13 August 1945

438^th AAA AW BN

APO 513 % Postmaster, N.Y.

13 August, 1945

Nancy

My dearest sweetheart –

The French call it “somber lundi” instead of “blue” – but anyway, I just don’t feel like that this morning. It’s clear out and for some reason or other, darling, I’m all pepped up. Of course it could be because I’m so much in love with you and I know that one of these days you’re going to me mine alone! That’s a good enough reason for me – and I’m not going to look for another. Sweetheart – I do love you so – and I miss you – but not in the blue way I used to, dear. It’s probably because of the good news we’re getting these days. I miss your presence, your contact, you – but I know I’m going to have you with me and that feeling helps tremendously. You’ve been patient, darling – very patient – and don’t think for a moment that I’m not aware how difficult it has been for you. And I know, too, how easy it could have been for you to date from time to time. I could hardly have objected, either. But I love you all the more for your will-power and your determination to wait for me and me alone. But you’re going to have an awfully attentive and steady guy to date you once a certain fellow gets home. I’ll give you no more hint than that dear.

I’ve told you from time to time, dear, about the French, their customs, etc. I don’t think I’ve told you about the hair – I mean the color. The French women are crazy. Of course – a peroxide blonde is nothing – and even women of very respectable families bleach their hair. But when they start dying it different colors – well that’s too much. I’ve meant to tell you about it before and forgot – until this morning when I saw a new color – pink! Yes – a nice rosy pink and it looked weird. Up to now I’ve seen purple hair, steel blue, light blue and green! And some women streak their hair in combination colors – like blond – with a two inch path of green – or purple – etc. It’s absolutely bizarre.

Well yesterday we rested all day. The binge Saturday did materialize and we managed to get the Colonel highly plastered. Liquor was scarce but the variety was wicked and it didn’t take much to make a fellow high. I used to think my “Purple Jesus” was potent – but I know some other combinations that make that one seem mild. We sang, one of the fellows played the piano and everyone was gay. Incidentally – there was no one at breakfast except me. Sunday morning, I had to be at the Dispensary at 0800 to see a couple of sick guys.

And this morning we all said ‘goodbye’ to the Colonel and he took off for Reims. He’ll be there for awhile and then will probably fly back by way of Dakar.

This p.m. I have to go to St Dié and that will take most of the rest of the day, dear. I’ve got a couple of things to do now and then I’m going back to quarters and get ready. So for now, Sweetheart, I’ll say ‘so long’. Be with you tomorrow in writing – although I’m always with you in between. Love to the folks – and

All my everlasting love, dear

Greg

* TIDBIT *

about Saint-Dié and the Naming of America

Saint-Dié, France is located in the Vosges Mountains 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Nancy, on the Meurthe River.

Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, France

The center of Saint-Dié was largely destroyed by the Germans in November of 1944, although there was no military necessity to do so. This is about what it looked like when Greg made his visit.

Saint-Dié, France as Greg saw it in 1945


Saint-Dié, France: Then (above) and Now (below)

Due to the necessity of rebuilding, much of the city has a modern look with many properties featuring 1950s style facades. However, the history of Saint Die stretches back through many centuries.

In the early 1500's, Vautrin Lud, Canon of St-Dié in charge of the mines of the valleys, was the chaplain and secretary of René II, Duke of Lorraine. The Duke set up a very early printing-establishment at St-Dié and facilitated reflections on the theme of Earth representation, or, mapping. He convened a meeting with several scholars including the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller and the Alsatian professor Matthias Ringmann, who would be called "geographers" today.

While having an edition of a Latin translation of Ptolemy's "Geography" produced in 1507, René II received the "Soderini Letter," an abridged account of the four voyages of Amerigo Vespucci. [It seems that in his accounts, Vespucci falsely claimed that he had discovered the continent which we now know was discovered by Christopher Columbus.] Lud had this letter translated into Latin by Basin de Sandaucourt. The translation was completed at St-Dié on 24 April 1507; it was prefaced by a short explanatory booklet written by Waldseemüller, entitled Cosmographiae Introductio. This booklet can be seen as the baptismal certificate of the New Continent. Waldseemüller and the scholars of the Gymnasium Vosagense then made a capital decision, writing: "...And since Europe and Asia received names of women, I do not see any reason not to call this latest discovery Amerige, or America, according to the sagacious man who discovered it".

The first and second printing appeared in August 1507 at St-Dié, a third at Strasburg in 1509, and thus the name of America was spread about. In 1513, Waldseemüller, having become better informed, inserted into other maps the name of Columbus as the discoverer of America. But it was too late to alter the name of the continent; "America" had been already firmly established.

