasof the lowestpossible me moral standing. This didn'treassure onebit! It wasof somecomfortthatthe physician me that had referred to me wasalsobeingsued. Sheclaimedthat he hadtold her that shehadgonorrhea her andit hadruinedher marriage.Her claim against wasthat I hadbungledher surgery me causing herprolonged recuperation lossofherjob. and
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recurrently years. It seemed me. for to For a longtime the war bugged I hadnightmares whenmy shoulders became uncovered cold. I wokeup screaming I wasagain and and happen overmy faceto on sleeping the wet groundof thejungle with my helmeton anda cloth screen preventsomeof the manyinsects from biting andbothering.The treeswerefull of well armed The war damaged great manypeoplepermanently. wasmorefortunate I thanmostin enemy. a to that the war experience I had,seemed makeme grow in the knowledge the human that of reactionunderstress grouppsychology.I am still amazed and that 120to 140nearlyfull grown men canbecome family of sorts. Theycanfeel that the companyarea home. Thereis a a is responsibility command the leaderto do andbe ableto do anything for for they asktheir mento The Army wasa gowth experience me but of course for destroyed manypeople.I was do. drivento write this account because war wassoformativefor me. I think I wasableto do the manythingsafterthe war because theseexperiences. experiences The of werenot, of course, alwaysapplicable.My childrenwereoftento remindme that I wasnot the family Captain.

July15,1998

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ADDENDIIM

When I readthis article in the paperIt broughtback a flood of memoriesas this was the last combat operation in which I participated. The cruiser was our flagship which was not sunk but so badly damagedit was out of action and replacedby a destroyer. The two bargesreferred to were two LSTs, each over 300 hundred feet long,and were the end shipsof threecolumnsof ten LSTs each.I was on the last ship in the center column. The Japanese plane attacking our ship was hit by anti-air ammunition, and arrived in fragmentson our ship. The helmsman was our worst casualty losing aleg, and gushing blood when I reachedhim. He survived!

50YEARS AGO IODAY . .

WORLD WAR II
romnewspapers Dec. of 12194+, Japan says pilots suicide have sunk

:PearlHarbor still bwden fortwo men

: WASHINGTON - Rejecting the pleas of families and support: crs,ihe PentagonWednesdayrefused to clear-the names and restore the ranks of the two senior U.S. militarv commanders at .-?earl Harboi during the 1941 .*JaDanese rarcl. : A Pentagon reDort said Rear .Adm. Husband Kimmel and Maj. ;Gen. Walter Short were not sole.try to blame for the disaster, fvhich cost 2,403American lives, qnd had suffered greatly for it. I "Thev lost men f6r whbm thev rvere rLsponsible," the report +aid. "Thev felt too much of the blame was placed on them. Their rhildren and grandchildrenconiinue to be ha--unted it all. For bv '-aU this, there can be sidness. But 'there can be no official remedv." 'From wire reports

two U.S.fansport ships,a cruiseror largedesfoyer, and two barges sorlh of Leyte lslandin the Philippines. There is no U.S.commenl On Leyte, tapped Japanesesoldiersare beingliquidated fightingGen. in Douglas MacArhur describes as "of the most desperate character." wads single The greatestfleetof bombers 1,600 FlyingFortressesand Liberators the U.S.tth Air of Force attacksGermanrailand transporttargets.Germany's foreignminister says his nation will neversurrender thoughthe war mightcost "the blood of our bestand bravest" A Greek-American delegation asks the State Deparfnent to mediatethe batdebetween Britishforces and Greek groups.The resistance delegation callson Londonto "cease its bloody attemptto shackle$e Greekpeopleonce more with dictatorship."