But We All Survived
Tuesday 8 Jan. ’45 [‘46]
Manila
Dear folks,
Another day gone and not too much new. Last evening we had our little supper down on the beach – barbequed chicken, turkey and ice cream. Not too good a combination but we all survived. After eating we came back and went to the movie “The Picture of Dorian Gray.” The acting was good but the story was a bit too somber for me. I like something a bit lighter. Tonight we saw “Conspirators” with Hedy Lamarr & Paul Heinreid. I’d seen it quite awhile ago in Europe I believe but it’s a pretty good spy story. Today I got Gram’s Dec. 28 letter. That’s the report.
As for the other side – things are moving rapidly. I see by the clippings that even the little demonstrations the boys put on at the Repple Depples made the headlines back there so today you are probably reading plenty about last night. The meeting came off beautifully. For once everybody is united in one cause which they take seriously. The paper says 20,000 G.I.’s were there but boys who went say it was closer to 50,000 and I don’t doubt it. All of us have a very personal reason for interest in this. They had several talks touching on what we think is wrong and drafted a resolution to have each outfit select representatives to appear before the Senate Committee. They very accommodatingly (for themselves) have been delayed for several days and if they could get away with it they’d probably skip their visit to Manila. No violence took place which was the thing that had us all worried. I think for once we may have the upper hand but it would be easily lost if an element of the men tried any rough stuff and certain brass would jump at the chance. The Associated and United Press both covered it and from what we’ve heard today they splashed it in all the papers back home. Perhaps it will cause people to realize a little bit about what’s going on. Telegrams by the thousand are going to practically every senator and congressman & even to Truman. The 1268th is sending some tomorrow I understand from funds donated by the boys. Fifteen senators have commented favorably so far. The pressure is on, there’s no doubt about it and if we can keep it on until they do a little squirming it may bring results. Public opinion at home can help a lot also. No matter who they are, they all want votes and 11,000,000 former service men can muster a majority vote in any election. Probably nothing will come of this in time to get me home any sooner but at least it may help the boys that follow us. The big question out here is why should we occupy the territory of an allied nation to whom we are giving independence? No one can satisfactorily answer it. General Styer gave a talk last night. I read it in today’s paper and to me it seemed that he hedged on practically every point. The sooner we all go home the sooner these gen’ls go back to Captains & mess sgts. They won’t admit it naturally but it’s a big factor. Why should tax payers have to pay for all this rank plus all the extra pay for thousands of men overseas unnecessarily? I get pretty wound up on all this but it’s a sore subject with all of us. We feel we are getting taken for a ride.
Well so much for all that. It’s nearly 10:30 so I believe I shall bring this to a close. We deactivate Jan. 20 and most of the men will be transferred in a couple days. The rest of us will be transferred Jan. 20 but remain here for a couple weeks on temporary duty finishing up. By then perhaps things will have changed and I can get started where I want to go. Good night all,
Arlington
Be Seein’ You (Eventually)
Monday 7 Jan. ‘46
Manila
Dear folks,
Mon. afternoon again. I started to write last night but gave it up as I wasn’t in a very good frame of mind. I don’t know how much you’ve heard about what’s been happening the last couple days but I’ve heard more than enough. It was enough Sat. to know empty ships were leaving but that wasn’t all. First our “friend” Patterson tells the press he thinks we are still accruing points. That’s fine. Points were frozen Sep. 2 and there’s been no recount since. That shows us just how much our “leaders” know about things. If he were right I’d have 54 instead of 46 which would make all the difference in the world right now. They sit there and set critical