The Hanging in Choteau, Teton County, Montana

Compiled by Gordon Merritt July 12, 2020

 

Grandpa James Levan Merritt (1877-1949) went to Choteau, Montana, after learning to become a pharmacist with his brother in Iowa.  He was a twenty-year-old man and came on April 28, 1898.  He had previously worked in Montana putting in poles for telegraphs; he said that that was the hardest work he ever did. 

Choteau was a town of about a thousand, in eastern Montana.  It is east of the Rocky Mountain front, an abrupt upwelling likened to the great wall of China.  West of town is the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area, and the China Wall.  The Blackfeet Reservation is north of town, as is Glacier National Park.  The area around town is known for fossil dinosaur bones and dinosaur nests with eggs. 

In Choteau James was hired by The City Drug Store.  It was a store that sold cigars, drugs, candy, shoes, clothing, knives, razors, wallpaper, fruit, nuts, patent medicines, perfume, photographic equipment, and supplies.  Very soon he must have purchased an Eastman Kodak camera that had 100 shots and when the snapshots were completed the owner sent the camera back to The Eastman Kodak Company at cattle Rochester, New York, and the film would be developed, and printed without  enlarging, and then mounted on cardstock and sent back to the owner. 

James Levan Merritt in The City Drug Store.

Newspaper ad for The City Drug Store, March 9, 1900, The Montanian, Choteau, Mont., page 3.

Two of James’ photos that survive are of a prisoner in the County Jail.  There is also a large photo of a gallows at the jail, done by a professional photographer.  I always wondered about these photos.

The big news of the day when Grandpa Merritt came to Choteau was the finding of a murdered man in a cabin north of town on Muddy Creek, south of Bynam.   Who the murdered man was and who had killed him was a mystery. 

When people met the man who was finally accused of the crime, William Pepo, they thought he must have some mental problems, from the way that he talked. 

Pepo was caught in Washington State, near Davenport: 

“A MURDERER CAUGHT. Sheriff Hagen Locates, Arrests, and Cages Wm. Pepo.  Pepo was located through letters he had written to his former friends, under the name of Win. Ferris, from Davenport, in Lincoln county. Washington. He was found by Sheriff at work on a farm about 14 miles out in the country...”  (The Montanian, Choteau, Montana, April 7,1899, page 1).

William Pepo in the Teton County jail at Choteau.  Photo by James L. Merritt

William Pepo at Teton County Jail, Choteau.  Photo by James Levan Merritt

Gallows in the jail yard at Choteau, 1900.  An enlarged professional photograph.

He was hung after almost two years, and an extensive newspaper told the story in some detail:

 

William Pepo was hanged in the jail yard early this morning (Saturday) in the presence of fifty to sixty witnesses.

Pepo had passed a restless night. To Rev. Cunningham he said: “I had no rest last night—People in here until three o’clock; maybe I slept two hours—Every­ thing is all right—I am not afraid to go— I am innocent, as I have told you in my letter—I never killed anyone, but I have been a very bad man.”- To the inquiry: Do you love everybody?  He said: “I forgive all, but I don’t want to discuss that now; I think forgiveness is enough; that is all the Bible requires.” “Now that you are going, you had bet­ter confess,” said Mr. C.  “ I do not see what use that would be: ''I am innocent.”. Pepo replied. Father Snell also had some talk with him but it resulted in nothing more than an argument on religion. At 6 o’clock Under Sheriff Hagerty read the death warrant to the condemned man in his cell. Immediately after the harness was ad­justed, and Pepo, escorted by Jailor Armstrong and Guard Devlin, was led into the jail yard where a little rug lay under the beam from which hung the noose. Pepo appeared to be the least disturbed of the three and recognizing several faces he bowed and stood calm but pale with the rope dangling by his left ear. Sheriff Hagen asked him if he had any­ thing to say. Pepo said: “Gentlemen—I have nothing to say ex­cept that I am about to be hanged and die an innocent man.” The rope was then adjusted by the sheriff and the stays placed about bis knees by Mr. Devlin. Pepo then said to Mr. Cunningham: “You’ll pray, won’t you?” The minister offered a short prayer and then the black cap was adjusted by the sheriff. Scarcely was that done, and exactly at 9 minutes past six o’clock the weight dropped and William Pepo shot upward into the air about three feet and back, tightening the rope so that the feet were about 18 inches from the ground. Scarcely a tremor disturbed the body, only once or twice was there a slight contraction of the lower limbs and body and in ten minutes the pulse stopped beating. The neck was evidently broken and death instantanious. A few minutes later the body was taken down and turned over to the county con­tractor for burial, which will take place at 3 o’clock this P. M. During the night Pepo wrote a letter addressed to Rev. Cunningham to be opened and read after the hanging and in the presence of Jailor Armstrong. The letter contains nothing but a denial of his guilt and thanks for the kindnesses shown him.  Several other letters were written by him in the same vein. 

HISTORY OF THE CRIME. On Wednesday afternoon, Juno 29,1898, word was conveyed by “ Bud” England to Coroner Jacob Schmidt that a dead man had been found in a cabin on Frank Truchot’s land, leased by Robert Davis, located about 15 miles northeast of Cho­teau and 12 miles east of Bynum, on the Muddy. The coroner, accompanied by Ewing Steele, drove out to the above designated place in the evening to con­vince himself that the report was correct They found the body in a bad state of decomposition, probably having laid there for two or three weeks. They returned to town late in the evening and on Thurs­day morning early, the coroner sum­moned a jury, consisting of O. G. Cooper, Thos. Smith, Win. Jones, Julian Burd, Ewing Steele and M. H. Ormsby, and repaired to the place to hold an inquest The jury on arriving at the place and entering the cabin, found the corpse lying on a bunk on his left side with bis bedding, consisting of three blankets and one quilt, covering his entire body, in­cluding bis head. The covering being removed from the head, the jury soon dis­covered that the man had been struck over the bead with a heavy instrument of some kind which had crushed the skull bone in, while back of the right ear he had received a heavy blow. Upon farther examination it was found that the blood from the wounds on his head had run down on the pillow and saturated his slicker suit underneath the pillow and on to his shoes, which sat immediately under the head of the bunk on the floor. The flesh had entirely dropped off the skull bone. He had apparently been a medium sized man, about five feet six inches in height. He was well dressed— apparently English made clothes—in up-to-date style. A fine overcoat, bearing an English trademark lay over the top of the bed cover of the corpse. Upon a careful search of the pockets of the clothes found, the following articles: A memorandum book, one towel, a pipe, and tobacco, a small pen knife, a lead pencil and some matches. A small horseshoe watch charm with several links of chain attached lay on the floor by the side of the bunk… In the memorandum book were notes of work done in 1895-1896 and numerous other writings were in the book, comprising scraps of poetry and ac­counts of goods bought and sold. He was also a short-hand writer, as part of the book fully showed. The verdict of the coroner’s jury was “That the deceased came to his death by blows inflicted upon his head by a heavy weapon in the bands of some person or persons unknown to the jury.” -The memorandum book purported to be the property of Wm. Pepo and this was the only clue that Sheriff Hagen had when he began the work of ferreting out the great mystery. He issued over 3,000 descriptive circulars and sent them broad­ cast through the country to chiefs of police, sheriffs, and others.  It was soon learned who Pepo was and where he belonged, but he had disap­peared. H . M. Kingsbury, the railroad agent at Shelby, upon bearing of the tragedy, remembered that, he had in his charge two bundles shipped from Leth­bridge to Julius Plath and Wm. Pepo, and that two men had called and stated that they were going south into the country to look for work and that as soon as they found it they would direct him where to send the bundles. This was about the 14th of June. Mr. Kingsbury never saw either of those men again until after Pepo’s incarceration. Not long after this the sheriff learned that about the 15th of June two men came to the ranch of Aug. Kropp, between Pondera and the Muddy, hunting for work. Mr. Kropp and other members of his family fully described the two men their clothing and particularly a watch chain worn by one of them. (This chain as was later shown on the trial was worn by Plath when seen by the Kropps but was found on the person of Pepo when he was arrested.) These men had stayed to dinner, and, all being Germans, had conversed quite freely. During the conversation Pepo remarked that that was a very lonely place and inquired if murders were not frequent. Not securing work, the men inquired the way and were directed on the way to Choteau, and the identical cabin where the murder was committed had been mentioned as a place where they could stop overnight, if belated. Here all trace of Pepo and his companion was lost, until Pepo wrote from Davenport, Wash., to Billy Welsh at Pinchor Creek, Alberta. Welsh at once notified Sheriff Hagen of Pepo’s whereabouts and the latter was soon arrested at a farm where he was working in Washington and brought here and lodged in jail.

