Chapter 4 - Navy

 

Navy Service

                         

                                           (Items in italics taken verbatim from my journal.)

 

The day prior to my 18th birthday I was "Inducted in United States Navy Reserve as Seaman 1st/Class (RT), July 11, 1944 at 1100 hours.  Left that night (1900 hours) for Great Lakes Naval Training Station, Great Lakes, Illinois."

The ‘RT’ stands for Radio Technician.   This was later changed to ‘ET’ for Electronic Technician.  There were four of us that left on the train together.  For some unexplained reason (myself being the youngest) I was made the leader of the group!  Two of the men were married and had small children.  I can only recall the names of two of them:  David Curtis, who was married and had a little daughter, and Edgar Denney, who was single.  (Years later Edgar served as president of the Salt Lake Temple.) 

"Arrived boot camp, July 13, 1944.  Began boot training, July 16, 1944.  Finished boot training and left for home on leave (12 days) September 20, 1944.”   Iwas scheduled to be in Boot Camp for six weeks but, as you will see, I ended up staying ten.  Our training consisted primarily of calisthenics, learning how to fire a gun and identify the enemy’s planes and ships, etc.  The reason we remained so long, I am sure, is that the war was turning in our favor and they had drafted so many sailors they didn't really know what to do with them.  After Boot Camp everyone was given a Leave; I went home for 12 days.    During thse days I don’t remember much, except I do have a picture of me with my neice, Judy Heiner, cutting my parents front lawn.

The next journal entries tell of my return to duty:   "Returned to OGU (Out Going Unit) at Great Lakes, Illinois, October 1, 1944. During my time in OGU  I worked in the butcher shop in mess hall #4, using a band-saw to cut meat into steaks.   Worked at OGU until October 12, 1944.  When my orders finally came, I was transferred to Theodore Herzl Elementary School, (3711 West Douglas Blvd.,) Chicago, Ill, for pre‑radio schooling."  Theodore Hurzl School was an elementary school that had been turned over to the Navy for training during the war.  There we learned basic electricity.  The course was 30 days long.   All four of us that had come from Salt Lake passed that segment with little problem, however about fifty percent of the recruits washed out – and were transferred to some other area in the Navy.  It was in Chicago, while taking this schooling, that I did one of the dumbest things I was ever to do.  Edgar Denny and I went on liberty together into downtown Chicago.  While there we did the stupid trick of getting a tattoo!   A small anchor on each of our left forearms.  It was about 1½ inches long and 1 inch wide.  I didn't realize how painful getting a tattoo would be, but after a week it healed and the pain was gone.   From the beginning I was sorry that I had gotten it.   (It was surely a shock to my parents when they saw it.)  Twenty years later I had it surgically removed.  I don't know if Edgar still has his or not.  I never had the guts to ask him when I saw him while at the Temple.  One of the things I do remember about my tour of duty in Chicago was how cold it was.  We all had to take our turn at standing watch during the night. Even though I had on my Navy‑issue long underwear and heavy coat, that humid cold went right through to the bone! 

The schooling at Herzl was basic electricity where we learned the fundamental electrical formula:  I=E/R. (I=Current in amps. E=Voltage. R=Resistance.)  We had to learn that front, back- and side-wards.  We were also taught how to solder, and learned basic electricity; things such as capacity, electron flow, batteries  and motors, etc., and how to do simple math. The comment made earlier about my exam prior to enlistment being just an aptitude test turned out to be true.   In all of our training they assumed we had no prior knowledge of anything electrical.  I almost said ‘electronics’ but that term was not really used until much later.  What seemed simple to me apparently was difficult for many because about half of the men flunked out and were reassigned elsewhere.  The education we received there had as much to do with aptitude as it did with knowledge.   If you couldn't learn how to solder, for example, it didn't matter how much you learned about electricity.

We were in Herzl School one month, after which those who remained in the program were assigned to various Radio Materiel Schools throughout the country.   Quoting from my journal again:

 

"Completed pre‑radio and graduated November 6, 1944, leaving that day for Del Monte, California.”

 

"Arrived at Del Monte, California November 11, 1944.”

 

"Started Primary Radio School at Del Monte Hotel, Monday, November 13, 1944."

 

David Curtis and I were both assigned to the Radio Materiel School in Del Monte, California.  The other two men elected to go into other training and I do not recall where they were sent.  Because he was married, Dave was able to have his wife and daughter live in Monterey (in an apartment, only a mile away) while he was there.   He was able to visit them often.