scores and what have-you and they don’t even know how the points are derived. That wasn’t too bad, after all we are used to ignorance at the top. But then Sat. night I’m listening to the radio and what do I hear. We have enough shipping to bring everybody home but it can’t be done for lack of suitable replacements. That’s a new one they must have just dragged out of the hat. They kicked this word “eligibility” and the phrase “no ships” around until it wouldn’t hold any more so now they dug up a new one. As a result the dropping of points & length of service for discharge must be slowed down. The anticipated drop to 45 points or 3 years service on Feb. 1 is too much, it will have to be less. I heard it Sat. night and yesterday morning it was in the paper, so naturally we all felt pretty good about the whole thing. That means about 65 of us in this outfit alone won’t be eligible unless it’s dropped to 45 but it’s not just us, it means everybody on down is stuck for even longer. The draft law has never been repealed. They got plenty of 18 year olds for replacements during the war and if it’s replacements they want then they can keep it up. Evidently there is a lot of pressure by parents back there against a peace time draft. I don’t know how you feel about it but personally I’m in favor of it for the next 2 or 3 years. The average kid between 18 and 19 doesn’t accomplish much during that year anyway. If he’s through with the army at 19 or 20 he still has plenty of time for school or anything else he wants. Why should we who have already has 2 ½ to 3 ½ years of this be made to stay in just to shelter them? We have a whole lot more at stake than they certainly. Most of us came in from school, we’ve never had a decent job and a lot won’t return to school. We’ll get back, no jobs, no nothing. The majority of the boys I know are in about my position, although I’m a little older. We had one raw deal in the beginning and now they are handing us another. Naturally I have a selfish interest but I’m thinking of the fellows after us and I hope the fellows already home haven’t forgotten us. They are the biggest force we have. Even if they only drop the score 2 or 3 points a month it will get me by March 1 but the boys in the lower brackets are really hurting. A week ago we expected to be on our way home by about Jan. 20. There are shipping spaces for 68,000 men arriving this week and no men. I’m telling you it’s really heart breaking. I know I shouldn’t write this way but I may as well express my feelings. I have never in three years seen morale so low. Still there isn’t complete discouragement. Overnight one of the smoothest organized campaigns I’ve ever seen has come into existence. Cablegrams, telegrams & letters by the thousands are going to congressmen and senators. Today by some quirk of fate a Congressional investigating committee is arriving in Manila. I don’t know if they realize it or not but they are due for a real welcome. Tonight all the troops in Manila are having a meeting for their benefit to express to them just how we feel about things. It may do us a lot of good if it’s held in check but if a few drunks and hot heads get out of hand it can do plenty of harm. It’s well organized and I think it will come off all right. I hope so as it’s about all we can do to help ourselves. Congress and 1/3 of the senate are up for election in Nov. and there’ll be plenty of changes if something isn’t done. It’s time we had men in who knew what was happening.
Well enough of that. Otherwise nothing new. Sat. night I saw “See Here Private Hargrove” which I had seen in Maxey & last night “Weekend at the Waldorf” which I had only seen twice before. Tonight it’s the story of Dorian Gray – a new one which is supposedly pretty good. Before the movie our section is having a little party again. We got a turkey from the mess hall and yesterday they bought ½ dozen chickens so we are having a barbeque. We may as well enjoy ourselves when we can I guess. No mail this morning but I did get a letter from Lillis yesterday. They wonder why they haven’t heard from me but I don’t feel like writing. All you run into is this “Joe is home” and “Bill’s coming home” and “When will you be home” business. I feel low enough as it is or hadn’t you guessed.