Thus, Saint-Dié-des-Vosges is honored today with the title of "godmother of America," the city that named America.

12 August 1945

V-MAIL

438^th AAA AW BN

APO 513 % Postmaster, N.Y.

12 August, 1945

Nancy

My dearest darling –

Here it is early Sunday morning and I love you, I love you, I love you. And wonders to speak! – two (2) nice letters from you yesterday – 3 July and 1 August. You were blue in the former, darling, and I wish so much that I could be with you to forever banish that feeling. I know only too well, sweetheart, how you feel and I’m glad you’re still able to pull yourself out of it after a day or so.

But the news is so darned good I know you must feel much better now. Gosh – it’s still difficult for me to believe that it’s practically over.

By now, dear, you realize why I use V-mail more frequently now than ever before. It’s the only way you can keep up to date with me at all. But V-mail or no – I love you as strongly and yet as tenderly as I know how, darling, and I always will!

All for now. Love to the folks, dear and

All my deepest love to you

Greg

* TIDBIT *

about How the OWI Influenced Japan's Surrender

The US Office of War Intelligence (OWI) was responsible for using information warfare to promote distrust of Japanese military leaders, lower Japanese military and civilian morale, and encourage surrender. OWI was manned by civilians and supported by military liaison personnel. The Director, Elmer Davis, reported to Secretary of State James Byrnes.

From "Paths to Peace" by Josette H. Williams on the CIA's web site's "Studies in Intelligence" portion on the "Information War in the Pacific, 1945" comes this:

Japan had two governments in 1945: one was a military government determined to fight to the last; the other was a civilian government that had long recognized the need to surrender. The military clearly held the upper hand, rendering the civilian leaders impotent through political intimidation and threats of imprisonment.

Civil-military friction, disagreements within political factions, and inter-generational tensions resulted in a bewildering array of conflicting reports on current conditions being disseminated to the Japanese people. The job of the US Office of War information was to cut through the confusion in Japan and its occupied territories, and to convince the Emperor, the politicians, and the civilians that victory was already in the hands of the Allies.

There is little doubt that Japanese government agencies, military and civilian alike, realized by mid-summer 1945 that their country could not win the war. Japan’s cities were being destroyed almost at will. Although attempting to avoid the Emperor’s palace, the Allies had devastated the capital in only six hours of bombing on 9-10 March 1945, leaving 100,000 dead and over 1,000,000 homeless, an even worse toll than from the later atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The Japanese military maintained a defiant stance, even as they recognized the need to shift from aggression to defense of their homeland. They were well prepared, both psychologically and technically, for this final stand. The Allies never underestimated (as we, perhaps, sometimes do today) the desire of Japan’s military leaders to preserve their honor by fighting literally to the last man, woman, and child.

There are indications that the Emperor had long wished for an end to the war for practical and emotional reasons. Ascending to the throne in 1926 at the age of 25, Hirohito was an intelligent man, a distinguished marine biologist, and a rather quiet, shy individual. He remained in Tokyo throughout the war, witnessing personally the destruction that he knew to be indicative of what was happening to the rest of his country. According to various historians, he found the arguments of the militarists to be self-seeking and born of false pride. No doubt pressure from the civilian members of his Cabinet and other government officials strengthened his resolve to end the devastation.

When Secretary of State Byrnes sent his reply to the Japanese in Switzerland [see yesterday's post], OWI began to play its most dramatic role.

Technically, Japan had not yet surrendered. The war was not yet over. President Truman had ordered the continuation of Allied bombing runs over Japanese military installations. The people of Japan knew nothing of their government’s plan to surrender. Radio Tokyo still exhorted all Japanese to prepare defenses against an enemy invasion.

In a race to save the lives of soldiers still fighting, the Allies’ acceptance of Japan’s modification of the Potsdam surrender terms was radioed to OWI in Honolulu and Saipan at the same time that it was forwarded to Switzerland. The US War Department sent an urgent dispatch ordering OWI to inform the Japanese people directly, by leaflet and radio, that their government had offered to surrender and that the Allies had accepted the offer. The order, which originated from the White House, threw OWI personnel into high gear. The text for the message was prepared in Washington and dictated by telephone to Honolulu, where it was transcribed, translated into Japanese, lettered, and transmitted to Saipan by “radiophoto” within two hours. The 17 members of the OWI staff on Saipan were challenged to a previously unmatched degree. By mid-night on 11 August, less than 48 hours after Japan’s message was received in Washington, three-quarters of a million leaflets giving notification of the surrender offer had been printed on OWI’s three Webendorfer highspeed presses running continually. By the next afternoon, production of OWI leaflet #2117 totaled well over 5 million copies.

