Walter G. (Jerry_ Cross - Marines Taken from a guest commentary titled World War II More Than History to Some in the Ogden Standard-Examiner I've been asked to comment about my remembrance of the end of the war with Japan. It's true there are fewer each year of my generation around that were in the war when it started than when it ended. I would like to go back to two assemblies to get started. The first was Ogden High School graduation in May of 1941. Our commencement speaker was David O. McKay. I remember him telling us how lucky we were to be graduating in 1941 and what a great future and opportunities were ahead for us and admonishing us that whatever challenges we faced, to always do our very best and the rewards would be there. Six months later, our 'great future and opportunities' were made clear. The other assembly was on Monday, Dec. 8, 1941, at Weber State College. Dr. Henry Aldous Dixon, president of Weber College, wheeled a large radio onto the stage and placed a microphone in front of it. We heard President Roosevelt make his famous announcement of the 'day that would live in infamy, Dec. 7, 1941, and that a state of war now exists between the United States and the empire of Japan.' The broadcast over, Dr. Dixon turned the radio off. There was not a sound in the auditorium. I think it was one of the teachers who finally said a prayer, asking for a blessing on our nation and the young people who would be going into the service (you could say a prayer in those days without the court's permission). Still, everyone remained seated - some of the girls were crying. Finally we started to drift away. I think a few of the boys went directly to a recruiter to sign up or get information. At the start of winter quarter in 1942, the classes were noticeably smaller. We figured the war would be over in three months. I enlisted in the Marines in 1942 and my 'three months' ended May 6, 1946. I was a combat aircrew man, servicing twin 50 caliber machine gun turrets on a medium bomber stationed on Midway Islands in the Pacific Ocean on August of 1945. We were scheduled for an operation, code name 'OLIMPIC' for the invasion of Japan on Nov. 1,1945. Our squadron, VMB614, had been flying together for three years. We were a close group, good friends who trusted each other - of course, we had to. This invasion would have caused the allies 500,000 casualties and many more Japanese, if the war had gone to victory by ground invasion. Not all of the men were still around when the atomic bombs were dropped. In fact, we had never heard of the atomic bomb, which ended the war very quickly. That night every gun on the island starting firing - a real celebration. The sky lit up like the Fourth of July - tracers, star bursts, flak bursts, etc. There wasn't any champagne on the island so we each had two cans of hot beer to celebrate. After about four months of sitting around (none of us wanted to fly anymore, the planes were getting old, and besides, we'd had enough 'fun' in the damn things) some of the squadron went on to the Philippines and China, some went to the Marine Air Base at Ewa in Hawaii. I went to Ewa, hoping to get home sooner. It had been a long time since David O. McKay had given us his pep talk at Ogden High, and I had a son I had never seen. Thanks to the 'A-bomb', I was able to see my son and, later, his three sisters and my seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. There are those who question the use of the bomb. There are those who would like to rewrite history. History is just that - history. My generation was there. So be it. Ray G. Hartman - Marines Ray G. Hartman was a sergeant in the Marines. He served in the 1st Marine Division which served in the Southwest Pacific and China. Arthurd Dale Jackson - Marines Art Jackson attended Weber before the war in 1940-1941. He was inducted into the Marine Corps in September of 1942 and served in the Pacific Theater of Operations until his discharge in 1946. He was assigned to the 5th Marine Division and saw action at Iwo Jima and Guam. He was commissioned as a first lieutenant later in the war and was made a company executive officer for a unit that was in charge of Japanese prisoners of war. Upon separation from the service, he returned to Weber to complete his education. 190 Vernon Rollins Mardaunt - Coast Guard Vern served in the Coast Guard during WWII. He received a Unit Citation for the capture of a German naval vessel in the North Atlantic in late 1944. The information gathered from the German personnel, enabled the U.S. Military Intelligence to break the transmitting code used by them in the North Atlantic. Hal Tryon Morris - Marines Hal Tryon Morris entered officers training for the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia, in 1942. He served mostly in the chemical field in Saipan, the South Pacific and stateside until 1945. William P. Narcomey, Sr. - Merchant Marines William joined the Merchant Marines prior to graduating from high school, at the start of WWII, in February of 1942, and served until May of 1946. After he was separated from the service, he returned to high school to receive his degree and then joined the Air Force for a second tour of duty. He attended Weber College after his second tour of duty. Harvey C. Neuteboom - Marines The day he got wounded, he was about 1,000 yards from completing the battle of Iwo Jima, and he had gotten K rations for his troops/friends that were in the foxholes and was distributing them when the snipers shot. The first time he was shot, the bullet went through both legs; and when it went through his right leg between his knee and hipit made a hole as it tore through the muscle. The second round of fire that hit him, hit his pack, and he dropped it. Looking back, he was sad he left the pack. It had two Japanese hand grenades, he had taken the powder out of and he was going to bring them home. He was able to bring a samurai sword home. When he was hit the second time, he fell down into the foxhole and fell flat on his face. When he fell, his legs were out of the hole, and he couldn't move them. He tried, and when he reached down to move his legs, he felt blood. They called for a corpsman to come, then for the stretchers. He was in shock and couldn't feel from his waist down. This happened at 4:55 p.m., almost dusk. The rule was that at dusk you had to stay down and wait to be evacuated. He was the last one to be evacuated. Four stretcher bearers came to his rescue; two got shot on their way to get him. They took him to the first aid station on the beach that night, and it was 10 a.m., the next day before the doctor could see him. He was sent on the USS Bountiful until it filled up with wounded patients and then all the wounded were taken to Guam. Then they were sent to the hospital in Hawaii. He spent almost three months in the hospital, then three weeks in the rest camp, (about four months total in Hawaii). The doctors didn't know how they were going to fix the muscle in his leg. They finally got a soldering iron from the engineering department to burn the dead tissue away. Sometimes they would get live tissue, and the pain was terrific. The U.S. government had purchased the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Hawaii for their wounded. He stayed there for $.50 a day. He was in Hawaii when the war ended. After the war, he had an opportunity to come home. He decided to go to Japan instead. He saw the devastation of the atomic bomb. He was wounded on his wife's birthday and sent her his purple heart. He wasn't able to see his son until he was 18 months old. He saw the flag raised on Mt. Suribachi by members of his battalion. When they got off the ship, their goal was to capture the highest part of the island. One group went one way and the other, the other way around the mountain. They met them as they came around the mountain. 191