DETAILS OF THE TRIAL. At the trial, Pepo’s letter was produced in court and acknowledged by him. In it he said he had changed his name to Wm. Ferris and asked that his where­ abouts be kept secret. It was also shown by the evidence of Sergt. Bertles and Constable Kruger of the N. W. Mounted police, stationed at Pincher Creek, that Pepo and Plath were acquainted and that both had disappeared from Lethbridge at the same time; that Plath had money while Pepo had very little, if any. Robt. Kroger was well ac­quainted with Plath and knew he had $120 immediately preceding his disappearance. He also know Pepo. He knew Plath to be a good citizen while Pepo was quite the reverse. Pepo was without money and besides had a very bad reputation. He had served a four-year term in the penitentiary for horse stealing and short terms in jail for thefts. Sergt. Bertles also knew Pepo but knew nothing good of him. Thus had the prosecution followed Pepo and Plath from Lethbringe to Shelby, thence to Kropp’s and the cabin on the Muddy, where the two men separated, one remaining behind with his skull crushed out and his teeth knocked out by his companion. By the testimony of James Hannon who lives in the North Fork Canyon, Pepo was shown to have attempted to cross the mountains at that point. He had come to Hannon’s place with his pack upon his back and inquired the way over the range. Hannon and noticed the man closely because he had thought him crazy who would ask such a question.  He finally directed him to retrace his steps down the river and thence south along the mountains to Gadot’s Pass. He thought nothing more of the matter until Pepo was brought from Washington, when it occurred to him. that possibly the man he had seen might be the suspected murderer. When he came to town he saw Pepo and recog­nized him, but waited until he heard his voice in court - before making the fact known to the authorities. The sound of Pepo’s voice was more readily recognized than his general appearance. which had changed slightly during confinement; and Hannon at once made his discovery known. By this testimony the state deemed the chain of criminating evidence complete and rested.

The defense, represented at the bar by J. G. Bair and Major Baldwin, setup an alibi. Their only witness was Pepo, and this is the story he told as elicited by the attorneys, pro and con:

 “I was born in Germany 48 years ago, and when I grew up I was run out of the country for stealing. I came to Canada and worked at various occupations finally coming to the Northwest Territories. Here I got into trouble and finally I landed in the pen, where I served four years. I also served a term or so in jail for various offenses. I was constantly getting into trouble. When working on the “Crow’s Nest” pass I met Julius Plath. I saw him last at Lethbridge. He was a nice follow and I sort of liked him. I had been advised by the authorities to leave the country, change my name and turn over a new leaf. This I resolved to do. I wanted company and so induced Plath to accompany me. We intended to go to the Palouse country to work in the harvest fields. He had some money, probably $30. I was short, having spent mine in drink and carousal. I saw Plath that evening, but when the gang (meaning others who intended to beat their way south) got onto the train I saw nothing of him. I never saw him again and do not know what became of him. We had shipped our two bundles of dunnage to Shelby, but I never saw Plath. We were put off the train several times along the road, but finally got to Shelby. I left my overcoat lying on the platform, in it was that little book (meaning the memoran­dum.) I left my coat in my hurry to get aboard the train. I was beating my way and found it inconvenient to take the coat. “From Shelby I went to Great Falls and from there to Butte, then to Ana­conda and from there to Helena, staying but a few days in each place. I followed the railroad because I was lame and could not walk very well. I had cut my foot in February, ’97, and the wound left me lame. (The prisoner was allowed to exhibit his foot to the jury. It showed an old scar.) That is the reason I did not go out into, the country to look for work, and besides I wanted to go away where no one knew me. From Helena I went to Spokane and thence to numerous other places looking for work. I found work in the harvest field, but it was too hard for me and I sought other employ­ment. I saved some money but spent it for drink. This spring I was working on a ranch about 14 miles from Davenport. One day Sheriff Hagen came and arrested me. At that time I had a chain on my watch which a Mr. Morgan had loaned. I took it off and laid it upon the table, stating that it was Mr. Morgan's and that I did not wish to take away with me. I thought it was left there, but I see it here in evidence against me as the chain worn by Julius Plath at the time he disappeared. Plath wore a small steel chain at that time. This one belongs to Mr. Morgan and if you don't believe me you can write to him and he will tell you I am telling the truth.  This practically was all the defense had to offer in the way of an alibi. Coroner Schmidt, Joe Arnold and Dr. Cooper were sworn and questioned to the proba­ble length of time the body had lain in the cabin when discovered, but no length of time could be settled upon by either of the witnesses, so that the date of the murder could not be established, though none thought the body could have lain there over three or four weeks. This completed the testimony for the. defense.

Mr. Sulgrove then made the opening, argument for the prosecution and was followed by M. D. Baldwin and J. G. Bair for the defense, after which County Attorney Erickson closed the case for the state. The jury was out all night and did not agree upon a verdict until after breakfast Friday morning. Their verdict was:

“ We, the jury in the above entitled ac­tion, find the defendant, Wm. Pepo,. guilty of murder in the first degree as charged in the information. H. A. Gillette , Foreman.”’

When that eventful moment came, Pepo stood up in his place and replied “I’m not guilty.” These were the only words: spoken by him. Judge Smith then sen­tenced him to be hanged on Saturday, July 8th, 1899. On July 6th a motion for a new trial was argued before Judge Smith.  The motion was denied and on the 17th of the month an appeal was certified to the supreme court. That court affirmed the judgment of the lower court on January 22nd. In speaking of the evidence the supreme court used the following language: “We are also asked to reverse the judgment because the verdict is not sustained by the evidence. To this assignment we have given the most attentive consideration, and our judgment is that it is very seldom that a case presents itself which so entirely fulfills the exact requirements of the law in relation to the measurement of proof demanded to sustain a conviction of murder where the state relies upon circumstantial evidence.”

 Further on in the opinion the court reviews the evidence in the following words:

‘The evidence in all respects sustains the verdict of the jury. It appears Julius Plath and this defendant knew one another well in the Dominion of Canada and that they said when leaving they said that they were going to this section of United States. Plath had about $120 in money when he left Canada.  He was clad in blue overalls with a bib, a black coat with braid upon it, and black shirt.  Defendant and a shorter man, recognized by photographs as Plath.  They w e r e together in Teton county at or near the railway station not many miles from where the body was found, a day before June l5th. Pepo and Plath both had sacks of clothing shipped to them at Shelby, from Lethbride. For these they never called.  The two men were seen together by several  ranchmen about June 13 and 14^th going toward Choteau, and about June 14 were told by a farmer that if they were overtaken by night they could find a place to sleep in a little log cabin about five miles from this place, and toward this log cabin they took their footsteps. It was in this cabin that the body was afterwards found. Nothing more was seen of the smaller man, recognized by photographs as Plath. The defendant was seen several weeks afterwards near the North Fork Canyon, where he asked the way of a trail through the mountains. “About nine months afterwards the de­fendant was arrested in the state of Washington. He was then living under an assumed name, and when arrested told the sheriff that the watch chain which he was wearing did not belong to him and he wished to give it to the man on the place where he was working, who owned it; no one claimed the chain there, however, and it was brought back to Montana by the sheriff. The coat found upon the dead body was identified by the persons who had seen the two men before as having been worn by the shorter man and particularly was it recognized by the brother of the deceased, who pointed out a hole in the side of the coat that had been torn and sewed up by his mother before his brother Julius left his home in Canada months before, The blue overalls on the body were identified as being such us Plath had worn. The shirt was also identified. So were the trousers on the body. The color of the hair and the height of the body were sworn to as cor­responding with Plath’s. The watch charm picked up on the floor of the cabin was also recognized by a child who had seen the two men at the ranch of her father the day before the murder was al­leged to have been committed, June 15, and who observed the charm on the smaller man’s vest. In the pocket of the overcoat found in the cabin where the body lay was a memorandum book con­taining entries sworn to have been made in the handwriting of defendant Pepo.  A blanket found near the body was recognized to be the same one that Pepo had had in Canada a year before. The watch chain which Pepo wore at the time of his arrest was said to resemble the one the deceased had on. A cracker box with some crackers in it and a handkerchief found on the floor of the cabin near the body were identified as resembling ones that had been observed in the possession of the smaller man by several persons who had seen the men a few days before the murder was said to have been com­mitted. The defendant denied that he had been with Julius Plath at all in Mon­tana and denied that he had seen any of the persons who said they recognized him. But the truth or falsity of his story was a matter exclusively for the jury and cannot be accepted by us now as sufficient to overthrow the overwhelming force of the evidence on the part of the state.

“We find no error in the record and must affirm the judgment and order ap­pealed from.”

 March 5th Judge Smith re-sentenced Pepo, fixing the date of his execution for April 7th, between 6 and 10 a. m.

Attorney Bair continued his efforts on behalf of his client and made a last strong appeal to the governor to commute the sentence to life imprisonment. Tuesday he received the following dispatch:

“J. G. Bair: After careful examina­tion of the record must decline to inter­fere in behalf of Pepo. Robt. B. Smith, Governor.”

This was the last card played in the desperate game in which the life of Wm. Pepo was the stake.