We were in school six days a week, except for about two hours a day for P.E. (which included an obstacle course we had to run.)   On my day off I frequently would visit nearby Carmel‑by‑the‑Sea.  (Carmel was later to be where I took my bride on our honeymoon.)  We were told the schooling we were receiving was equivalent of 2 years of college.  You can get some idea of the intensity of the courses.

 

This schooling in Del Monte was supposed to last 3 months.  During the 3rd month of my training I came down with a sinus infection and faithfully reported to sick bay for some medicine. They gave me some sulfa (at that time sulfa was new and was causing some problems -- they didn't have the types we use today.)   For the first time in my life I had a reaction to a medication. It put me in the hospital for several days.  Because of this I was put back a month and had to go into the class following me.   This turned out to be a blessing because the war ended during my last month of training in San Francisco.  Being held back one month, I graduated from Del Monte in February. 

Mom & Dad visited me in                    DelMonte

 

The Del Monte school was somewhat unique.  Del Monte had been a very posh hotel/resort before it had been taken over by the Navy, much the way Hertl School had been.  Our rooms were fitted with two double bunk beds and four desks; designed for utility rather than comfort.

The hotel was Spanish architecture with cream‑colored stucco walls and red tiled roofs.  There were two large swimming pools,  one that was filled with filtered sea water for the benefit of the former resort occupants (you could see the ocean across the road from the hotel.)  We may have used it, but I don't recall doing so.  The other pool had fresh water that we did swim in.  Another unique feature was that since it was a hotel, we ate our meals in the hotel dining room . . . with lovely waitresses serving us! 

The time that I was stationed there carried over Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I frankly do not recall anything special about Thanksgiving, but we were given Liberty on Christmas Day, so most of us rode the train into San Francisco.  (A railway station was right across the street from the hotel.)

On one of the main corners along Market Street in San Francisco was the Pepsi Cola Serviceman's Center.  They had a whole crew of telephone operators placing calls home to their families without charge for the servicemen.  Telephones were by no means as efficient as they are today and it was very hard, given the amount of phone traffic that day, to complete long distance calls.  I stayed in the Center all day in the hopes that my call home would go through, but to no avail.  Unfortunately I remained there longer than I should have.   I discovered that not only had I missed the last train, but also the last bus for the night had left for Del Monte. 

Not knowing what to do, I walked south, down Market Street to where it connects to the main highway, and thumbed a ride.  Luck was with me as I was picked up by a young couple who lived in San Jose.  They figured they could easily beat the bus to their city, which they did, and had time to take me to their house for some ice cream and cake.  I don't remember their names but I will never forget that loving, thoughtful couple who were willing to help a lonely sailor.

My life style was so different than most of the others.  Except for Dave and his family, I rarely had any friends to go with.  Dave Curtis had spent that Christmas day with his wife and daughter so I had gone to San Francisco by myself.  David and I parted when I had to remain behind that extra month.

Again referring to my journal:

"Graduated from Radio School at Del Monte, March 2, 1945.”

 

"Transferred to secondary radio school at Treasure Island, California, March 3, 1945, arriving same day.”

 

"Began secondary radio school (Radio Materiel School) Treasure Island, March 19, 1945."

 

Treasure Island is an man-made  island off of Yerba Buena Island, located in the bay between San Francisco and Oakland.  It had been constructed to house the 1949 Worlds Fair, which I had visited with my parents.  (The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge uses Yerba Buena Island as the landing for its two spans as it crosses the bay.)  Treasure Island and Yerba Buena housed the Advanced Radio Materiel School, which took another six months.  Here we received training on the actual equipment in radio, radar, sonar, loran, etc.  The training at Del Monte was all basic electronics.  This was where we put our training to practical use.  Many of our books were classified secret and we had to return them to a safe to be locked up at the end of each day.  After the war ended, the books were declassified.

Yerba Buena Island itself had a massive, state‑of‑the‑art radar installation on it.  That was where we studied the newest radar equipment.  When I look at modern radar today I well chuckle at the humongous antennas that were used at that time because of the lower radio frequencies being used then.  They were developing higher frequencies all the time.   Before new radar could be installed on board a ship, it would all ready be outdated because of the advancements that were being made.  All of our equipment used vacuum tubes at that time, as transistors and integrated circuits were just being developed and were not used for years after this.  It was a fascinating time to be studying electronics.  Some fantastically brilliant minds were working day and night improving on the equipment, and it was remarkable to see each new development.  The original radar transmissions were carried through metal pipes rather than cable as today.  The pipe were be made to resonate at the frequency of the radar waves and some were large enough to pass a 2“x 4” board through them!  Subsequently the pipes became smaller until they gave away to the coaxial cable used today.  It was like moving from the Pony Express to space travel.  The advancements were that great.

