  Tponetom Member Username: Tponetom Post Number: 22 Registered: 06-2007 |
Detroit and Pearl Harbor I learned to separate the chaff from the fruits of my life a long time ago. You can't hang on to the agonies because they might just overwhelm you. We have all heard the stories of Pearl Harbor a million times and then some. I like to remember the forgotten ones. Bobby, 18, and Louis S., 20, lived on the corner house of McClellan and Warren. They both enlisted in the Marines on January 2, 1942. Louis wound up in aviation maintenance for the entire war. He was a funny guy. Bobby was the athlete and he served in the South Pacific as a 'grunt.' They both came home, unscathed, but Bobby had a case of malaria that stayed with him for a long time after. So what is so outstanding about that? Bobby came home with eight Battle Stars. Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Tarawa,Saipan, Iwo and others. Very few marines made that Grand Tour of the Pacific from the Solomons to Japan. Vic D. was one of the older kids who never came back. He was wounded in Italy or the invasion thereof. He was coming home on a hospital ship,,,,that was sunk by the U-boats. His death was the most tragic. Ralph B. was the neighborhood station manager for the Detroit News. The 'station' was the garage next to the Hi-Speed station on Warren and Pennsylvania. Ralph never came back either. Scotty was an older caddy I met in 1942. It was a good day at the golf course. We all made two 18's and one 9 and earned about four dollars. It was almost twilight and as we were walking down Lochmoor Blvd. to Mack, a Grosse Pointe Scout car stopped and made us get in the car. He took us to the G.P. station where another six caddies were sitting in the 'holding' room. It seems that a terrible crime had been committed. Some miscreant had broken a street light by throwing rocks at it and one of the neighbors called the police. We sat there for a half hour fuming and fretting. Finally, Scotty stood up and said, "If I tell you who broke the light, will you let the other kids go home." the cop said, "Yes." So Scotty copped to it and the rest of us went home. Scotty beat the wrap, because he had just enlisted in the Marine Corp and was slated for induction a couple of days later. He did not break the light. He was with me all the time. Scotty did not come home again. And lastly, my brother-in-law, Rob, had a 3-A dependency status with the draft board. But by December of 1944, he was drafted. He went through 3 months of basic training and then was sent to Europe. He was in action one month. Then he and his buddies walked into a German patrol. Rob caught 3 bullets in his left arm and four in his left leg. He was in the hospital and therapy for nearly a year. Bobby S. began working for my Dad as an apprentice and then ultimately got his Journeyman's Plumbers License. He then went to work, full time, for the City of Detroit and retired from that job some 30 years later. So what do all of these pithy little anecdotes mean. For me, they helped shape my attitudes about life in general and philosophies in particular. I have other stories about civilian life during those years. | ||
Karl_jr Member Username: Karl_jr Post Number: 17 Registered: 06-2007 |
as usual, excellent! | ||
Kathinozarks Member Username: Kathinozarks Post Number: 580 Registered: 11-2006 |
This story made me sad. | ||
Mercman Member Username: Mercman Post Number: 33 Registered: 10-2006 |
I agree. Brought up thoughts of my own Grandfather and his involvement in WWII... (Message edited by mercman on July 02, 2007) | ||
Eric_w Member Username: Eric_w Post Number: 264 Registered: 02-2007 |
Good stories. My uncle was at Pearl Harbor on Dec 7th & was wounded. He was stationed on the USS Pennsylvania at the time. His family wasn't notified of his whereabouts or his wounds for weeks. They were notified via Western Union Telegram. They could not contact him due to national security. They did not know the severity of his injuries either. Imagine not knowing whether he was alive for weeks then if he was maimed of only slightly injured. No text messages or cell phones then. He recovered & served on several ships in the Pacific. Seeing action in many major battles-he was awarded several medals including two purple hearts. He told me many of his war stories- some humorous but others quite horrible. My mother was young teenager on the 7th & remembers it like it was yesterday. Two of her brothers served during WWII also. | ||
Mauser765 Member Username: Mauser765 Post Number: 1684 Registered: 01-2004 |
3D ? | ||
Jimaz Member Username: Jimaz Post Number: 2634 Registered: 12-2005 |
3D = Dinosaur Days of Detroit. |