During the pendency of Pepo’s trial and appeal he was in a vicious frame of mind, cursing his fate and everybody and everything almost constantly. He refused all spiritual consolation, not wishing minis­ters or priests to call on him or talk with him upon the subject of the hereafter. However, after the supreme court affirmed the judgment of the lower court he became a changed man. He began to read the Bible, solicited visits from Rev. Cunningham and from the Epworth Lcague and professed to have sought and found forgiveness of his sins. The following letter written in Pepo’s own handwriting, with the request that it be not published until after his death, shows the condition of his mind as the fatal hour drew near:

'Choteau, Mont., April 6, 1900. The Epworth League and Members of The Methodist   Church: Friends

As my time on this earth is drawing to a finish I am looking more and more forward to my happy home with our Savior, He who died for me a sinner, that I might be saved through his innocent blood shed for the world on Calvary. I know that He also has a place for me in His mansion. I am willing to serve him God helping me, and be satisfied with the crumbs that fall from His glory seat.

Yes, glory be to God and our Lord Jesus Christ, that He has opened even my poor mouth to shout His praises. Many and many a night I have fought alone with my God in bitter tears of repentance of my sins until the Lord said: “Lay down thy weary head upon my breast, come unto me and rest.”

I wish, my friends that you give my thanks to Mr. Cunningham and also to Mr, Rogers, two earnest workers in the Lord’s vineyard. When Mr. Cunningham came to me the first time, I had almost given up hope, thinking myself forsaken by God and man. I hope that none of you or any other human being may ever know what it is without some brother or sister in Christ standing ready to grasp him. Dear Mr. Cunningham has been that brother to me, with you, dear friends, helping him, you helped to fan that little spark Divine that still remained, into a flame, and it burns so that I am not ashamed now to tell people what I be­lieve, and who has saved me from hell and damnation; namely, Our Lord Jesus now and forever, amen. If I lived a thousand years I could not find it long enough to tell of the happiness it gives me to know and feel that even I a social outcast, so to speak, have a friend in Jesus who cares for me  more than a mother would and forgives me all my sins and makes me fit to enter the kingdom of heaven. A mother’s love and care I have never known in this world but I hope to meet her there, and many things that are now dark to me I shall know.  When I was a boy, about 15, 1 had a dream one night. 1 remember it now as if it had been but last night. I dreamt I saw mother on her death bed, brothers and sisters standing about, and my step­ father; my mother told him to look after me, that I was alone in the world. Two days later my guardian told me that my mother had died. I dreamt about her although I never knew before that my mother was alive. I have always remembered that dream and it has been the cause of many a conflict in me between good and evil. Please thank all of your members who have been kind to me here in this world and I hope to meet you all hereafter in heaven. We all have but a short time to live in this world and I think it could not be better employed than to fit ourselves for the next, through the grace of our Lord to whom be all the glory now and forever. Very thankfully yours, William Pepo.  (Montanian, Choteau, Mont., April 6, 1900 – Delayed Edition, pages 1 and 4).

William Pepo was buried at the Choteau Cemetery in Block 62, and lot 6, as marked in the original burial record, the cause of his death was not noted. 

Another story in about a year shows that Pepo’s story continued:

Pepo’s Ghost.

Strange stories are told these days about Pepo’s ghost which it is alleged makes its appearance almost, nightly at the jail. It usually appears just after dark and in almost the same place where the murderer was hanged. If anyone else than Undersheriff Acton were the tel­ler of the story no one would pay any attention to it. But Acton is known to be without fear and he is not in the least superstitious. He says the first time be saw the ghost was one night just after dark when he went out to the coal house for a hod of coal. The ghost was dancing or sort of waltzing around on the loose plank right where the hanging took place. Acton says it looked exactly like Pepo only it had a kind of kink in the neck. This appearance is what one might expect to see when it is remem­bered what a twist poor Pepo’s neck got at that identical spot at the time he was made into a ghost nearly a year ago. When Acton first saw the ghost which was but a few feet away be spoke to it or him and tried to converse but the ghost wouldn’t talk but kept on dancing. The plucky undersheriff admits that it is a terror. He declares that the very thought of meeting that ghosty apparition in the dark gives him a creepy crawly feeling that he never felt before, and never wants to feel again. Moreover he has outstanding invitation for any one doubting the literal truth of the story he tells to go to the jail any dark night and he predicts such person will never want to go the second time. Undersheriff Acton and, Jailor Davis take no more chances of carrying coal after dark but make sure of a supply before darkness comes out. Ghosts always seem to prefer darkness rather than light and Pepo’s is no exception to the rule. (The Montanian, Choteau, Mont.,  Feb 22, 1901, page 3).

James Merritt at The City Drug Store, Choteau, Montana

 

Letters from Lt. (j.g.) William Sliney, USS Yorktown, to Miss Evelyn Soderquist, Seattle Washington,

Oct. 13, 1944 thru Sep. 14, 1945.

 

Compiled by Gordon Merritt

 

                                                                 CV-10 USS Yorktown

 

Class: Essex Aircraft Carrier

Laid down: 1 December 1941 at Newport News, Va., by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry dock Co. as Bon Homme Richard

Renamed: Yorktown, 26 September 1942 [to replace the 3^rd USS Yorktown, aircraft carrier CV-5, lost in the battle of Midway, 1942];

Launched: January 21, 1943 sponsored by Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt;
Commissioned: April 15, 1943, Capt. Joseph J. (“Jocko”) Clark in command.

Length: 856 feet
Beam:93 feet
Draft: 30 feet
Displacement: 33,292 tons
Armament: 90 aircraft; twelve 5-inch/38 caliber guns (original); reduced to four 5-inch/38 caliber guns; 32 -- 40mm and 46 -- 20mm guns

           

 

On the 31^st of July 1944, she cleared the Mariana Islands and headed-via Eniwetok and Pearl Harbor - back to the United States.

Yorktown arrived in the Puget Sound Navy Yard [Bremerton, near Seattle, Washington] on 17 August and began a two-month overhaul. She completed repairs on 6 October and departed Puget Sound on the 9^th. She stopped at the Alameda Naval Air

Station from 11 to 13 October to load planes and supplies and then set a course back to the western Pacific.

 

 

 

Clark and Radford

 

 

13 Oct 1944  Alameda, Calif.

Had dinner in San Francisco…

I am on the 0000-0400 watch and boy does time drag.  All I have to do is inspect different stations and then report to the O.O.D. in the hanger deck, real tough eh.

19 October 1944  Pearl Harbor

The trip the last 2-3 days has been rather nice, the sea has calmed down and turned to a beautiful blue and the flying fish are everywhere…

I guess by now you know about the invasion of the Philippines and what it means to us…

21 Oct 1944 Pearl Harbor

This may be a hurried letter we have 2 hours to get our letters in so that they can be mailed back to the States…

…from now on it is going to be rough sailing…

 

After a stop at Pearl Harbor from the 18^th to the 24^th Yorktown arrived back in Eniwetok on 31 October.

 

31 Oct 1944, Eniwetok

 

We have had a little excitement lately and it has kept us on our toes…

The weather lately has been beautiful, real blue skies, deep blue seas, warm breezes, to put it in other words, its been darn hot.  I am beginning to look like an Indian…

I just finished another 100 or so letters, I am a censor.  Boy some of these guys did rather well in Seattle, at least they write like they did, from their letters I’d say that we had a ship full of lovers. 

 

She departed the lagoon on 1 November and arrived at Ulithi on the 3d. There, she reported for duty with TG 38.4. That task group left Ulithi on 5 November, and Yorktown departed with it.

4 Nov 1944, Ulithi

We have been very busy lately going from 4:30 a.m. to any where up to 12 or 1 in the morning. 

I wouldn’t mind it too much if it wasn’t for this heat, none of us have kept a dry shirt on for more than 15 min. at a time.  The water seems to pour out of everyone, right now my writing pad is wet clear through.  Everything is damp and it is beginning to get on my nerves.  Oh well.

We took our shots yesterday and today we all have muscles where muscles never were before, boy it is sore. 

4 Nov 1944, Ulithi

Christmas card, “V Mail” “Merry Christmas from the Fighting Lady” Bill

 

On 7 November, the aircraft carrier changed operational control to TG38.1 and, for the next two weeks launched air strikes on targets in the Philippines in support of the Leyte invasion.

13 Nov 1944 Leyte area

            We have been very busy lately and I have been averaging the same amount of sleep as I did the last week with you…

I had my hair cut short and to top it off I decided to grow a mustache…  Everyone so far has given me ideas on how the process can be speeded up, most of them off color, even the Chaplin has added his two cents. 

The days are getting hotter and I swear I’ll wear the bottom of my feet off, between the heat of the deck and the continuous running…

17 Nov 1944 Leyte area

We can send mail out easy enough for every so often a tanker or destroyer will come along side and take the mail off, but the incoming mail is very slow…

We have not seen land for a long while, just blue ocean, I sure would like to see some dirty brown dirt again, just for a change. 

22 Nov 1944, Leyte area

You won’t have much trouble guessing where we are the papers take care of that little item for us.  We are fooling around with a hot fire, I am afraid some one may get burned but I guess this is the only way to put it out now…

 

Detached from the task Force on 23 November, Yorktown arrived back in Ulithi on the 24^th.

25 Nov 1944 Ulithi

We hit port today (two or three tiny hunks of land about the size of a good back yard) and right away I started visiting other ships in our group (my liberty day).  I thought I’d visit another carrier and see the Wordie a fellow I had lived with 5 or 6 months at Diego.  When I asked the O.O.D. where his room was he looked at me sort of funny like and told me that Wordie was killed two weeks ago in a strike over enemy territory.  I felt like someone had kicked me in the face.  I have seen a lot of fellows die lately ours and theirs but this came awfully near home.

