MY REMINISCES OF WW II

We immediately bordered the USS Wharton that was docked just inside the bay within sight of the Golden Gate Bridge. We were shortly passing under the "The Bridge" and on our way to Hawai'i.

I volunteered for ship guard duty. This duty was rewarded with a few privileges; access to any part of the ship; access to the ships crew mess hall for three meals a day (the troops were served two sparse meals a day); access to more first hand information as to what was going on. One of the duties I had was as a look out at the "after battery port gun position." You were given a pair of those very powerful navy binoculars. You scanned the sky and the water for anything unusual - which meant anything that was not wind or water or sky or another ship in the convey. With those binoculars, you got to see nothing at a very close range. You were also tied into an intercom system that connected all the gun battery lookouts together. On this intercom you could keep up with all the latest information, such as: "Unidentified aircraft directly overhead" Another post was the open deck post. This guard's duty was to keep the deck isles clear of sleeping people, enforce smoking restrictions and regulations concerning light exposure and of course, keeping the general conduct of individuals under control. Guards wore pistol belts, helmet liners and carried batons as identification.

The first day out seasickness was rampant. A few men were very, very sick. One night as I patrolled the deck I found a man lying in an isle. I had stumbled over him in the dark. I informed him that he had to find another place to sleep. He replied "Just roll me out of the way, just roll me out of the way". He was too sick to move. I called the medics and they took him to sick bay where they found that he was severely dehydrated. He spent the entire voyage to Hawai'i in the sick bay recovering.

We entered Pearl Harbor after eight days at sea.

In Hawai'i we moved in with the 130Th SRI who had quarters in a residential area within easy walking distance of Honolulu. It was on what had been Lanakila Park, a residential recreational park with ball diamonds and kids playground at the intersection of Lanakila and School Street. The 130th had been stationed in Hawai'i since the first days of the war. Located here were the officer quarters, enlisted barracks, day room, company orderly room and mess hall. Trucks shuttled the intercept operators between this area and the intercept station located at nearby Fort Shafter. The direction finder crews were located at three remote stations spaced around the island of O'ahu.

The entrance to our company area opened directly to a public sidewalk and street. The guard post there was manned twenty-four hours a day. A mongrel dog adopted the post as his home. In the early morning hours, he would sleep at the guard's feet. It was uncanny the way he would awake and bark anytime a civilian came near but would remain comatose whenever a GI came near. If you went to sleep you could be assured that no civilian would surprise you but the sergeant of the guard or officer of the day would surely catch you.

Since there were now two SRI companies doing the work of one company for first several weeks, we were asked to do little work. We did a lot of sightseeing, played baseball, Ping-Pong and did a lot of reading. But as 130th men were rotated back to the states and new tasks were developed, the workload picked up.

The intercept operators copied the Japanese radio Morse code messages using a typewriter (mill) or a pencil (stick). The Japanese code was not the usual international Morse code. It was called Kana and differed from regular code in that you wrote two letters for each international code. For example, dit-dit-dit-daw in international code would be V but in Kana, it was KA. The experienced intercept operators could easily switch from copying Kana to international without missing a beat. There were special Kana typewriters that would type two letters with one stroke - for example; it would type KA with one V keystroke. The experienced operators could switch between pencil, regular typewriter, and Kana typewriter while copying either international or Kana code. They could also light and smoke cigarettes and carry on short conversations all the while copying at a rate of more than 40 words per minute.

Some operators were assigned to copy just one Japanese station. They could recognize the style and pace of individual Japanese operators and gave them individual names. Other operators were assigned a radio band of frequencies to monitor for new or interesting / unusual transmissions There were several intercept stations: Two Rock Ranch, California, Honolulu and in Alaska. Copy from these stations would be compared to eliminate errors and then the corrected copy sent for decoding.