Well folks that’s all I have to say & probably too much so I’ll close and get this pile of “junk” on my desk taken care of. So long & be seein’ you (eventually)
Arlington
McCormick Was On First
Sat. 5 Jan. ‘46
Manila
Dear folks,
I’m a little behind in my correspondence but here I am again. Last night I had a chance to go to a ball game and when I got back it was too late to write. Not much happening the last couple days although a lot is pending. Thurs. night we had a “new” movie – “San Francisco” with Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy & Jeanette MacDonald. Remember when we saw that a long time ago – it must have been at least 8 years? We had quite a rumor Thurs. The Pacifican slipped up and said that 3 year men were to go to Repl. Depots and home but it was retracted yesterday as an error. It put quite a dampner on our spirits as I just finished my 3 years. Last night I went to a baseball game at Rizal Stadium. They have lights installed and it seats about 35,000. The Manila Dodgers – a team made up of service men played a team of All-Stars from the National League who are touring the Pacific. It was the 3rd game in a series. It was a good game for 9 innings. The Dodgers got 3 in the 1st and the All-Stars 1 in the 3rd, 1 in the 8th and 1 to tie it in the 9th. Then in the 10th things cut loose. They had put in a new pitcher and he made the mistake of pitching to Frank McCormick instead of walking him with 2 on. When the smoke cleared away the score was 7-3 and it ended that way. The Dodgers are managed by Kirby Higbe and have several men who played big league ball. I wanted to see him pitch but I guess he is up for Sunday. The All-Stars were mostly unfamiliar names as I’ve lost touch with baseball but Dad may recognize them – Frank McCormick was on first, Kurowski of the Cards at third, Branca of the Giants pitched, Red Barrett of the Cards in left and a kid named Brown from Brooklyn was at short. I got more kick out of watching Barrett than the rest of the game. He was talking to the crowd while the ball was being pitched but he never missed a ball and got 4 hits in 5 tries. All in all I enjoyed it a lot and I’m glad I went. It’s the closest thing to a big league game I’ve seen. We didn’t have too good seats but they were fair – up behind third base. I still say we’d won if they’d walked McCormick. Of course Kurowski was next and he hit 23 homers last season but he wasn’t hitting last night.
Today not much is happening. The mail broke loose and I got 3 letters from Gram mailed Dec. 22, 24, & 26. All of us are pretty disgusted today and you’ll see the reason when you read the clipping I’m sending. Only men with 50 points or 3 ½ years service are eligible for discharge. They are all gone from here but the War Dept. has said nothing about who will be eligible next. So here we sit with a harbor full of boats and they won’t let us go because we aren’t eligible. We ought to be “eligible” by Feb. 1 and if they would say so we would be on our way in a hurry and be back by mid-February. As it stands we may not move for a month and all this shipping goes to waste. It’s just about time people got up on their hind legs about all this and got something done. We weren’t complaining when there were thousands of high point men ahead of us and no shipping but now no one is ahead of us and there is plenty of shipping. The harbor is filled and nobody to put on the ships they say. I have a hunch there are going to be plenty of repercussions if something isn’t done and fast. They love to kick this word eligible around. A man in the states can be out 5 days after he is eligible. So it takes us maybe 3 weeks out here, 2 to 4 weeks going back and a couple more in the states or 2 months longer. The mean overseas is really taking a beating. There’s no reason we can’t go back eligibility or no eligibility. As long as the ships are here use them. None of us will kick about staying in the army over there until we are “eligible” for discharge. If they throw out points & go on length of service the overseas man gets it on the chin again. A person who has sat on his ___ in the states gets as much credit as a combat soldier overseas. Somebody back there has lost his perspective but one day all of these boys will be back and they won’t forget. From all this I gather you’ll see that I’m pretty disgusted with the whole set up and there are 110 other boys with 45 points or more who feel just like I do. There’ll be plenty said and I hope it does some good. If they would let it go through we could be on our way in 10 days but here we sit for not one single good reason.
Well I guess I’ve said enough about it so you’ll know my sentiments. I don’t know yet what the movie is for tonight. We are expecting to deactivate any day but I’ll be here for a couple weeks afterwards helping finish up. The U.S.O. moves into our area the 15th and some of our boys are staying to staff the place – such as cooks, electricians, etc. It’s a good deal for them but all I want is to get home and the faster the better. I still don’t know exactly what I’ll do when I get there. I probably won’t go to school until fall so I ought to get some sort of job but I have no idea what or where. I’d like to save as much as possible because once I start school I expect to go straight on through and with $65 a month plus tuition & books paid for I think I can make a go of it easily. I’m pretty “rusty” mentally but I think I can get a start again. I’m older but whether I’m wiser is another question. By the time I get out of school I’ll be getting a pretty late start but that’s life I guess.
