Skip to main content

Flashback Friday


Veteran's Day was the 14th and I wanted to honor our Vet's closer to that date, but other things got in the way.  This series of pictures are of Herb while having landed somewhere in the South Pacific with some crew members.  He was the captain of a gunboat during World War II, a 90-day wonder is what they were called.  
 
He joined the Navy while in college and went to Columbia University in New York to take a three month course on navigation and other nautical elements, and graduated a Lieutenant JG (Junior Grade).  When the skipper of the ship was transferred, he became its captain.  His gunboat travelled around the Philippine Islands specifically Mindanao.  

These pictures had no information on the back so we can only guess as to what was going on here, but it would seem that they fell amongst the natives wherever they landed and posed for these shots.   



Herb is in the middle in what looks to be some lush forested ground.  It almost looks like there is a river or creek to the right and are those people in the water swimming?  



Herb (rear right) and his shipmate seem to be enjoying themselves in this picture.  They must have just learned that they would not be the main course in the evening meal.




Here is Herb kneeling down with some native children.  I'm not real fluent on my WWII history but I recall hearing that the native population in the remote areas of he Philippine Islands aided the Allies in their fight against Japan.  The Japanese invaded the Philippines in 1941 and retained control until 1944.  That probably makes these pictures somewhere in that year, give or take, and would make Herb around 22-23 years old.  This would have been when we took back the Islands and from what I remember Herb saying, there was still plenty of action in the area.

 I recall seeing a picture of old Gunboat 61 but I don't have it, so I will be checking with the brothers to see if they do.  If so, I'll post someday.  A gunboat was smaller than a destroyer but bigger than a PT boat.  They were good for going in and out of inlets around the islands of the south Pacific. 

 I am still amazed at how the citizen-soldier, or in this case the student-soldier, of World War II could be studying a business class  in Monmouth College one day and in New York studying navigation the next.  And in a few short weeks commanding a ship in the Pacific Ocean, and getting fired upon by Japanese torpedoes (true).  

 As always, thanks to the Vets I know who sacrificed to secure our freedoms.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Flashback Friday

Class, Or Lack Thereof The Dwight Vice gravestone in Oquawka, Illinois. I bring this old chestnut out every so often just to remind me that class is classless.  Dwight Vice was killed in his home near Oquawka in 2001.  It was one of those things that can generate crime:  two guys thought Dwight had a lot of money stashed at home because of his pot-selling sideline to supplement his fishing job.   Not really one of those big drug deals gone-bad things.  Marijuana was, according to the trial, about the only stuff Dwight sold.   But these two guys barge into the house and killed Dwight and attempted to kill his 11 year old kid, Darryl, before they took off with what money they could find.   His son, now 23, was stabbed in the back and left for dead.  He survived and is wheelchair bound and has undergone several surgeries to repair his wounds.  He will be paralyzed for life.   None of this is pleasant.  Reading the f...
Post a Comment
Read more

Florida Air Museum - Part 3

Welcome back to a pretty neat tour of the Florida Air Museum in Lakeland Florida.  There's a lot to see and a couple of the old Geezer Gold Wing guys are already sitting down instead of walking around looking at the exhibits. That's John who is wore out and making a call to his wife.  In all honesty, John was pretty well bushed before the ride.  He told me his daughter's family was down from one of the Carolina's with the grand kids and he must have played with them too much.   He's about to take off on his own and head for home, but he's going to miss a couple of neat things out on Hangar A.   But, before we walk over there, we have lots yet to see here.  If you saw The Aviator with Leonardo DiCaprio playing Howard Hughes, you'll remember that he went up in a plane during the filming of one of his movies to prove a point about flying.  He crashed trying to execute a roll and this is a picture of the plane he crashed.  No...
1 comment
Read more

Summer Swim

It's Monday and the start of another work week.  Except for me.  I have the week off because the parents of my daycare charges are taking the week off, too. This is one of those wordless posts I love on Mondays so I can put my laziness in full view of loyal readers.  These pics need no words.  Why muddy the waters?   They were taken at the pool at Sinkhole Estates aka Death Valley.  The nice thing about this pool is it is heated in winter.  If one must find positives in one's situation, I suppose that is one.  But, please, no more.   
Post a Comment
Read more