The U.S. Army Song Book, published in 1941 "by order of the Secretary of War"

This book belonged to my Dad who was a tailgunner, waistgunner, and bombardier in the U.S. Army Air Corps during WWII when the Air Force was a branch of the Army.  The table of contents is interesting: random folk and pop songs interspersed with some from the previous war (the WWII generation sang these as school children), and many others with a military and/or patriotic feel, including the official anthems of the different branches of the military (except for the Coast Guard).

There were 10,000 war-related songs published during the American Civil War and General Lee has been quoted as saying that "an army cannot win without good music."  Although the American output of war-related songs during WWII didn't come close to matching the Civil War's number, Lee's statement was apparently still held in high regard eight decades later when America joined the war on Fascism and this book was published by the U.S. government to promote singing among the servicemen.

Life in the Prison Camp: Taken From the Photographic Memory Book of James Swinnerton, British Merchant Seaman Imprisoned by the Germans

Marlag and Milag Nord was apparently a dual-purpose German prison camp: the Marlag side imprisoned Royal Navy personnel while the Milag side was for merchant seamen, such as James Swinnerton.

While one can see clearly that the men in these photos were not starved, they were obviously not overfed either. Because of the food they were given during their incarcaration (or more to the point, the lack of it), James Swinnerton had serious digestive ailments for the remainder of his life and died during the 1950's.

Swinnerton was a member of the British Merchant Navy which shipped supplies to Allied troops during WWII. In March of 1940, his ship, called "The Salmon Pool" which made trips from Norway to Britain, was attacked by Germans while just offshore in Norway. The British seamen jumped off the ship, swam to shore where the Germans were waiting for them. The seamen were then taken to the Milag section (an acronym for "Marine Internierten Lager" (Marine Camp Internees) of the prison camp the inmates referred to as Steinburg, located near Westertimke, Germany, where they remained for the duration of the war.

He was given this photo memory book by one of his fellow prisoners at the war’s end. Photos appear courtesy of Alison Madden, Swinnerton's granddaughter and author of the children's book, "Fred and Fiona Flea and the Crown Jewels Caper."

The Ironically Beautiful Surroudings of a German Prison Camp: From the Photographic Record of James Swinnerton

Marlag and Milag Nord was apparently a dual-purpose German prison camp: the Marlag side imprisoned Royal Navy personnel while the Milag side was for merchant seamen, such as James Swinnerton.

Swinnerton was a member of the British Merchant Navy which shipped supplies to Allied troops during WWII. In March of 1940, his ship, called "The Salmon Pool" which made trips from Norway to Britain, was attacked by Germans while just offshore in Norway. The British seamen jumped off the ship, swam to shore where the Germans were waiting for them. The seamen were then taken to the Milag section (an acronym for "Marine Internierten Lager" (Marine Camp Internees) of the prison camp the inmates referred to as Steinburg, located near Westertimke, Germany, where they remained for the duration of the war.

He was given this photo memory book by one of his fellow prisoners at the war’s end. Photos appear courtesy of Alison Madden, Swinnerton's granddaughter and author of the children's book, "Fred and Fiona Flea and the Crown Jewels Caper."

Prisoners mentioned by name in the photographic record of British Merchant Navyman James Swinnerton's.

"Lieut. Bibbings."

"Olliver & Mac."

"Sam and Jimmie" (not Swinnerton).

"Jimmie (not Swinnerton) and Walter."

Marlag and Milag Nord was apparently a dual-purpose German prison camp: the Marlag side imprisoned Royal Navy personnel while the Milag side was for merchant seamen, such as James Swinnerton.

Swinnerton was a member of the British Merchant Navy which shipped supplies to Allied troops during WWII. In March of 1940, his ship, called "The Salmon Pool" which made trips from Norway to Britain, was attacked by Germans while just offshore in Norway. The British seamen jumped off the ship, swam to shore where the Germans were waiting for them. The seamen were then taken to the Milag section (an acronym for "Marine Internierten Lager" (Marine Camp Internees) of the prison camp the inmates referred to as Steinburg, located near Westertimke, Germany, where they remained for the duration of the war.

He was given this photo memory book by one of his fellow prisoners at the war’s end. Photos appear courtesy of Alison Madden, Swinnerton's granddaughter and author of the children's book, "Fred and Fiona Flea and the Crown Jewels Caper."

"Marlag and Milag Group." The Photographic Record of British Merchant Navy Man James Swinnerton's Imprisonment

"Marlag and Milag Group."

Wikipedia states that Marlag and Milag Nord was a dual-purpose German prison camp: the Marlag imprisoned Royal Navy personnel while the Milag was for merchant seamen, such as James Swinnerton, seen in this photograph third from left, front row. The uniforms seen in this photo make the Marlag/Milag personnel distinction obvious.

Swinnerton was a member of the British Merchant Navy that shipped supplies to Allied troops during WWII. In March of 1940, his ship, called "The Salmon Pool" which made trips from Norway to Britain, was attacked by Germans while just offshore in Norway. The British seamen jumped off the ship, swam to shore where the Germans were waiting for them. The seamen were then taken to the Milag section (an acronym for "Marine Internierten Lager" (Marine Camp Internees) of the prison camp the inmates referred to as Steinburg, located near Westertimke, Germany, where they remained for the duration of the war.

Swinnerton was given this photographic memorial book by one of his fellow prisoners at the war’s end. Photos appear courtesy of Alison Madden, Swinnerton's granddaughter and author of the children's book, "Fred and Fiona Flea and the Crown Jewels Caper."

"I Threw a Kiss in the Ocean" A WWII Navy Man's Beloved Song

I met a former WWII navy man at the Pillars of Honor program (http://www.pillarsofhonor.org/) held yesterday at the Schaumburg Public Library. My husband, John, and I had opened the program with period tunes and afterwards, this man, Mr. Terrberry, who had served on a ship called the USS Enterprise, wanted to speak with me. He could recall only a few lines from a Kate Smith song whose title he'd completely forgotten. When he tried to relate a few of these lyrics, he suddenly broke down in tears. He had been thoroughly enjoying the program, laughing, and smiling all the way through but he couldn't get these lyrics out.

Here's your song, Mr. Terrberry. Ship Ahoy, Sailor Boy!

"Some of the Boys." Photographic Record of James Swinnerton's POW Experience

"Some of the Boys."
James Swinnerton is second from right, front row. Apparently a group shot of some merchant sailors.

Marlag and Milag Nord was apparently a dual-purpose German prison camp: the Marlag side imprisoned Royal Navy personnel while the Milag side was for merchant seamen, such as James Swinnerton.

Swinnerton was a member of the British Merchant Navy which shipped supplies to Allied troops during WWII. In March of 1940, his ship, called "The Salmon Pool" which made trips from Norway to Britain, was attacked by Germans while just offshore in Norway. The British seamen jumped off the ship, swam to shore where the Germans were waiting for them. The seamen were then taken to the Milag section (an acronym for "Marine Internierten Lager" (Marine Camp Internees) of the prison camp the inmates referred to as Steinburg, located near Westertimke, Germany, where they remained for the duration of the war.

He was given this photo memory book by one of his fellow prisoners at the war’s end. Photos appear courtesy of Alison Madden, Swinnerton's granddaughter and author of the children's book, "Fred and Fiona Flea and the Crown Jewels Caper."

"Army and Naval Officers at Steinburg." Photographic Record of James Swinnerton's POW Experience

"Army and Naval officers at Steinburg." Apparently the naval officers had to make room for their army comrades.

Marlag and Milag Nord was apparently a dual-purpose German prison camp: the Marlag side imprisoned Royal Navy personnel while the Milag side was for merchant seamen, such as James Swinnerton.

Swinnerton was a member of the British Merchant Navy which shipped supplies to Allied troops during WWII. In March of 1940, his ship, called "The Salmon Pool" which made trips from Norway to Britain, was attacked by Germans while just offshore in Norway. The British seamen jumped off the ship, swam to shore where the Germans were waiting for them. The seamen were then taken to the Milag section (an acronym for "Marine Internierten Lager" (Marine Camp Internees) of the prison camp the inmates referred to as Steinburg, located near Westertimke, Germany, where they remained for the duration of the war.

He was given this photo memory book by one of his fellow prisoners at the war’s end. Photos appear courtesy of Alison Madden, Swinnerton's granddaughter and author of the children's book, "Fred and Fiona Flea and the Crown Jewels Caper."

"The Camp." Photographic Record of Merchant Navyman James Swinnerton's Imprisonment.

"The Camp."

Marlag and Milag Nord was apparently a dual-purpose German prison camp: the Marlag side imprisoned Royal Navy personnel while the Milag side was for merchant seamen, such as James Swinnerton.

Swinnerton was a member of the British Merchant Navy which shipped supplies to Allied troops during WWII. In March of 1940, his ship, called "The Salmon Pool" which made trips from Norway to Britain, was attacked by Germans while just offshore in Norway. The British seamen jumped off the ship, swam to shore where the Germans were waiting for them. The seamen were then taken to the Milag section (an acronym for "Marine Internierten Lager" (Marine Camp Internees) of the prison camp the inmates referred to as Steinburg, located near Westertimke, Germany, where they remained for the duration of the war.

He was given this photo memory book by one of his fellow prisoners at the war’s end. Photos appear courtesy of Alison Madden, Swinnerton's granddaughter and author of the children's book, "Fred and Fiona Flea and the Crown Jewels Caper."

A painfully humorous poem called "Waiting" which describes what was apparently the most frequent Prisoner of War activity

From the inside cover of James Swinnerton's photographic prisoner of war record.

The wait is long, they search your bag,
You're slowly getting vexed then mad,
You've been searched ten times before
"Verboten" things they find galore.

You queue for soup, and wait for stores
Meanwhile the pang of hunger grows
To see a show, you queue again
This waiting's sending us insane.

The water fails, you queue again
We really must be near insane
Labouriously seeds you sow
We're waiting yet to see them grow.

You are lucky to find a "stone thrown" free
10 to 1 you'll wait for a P.
To aid Fritz count, again you stand
This fresh air treatment is simply grand.

Each day brings fresh invasion clues
Some ruddy fool has all the news
Meanwhile relax -- don't speculate
They also serve who stand and wait.

Sincerest fond wishes, Jim, now and always,
"British Petrol" 6-2-45

Marlag and Milag Nord was apparently a dual-purpose German prison camp: the Marlag side imprisoned Royal Navy personnel while the Milag side was for merchant seamen, such as James Swinnerton.

Swinnerton was a member of the British Merchant Navy which shipped supplies to Allied troops during WWII. In March of 1940, his ship, called "The Salmon Pool" which made trips from Norway to Britain, was attacked by Germans while just offshore in Norway. The British seamen jumped off the ship, swam to shore where the Germans were waiting for them. The seamen were then taken to the Milag section (an acronym for "Marine Internierten Lager" (Marine Camp Internees) of the prison camp the inmates referred to as Steinburg, located near Westertimke, Germany, where they remained for the duration of the war.

He was given this photo memory book by one of his fellow prisoners at the war’s end. Photos appear courtesy of Alison Madden, Swinnerton's granddaughter and author of the children's book, "Fred and Fiona Flea and the Crown Jewels Caper."

The Photographic WWII Prisoner of War Record of James Swinnerton, British Merchant Navy Seaman

Marlag and Milag Nord was apparently a dual-purpose German prison camp: the Marlag side imprisoned Royal Navy personnel while the Milag side was for merchant seamen, such as James Swinnerton.