The work was done in a long narrow room with 8 stations along each wall, facing the one door. Each station had a small desk with a dictation playback machine and typewriter. There was a box on the desk for records to be read and a box on the floor for the records that had been copied. I was assigned the station at the back of the room where I could see the front door and what everyone else was doing. I adjusted the Dictagraph machine and started copying. The content of these messages were in five number groups: 39573 59106 28573 29583, etc. Definitely not exciting work! This went on for six hours. I noticed right away that the operators siting in front of me were filling the box on the floor with completed work while I may have finished only one or two cylinders. It got to be a standing joke about how lazy and slow I was as the other operators soon noted my sparse output. The sergeant in charge told them to leave me alone that he knew that I would get better.

This went on for about six weeks. It was difficult to get your sleep in the barracks in the daytime with kids playing just outside the door and with the usual comings and goings of the other men. After about six weeks I was in the day room writing a letter and talking to the first sergeant just before leaving for my 12:00 a.m. shift. I was trying to show him a cartoon someone had sent me but my hands were shaking so much I had to place the paper on the table to hold it still. He noted the shaking and asked me what my assignment was. I told him and he said that I was to go ahead and do my shift that night but tell the sergeant in charge that he was giving me another assignment. When I told my shift sergeant that I was to be reassigned, he was not surprised. He then told me that the records he had been giving me were the culls - Records that the other operators had deemed unreadable. The hardest to read records were saved for me and they made sure that I did not get a good record as if I got a good record I would then know how bad the recordings I was copying were and might stop trying so hard. It was no accident that he placed me in the back of the room so I could see everyone turning out records faster than I - thinking that this would spur me on to try harder.

The next day I went to the dispensary for a physical examination and the doctor took me off duty for 30 days. I had to be somewhere so they assigned to one of the outlying radio direction finder locations. The chosen station was located about one-half way to the top of Mt. Ka'ala. This mountain was the home of the radar unit that sighted the incoming Japanese warplanes on their way to bomb Pearl Harbor. Their report was disregarded. This radio direction finder (RDF) team was made up of six men that operated and maintained the RDF, plus me and another man who was recovering from scarlet fever. I have been a member of several different RDF teams in a remote location. We were on our own and had minimum contact with the company officers. A sergeant was in charge and I do not recall a single instance where there was any real discord within the team during my stay at four different stations. We drove a truck to the main compound once or twice a week to pick up supplies and mail .If you wanted to go to Honolulu you would drive the supply truck to the compound and park it there while you went to town. When you returned you loaded the supplies and mail and returned to the RDF station. After you had been to Honolulu several times there was not much reason to keep going back so most men remained at the station. While I was off duty for 30 days, I just enjoyed the view and the climate, slept, walked about the mountain, read, played poker and listened to Armed Forces Radio. If I got bored with that I could take a turn monitoring the short wave receivers for local unauthorized transmission.

It was at the Ka'ala RDF station that I remember an incident concerning the Hawaiian insect population. Hawaiian insects tended to be gigantic. While sleeping in our open-air tent I was awaken by something on my face. I acted automatically and slapped at my face to "get" what ever it was. It turned out to be the biggest, juiciest, smelliest caterpillar I ever encountered. I did not actually see the caterpillar as I had squashed it all over my face and got some of it in one eye. The shower facilities were a mile away - at our living quarters we just used our steel helmet as a wash basin. So I was up in the middle of the night trying to find water for my "wash basin" to get the slime and smell off my face and out of my eye. Flick - do not smash.

When I finished my rehabilitation I was assigned to a RDF team to man a newly constructed station near 'Ewa Beach. 'Ewa Beach was a small rural community of sugar cane workers that included some beach homes along the ocean. We built the station on some scrubby pot holed land that once was a coral reef. It was directly across the road from a small beach home that served as a small USO recreational area. There was a very small swimming pool; a few books and magazines; a piano and a radio-record player in a recreation room and a tennis court. It also had a small kitchen. We made arrangements with the USO director that allows us to use the kitchen; in return, we kept the entire USO area clean. Each man took turns being the cook of the day for the evening meal. Breakfast and lunch was the responsibility of each man. The cook also swept the recreation room and cleaned the kitchen each day. Of course we also had our regular rotation duty in the communications shack and RDF: 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon; 2 noon to 6:00 p.m.; 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.; 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.; 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.; day off. Usually you had one or two others in the Communications shack with you, as there was not much else to do.