On 12 August 1945, aircraft runs departed Saipan at 1:30, 4:30, 7:30 and 11:30 p.m., delivering to the people of Japan the news of their government’s surrender offer. The 4” x 5” leaflets rained down by the millions, telling the Japanese people:

These American planes are not dropping bombs on you today. American planes are dropping these leaflets instead because the Japanese Government has offered to surrender, and every Japanese has a right to know the terms of that offer and the reply made to it by the United States Government on behalf of itself, the British, the Chinese, and the Russians. Your government now has a chance to end the war immediately. You will see how the war can be ended by reading the two following official statements.

Two paragraphs then gave the Japanese surrender offer verbatim and the Byrnes response indicating the Allies’ willingness to accept that offer. OWI repeated the same message continuously over station KSAI.

The significance of this information barrage cannot be overstated. For the first time the Japanese people became aware that their government was trying to surrender. And it was the first that Japanese officials knew of the Allies’ acceptance of their surrender offer, because the OWI notification preceded, by about 72 hours, the receipt of the official diplomatic reply sent through Switzerland.

11 August 1945

438^th AAA AW BN

APO 513 % Postmaster, N.Y.

11 August, 1945      0930

Nancy

My dearest fiancée –

Gee – the news has taken such startling turns in the past few days – it’s getting difficult to keep the emotions keyed up to the proper pitch. But isn’t it wonderful, and isn’t it difficult to make the mind realize that a state in the world can exist in which we’re not at war and you can think only about your own private world? I’ve been a soldier for 3 years only, darling, but honestly, I can hardly recall the feeling of freedom I used to have before I started wearing a uniform. And to think that things are happening right now that will close this cursed war and allow both of us to fulfill our most cherished desire – well, darling – it defies my imagination. I just can’t believe it.

I suppose there’ll be some delay – but one term or another – the end is here – and then what? Boy what bitching the Army will develop then! Who goes home first – and when? Who stays with the Army of Occupation? Etc. etc. – But I’ll get home, sweetheart – sooner or later and I won’t have to go away again. And just think – some day I’ll be getting discharged! That’s too much! I’ll have to stop for a couple of minutes and think that over!

Well – to get back to more immediate things, dear – no one got mail yesterday and this just about completes a full week without any delivery. No one knows why.

Yesterday p.m. – when the first “important announcement” came thru – we all left our offices and went back to quarters. It was a cold rainy day, anyway, with very little to do. We played cards for a couple of hours, ate, and then went to the movies and saw a first-class smelleroo – whose name escapes me for the moment – and may the moment continue! Tonight – Saturday – if we can dig up enough alcohol of one sort or another – we’ll have a little party for the Colonel. We’ve pretty nearly used up all the liquor we brought back from Germany. I [hope], darling, that you’re not alarmed at my frequent mentioning of liquor, parties, drinking etc. I’ve told you before and I’ll repeat now – I never liked the stuff, I haven’t made a habit of it – and I drink it from time to time to forget the present. I have learned how to drink a variety of liquors, liqueurs and wines – and someday, dear, we’ll try to have a well-stocked cabinet for our guests.

I love to think of the time when we’ll be living together, man and wife – in our own home – sweetheart. The thought is such a happy one and with the realization that it is within our reach – well – I can’t describe to you how happy it makes me. I can only tell you, darling, that I love you more than anything else in the world – and I’m going to do my best to make you forever happy.

All for now, dear – love to the folks – and

All my deepest love,

Greg

* TIDBIT *

about Japan Plans to Surrender


Click to Enlarge

On 10 August 1945 the Japanese Minister in Switzerland, upon instructions received from his Government, requested the Swiss Political Department to advise the Government of the United States of America of the following (as part of their message):

The Japanese Government are ready to accept the terms enumerated in the joint declaration which was issued at Potsdam on July 26th, 1945, by the heads of the Governments of the United States, Great Britain, and China, and later subscribed to by the Soviet Government, with the understanding that the said declaration does not comprise any demand which prejudices the prerogatives of His Majesty as a Sovereign Ruler.

On 11 August 1945, United States Secretary of State James Byrne replied:

Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your note of August 10, and in reply to inform you that the President of the United States has directed me to send you for transmission to the Japanese Government the following message on behalf of the Governments of the United States the United Kingdom, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and China:

With regard to the Japanese Government's message accepting the terms of the Potsdam proclamation but containing the statement, "with the understanding that the said declaration does not comprise any demand which prejudices the prerogatives of His Majesty as a sovereign ruler," our position is as follows:

From the moment of surrender the authority of the Emperor and the Japanese Government to rule the state shall be subject to the Supreme Commander of the Allied powers who will take such steps as he deems proper to effectuate the surrender terms.