Swinnerton was a member of the British Merchant Navy which shipped supplies to Allied troops during WWII. In March of 1940, his ship, called "The Salmon Pool" which made trips from Norway to Britain, was attacked by Germans while just offshore in Norway. The British seamen jumped off the ship, swam to shore where the Germans were waiting for them. The seamen were then taken to the Milag section (an acronym for "Marine Internierten Lager" (Marine Camp Internees) of the prison camp the inmates referred to as Steinburg, located near Westertimke, Germany, where they remained for the duration of the war.

He was given this photo memory book by one of his fellow prisoners at the war’s end. Photos appear courtesy of Alison Madden, Swinnerton's granddaughter and author of the children's book, "Fred and Fiona Flea and the Crown Jewels Caper."

"Lili Marlene" -- The Soldiers' Song

The lyrics to “Lili Marlene” were written in 1915 by a young German soldier named Hans Leip. The female to whom the lyric is addressed was a compilation of two women to whom Leip felt an attraction and one night, after having had momentary encounters with both of them while on his way sentry duty he wrote a five-stanza poem called “Song of a Young Sentry”:

“In front of the barracks
In front of the large gate,
There stood a lantern,
And if it stands there still,
Let’s meet there once again,
Let’s stand underneath the lantern,
Like once before, Lili Marlene.

“Both of our shadows
Looked like they were the same,
We held each other closely,
You’d think that we were one.
And the world will see it again
When we stand underneath the lantern,
Like once before, Lili Marlene.

Leip’s poem was published in 1937 within a collection. The following year, composer Norbert Schultz encountered the volume of poems, set a few of them to music, and asked German cabaret singer, Lale Andersen, if she’d be interested in recording his rendition of Leip’s “Song of a Young Sentry.” At first they couldn’t find an interested studio – the song was all wrong for the burgeoning militancy of the Nazi regime – but after adding a bugle call to the beginning, Electrola made Schultz and Andersen a deal. “Song of a Young Sentry” aired over German radio for the first time on November 9, 1938, the night that became known as Kristallnacht. The sweet little song died amid the rubble of the Nazi’s first large-scale, organized attack on German and Austrian Jews.

Three years later, a German radio broadcaster named Karl-Heinz Reintgen, who’d just been ordered to initiate a military radio station in newly-conquered Yugoslavia, was scrambling to fill 21 hours of news and entertainment with only 54 records. His young assistant came back from Vienna with a pile of discarded records, one of them Andersen’s recording of Leip’s poem. It was transmitted over the airwaves of Reintgen’s new Soldatsender Belgrad (Soldiers’ Radio Belgrade) on August 18, 1941, becoming immediately and immensely popular all over Europe.

Nazi Propaganda Minister Goebbels was furious – the song was obviously anti-military – and he tried to have it banned. However, Rommel and the other German military brass, whose men all adored the song, politely reminded him that as a civilian, Goebbels had no jurisdiction over military matters; Soldiers’ Radio Belgrade was, after all, a military radio station.

If Goebbels couldn’t keep German soldiers from listening to the song, he could at least ban it on civilian radio (he allowed an instrumental-only version) and make life miserable for singer Lale Andersen, who was eventually caught trying to leave the country and who was, at one point, forbidden from performing at all.

But the soldiers were free to enjoy it every evening at exactly 9:57 when Reintgen would play the song they all knew as “Lili Marlene.” In North Africa, those few minutes actually initiated a nightly cease-fire; the British troops stationed there loved the song too. In fact, they began spending so much time listening to either Radio Belgrade or the broadcasts of Axis Sally (who interspersed her demoralizing propaganda with the song) that an English version of “Lili Marlene” was recorded by 14-year-old Anne Shelton and broadcast over the BBC in order to bring the Tommies back to the fold.

Why a particular song becomes beloved at a certain point in history is one of those inexplicable but fascinating pop culture mysteries but Liel Leibovitz and Matthew Miller, in their enlightening and immensely readable book on the subject, “Lili Marlene: The Soldiers’ Song of World War II,” have this to say about the song’s hold on WWII soldiers:

“Exhausted from combat and marching, caked with sand and burnt by the sun, the soldiers of the Afrika Korps gathered to listen, as they did whenever they could, to Radio Belgrade and their haunting “Lili Marlene.” The familiar song was a gateway through which they could return to the sweetness of their faraway homes and loosen the war’s rigid trip on their minds, if even for a few minutes.”

Did “Lili Marlene” cause the downfall of the Third Reich? Don’t underestimate the power of music. Aside from the nightly North African cease-fire, there has been at least one recorded incident where a single performance of this song kept one German from fighting. In an interview, 90 year-old US WWII veteran, Jack Leroy Tueller, recalls an evening in France, one week post-D-Day, when he played “Lili Marlene” on his trumpet, knowing that a German sniper was in the area.

Captured the next morning and asking for the trumpeter, the German sniper burst into tears when Tueller approached him; in broken English, he admitted that the song had stopped him from shooting: “’Lili Marlene’ reminded me of the tune that my fiancée and I got married to in Germany,” he said, “and I thought of my mother and father and I thought of my brothers and my sisters . . . I couldn’t fire, I couldn’t fire.”

And a British WWII nurse, Brenda McBryde, stationed at one point in Bayeux, Normandy, witnessed a fascinating musical moment when one of the German prisoners she was nursing suddenly began to sing “Lili Marlene.” In her memoir, “A Nurse’s War,” she relates the incident:

“One of the young German boys tentatively started up a song, while his comrades waited nervously to see how it would be received before joining in. We had no seriously ill men in the ward at that time; the boy had a pleasant voice, and we realized how long it had been since we heard anyone sing. We did nothing to discourage him. It was the catchy German marching song, ‘Lili Marlene,’ which had become as popular with Monty’s troops in Normandy as in Rommel’s African campaign where it originated. The rest of the POWs, emboldened, now took up the song, singing in well-rehearsed harmonies that were a joy to hear.

