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War history of the U.S.S. Heermann
Get PDFIt was the sixth of July in 1943, she had just been commissioned. Within the course of time she would be called many names, some spoken in anger, some in fear, some in pain; but now she was the U. S. S. Heermann (DD532.) The gods were pleased.
The crew was like the country they served. They came from east and west, north and south. They\u27d been farmers, students, grocers, salesmen. They were of every color, every creed. We were lucky, there were a few old hands aboard to help build a fighting crew for a fighting ship.
Then came the shakedown cruise. There is nothing under the sun like a shakedown cruise. It\u27s indescribable but it gets results. After that period in San Diego we began to look as if we had been born on the crest of a wave and rocked in the cradle of the deep. Shakedown gave us forewarnings of things to come and suddenly it became apparent that fighting a war was hard work and lots of it.
On the first of October, after another brief session in the yard, the powers that be decided that the Heermann was ready to go out and win her spurs. So we headed out toward the islands. That last look at the Golden Gate Bridge always seems to be the one that hurts the most. All of us knew it would be many a day before we would be Stateside again, but we were ready-we had the finest ship in the Fleet and the finest group of men alive to fight it.
Author unknownhttps://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/ww_reg_his/1158/thumbnail.jp
War-Time log of the U.S.S. Tate (AKA-70)
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Between these covers is preserved a record, in pictures and text, of life aboard the U.S.S. Tate during her war-time voyages, and of her many ports of call. A good ship with a good crew, she carried us through many difficult situations and did her part with honor in a great war. We shall never forget her.https://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/ww_reg_his/1159/thumbnail.jp
The Blackjack, 1944-1945: a story about and published by the 21st U.S. Naval Construction Battalion
Get PDFFrom the Foreword
For three years these men have adjusted their individual characters, their own ways of doing things, their very natures to that vague method of procedure called The Navy Way. It is at once the most efficient and most bungling method of getting things done. It is a conglomerate of logical procedure mixed with hopeless muddling, sound economy with profligate waste, rank incompetency with expert performance, nonsensical methods of operation with excellent results. Men exposed to the Navy Way for three years have drunk the dregs of despair and tasted the wine of life at its fullest. They have seen life at its worst and at its best. Men so exposed will never be the same. Such are the men of the Twenty-First.
This is our story. This is the story of the 21st U. S. Naval Construction Battalion, the 21st Seabees, the Blackjacks -- one of those groups of a thousand-odd men who helped to build and fight the way to the defeat of Japan. We were just one battalion, and thousands of battalions and millions of men and women made up our armed forces. Maybe our part was small in the whole history of the war, but we saw to it that this part was done with a let\u27s-get-it-over-with-quickly, Can Do energy.
These words and pictures are mostly about our second tour of overseas duty -- our work in the Central and Western Pacific. Before this came our first cruise in the Aleutians.https://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/ww_reg_his/1170/thumbnail.jp
13th Airborne Division
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In editing this, the history of the 13th Airborne Division, we hope that we have not committed the grievous error of considering our commission as merely a personal honor. We feel that the honor and the high responsibility entailed therewith allows us an opportunity to render a real service to our comrades and to our beloved Division. It is our most sincere hope that in the years to come, when the memory of recent days fade, you may take this book in your lap and recall memories of friends -- of trials and triumphs -- of days we spent together in the 13th Airborne Division.
The Editorial and Management Boardhttps://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/ww_reg_his/1182/thumbnail.jp
We did: the story of the 77th Naval Construction Battalion
Get PDFFrom the unofficial introduction:
And Seabee ingenuity, what of that? We made bull fiddles out of oil drums, violins out of native mahogany on Guadalcanal, sight-seeing boats out of sunken barges; drove piles without pile drivers, built bridges before our equipment could get to us. On Bougainville, although bombed 60 times by the Japs, Seabees on their own time rigged up an ice cream factory which supplied 30 gallons of the world\u27s best ice cream to these fighting builders. Perhaps these examples seem trivial in the light of the substantial contributions to total victory which the Seabees have made, but they reveal the spirit of the men. How are you going to discount men who can go through 60 bombings and come out making ice cream?
We are famous now, this group begun so few years ago -- famous for our work, famous for our fights, famous for our ability to make something out of nothing, but we are famous for other things, too, not the least of which is our chow. Many are the Marines and soldiers who have come to Seabee mess halls for a hot meal. The 77th never sat down to a meal without at least one guest. Some of these were famous, many more were just GI\u27s on the line who could do with something hot inside. The 77th Welcome Mat was always out, not one meal chit was ever issued to one of these guests.
So it went for four long arduous years, move up, move in, build up, roll down, clear out, haul dirt, tamp strips, lay mats, move out, start again. The pattern has been set, the die cast. The Seabees are in, in to stay, in as a part of the fighting team of the United States. Construction men in uniform, trained to build by years of experience, trained to fight by Uncle Sam, ready to turn Can Do into We Did whenever and wherever the need for construction engineers is greatest. And now for the story of the 77th, one of the best of the many which fought and built in World War II.
Author unknownhttps://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/ww_reg_his/1183/thumbnail.jp
Service record of the 145th Naval Construction Battalion, 1943-1944-1945
Get PDFThis book is uploaded into two parts to accommodate quicker download rates.
From A Batt is Born (the book\u27s introduction):
As the sunrise dispersed the chill early morning mists from over Camp Peary, Virginia, on the morning of 15 November, 1943, a momentous event was in the making. Old Doc Stork circled thru B-10 area, hopped into Replacement, dipped thru Ship\u27s Company area, and laboriously dumped his mountainous load with a resounding thud into Area A-7. The 145th Naval Construction Battalion was born.
Little did the infant suspect the experiences on the long rough road ahead of it ... a journey that would occupy two years and would take it to Japan\u27s front door and back.
And so it was with a naive and strictly Gl Here Sir that we answered our first muster at Camp Peary. It was with the enthusiasm of the uninitiated that we marched to the trains in tempo with a band, and set out on November 20, 1943.https://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/ww_reg_his/1186/thumbnail.jp
A Brief History of Dow Field
Get PDFDetails the history of Dow Field / Dow Air Force Base in Bangor, Maine, covering the years 1923 to 1946. Focuses primarily on military uses, but also discusses briefly the commercial use of the airport.
First Lieutenant Annis G. Thompson, or A.G. Thompson (as identified on this document) was Historical Officer for Dow Field.https://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/dow_books/1000/thumbnail.jp
Supply Front the 16th Port Story
Get PDFThis is the story of the 16th Major Port: its birth and growing pains and the accomplishment of its mission. It has been impossible in the relatively narrow compass of a short history to give full credit to the Navy, to Army Engineers, to the Coast Guard, to British Minesweepers and to others who took part in the gigantic task at Le Havre, but this is by no means meant to detract from the credit due these organizations. The story of the 16th Port is part of the story of the Army Transportation Corps. It is the story of how in the face of overwhelming obstacles, men worked hard together that the combat troops might be fed, that reinforcements might move forward quickly and efficiently, that the multifarious items of supply might flow smoothly to the front, that the guns might fire .
Written by Cpl. Alex Bower, illustrated by Si Mezerow ... and edited by Lt. E.N. Brandt.https://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/ww_reg_his/1002/thumbnail.jp
Battalion history, 74th Field Artillery Battalion, December 31st, 1945
Get PDFThe Seventy Fourth Field Artillery Battalion, when activated, was the Second Battalion of the Eighteenth Field Artillery Regiment 75 mm. gun horse-drawn. Its parent unit was the Fifth Field Artillery Regiment. Place of activation of this battalion was Fort Bliss, Texas. Date of activation June 1, 1917 and it was first commanded by Colonel A. J. Bowley. Shortly after activation it was ordered to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where it served as school troops for the Field Artillery School until July 1, 1940.
As you well remember, 1940 found the world in a very unsettled condition. Italy was on the march, Germany had occupied, by force, the greater part of Europe and Japan was frantically preparing for a war with our country. Uncle Sam decided it was high time to make a few preparations of his own.https://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/ww_reg_his/1057/thumbnail.jp
42nd Rainbow Infantry Division: a combat history of World War II
Get PDFThe first Rainbow Division was composed of National Guard units from 27 states and it was this collection of men which inspired General Douglas MacArthur, its most famous member, to declare. The 42nd Infantry Division stretches like a Rainbow from one end of America to the other.
Major General Harry J. Collins, then Brigadier General, recalled the words of General MacArthur on that activation day when he told the veterans of the old Rainbow and the cadremen of the new: The Rainbow stretches across the land and represents the people of our country. This Division cannot fail because America cannot fail.https://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/ww_reg_his/1066/thumbnail.jp