The Emperor will be required to authorize and ensure the signature by the Government of Japan and the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters of the surrender terms necessary to carry out the provisions of the Potsdam Declaration, and shall issue his commands to all the Japanese military, naval and air authorities and to all the forces under their control wherever located to cease active operations and to surrender their arms, and to issue such other orders as the Supreme Commander may require to give effect to the surrender terms.

Immediately upon the surrender the Japanese Government shall transport prisoners of war and civilian internees to places of safety, as directed, where they can quickly be placed aboard Allied transports.

The ultimate form of government of Japan shall, in accordance with the Potsdam Declaration, be established by the freely expressed will of the Japanese people.

The armed forces of the Allied Powers will remain in Japan until the purposes set forth in the Potsdam Declaration are achieved."

10 August 1945

438^th AAA AW BN

APO 513 % Postmaster, N.Y.

10 August, 1945      1000

Nancy

Good morning, darling –

As a matter of fact it’s a lousy day here today – typical of a cold, windy, rainy day in New England – in October. They say we’ve had our summer here already, but I think we’ll have more warm weather.

The hottest news here is something I’ve already mentioned to you – namely the Colonel’s leaving. But it’s now definite, and he takes off definitely on Monday – 13 August. We have a few more high point men who will probably be going in the next several weeks. There are eleven of us with points below 85 – and we don’t know where we’ll go – or when. Anyway – on Saturday night we’re going to have a big brawl – i.e. tomorrow evening. He’s been a pretty good egg – somewhat on the style of Col Pereira. Now – temporarily at least – our Major – Hoag will take over. He’s a nice fellow – but not forceful enough. How much we’ll be pushed around is hard to say – but we’re kind of used to it by now.

1115

Well, sweetheart – I became busy for awhile. You know, dear – I’ve built up quite a little practice from outside units. We’re centrally located and we see a lot of transients. Last week a Sgt. came in – complaining of service he had been receiving at the hospital in town. He had a draining sinus on his buttock and they were just dressing it from day to day. Well it needed a little nick to open it up adequately and the thing cleared up in a few days. Now I’ve been referred business – pay is still the same, darling.

Gosh, dear – would you please write our Congressman and complain about the mail? C’est toujours la même – rien. C’est formidable! Honestly – it’s becoming very annoying – day after day – no mail – and that’s really all I have to look forward to from day to day – and you just can’t or maybe you can – imagine how lonesome a day is without a letter from you, sweetheart. I love you dearly and I love your letters and I miss so much not being able to read daily that you love me too.

Oh hell here come some more guys. They’ve been dropping in all morning – but I’m not so busy these days that I can’t see them.

I’d better knock off now, sweetheart – because it’ll be noon soon and I’d like this to go out. Whatever else I say or write, darling – I mean always to remind you that I love you and you alone – and I always will!

Love to the folks, dear – and

My deepest love is yours alone –

Greg

* TIDBIT *

about How Korea got Divided

Korea had been a unified country since the 7th century. During the 19th century imperialist nations threatened Korea's long standing sovereignty. After defeating China in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95, the Japanese forces remained in Korea, occupying strategically important parts of the country. Ten years later, they defeated the Russian navy in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), contributing to Japan's emergence as an imperial power.　 The Japanese continued to occupy the peninsula against the wishes of the Korean government and people, expanded their control over local institutions through force, and finally annexed Korea in August 1910.

In November 1943, Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Chiang Kai-shek met at the Cairo Conference to discuss what should happen to Japan's colonies, and agreed that Japan should lose all the territories it had conquered by force. In the declaration after this conference, Korea was mentioned for the first time. The three powers declared that "mindful of the enslavement of the people of Korea [we] are determined that in due course Korea shall become free and independent.”

For Korean nationalists who wanted immediate independence, the phrase "in due course" was cause for dismay. Roosevelt may have proposed to Soviet leader Joseph Stalin that three or four years elapse before full Korean independence; Stalin demurred, saying that a shorter period of time would be desirable. In any case, discussion of Korea among the Allies would not resume until victory over Japan was imminent. However, American leaders worried that the whole peninsula might be occupied by the Soviet Union, and feared this might lead to a Soviet occupation of Japan.