“Then the moment enlarged to provide one of those memories that stay forever. From the adjacent British ward came the same song, sung in English. The surprised Germans responded to the compliment with even more enthusiastic singing, and Soutie and I stood between the two wards listening to a performance that would have done justice to a male voice choir from men who, until recently, had been doing their level best to kill each other.

“‘Just shows how daft war is’ said Soutie.”

Notes:

The English translation of initial two stanzas of “Lili Marlene,” “Lied eines jungen Wachtposten,” (“Song of the Young Sentry,”) appears on page 17 of the book, “Lili Marlene: The Soldiers’ Song of World War II,” by Liel Leibovitz and Matthew Miller, and was translated from the original German by the authors.

“For the common soldiers . . . “ Leibovitz and Miller, page 115.

German sniper quote: http://www.kued.org/productions/worldwar2/untoldStories/JackTueller.pdf

Hospital quote: “A Nurse’s War” by Brenda McBryde, pages 121-122.

Sources:

"Lili Marlene: The Soldiers' Song of World War II" by Liel Leibovitz and Matthew Miller.

"The Official Lili Marlene Page"
http://ingeb.org/garb/lmarleen.html

The Long Wait: My USAAF Father SpendingTime in France after the War

Keeping Score: Pictures of my USAAF Tail Gunner, Waist Gunner, and Bombardier Father Posing Beside Planes' Scorecards

Pictures Snapped From the Air During WWII by my Father, a United States Army Air Force Waist Gunner, Tail Gunner, and Bombardier

Book Review: "My Father's War" by Paul West

For writer Paul West, the connections between the two world wars of the last century transcend the likes of a train car at Compiegne and a Bavarian private named Adolph Hitler. West’s connections are personal, powerful memories of a one-eyed father, maimed in the “Great War,” playing war games with his son while Nazi planes regularly bombed a nearby English town. West’s father, forever transformed by “his war,” was an enigma and mystery to West; My Father’s War is his attempt to work out that mystery.

As West seeks to assemble the puzzle pieces at his disposal, a beautiful and moving portrait of his father emerges: a teenager issuing from the mud and blood of WWI trenches who became a respected veteran never quite comfortable with peacetime. His discomfort with post-war life far surpassed his frequent unemployment due to his war-damaged eye. When other Englishmen were hiding in their homes with their curtains drawn during Nazi air raids, West’s father would go outside to watch the planes, partly because he had come to admire the Germans while gunning them down on European battlefields and partly because, as West relates, he was “going after some sullen undesirable beauty he must first have seen from the trenches.” Beauty in the trenches? Yes. It was there that “he had found men at their noblest.” He never stopped longing for that beauty but it almost completely evaded him during his civilian life. That is, until the outbreak of the second world war: then, for a few years, he embraced the beauty of his old war with a salute to the new. He began to teach his pre-adolescent son soldering through war games.

Is it possible that the senior West played war with his son in order to prepare him for real warfare? Possibly. No one knew how long World War II would last. But perhaps the more likely reason was that “the only busyness he regarded as genuine toil was soldering. All the rest, which is to say life’s work, he regarded as frippery, trivia.” He was first and last, a soldier.

The book is comprised of a series of essays, some previously published, written in novelist West’s inimitable prose which is so lyrical at times, it occasionally threatens to leave earth (and some readers) behind. In the chapter entitled “An Extraordinary Mildness,” West describes his father’s later years in terms of a certain lightness of existence: “almost all the woes of the human condition [were] floating away from him, although ascending with him toward the nullity that, compared with his post-mortem paradises, was the merest tincture of slightness.” Excellent prose? Well, yes. Slightly incomprehensible? Definitely.

If West’s writing sometimes aviates into clouds of rarified incomprehensibility, it also (and usually) soars into prose of pure gold. Ruminating on Hitler’s reticence to invade England, West opines: “If only Hitler the knowitall had followed through, brushing aside the popguns and Robin Hood pikes along with the remnants of the British army, we would all have been goners; but by then he was lusting eastward toward Mother Russia and “Uncle Joe,” and my father and I had joined the survivors in the street, crisp with our sense of reprieve.” West exhibits his formidable descriptive skills while watching his father watch American bombers returning from the mainland: “Not a bomber left its place on this return trip as the crews, with the correct bustle and protocol of bombing left behind, tuned in to swing music on the American Forces Network, chewed fresh gum, and over the sea slung out their machine guns and other gubbins to lighten the load.”

Was West was able, at last, to completely understand his father? The emotive center of his book focuses not on the mystery solved but the journey through it. Whether writing in convoluted or golden prose, West has succeeded in piecing together a very moving account of his father, an eternal soldier, discovered by his son between two wars.

Book Review of "Bombs Away: The World War II Bombing Campaigns over Europe"

“When the commander arrived, the room went silent and the tension immediately spiked. Behind their old-man facades, these boy-warriors prayed for an easy mission. The daily toll of deep strikes had left them weary.

“They’d long since learned that the glory they saw back home on small town silver screens simply did not exist in the skies over Germany. Physically and psychologically, the strategic bombing campaign was a death march that only the luckiest and strongest would survive.” (“Bombs Away,” page 166).

“Bombs Away: The World War II Bombing Campaigns over Europe” is an enormously oversized book (so big, in fact, that it caused some moderate pain when, ironically, it landed on my foot) filled with reams of stunning photographs and which contains more of the human element than other similar titles. In the introduction, author, John R. Bruning, who, during the 1990’s, interviewed many veterans of the European air war, promises that his book is less about “aircraft specifications” than about “the men who flew the machines and the civilians on the ground who endured the fall of their bombs.”

The book not only includes the winning human element, however; it does describe the types of planes (German, American, and British) used in every major bombing campaign in the European Theater and, most interestingly, frames the entire story in terms of an Italian who first conceived that superior air power would grant victory to whichever country possessed and utilized it. A veteran commander of the Great War, Giulio Douhet wrote what Bruning describes as “the single most influential book on military airpower for the next thirty years,” a book that was “nothing short of an apocalyptic vision of societal destruction through aerial bombardment.”

