Farragut United States Navy Training Station

 

 

When my father was drafted into the Navy during World War Two, he was sent to Farragut Idaho to the Farragut United States Naval Training Station.  "In the wake of the Dec. 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor attack, U.S. military planners chose 4,000 rural acres in North Idaho for the Navy’s new training center. The inland site was believed to be far enough from the coast to be safe from another Pearl Harbor-style attack.

The government used the War Powers Act to move seven families off the land and began building the Farragut Naval Training Station on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille." Source

After the war, the area was reclaimed and became Farragut State Park.  I remember being told that my father wasn't able to learn how to swim, and his instructor told him that if his ship sank, to head for the bottom and run like hell.  I don't know if that is true.  

Information about Farragut U.S.N.T.S. is available HERE. 

V-Mail

 

During World War II, the United States used an efficient means of mail delivery to US forces serving around the country and overseas.

The amount of mail flowing was massive!  "An unprecedented amount of mail was moved about during the war with Army post offices, fleet post offices and US post offices flooded with mail.  Each year of the war, the number of pieces of mail increased.  In 1945, 2.5 billion pieces went through the Army Postal Service and 8 million pieces through Navy post offices.  To bring mail service to those serving worldwide, the military postal system required a global network and innovative practice."  Source

V-Mail was a system used to drastically reduce the space needed to transport mail.  A form was filled out which was photographed in microfilm.  It was then transported, reproduced and delivered.  My mother received mail from my father and my father's brother via V-Mail.  As example is below.  The size of the delivered letter was 4"wide by 5" tall. 

 

 

 

An Interesting Sailor

During World War II, my father served on a Landing Craft Infantry - LCI (L).  As I was learning about these ships, I came across a book by John J. O'Connor, Jr. titled USS LCI "Landing Craft Infantry".  At the back of the book, a number of veteran's supplied their biographies.  In reading through these, I was struck by one in particular.  I am including it here.

 

     “Bobby Lee Pettit, electrician’s mate first class, USS LCI(L) 750.  Was born December 31, 1928 in Houston, Texas.  Joined U.S. Navy December 22, 1942 at the age of 13.  Boot camp San Diego Naval Training Station.  Assigned to USS Tallulah, AO-50.  Made three trips to South Pacific with oil, gasoline, aircraft and PT Boats.  Later participated in invasion of the Marshall Island and the Gilbert Islands.  Transferred to Naval Receiving Station, Aiea, Pearl Harbor for further transfer Naval Receiving Station, Balboa Park, San Diego.  Assigned to USS LCI(L) 750.  Participated in landings in New Guinea, Morotai and numerous landings in the Philippines.  Encountered numerous air attacks off Leyte.  Following end of war at age 16, requested discharge to return to school.  Transferred to separation center, Camp Wallace, Texas where Navy verbally abused him for enlisting under age, voided his enlistment and refused him an honorable discharge and GI benefits.

After much publicity, action by the Veteran’s Service Center in Houston and Congressman Albert Thomas he received an honorable discharge on November 22, 1945 with GI benefits, permitting him to return to high school and later attend Texas A&M University where he received a degree in electrical engineering in 1952.  He returned to serving the fleet as an electronics field engineer and later represented Texas Instrument in the Pentagon…"

Source:  USS LCI “Landing Craft Infantry” by John J. O’Connor, Jr. page 135.

Mr. Pettit died in 2020 at the age of 91.  His obituary includes the statement that: "Mr. Pettit dedicated his life to the United States Navy. Joining at the age of 13 years old he was the youngest Navy Veteran, as well as the third youngest World War II Veteran."

As part of the Library of Congress, the Veterans History Project preserves service members story in their own words.  If you would like to hear Mr. Pettit tell his story, follow the link below. 

Mr. Pettit's Story 

Rationing during World War II

The last thing of my mother's (died October 28th, 2015 at the age of 99) for me to go through is her sewing chest. This 11 x 9 x 6 box contains letters from my father during WWII and numerous other letters and newspaper clippings. I'll post about some of the more interesting ones here. The first one is from the Wichita newspaper on January 25th, 1945.