9 Dec 1944 Ulithi

My brother’s unit has received the presidential unit citation for bravery under fire, so now he is once more ahead of me, gosh I’d better get going.

My little brother has been telling the neighbors that I struck my superior officer, that I am now in K.P. awaiting court marshal, boy I  Have received 3 or 4 letters in the last week asking my what the story was, some of them are really worried about me. 

 

She remained there until 10 December at which time she put to sea to rejoin TF 38.

12 Dec 1944 “at sea”

I have been up since five this morning in the 8 – 12 pm watch so please excuse the writing…

Things are about the same, the usual working days and nights with some extra excitement thrown in, makes time go quickly.  I spent all my day in the flight deck and it is like Times Square in the rush hour, truckers tearing up and down, planes warming up, gun platforms moving around, propellers tearing up the air boy one bad misstep and no more Willie, but don’t worry sweet I have my head mounted on a 360 degree platform so I don’t miss much.

I have added more sun to my brown body in the last two or three days, this Irishman is getting on the dark side…

 

She rendezvoused with the other carriers on 13 December and began launching air strikes on targets on the island of Luzon in preparation for the invasion of that island scheduled for the second week in January. On the 17^th, the task force began its retirement from the Luzon strikes.

During that retirement, TF 38 steamed through the center of the famous typhoon of December 1944.  That storm sank three destroyers-Spence (DD-512), Hull (DD-350), and Monaghan(DD-354) - and Yorktown participated in some of the rescue operations for the survivors of those three destroyers.

19 Dec 1944 “at Sea” 

We have had the usual amount of excitement on board so of it I would not have believed if I saw it on the movie screen. One fellow was washed overboard by one wave and washed right back on board by the next.  He now plans to room with the Chaplain. 

My divisional officer fell into a prop last week and we buried what was left that afternoon.  We were all standing around him when it happened and it sure left me feeling funny, I wasen’t very hungry at breakfast that morning.  He was a prince of a man and had a swell wife and 2 kiddies at home.  I sure respect these props, now, I decided I didn’t want to play in their yard anyway. 

 

She did not finally clear the vicinity of Luzon until the 23d. The warship arrived back in Ulithi on 24 December.

27 Dec 1944 Ulithi

We had the usual Navy Christmas, the good wishes passed out freely.  The lazy Christmas day, the turkey dinner at night.  The fun we had watching the packages from home opened and what some of the packages contained.  My roommate (200#) received some vitamin pills from his mother, we all enjoyed that much to his discomfort.  I received the usual assortment of shaving needs small games…

We have been taking things rather easily lately but the Christmas vacation will soon be over and then to work. 

 

The aircraft carrier fueled and provisioned at Ulithi until 30 December at which time she returned to sea to join TF 38 on strikes at targets in the Philippines in support of the landings at Lingayen.

 

1 Jan 1945

We had a hard day yesterday and so I just crawled into the sack last night and never even knew the new year had come in and I cared less, I guess about everyone did the same. 

I now have charge of all the gasoline lube oil etc, it sure keeps me busy 24 hours of the day, everyone treats me with kid gloves because if I make a bad mistake they will have to build a new Yorktown.  Everyone just waits for me to make a mistake and then do I catch hell form everyone wow…

 

The carriers opened the show on 3 January 1945 with raids on airfields on the island of Formosa.  Those raids continued on the 4^th, but a fueling rendezvous occupied Yorktown’s time on the 5^th. She sent her planes against Luzon targets and on anti shipping strikes on the 6^th and 7^th. The 8^th brought another fueling rendezvous; and, on the 9^th, she conducted her last attack-on Formosa-in direct support of the Lingayen operation. On 10 January, Yorktown and the rest of TF 38entered the South China Sea via Bashi Channel to begin a series of raids on Japan’s inner defenses. On 12 January, her planes visited the vicinity of Saigon and Tourane Bay, Indochina, in hopes of catching major units of the Japanese fleet. Though foiled in their primary desire, TF 38 aviators still managed to rack up a stupendous score - 44 enemy ships of which 15 were combatants.

 

Air Wing from Yorktown, 1943

 

12 Jan 1945

I have been plenty busy… Things have been happening fast and we don’t get a chance to rest.  I sure would like to tell you some of the things that have happened to me and the ship but that will have to wait until we meet again.  Some of our happenings read like a chapter in a travel novel.  I have had my hands full with work and on top of that I have to keep peace among my three chiefs & warrant officer, when I took over all three were at each others throats but things are evening out now and peace once more rains over my little household. 

The captain of the ship called me four times the other morning to find out how I was progressing with my job that I was doing that morning.  I sure took a ribbing from the fellows, they all wanted to be remembered to the Captain, he sure is a sweet fellow though he treats us like his sons.   Before I get off the Yorktown my name will be very familiar. 

          

She fueled on the 13^th and, on the 15^th, launched raids on Formosa and Canton in China.

The following day, her aviators struck at Canton again and paid a visit to Hong Kong. Fueling took up her time on 17, 18, and 19 January; and, on the 20^th, she exited the South China Sea with TF 38 via Balintang Channel. She participated in a raid on Formosa on the 21^st and another on Okinawa on the 22d before clearing the area for Ulithi. On the morning of 26 January. She reentered Ulithi lagoon with TF 38.

 

25 Jan 1945

…things have slowed down a little and I will have a little more time (well at least for a few days) for writing… 

January was certainly a busy month for us and there were times when 2 or 3 hours in some 3 days was the maximum sleep I received, it got so that I could sleep in any position that was available.  I could crawl into some hole and curl up like a kitten and fall asleep immediately.  I will never forget some of the things that happened to us in the last few months or so, some of them I would like to forget, gosh I only hope people will never forget the lesson that has been taught us, that men who want us to build a little fence around us our country and forget the rest of the world, will never hold office again.  We will only have peace if we show we are also prepared for war. 

Debriefing Yorktown Pilots, 1943

30 Jan 1945  Utlihi

So you saw the “Fighting lady”.  When what do you think of our ship.  Of course you know that the Yorktown is the “fighting lady” and that most of the real scenes were taken by our photographers here during different operations from this ship.  We could now add a few that would really make your hair stand up on end…

[”The Fighting Lady”: made at the height of World War II and considered one of the best documentaries of that time, this film records the life of the aircraft carrier Yorktown from her launching in 1943 through her victorious sweep across the Pacific—including unsurpassed color footage of a suicide attack by Kamikaze pilots. It received the Academy Award for Best Documentary as well as a Special Documentary Award from the New York Film Critics. Narrated by Robert Taylor. USA, 1944, Color, 57 minutes.]

          We are all anxious to see that picture because many of the fellows that appeared in different shots are still on board. 

 

4 Feb 1945 Ulithi

We had a swell smoker (no women fan dancers though) the other day, we had free ice cream, a swing concert, a few skits and a boxing show all in all it was real good. Soon we hope to have the fleet premier of the “Fighting Lady” we will have all the Admirals aboard, a buffet supper etc. for the picture showing. 

 

8 Feb 1945 Ulithi

Well, we are off again so hold your hat…

We had the premier of the “Fighting Lady” aboard the fighting lady and it was quite a party, we had the usual speeches, praise, etc, then the movie and afterwards a buffet supper.  It sure seemed funny to see the fellows you know appearing on the screen, gosh in every scene there was someone that we knew, when that G.Q. (general quarters) went it felt so real we all had a feeling to get going to our battle stations.  Boy that sure gives me a start when it hits during the night, I usually wake up halfway up the ladder, everyone is running and after a few jolts, you wake up completely.  It is sort of fun to watch a plane crash on deck during, or in a movie, but it is an awful feeling when you suddenly look up and see that baby coming down on you, I usually give one look and take off…

 

Yorktown remained at Ulithi arming, provisioning, and conducting upkeep

until 10 February. At that time, she sortied with TF 58, the 3d Fleet

becoming the 5^th Fleet when Spruance relieved Halsey, on a series of raids on the Japanese and thence to support the assault on and occupation of Iwo Jima.

 

15 Feb 1945 

Habie and I play acey-ducey for an hour or so before we hit the sack…

Things on board are going along as usual the “Fighting Lady” is sure taking care of me, pretty soon I plan to call her the “lucky lady”, for luck has been riding right on our fan tail.

 

On the morning of 16 February, the aircraft carrier began launching strikes on the Tokyo area of Honshu. On the 17^th, she repeated those strikes before heading toward the Bonins. Her aviators bombed and strafed installations on Chichi Jima on the 18^th. The landings on Iwo Jima went forward on 19 February, and Yorktown aircraft began support missions over the island on the 20^th. Those missions continued until the 23d at which time Yorktown cleared the Bonins to resume strikes on Japan proper.

24 Feb 1945

 

The Censor rules have been relaxed a little to help the morale of the men so now we can say where we have been in the past (over a month back), So here goes. 

