World War II

Veteran’s Day – A Time To Give Thanks

November 10, 2021 by denisefrisino Leave a Comment

Veteran’s Day – A Time To Give Thanks

You might not recognize them walking the street, sitting beside them in at a church service, or quietly reading in a retirement home. A veteran’s response to duty is their own story, sometimes shared, other times very private. Yet, their sacrifices provided us our freedom.
Veteran’s Day is set aside to honor all who have served or are still serving in the Armed Forces, young and old, who have dedicated themselves to defend our country. Unlike Memorial Day, which honors those who fell in battle, Veteran’s Day has a broader meaning allowing for recognition of service men and women with parades, free meals in some restaurants, etc. and, above all, thanks.

I consider myself blessed to have had the opportunity over the last eight years to interview so many veterans, especially from WWII.
They came from all stations of life to serve, and their contributions should never be forgotten.

Marshall Soria was a family man, age 24, when in July of 1944 he entered the army, having become a US Citizen that previous September. In fact, when he arrived in Fumay France, in January of 1945, he was held back one day from the 6th Army, 110th Infantry Division, because he lacked proof of citizenship. Once all paperwork was in order, he joined his 3rd Battalion, 3rd Squad and took up his BAR Rifle to fight in the bitter cold Vosgas Mountains near the German border. Just issued one pair of boots, Marshall, like so many that fought that record setting winter in the Battle of the Bulge, suffered frostbite, but refused medical attention. He celebrated his 100th birthday in June of 2020.

Also participating in that long and deadly battle was Ken Huseman who at 19 was a member of the 8th Armored Division nicknamed the “Thundering Herd.” Their tactical call sign, “Tornado,” was later referred by a Newsweek journalist as the “Iron Snake” referring to their appearance in March of 1945 as they crossed the Rhine River. This group of young soldiers would go on to liberate a sub camp of Buchenwald, Halberstadt-Zwieberge.

Barney McCallum, grew up in Davenport Washington, part of the wheat belt of the Columbia Basin. His older brother was already in the service, so Barney couldn’t wait to join the US Navy. While engaged in the battle of Okinawa his ship took aboard Japanese prisoners, transporting them to Hawaii. In the two years he spent in the Navy, all but two months of that time were aboard ship docking at ports across the Pacific.

I would be remiss if, on this day of saluting those who served, I did not mention my father, Second Lieutenant Joseph C. Frisino, US Army Signal Corps. Dad was already in the service about to be discharged when WWII broke out. He liked to tell us he, “Did four years of overtime.”
After Pearl Harbor Dad’s unit was sent to Alaska to build the Alcan Highway in the freezing Alaskan winter. Next, he was sent via Northern Africa to the jungles of Burma. His first night in his tent he awoke to 25 uniquely colored frogs in his boots and hopping about. Constantly under Japanese sniper fire, he also had to be conscious of the dangerous jungle wildlife. In fact, he sent home a 15-foot python skin of the snake that attempted to slither into his tent when he was writing home to Mom.

Although all but Marshall have left us, we must continue to hold their stories close.

A salute to the next generation, especially Petty Office First Class Lew.

Thank you for your service.

Get involved this Veteran’s Day

Call a Veteran

Fly your flag

Donate to a Veteran’s Service

Attend a parade

To All Veteran’s – Thank you

Coastwatchers

April 5, 2021 by denisefrisino Leave a Comment

Coastwatchers

The Small Band of Men Who Saved Thousands of Allied Troops

In Bellingham, Washington as soon as WWII broke out, tall towers were erected close to the Canadian border. Teenagers equipped with their sleeping bags and supplies would rotate assignments, some spending the night, to listen and watch for any incoming aircraft then immediately report their observations. Along the Pacific Coast, citizens worked shifts at radio stations established in caves or small shacks ready to alert the Coast Guard and Navy of offshore enemy activity. The West Coast, the southern Gulf Shores, even up the Mississippi were manned with Americans on guard for enemy ships, submarines, or aircraft.

The Southwest Pacific Islands

Across the vast Pacific in the many islands dotting the Bismarck, Solomon, and Coral Seas the Allies depended on the existence and efficiency of the coastwatchers.

These Coastwatchers, first organized by the Australian Commonwealth Naval Board in 1922, expanded their vigilance throughout New Guinea and the nearly 1,000 islands composing the Solomon Islands during WWII. Joined by servicemen from New Zealand, who had established their own coastwatchers along their shores and region, and aided by local islanders, plus escaped Allied prisoners of war, this band of brave men observed the waterways and skies for the enemy. They were known as the Coast Watch Organisation, Combined Field Intelligence Service or Section C, Allied Intelligence Bureau.

