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Show Page 10 The OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Volume IX Issue VIII February 1, 2004 BROTHERS cont. from page 9. bank and surrender. At first the Germans were told to throw down their weapons, and then they were permitted to cross the river. The Germans did this willingly to avoid being captured by the Russians. When the Germans had crossed the Elbe, they then would be marched to a camp, located several miles away, under the escort of many guards. After a couple of days of such, the U.S. soldiers would only let the Germans cross the Elbe on the condition they brought all their weapons with them so the Americans could have them as souvenirs. The soldiers would use the souvenirs to trade or sell to officers and soldiers who didn’t see front-line action and didn’t get a chance to collect such souvenirs. The Germans were soon surrendering in large numbers, and escorting them to the holding area was taking a large effort. Jack said it wasn’t unusual to see a couple hundred prisoners of war being escorted by three or four GI’s completely loaded down with souvenirs. There was no way the escort could have defended themselves if the Germans had wanted to overpower them. When the war was over, with several million GI’s wanting to get home, the process was slow and tedious. There were simply not enough ships to get them home quickly when it had taken years to get them to Europe. Jack didn’t get to board a ship until early December 1945. The train travel in the U.S. from the East Coast to Utah was slow. Jack arrived at Fort Douglas on Christmas Eve 1945. Sherm picked Jack up at Fort Douglas at about 6:00 p.m. Jack finally arrived at the Hislop home in Huntsville by 8:00 p.m. where the entire family was present for the best Christmas Henry and Mable had ever had. Que entered the U.S. Army in the beginning of December 1942. He actually entered active duty in January 1943 at Fort Douglas. His first assignment was to Fort Riley Kansas, where he would be considered for officer training. However, by January of 1943, they had so many officers coming from the ROTC in Que’s pre-officers training camp, only one out of the 140 was chosen. Que, upon finishing training at Fort Riley, received the rank of sergeant. He came home on furlough in March 1943, and then was sent on to serve with the Combat Engineers. After completing six weeks training, his unit was sent to Burma on the Lado road that was being built over the Himalayan Mountains to China. The purpose of the road was to supply the Chinese with supplies to help them in fighting the Japanese. The group was actually a small military outfit, and wasn’t properly supplied because then the major emphasis was on defeating Germany in Europe. The Japanese would come in small bands to interfere with building the Lado Road. The Combat Engineers frequently came under Japanese attack. A Japanese attack was to launch mortar shells into the American camp. The mortars would blast holes three to four feet deep, and six to eight feet across. When the mortar shells would begin to be launched, the troops would get out of their tents and into old mortar holes that provided some protection. One particular night there was a heavy mortar attack. A shell had made an almost direct hit where five of Que’s companions were near where Que was lying in a similar hole. All of the five men were killed. Other shell bursts near Que resulted in Que getting a shrapnel wound in his back sufficient for him to receive first aid. Record keeping in those small, far out units were extremely poor. Wounds were seldom recorded unless they were serious enough to require evacuation of the wounded. Que was never awarded the Purple Heart for which he was entitled. While there, Que also had an experience with a Bengal tiger. One night while driving down the road, their jeep hit a tiger. It was late at night and they weren’t about to search for a tiger in the dark. The next morning, Que and three of his buddies went up the road where they had hit the tiger to see if it were still around. They had a small dog that came with them. They found the tracks of the tiger. A blood trail indicated it was wounded. They followed the tracks, aided by the dog that seemed most eager John Hislop to find the tiger. About a mile from the road, they approached some bushes and trees. The dog would run near the bushes and trees, and then come back because it didn’t seem to want to enter. Que and his buddies decided the tiger must be in there. They paused for a few minutes to survey the area. The tiger moved out. It appeared wounded and started slowly walking towards them. They used their rifles and killed the tiger. They then approached slowly. The dog would run up to within four or five feet of the tiger, and then come back. Finally, the dog decided the tiger was actually dead and it ran up, bit the tiger behind the head, and hook it as though the dog were the champion. They skinned the tiger, but some officer confiscated the pelt. General Stillwell was responsible for operation on the Lado road. To those men and troops of the China-Burma theater were almost a forgotten part of the war, even though they established the routes to deliver supplies to General Chang Kai-Sheck to maintain pressure on the Japanese Army stationed in China. John and two other friends enlisted in the Marine Corps in December 1942. He left a wife to care for their two sons, and went to a Marine training camp in California. John was frequently involved in fights. There was ample opportunity for him to participate in the fights because of conflicts between the sailors and the marines in and around San Diego. John was shipped out to Hawaii to complete his basic training. He then went to the South Pacific to Guadalcanal and New Guinea. John was involved in over six island invasions as the U.S. Military recaptured islands from Guadalcanal to the Philippines. These invasions, or retaking of the islands, included many invasions supported by the U.S. Navy, Army, and Marines. The invasion generally involved putting the troops on shore after extensive bombardment by battleships and cruisers. Then the foot soldiers and marines were put ashore. On one such island, after the ship had made their bombardments, the marines went ashore. They were trying to move along the beach-head, inland. There was some artillery, mortar, and rifle fire from the Japanese. While John was on the beach, a mortar shell exploded nearby. A piece of shrapnel caused a wound on John’s “rump.” A medic came and patched John up, which included four or five stitches to close the wound. The medic wanted to know John’s name and serial number so he could receive the Purple Heart for the wound. John told him “Oh forget about it. I’ll be dammed if I want the Purple Heart stating “For being wounded in the ass.” In Huntsville, there was a man who served in WWI and was wounded in France. His newlywed wife, who was waiting for him in Huntsville, received a letter saying he had been wounded. No other information was given. She wrote a letter back to ask him where he had been wounded. This man answered her letter and said, “It’s difficult for me to explain it to you where. But I will say this, “If it would have been you, it would have missed.” The man’s niece once said, she understood the wound was in such a place so as he would never be able to have children after the war; the couple went through their life without children. John was involved in the landing and the operation on Macarthur’s “Return to the Philippines.” John did not have much admiration for MacArthur. He said when MacArthur returned, there was extensive media coverage. A large staff prepared for the ships to b r i n g MacArthur to the shore. The media was on ship to photograph the landing. It was carefully staged so that when the front edge of the barge was let Dean Hislop d o w n , MacArthur would wade ashore with the water just coming up over his ankles. Then before the press and movie cameras, he made his statement, “I have returned!” Around the entire beach, promenading for a mile in all directions, an entire Marine Division protected the area to assure there would be no Japanese able to take any shots at MacArthur. Upon John’s return after the war, some of his brothers endeavored to get him to discuss when, and where, and what happened on any experiences. It was most difficult. John did serve the Marines, but he followed his father’s admonition, “My sons don’t serve with the purpose of getting the Good Conduct Medal,” and that was something John never “earned.” Dean entered the Army Air Corps in the summer of 1942. He had decided he didn’t want to be a foot soldier and tramp in the mud, rain, and cold. Instead, he chose the Air Corps where he took the opportunity to become an aerial gunner. Dean took aerial gunnery out of Lowky N., Bas Colorado. Aerial gunnery training then consisted of flying in the rear seat of a T-6 with a mounted machine gun and firing at towed targets. It was the best they had at the time. Later, aerial gunnery was given to Nellis Air Base. BROTHERS cont. on page 12 |