We sailed as you know in Oct. from the States and we came right through to cover the Army Boys at Leyte in the Philippines, then we moved over and covered the invasion of Mindova and in between that we made a few hurried trips up to Formosa and China coast to stop the Japs from sending down reinforcements to his mates in Luzon.  We spent Christmas at a spot called Ulithi an Island that reminds me of the Hollywood variety, you know, palm trees, coconuts, soft breezes etc.  The native huts were still standing and we gained a good bit of how the natives lived, the water was real clear and warm so we went swimming and spear fishing (the waters are thick with all kinds of colored fish).  We set sail shortly after Christmas and since we can’t say any more I will end that discussion here…

Well I have to be off to work (this ship is really rolling) so I will close here. 

 

She arrived at the launch point on the 25^th and sent two raids aloft to bomb and strife airfields in the vicinity of Tokyo. On the 26^th, Yorktown air crewmen conducted a single sweep of installations on Kyushu before TG 68.4 began its retirement to Ulithi. Yorktown reentered the anchorage at Ulithi on 1 March.  She remained in the anchorage for about two weeks.

11 March 1945 Ulithi

Things on board are the same, we had a few more of these exciting moments but that is now getting commonplace. 

We have had a chance to sunbathe lately so I decided to add to my fading tan, the result was a nice sun burn… 

Quite a few of the fellows left the ship so Hobie and I really made a haul.  I now have more records, a new electric phonograph (cost $83 in the States and I got it for 40), a whole library of books, pin up girls, a new raincoat, a jacket (summer) and 2 or 3 new pipes, so all in all I did quite well.

Two or three fellows I knew back in the States dropped in yesterday and so we went over to the beach and had a great time, old Hobie had one too many and I had a h… of a time getting him out of my sack.  Ah the life of a sailor.  It sure felt nice to raise a little hell, sometimes our nerves get like piano wires on a rainy day and the breaking point feels awfully close, a day or so of letting loose seems to solve the problem.

 

On 14 March, the Aircraft carrier departed the lagoon on her way to resume raids on Japan and to begin preliminary support work for the Okinawa operations scheduled for 1 April.  On 18 March, she arrived in the operating area off Japan and began launching strikes on airfields on Kyushu, Honshu, and Shikoku. The task group came under air attack almost as soon as operations began. At about 0800, a twin-engine bomber, probably a “Frances,” attacked from her port side. The ship opened fire almost immediately and began scoring hits quickly. The plane began to burn but continued his run passing over Yorktown’s bow and splashing in the water on her starboard side. Just seven minutes later, another “Frances” tried his luck; but he, too went down, a victim of the combined fire of the formation. No further attacks developed until that afternoon; and, in the meantime, Yorktown continued air operations.  That afternoon, three “Judy’s” launched attacks on the carrier.  The first two failed in their attacks and were shot down for their trouble.  The third succeeded in planting his bomb on the signal bridge. It passed through the first deck and exploded near the ship’s hull. It punched two large holes through her side, killed five men, and wounded another 26. 

Yorktown, however, remained fully operational, and her antiaircraft gunners brought the offender down. She continued air operations against the three southernmost islands of Japan on the 19^th but retired for fueling operations on the 20^th.

On the 21^st, she headed for Okinawa, on which island she began

Softening-up strikes on the 23d. Those attacks continued until the 28^th

when she started back to Japanese waters for an additional strike on the home islands.

28 March 1945 “at Sea”

…there have been times lately that I couldn’t sit down and write, my nerves are just too tight and my mind won’t act after a night of no sleep and then a 20 hour day.  I haven’t written a letter in the last three weeks… We spend all day and most of the night lately at battle stations and if by chance we are lucky enough to be allowed to get to our sack it is only a short time before we are right back, called by my friend the battle “gong”.  When the Captain said that there would be heart aches, and that all of us would be dead tired for a long while he was right.  

There is a lull here and I had to report to the flight deck, there is a beautiful moon… and star filled sky…

 

On the 29^th, the carrier put two raids and one photographic reconnaissance mission into the air over Kyushu. That afternoon, at about 1410, a single “Judy” made an apparent suicide dive on Yorktown. Her antiaircraft gunners opened up on him and scored numerous hits. He passed over the ship, very near to her “island,” and splashed about 60 feet from her port side.

On 30 March, Yorktown and the other carriers of her task group began to

concentrate solely on the island of Okinawa and its surrounding islets.  For two days, the 30^th and 31^st, they pounded the island in softening up strikes.

1 April 1945 “at Sea” off Okinawa

Here it is 9:30 Easter Sunday night and I have just returned from church.  The service was the same but instead of the different bright colored hats and smart suits there was an odor of work, a feeling of restlessness, of tension, I think if anyone had dropped their steel had on the deck there would have been a stampede.  All during the service my mind wandered back to other Easter Sundays, the bright red coats and cute hats on the girls, the girl next doors’ first high heels and how funny they looked, my first pair of long pants and the exalted feeling they seemed to give me, the felt hat that I never wore again.  It felt so nice to excape the present if just for a while. 

Things on board have been the same with the usual minutes of extreme excitement, the usual long tiresome hours, the little pleasure, the usual run of hot foots, (the Chaplin being the chief recipient), the cat naps in some secluded corner, Hobie’s and I playing acy-ducy, etc.

 

On 1 April, the assault troops stormed ashore; and, for almost six weeks, she sent her planes to the island to provide direct support for the troops operating ashore. About every three days, she retired to the east to conduct fueling rendezvous or to rearm and reprovision.

 

5 April 1945

Things go on the same, with the long day now just routine, and the hours of sleep coming at any time there is a lull, all in all though I am still very much alive and in the best of health so I feel very lucky.

The “lady” continues to look over us and all of us now feel as though there is some power taking care of us, it can’t be all luck, may be your prayers are helping pull us through.  

 

The only exception to that routine came on 7 April when it was discovered that a Japanese task force built around the elusive battleship, Yamato was steaming south for one last, desperate, offensive. Yorktown and the other carriers quickly launched strikes to attack that valued target. Air Group 9 aviators claimed several torpedo hits on Yamato herself just before the battleship exploded and sank as well as at least three 500-pound bomb hits on light cruiser Yahagi before that warship followed her big sister to the bottom.  The pilots also made strafing runs on the escorting destroyers and claimed to have left one afire in a sinking condition. At the conclusion of that action, Yorktown and her planes resumed their support for the troops on Okinawa. On 11 April, she came under air attack again when a single-engine plane sped in on her. Yorktown’s antiaircraft gunners proved equal to the test, however, and splashed him just inside 2,000 yards’ range.

14 April 1945

 

Life goes on the same, the hours just a long and sleep just as scarce.  I now have acquired the habit of making a steel deck feel like a bed at the Waldorf, of course my back still doesn’t like the procedure, but I’ll bring that around or bust it.

We have been all the way from the coast of Indo China (Saigon and Camrahn Bay) up the coast and beyond.  We have had some real experiences in that time and I don’t think I will ever get over the funny feeling I get when I see a Jap plane making a run on us.  You just lay there and watch the guns turn the sky into a black mass and half pray and swear that “that got him”.  Then suddenly there is an explosion and the Jap become a ball of fire, then everyone on deck gives a cheer and proceed to let off steam by telling their own personal reactions. 

 

 

 

19 April 1945

We attack Luzon and Formosa on 3-9 Jan.  Attack shipping and airfields along French Indo-China coast, Canton, Hong Kong and Formosa.  Attack Mausei shots area (Okinawa Shima) 21-24 of Jan.  Then we went north to attack an undisclosed place.  A day before the  attack the news got out, that we were to be the first carrier operations against Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe, etc.  The morning of the attack dawned cold and cloudy.  The … destroyers were busy dropping depth charges to keep the subs away from the mother hen and her chicks (us).  The guns were slowly searching the sky like spiders looking from the fly.  All of us breathed a sigh of relief when the first fighters disappeared into the clouds. Seconds turned into minutes into hours and then our chicks began to drop into the deck and soon were under wing.  Then the questions began to fly, you know the rest the best Jap pilots became flying meteors over Tokyo that day, we had caught the Jap napping. 

We then sailed south again and softened up Iwo Jima and remained there until the marines had things in hand, this ended the operation and that is a much as I can tell you…

 

30 April 1945

…there is little more that I can tell you about our operations today.  The days are still as long the night so much longer.  I slept last night on a bench and I caught a beauty of a cold in my back, I feel like a man of 60 today. 

 

Sporadic air attacks continued until her 11 May departure from the Ruykyus but Yorktown sustained no additional damage and claimed only one further kill with her antiaircraft battery. On 11 May, TG 58.4 was detached to proceed to Ulithi for upkeep, rest, and relaxation.

14 May 1945 Ulithi

We buried a sweet buddy of mine yesterday, I had watched him die the day before on the flight deck and I didn’t know what to do for him or myself, as he looked up at us with that look of wonder in his eyes it sent a sharp pain into all of us – if it had been humanly possible I think we all would have shared part of his pain.  He was a swell fellow and the two of us had planned our leave together. It left me kind of blue.  That’s one of the reasons I don’t give the future much thought…

The weather if very warm again and so I may get a chance to work on my tan again they are giving us a short breathing spell so I may be able to sunbathe one of these days. 

