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    Navy

    Victory Mail

    February 11, 2021 by denisefrisino Leave a Comment

    Victory Mail

    Keeping Loved Ones Connected During WWII

    In this modern day of instant connectivity via email, text, twitter, Tik Tok, Facebook, Facetime, etc. it is hard to envision what it would have been like to wait weeks, even months, to hear from your loved ones or to receive news from back home.

    WWII had many challenges, keeping positive morale among the troops was paramount. Communication between loved ones and those fighting to protect us often provided them with the fortitude to persevere though the horrors of war. One can imagine that men and women overseas would anxiously stand in line to hear their names called out – that a letter had arrived for them – a bit of home on a small slip of paper.

     “The Post Office, War and Navy departments realize fully that frequent and rapid communication with parents, associates and other loved ones strengthens fortitude, enlivens patriotism, makes loneliness endurable and inspires to even greater devotion the men and women who are carrying on our fight far from home and from friends.”

    Postmaster General 1942 Annual Report

    Risk of Waylaid Mail

    However, receiving mail was not easy. Transferring vital information was risky. In some instances, messages – if delivered to the wrong hands – incited wars.
    In November of 1940, Churchill’s British War Cabinet’s Planning Division, entrusted 6 officers aboard the SS Automedon, a passenger and cargo steamer, with a small green bag marked “Highly Confidential.” This bag was purposely punctured with holes and weighted. In the event the ship was under attack, the officers were to toss the sack into the water, confident it would quickly sink.

    SS Automedon

    Unfortunately, when the German Auxiliary Cruiser, Atlantis, a merchant raider, spotted the Automedon off Sumatra on November 11th of that year, the German captain raised his colors and opened fire. All six British officers were killed on the first strike before they could fulfill their orders to destroy the top secret information. The 28 pages prepared by MI6, along with Naval Intelligence reports, Fleet orders, decoding tables and other sensitive information, was recovered by the Germans who promptly gave a copy of these reports to their Axis ally, the Japanese.

    German Auxiliary Cruiser, Atlantis

    England was not aware the documents had fallen into the enemy hands until March 1, 1941, almost four months later, an astonishing amount of time during any war.
    Some say the discovery of this intelligence, which claimed Britain could not afford to continue a large presence in the South Pacific, provided Admiral Yamamoto, commander-in-chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet, the vital information needed to help make the decision to enter the Second World War with the United States and bomb Pearl Harbor.
    In the ever changing tide of war there were many incidents when mail or transmissions were uncovered by the opposing side.

    The Australian Coastwatchers positioned throughout New Guinea and the Solomon Islands during the WWII, were a band of brave men who constantly observed the waterways and skies for the enemy. They not only reported movement and helped rescue Allies, but also recovered a tin filled with pages listing the names of all the Japanese naval officers and where they were stationed. This important information was delivered to the US and Allies at a very crucial point in the war in the Pacific.

    V Mail to the Rescue

    For WWII US soldiers, rules were established for letter writing. When penning words to send home, servicemen could not divulge their whereabouts or movement. All letters were read and censored. Handwritten good tiding from the front often arrived with holes in the pages where the censor considered the information too descriptive if read by a spy. Also, the amount of mail filling cargo ships took up far too much space, precious space better used for ammunitions, food, or medical supplies, etc.
    America quickly undertook the solution, one that Britain had been employing for years. Microphotography, microfilming, dated back to 1850 when used primarily by banks and businesses. Photographing the message then sending the film to be processed, printed, and delivered, dated back to the Franco-Prussian War when the primitive microfilm was transported by carrier pigeon.

    V Mail was adopted and encouraged in May of 1942 when the US entered into a contract with Kodak. Instructed to use dark ink, you wrote on a purchased, V Mail sheet which would be photographed then the film shipped overseas. This method also prevented espionage tactics such as invisible ink to be utilized. Over 1 billion V Mail letters were processed between June of 1942 and November of 1945. This space saving venture meant that about 37 mailbags were reduced to one bag, as 1,600 letters could fit on a single 100-foot roll of 16mm film.