 

"Complied with rating requirements and received rate as Radio Technician 3rd Class, July 1, 1945."   While in the Philippians we received notice that the name of the rating had been changed from Radio Technician to Electronic Technician.

 

I must comment on the events of V‑J Day.  Although I had received my rating, school continued on for a couple of months.  The Japanese agreed to surrender terms on August 14, 1945.  Although the official signing was on September 2^nd, I am sure that the events that I am about to relate occurred on the first date, when surrender was announced.

I mentioned earlier that my brother, Bob, was an Ensign in the Navy.  Being in San Francisco on leave, Bob came to Treasure Island to see if I could get off long enough to go into San Francisco to have dinner with him.  He prevailed on the Officer of the Day, who kindly allowed me to go with him for the evening.  We first went to Bob's hotel room to freshen up.  It was toward the far (South) end of Market Street.  We had just stepped outside to go to dinner when word of Japan's surrender was announced. 

Pandemonium broke loose!  I have never seen anything like it, and hope I never will again.  Thousands of people formed a living stream of humanity and this river of bodies slowly snaked along Market Street from the north, coming toward us.  The human ‘river’ would move from one side of the street to the other.  You could hear windows breaking as the mass crashed into store fronts, and as the throng would move away, the windows were being looted.   People were just acting crazy.  Some women even climbed a street light pole and removed all their clothing.  Women were raped in doorways.  It appeared as if all Hell had broken loose. 

It wasn't too long before the Military Police and Shore Patrol drove vans down Market Street, side by side, running-board to running-board, across the entire width of the street.  They slowly drove south from the ferry building to the north.  As they drove, loud speakers roared out that all leaves and passes were canceled and all military personnel should immediately return to their bases.

I have no idea how long all of this went on.  Bob and I stood dumbfounded outside his hotel at the spectacle before us.  Obviously I had to leave and return to my base, and so we said goodbye; never going to the dinner that we had planned.  That was the only brief time I was with Bob while in the Navy.

My journal continues:

 

"Completed Radio Materiel School and graduated, September 28, 1945."

 

"Left for home on 12‑day leave, September 29, 1945.”

 

"Returned from leave to Shoemaker, California, October 11, 1945, working there as mess cook until transferred.”

 

"Transferred to the "bull pen" on Treasure Island, California, October 21, 1945”.

"Left for unknown destination, October 24, 1945, aboard U.S.S. Grundy (APA 111)."

 

Of the two leaves that I took while in the Navy, one following boot camp and the other following my training, I remember very little about -- strange.

 

The “bull pen” referred to was where the servicemen were put awaiting orders to be shipped out.  I spent three days there.  Those days were a constant standing in line . . . to eat.  As soon as we finished eating one meal, we would get in line for the next.  The lines were blocks long and 20‑30 feet wide!  If you didn't get back into line you ran the chance of missing your next meal -- (just kidding!) -- besides, there was nothing else to do but to wait ‑‑ and hope your name came up on the next transfer list.

 

What follows is quoted verbatim from my, "Overseas Log of  D. Wallace Thorup":

 

24 Oct '45   Left 'Frisco at 1500.  Under Golden Gate at 1540.

Transient on board U.S.S. APA 111 (U.S.S. Grundy)

 

25 Oct '45   Docked at Port Hueneme at 1300.

 

26 Oct '45   Left Port Hueneme at 1300.  Total troops now on

board, 1000 (including 300 Negro Sea Bees).

 

30 Oct '45    Set watch back 2 hours.

 

31 Oct '45    Position at 1200: 151° W. ‑ 39° N.

 

 1 Nov '45    Position at 1200: 160° W. ‑ 39° N.

 

 2 Nov '45   Position at 1200: 168° W  ‑ 30°20' N.

 

4‑5 November 1945   Past International Date Line (Domain of the Golden Dragon)

 

 7 Nov. '45   Position at noon:  168° E ‑ 33° N.

 

 8 Nov. '45   6 hours set back so far.

 

12 November 1945 ‑‑ Arrived at Okinawa at 1000 ‑‑ Did not disembark like expected.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A ship similar to YMS 259, from US Navy files.