Well I guess that’s about all there is to say and I’d better quit before I get any gloomier sounding. I guess I’m a little “low” today. Anyway so long for now.
Be seein’ you
Arlington
Traveling Light
Wed. 2 Jan. ‘46
Manila
Dear folks,
Another short letter tonight. No mail today. In fact nothing much happened. An awful lot is in the wind though and it won’t be long now. Except for getting the morning reports out this morning and making another report this afternoon I haven’t done much of anything. This forenoon I got some of my stuff sorted out and I have a couple packages of things I will be sending along in a few days. Some more junk as you call it. One is an oil painting I got up in the mountains. It isn’t much but just a souvenir. It is packed in a bamboo tube. I still have to finish sealing it up. Then I am sending a box also which I haven’t finished packing yet. It’s just some odds and ends – 2 cameras, mine and one Miller gave me when he left. It is a German box camera and may be a good one. I have never seen any of the pictures taken with it. Then there are two harmonicas, a little box of coins from the various places we have been, a slide rule, a lot of the pictures I have had with me and some Xmas & birthday cards. Incidentally did I send a long slide rule home from Germany? I had one over there and haven’t seen it since but for some reason can’t remember if it was in with all those stamps and other stuff that I sent. That leaves me with just the necessary stuff to carry. From here on in I am traveling light. I still have my little Belgian pistol and I am still not sure whether to sell it or keep it for a souvenir. It has little value other than as a keepsake. It is real small, a 25 cal, and can be hidden in one’s pocket but it is in rather sad shape now. I think I shall remove the firing pin so it will be harmless and keep it. I’ll have to declare it at the customs before I can get it into the US along with anything else acquired overseas but I don’t have anything else left. When I leave here I am taking only what I have to and turning in everything else. Tonight we saw “Lost Horizon” the story of Shangri La. I had read the book but never seen the picture and I enjoyed it. That’s about all there is to say for tonight so I believe I shall head for my bunk. Be seein’ you pretty soon,
Arlington
We Saw “The Unseen”
Tuesday 1 Jan. ‘46
Manila
Dear folks,
Well here goes a new year once more. I have some rather strong remembrances of Jan. 1 about 3 years ago when I was spending my last free day. I went to a basketball game at night. We had a pretty good day around here. Last night I went to the movie “Black Swan” with Ty Power and Maureen O’Hara. It was an old one but I hadn’t seen it and enjoyed it quite a bit. I sat around talking with the fellows until about 12:30 and then went to bed. Yesterday afternoon the general was out looking over the place and since he thinks it is the best area in Manila he is going to use it for USO troopers to live in when we leave. He wants deactivation stepped up so in the next couple days it may happen. The way it looks to me it would be a good thing as we might get started on our way sooner that way. Certainly no one with over 45 should go to another outfit unless it is one slated to go home soon. Anything is liable to happen in the next day or so. Some reports are that 45 pointers will be on the list by Jan. 10. It is probably a rumor but it shouldn’t be too far out of the way as I see it now.