    Sealed with a Kiss

    The drawback, of course, was the one page of the V Mail did not allow for long exchanges. Also, and to some more importantly, you could not use lip stick on the V Mail to “seal it with a kiss.” That distinguishable mark of color on the envelope, an imprint of love and promise boosting moral and encouraging the men in fox holes, would gum up the printing press and was not allowed.

    On this Valentines Day, when communicating in real time exchanges with friends and family, think of those who served and continue to do so. Consider sending a letter to a soldier overseas to thank them for their service.

     Link to Doing Good Together’s Write Letters to a Soldier project page

    https://www.doinggoodtogether.org/bhf/write-letters-to-a-soldier.

    And remember how fortunate we are to be free to seal our letters with a kiss.

    P.S.
    The WWII letters my father, First Lieutenant Joseph Frisino, sent to my mother while in the Signal Corps, first from Alaska while building the Alcan Highway and then from the jungles of Burma when defending the Burma Road, are priceless.

    Filed Under: Air Force, Armed Forces, Army, Marines, Military, Navy, U.S. Army Nurse Corps, USCG, World War II

    D-Day Mistakes, Madness and Miracles –The First Wave

    June 5, 2019 by denisefrisino Leave a Comment

    The very few living survivors of the ‘First Wave’ at D-Day all concur on one thing—tragic mistakes were made that morning of June 6, 1944, costing thousands of Allied lives.

    For starters, the landing parties headed ashore later in the day than planned. They missed the opportunity of the lowest tide and the deeper water would claim hundreds of young lives.

    For many, this was their first battle, fresh from their training grounds these soldiers were to attack the battle hardened, dug in enemy. The Germans had prepared the beach with land mines, barbered wire, barricades and a strip of heavy wire that ran across the surf impacting the landing crafts.

    Just before the troops were sent ashore, Allied planes flew low across the beach laying down a protective smoke screen. However, this screen worked in reverse for many of the landing parties creating confusion as they could not tell where they were heading. Eventually, when the winds lifted the film, the Germans sitting above on Omaha Beach in their pill boxes made light work of the wet, anxious soldiers below them.

    ‘Artillery Joe’ Mehelich

    ‘Artillery Joe’ Mehelich, Private First Class, was a young man among the brave soldiers that survived the ‘First Wave.’ Previously, Joe had arrived in Africa to fight with the 2nd Armored Division at age seventeen, months before the attack on Pearl Harbor. At one point, Joe was hit and forced to pour sand over his body to extinguish the leaping flames spreading up his arms and over his boots. While severely burned and unable to wear shoes, he got ‘right back in the tank’ and kept fighting on. In fact, ‘Artillery Joe’, the nickname given to him by his troop, would go on to fight in all five major battles.

    After his company helped secure Sicily, ‘Artillery Joe’ was sent to England for the major assault of D Day. He and a fellow soldier from his company were placed in a DUKW, ‘Duck’, for the landing on Omaha Beach along with about 38 green ‘kids’. The two experienced warriors were there to provide calm for the novice soldiers unaccustomed to battle, to the deafening blast from the enemy’s heavy armor on the cliffs above attempting to sink their transport, and the unnerving number of injured and dying men washing ashore along the sand and surf.

    The result was horrific. Frightened, praying, calling for their mothers, the youth rushed over the sides, some carrying their duffel bags, into the chilling deep water only to be pulled under the rough sea by the weight of their supplies needed to defend themselves.

    Joe tried to stop them, but their fear and duty to America stripped them of reason.

    Only Joe, his friend from his original company and one of the boys from the boat made it to shore. As the three determined which way to head in the dense haze, it began to lift, and they came under attack from a barrage of gunfire from the Germans waiting above in their pill boxes. Miraculously, all lived to fight another day.

    Iconic photos by Robert Capa.
    Above, Hu Riley, 22, of Mercer Island, WA struggles ashore on Omaha Beach

    In the midst of D Day, a young John Joachims fearlessly drove his tank into battle at Normandy. He was eighteen. He would often retell of the horror spread around him on the beach, such a place of beauty transformed to a graveyard of overwhelming magnitude.

    Joachim, 18, celebrates surviving the landing at Normandy Beach.