From Queensland, the Australian coastwatchers “organisation” was led by Lieutenant Commander Eric Feldt. Feldt decided on the code name “Ferdinand,” based on the 1936 popular children’s book, “The Story of Ferdinand.” Feldt reasoned that their job as coastwatchers was to sit, observe and collect information, not engage conspicuously in battle. Feldt would use this analogy to encourage his men.

“Ferdinand … did not fight but sat under a tree and just smelled the flowers.”

Yet, of course, these dedicated coastwatchers could fight, if stung.

Their equipment, teleradios, consisted of a combination of loud speaker, transmitter and a receiver. These heavy objects required 12-16 men to move their containers and were powered by car batteries recharged by petrol – gas.

In the early stages of conflict their network played an important role in the Guadalcanal campaign, code named “Cactus”. The ability to radio enemy activity in the early warning stages of conflict, including the construction of an airfield on Guadalcanal, resulted in the first major land offensive against Emperor Hirohito’s men in the South Pacific.

The Risk Was Immense.

In an attempt to protect his men if captured, the mostly civilian group became part of the Royal Australian Navy Volunteer Reserve, RANVR, in April of 1942. However, this rank was not always respected by the enemy, and Feldt’s best friend, Bill Kyle, whom Feldt had recruited into the coastwatchers, was captured and executed by the Japanese.

Another significant volunteer was Sergeant Major Jacob C. Vouza. After 25 years of service in the Solomon Islands Protectorate Army, Vouza rejoined the British forces. On August 7th, 1942, as the US 1st Marine Division was landing on Guadalcanal, Jacob fished a downed pilot from the USS Wasp out of Japanese held waters. Once he delivered the airman to the Americans, his abilities as a scout were quickly recognized and expanded. The retired native from Tasimboko, agreed to go behind enemy lines to scout and report.

Sergeant Major Jacob C. Vouza soon after the Allied landing on Quadacanal in 1942. (left) Vouza in retirement. (right)

Unfortunately, weeks later, on August 20, Jacob was captured by the Japanese. Finding a small American flag in his loincloth, they tied him to a tree and began to torture the Allied spy. When Jacob refused to talk, the Japanese soldiers slashed his face, throat, arms, shoulder, and stomach with their bayonets, leaving him to die. Using his teeth, he gnawed through the rope then, finding his way through miles of jungle, he was able to reach the American camps and warn the 2nd Battalion 1st Marines of the approaching Japanese soldiers. The Marines had about ten minutes to strengthen their positions at the mouth of the Ilu River, referred to as Alligator Creek. These precious minutes allowed the Americans to prepare for the approaching 250 – 500 Japanese troops planning to attack that night. The ensuing Battle of the Tenaru on Guadalcanal was a victory for the Americans who were tasked with defending the newly acquired airstrip, Henderson Field.

It is said that Jacob refused medical attention until he spoke with British Major Martin Clemens, an instrumental coastwatcher, and Lieutenant Colonel Edwin A. Pollock, commander of the 2nd Battalion. Jacob would recover to continue aiding the US Marines. For his valuable service he was awarded several medals and honored by the United States Marine Corps, and Britain. A memorial was built in his honor in Honiara, the capitol of the Solomon Islands.

Monument to Sergeant Major Jacob C. Vouza

As the Pacific Campaign continued, impacted by the constant US air patrol and the tenacity of the coastwatchers, the Imperial Japanese Navy were forced to move through the night to deliver troops and supplies in what was known as the “Tokyo Express”, originally coined the “Cactus Express.” The coastwatchers hidden radio stations buzzed with alerts and vital information during battles or as the Japanese navy or aircraft were moving soldiers and equipment to various islands in preparations for attacking American bases. Living in obscurity in the jungles and along the shores they were instrumental in the rescue of survivors from downed airplanes or sinking ships.
One group of stranded sailors rescued after their PT boat was ripped in two when rammed by a Japanese destroyer, included the captain of that fateful PT 109, the late President John F. Kennedy.
At one point the coastwatchers recovered an enemy tin filled with pages listing the names of all the Japanese officers and where they were stationed. This important information was delivered to the US and Allies at a very crucial time during the war in the Pacific.

‘Japanese coming, regards to all.’

This was the final message sent on September 25, 1942 from Maiana atoll in the Gilbert Islands (now known as Kiribati). As the Japanese swarmed across six of the small land masses, they captured twenty-two coastwatchers and civilians. All Prisoners of War were taken to Tarawa where on October 15th they were all beheaded.

Our Coastwatchers – Online Cenotaph – Auckland War Memorial Museum

It was the vigilance and sacrifice of the approximately 400 men who composed the coastwatchers, whose constant brush with the enemy can be credited with saving thousands of Allied soldiers’ lives, that we should pause to honor.

A heartfelt Thank You to all the coastwatchers of WWII, especially those who did not return to their families and enjoy the freedom their bravery helped obtain.

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.