 

 

Photo of YMS 259 and sister ships in Shanghai, China

 

 

Tried to get a picture of YMS 259 from official US Navy photographs, but they didn’t have one.   It did provide the following information:   AYMS‑259 ‑‑ a Motor Mine Sweeper with a displacement of 207‑215 tons, 136 ft. long with a beam (width) of 24 ft. 6 inches.  It had a draft of 8 feet and a speed of 13 knots.   It had a compliment of 50 (46 men and 4 officers) and was powered by twin 500 h.p. diesel engines.  [Note:  Of the 481 YMS mine sweepers built, none was ever listed as sunk which, considering their perilous duty, seems quite remarkable.]

 

14 Nov. '45  Left Okinawa 1500.  Have set watch back total of

8 hours now.

 

16 Nov '45   Anchored at mouth of Yangtsze River.

 

17 November 1945  Arrived Shanghai, China ‑‑ at 0930.  Sampans with Chinese

wares flooded around ship.  Quite a sight.  No disembarking yet.

 

22 Nov. '45  Transferred to another troop ship today, U.S.S. Zavrak (AKA 117) – missing Thanksgiving Day dinner as a result.

27 November 1945  ‑‑ Transferred to U.S.S. YMS 259 [YMS=Motor Mine Sweeper] for               permanent duty.

 

29 Nov '45   Made first liberty in Shanghai.  Road in a Rickshaw & Sampan.  Quite an experience.  Awfully dirty place.

 

 6 Dec '45   Under way 0645.  Leaving Shanghai ‑‑Whangpoo River‑‑ bound for Formosa on sweeping operations.

 

 9 Dec '45   Docked Kiirun, Formosa 1000.

 

10 Dec '45   Swept today ‑‑ first time, more fun!

 

12 Dec '45   Swept again today.

 

13 Dec '45   Swept again ‑‑ no mines yet.

 

14 Dec '45   Just got sweep gear out and port engine stopped. Returned to Kiirun at 1200.

 

15‑18 Dec '45 ‑‑ Moored in Kiirun, Formosa, inner bay. Undergoing repairs on main engines.

 

19 Dec '45   Underway at 1030, enroute to Shanghai, China.

 

21 Dec '45   Arrived Shanghai, China, 1415.  Moored in Whangpoo River over Christmas and New Years.

 

17 Jan '46   Left Shanghai enroute to Subic Bay, Luzon, Philippine Islands.

 

22 Jan '46   Arrived Subic Bay, in Luzon, Philippine Islands. Undergoing repairs on main engines.

 

 8 Feb '46   Went into dry dock to scrape and paint the bottom.

 

11 Feb '46   Left dry dock and went back to Olongapo Village Docks

 

13 February '46   Left Subic Bay enroute (0800) to North Palawan and other small islands for mine sweeping operations.

 

14 Feb '46   Arrived Migrating Island, 1700 (Cabulaun Group.)  Anchored just off shore (approx. 100 yd.)

 

19 Feb '46   Arrived South Bay, Linapacan Islands/  Saw first "Flips" down here, since Subic.  Have swept every day except Sunday last.  No mines.  Coral bottom playing "hell" with our sweep gear.

(This was the last entry in my log.)

 

My overseas duty was largely uneventful.  Perhaps I should comment on the large number of mines that we saw floating on the ocean as we steamed across the Pacific towards China.  We passed many each day, and seem to confirm what we understood to be the case later on:  They had all been ripped up by the cyclone that had passed over the Philippines earlier that year. 

The USS Grundy was a troop ship, and quite a modern one at that.   We had all the fresh

U.S.S. Grundy

 

water we wanted because it had large distillers which could convert sea water into fresh water.  At first the ship was instructed to stop and destroy any of the mines seen, but that soon proved to be more difficult and time consuming than expected as the guns had to hit the tips of the spines sticking out of the mines to explode them.  So orders were changed and we proceeded on.  We watched the mines just float by from then on.  We assume they eventually washed up on shore, probably in the Aleutian Islands somewhere.

 

            It is the Navy custom to remove rusted paint off a ship’s metal hull by chipping it off  with a hammer.  One day I watched a sailor, who had been chipping paint, hold his hammer up poised to throw it at a mine that was passing below him, in the wake of the ship.  Fortunately another sailor caught his arm before he could throw it, as if it had happened to hit one of the "spines" on the mine, it could have exploded and blown a hole in our ship!

Mine similar to those we saw and searched for

 

            An interesting sideline is that just before I boarded my ship, YMS 259, in Shanghai, that ship had gone down to Formosa to pick up the pilot at the port to bring him to a cruiser to accept the Japanese surrender following the war.  On 25 Oct 1945 in Zhongshan Hall, Taipei, Chinese representative Chen Yi accepted the Japanese surrender of Formosa (from Portuguese: Ilha Formosa, "Beautiful Island".)  "Taiwan" is now the commonly used alternative name both domestically and internationally to refer to the post-1949 Republic of China.

After I boarded my new ship we went back down to Formosa where they had picked up the pilot, so I was told all about their experience.  As we sailed the inlet into the city of Taipei, we had to travel quite a distance along a river-like inlet that looked just like steep mountains sticking up out of the ocean (no beach) and all along the route there were fortifications built into the sides of the passage containing large cannon emplacements.   We were, of course, a very small boat and one shot from any of those guns could have turnede our ship into kindling wood.  The men on board said that it was very scary for them seeing those guns as they slowly moved along as they went to pick up the pilot.

After cutting only one mine, we left Formosa after a day or two and proceeded to Subic Bay.  Using that as our base, we began sweeping the entire Phillipine Islands except for the large island of Luzon.  We continued our sweeping operations in the Philippines until May 1946 and, even though the Japanese had provided us with detailed charts, we never cut a single mine!   The Navy Brass even made us repeat the entire sweep because they couldn't believe there were no mines there.  The cyclone (in the States we call them hurricanes) that ripped through the Philippine Islands just after the War ended, had done our work for us.

Being away from Subic Bay for several days at times, we would stop occasionally at some of the many small islands.  I remember visiting Zamboanga City which today is a highly urbanized city located on the island of Mindanao.  When we visited the city it was primative huts and narrow foot dirt trails.  This is the city where they said “the monkeys have no tails.”  We also stopped one day for a little recreation at a small uninhabited island (of which there are many.)  The ship anchored a short distance off shore because of the shallow water, so we had to swim into the beach.  Like many of those islands, it was formed of coral.   My feet hurt for days afterwards from all the small cuts I got that day!

While serving on YMS 259 I was informed that my rank had been changed from Radio Technician Mate 3rd class to Electronic Technician Mate 3rd class.  Unfortunately, since the war was over and they had to put us all somewhere, two ETM's ended up being assigned to YMS 259 which only had a compliment of one.  This made it impossible for either of us to earn a higher rating.  The other ETM's last name was Betts.  Unfortunately we didn't have much in common and never became close friends.  I think the fact that by my being on board and making it so he couldn't earn a higher rating really bothered him.  That didn't bother me that much.  After all, the war was over and I was just anxious to get home!  Because of this we both ended up doing a lot of duties that were not in our job description.  One was that I ended up being the motion picture projectionist.

One feature of a YMS mine sweeper was that it was wooden hulled.  The purpose of not having a metal hull was to reduce the attraction of the ship to mines that were exploded by

Betts ETM3C – Koski EM3C

 

magnetic attraction to metal.  The magnetism of the ship was reduced even more by large degaussing wires which encircled the ship designed to cancel out the residual magnetism of any metal on the ship.  They used direct current (DC) through the degaussing wires to do this.  The upshot of the system was that the generators on the ship produced direct current, rather than the alternating current which was used for all the electronic gear.  The purpose was to lower the lines of flux around the hull of the ship that would be generated by alternating current (AC).

Shortly after joining the crew of YMS 259, the electrician’s mate, Koski, who had been in charge of running the movie projector, mistakenly plugged the projector into a DC outlet.   Since the projector worked on alternating current, the transformer burned out.  The loss of the movie projector was a terrible blow to the men.  I offered to repair it, and by doing so was put in charge of operating the movie projector from then on.  Being unable to obtain a transformer small enough to fit inside the projector, I made a wooden box to hold the transformer I did locate and connected it to the projector via a wire cable, like an umbilical chord.  It was definitely "Mickey Mouse," but it worked!  The Bell & Howell 16 mm sound projector was getting old, and required almost daily care of some sort to keep it running.  Because of the unusual assignment of personnel to our ship, we didn’t have a Gunners Mate.   The Gunners Mate’s cabin was therefore unused and I was allowed to use that space to repair the projector.  The Gunners Mate cabin was on the starboard (right) side of the main deck, opposite the officers’ quarters.  Being allowed to use this fine space will give you some idea as to the importance the crew placed on the movies!   And I could work on the projector there without being in anyone's way.  With it I also had effectively my own private office!    I was almost always able to show a movie each evening when we were in port.  The movie projector would sit atop the open bridge onto a screen set up on the bow of the ship.  (In the picture the Gunners Mate=s cabin was located directly under the life raft you can see, on the main deck of the ship.)

I was assigned the station of helmsman when underway.  I would either handle the wheel (steering the ship) in the inside bridge, or be on lookout with the Officer of the Deck on the open bridge above.  In the capacity of helmsman there were a couple of times during bad storms when underway that I noticed I was the only one on the bridge who was not seasick!  Our Executive Officer (second in command ‑‑ next to the Captain) with whom I always worked while underway, was a graduate of Annapolis (i.e., regular Navy.)   The poor guy got so sick he would literally turn green when the sea was rough. 

My training as an electronics technician didn't get a lot of use, as not only were there two ETM's on board but we had very little equipment to maintain:  The radar, and a TBS short wave radio (TBS = Talk Between Ships) were the only two pieces of electronic equipment we ever used.   All of the YMS's numbered 250 to 259 had the radio call sign "Sack Artist", so our radio call sign was "Sack Artist 9."   We had a sonar unit and a high powered long‑wave transmitter, but neither was ever used while I was on board.  One time we actually tried to get them to operate, but since they weren't used we didn't pursue fixing them very hard.  Since we had very little electronics to maintain, I used to spend a lot time helping the Yeoman, who was my friend, doing his office work.

 I purchased a photo finishing kit from a sailor off another ship who was going home, and used my little cabin as a darkroom.  It was only a pastime and I didn't spend a lot of time at it.  I could only make small contact prints, as I didn't have an enlarger, so it didn’t work out too well.

YMS 259 was decommissioned at Subic Bay in the Philippines just prior to my discharge.  We took the ship out into the middle of Subic bay and dumped all remaining 3 inch shells overboard, (for the ships cannon, which had been being used as ballast – I doubt the gun was ever fired) along with all excess equipment that wasn't bolted down, including all our spare electronics parts.  It was my understanding that our ship was to be given to the Philippine government.  It would have made a wonderful fishing boat!

 

I returned home via a Naval station in San Diego, California and received my discharge from U.S. Naval Personnel Separation Center, Shoemaker, California, on 23 June 1946, having served in the Navy a couple of weeks short of two years.

 

I am adding this postscript to my naval service following the 50th Anniversary of the atom bombing of Hiroshima, Japan.  There have been so many comments given by those who did not live through the war to the effect that they don't feel that it was right or necessary for the U.S. to have used the "bomb".  Let me say from one who lived the horrors associated with that war that the use of the atomic bomb may well have saved hundreds of thousands of lives ‑‑ both of American and Japanese.  I will be the first to admit that the results of war are horrible.  You only have to look in the newspapers to see evidences from many places in the world even today.  But what people, who did not live through that experience, don't realize is that a "world war" is a "total war."  The Japanese were ‑‑ and they admit it ‑‑ out to conquer America.  Please take the time to read at least some of the history of the war written by those who wrote about it at the time.  I add this statement because there are many who are trying to "rewrite" history ‑‑ mostly based on how they perceived the war then to be today.  The Japanese were NOT ready to give up.  It took two bombs to bring about their capitulation.  The Japanese were an atrocious foe.  They showed no mercy.  They treated our prisoners in the vilest fashion and used every horrible type of warfare and torture they could use to attain their goal.  The use of the atom bomb was horrifying, but in the long run saved many lives.    Even saving lives of many Japanese, I am sure, if we would have had to invade their country (which was eminent) had the atom bomb not been dropped.  Don't ever let anyone tell you we made a mistake by dropping it.  WE DID NOT!! 

During the celebration of our 50th wedding anniversary with my children in Hawaii, I visited Pearl Harbor for the first time.  I must admit that even though I outwardly never showed any animosity for the Japanese people, I had always had a feeling of dislike deep in my heart for that country because of the war.  I am glad I visited Pearl Harbor.  I finally left my bitter feelings there.  Their terrible actions were brought about by their leaders, not the Japanese people.  Our boys paid too high a price for the freedom of this country for me not to mark the event "paid".