I did not hear many stories from Daddy's time as an Army Staff Sergeant in the Philippines during WWII. I did hear of his tasting fresh filched pineapple from a field in Hawaii where he went first for training.
I was thrilled to visit WWII Museum in NOLA to see a section devoted to the battles/guerrilla warfare in the Pacific, specifically Leyte where Daddy was stationed.
Daddy told me of slogging through the mud until their boots rotted away.
Years later he told me of coming upon a shack in the jungle that had a rickety upright piano. One of the men in his platoon sat down and played a tune and they all sang together. He told me he "decided then and there that he would have an upright piano in his home one day so that someone could play the piano to bring joy to all who heard." I was that "someone" for several years but i'm not sure I ever got to the point of bringing joy. I saw a picture of such a gathering at the museum movie but was unable to snap a photo. It brought tears to my eyes as I remembered Daddy's story. Tears had me smiling because I now saw those harrowing lessons (across the street at Mrs Bell's) as a privilege.
The Leyte Gulf section gave me "pause" as I recalled the story that Daddy, a quiet, gentle man anyway, held close for many years.
Leading his platoon out on maneuvers, Daddy was shot in the leg by a lone Japanese snipper in a tree. His men returned him to the field hospital & then he was taken to the hospital ship which took him to Goodenough Island in Papua New Guinea to recover from wound and malaria.The next day, "his" men (reconnaissance unit and the man who took his place) went to Mindanao. All were were ambushed & killed by a squad of Japanese snipers. It was a real time of war... (Ecclesiastes 3:8) as the world had never seen. Years later, Daddy at his Saturday lunches at the VFW, reminisced with two chums who had also been on Goodenough Island during the war. Tag & Frank.
How proud I was when I saw those Philippine maps that changed from almost completely red (Japanese control) in Leyte....
to blue (United States control) during Daddy's time there.
Daddy's final days in service ended in Australia as he qualified for the Points' System* & was shipped home, to CA & on to Indianapolis, where Mother, who had ridden bus from Clarksville, TN was waiting for him.
The rest is history---that would be me, as I was born the next year.
*Points System---points for months of service over seas, combat situations, Purple Heart, and points for each dependent child---His first child, Buddy, was born while Daddy was overseas.
