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SENIOR CENTER WWII VETERANS' NARRATIVES
written by Russ Greve
March 6, 2007 — Last month a few Hopkinton
veterans of WWII gathered with some interested observers at the Senior
John Cahill
He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1943 at age 17and went from Hopkinton to Boston in John Thayer’s truck. From there he went to Washington, DC and South Carolina. He said it was the first time he had seen separate drinking fountains and toilets for black people and white people. He was asked what he wanted to do and replied Para Marine (paratrooper), Raider or demolition man. Since the Para Marines and Raiders were being phased out he was assigned to demolition. Above are Officers on the beach below Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima after the U.S. invasion; from the collection of Paul Phipps (See arrow). LEARN MORE ABOUT THE RAISING OF THE FLAG. See HopNews Video of some of the conversations on HopNews YouTube Page He landed on Iwo Jima and at first thought it wouldn’t be so bad since they got ashore easily in Amtracs (amphibious tracked vehicles). His narrative jumped ahead 25 days when he and three buddies were told to go to a rear area to take a shower to get the dried blood off (it drew flies). They were stopped by MP’s because they had no pass. John went in back of a rock and forged four passes. Only two of them survived the battle. He spoke of an Apache sergeant, Basil Me Hawk who died when he took a round to the stomach. Men were dying to the left and right of him. COMPLETE NARRATIVE
He recently attended the movie Letters from Iwo Jima. “I can’t understand how I survived”, he said after seeing the landing areas and terrain from the Japanese perspective. He carried a 12 gauge shotgun because the fighting was so close in. On the 42nd day with 50 yards to go, General Geiger came up to him and four other guys and led them forward (after John said “You lead and I’ll follow”). Only the two of them survived. He spoke of the need to “straighten the line” when his 12 man squad was reduced to 4 men. He became a “loner” because being his buddy could be lethal. He called his wound a “Hollywood wound” as it hit his chin and not his throat. He came back to a rest camp in Hawaii on the same ship (APA) that he went to Iwo Jima on with thousands of others but there were only about 500 men on the return trip.
He was on a ship to invade Japan when the war ended and spent six months in Japan blowing up military installations. He became a letter carrier after the war.
Al Paradis
He enlisted in the Army in 1938 at age 18 and was sent to Ft. McKinley (near Portland, ME). After training he was sent to Panama and worked with a 40 man crew handling signaling security on ships as they passed through the Panama Canal. Some of the ships belonged to what became our enemies. He was discharged in 1941 in Philadelphia, PA and re-enlisted after Pearl Harbor and got his old serial number. Instead of the jungle he was sent to the 8th Armored Division.
He was on patrol with 30 men as they crossed the Roer River toward Germany. They found themselves in a mine field where he lost his right arm and received other wounds to the face and stomach. In his words, “It was not fun”. He also ended up with spinal and sciatic nerve damage.
After the war he went into the electronic business and amazingly climbed ladders and installed TV antennas. He also helped to develop a prosthesis called “The Boston Arm” but he never got one! His wartime experiences have been recorded as part of the Veterans History Project deposited in the Library of Congress.
Fred Esler
He worked in a U.S. Navy radar design section, Washington, DC. He was invited to go to Rochester, NY at 1.5 times the pay. He received an Army draft notice but a general went to the draft board and told them to take him off the list. They did and he likes to say he was in the Army – for one afternoon. He had become a part of the Manhattan Project working on radiation research and measurement devices.
He related a funny post war story about a man who wanted him to develop a radioactive golf ball. Fred disabused him of that notion. Fred worked with a Dr. William Bale and they did some work on post radiation effects and radioisotopes. He made the observation that radioisotopes had saved many more people than had been killed by the bombs. There were leukemia studies which showed that people not at the bomb site got more than those who were there. He said he received an urgent call from the head of Kodak looking for a new radioactivity measuring device immediately — and to show how serious he was, a blank check from Kodak was sent to him. Later a man from Kodak appeared and said “We never would do that”. Fred showed him the check.
Fred Penniman
He went in the Army in March, 1945 and finished basic on July 1. He was assigned to a motor pool at Tempelhof airport in Berlin. They would go out on motorized patrols. On one occasion the guard changed and shot out the tail lights as they returned. He said there were a lot of Russian soldiers and they had lost 350 thousand men taking Berlin. Many of them were hastily buried in the median strips of roads. On one occasion he witnessed the exhumation of about 100 bodies. He recalled the unpleasant sights and smells of that day.
Robert McGraw
He flew a C-45 Transport in the Aleutians. There were 15 airstrips which would be visited to check radar etc. There was a big build up in 1945 for a third front against Japan. He would fly over the Kuriles (Japanese territory) as well as the Aleutians and was struck with how similar it all looked – both frozen. He mentioned a battle between Americans and Canadians in a fog bank. Some bombers who sustained damage or had engine trouble continued on to Siberia (Russia) and were interned. He described what in was like to work in the cold. Minus 55 degrees and 50 mph winds trying to repair aircraft – oil in engines freezing solid – trying to keep canvas hoods over engines as they tried to thaw them out. He ended with a question. Did anyone know what was the lowest level of hell in Milton’s Paradise Lost. No one knew as he supplied the answer – ice!
Rose Abbott
Rose Abbott who lived on Ash St., now deceased, was mentioned by Jim-Ed McFaul as being one of the women pilots (WASP) who served during WWII.
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Center to share some of their memories of World War II service. Here are
some of their stories: