220-9er:

My paternal grandfather hit New Guinea, Leyte and Luzon almost the same time your father did.

I am not sure if he went to Australia.
It was not on his DD214 and he never mentioned it.

On his DD214, it states the Southern Philippines not Leyte.


My lifelong passion for studying military history came from this infamous day. My family is split, My mothers side is Navy and my fathers side is Army all the way.... Even though I am Army all the way through I do have a favorite ship and it is the USS Shaw.

Named for a very interesting Officer who immigrated from Ireland, it proves that the Shaw's are tough stock.

The USS Shaw sustained major damage from several bomb hits during the attack. On 7 December, Shaw was still in auxiliary floating drydock YFD-2, receiving adjustments to her depth charge mechanisms. During the attack she took three hits – two bombs through the forward machine gun platform, and one through the port wing of the bridge. Fires spread through the ship. By 0925, all fire-fighting facilities were exhausted, and the order to abandon ship was given. Efforts to flood the dock were only partially successful, and shortly after 0930, her forward magazine exploded.

The spectacular explosion of her forward magazine provided one of the most iconic photographs of the attack. She was repaired within a few months of the attack, and served in the Pacific through the rest of World War II, earning 11 battle stars.

FAST FORWARD....
After supporting the US Marines for three and half weeks during the battle of Saipan and following a tender repair availability at Eniwetok, she rejoined the 7th Amphibious Force on 20 October and headed for Leyte Gulf on the 25th. Convoy escort duties between the Philippines and New Guinea involved Shaw until the invasion of Luzon took place at Lingayen Gulf on 9 January 1945. From the 9th to the 15th, she performed screening, "call fire" support for the soldiers ashore, night illumination with star shells, and shore bombardment missions. F

I like to think that the USS Shaw provided fire support for then T/5 Clarence F Shaw as he fought his way through the Luzon operation.

Toured the USS Alabama, a smaller class Battleship moored in Mobile a few weeks back on a motorcycle trip, as big as that ship is space is at a premium, You needed quite a bit of knowledge and skill to operate the systems from back then, no iPad apps to press a button to do all the work.

The Alabama led the Missouri into Tokyo for the surrender... shot down several zeros in her tenure, was stored at Bremerton I believe, then towed through the Panama Canal and rests in Mobil Bay as an attraction.

The whole inside smells of fuel oil, you can get a sense of what it was like now that they let you run around the ship.

Roadside at the Entrance

Fore 15 Inch

Aft 15 inch

Rear facing 40's

Boiler Room Control 1

Boiler Room Control 2

Engine Room

CIC 1

CIC2

My grandfather (moms side) hated the Japanese and Germans after the war. He would never buy anything from either countries. He was a LCdr during WWII. Taught gunnery in New Orleans, then made many trips on convoys across the Atlantic. He once began shouting down a Japanese person when they entered the restaurant we were in in Jacksonville Fla once.(prolly 1975-77)I wasn’t old enough to understand why he was yelling, but I remember my mom being embarrassed….the person left when several people joined in

My dad said his uncle Caesar was drunk on the pier when the bombing began. He had passed out the night before and never made it to the ship. His ship (I don’t know which one) was sunk and he always said God looks out for drunks.

May God bless all those souls on this revered day.

My wife’s grandfather was career navy was stateside during the attack but soon was assigned to the USS Kalinin Bay. Saw a bunch of action in the South Pacific Her dad and grandmother both said he was markedly different after the war and eventually ended up a vicious alcoholic

My step grandfather was on the heavy cruiser USS Portland in the Lexington carrier group out by Midway on 12/7/41 He stayed on that ship the duration of the war seeing significant action including Midway, Guadalcanal and Leyte Gulf and also ended up a pretty severe but functional alcoholic.

quote:

220-9er:

My paternal grandfather hit New Guinea, Leyte and Luzon almost the same time your father did.

I am not sure if he went to Australia.
It was not on his DD214 and he never mentioned it.

On his DD214, it states the Southern Philippines not Leyte.

What division was he in, mrapteam666?

I'll look to see what my fathers says but I don't think it mentions Australia either as it wasn't a hostile zone.
He went to Australia (see note below) from Fort Ord/San Fransisco for some additional training while they waited to be assigned to a unit as replacements.
He was then sent to the 32nd Division 126th as a replacement in Aitape New Guinea. The conditions there were apparently horrendous, even without dealing with the Japanese who were suffering too and mostly retreating. Conditions were so bad and supplies short for the Japanese that there were reports of cannibalism of their wounded and dead. You can imagine how they treated any captured Americans.

Later they went to Leyte where MacArthur walked ashore in the famous photos without opposition but they had just dug in inland instead. Also a tough campaign. When that was over they went to Luzon-Lingayen Bay and north east into the mountains on the Villa Verde Trail where they were until the war ended. Other divisions went south to capture Manilla where the Japanese massacred tens of thousands of civilians.

As he explained it to me, their company would have had about 220 men at the start of the war. They were given some replacements along the way of which he was one. By the time they landed in Luzon to start the trail, there were just over 100 left including a few replacements. At the end of the trail weeks later there were 24 left standing.
I have an old scrap book that includes photos of the surrender of Japanese General Yamashita and him being escorted in on the trail. He was commander of Japanese forces there at the end of the war.
He was hanged in 1946 as a war criminal after the Manila War Trials and a US Supreme Court decision due to atrocities committed by others under his command.


USS Hermitage troop ship part of the story;
He went from San Fransisco to Australia on a troop ship that was a converted Italian Luxury liner that happened to be going through the Panama Canal just after the Pearl Harbor attack and the US seized it when Italy & Germany declared war a few days later. That ship had an interesting history in the Pacific and Atlantic and was eventually returned to Italy after the war.

http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/22/22054.htm

The US converted it to carry troops. It went much faster than the Liberty ships and Japanese submarines of that era so it didn't need to be in a convoy with escorts, so it made a solo run across the Pacific.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
It was only because Hitler committed one of his serial massive blunders and declared war on us first that that decision was made for us.

Perhaps the greatest "hold my beer" one-upmanship in the history of world politics.

220-09er:

That makes sense in regards to Australia.
When I stayed in Kuwait on my way in/out of AFG it is not listed on my DD214.

My grandfather was part of the:
57th Coastal Artillery Surface Warning (CASW) Radar
Location of Service
Australia; New Guinea; Luzon, Philippines; Pacific Theater
Battles/Campaigns
New Guinea, Southern Philippines, Luzon

My grandfather told me a few stories along with telling my dad a few stories but nothing in depth.

All we knew was that his platoon/team (12-15 men) were sent in before the invasions to conduct intelligence/recon on Japanese troop/ship movements. They lived and worked with the villagers and had bounties on their heads.

The only reason we know anything in depth is because I watched this recorded video regarding their unit and how classified it was.

Raymond C. Jackson
World War, 1939-1945; Cold War; Vietnam War, 1961-1975
Technician 4

https://stream-media.loc.gov/v...1001_640x480_800.mp4

This link has many old and new photos of the military airstrip on Ford Island:

http://www.airfields-freeman.c...s_HI_Oahu_S.htm#ford