Bruning relates how the Luftwaffe used “Douhet’s playbook” to destroy civilians in Guernica, Spain, in 1933 and in Warsaw six years later. The Germans were able to subdue France and the Low Countries quickly, also because of their superior air force. And superior air power is obviously what kept the British from succumbing to the Germans when the two countries pitted their air forces against each other in the skies above Britain during the summer of 1940. The subject of British resolve during the Battle of Britain and the Blitz is a tremendous subject in anyone’s hands, but especially in Bruning’s as he sums up the chapter thus: “Moral never wavered. Britain did not submit to terror. Guilio Douhet’s nihilistic vision of future warfare, once put to the ultimate test, proved bankrupt. The Germans gave up on the invasion of England . . . “

The air war replaced the bloody trenches of the Great War and was similarly costly in terms of lives lost (based on percentages of those involved). And although the Allied plan to end the war by targeting Germany’s munitions factories and fuel supplies fell short of its immediate goal – bringing Nazi Germany to its knees quickly (the attempt which Bruning shows clearly in several chapters, including one on the missions to Ploesti, Romania where the Nazi war machine kept oil refineries) -- Bruning also points out that during the Ardennes Offensive the slim German hopes for victory were pinned only on the remote possibility of stealing Allied fuel. Their own supplies were running short thanks to the strategic bombing missions of the U.S. and British aircrews.

Covering the major campaigns, the strategies, the planes, and most of all, the people involved, “Bombs Away” uses superior prose, quotes, and numerous stunning photographs to bring the story of the air war in Europe to life in a powerful and unforgettable way.


(Published at BookPleasures.com).

Excerpt from the new Zenith Press title, "Bombs Away: The WWII Bombing Campaigns Over Europe"

The Teune brothers in their Army Air Corps uniforms. John, second from right, was shot down over Ploesti, Romania (and his diary from that experience can be read in previous posts). Below is the final paragraph of chapter describing that campaign taken from John Bruning's brilliant new book, "Bombs Away: The WWII Bombing Campaigns Over Euroope."

"It was the resolution and courage of the American air crews that left the most enduring legacy. Where other air forces would have turned back in the face of such incredible opposition, men like Col. John Kane pressed the attack and refused to be dissuaded. The courage this requred cannot be underestimated. Flying below the treetops, hedghopping across the Romanian countryside, the pilots clearly saw what they were in for a s they approached the swirling inferno over Ploesti. They could not doubt their fate. That their hands remained steady on the controls, their hearts resolved because they believed in the mission's importance, left an example of heroism unsurpassed in American aviation history. Five men, including Colonel Kan, received the Medal of Honor for their valour that day. Their Balaclava-like charge at Ploesti sent a clear messge to the Germans: The Americans would not be dissuaded."

Taken from page 141 of John R. Bruning's new book, "Bombs Away: The WWII Bombing Campaigns Over Europe."

Redd Griffin's Brilliant, Historically Connected Remarks for Memorial Day, 2011

Photo by Debby Preiser
(Sorry that I don't have a photo of Redd but since this was the same event, it was as close as I could come visually!)

Memorial Day, 2011, in Scoville Park, Oak Park, Illinois
Remarks by Redd Griffin

Today events of the distant past and recent present near where we meet link us with Memorial Day. The only three men mentioned in our State song, John Logan, Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses Grant, helped make these connections possible across time and space.

What became the national observance of Memorial Day began with John Logan, a Civil War general and commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic (Union veterans of the war) from downstate Murphysboro. Logan in May, 1868, proclaimed the Day’s forerunner, “Decoration Day” be observed nationwide to honor those fallen in the Civil War. This day survivors would decorate their graves. Last month the Illinois State Historical Society began its commemoration of that war’s 150th anniversary with a conference at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale with a side trip to Logan’s home nearby.

Events triggering the beginning and end of that war happened along a route at the bottom of this hill, where Oak Park began on the U.S. frontier in the 1830’s. What we call Lake Street extended from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River. Less than ten miles east of us on Lake Street in Chicago, the Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln as their candidate for President 151 years ago this month. That event led to the South’s secession and the outbreak of the Civil War. Last year, several Oak Parkers were among the hundreds who celebrated the sesquicentennial of Lincoln’s nomination in the Grand Army of the Republic Memorial Hall at the Chicago Cultural Center.

One hundred fifty miles northwest of us on Lake Street’s extension as route U.S. 20, Ulysses Grant joined the army exactly 150 years ago today. His leadership along with Lincoln’s and Logan’s led to the Union winning the war, preserving the nation and freeing the slaves. Today civil and religious leaders are gathered in Galena to commemorate Grant’s leaving civilian life for the army.

After the Civil War ended in 1865, Oak Parkers who had served under Grant, stayed together. In 1887 they organized the Philip Sheridan Post of the Grand Army of the Republic (the GAR). Among them was Anson Hemingway, one of Ernest Hemingway’s two grandfathers who served in the War. He was photographed in his dark blue uniform with young Ernest, and with his fellow veterans in front of Oak Park’s first library, a few yards southwest of us.

Besides the grand sweep of historic forces and patterns are the more immediate, intimate, moments of those who served democracy in the Civil War and the centuries of our history.

Their terrors and triumphs were captured in their diaries or the writing of authors like Ernest Hemingway, who had heard such stories from Civil War veterans as a boy growing up in Oak Park. He would write of his own intense war-time experiences in non-fiction and fiction, including his widely-read novel about World War I, A Farewell to Arms.

With trend-setting candor, Hemingway made clear his view based on his own wartime experiences that “Abstract words such as glory, honor, courage, or hallow were obscene besides the concrete names of villages, the numbers of roads, the names of rivers, the numbers of regiments and the dates.”

Hemingway saw such abstract words as empty, especially when cynical leaders used them to manipulate the masses. But he found the values these words stood for to be very real when people lived by them.