We saw our first movie in over two months last night and you ought to have heard the howl go up during the love scene, boy you couldn’t hear yourself think…we sure get a kick out of it. 

18 May 1945 Ulithi

Life goes on the same not much changes, but the scuttlebutt from the “smoke watch” has us going back in the same time as last, we were in your fair city but it have my doubts. We have had a few movies lately (last 4 nights) … it will probably soon end and then it will be another two months before we see another, oh well enjoying it while we can. 

22 May 1945 Ulithi

The lady and I are still the same, still playing leap frog in the Japs back yard and not liking his year any too much, the land is pretty poor but so with all this human Jap fertilizer the ground should become rather rich but what the heck will grow on Jap fertilizer, that is the big question.  You were right the lady is like the Irish, she goes looking for the scrap, and boy she usually finds them.  We plan to change the name from the “Fighting Lady” to the “Battling Bitch”.  I think the change in name is a good one especially since everyone going back to the states in big carriers claim they are off the “fighting lady”. 

 

Yorktown entered the lagoon at Ulithi on 14 May and remained there until 24 May at which time she sortied with TG 58.4 to rejoin the forces off Okinawa. 

26 May 1945

 

… you have the wrong idea on those celebrations.  Hobey and I had one drink and since we hadn’t smelled it in over two months we got a pretty heavy back kick.  The night Dick came over we had 4 and boy we really spun in, we never touch anything while underway, and darn little in port.  When we get to a place where there is land, the ship sends the crew and officers off and gives them beer to drink, not to get drunk on but mostly to loosen up taunt nerves.  If you had been through some of the things this crew has been through you’d realize what it means to quite [?] down.  At the end of that last affair if a fellow dropped a pencil behind us we’d all jump a foot, we were as tight as an eight day clock. 

…we are darn glad to hear that the end had come in Europe because it means that a lot of our friends will come home in one piece and also it will help speed things coming this way. 

… the Pacific is a hell hole and I would not wish it on anyone.   

Well… it may not be too long before the “Lady” sticks her nose into Bremerton…

 

On 28 May, TG 58.4 became TG 38.4 when Halsey relieved Spruance and 5^th Fleet again became 3d Fleet. That same day, the carrier resumed air support missions over Okinawa. That routine lasted until the beginning of June when she moved off with TF 38 to resume strikes on the Japanese homeland. On 3 June, her aircraft made four different sweeps of airfields.

3 Jun 1945 “At Sea”

This will probably be a short note, we just secured and I have yet to take a shower and go to church… 

We are still seeing that beautiful blue Pacific from one end to the other and believe me it is getting tiresome.  I sure yearn to put my feet on good solid ground again. 

 

The following day, she returned to Okinawa for a day of additional support missions before steaming off to evade a typhoon. On the 6^th and 7^th, she resumed Okinawa strikes. She sent her aviators back to the Kyushu airfields and, on the 9^th, launched them on the first of two days of raids on Minami Daito Shima.  After the second day’s strikes on the 10^th, Yorktown began retirement with TG 38.4 toward Leyte. She arrived in San Pedro Bay at Leyte on 13 June and began replenishment, upkeep, rest, and relaxation.

10 June 1945 “at sea” 

As you can see we are still surrounded by water on all sides and my love for it has grown no stronger not that I don’t love the sea but enough is enough. 

I saw another beautiful sun set last night, each color strutting its beauty so that l could see.  The whole show seems to remind us down below that we are so small and unimportant in the overall plan of the world. 

The “Lady” and I are still the same both happy and healthy but lonely for the people we love.  My gang are the same.  I know them all now, I even share their worries and their joys, we are some what of a family and I try to solve the bigger worries and troubles.  They are all good kids even though sometimes they drive me nuts I still like all of them.

I can’t say I have been to any movies lately, but my day will come…

…As to why I slept on a bench when at battle stations … it is next to impossible to get below decks as everything is dogged down for safety sake and at the time I wrote that letter we were at battle stations just about all the time so…

21 June 1945 San Pedro Bay, Leyte, Philippines

The Lady and I are still healthy and happy as we could be out here, still dreaming of home and the people connected with it.  We have been taking it easy lately and so we have seen some good shows.

We saw the first natives since we have been out here and don’t let anyone kid you, these natives know the value of the American dollar.  We asked them how much for the beads “1 dolla” “5 dolla”.  Some of those little kids had their shirts just loaded with dollar bills, just what use they were to them I don’t know since there weren’t much to buy that they needed.  It was fun talking to them and getting their ideas on the Japs, some of the stories were very interesting.  The heat here went up as high as 120 degrees in the shade and it make life pretty unbearable for a New Englander, every part of me seems to be crawling, I was darn glad to get back on board again. 

…I don’t want to get your spirits up or down either but I doubt if we will be back before Oct. or November, I could be wrong, but that is my guess…

27 June 1945  San Pedro Bay, Leyte, Philippines

We have been taking it easy lately taking on supplies and cleaning up the ship, so we have the usual movie call at night, we saw the movie you told me about ‘Keep your powder dry’.  It was cute but damn it I wish they would stop having the husbands all killed, we see enough of that without having it on the screen, every picture we have see this time has a crying scene in it, I feel like picking up my chair and throwing it at the screen.

We have sports in the afternoon around four and it is sure funny to see the hanger deck, there are footballs, baseballs, basketballs, volley balls, badmitten balls, all floating through the air it looks like 123^rd street in New York on Saturday afternoon.  We just start at one end and play everything, ending up rowing in the athletics room, I have to get rid of this Navy Muscle some way.

A fellow is playing some of Chopin’s music in the wardroom piano over my head and it sounds very good, sort of light and free, Chopin wrote happy music. 

The warship remained at Leyte until 1 July when she and TG 38.4 got

Underway to join the rest of the fast carriers in the final series of raids on the Japanese home islands.

6 July 1945 “at sea”

We are at sea again and so the movie call is no more and the 0330 reveille call has become the highlight in our lives. 

            We are back whacking the waves again, and funny I sort of like it.  The land we saw was not much, the natives were a dirty lot, they think that the older the meat gets the better it is so they let it hang out in the hot sun, come what may it stays until it is strong enough to walk by itself (some of it was strong enough to run). 

The drainage runs down on both sides of the street and added to the color of the surroundings. The houses are rather well built, the bottom part is open and the top part is closed (some what).  It wouldn’t take much looking to know what your neighbor was doing.  Its funny the girls have nice dresses on, their hair fixed up but never any shoes, each and every one a Daisy Mae. 

The little boys are cute, we threw them money and they can really swim down and get it. They spend hour after hour in the water.  They remind me of the Portagee kids catching money in their mouths off the docks in Providence town on Cape Cod. 

The heat is still with us but we hope to get rid of it soon, it is somewhat of a heat wave…    …guess I better close, flight quarters just blew so I have to be off.  Write soon…and keep praying for me and the “Lady”. 

 

By 10 July, she was off the coast of Japan launching air strikes on the Tokyo area of Honshu. After a fueling rendezvous on the 11^th and 12^th, she resumed strikes on Japan, this on the southern portion of the northernmost island-Hokkaido. Those strikes lasted from the 13^th to the 15^th.

16 July 1945 “at sea”

I have lost all conception of time during the last two weeks or so but I think my last letter to you … was around 30^th of June.  Our days have reached the 19 hour stage and believe me when they ring secure most of us don’t even bother to take a shower we just make bear tracks to our rack.  I don’t mean to bore you … just trying to explain to you and also to myself why I haven’t written to anyone in the last 2 or 3 weeks

There is little I can tell you about our operations or our travels, they probably would make for dull reading anyway. 

            I just came down from the flight deck (2200 or 10 o’clock” and I have to laugh, no matter how long those kids work they always seem to have enough energy to fight or wrestle on the deck, they seem to have an unlimited amount of energy stored somewhere.  Half of my crowd were wrestling and the other half were busy playing strip poker (they hadn’t secured us yet for the day). 

The quiet fellows in my outfit are the ones that have three or four girls and are continually promising to marry each and every one, their chief worry is that some day I might switch their letters.  The steward mates (Negroes) are the ones that I get a kick out of, they really write the letters. 

Well…it is pretty late and we have only a few hours before we are off again, so I better close. 

 

A fueling retirement and heavy weather precluded air operations until the 18^th at which time her aviators returned to the Tokyo area. From the 19^th to the 22d, she made a fueling and underway replenishment retirement and then, on the 24^th, resumed air attacks on Japan.

20 July 1945 “at sea”

Well… we finally had that mail call (three weeks since our last one)…  Some of our mail never will catch up at the rate we are going.

Things are the same here, the day starts at 0100 (breakfast at 10’ clock…and usually ends around 2100 (9 o’clock) after which I usually say the he-- with everything and crawl into the sack…

I see where they are publishing the story of the Bunker Hill, I also saw that one from the flight deck.  Working on the flight deck is like having a ring side seat at the prize fight, there is little that happens of excitement that I miss (Oh happy day).