I slept until about 11:00 this morning, got up and showered before dinner. We had a regular holiday meal – turkey, potatoes, gravy, dressing, corn, asparagus, ice cream, fruit cocktail, mince pie, iced cocoa, and biscuits. After dinner all of us caught a truck and went to the Bamboo Bowl football game. You know all the bowl games they have on New Year’s day. Well they had a team from around Manila and one from Leyte Island playing at Rizal Stadium for the final game of the Philippine Olympics and called it the Bamboo Bowl game. It was a pretty good game and we won 14 to 12. We got there too late for a seat but had a good spot on the 45 yard line. If they counted right there were about 35, 000 GI’s at the game including a few generals. Tonight we saw “The Unseen” a pretty fair picture. That’s about the size of New Year’s day in Manila. No mail today but yesterday I got Gram’s letter mailed the 19th and a Xmas card from Marie and a letter from Edna. If things happen as they are expected to we will be busy for a change in the next week or so but we have a lot of the work done in advance fortunately. If Bugs and I could get out of here on points before deactivation that would be really swell but I suppose that won’t happen. There’s plenty of shipping here now and maybe things will come about faster than we hope. There are a couple more carriers in the harbor today and they hold about 4,000 men apiece. Well that is about all there is to say for today so I’ll be on my way. I’ll be seein’ you and maybe not too far away,
Arlington
A Springtime In Manila
Sunday 30 December 1945
Manila
Dear folks,
Sunday night and another week on the way. Just came back from the nightly movie. Tonight it was “Woman in Green” a Sherlock Holmes picture which we had already seen up in the mountains a couple months ago. I haven’t done much today but that’s the way I planned it. Last night we had a stage show “A Springtime in Manila.” It was pretty good and they had some pretty good singers and band. After the show we had a movie “The Dolly Sisters” with June Haver, Betty Grable and John Payne. It was the usual type musical for them and pretty good. Not much happening the last couple days and we have taken it as easy as possible. It’s liable to get pretty busy any time as we have expected for the last two weeks. Sometimes I wonder just when the outfit will deactivate but it probably won’t be very long after the first of the year. We might possibly get out of here on points before then but you can’t tell. According to the paper men will now be returned in time for them to be in the US when they are eligible for discharge instead of holding them over here until they are eligible but it also said there were no provisions for men with less than 50 as the War Dept. has said nothing about dropping the score next month. It’s the usual run around. One of the boys went to an alumni dinner today for fellows from his school Univ. of Penn and was talking to a Lt. Col. From the IG there. He said our chances looked pretty good to him. The men now eligible will be all gone by the second week in Jan. at the latest if not before so then we’ll see what happens. Same old subject but it’s about all we talk about out here. Today I slept until about 11:00 before getting up for dinner. Then after getting out a report this afternoon I went back and slept for another couple hours. In other words I have done nothing. No mail the last two days. They were moving the APO so we will probably get quite a bit when they open up again probably tomorrow. That’s about all there is to say for today. These letters aren’t much lately but there is nothing worth mentioning happening.
Be seein’you,
Captain Blood
Friday 28 Nov. [Dec.] ‘45
Manila
Dear folks,
9:30 and I just got back from a movie. Tonight we saw “Captain Blood” an old one with Errol Flynn and Olivia DeHavilland. I had never seen it before so I enjoyed it quite a bit. Last night we had a musical “Tell It to a Star” with Ruth Terry the girl from Grand Rapids. It was good for a change. No mail today. Things are evidently going to happen sort of fast in the next week or so judging by the few hints that we can get. We have a few men leaving tomorrow boys with low points and are supposed to lose just about all of them shortly. Also we are due for orders on high point men in a few days according to what Bugs was told today. Since 49 is the high I am hoping maybe, well you know what. The air craft carrier Yorktown pulled out this morning with over 4400 men on it and several other big ships are still in the harbor. According to the latest only administrative personnel and enough men to guard our remaining equipment will be left within a very few days. That means I will still be around unless we get orders for men with 45 and more points before then. The next week ought to see a lot of changes around here. Other than these vague hints nothing is new and I did practically nothing today. All afternoon I played at tennis. I was still stiff from playing ball Xmas so I thought I had better keep at it now that I have started. I have a pretty good feeling head and neck tonight if you know what I mean but not so bad as the first time I did it a week or so ago. I stay a little longer each time to try to gradually work myself into it again. I need exercise and plenty of it before I could ever do any work like I used to. Incidentally are there any good jobs open. I may want to work for a little while when I get back. I suppose I could drop back into the store but there isn’t too much money in that for the odd hours one has to work. Oh well that is still in the future but not too far I keep telling myself. Today’s paper says that all men not needed will be home by March1 so at least it’s only two more months and personally I think it will be weeks instead. Guess I am over optimistic. Well that is about all for tonight.
Be seein’ you
Recent Comments