Those living by these values include our fellow Americans in the service and their loved ones, who have unselfishly supported them and their cause. Their heroic sacrifices led to growth in character and higher levels of being.

These protectors of our democracy need solidarity with each other, with their community and their nation. But why do they give up part--and sometimes all--of their freedoms and lives to defend ours? How should we civilians utilize the freedoms and lives they allow us to enjoy? Positive answers might be found in lessons from history, which clarify where we came from, where we are and where we should be going.

John Logan, for example, turned from opposing Lincoln to supporting him, even to the extent of risking his life for his cause in war. On his first Decoration Day, flowers were placed on Confederate as well as Union graves in Arlington National Cemetery. Such tolerance, forgiveness and reconciliation are as essential to healthy individual lives as to the just life of a nation.

Among possible responses, the arts and religion often provide direction, motivation, meaning and hope. Of the thousands of songs and hymns written to do this during the Civil War, few better linked individuals, their country and a greater cause than “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” with Julia Ward Howe’s inspired words. The History Singers, John and Kathryn Atwood sing it here today. They invite you to join them and sense the spirit that it brought to Americans during the Civil War as it has brought to them ever since.

[Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath or stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightening of His terrible swift sword,
His truth is marching on.

Chorus: Glory, Glory Hallelujah, His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch fires of a hundred circling camps;
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence in the dim and flaring lamps,
His Day is marching on.

Chorus: Glory, Glory Hallelujah, His truth is marching on.]

The Memorial Day Service, Monday, May 30th, 2011

Photo by Debby Preiser.

My husband John and I have occasionally had the honor of singing in Oak Park’s Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day services which are always held in Scoville Park. The focal point and “stage” for these events is always the “Peace Triumphant” sculpture that was built to honor the 2,446 Oak Park and River Forest citizens who participated in “The Great War.” Dedicated on Armistice Day, November 11, 1925, the memorial recently underwent a refurbishing and was re-dedicated in a ceremony last November.

On this past Memorial Day, we were honored to sing beside the war memorial for the first time since its refurbishing and we had a wonderful time, and not just because the statutes had been restored to their former bronzed glory. Something special happened during this service, something so momentous and moving that I feel compelled to attempt to explain the inexplicable.

It might have something to do with Ginny Cassin, who opened the ceremonies. Ginny is an octogenarian who has been significantly involved with Oak Park’s government and the local Ernest Hemingway Foundation for decades. She’s the type of person who honestly esteems everyone she meets and, in some magical way, when she opens any ceremony, she immediately imbues it with a higher amount of value than it would have had otherwise.

Or perhaps it was Redd Griffin’s speech, which, as usual, was erudite and substantive. This time, during his history of Memorial Day (initially called Decoration Day, utilized to “decorate” the graves of those lost in the Civil War) he used the street running in front of the park – Lake Street – to make a connection with the 151st anniversary of Lincoln’s 1860 Republican nomination, which took place a few miles directly east from where we were standing. He also movingly and clearly stated the difference between a twisted fascination for war and an admiration for those willing to face it.

Perhaps the event was extra meaningful in part because of the songs we were asked to sing. John and I are already familiar with the spontaneous audience participation that tends to accompany a performance of “Battle Hymn of the Republic” (when we perform our “Songs of the Civil War” program). This audience had pre-printed words in front of them but still, I always wonder what it is about this song that is so particularly moving. Perhaps it’s what John always says in his intro: after the Civil War was over, Americans wanted to believe that the immense cost had served some higher purpose; that something new had been born from a conflict which had taken so many lives. While singing “Battle Hymn” one can nearly catch a glimpse of that higher purpose.

I love singing the national anthem, always have, probably always will, so was thrilled to have another opportunity to do so at the Memorial Service on Monday, feeling, as I always do, nearly akin to Paul Henreid in Rick’s Café, leading a group of French patriots in a passionate rendition of their forbidden national song. Alright, that’s a little over the top, but it comes close, cinematically-speaking, to describing the thrill I feel whenever I lead the singing for “The Star Spangled Banner.” While doing so I can nearly see the poet Francis Scott Key yearning for a glimpse of Old Glory and all that it represents: a near-miraculous and idealistic attempt to create a new nation, which ended up racking up a long list of wrongs – because human beings tend to be flawed – but also became a beacon of light and hope to oppressed people around the world. When I get to the part where the singer asks if the banner yet waves, I really mean it. If it does continue – and the reason it currently waves – is because of the vets who have been willing to fight for it.

The invocation given by Pastor Schreiner was the best Memorial Day prayer I’ve ever heard, one that pointedly focused on the reason for the day: the sacrifices that young men and women have made for this country. She not only mentioned those who had lost their lives in direct conflict with the enemy but also vets who have been permanently damaged by their war experiences, including those who took their own lives as a result. Words rarely suffice to fully articulate the loss of a single life but she came very close and in a very short amount of time.

Perhaps the show of hands made this Memorial Day service particularly moving. It hadn’t been entirely clear how many vets were present until Oak Park president David Pope asked them to identify themselves and the conflict they’d been part of. As far as I could hear, veterans from Viet Nam, Korea, and WWII were all present and from our vantage point at the base of the memorial, John and I could see them all.

One of them – a Viet Nam vet, I think – came up to us afterwards and told us this had been his favorite among many Memorial Day services because of our singing, so much so that he was sure there was a special place in heaven for us. I couldn’t help thinking the same thing about him. Thank you, veterans of the United States.



The history of Memorial Day.
http://www.usmemorialday.org/backgrnd.html

An article from December, 1925, regarding the original “Peace Triumphant” memorial.
http://www.oakparkparks.com/images/American-Stone-Trade.jpg

Ginny Cassin, speaking at the rededication ceremony of the “Peace Triumphant” memorial, November, 2010.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBEUmSA8FU0

Redd Griffin, speaking at the rededication ceremony of the “Peace Triumphant” memorial, November, 2010.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vSiUhh6a8M&feature=relmfu

The POW Diary of John Teune: Home!

