Whales of WW II
180 Page Paperback
One sailor's journey through
4 invasions
Sicily,
Salerno,
Anzio,
and Normandy
and how he lived to tell about it!
ANZIO 2004 Celebration of Freedom
Pictures of the Anzio 60 th anniversary find them here! Click on the thumbnail to see a larger picture. This is only a portion of the pictures. More to come later!
| WORLD WAR II TIDBITS (1) THE RAISING OF THE FLAG ON IWO JIMA June 14 is Flag Day. A great way to celebrate and remember this day is to read the book “Flag of Our Fathers.’ Mt Suribachi is on the Island of Iwo Jima. This elevated position was becoming a thorn in the side of the US Marines. The higher ground, the foot deep lava ash, and the incessant fire of the Japanese made it very difficult to capture this important objective. However, through the many heroic deeds of the Marines, their proud determination, and their fighting spirit, their goal was attained. There was one Marine who had been carrying a small American flag and fastened it to a makeshift pole. A group of Marines tried to stick this in the ground. Someone shouted that this was too small to be seen for any distance. A sailor nearby heard this shout. He ran to the beach where there was an LST (Landing Ship Tanks). He requested from an officer that he needed an American flag to be hoisted atop Mt. Suribachi. This officer immediately retrieved a flag from the flag locker and gave it to the sailor. The sailor returned to the top of the mountain and it was fastened to another makeshift pole. There were 5 Marines and a Sailor who attempted to raise the flag. This larger flag permitted many persons on the island and in the bay to observe this historic event. The results were amazing and fantastic. There was much shouting, screaming, whistling, and clapping of hands. A War Correspondent took a picture of this event. This photograph became a rallying cry and a morale booster for the fighting men around the world. The son of the sailor who raised the flag on Iwo Jima decided to write a book about the six men who raised that important flag. The highly recommended book, “ Flags of Our Fathers” was the result. Your WW II Navy Vet reporter, Bob Jagers, LST 351 |
| WW II TIDBITS (2) GERMAN PRISONERS TAKEN AT NORMANDY Here is a story concerning D-Day. We had just unloaded our cargo at Utah Beach and had taken aboard 1000 German prisoners. An LST (Landing Ship Tanks) does not have a doctor on board but some Pharmacists Mates. A few doctors and additional Pharmacists mates were added for an invasion. The LST that was designated to carry the wounded would receive the doctors and extra Pharmacists Mates from another LST. Our ship sent our extra medical help to another LST, because we had prisoners. I took a message stating that we were to take aboard some causalities. I tried to inform the command ship that we already had prisoners but was told that the wounded were already on their way. We took on board 250 causalities. Consequently, we were short of the extra medical help. One of my extra duties was to guard the prisoners who were on our tank deck. A yellow line was painted on the deck and the Germans were told in German that they were not to cross this line. My buddy and myself had rifles and we were outboard of the line. There was one obstinate German soldier who insisted to continually cross the line. He was becoming bolder by the minute. I would push him back over the line with my rifle across his chest. He continued to go further and further across the line. I did not know what to do. I finally took my bayonet from my belt and snapped onto the end of the rifle. The next time he was over the line I waited until his back was to me and jabbed him in the butt. I do not think that I drew any blood but he understood what was happening. I never had any more problems with that obdurate prisoner Your WW II Navy Vet reporter, Bob Jagers, LST 351 |
| WW II TIDBITS (3) FIRST TURNING POINT OF THE PACIFIC WAR The Japanese practically destroyed the Navy Fleet on December 7, 1941 during the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The part of the fleet that was not destroyed was the aircraft carriers. This proved to be a huge mistake on the part of the Japanese. It was on May 4, 1942 that a large Japanese fleet was discovered cruising in the Coral Sea towards Australia. The ensuing sea battle lasted three days. The separate fleets were never within gun range. The American borne carrier planes sunk 15 Japanese warships, including one large carrier. The Americans also lost an important carrier, the Lexington. One month later the Japanese fleet was headed for Midway Island. The Americans had no idea where the next attack would take place. The Americans were able to read the Japanese code and by means of a simple subterfuge an intelligence officer positively determined that the attack would be against Midway. The attack was repulsed and the American fleet was waiting to ambush the Japanese. The Japanese Admirals had no idea that there existed three American aircraft carriers in the vicinity. The Japanese were faced with a difficult decision, arm the planes with bombs to attack Midway or arm the planes with torpedoes to attack the fleet, once it was known that American carriers were in the area. This indecision proved to be very costly to the Japanese Fleet. The American planes found the Japanese carriers in the midst of changing their bombs for torpedoes. The American planes sunk 3 carriers, 2 cruisers, and 3 destroyers and had damaged 3 battleships and 4 cruisers. The American fleet lost the carrier YORKTOWN and a destroyer. This series of events proved to be an important turning point of the war. Your WW II Navy Vet reporter, Bob Jagers, LST 351 |
| WW II TIDBITS (4) THE ACTUAL START OF WORLD WAR II The Germans had already taken over Austria, Sudetenland, and Czechoslovakia. They had also signed a non-aggression pact with Russia regarding Poland. Therefore, the movement into Poland was the next step. The Germans placed a number of Germans dressed in Polish uniforms across the border in Poland. This occurred on August 31, 1939. These pseudo Poles were told to fire on the German soldiers across the border. The firing by these pseudo Poles took place on September 1, 1939. The German soldiers returned the fire and crossed into the Poland. This entire group of false Poles was later executed so there could be no one alive to tell of this well planned deception. Naturally, the German propaganda machine indicated that the Polish soldiers had fired first. The Poles fought bravely but their horses were no match for the German mechanized army. Warsaw, the capital of Poland, fell on September 27. Hitler planned a victory parade thru Warsaw on October 5. The route was carefully planned to avoid those areas of complete devastation. The streets were lined with German troops. This proved to be unnecessary since the Polish population stayed indoors. Your WW II Navy Vet reporter, Bob Jagers, LST 351 |
| WW II TIDBITS (5) DOOLITTLE RAID SHOCKS JAPAN It Happened in April 1942 that Jimmy Doolittle and a squadron of modified B26’s took off from the aircraft carrier HORNET and headed towards Japan. They arrived over their targets in broad daylight. Many targets were bombed. However, Doolittle had given orders that no bombs were to be dropped on the Imperial Palace. Some planes continued on to China, others landed in Russia, and some of the planes were shot down and a number of the airmen were captured. Six months after the raid a Tokyo broadcast named four of the men they had captured. This was a low level operation. They were flying so low that some of crewmen observed a number of Japanese were playing baseball. The Japanese people and government leaders were horrified that their island could be bombed. This raid, when it was made public, became a rallying cry for the English-speaking people of the world. The movie “Thirty Seconds over Tokyo” is an excellent movie that depicts this raid and the subsequent landing of some of the planes in China. The picture also illustrates the assistance afforded to the airmen by the Chinese people and the dangers that both Chinese and American airmen had encountered. Your WW II Navy Vet reporter, Bob Jagers, LST 351 |
WW II TIDBITS (6) D-DAY AT NORMANDY AND THE BOCAGE General Teddy Roosevelt, the son of the former president, and the fourth division landed on Utah Beach on June 6, 1944. Today it is known as Teddy Roosevelt is the highest ranking officer buried at the Omaha Beach cemetery. He later died of a heart attack. Your WW II Navy Vet reporter, Bob Jagers, LST 351 |
BJagers@greatid.com
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