The idea of rationing was pretty foreign to me, so I googled to get some more information on what was rationed. The following information is from the National WW2 Museum.

"World War II put a heavy burden on US supplies of basic materials like food, shoes, metal, paper, and rubber. The Army and Navy were growing, as was the nation’s effort to aid its allies overseas. Civilians still needed these materials for consumer goods as well. To meet this surging demand, the federal government took steps to conserve crucial supplies, including establishing a rationing system that impacted virtually every family in the United States." I also learned that in the US, most glycerin came from the production of soap... when fats and lye are combined, soap and glycerin were formed. Glycerin is a crucial ingredient in the manufacture of explosives such as nitroglycerin. Slogans like "One tablespoonful of kitchen grease fires five bullets" and "One pound of kitchen fats makes enough dynamite to blow up a bridge" were used to inspire housewives to save.

The Amphibious Man (World War II)

During his service in World War II, my father was a motor machinist mate on a ship called a Landing Craft Infantry (Large).  

"The Landing Craft, Infantry (Large) ....was a large beaching craft intended to transport and deliver fighting troops, typically a company of infantry or marines, to a hostile shore once a beachhead was secured. The LCI was an important ship and widely used for amphibious warfare in World War II.

The LCI carried passengers, but could not transport vehicles. LCIs were 158 feet long and 23 feet, 3 inches wide at the middle. They typically had a crew of 24-60 sailors, and carried 200 soldiers, who descended from ramps on each side of the craft during landings. LCIs were not originally designed for cross-ocean journeys, but did so out of necessity and urgency during WWII. They sailed from shipyards in the United States to the European and Pacific Theatres. Their flat-bottom hulls were designed for beaching, which meant the men aboard felt every wave, and many sailors and soldiers ended up seasick non-stop. The hull or skin was made of a quarter-inch steel plate. LCIs were propelled using two sets of quad General Motors 6-cylinder diesel engines (8 engines total)." (Source: http://usslci.org/facts/ )

Among my father's papers I found the following poem explaining the role of the Amphibious Man. I apologize for the small type. I have added below the words to this poem.

You've heard of the air force
and the Marines and Paratroops
But think as hard as you can
Though you've heard of the Army
And of other groups,
Have you heard of the Amphibious Man?

The Amphibious Man is a real rugged sort
But unlike the Fleet
He has no home port
Goes where he's needed
Does what he can
This poor Orphan sailor
the Amphibious Man

You might be a battleship sailor
From a cruiser or off a tin can
Maybe fresh out of Boot training
Or perhaps a second cruise man
The pick the man at random
How else could the provide?
A few might choose the duty --
But they are usually Shanghaied.

You've heard plenty of the Navy
Of ships, both for and aft,
But we'll bet a pretty penny,
You've heard least of the landing craft
And they've got to have the LCI's
to win this doggone war.

They're loaded from the transports,
In the middle of the night
Sail around to rendezvous,
Can't even show a light.
Find their way in Darkness
And land upon the shore,
Through bombs discharge their cargo
Then go right back out for more.

Bringing in the first wave
Doesn't end the job.
For the troops upon the beach
Can't live without this Gob
He brings in reinforcements
And everything they use
His Job is full of danger
But he never makes the news

For when the beach is taken
And the radio start to tell,
You'll hear of the Marines and Soldiers
And how they went though Hell.
You'll thrill to front page stories
Of their Heroic Job
But You'll never hear a word
of the poor Amphibious Gob!

And when this war is over,
And he back in Civvie life
How in Hell will he explain,
To his Kiddies and his wife?
They love he's in the Navy
But he's the subject of a Gyp
He's just an orphan sailor,
A Gob Without a ship!

The end of the war in the Pacific

For those of you that have read previous posts in this blog, you know that I have been posting information from letters / documents that I have found in my father's memory box.  I was excited to find a letter from my father to my mother dated August 10th, 1945. My father was drafted in January of 1944 at the age of 31.  He had two children, one aged 3 and the other 1 1/2.  I was born in 1947 after he returned.  

I have copied the letter, editing some parts out of it.