A favorite snack was grilled cheese sandwiches. We could make them in the USO kitchen and we also set up a grill in the Communications shack so we could satisfy our hunger while on duty -especially on the early morning shifts. One day five of the six men on the team had to take the supply truck to the main compound for a briefing. The cook saw us there and told us that we could have only one box of cheese when we picked up our food supply for the week. This was the Kraft cheese that came in a wooden box about four inches square and a foot long. Later, when we were unloading the truck back at the RDF station we discovered that each of us had sneaked in and got one extra box. That made six boxes total. One for each of us and in addition the one authorized box. We quickly took five of the boxes and hid them is some bushes about fifty feet down the beach from the USO building. Just as we got back to the kitchen, we could see a cloud of dust coming down the road at breakneck speed. It was the cook and he was hopping mad. He rushed into the kitchen where the supplies were stacked on the kitchen table. He went through the stack and found the one authorized box of cheese near the bottom. He then quickly searches the USO building, then came back to the kitchen, snatched up the one box off the table and left with out uttering a word of more than four letters. Actually one box of cheese a week was all we ever used. It was his entire fault for telling us we could have only one box.

Robert Stereborg was the writer for a local radio soap opera when he was drafted into the Army. He continued to write the script while in the Army. He would sit on his bunk writing the script while we would give him suggestions. Most of the situations we suggested he had to ignore - he said they would not pass the radio station code of propriety. Our suggestions must have been recorded and stored for later use as the TV soaps today contain much of the material we suggested.

A friend told me that there was an Air Corps military airline, Southern Cross Airline, headquartered at Hickam Air Field that was looking for someone to maintain the communications system on their B-24 cargo version airplanes. Since I had worked the B-24 communications systems at Consolidated Aircraft before entering the service, they thought I should look into getting transferred. When I mentioned it to our first sergeant, he said that he could not approve any transfer so I could just forget about it. On the spur of the moment without any real thought, I replied to the effect as to wonder what Col. Saffarrans would think about that. I was aware that there was a Col. Saffarrans in charge of jungle training in Hawai'i. He was known as a real "hard ass' who showed no mercy during training and was obviously feared by both officers and enlisted. I had never met him and thought that because of his reputation I had best keep it that way. It was not until years later after I got interested in genealogy that I found that he was my second cousin. The very next day the sergeant told me that I could transfer if that was what I wanted.

I went to Hickam Field to see what the job would entail. I found that there was no one in the Southern Cross Airline at Hickam that knew anything about the B-24 communication system and they would be very happy to have me transfer into the Air Corps and be assigned to the Southern Cross Airline. I then asked a few questions of my own. How many hours in the week would I be working on the airplanes? The answer was that there were very few airplane communications problems so I would not spend much time actually working on the airplanes. Then what would I be doing when there was no airplane work? The answer was general squadron duty such as guard duty and KP. Needless to say that I quickly excused myself and returned to the SRI Company and happy to remain with my buddies. I never did contact Col. Saffarrans or speak of him again.

The 'Ewa Beach location was inconvenient for the RDF crew as it was remote from our home unit for laundry and post exchanges facilities. There were no nearby Army units and the nearby Navy organizations were not open to Army personnel. We solved the problem by obtaining blue dungaree pants, white Tee shirts and Navy "sailor hats". Wearing these clothes, we had no problem with occasionally eating in the Navy mess halls and buying items in the ship stores. We also found that they would laundry the dungarees, tee shirts socks and underwear so we started wearing this outfit while at 'Ewa Beach - changing into Army clothing when we went back to the main unit. We also used this ploy while we were stationed on Iwo Jima Island. Consequently, many photos I have from the war show me dressed as a sailor.

One day a mongrel dog appeared at the station and was adopted by the team. We fed her caned salmon, as it was the only food easily available at the time. Salmon croquets were one of our favorite meals. It was not long before we were regularly depleting the company's salmon stock, as it soon became the dog's favorite meal also. She soon became "fat and sassy". She was good company during the lonely early a.m. RDF shift.

While at 'Ewa Beach we spent much time along the seashore. The seashore was half of our world. If you looked to the north there was land. When you looked to the south there was nothing but water. It was named 'Ewa Beach but there was little beach. The shore was mostly coral with short stretches of sand beach between outcroppings of coral. As 'Ewa is on the lee side of the Island the surf there was very minimal.

Since we were in Hawai'i we thought it appropriate that we build an outrigger canoe. The result was a somewhat seaworthy although crudely constructed, two passenger canoe. We had no formal drawing and just used "surplus" materials at hand. On my first "voyage" out through the surf we were very tentative as although the canoe had an outrigger it was still rather tipsy. When we decided to return to the beach we found that it was very difficult to turn the canoe around for the return trip - so we turned ourselves around - the stern man became the bowman. Now we were correctly pointed toward the shore. When we reached the breakers we were caught up and propelled toward the shore - just like the movies. It was great until we realized that we were being propelled toward the jagged coral on the shoreline. We tried to stop by using our paddles as brakes but to no avail. We tried to guide the canoe away from the coral but to no avail. Much to our amazement and relief, the canoe went between two jagged coral outcroppings onto a small section of beach that was only five feet wide. It was an exhilarating ride so we moved down the shoreline where there was a longer section of beach and paddled out to try again. We tried again and again and again but could not "catch" a wave. We had done nothing to catch the wave the first time out - it just happened. No one ever caught a wave again although we tried each time we took the canoe for a ride.

The last time we were out in the canoe disaster struck. We were about three hundred yards off shore when the poles that connected the canoe to the outrigger float broke. The canoe was not very stable with the outrigger in place - without the outrigger it was like walking a tightrope without a balance pole. I was more concerned about capsizing the canoe and having it sink that I was of swimming the three hundred yards to shore. The canoe had been built as a team project but our RDF Chief had taken a personal interest in the canoe and was very protective of it. Building the canoe was his idea and he acted as the "marine architect." He had selected the tree limbs we used for the outrigger poles. He did not know that the species of tree he selected was susceptible to a boring insect larva that cut a tunnel around the girth of a limb-just under the surface - effectively reducing the structural diameter by about fifty percent. Both of the outrigger poles were infected. It had taken several weeks for the larva to complete its journey around the limb. The larva must have been a twin as both poles broke at the same time. We escaped the wrath of the chief, as although we lost the outrigger the end of the pole connected to the canoe remained attached. The tunnel made by the boring larva was plainly evident in the broken end of the remaining poles. As we had "been there, done that" we did not repair the canoe.

'Ewa Beach being located on a flat plain on the lee side of the island did not have magnificent waves or scenery. The beach houses there were much less than notable as compared to those on the windward side of the island where the waves and beach were magnificent. The scenery here was enhanced by the close proximity of the beaches to the mountains that sometimes came to the very edge of the ocean. The USO had the use of several private beach homes on this side of the island. These secluded homes were definitely upscale, well designed, tastefully furnished and landscaped. The USO used them as a get away for local USO officials and as a rest stop for traveling USO show people. We parlayed our status as the 'Ewa Beach USO maintenance staff to obtain a two day stay at one of these homes. It was the first time I had slept in a real king size bed for a year. We spent most of our time on the veranda and in the kitchen - not on the beach.

On another occasion, it was on this side of the island that my army career was almost terminated. Near the RDF station on the windward side of the island was a splendid sand beach that stretched about one hundred yards between two giant outcroppings of volcanic rock. It was a great place for riding the surf on a mattress cover. You would use a GI army cot mattress cover by wetting it and then filling it with air. The covers were made of a heavy cotton cloth and would hold air when wet. You would hold the open end of the cover open and run along the beach until it ballooned out with air. You then tied off the open end giving you an air bag about two and one half feet in diameter and five feet long. You then took the air bag out in the water to where the waves were breaking. By holding the air bag parallel to the waves, you could "catch" a wave for a fifty-yard ride back to the beach. I had taken several rides when my cover deflated when I was about fifty-yards from shore. I started swimming back to shore dragging the now heavy mattress cover. I was not making any progress dragging the cover and I tired quickly. I dropped the cover but found that I still could not make any progress toward shore. By now I was very, tired and was wondering if I could make it back to shore when in the corner of my eye I saw another GI riding his cover start to pass me. I was able to reach out, grab a corner of his cover, and ride along with him toward shore. He was very annoyed and tried mightily to knock me off. I was able to hang on until we reached shallow water. He cursed me one more time and then left me sprawled in the shallow water. I lay there a few minutes with the small waves still washing over me, too exhausted to get up. I was finally able to crawl to the beach. I was later told that I had been caught in a very dangerous rip tide and was very lucky to have made it back to shore.