[USS Bunker Hill was an aircraft carrier: On the morning of 11 May 1945, while supporting the Okinawa invasion, Bunker Hill was hit and severely damaged by two suicide planes. Gasoline fires flamed up and several explosions took place. The ship suffered the loss of 346 men killed, 43 missing, and 264 wounded. Although badly crippled she managed to return to Bremerton via Pearl Harbor.]

I guess you know that we covered the troops on Easter Sunday when they landed on Okinawa.  I had a special interest in this, my cousin who I had grown up with and played ball with was with the marines that made the first landing, I also have a feeling my little brother was there.  We worked day and night (remember me telling you about the sleeping on the bench incident) for darn near 3 months before our work was done.  We had a kamikaze skim across our deck and superstructure and explode only a few feet off our port.  We had as many as 4 dive on us in one afternoon and after three months of that our nerves were a little sharp to say the least.  Its funny after the realization that we were alive it wasn’t long before everyone was relating what he saw the other fellow do and getting a great kick out of it, our old sense of humor stayed right with us. 

I wish I could tell you when we will be back.  Our hit parade now reads “Women”, “when are we going back”, and “Religion”.  I hope it will be in October but that is just a wish. 

 

 

For two days, planes of her air group pounded installations around the Kure naval base. Another fueling retirement came on the 26^th, but the 27^th and 28^th found her planes in the air above Kure again.

 

26 July 1945 Kure,                                                          

Things here are the same, the fellow next door was killed yesterday and now the room seems cold and empty, its hard to believe that we won’t see him anymore, won’t enjoy his quick laugh and easy going way.  He was tall and thin and young with so much to live for.  It all seems like part of a dream, this life we lead.

Things here are the same, we still have the long days, today I took on fuel from a tanker so the day was an easy one, we usually don’t do much on fueling days, just rigging up and then watching the gauges to see that the incoming pressure doesn’t exceed a certain amount, it is a far cry from the usual wild day on the flight deck. 

 

Crew calisthenics, Yorktown,1943

 

On the 29^th and 30^th, she shifted targets back to the Tokyo area before another fueling retirement and another typhoon took her out of action until the beginning of the first week in August.

30 June 1945

 

This is just a short note mainly to send you the picture of the Best …boys aboard the “Lady”.  It is not a good picture but since pictures are scarce it will have to do.

We all feel like we will be back to Bremerton around Nov. sometime…

 

6 Aug 1945 “at sea”

Al (TBF pilot) and I are sitting here writing together.  He has all his pictures of his wife and little boy.  His little boy is only 6 months old and sure is cute.  Al is so darned proud of him it is funny.  Al and I just met a week or so ago and now are quite friendly, he drops down the room and we talk about all things.  He has that slow Montana way about him that is so different from the ways of the people back home that I get a kick out of listening to him.

Life aboard the lady is still the same, not as bad as the Okinawa operation, it seems the Jap air force is waiting for a certain day and then things are really going to pop.

You said that we would not come back unless the ship was badly hit but if that is the case we will never be back, this ship is too lucky to let a Jap spoil our record, the “Lady” is one of the best carriers out here so… I do believe though that they may send us back this fall sometime for there is so much a ship and crew can stand of this frontline sea fight, a few months out of here would bring up the efficiency a great deal.    

Atomic Bomb is dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. On August 6, 1945 President Harry Truman announces that the United States has dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The Force From Which the Sun Draws its Power The President said: “The force from which the sun draws its power has been loosed against those who brought war to the Far East .... If they [the Japanese leaders] do not now accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth” (Seattle Star, p 5). The atom bomb was produced and constructed at three main sites: Oak Ridge near Knoxville, Tennessee; Richland, Washington; and near Santa Fe, New Mexico. At Richland, where residents worked exclusively on producing the atom bomb, the town increased in population from none to 60,000 in two years. How It Was Done The mission to bomb Hiroshima began at 2:45 a.m. local time August 6, 1945. At that time a B-29 Superfortress named Enola Gay lifted off with two escort B-29s from a small island in the Marianas and flew the 1,500 mile trip to Japan. The Superfortress was a warplane designed by the Boeing Airplane Company, built by Martin at Omaha, and specially modified by Boeing at Wichtita, Kansas. At liftoff from Tinian Island, Enola Gay pilot Colonel Paul W. Tibbets Jr. and a few technicians knew that the plane was carrying the atom bomb. During the 6 ½ hour flight the Colonel described to the rest of the crew the 10 ½ foot long, 9,700 pound bomb, dubbed “Little Boy.” As the planes approached Japan, the two B-29 escorts pulled out and the Enola Gay continued alone. At 9:15 a.m. at 31,000 feet elevation, the destination was reached and the bomb released. Forty three seconds later the atom bomb exploded at 1,850 feet over the city of Hiroshima where 343,000 people resided. The number of deaths that day was incomprehensible. Estimates ranged from 60,000 to 100,000. Radiation killed thousands more in the months and years to follow. Of the 76,000 buildings in the city, 70,000 were destroyed or damaged. An area of four-square miles was vaporized. The Atomic Age The next day, on August 7 the Seattle Star wrote an editorial on the atomic bomb. Following is an excerpt: “The best kept secret of the war! That was Hanford, the story of the making of the ‘atomic bomb.’ It is almost inconceivable that so many people could work on a project, so many people figure in making the bombs themselves and not one word leak out as to what actually was being manufactured there. … The secret now unveiled is overwhelming. Note well the president’s warning words – ‘We must consider the establishment of an appropriate commission to control the production and use of atomic power within the United States.’ It is one of the greatest scientific advances in the history of man, if not the greatest. … This discovery makes it imperative that nations learn to get along with one another, makes … [even the] talk of war, something that MUST be avoided. The atomic bomb is so powerful, so tremendous in its effect that man might eventually eliminate himself. … A tiny nation like Switzerland, if it had the scientists, and prepared itself, might conceivably destroy a nation many times its own size. Thus it becomes necessary that nations must take steps to re-educate mankind, not in technology or mechanics – he’s all but gone too far there – but in psychology and sociology. There is a new premium placed on good sense and understanding between men. It forces this evolution for a plan of peace which must endure or result in the eclipse of man. … In other words, so terrible is this weapon that man’s first instinct must be NOT to rush into wars but to prevent wars” (Seattle Star, August 7, 1945). After Japan’s failure to surrender immediately, a second B-29, named Bock’s Car, was dispatched on August 9 to drop a second atomic bomb, dubbed “Fat Boy,” on the city of Nagasaki. The only wartime uses of nuclear weapons to date (1999) claimed over 100,000 lives and injured or sickened tens of thousands more. Notwithstanding the fearsome novelty of atomic power, B-29 raids over Tokyo and other Japanese cities with conventional incendiary bombs were far deadlier. The Japanese surrender on August 10 (signed September 2) averted the one million additional civilian and combatant deaths that would have resulted from an Allied invasion of the Home Islands, according to military planners. Sources: “New Explosive’s Power Equal to 20,000 Tons TNT,” The Seattle Star, August 6, 1945, p. 1, 5; “Hanford Job Kept Secret to Workers” The Seattle Star, August 6, 1945, p. 1, 5; Seattle Star, August 7, 1945, p. 4; Time Editors, Great Events of the 20th Century (New York: Time Books, 1997), 32; Chronicle of America ed. by John W. Kirshon (New York: Chronicle Publications, ca. 1989), 726; Robert J. Serling, Legend & Legacy, The Story of Boeing and Its People (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1992); Peter M. Bowers, Boeing Aircraft Since 1916, (London: Putnam, 1993); Boeing Historical Archives.

 

On 8 and 9 August, the carrier launched her planes at northern Honshu and southern Hokkaido. On the 10^th, she sent them back to Tokyo. The 11^th and 12^th brought another fueling retirement and a typhoon evasion, but, on the 13^th her aircraft hit Tokyo for the last time.

11 Aug 1945 “at sea”

Things have been topsy-turvy since late last night when the Captain told us about the proposed Jap surrender, just these few words turned a very sleepy crew into a party crowd in a very few seconds.  We have been hearing scuttlebutt all day today and things seemed to have stalled, so now we are slowly turning back to routine of sea war.

             This last week has been a good one for us, hearing the Army Air Force name their targets, the news of the atomic bomb and the final entrance of Russia in this theatre of war made us feel that finally this whole damn mess is about over.  It wasn’t long after the news came over the speaker system that there were 10 fellows in the room and the thing that all hit us first was that we were alive, that we could now go home and perhaps plan a peaceful life. 

It is hard to believe that the hours of uncertainty are almost over, that regimentation is almost a thing of the past, that we have probably seen the last of the flaming Kamikaze. 

…what was the reaction back home or are they like us still waiting for the final step. 

 

On the l4th, she retired to fuel destroyers again; and, on the 15^th, Japan agreed to capitulate so that all strikes planned for that day were cancelled.

