in the Occupation of Japan when the war ended, before the invasion. Joseph Oakley Moore Joseph Oakley Moore served in the 99th Infantry Division in the Army and reached the rank of Corporal. He saw action in France, Germany and Belgium. He went to Weber on a music scholarship and studied under Roland Perry. He was featured in Neuteboom's book, My Heroes. Jean Lloyd Morrison While we were dug in on Elsenborn Ridge during the Battle of the Bulge, our Command Post occupied an abandoned farmhouse in the little Belgian village of Elsenborn. The day after we moved in, I shot down my first German aircraft. Returning from our field kitchen, I pulled into the yard in front of the farmhouse. I reported to the commanding officer, and then went back outside to turn my Jeep and trailer around to face the road, just in case we had to leave in a hurry. I backed the trailer onto the cobblestone street and pulled forward so I could back into the yard. As I pulled up, a command vehicle and a 3/4 ton truck approaching from the opposite direction, suddenly stopped and everyone jumped into the ditch alongside the road. It was very quiet, but no one gets into a ditch without a reason. I got out of my Jeep and looked down the road toward the main intersection. Two German ME-109 fighter planes were coming in just above the trees, right down the middle of the road. One plane peeled off at the main intersection and headed north. The other fighter came streaking east toward my position. That German fighter was about 50 feet above the trees but he wasn't strafing yet. I hollered for some help to guide the ammo belt in the big 50 caliber machine gun mounted between the seats on my Jeep. No one responded, but I couldn't wait. Pulling the bolt back to full load, I began firing. The first few rounds poured into the engine, which began to belch black smoke. Immediately, the pilot rolled the plane over on its back and bailed out. His chute snapped open. Although he came floating down quite a ways from where I was, I could hear firing and see tracers whistling by him as he floated down. I don't know whether he was hit or not. His plane rolled up into almost a vertical climb, stalled out, wheeled over into a nosedive, and came straight down, plowing into a meadow about 100 yards from where I shot it down. Hitting the ground, it exploded, burning everything except for a few scattered parts, which flew all over. It actually struck the ground about 50 feet from an antiaircraft gun that was in the process of being erected. That ack-ack crew (antiaircraft artillery known as an ack-ack crew) almost had a heart attack! Norris William Nalder Norris William Nalder was inducted in the Army in 1943 and served in Patton's 3rd Army in Belgium and Austria in the Tank Corps. Grant H. Newteboom This letter to his mother was quoted in the Ogden Standard-Examiner: I am writing you from aboard the Dutch hospital ship Tasman. It has everything - nurses, deck chairs, hot showers, ice cream, books, typewriters - you couldn't ask for anything more. We sailed past Corregidor just now. You can still see the chutes from the jump, hanging on the cliffs. The sea is such a beautiful blue, and the PT boats are tearing around like a bunch of racing yachts. It's so good to be away from the war for a while. On January 23, we flew from Leyte to Mindoro in a fleet of our new C-46 transports. We set up camp by one of the prettiest little streams I've seen since I left Utah. Two regiments were to go by sea, and we were to jump on 3 February... I had no sooner hit the ground than I was surrounded by a group of Filipinos - which scared me because I thought they were Japs. They picked me 108 up and dusted me off and hauled the two equipment bundles to the assembly area. I could never have managed without them; they had machine guns, radios and extra grenades. The first day, the Japs ran so fast, they left hot food on their plates. The view from the ridge was spectacular. Next morning, we started down Highway 41 and then came the battle. Out of our battalion of 600 men, 400 were sent to the hospital for injuries and almost 100 were killed. I remember how the radio called it 'light opposition'. We paid a heavy price for what we got. There was nothing much in my getting hit. The artillery caught us by surprise. When I think back, it was like getting slugged with a hammer. It ripped my shirt right off me. On the way to the aid station, they opened up again. I dove for a one-man foxhole that was already full of two GIs - and there was still room for me. Lieutenant Neuteboom has a brother, PFC Harvey Neuteboom of the USMC who was wounded while fighting on Iwo Jima. Another brother, PFC Ray H. Neuteboom was with the 345th Ordnance Division serving in New Guinea and another brother, Evert J. Neuteboom was stationed in the states. Grant graduated from Ogden High and Weber College and was attending Brigham Young University when inducted into the Army. John Lester Nicholas John Nicholas served in the Army as a specialist five. He served in the invasion of France and Germany from December 1944 until VE-Day in 1945. He was awarded the European Theater of Operations Bronze Star. Delbert (Del) Lowe Nye Del Nye was the captain of Weber's football team during his time as a student from 1939 to 1941. He enlisted in the Army in 1941, intending to complete just one year of obligatory service, but with the advent of WWII, remained in the service until June of 1945. After basic training, he was assigned to the 250th Coast Artillery in Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. An almost forgotten part of WWII was the conflicts between the Japanese and Americans in the Aleutian Islands. Dutch Harbor was bombed by the Japanese shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. In November of 1943, Del was given a month furlough and returned to Ogden where he married Loyal Christenson. He returned to Dutch Harbor after his furlough and remained there until he was eligible for discharge based on the 'point system,' in June of 1945. He held the rank of staff sergeant at the time he was separated from the service. James N. Oka James Oka was a second generation Japanese American (Nisei) whose parents migrated from Japan to work on a farm in South Ogden. James graduated from Weber High School and Weber College. He was attending the University of Utah when the war broke out, and he was drafted into the Army. Although he had finished his requirements for graduation, the Army did not permit him to attend the graduation ceremony. He told his family he spent his graduation day at Fort Douglas washing dishes. The Oka family felt the anti-Japanese discrimination that was so apparent after Pearl Harbor. James was trained in Army Intelligence because he spoke some Japanese. He was on his way to Japan by ship when the war ended. He spent several months in post-war Japan working mainly as an interpreter but was discharged shortly after the war ended. He returned to Ogden where he married and remained the rest of his life. All his children attended Weber State. 109