John and Ruth Teune on their wedding day, October 21, 1944.

The POW Diary of John Teune: Last Days in Europe

The Teune brothers in their Army Air Corps uniforms. John is second from right.

September 3, 1944

Received partial pay of 100 bucks and purchased a few things rom the PX. I read a little, played ping pong and basketball. Went to cemetery to check up on personal effects which were shipped home August 24. Attended chapel service at night and wrote letter to folks.

Monday, September 4, 1944

Briefed and filled out forms and then hitch-hiked to the Squadron. Saw Capt. Sagert, Snee, etc. The boys left this morning. Did quite a bit of talking in the Club.

September 5, 1944

This morning we began to start straightening out our pay and other records. Also checked up on what was sent home of our personal effects. Found my cap and APR of pinks in supply. Also found most of my radio, received B-4 bag and field jacket from supply. John Ter Matt surprised me with his appearance. In MPS, I found out that my brother, Pete, is in India. Received other news. Received Banner of July 7 and learned that John Van Zwieten died in action on May 27. Went to Group tonight, saw Dan Boone. Had some good ice cream. Played ping pong.

September 6, 1944

Learned that a plane was leaving for Rome, so immediately prepared to go. Left here at 9 a.m. with MacDonnell and Hollerback. Arrived at 11:15, rode in truck to town. Had a bite to eat and then went looking for some gifts for home. From 2:1 to 5 p.m. we went on a Red Cross tour of Rome. Visited the catacomb of San Sebastian where Peter and Paul were supposed to have been buried until their bones were removed to cathedrals. St. Paul's Cathedral is very beautiful and massive, plenty of gold. Visited Pantheon. Rom is very impressive, very little damage, modern and clean. War seems very remote. Returned home at 7 p.m.

September 7, 1944.

Received our pay for May in Cerignola. Went to GP for ice cream and a shower. Saw a show at night.

John left Italy on September 13, 1944, and returned to the United States on September 26, 1944.

The POW Diary of John Teune: Final News of Fellow Pilots, a USO Show, and Letters Home

The Teune brothers in their Army Air Corps uniforms. John is second from right.

September 2, 1944

Spent several hours in library before noon. Signed payroll, met McKenna. Report had come back to Squadron that Dyer and Red were P.O.W. Most all the original 1st Pilots went home. Capt. Hyde went down with Goodal over Austria. Sagert and crew put in 49 missions and bailed out over Yugoslavia, but got back O.K. Sagert flew another mission to get his Captaincy. Almost all the 1st Pilots became Captains before going home. Those that went home were: Sagert, Manlove, Johnson, Ensign, Bouganer, Capps, Guttina, Joyce, Randall. Richards is Operations Officer, Side Brooks went down, P.F. Johnson was killed at field when he crashed with bombs and one engine on fire. In the afternoon saw a good USO show and washed some clothes. At night, a movie, wrote Ruth and the Judge.

The POW Diary of John Teune: G.I. Chow, Magazines, and a Movie

The Teune brothers in their Army Air Corps uniforms. John is second from right.

September 1, 1944

Received a convelescent bag which contained all the things needed immediately. Felt so good to have G.I. chow again, also Cokes and candy. Sent home a radiogram, spent several hours at the library looking at late magazines. Boys from Timus were listed in Honor Role in the Air Force. Saw K225 movie at night. Talked to "Rock" several hours before hitting the sack.

The POW Diary of John Teune: August 30, 1944, Part Three: Evacuation!

The Teune brothers in their Army Air Corps uniforms. John is second from right.

August 30, 1944 (Part Three)

Just heard we were to be evacuated the next morning by B-17's. Too fantastic to believe but it made us extremely happy. It was confirmed at 7 o'clock. We were put in groups of twenty and told we were to leave in the morning. After hours of talking we slept some under the stars. Those who were to be repatriated were still in the hospital and didn't go along. We arose at 4:30 a.m. , packed a small bundle adn the inefficient Romanians had buses waiting for us and drove us to the Municipal Airport which had no runways. We heard that the planes were to come at 10 a.m. if they did come. We roamed about, looking at HE 111's, ME 109's, Romanian IAR's and other types of planes. The boys went collecting souvenirs, guns, caps, wings, etc. for anything and all they possessed and the Romanians cleaned up. The Romanians also stole many of our belongings.

At 8 a.m. a P-51 came in and landed. The B-17's were coming at 10:00, 11:00 and 12:00 in groups of 12 which meant accomodations for only 740, so 450 enlisted men remained. At 10:00 we saw the escourts, about 25 P-51's, then the B-17's. What a glorious feeling -- what a show! They landed and the first 11 groups of 20 climbed on board and took off shortly. One B-17 had a flat and remained on the field. P-51's put on quite a show. At 11:00, 12 more flew in with their escorts, P-38's and P-51's. I was in Group 19 and took off with this group. Almost unbeliveable -- going home. The trip to Bari, Italy, was uneventful although I heard someone saw flak and that some enemy fighters were shot down by the escorts. We landed at Bari and then realized how efficient our army is. After posing for some cameramen and a few minute speeches by the Major and the Captain, we were driven in escort trucks to the hospital and there we received refreshments, filled out forms for a cablegram and then went to a replacement center or stay at the hospital if treatment was necessary. At the Center, long lines were everywhere. We threw our clothes in a pile which were covered with insect powder. Our valuables and clothing which we intended to keep were tagged and deloused. Then a bath in water and powder and we received a complete set of clothes, were assigned to a tent, ate a good meal, saw a movie and then to a clean sack.

The POW Diary of John Teune: August 30, Part Two: What Happened During the Crash of the 'Deuces Wild'

The Teune brothers in their Army Air Corps uniforms. John is second from right.