 

Celebration of V-J Day, August 15, 1945. As sirens announced the end of World War II, merrymakers in a “rooting, tooting, honking mass” spilled onto the streets of downtown Seattle. Civilians and servicemen, including several Navy men from Bremerton, came together in a joyous and uninhibited crowd. One sailor leaped onto a lamppost and waved as the photographer caught the moment. Many years later, O.F. “Ole” Scarpelli, Sergeant-at-Arms for the State Legislature, identified himself as that sailor, claiming he was “just showing off” on that remarkable day. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

19 August 1945, “at sea”

My buddy that I went to high school with was killed at Okinawa and just found out that my cousin got in a way of a bomb and ended up in the hospital with brain concussion and internal injuries, he went from 200 lbs to 140 but is well on his way to getting well now.  He was in the same outfit as my buddy.

So the war ends or at least that is what they say, we lost 4 or 5 officers killed on the day that the Jap emperor announced the conclusion of the war, and since then we have been on the alert for any monkey business.  It doesn’t seem possible that this fanatic who could dive his plane into a flight deck would think of giving up without a death fight.  This sure caught us flat footed, we have been walking around lately with the same feeling that you’d get after the big game has ended, everything seems to have come to a stop all of a sudden, the sudden gun alerts, the battle stations the diving flaming suicide planes, the awful suspense, they are all gone and now the flight deck is almost as same as grand central station or park, in fact we were up there this afternoon (Sunday, no work) playing catch with a hard ball and gloves.  The whole ship slept little the night the news was announced, of course we couldn’t pick up a favorite girl and go out and raise hell but we could marvel at the fact that we were alive and could make plans for the future… Gosh… we have been lucky, it wasn’t natural that we should be so fortunate, some how your prayers helped us through.  Thanks…

      

From 16 to 23 August, Yorktown and the other carriers of TF 58 steamed around more or less aimlessly in waters to the east of Japan awaiting instructions while peace negotiations continued. Then, on the 23d, she received orders to head for waters east of Honshu where her aircraft were to provide cover for the forces occupying Japan. She began providing that air cover on the 25^th and continued to do so until mid September.

26 August 1945, east of Honshu, Japan

Gosh it sure seems funny to be sunbathing and only a few miles off Tokyo, a month ago we would have on our steel helmets, our face would be completely covered with flash proof gear and there would be gloves over our fingers and hands, and every gun and look out …at the sky.  It now seems like just a bad dream, sort of a nightmare.  I never will forget the weird scream that use to go up from the gun mounts and flight deck when one of the “zoot suit boys” missed us, it use to set my hair on end (all ½”of it), ah yes the old days.  

 

After the formal surrender on board Missouri (BB-63) on 2 September, the aircraft carrier also began air-dropping supplies to Allied prisoners of war still living in their prison camps.

8 Sept 1945  east of Honshu, Japan   

I received my first real enjoyment of this trip the other day when I took a 6 ½ hour ride over central Japan.  We went in search of prisoner of war camps with instructions to drop our food parcels to them. We were catapulted off around 10:25 and it wasn’t too long before we saw the coastline of Japan before us.  The first thing that impressed me was the beauty of the land.  There were quaint little fishing villages nestled in between the coastline mountain ranges.  Each little village seemed to have a large house and around it were the smaller homes, all around the village were the rice grain fields, every bit of land seemed cultivated and all of it was a very impressive green (something I had not seen in 12 mo.)  Each village had one or two roads leading in and Shinto Shrines were at the head of the roads.

We spotted an airfield and started down to take pictures.  Our pilot said that he was going down as close as possible to the ground and believe me if I stuck my foot out it would have touched Japanese soil.  We had a good look at all the Jap airplanes lined up on the field and the Japs standing beside them watching us go by.  We then climbed up stairs again and crossed the mountains into the inland sea. 

It is hard to describe the beauty of the scene below me, the lazy white clouds floating by, below them blue water ringed by green rolling mountains, here and there the symmetry marred by some small village.  We passed on and soon saw the larger sites that we were looking for.  Again we went down real low, just off the tops and some times below and found ourselves feeling like peeping toms.  The first thing that struck me here was the fact that every building (ie. the ones that weren’t burnt or blown down) seemed so shabby. All of them needed fixing up and painting. The sheets and blankets were all out on the line being aired (the blankets all seemed to have Japanese inscriptions on them.)  The people were all busy looking out the window at us, down below them were the children and when I say I saw a lot of kids I’m not kidding, these Japs must have spent their nights at home, they must really believe in mass production. 

It was fun to watch the heads pop out of the streetcar windows as we went by.  One little kid was busy throwing rocks at us but his aim was poor, a birds aim was better and he really messed up the glass in the green house.  There were few cars around (I saw one 1936 Plymouth) but a heck of a lot of bicycles and all ridden by men (the women walk).  I also noticed that the women seemed to be doing all the work in the fields (these Japs are not so dumb).  I did see one lady dressed in a bright blue affair strutting down the road with a funny umbrella over her head (she must have had a different line of work).

We found one camp and those boys were really happy to see us. We went right down into them and damn near knocked a few off the roof of the shed they were living in.  We dropped our food and medicine and took our pictures and went up stairs again. 

The group joined up and we stared back to the ship, we came aboard around 4:30 and believe it or not I was darn glad to be back.  The Father was right, these Japs had no right in the war.  

 

On 16 September, Yorktown entered Tokyo Bay with TG 38.1. She remained there, engaged in upkeep and crew recreation, through the end of the month.

 

 

24 September 1945 “Tokyo Bay”

As you know we are sitting in Tokyo Bay enjoying the scenery.  It sure is swell to feel real earth underneath again even if it is Jap.  I have been to Tokyo, Yokohama, Yakosuka and many smaller places so far and everywhere it is the same.  The houses are packed together and shabby, the food is poor and expensive, the people thin and pretty beat looking.

All the men are wearing some sort of Japanese army & navy uniform from the very youngest to the oldest.  They seem friendly and some act like we were old friends.  It is hard to believe that these women we were talking to were the ones who had beat and tortured our flyers a few short weeks ago. 

There is very little good things to buy, the people are poor and have little to sell, inflation has made money rather valueless and much of the nice things were destroyed in the bombing.  Between Yokohama and Tokyo there is mile after mile of burnt out industrial sections.  The Japs just shrug their shoulders and say “Fire bombs you know”. 

We saw the Emperors palace and the moat around it.  It is very beautiful and it seems too strange to see whole Jap families come up and bow before the gates of the palace.  Tokyo itself was a very beautiful city and is something like our Washington, D.C.   Of course now most of the buildings are burnt out but the shells are standing and smooth symmetry is there. 

We saw a geisha house and the girls but they are like the rest of the girls here… 

We will be on the west coast on or before the 27^th of Oct.  We will be, I think, in some sort of Navy Day parade somewhere, in either Seattle, Frisco, or L.A.  We may stay or we may come right back out, it is hard to say yet…

 

On 1 October, the carrier stood out of Tokyo Bay on her way to Okinawa. She arrived in Buckner Bay on 4 October, loaded passengers on the 5^th, and got underway for the United States on the 6^th.

After a non-stop voyage, Yorktown entered San Francisco Bay on 20

October, moored at the Alameda Naval Air Station, and began discharging

passengers. She remained at the air station until 31 October at which time she shifted to Hunters Point Navy Yard to complete minor repairs. On 2 November, while still at the navy yard, she reported to the Service Force, Pacific Fleet, for duty in conjunction with the return of American service men to the United States. That same day, she stood out of San Francisco Bay, bound for Guam on just such a mission. She arrived in Apra Harbor on 15 November and, two days later, got underway with a load of passengers. She arrived back in San Francisco on 30 November and remained there until 8 December. On the latter day, the warship headed back to the Far East. Initially routed to Samar in the Philippines, she was diverted to Manila en route. She arrived in Manila on 26 December and departed there on the 29^th. She reached San Francisco again on 13 January 1946. Later that month, she moved north to Bremerton, Wash., where she was placed in commission, in reserve, on 21 June. She remained there in that status through the end of the year. On 9 January 1947, Yorktown was placed out of commission and was berthed with the Bremerton Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet.

 

[During the War the “Fighting Lady” received 11 battle stars and a Presidential Unit Citation.  She was re-commissioned for the Korean and Vietnam war and in 1970 recovered the astronauts of Apollo 9 moon mission.  She is now de-commissioned and on view at Patriots Point Museum at Charlestown, South Carolina.] 

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US Navy Muster Rolls, Yorktown 1944

Sliney, W. J. Lieut (jg) ,  Sept. 1, 1944 date of rank, A-V (S), MOS on board 2,  MOS at Sea 7, Asst. V.F. Eng. Off., other duties Inven. Bd.

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Evelyn O. Soderquist born Aug. 30, 1923, Seattle, Washington; married James L. Merritt, 1918-1993, (TSGT. US Army, 3^rd Inf. Div.), Feb. 20, 1946; she died Dec. 3, 2018, aged 95, Seattle, Washington.  2 children.

William J. Sliney and Evelyn Soderquist met at a USO dance in Seattle.  They wrote during the war.   In the later part of the war she became engaged by mail to James Merritt, who was in Europe.

William John Sliney, born 23 Mar 1920 Boston, Mass., 27 Apr 1943 military date. Died 26 Dec 2006, age 86, Monmouth New Jersey.   He married Claire E. Hurst, June, 1952, 1927-2010.  2 children.
     
   William J. Sliney, 1938            Evelyn O. Soderquist, 1941