On 10 August 1945 two young officers – Colonels Dean Rusk and Charles Bonesteel – were assigned to define an American occupation zone. Working at extremely short notice and completely unprepared, they used a National Geographic map to decide on the 38th parallel. They chose it because it divided the country approximately in half but would leave the capital Seoul under American control. No experts on Korea were consulted. The two men were unaware that forty years previous, Japan and Russia had discussed sharing Korea along the same parallel. Rusk later said that had he known, he "almost surely" would have chosen a different line. Regardless, the decision was hastily written into "General Order No. 1" for the administration of postwar Japan.

         

                   Charles Bonesteel III                      Dean Rusk

The Soviet forces entered the Korean peninsula on 10 August 1945, but occupied only the northern half, stopping at the 38th parallel, per the agreement with the United States. A few weeks later the American forces entered Korea through Incheon. U.S. Army Lt. Gen. John R. Hodge formally accepted the surrender of Japanese forces south of the 38th Parallel on 9 September 1945 at the Government House in Seoul.

With the ending of World War II, the American victory over Japan very rapidly turned into a series of conflicts over the future of East Asia and the Pacific. Splitting Korea at the 38th Parallel, the United States and Russia began their Cold War game of influence and conflict just shy of all out war. Korea was the first test of their policies and resolve.

In December 1945, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to administer the country temporarily. Both countries established governments in their respective halves favorable to their political ideology. In the process, U.S.-run elections supervised by the U.N. replaced an indigenous, left-wing government that had formed in June 1945 with one led by the right-wing politician and anti-Communist Syngman Rhee. The southern partition's left-wing parties boycotted the elections. The Soviet Union, in turn, approved and furthered the rise of a Communist government led by Kim Il-Sung in the northern part. The Allies said that Korea would be a unified, independent country under an elected government but failed to specify the details or how to make this happen. In 1949, both Soviet and American forces withdrew. This set the stage for a Korean Civil War which led to the Korean War (1950-1953) and the eventual creation of a four-kilometer wide buffer zone between the states, where nobody would enter. This area came to be known as the Demilitarized Zone or DMZ.

Still divided today, it is difficult to see how the Korean people will ever have the opportunity to be one again.

09 August 1945

438^th AAA AW BN

APO 513 % Postmaster, N.Y.

9 August, 1945

Nancy

My dearest sweetheart –

What with atomic bombs and the Russians declaring war on the Japs – it’s pretty difficult for me to write anything astounding, so I’ll have to say simply that I love you very much and miss you even more. With the rush of current events, things are really starting to look up and false hopes or no – the war should fold up. My own guess is that it will be within 10 weeks and if not then – in 10 months.

But to get back to the main subject – or as the French say ‘Revenon á nos moutour’ – I love you, darling, and if you’re not sure what that implies, I’ll tell you. It means that I think of you night and day, plan the things we’ll do together when I get back, reminisce about the past and dream of our future. And that goes on all the time, sweetheart – not just when I’m sentimental. That’s love, isn’t it?

Here – there’s not a thing to tell you about, dear. The days and nights are very unexciting. Last night we went to the movies and saw a farce. I was in the mood for it and enjoyed it. It was the “Royal Scandal” with T. Bankhead and I thought it ran off very smoothly. I don’t know whether or not we’re seeing recent pictures – but we’re getting a pretty good variety, anyway.

Ah – I was wondering when you’d start getting a bit jealous. I refer to “the blonde” mentioned in the itinerary of the 438th – as recorded in that little book you received, dear. Now I can tell all – she was very attractive – ahem – otherwise why should I have been so concerned about her welfare? But to tell the truth, darling, I don’t like blondes; I like brunettes – of a certain type – only – and the queer thing is that they have to live on 99 Mandalay Road only!

No mail again, dammit – although packages are coming thru, as well as periodicals. Boy I have a lot of letters from you still outstanding. But I can wait – so long as I know you’re still writing me and loving me. That’s what counts, sweetheart, the comfort of the thought.

Today it’s cold and drab – but if it warms up a bit this afternoon I’m going to play some tennis. I ran into a fellow who plays a good game and I think I’ll get a good workout.

No news from home either in some time – but I trust all is well.

I’ll stop now, sweetheart, and write again tomorrow. I sure hope I hear from you later today. My love to the folks, dear, and regards to Grammy B and Mary. For now – so long and

My deepest love and devotion –

Greg

* TIDBIT *

about a Bad Day for Japan

On 9 August 1945, the same day the Soviet Union invaded Japanese-held Manchuria, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb on Japan in the hopes that surrender would result.

Moments after impact of the atomic bomb in Nagasaki

From the "Hiroshima and Nagasaki Remembered" web site comes this:

On August 6, 1945, The Enola Gay had lifted off from Tinian Island in the Northern Marianas at two A.M. The flight had been uneventful, the weather had cooperated, and, at 8:15 A.M. bombardier Major Thomas W. Ferebee had released Little Boy. The Enola Gay had landed uneventfully at Tinian. The crew had been greeted by an excited crowd. Generals Carl A. "Tooey" Spaatz and Curtis E. LeMay had flown in from Guam. Pilot Paul W. Tibbets, Jr. had been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by General Spaatz. Following the ceremony the fliers had been feted at a star-studded debriefing where General LeMay had told the men, "Kids, go eat, take a good shower, and sleep as much as you want!"

The Nagasaki mission couldn't have been more different.

When a second mission was approved, Kokura was the primary target Nagasaki was the secondary target. Originally scheduled for August 11, 1945, the mission was advanced to August 9 due to weather concerns. That day, when one would have expected all attention to be focused on the Nagasaki strike, yet another ceremony took place to honor Tibbets and the crew of the Enola Gay.

There was some confusion at the outset of the Nagasaki mission. Major Charles W. Sweeny was to command the mission in his plane The Great Artiste. But The Great Artiste was still outfitted with scientific gear left over from being the support plane for the Hiroshima mission and there wasn't time to outfit it to carry Fat Man. So Sweeney and his crew took over Captain Frederick C. Bock, Jr.'s plane Bock's Car, while Bock's crew switched to The Great Artiste.

Back (L-R): Capt Beahan, Capt Van Pelt, Jr.,
1st Lt. Albury, 2nd Lt. Olivi, Maj Sweeney
Front (L-R): SSgt Buckley, MSgt Kuharek,
Sgt Gallagher, SSgt DeHart, Sgt Spitzer

Sweeney and his crew were under orders to only bomb visually. When they got to Kokura they found the haze and smoke obscuring the city as well as the large ammunition arsenal that was the reason for targeting the city. They made three unsuccessful passes, wasting more fuel, while anti-aircraft fire zeroed in on them and Japanese fighter planes began to climb toward them. The B-29s broke off and headed for Nagasaki. The phrase Kokura's Luck was coined in Japan to describe escaping a terrible occurrence without being aware of the danger.

Nagasaki was a city on the west coast of Kyushu on picturesque Nagasaki Bay. It was famous as the setting for Puccini's beautiful opera Madame Butterfly. It was also home to two huge Mitsubishi war plants on the Urakami River. This complex was the primary target, but because the city was built in hilly, almost mountainous terrain, it was a much more difficult target than Hiroshima.

Clouds covered Nagasaki when Bock's Car arrived. Contrary to orders, weaponeer Ashworth determined to make the drop by radar if they had to due to their short fuel supply. At the last minute a small window in the clouds opened and bombardier Captain Kermit K. Beehan made the drop at 10:58 A.M. Nagasaki time.

Fat Man exploded at 1,840 feet above Nagasaki and approximately 500 feet south of the Mitsubishi Steel and Armament Works with an estimated force of 22,000 tons of TNT. Within a minute of Fat Man's explosion, a brilliant fireball boiled skyward. Sweeney banked sharply to avoid it. The two B-29s were battered by five successive shockwaves and the radioactive cloud surged toward them. Both planes turned away and headed home.

Cloud over Nagasaki as Bock's Car flew away

The crew of Bock's Car should have felt some release from tension, but they had only 300 gallons of fuel remaining—not enough to get them back to Tinian, and perhaps not even to Okinawa. Sweeney had his radio operator contact the air-sea rescue teams to alert them to the possibility of ditching. There was no answer. The rescue teams had shut down, apparently deciding Bock's Car had long returned to Tinian.

When they reached Okinawa, repeated attempts to raise the tower for landing instructions went unanswered. Sweeney watched other planes taking off and landing, but knew he didn't have enough gas for protracted circling. He set off flares and finally somebody on the ground noticed. Bock's Car landed at two P.M. local time. The number two engine ran out of fuel while they were on the runway. They had a total of seven gallons of fuel left. They refueled, took off for Tinian, and landed without further incident at 11:39 P.M. local time.

No one was on hand to greet them. There was no ceremony. No one had even thought to have food ready for the famished crews who hadn't eaten in almost twenty-four hours.

Unlike Hiroshima, there was no firestorm at Nagasaki. Despite this, the blast was more destructive to the immediate area, due to the topography and the greater power of Fat Man. However, the hilly topography limited the total area of destruction to less than that of Hiroshima, and the resulting loss of life, though horrifically high, was also less. The exact number of casualties was impossible to determine. The Japanese listed only those they could verify and set the official estimate at 23,753 killed, 1,927 missing, and 23,345 wounded. U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey figures were much higher, but still less than those for Hiroshima.

Like Hiroshima, the immediate aftermath in Nagasaki was a nightmare. More than forty percent of the city was destroyed. Major hospitals had been utterly flattened and care for the injured was impossible. Schools, churches, and homes had simply disappeared. Transportation was impossible.

Two years after the bombing, plants growing at ground zero presaged the frightening genetic aberrations in humans that were to come: sesame stalks produced 33 percent more seeds but 90 percent of them were sterile. For decades abnormally high amounts of cancer, birth defects, and tumors haunted victims.

Ground Zero in Nagasaki, today

08 August 1945

438^th AAA AW BN

APO 513 % Postmaster, N.Y.

8 August, 1945      0930

Nancy

Wilma darling –

It’s raining today – the first time in about a month and despite the grayness of the day, I’m rather enjoying it. It has come a little too late for the farmers, though. In a year in which they really needed a large crops – the latter are very poor; the potatoes, tomatoes – etc are tiny and the rain at this stage won’t help.

Now – I’m no farmer, so I’ll get off that subject immediately. Sweetheart I didn’t write to you yesterday because I was away almost the entire day. It was in connection with Special Service – we’re looking for a spot where the 438th can send its own men for a few days relaxation and there are beaucoups such spots in the Vosges. Gosh, darling, it’s lovely country down here and I sure would have loved to have had you here with me yesterday. The Vosges aren’t very high – but they help form some very pretty valleys are just as picturesque as you can imagine.

Village in a Vosges valley

Anyway – we think we have a place on a lake – and we’ll probably go back at the end of the week and make it definite. I returned fairly late and was disappointed to find no mail from you. Damn the service! I did get a V-mail from Stan Levine. He hadn’t written in some time but excused himself because he had had a minor operation à la derrière. He told me of his trip to the Cape and visit with Irv and also wrote he was glad I was getting back home in September. I’d be glad too, darling.

You wrote the other day about meeting a couple from New York – and the fellow being with or having been with the 104th. That was a crack outfit headed by General Terry Allen who used to run the First Division. They didn’t – i.e. the 104th – get into the fight until after Normandy – and I couldn’t understand how that fellow could mention the congestion at Utah Beach – unless he had landed with another outfit and then transferred to the 104th. There was no congestion after the first six weeks. I don’t remember whether I told you or not, dear – but the 438th landed at Omaha – although I did go up to Utah Beach once to evacuate a fellow in our outfit who had cracked up mentally. In those days there were no General Hospitals on the Continent and all such cases were being evacuated to England by air. They had an airstrip right next to the Beach.

Anyway – I’m glad you found the stories interesting, darling, because I know I’m going to have a lot to tell you. Of course – to stimulate your interest – I’ll tell you how I never slept in a chateau but what I missed you and wished you were with me; how I loved and wanted you hour by hour and day by day. And I can imagine my story telling being postponed to a later date at that point due to circumstances beyond our control. Oh me oh my!

Your reference to Pete and “the girl he took to the dances” dear, goes all the way back to Sherborne, England. Pete never did go out much with girls – but he fell for a V.A.D. (Voluntary Aid Detachment) girl associated with the British Naval Hospital in town and he used to take her to dances held in town. That’s all there was to that.

The days are drifting by, sweetheart, and they must be bringing us closer together. It’s hard to see from here – but we’ve got to believe it. I can say only, darling, that I love you and miss you more and more each day and I’m just praying for the day when we’re together once again.

Will stop now, dear. My love to the folks – and

All my sweetest love is yours –

Greg

* TIDBIT *

about The Soviet Union's Declaration of War

The dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima by the Americans did not have the effect intended: unconditional surrender by Japan. Half of the Japanese inner Cabinet, called the Supreme War Direction Council, refused to surrender unless guarantees about Japan's future were given by the Allies, especially regarding the position of the emperor, Hirohito. The only Japanese civilians who even knew what happened at Hiroshima were either dead or suffering terribly.

On 8 August 1945, the Soviet Union officially declared war on Japan. Here is Foreign Commissar Molotov’s announcement of the declaration of war, as broadcast by Moscow:

On August 8, People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the U.S.S.R. Molotov received the Japanese Ambassador, Mr. Sato, and gave him, on behalf of the Soviet Government, the following for transmission to the Japanese Government:

After the defeat and capitulation of Hitlerite Germany, Japan became the only great power that still stood for the continuation of the war.

The demand of the three powers, the United States, Great Britain and China, on July 26 for the unconditional surrender of the Japanese armed forces was rejected by Japan, and thus the proposal of the Japanese Government to the Soviet Union on mediation in the war in the Far East loses all basis.

Taking into consideration the refusal of Japan to capitulate, the Allies submitted to the Soviet Government a proposal to join the war against Japanese aggression and thus shorten the duration of the war, reduce the number of victims and facilitate the speedy restoration of universal peace.

Loyal to its Allied duty, the Soviet Government has accepted the proposals of the Allies and has joined in the declaration of the Allied powers of July 26.

The Soviet Government considers that this policy is the only means able to bring peace nearer, free the people from further sacrifice and suffering and give the Japanese people the possibility of avoiding the dangers and destruction suffered by Germany after her refusal to capitulate unconditionally.

In view of the above, the Soviet Government declares that from tomorrow, that is from August 9, the Soviet Government will consider itself to be at war with Japan.

07 August 1945

No letter today. Just this:

Here are some random pictures. Some are from Nancy but others were left out of their appropriate places...

Greg in Nancy, France - August 1945


Bastogne, Belgium - June 1944, not 1945


Houffalize, Belgium - July 1944, not 1945


Houffalize, Belgium - July 1944, not 1945


Neufchateau on the Moselle - August 1945


Belgium - August 1944


Nancy, France - August 1945


Plaque to the returning French soldier
Nancy, France - July 1945


Reassembled V-1 Rocket
Nancy, France - August 1945

* TIDBIT *

about The Day After
the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima

In her senior thesis at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Diana Steele wrote this:

7 August 1945, the day after the atomic bomb destroyed Hiroshima, brought new challenges, new hardships, new sufferings, more death and despair. Hiroshima had been completely destroyed. The atomic bomb had detonated about 2,000 feet over Hiroshima, and almost every building in the city had been turned to dust. In less than half a second, heat rays with temperatures of more than 3,000 degrees Celsius caused primary burns within two miles of the hypocenter, and the city turned into a sea of fire.

The thousands of victims who had fled the day before returned in the desperate hope that some shred of their lives remained for them to collect and hold dear. Most found nothing but ashes where once stood their house, broken glass that once served as their dinnerware, twisted metal that they once rode as a bicycle. Burned bloody corpses were piled high everywhere. Huge funeral pyres burned throughout the city, while mass graves for the ashes were being dug wherever the pyre was built, by whomever was strong enough to dig. The search for relatives and loved ones rarely met with success or joy.

At the Red Cross Hospital, patients let their presence be known by painting their names on the wall in their own blood in the chance that someone would come looking for them. Along the rivers floated boats with large white flags with the names of people written across them in the hopes that someone would see their name and come to be reunited with their loved ones.

Most, however, found the search hopeless and fruitless. Toshiko Saeki went everyday into Hiroshima to search for her lost family members, but

I couldn't identify people by their faces. Trying to find my family, I had to take a look at their clothing . . . I couldn't find any of my family, so I went out to the playground. There were four piles of bodies and I stood in front of them. I just didn't know what to do. . . If I tried to find my beloved ones, I would have to remove the bodies one by one. It just wasn't possible. I really felt sad.

Toshiko would lose 13 family members to the bomb, including her mother and father and brother.

Those who came to Hiroshima from other towns and cities were not prepared for what they saw. Familiar landmarks were gone, buildings were gone, and only a few shells of structures remained to haunt the smoldering city. Two friends of Dr. Hachiya arrived in Hiroshima from his home town to check on his condition. They continuously repeated the horrors they had seen to convince themselves what they had witnessed was reality, not a nightmare. Mr. Katsutani, one of his friends, recounted in a broken tone,

I came onto I don't know how many [Japanese soldiers], burned from the hips up; and where the skin had peeled, their flesh was wet and mushy. . . And they had no faces! Their eyes, noses and mouths had been burned away, and it looked like their ears had melted off. It was hard to tell front from back.

He explained further of countless bodies along the river, dead from drowning as they tried to get a drink or cool their burns; the thousands of burned corpses filling the roads that led to Hiroshima; the smell everyone who was burned gave off; the pain of having nothing to help them.

Dr. Hachiya, as many of the people of Hiroshima, was a broken man, devoid of hope and spirit:

I found myself accepting whatever was told me with equanimity and a detachment I would have never believed possible. . . . I felt lonely, but it was an animal loneliness. I became part of the darkness of the night. . .

The second day found Hiroshima a city of broken souls, on the edge of death still clinging to life.

Meanwhile, on 7 August 1945 on the island of Guam, the decision to drop the second bomb was made. It's use was calculated to indicate that the United States had an endless supply of the new weapon.