August 30, 1944 (Part Two)

After our arrival at camp, we were assigned a barracks and unpacked our bundles. We washed off some dust and then looked up Hal and Glen (they were the bombardier and navigator on Deuces Wild). We were very happy to see each other. They had been poorly treated and lost weight. When our plane was hit, they said it broke in two and they were thrown about in the nose of the plane as it spun down. While Glen was pinned for a moment, he saw his chute and grabbed it in his arms and then was thrown thru the astro hatch. When he came to, he fastened on his chute and pulled the cord and almost immediately hit the ground. Hal (Harold Dyer, bombardier), was thrown near the nose wheel door which was jarred open, but could get only one leg out. Then suddenly he was thrown out and poulled open his chute just in time to hit the ground safetly. Both were only slightly bruised and went to the camp in Bucharest. We talked for some time. I met Lehner and his crew who bailed out the same day after passing the target. Only the photographer was lost. Also met Pete and Jack.

The POW Diary of John Teune: August 30, 1944 Part One: The Scars of Battle

The Teune brothers in their Army Air Corps uniforms. John is second from right.

August 30, 1944

Ready to leave at 7 a.m. but then the Romanians had tire trouble and we finallly left at 9:30 Bucharest is 110 kilometers from Pietrosita and gravel road most of the way. We stopped several times along the route; many refugees were returning. The country became flat and hot, many praries, oil wells and small refineries which had been bombed. Saw many German mechanized vehicles. Coming closer to Bucharest we saw the scars of battle and our bombing. Entering the city from the north we saw what our bombing had done, also what the Germans had one in two days which was supposed to be more destructive than ours in all our raids. Houses were level, laid flat, very much deserted. To the south the damage was much less. We saw workers digging in the ruins which the Germans had caused just two days before. Bucharest is a more modern city than Hadnes but is much older and dirtier than our cities.

We went completely through the city until we were again in the country and then entered our camp. It was a great moment when we saw our flag flying. The prisoners here had arrived two days previous. They had gone thru all the bombings of our raids and also the German raids. Many down bombs hit all about them, but miraculously no one was killed. The British gave them the worst scares. They had moved outside the city while the Germans were still present and just in time, too, for the Germans had bombed one of the buildings they just vacated. Some boys stayed in town and two were killed by a German machine gun and one by bombing.

The POW Diary of John Teune: August 29, 1944

The Teune brothers in their Army Air Corps uniforms. John is second from right.

August 29, 1944

Up at 6:30 and made our own oatmeal and ate it in the cafe. The Romanians say they use that oatmeal for the horses. Listened to news. Took a walk downstream to get away from the stench and the dust. Returned to have dinner, later had ice cream and pastry. People are returning to Bucharest. We may leave soon. Noted today the many big wild-looking dogs roaming about, running in packs over the plains. Also noted the way cattle and ducks run around loose in the streets without identification. Slept some this noon, when the bugs are also asleep. Heard tonight that we are to leave for Bucharest tomorrow at 7 a.m. Major came in from Bucharest with the news. Bed at 10:30.

POW Diary of John Teune: August 28, 1944

The Teune brothers in their Army Air Corps uniforms. John is second from right.

Monday, August 28, 1944

Up at 8 a.m. Miserable sleep on the floor. Had breakfast and went for a walk. Left this filthy town and walked to another. Saw an old water wheel in operation. many captured Germans going by on way to Bucharest. Stopped and ate. Never got near our destination, the sanitarium. Walked back, showered and listened to the radio. Ate supper, drank wine and went to bed. Things are not clear to allow us to go to Bucharest.

POW Diary of John Teune: New Headquarters, German Stukas, and Ice Cream

The Teune brothers wearing their Army Air Corps uniforms. John is second from right.

Sunday, August 27, 1944

Sorensen awakes us at 6:30. Slept well. We couldn't have breakfast until late in the morning so we walked to the hills and ate a melon. On our return we had breakfast consisting of eggs, bread, coffee and pears. After a walk, we waited in a theatre for the Captain who wanted to attack with us. He divided us into platoons and we were given German rifles which were kept in the theatre which was to be our head-quarters. We had a little bread and salami and some fruit at 1 p.m. Ate a good meal at 2:30. Heard artillery in the distance probably around Ploesti, about 50 kilometers distance. Heard that yesterday's 500 planes bombed the German-held airfields instead of Bucharest. Stukas (German dive bombers) were bombing Bucharest which was badly damaged. German prisoners are coming through town. Had ice cream and cake this afternoon! The boys are paying for all my meals. A sort-of dance was held this afternoon. Bed at 11:15.

The POW Diary of John Teune: Fleas and German Prisoners

The Teune brothers in their Army Air Corps uniforms. John is second from right.

August 26, 1944

Rather poor sleep -- fleas and bugs rather bad. Up about 7 a.m. had breakfast of eggs, bread and melon at restaurant. Learned that our baggage arrived from Timisul de Nos although some was missing, also that the German prisoners were now occupying our old camp, guarded by some Russians [Yikes! I'll bet THEY were having a good time!]. Our Russian orderlies are said to be in a village nearby. We took a walk out of the village. On our return we met two captured Germans, clean looking boys. Ernie told us he had spoken to them and they asked how prisoner life was and about the Red Cross; he said they were nice fellows. Listened to BBC news, then the power was cut off. The Germans seemed to have caputured or destroyed the power plant. We ate a dinner of soup and hamburgers and beer. We had our pants pressed by the maid of the house. We then went to the most modern bulding in town and took a hot shower after which I got a haircut and shave. Prices already are soaring. We then went out and purchased bread, salami, candy and melons for our supper. Food is getting a little scarce. The Red Cross provided cigarettes, etc., which we sold for a good price, also traded items.

The Englishmen, Collins and Huntley, arrived from camp after a trip from Slabisea where they were sent for an attempted escape. Some Russians and a few of our dogs came long. Played some Bridge, went to bed at 10:15. Smith slept on the floor. We threw some insect powder over the bed.