The RDF station was equipped with Teletype, radio direction finder, voice radio transmitter and receiver, telephone and several communications receivers for searching for unauthorized local transmissions. A Dictagraph dictation machine was used to record suspicious transmissions on cylindrical wax records. When the Intercept Chief located at Fort Shafter found an enemy transmission for which he wanted the location he would alert the RDF stations in Hawai'i, Canton Island and Alaska by a encrypted Morse code message. The RDF stations determine the bearing of the enemy station from each location and transmit the result back to him in encrypted code. He could then plot the bearings on a map and by triangulation determine the location of the enemy radio transmitter. In 1943, we were regularly plotting Japanese radio stations operating in Guam, Saipan, Truck, Philippine Islands, Taiwan, New Guinea, the main Japanese Islands and many other locations.

In addition to the strategic missions, we also monitored the airways for local unauthorized transmissions. These unauthorized transmissions were mainly Army and Navy operators that were using the transmitters for personal conversations. Many of them were violating security by broadcasting names of ships in Pearl Harbor, or descriptions of what their units were doing and where they were located. Then there were the drunks - one had his transmitter set exactly on the Honolulu police department frequency and was describing in great detail his recent visit to the Canal Street red light district. The Honolulu police dispatcher was a woman and she was not at all amused.

To apprehend these offenders the 'Ewa Beach station had a mobile RDF truck. It was a black 1940 Dodge panel truck equipped with a RDF loop antenna. It was registered to one Logan S. Stenchfingle. The other RDF stations had similar vehicles. The truck driver and RDF operator were issued passes by the Island Commander that permitted entry to any and all civilian or military area on the island of O'ahu, including cryptographic area. While on duty we could not be taken into custody by Military Police or the Navy Shore Patrol.

The usual procedure was to use the fixed RDF stations to locate the general area of the offending transmitter. The mobile unit would then go to the area and attempt to get an exact location. Usually we settled on driving around the area enough to draw attention and then inform a NCO in the general area as to the problem. The station usually went off the air fairly soon. In the case of the drunk broadcasting on the police frequency, we traced the transmitter to the West Lock of Pearl Harbor. LSI and LST ships were anchored there, covering the water like a rug. The offending transmitter was somewhere in that fleet of ships that were connected to each other by gangplanks. We went aboard one ship and talked to the radio operator. Of course, he knew absolutely nothing about any such transmission, but by the time we got back to our truck the unauthorized transmissions ended. In fact, our teams never apprehend a single radio operator for unauthorized transmissions.

I had much admiration for the radio intercept operators. Their work was grueling and constant. In comparison, the RDF work was really play. It took a toll on them .One operator started crying for his wife each night. He was sent back to the states. Another started shooting cockroaches (which were gigantic in Hawai'i) off the ceiling joist in his barracks with his carbine. Lucky he did not have a Thompson submachine gun. He was also sent back.

The 119th sent a detachment to monitor and record the Army and Navy radio communication during the Marshall Island assault landings. In one assault landing the communications between landing boats and the beach master was a communications disaster. The Beach Master's transmitter and the landing boat transmitters were set to different frequencies so they could not communicate with each other. Fortunately, the beach masters were ingenious enough to work out a set of hand signals that avoided complete disaster. All battle communications were monitored and recorded. This included radio transmissions from individual small units, tanks and air support. With this data, the next assault could be planned with a much more effective system of communications.