    The special regiment, the 320th Anti-Aircraft Barrage Balloon Battalion, were trained to handle the large hydrogen filled barrage balloons that floated at about 200 feet, to protect the soldiers and tanks coming ashore. They were the first African American unit to land on D Day and the only balloon unit in France. Although Waverly B. Woodson Jr., an injured medic, was nominated for a Medal of Honor, he never received the medal.

    The first twenty-four hours of ‘Operation Overlord’ claimed thousands of lives. Those lost souls were not only Americans, but also our Allies, the Canadians, the British, and the French. One report claims, between June 6th, 1944 to July 1st of that year the United States casualties totaled 22,119. Missing, possibly some of the young boys swept out to sea, tallied 5,665 American soldiers. A startling 2,811 were killed with 13,564 reported wounded. Of the 79 taken prisoner, their eventual fate is not listed. Many of the dead never fired their guns.

    The drudgery of ‘Operation Overlord’ would last until August 25, 1944. Bob Harman, made it ashore in early August, as the troops were breaking out of Normandy on their way east. Far from being a secured safe zone, Bob remembers the first person he witnessed being shot by a sniper. The German sharpshooter had killed a Medic. Bob instantly understood the brutality of the enemy. The Germans wanted to eliminate anyone who could bring aide to an injured soldier or the dying. To this day, Bob honors the fallen Medic by displaying his blood-stained white arm band with the red cross in a beautiful glass case. Bob carried the Medic’s arm band through many clashes, including the Battle of the Bulge, as a reminder that survival in war is rudimentary: kill or be killed.

    Bob Harmon, Professor Emeritus of History, Seattle University, lectures at Paul Allen’s Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum.

    If you have not stood on the cliffs above the designated area called Omaha Beach, where the most difficult landing occurred, or walked the sands of Normandy, be sure to do so. The wind-swept surf carries a hint of the souls lost in this devastating conflict. You will be moved beyond imaging.

    Normandy Today

    On this 75th Anniversary of D Day remember those who gave their all to defend our country and freedom.

    Remember that during World War II, on June 6, 1944, this victory for our freedom came at the most precious price–
    brave young lives.

    WWII Normandy American Cemetery

    Filed Under: Air Force, Armed Forces, Army, D Day, Marines, Military, Navy, U.S. Army Nurse Corps, USCG, World War II Tagged With: ‘Duck’, 2nd Armored Division, 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, 75th Anniversary of D Day, barbered wire, barricades, Bob Capa, Bob Harmon, British, Canadians, DUKW, England, first African American unit, First Wave’ at D-Day, German, John Joachim, John Joachums, June 6 1944, land mines, Medal of Honor, museum of flight combat armor, Normandy, Omaha Beach, Operation Overlord, Paul Allen, Pearl Harbor, protective smoke screen, Waverly B. Woodson Jr., World War II, WWI, WWI Normandy American Cemetery

    Memorial Day

    May 20, 2019 by denisefrisino Leave a Comment

    While the debate on when and where the first Decoration Day/Memorial Day was held in America still rages, one fact remains–the day set aside to honor and remember those fallen in battle, those who bravely fought for our freedom, was originally the concept of women.

    The custom of decorating the graves of soldiers harkens back to the Ancient Greeks. This Attic Vase Painting, from the Classic Period dating back to 440 B.C., depicts two women approaching a grave stele or monument that has been draped with two wreaths.

    The tradition of putting wreaths and flowers on soldiers graves became rooted in America, unfortunately, as the result of war on our own land. The Civil War erupted in 1861. On June 3rd of that year, in Warrenton, Virginia, the first grave of a fallen Civil War soldier was decorated to honor and remember the loss due to combat. [Read more…] about Memorial Day

    Filed Under: Air Force, Armed Forces, Army, Marines, Memorial Day, Military, Navy, U.S. Army Nurse Corps, USCG, World War II Tagged With: Ancient Greeks, armed forces, Atlantic, Attic Vase Painting, civil war, decoration day, Fireside Poet, General John Logan, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, In Flanders Fields, memorial day, Red Poppy, Support Our Troops, U.S. Flag, veterans

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