Page 1 on his letter:

Page 2 of his letter:

In this letter you see that they were closely monitoring the radio to get the war news.  They had heard that Russia had declared war on Japan and drove 14 miles across the border.  The second "death bomb" had been dropped.  Today we are so used to calling them "atomic bombs" that this wording seems odd.

Page 3 of his letter:

Here is where he hears the news on the radio and they get the news flash from Tokyo saying the they had accepted the unconditional surrender terms.  His ship was moored in Subic Bay in the Philippines and he describes the scene that he sees topside.  "Every ship in the bay was flashing search lights and shooting of flares of all colors. It was the most brilliant celebration that I have ever witnessed."

I have scoured the internet for any possible images of this celebration but have not found anything.  If anyone knows of any, please share them with me.

A letter to my father from James Forrestal

The picture here is of James Forrestal, the first United States Secretary of Defense.  In World War I, he enlisted in the Navy and ultimately became a Naval Aviator.  He eventually reach the rank of Lieutenant. After the war, he returned to Wall Street and made his fortune.  He also became involved with the Democratic Party and helped Franklin Roosevelt become president.  (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Forrestal) 

Forrestal became Secretary of the Navy in May of 1944 and Forrestal led the Navy through the closing year of the war and the painful early years of demobilization that followed. As Secretary, Forrestal introduced a policy of racial integration in the Navy!


You might wonder why I would write about Forrestal here in my blog.  When I was going through my father's papers from the war years, I found the following letter that was sent to him from Secretary Forrestal. I was very impressed with the tone of the letter, especially in contrast to the tone of politics today.  Enjoy the letter.

 

Zamboanga

Recently I have been reading the letters that my father sent to my mother during World War II. I was born in 1947, after he returned.  He was drafted in January of 1944 with two children under three.  Although I have not yet found the letter, I remember my mother telling me that my father was able to tell her where he was in a letter. All of the letters were censored and they were not allowed to tell anyone where they were. He wrote in a letter that he was "at the place where the monkeys have no tails". My mother said that there was a popular song of the day called "The Monkeys Have No Tails in Zamboanga". I always suspected that this was a bit racist and didn't really pursue it farther.  My father served in the Navy aboard a Landing Craft Infantry (Large). These ships transported soldiers from large troop ships to the beach.   

My father took a picture of Moret Field in Zamboanga with a sign, "They Have No Tails in Zamboanga". 

This made me curious and I made Google my friend and found the following.  First of all the background for the song.  The quote below is from Wikipedia.

"The Monkeys Have No Tails in Zamboanga" is the official regimental march of the 27th Infantry Regiment, as the "Wolfhound March". The lyrics of this official version were written in 1907 in Cuba by G. Savoca, the regimental band leader (died 1912), after the regiment was formed in 1901 to serve in the Philippines. According to Harry McClintock, the tune was borrowed from an official march of the Philippine Constabulary Band, as played at the St. Louis Exposition in 1904. One version was collected as part of the Gordon "Inferno" Collection. As with many folk songs with military origins (such as "Mademoiselle from Armentières" from World War I, the song becomes a souvenir of the campaign for those who served." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monkeys_Have_No_Tails_in_Zamboanga )

Below is a video clip from the movie "They Were Expendable",

Moret Field was renamed when the Marines landed at Zamboanga on March 10 1944.  The objective was the nearby San Roque airstrip. Taking over that site, the Marines renamed it Moret Field after Lieutenant Colonel Paul Moret, a well-known Marine aviator who had died in a transport crash after taking off from Noumea, New Caledonia in 1943.

Post Card Memory

I've been cleaning out my office at home. I found a small box with lots of letters and postcards from my father to my mother.  My father was drafted into the Navy in late 1943 (at the age of 34).  He was one of the oldest on his ship (a Landing Craft Infantry). My sister was 3 (born in December of 1940) and my brother was 1 1/2 (born in July of 1942).  This postcard was sent to my mother January 30, 1944.  He was on a train somewhere in western Nebraska.  Luckily my mother lived close to her parents who helped her with the children.  Luckily for me, my father returned from the war.  I was born in 1947.