- Going Home
-
With Victory in Europe day now history, military focus was on the
- war in the Pacific. Points
had been awarded to each serviceman for his
- combat time, length of
service, various campaigns and for awards received.
- All of us calculated how
many Points we had. Would we also serve
- time in the Pacific? A
reshuffle of personnel between divisions began,
- of high point men and
others. Calls came for men with specific military
- occupation codes. For those
special calls, those affected would be
- transported to ports of
debarkation, be shipped to the states for a 45
- day furlough, then be
assigned to the war in the Pacific.
- The
writer was among those first called, the only one from K
- Company at that time. So the
move was by truck to a deployment center,
- then by railroad freight car
to the port of debarkation. At 20 men per car,
- we had to carefully arrange
our mummy bags at night so that each had a
- bit of room to sleep. But we
all felt good about getting to the States soon
- and the 45 day furlough at
home sounded great. So we did not give much
- thought to the subsequent
trip to Pacific war.
- One
morning, at the reassembly at Le Havre on the north coast of France,
- the first sergeant in charge
commented that the morning news was special.
- The Air Force had dropped a
new kind of bomb, (one) on Hiroshima that
- devastated the entire city.
It was called an atomic bomb. We all wondered
- what this news was all about
and would this make a difference in the
- Pacific war?
- Our
deployment group of 180 men continued its schedule and a
- week later, we were aboard a
small freighter on our way home. During
- our two weeks aboard ship,
the Pacific air force dropped the second
- atomic bomb on
Nagasaki....and Japan surrendered.
- What a change of the world
situation since we had left Europe!
- The
sight of the Statue of Liberty was, once again, a thrill to observe.
- But as our vessel passed this
grand lady, we were in for a bigger surprise.
- As we neared the port, the
closest vessel sounded its whistle in a lengthy blast.
- And our ship responded. Then
the next vessel sounded its whistle,
- and ours answered. This was
repeated by every vessel in the port, a
- tremendous welcome for us
homecoming servicemen. It was a very
- moving event. Here we were
home early and we were not needed
- In the Pacific theater.
Cheers, Hurrah!
- Note: After discharge and Gl
Bill school time, the writer ended up with
- employment associated with the
B Reactor at the Hanford Nuclear Works.
- In 1944-5, this facility
generated the material for the second bomb-which
- ended the war in the Pacific.
B Reactor has special significance, especially
- for me. This reactor, now in
shutdown status, has a special place in
- the history of this country.
It is currently being prepared for a role as a
- NUCLEAR MUSEUM, where people
can visit this memorable facility.
- Congressional support for
funding is needed. The website for B Reactor
- Museum Association is <http://www.b-reactor.org>
Look it up.