Author: steve

9-23-12

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Julian enlisted in Hartford, CT and went to boot camp at Sampson, NY. He was assigned to CA-69 and like hundreds of others, he reported to the Naval Receiving Station at the Fargo Building in Boston, waiting for his ship to be finished.   He is a plankowner – reporting for duty on Commissioning Day (6/30/43).   Julian was a 8″ gun fire controller; working in the aft (rear) control center above the rear turret. In June of 1945, before the war had finally ended, Julian was transferred to the cruiser USS Birmingham, where he finished his tour of duty.

Bill and I took a “road trip” yesterday, driving the 5+ hours down to LA to meet and visit with Julian.   We completely enjoyed our visit, and Julian graciously shared stories and memories of his time on the Boston.   His stories will make a great addition to Volume 2 of Baked Beans, currently “under construction.”

Julian went on to have a career in accounting in civilian life, settling down in Southern California. He is active and well and lives near his family – a proud father and grandfather.

steve

9-15-12

I live in California, which has a huge connection to Pacific cultures (I grew up in Massachusetts).   In the two decades after WWll, my exposure to “other cultures” was primarily European immigrants who were wading into the Great American Melting Pot.

The boys who joined the Navy after Pearl Harbor by and large found themselves heading off into the Pacific   – a vast, exotic, mysterious place where there were islands inhabited by half-naked tribesmen who traveled by canoe; and there were ancient, sophisticated cultures with bustling cities.   There were headhunters (New Guinea) and there were people who worshiped strange gods. There were pineapples and coconuts and palm trees.   And there was the enemy.   The people and places under the aegis of the Empire of Japan.

The men aboard the Boston must have felt a little off balance sometimes . . .

Some of the lagoons they anchored in were, in fact, inhabited by native peoples. While the lagoons in the Marshall Islands were remote and the native populations were quite small, the islands in and around Australia were a different story.   In November of 1944, the Boston spent a couple of weeks in drydock at Manus Island, a bustling Naval Base filled with Allied ships in the Admiralties.   Thanks to Bernard Oster, ship’s photographer, we catch a couple glimpses of cultures bumping into each other on Manus.   Below is a picture of Captain Herrmann (right) holding a native drum and posing with a couple of locals. (How he got the drum is something we can only guess.   Barter? Presentation? Gift?)

9-1-12

Our friend Laurie Wasilewski (daughter of CA-69 plankowner Frank Wasilewski) sent me this terrific clipping from the old Morning Record of Wallingford, CT.   As I read it, I was struck by the fact that her grandmother had four sons serving simultaneously in the War.   Like the millions of other Service Mothers in this country, she must have lived in perpetual fear of The Telegram, or in the case of the loss of multiple sons, The Visit from an officer with bad news . . .

The Wasilewski boys all came home from the War.

8-12-12

On August 9, 1945, the Boston broke away from the Task Force and formed up with other cruisers, battleships and destroyers into a bombardment group.   The ships lined up outside the northern Honshu industrial city of Kamaishi (area of the recent tsunami) and pounded it with volleys of 8″ and 14″ shells. (The Boston fired 411 8″rounds.) During that attack, Nagasaki was leveled by another atomic bomb.

On the 10th, the Task Force carriers launched deckload after deckload of fighters and bombers hitting strategic targets in and around Tokyo.   No industrial city on eastern Honshu was spared. The weather turned “typhoon-ish”   –   no planes could be launched until the 12th. On the 13th, the planes took off for Tokyo again.   Rumors of “peace” began to swirl around the ships.   On the 14th, the ships retired from the area, but on the morning of the 15th, they returned within striking distance of Tokyo and deckloads of bombers took off in the direction of the seat of the Empire.   The planes struck airfields around the city.   The second round of bombers, on their way to Tokyo,   were ordered to ditch their bombs at 1147 hours.   President Truman announced the unconditional Surrender of Japan. The War was over.

steve

Aug 6, 2012

The box of photos that Dirk Oster sent me (see previous post) taken by his father, Bernard Oster contained 17 pictures of the leveling of Hiroshima (and Nagasaki) (Aug 6 and 9, 1945).   I have been studying the pictures and trying to sort out which flattened city is which.   I’ve looked at all the horrific pictures on the internet, studying them carefully to decide which pictures are from Hiroshima.   Well, all I have for my efforts is a queasy stomach.   That’s not entirely true; the following two photos are most definitely of Hiroshima.

I fear that the citizens of the world have lost HISTORICAL CONTEXT about many things. In this fidgety, tense and kind of dark era, we can only pray that the leaders of all the nations   –   especially the ones with a “finger on the trigger”   –   pause and reflect on the sheer and utter desecration of human dignity that occurred 67 years ago today in Japan.

Thanks, Dirk, for sharing these amazing pictures.

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ll remember that Norm Bayley was the commanding officer of the Marine Division aboard the Boston. He transferred aboard late in the War   –   and, despite the fact that I cannot tell you all the details yet     –   I can tell you that he was the first American on the ground in Hiroshima after the bomb was dropped.   The full story of Norm and his amazing exploits will be the core of Vol.3 of Baked Beans.   (I can also tell you that his grandson is writing a book about Norm’s AMAZING exploits during the entire War – starting in Guadalcanal . . . .)

Steve