Veterans Day - Dad's journal of his WW2 voyage from New Guinea to Manila (dial-up warning)

[bigtree]

(Dad, second from left, with locals)

[Adelante]

1. Wow, thanks for posting this journal

For your Dad :patriot:

[bigtree]

4. my pleasure, WesDem

for Veterans :patriot:

[nini]

2. My dad was also in New Guinea and the Phillipines

He was in the army. Those pictures look a lot like the background in the ones of my dad.

I plan on bringing a flag for his grave later today - I never forget him on Veteran's Day - I am very proud of his service. :patriot:

[bigtree]

3. that really cool

Dad had a pretty good experience there. It was his first real trip out of Reading Pa. and it was one of his most memorable adventures.

His unit was basically a clean-up group who went in after the action and removed equipment, bodies . . . He became a leader there by chance and initiative, assigned a position managing many of the men.

One story . . . It was the style back then to smooth out and straighten their hair, but there was little material in New Guinea to process it. So, Dad got a hold of some lye and convinced some of the "fuzzy wuzzies." as he called them, to pay for a hair treatment from him. As he described the experience, after he applied the lye, the men jumped into the water to stop the burning and came out without their hair.

On the way home, on the trains, dad and his peers were forced to leave the train in segregated areas and wait to board the 'colored' train for the rest of the journey home.

Nice to know of the connection with your dad's experience. :hi:

[nini]

5. Did he ever talk about Gen. MacArthur?

My dad despised him - he said they were eating maggot infested rice and here comes a crew for MacArthur setting up his office with mahogany desks etc.. My dad never forgot that and never ate rice again. He hated it.

Did he have any pics with the women of New Guinea who were topless? LOL My dad had a few and you can tell the guys were pretty happy with that :D


funny about the lye LOL.

ridiculous about the trains - thankfully some things have changed in this world.


:hi:

[bigtree]

6. Nope. His unit seemed removed from that action. They got sort of stranded as they were 'expendable'

And, no pics of the women, not that he shared . . . But, he had one story about being promised he'd have the time of his life if he paid for passage to an island where ladies were waiting. He paid the money, was rowed to the island, only to find a group of 'scary heifers' who frightened him back to the boat and back to shore, curing him of his youthful curiosity.

[nini]

8. hahaha on the scary heifers....

:-)

I found some pics - here you go.





I dont' know who the guy is with the women (I hope I don't get in trouble for this one :-( ), the other one is my dad.

Wouldn't it be nice to know if our dads were anywhere near each other?

[bigtree]

9. oh, wowsers!

(better edit that first one, :rofl:)

I wouldn't be surprised to find they'd crossed paths. When dad settled in D.C. a few years later, he found Westray (the beard contest) living right down the street and they became lifelong friends. Small world.

Your dad is a fine looking gentleman. Precious pics. :hi:

[nini]

10. I alerted my post to see if it was ok

just in case :D

My mom's brothers were both in Japan somewhere. One in the army, one in the marines. My uncle Bob was sitting somewhere and my uncle Louis walked up to him. Uncle Bob said he said 'hi' and it didn't click who he was right away because it was all out of context. He said it was the best visitor he ever had :-)

[bigtree]

7. kick

:kick:

[bigtree]

11. kick

:kick: