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Volume 1, Number 2 Stanislaus Historical Quarterly Summer 2008 Stanislaus County Founded 1854 An Independent Publication of Stanislaus County History What Did You Do in the War Daddy? Stanislaus County WW II Servicemen Stanislaus Historical Quarterly Summer 2008 Women Serving the War Effort WAVES, SPARS Are Sought for State Battalion Modesto Bee, April 20, 1943 Four hundred and fifty Northern California women, a battalion of WAVES and SPARS, which will release enough men to man two destroyers, are sought for immediate enlistment in the women’s reserves of the Navy and Coast Guard. This unit will be welcomed into the Navy and Coast Guard at a mass swearing in ceremony by Governor Earl Warren. Each city in Northern California will be represented in the group. WAVES and SPARS will be ordered to an indoctrination school for their naval training. At the school, they will learn work, which will enable them to take over shore jobs now done by men and qualify for ratings which will pay them $136.50 to $220 a month in salaries. Applications for enlistment may be made at the Navy recruiting station in the main firehouse at 610 Eleventh Street. Eleven Recruits Are Sought by WAVES, SPARES Modesto Bee, May 7, 1943 Mayor Carl W. Shannon today issued a call for 11 women volunteers for duty in the WAVES or SPARS by next Wednesday. To alert and healthy women, between 20 and 36 years of age, with a minimum of two years of high school education and preferably with office experience, the Navy offers professional training at a leading college, good pay, and an opportunity to serve where all of their efforts will be war efforts. Cover photos: Army and Navy photos Above: WACS operating teletype equipment 75 Women from This Area Have Joined WACS Modesto Bee, November 2, 1943 Between now and Pearl Harbor Day (December 7th), the women’s army corps will seek 30 women from Modesto and vicinity to join the 75 who have enlisted since May 1942 in the WACS. The all-states recruiting drive, which seeks a total of 70,000 women to replace U.S. battle casualties, is being conducted here and in other cities by citizen committees. The Modesto committee is headed by Mayor Carl W. Shannon. The 75 WACS from this area who have joined since the creation of the corps last year, now are serving at posts in this country and overseas. Women between the ages of 20 and 49 may join the WACS, and commissions are available after training to women with sufficient education and business experience. The same insurance and dependency benefits accorded to men in the Army are given to WACS. More than 150 types of jobs now are open to women to join. Stanislaus County Emerges As Major Packing Center Thousands of Workers Prepare Products Commodities Shipped Out of District Find Their Way to America’s Allies Throughout the World Modesto Bee, January 29, 1943 The canneries of Stanislaus County continued in 1942 to be one of the principal industries in the face of wartime restrictions. In the Modesto district, more than 5,400 persons were given employment, and the payrolls, while not definitely announced, were estimated to have approached $1.5 million for the year. One of the greatest changes of the past season was the increased number of women who have been employed in the packing houses. Jobs formerly believed the sole province of men have been filled by women. Food packed in this county has gone to the four points of the compass. Literally, from Greenland’s icy mountains to India’s coral shores have gone products this area processed to meet the call of the United States and the nations engaged with her in battle to put the ax to the Axis. Edited by RLS Stanislaus Historical Quarterly Stanislaus Historical Quarterly is published four times a year, featuring freshly researched articles on Stanislaus County history. Currently, there is no charge per subscription or individual issues, but readers must notify the editor to be placed on the mailing list. Manuscripts of articles may be submitted to the editor. Ideas for articles or historical information concerning topics of county history are eagerly sought and may be sent to the editor. Stanislaus Historical Quarterly is edited, copyrighted, and published by Robert LeRoy Santos, Alley-Cass Publications, 2240 Nordic Way, Turlock, CA, 95382. Tel: 209.634.8218. Email: [email protected]. Ellen Ruth Wine Santos is assistant editor and proofreader. 18 Stanislaus Historical Quarterly Summer 2008 Our War Stories Stanislaus County’s Band of Brothers In Different Services and Combat Roles T hese accounts of war come from the Modesto Bee during the World War II era. They were selected for their representation of certain types of combat activity and regions served. Each story is a rewritten version of the news article to furnish a more precise and readable narrative. Most selections contain quotations from the servicemen to provide their specific observations of their experiences. This representation is far from complete and certainly unfair to others who may have had significant combat roles, which went unreported. The Stanislaus County servicemen portrayed in this issue arrived home alive, some were wounded, but they returned and are honored here. As is said by every returning combat serviceman, the real heroes are those who were left behind, dying while serving their country. This issue is dedicated to everyone involved in the war effort, abroad and at home, who saved the world for democracy, that future generations may enjoy the freedoms fought for and protected on the battlefields of the world, 1941-1945. A wounded gunner crawled from his position to another waist gun, feeding ammunition to it, to assist, but died in his attempt. Huckabee noted that the gun crew shot down 11 enemy fighters, claiming five for himself. Davis ordered the remaining crew to bail out, as recalled by Huckabee: The plane was in a spin when I jumped, and I saw it crash in flames as we floated down. Within 15 minutes after hitting the ground, we were taken prisoner and moved by an ambulance to a Catholic hospital, where we were treated for our wounds. European Theater Modesto Pilot Is Taken Prisoner after Fortress Downs Eleven Planes Modesto Bee, July 16, 1943 Rewritten version: On July 5, 1943, while Lieutenant Albert E. Davis was piloting a B-17 Flying Fortress on a mission to bomb the Italian airfield at Comiso, his airplane was attacked by German and Italian fighter aircraft and struck by antiaircraft fire. Aboard Davis’ B-17 was First Sergeant Allen Huckabee, who told of their ordeal from his hospital bed in Ragusa, Italy: Everything was going fine until we were about ten minutes from the target, and then we were attacked by swarms of Me 109s and Macchi 202s, but we kept on and dropped our bombs. As we were pulling off from the target, more of the enemy kept coming at us, and ack-ack knocked out our number four engine, setting it afire. It slowed us up, and we were forced to drop back from the formation. Ack-ack later hit our number one engine, and we were losing altitude fast and accompanying wing ships had to leave us to protect themselves. There we were all alone, and those 109s and 202s started pouring it on us. We counted at least 20 enemy planes attacking us. Within minutes, four crew members and the copilot were killed. Army photo B-17 Flying Fortress, similar to the one flown by Albert E. Davis, Philip M. Algar, and Dan Lionudakis Hearing that Americans had invaded Sicily, Davis and his hospitalized crew faked their pain, hoping to remain in Italy. They were moved to Venice, Italy as POWs. Davis was the son of Mr. and Mrs. S.A. Davis of Modesto, graduating from Modesto High School and Modesto Junior College. He joined the service on December 18, 1941, being awarded his pilot’s wings at Lubbock Field, Texas on August 5, 1942. Modesto Pilot Brings Fort Home Safe after Hard Fight Modesto Bee, September 27, 1943 Rewritten version: In August 1943, bombing the ball-bearing plant at Schweinfurt, Germany was a high priority in hopes of severely crippling the German war industry. Modestan, First Lieutenant Philip M. Algar, piloted a B-17 Flying For- 19 Stanislaus Historical Quarterly Summer 2008 tress in one of the raids on Schweinfurt. German fighter planes swarmed the formation, doing massive damage. A 30-caliber shell tore into the middle of Algar’s Fortress, wounding one waste gunner seriously. He was wrapped in blankets and given morphine, hoping to keep him alive until the bomber returned to England. German fighters downed the lead Fortress in the formation, which caused Algar to place his B-17 in the front position, while the other bombers tightened the formation for defensive purposes. They fought the enemy’s fighters for three hours, during which a wounded gunner bounced back and forth inside the fuselage, firing both waist guns, as German planes were targeted. Belshaw was assigned to the British 8th Army in Syria, driving an ambulance. In January 1942, while at the battle of Tobruk, he was taken prisoner, along with 50 New Zealanders, being classified as a British POW. While at a German field hospital, he attended to both British and German wounded. He was transferred to a prison at Mersa Matruh, being placed in a POW compound with 80 British soldiers. It was a dangerous site, because RAF pilots bombed the area, while the British Navy shelled it. The POWs were moved by lorries to Bengazi, becoming Italian prisoners. Most of the POWs were ill, lacking sufficient medical care, while being retained temporarily in outside holding pens. A prisoner’s daily food ration consisted of a half loaf of half-baked bread, seven ounces of canned Italian meat, a teaspoon of coffee grounds, and a teaspoonful of sugar. Belshaw remarked: “No clothing and blankets were issued to us. We had limited medical attention and only a pint of water a day for drinking and bathing.” Shortly after bombing the factory, Algar’s Fortress’ right nose gun was disabled, and flak damaged the front ball turret gun, causing the gunner’s oxygen bottle to leak. Algar ordered him to vacate his position and assume one of the waste guns. The Fortress now lacked most of its guns, but fortunately, Algar flew his bomber to an English airfield where his men received immediate medical care. While being lifted out of the aircraft, the seriously wounded gunner said softly to Algar, “Sir, you did a good job. Thanks for bringing us home.” Algar’s navigator summed up the mission this way: “We believe the main reason why our crew came through was because of cooperaArmy photo tion. Not only did every man do British soldiers at Tobruk, where Mortimer Belshaw was taken prisoner his own job, but when he was called upon, he did any other tasks which were necessary to bring the aircraft and the crew On September 8th, Belshaw was among 1,600 POWs transhome safely.” After piloting a number of bombing missions, ported to camps at Taranto and then to Alta Mura, where Algar was promoted to captain. His parents were Mr. and they remained for three weeks. He and an American from Mrs. Harry P. Algar of Modesto. Fresno were sent to a more permanent POW camp at Servigliano, joining 2,000 prisoners from the Royal Canadian Air Force. Belshaw commented on the conditions at the camp: Former Modestan Tells of 11 Months as Axis Prisoner Modesto Bee, September 2, 1943 Rewritten version: In October 1941, Mortimer Belshaw, a former Modesto Junior College graduate, enlisted in the American Field Service (AFS) with 21 other University of California students. Since the nation was not at war, these young Americans wanted to join the British in their fight against Nazi Germany. 20 We were pretty lucky. The Red Cross helped out enormously with extra rations of food; with books and warm clothing. The camp had prisoner management, and we got along all right except that food wasn’t too good. We had a camp infirmary, and men who were really ill, were sent to outside hospitals. We had with us two British doctors, one British dentist, and two British padres. We didn’t have much access to outside news, but we were able to keep track of what was going on. For instance, we were only a few days late in learning about the Tunisian inva- Stanislaus Historical Quarterly Summer 2008 sion, and despite the distortions in the Italian papers, we knew pretty well how the battle was going. Belshaw was not a Catholic, but the church sent a message from him to his mother, Grace Belshaw of Modesto. The pope provided the POWs with Christmas gifts and had the camp inspected by papal authorities, making sure the prisoners were treated humanely. all English were good sports. While assisting in the filming of the movie “Welcome to Britain,” starring Bob Hope and Burgess Meredith, he stirred the ire of a Westminster Abbey’s custodian. During the filming, he was busy capturing on celluloid the abbey’s grounds, when told by the custodian that it On his April 3 rd birthday, Belshaw learned from the camp’s loudspeaker that he was to be part of a prisoner exchange. He was sent to a POW camp in Laterian, with another 29 prisoners to be exchanged for Italian medical personnel. On May 24th, he was transported to Bari and Army photo German V-1 rocket bomb, similar to the ones Audry “Jack” Johnson described then to Smyrna on June 2nd. It was at Smyrna, the Red Cross negotiated a prisoner exchange, was undignified to film the sacred terrain. Later, he photoreleasing him on June 2nd. He commented: “It was strange, graphed D-Day landings in Normandy. being my own boss after 11 months. I hardly knew how to cope with my own freedom. I kept running up and down the Modesto Pilot Escapes Death in Raid street looking for guards who weren’t there.” He was flown Hurt in Train Wreck to Cairo, arriving in the U.S. on August 10, 1943. Modesto Bee, July 8, 1944 Rewritten version: In January 1943, Modestan, Lieutenant Sergeant Ham of Ceres Does His Shooting Dan Lionudakis piloted a B-17 in his first and only mission with a Camera over Europe. The operation’s objective was to drop incendiModesto Bee, June 20, 1944 ary bombs on war production factories in Brunswick, GerRewritten version: Sergeant Richard Ham of Ceres was many. While cruising in formation, German fighter aircraft a professional photographer before being drafted by the Army buzzed around them, strafing the bombers during their passes. in 1942. He continued his professional work in the military, As the flight neared Brunswick, it picked up heavy flak that serving in the Army’s Pictorial Service. His first assignment damaged two engines in Lionudakis’ aircraft and tore gaping was photographing the ship convoy he was in, as it sailed to holes in its fuselage. His bomber struggled onward, but even England. During the North African invasion, he photographed so, his gunners were busy, downing seven German fighters in the landings and the ships arriving in Algeria. the aerial combat. For three months, he assisted the British Royal Engineers in producing a training film for the upcoming Allied landings in Italy. During the process, he nearly lost his life, while aboard a lifeboat with the filming crew. A fierce storm arose, driving the lifeboat onto a sand bar, which was in the midst of a mine field. The crew was stranded for over five hours, waiting for the storm to calm, so the men could push the watercraft back onto a quieter sea. Ham had the opportunity of photographing King George and Queen Elizabeth, while they toured aircraft facilities in England. He noted that the royal pair were “natural and poised” throughout their public appearance. He found though that not While approaching the English Channel, the last two engines on the bomber ceased running, forcing Lionudakis to ditch the airplane. Coming in for the crash-landing, at 100 knots or so, he kept the aircraft’s nose up, trying to ease it on top of the waves, but as it skip-bounced across the water, the B-17 broke apart. The injured crew somehow threw their rubber rafts onto the sea, while the bomber was submerging. Luckily, a rescue patrol plane saw the stranded crew 15 minutes later, and within four hours, they were aboard a ship. His bombing group received the presidential citation for its extraordinary service. After surviving the spectacular crash-landing, ironically, 21 Stanislaus Historical Quarterly Summer 2008 Lionudakis was a passenger aboard a train that wrecked a week later outside London. His legs, right arm, right hip, and pelvis were fractured. After receiving medical care in England, he was transported to Hammond General Hospital in Modesto, where his wife was employed, who was the former Julia Maria Goodrich of Riverbank. Lionudakis exclaimed, “It’s great to be back!” His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Steve Lionudakis of Modesto, felt blessed as well. mission being achieved by being organized and communicating with other units.” They pushed the Germans across the Merderet River and captured Shef du Pont in heavy fighting. Modestan Says Robot Bombs Make “Terrible Racket” Modesto Bee, August 2, 1944 Rewritten version: Army Staff Sergeant Audry “Jack” Johnson wrote his parents about Germany’s V-1 rocket, while serving in England at the Allied Supreme Headquarters: I have seen them, too many of them. They make a terrible racket while flying. Perhaps that is one of the fortunate features though, for one can hear them for miles, and it gives people time to get out of the way and in a protected spot. I have been sleeping in a shelter ever since they started and take every measure provided us, which is more than adequate. We have a broadcasting unit outside where it can be heard all over our camp, and if any one of the bugs gets near, we are warned in plenty of time. So you can see, we are actually safer than the British people. One has to marvel at the way they take things. Johnson graduated from Modesto High School and Modesto Junior College. He held a BS degree in business administration from the University of California. He lettered in track at each of the three institutions. His parents were Mr. and Mrs. W.H. Johnson of Modesto. His brother, Marc, was an officer in the Navy. Paratrooper Officer from Modesto Invaded Normandy Modesto Bee, August 19, 1944 Rewritten version: On D-Day of the Normandy Invasion, Second Lieutenant Anthony Zarakian of Modesto parachuted onto Cotentin Peninsula, as a member of the 82nd Airborne Division. Its mission was to prevent German troops from occupying the beachheads and to clear a path, allowing Allied forces to move inland. Members of his regiment were scattered, landing in swamps, trees, and along railroad tracks. Once they hit the ground, they were in immediate combat for the next 34 hours, many times just by themselves. Zarakian recalled having to wade through 300 yards of flooded farmland, fighting in fields, which were sectioned by hedgerows and covered with hay, but his unit held their ground, without any relief from replacements. He commented: “Every mission was accomplished and no ground gained was ever relinquished, with the success of the 22 Army photo D-Day parachuters, similar to Anthony Zarakian Legion of Merit Award Is Given Modesto Man Modesto Bee, September 28, 1944 Rewritten version: For his exceptional meritorious service as battalion supply officer, during the African, Sicilian, and Italian campaigns, Captain Gael S. Kauffman of Modesto received the Legion of Merit. He was attached to General George Patton’s armored division of the American 3rd Army. According to the citation: From September 19, 1942 to November 18, 1943, he displayed great initiative and ingenuity in securing specialized equipment for his unit during the Moroccan and Sicilian amphibious operations. . . . From November 12, 1942 to April 27, 1943, while his battalion was practically detached from the regiment, Lieutenant Kauffman overcame obstacles of limited transportation and distances as great as 90 miles from his supply line to keep his organization supplied at all times. He demonstrated notable versatility in managing the air movement of one company and transportation of the remainder of the battalion over a foreign road system in Morocco. Throughout the vigorous Sicilian campaign, Lieutenant Kauffman supplied his battalion substantially and efficiently, although it advanced 90 miles in 24 hours, having on occasion engaged in mountain combat for four to five days at a time. After the Normandy Invasion, while with Patton’s armored division, Kauffman once again continued to maintain a high level of efficiency by supplying his unit with needed equipment and materials, through the Moselle Valley on the way to Berlin. His parents were Mr. and Mrs. J.R. Kauffman of Modesto, and his wife, Marian Kauffman of Denair. Stanislaus Historical Quarterly Summer 2008 Oakdale Pilot Loses Leg Bailing Out Over Channel enough in which to land, and the majority of us were successful.” Modesto Bee, October 4, 1944 Rewritten version: On June 12, 1944, Second Lieutenant Edwin H. Peters of Oakdale was flying his P-47 Thunderbolt near Paris, dive-bombing railroad targets, when he was attacked by German Messerschmitts. His aircraft was hit on both wings by a number of 20 mm shells, causing him to seek low altitude, flying just over the French countryside’s hedgerows. As he crossed the English Channel, his plane began to disintegrate. He later told his story to a New York newspaperman at Long Island’s Mitchell Field: Hollingsworth had been with the Army Air Force, seeing action in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy. He received his glider training at Twenty-nine Palms, CA. His parents were Mr. and Mrs. G.O. Hollingsworth of Modesto. He graduated from Modesto High School, and attended Modesto Junior College and Cal Poly, majoring in engineering. He joined the Army in May 1941 and was formerly employed by the California Department of Agriculture as a fruit inspector. By the time I jettisoned my bombs from the belly rack, both my radio and my rudder control cable were shot out. There was an overcast at 3,000 feet. Forty Messerschmitts lobbed into us from on top. I went into a tight, steep spin, then leveled out, and hopped hedgerows over France. Finally, I climbed back to 10,000 feet. In sight of the British coast the filler neck of my gas tank melted and the gas siphoned off. The left wing melted and snapped off. I started to get out at 10,000 feet, but didn’t make it until 4,000. The plane was screaming like an air raid siren. As I fell before opening the parachute, I noticed blood coming past me. I looked down and saw my left leg was off. I’m not sure whether the cockpit jerked it off or if it went through the propeller. After landing on the water, he freed a belt, twisting it tightly around the leg’s stump, stopping the blood flow. To compound his troubles, his lifejacket inflated only halfway, causing him to duck under the waves, while holding tightly to his tourniquet. A British rescue ship spotted his parachute, picking him up after an hour in the water. He had surgery at a British hospital, severing his leg just below the knee, at the spot where an artificial limb could be properly attached. While there, an English boy with one arm, another war casualty, brought Peters fresh cherries, strawberries, and eggs, plus cakes his mother baked. Army photo P-47 Thunderbolt firing rockets, similar to the one flown by Edwin H. Peters and Karsell W. Bates Hughson Soldier Stops German Counter Attack Modesto Bee, November 9, 1944 Rewritten version: While serving in northern Italy with the 91st Infantry Division, Sergeant David Baptista drove off a strong German counterattack with only an automatic rifle and hand grenades. His heroism was reported: From Mitchell Field, Peters was transported to Bushnell General Hospital at Brigham City, Utah, for further treatment and recovery. He spent his childhood on an Oakdale ranch along with his brothers and sisters, being raised by their mother, Anna Oehrlein. His three brothers also served in the military overseas. Baptista and his platoon were holding a small hill when the enemy attacked with machine guns, mortars, and artillery. Under this all out barrage, the German infantry stormed the hill, but Baptista remained, firing with everything he had, while his platoon withdrew to reorganize for another attack. Using up his rifle ammunition, he resorted to tossing hand grenades. When the unit relieved him, Baptista was on his last grenade. Former Modestan Flies Glider to Invasion Coast Later in battle, Baptista was wounded and received attention at a military hospital in Italy. He was a graduate of Hughson High School and was sent to Italy in May 1944. Modesto Bee, October 14, 1944 Rewritten version: During the Normandy invasion, Flight Officer Robert G. Hollingsworth of Modesto piloted a glider transporting troops to a beachhead. He was attached to the IX Troop Carrier Command. He commented that they met “very little resistance or confusion. The element of surprise paid off, for no organized resistance was met, as we landed on this new beachhead. Our main problem was finding space Soldier Describes Close Brushes with Death Modesto Bee, March 8, 1945 Rewritten version: On January 2, 1945, Army Private Archie Chatterton of Modesto went through more lives 23 Stanislaus Historical Quarterly Summer 2008 Flier Returns with Silver Star, DFC, 11 Air Medals than most cats. On the previous day, he was on patrol near Bitche, France, when he was cut off from American lines. Modesto Bee, August 8, 1945 He waited until darkness to escape, bedding down in a village Rewritten version: Serving as squadron operations officer held by American troops. German units surrounded the vil- of the 366th Fighter Group, known as the “Hun Hunters,” lage, and for the next two days, bombarded it ruthlessly. Major Karsell W. Bates of Modesto led an attack of P-47 Thunderbolts on a train near Bonn, Germany. They began Chatterton had a number of close calls, saying he “lost ten their assault at 11,000 feet, diving nearly vertically through an years.” While occupying a house, a mortar concussion blew opening in a clouded sky. Bates recalled the action: I started my bomb run, then some character down there on the out the windows, knocking him down, tearing his clothing with ground started shooting. He must have been fooled by our speed glass splinters, which flew everywhere. Metal shrapnel cabecause his bursts were breaking behind us. We were doing 650 reened over his head, striking a Madonna, while sparing baby miles per hour. I fired a short burst from my guns and silenced Jesus. In another house, a German soldier threw a grenade him. Then I released my bombs at 2,500 feet and blacked out. When I snapped back to consciousness, I was climbing at a rate through the window, causing Chatterton to dive to the floor of 400 miles an hour. I looked back and saw both my bombs for protection. Then the soldier machine-gunned the room explode on the train. The rest of my flight I bombed at the same speeds. We scored two direct hits and two near misses. When they finished their runs, we reformed so that the second flight could attack. They did. Then we made our rocket passes from 8,000 feet, leveled off and attacked the train broadside. I saw one of mine lift a flat car from its track, which disappeared. Our controller confirmed five cars with their contents destroyed. Army photo Archie Chatterton faced similar German foes and grenades while Chatterton lay in the corner. Immediately, three German soldiers entered the shredded chambers, while Bates played possum. Either they didn’t see him, because of all of the debris, or they assumed he was dead. He wrote his parents, Mr. and Mrs. W.E. Chatterton of Modesto, giving his thoughts on war: Bates’ fighter group was stationed in Belgium with the 9th Air Force. He flew in 112 missions, downing two German airplanes, destroying a number of trains, tanks, military vehicles, and strafing enemy troops, while in close support of Allied troops, during combat in France, Belgium, and Germany. He flew three different Thunderbolts, all named “Patsy Sharon,” after his wife Patsy, the former Patricia Caldwell of Modesto, and daughter, Sharon. Bates told of a battle that he called the “biggest show.” On January 1, 1945, the Germans put 1,000 aircraft into the sky. His squadron of 24 fighters was attacked by 80 enemy fighters. In a 20-minute dogfight, American fighters shot down 43 Many times I have thought it better to be dead than continue enemy planes, while just losing one of their own. It was in this terrible misery called war. War is not so much shooting and this aerial combat that he downed two fighters himself. killing as it is suffering nervous torture; the misery of lying out in the snow all night, not sleeping for days and nights on end, not eating much, except water and biscuits and maybe a small can of beans. Yes, Dad, war is an awful mess. I don’t think war ever solves any country’s problems. It just makes everything worse than before. During another operation, his unit placed one of its pilots aboard a tank to radio the enemy’s position to his squadron members flying above. His fellow pilots would then dive down and strafe enemy troops. Bates took his turn riding in a tank, but unfortunately, it was struck by an armor-piercing shell, killing a He signed his letter: “Your praying hard son, Archie,” giving tank crewmember, but Bates was uninjured. He was awarded credence to the old adage: “There are no atheists in fox- the Silver Star as described in the citation: For gallantry in action in the vicinity of Malmedy, Belgium, holes.” He visited the French Riviera, which reminded him of with intrepid courage, Major Bates gallantly continued into a his home in the San Joaquin Valley, with its vineyards, palm hail of light and heavy antiaircraft fire and dropped his bombs trees, and Spanish style houses. He was a graduate of Modesto accurately between two tanks, and the fire from his armament at pointblank range, destroyed a concentration of armored halftrack High School and Modesto Junior College. vehicles. His brilliant leadership, bombing proficiency, and aggressiveness in the face of intense mobile antiaircraft fire, as well as, the hazard of attack by enemy aircraft was of inesti- Modesto Captain Leads Attackers on Nazi Train Modesto Bee, April 7, 1945 24 Stanislaus Historical Quarterly Summer 2008 mable value to the ground forces at a critical juncture in operations against the enemy. had escaped, and some of these told us what had happened. The SS troops poured gasoline on the inmates, locked them in the barn and then set it afire. When a few of the prisoners sought to escape, they were shot through the head or bayoneted. These people had been in hell for the last four or five years. The liberated slaves expressed their gratitude, nearly always saluting the liberators. It makes you hate every German you see. Bates also received the Distinguished Flying Cross for “serving as a leader of a formation of P-47s, in which he led to the target, executing a series of dive-bombing, rocket, and machine gun attacks, the group inflicting heavy losses on the enemy.” His squadron was issued the Presidential Citation Fliers Are Saved from Death by Oakdale Soldier Modesto Bee, June 1, 1945 Rewritten version: In July 1943, Army Surgical Technician Sergeant Clarence E. Lowry, serving with the 15th Air Force Service Command in Libya, saved the lives of crewmembers in a crashed B-24 Liberator bomber. The aircraft crash-landed on a runway, while returning from a mission, bursting immediately into fire, trapping the injured crewmembers. Lowry and two other medical technicians arrived in an ambulance, threw themselves into the intense heat, removing the injured men from the plane. Just when everyone was clear from the burning bomber, it exploded, knocking nearly everyone to the sandy runway. Army photo Sherman tank, similar to the one Karsell W. Bates occupied when it halted a German counterattack at St. Lo, France, on July 11, 1944. While flying home after the war, the C-47 troop transport he occupied lost an engine while flying across the Sahara Desert, from Casablanca to Dakar. He described the incident: “We had to dump everything overboard to save the ship, and I lost $1,000 worth of clothing, which I had to toss out along with the rest to lighten the ship.” The transport crash-landed at Dakar, fortunately not injuring its crew and passengers. Before joining the Army in March 1941, Bates was employed in the advertising department at the Modesto Bee. He received his commission in June 1942, being deployed to Europe in July 1944. His father was Walter Bates of Modesto. Ceres Soldier’s Indignation Is Stirred by Atrocities Modesto Bee, May 11, 1945 Rewritten version: In April 1945, while serving in the American 9th Army, Private First Class Drew Schamahorn of Ceres was sickened and outraged by the sight of a Nazi atrocity. His unit found the charred bodies of nearly 1,000 Nazi SS prisoners in a barn. The brutal murderers had left the scene 48 hours earlier. He wrote: These prisoners or slaves were of all nationalities. Mostly they were Russians and Poles. There were piles of bodies near doors. Smoke still rose from the funeral pyre. The legs and skulls of some of the victims had been all but burned off. What appeared to be charcoal, covered some of the cadavers. Twenty persons Lowry was well-traveled in the military, seeing Australia, India, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Italy. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. W.D. Lowry of Oakdale. Before the war, he worked for a Stockton milk company. His brothers, Roy and Stanley, also served the in military overseas. Pacific Theater Patterson Youth Lost $300 Cash in Carrier Sinking Modesto Bee, July 8, 1942 Rewritten version: During the Battle of Coral Sea, May 67, 1942, the American aircraft carrier, Lexington, was struck by a bomb and numerous torpedoes, sinking at 8 p.m. on May 8. William Hoppe of Patterson was aboard the ship and was fortunately unharmed. The only thing he lost was $300, because he couldn’t retrieve it from his locker, once the order was given to vacate the ship. He remarked that throughout it all, his shipmates remained orderly, maintained high morale, while looking forward to their next opportunity to strike back at the enemy. Hoppe was one of 2,700 Lexington crew members to evacuate the aircraft carrier. He was comforted in knowing that the Lexington downed a number of Japanese aircraft and sank an aircraft carrier before ending its duty. His father was William Hoppe of Patterson, a rancher and member of the American Legion Post, Elijah B. Hayes. 25 Modesto Youth Is Credited With Five Japanese Planes Stanislaus Historical Quarterly Summer 2008 Modesto Bee, April 1, 1943 Rewritten version: During the early part of the Pacific war, aerial battles took place near Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands, which was where Modestan, Lieutenant Phillip Souza, saw action flying his F4F Wildcat. He was a natural fighter pilot, downing a four-engine Japanese bomber, three Zeros, and a torpedo plane in October 1942, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). He also claimed a Zero and a dive bomber, but those kills weren’t confirmed. For a time, he was on the aircraft carrier Hornet, along with two other Modesto fliers, Ensign Jack Kopf and Lieutenant Robert Weeks. Souza assessed his Japanese foe: Suicide fighting, magnified in popular accounts, is seldom exhibited, although a pilot if definitely shot down, will attempt to ram other planes or crash into a ship, as was done in the case of the Hornet. Generally, they are good persistent fighters, coming in waves. Always outnumbering their opponent, they will fight to a finish. They are not yellow, by any manner of means. naval units, Ensign Souza upon his return to base boldly and daringly engaged enemy aircraft over our forces, shooting down a Zero. His courageous actions were in keeping with the highest traditions in naval service. Halsey awarded Souza the DFC, stating that the fighter pilot, “boldly and daringly engaged enemy aircraft.” He received early pilot training at Modesto Junior College in the CAA program, along with further training at naval air stations at Jacksonville, FL and Norfolk, VA. His parents were Mr. and Mrs. J.M. Souza of Modesto. Modestan Tells of Navy Torpedo Plane Experience Modesto Bee, July 8, 1943 Rewritten version: “You can get scared to death in the morning, come through it, and spend the afternoon reading and playing cards. It’s what you’ve been trained for and become used to,” commented Aviation Machinist’s Mate Third Class, Joseph Silva, Jr. of Modesto. He was the gunner and navigator occupying the rear seat of a two-seated torpedo bomber, seeing most of his action over the “alley,” which was the natural shipping channel between New Georgia and Santa Isabelle islands. For his combat service, he received a Purple Heart “for wounds received in action by shrapnel, while with a torpedo squadron in the Solomon Islands Navy photo area.” Torpedo dive bombers (TDB), similar to Silva’s aircraft, aboard U.S.S. Enterprise Silva recalled Guadalcanal: During an attack on Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, Souza was in a flight of nine fighters engaging 15 Zeros, in which they shot down eight of the enemy planes, forcing the others to turn tail for their home base. In one very serious encounter with a Zero, he was strafed with nearly 60 shells near his cockpit, which caused the attacking pilot to think that Souza was dead, thereby pulling out of the fight, but the Modestan was alive to fly again and again. Admiral W.F. Halsey cited Souza for downing a Japanese fighter plane, with this commentary: The commander, South Pacific Area and South Pacific force, takes pleasure in commending Ensign P.E. Souza, United States Naval Reserve, for service as set forth in the following: For extraordinary devotion to duty during the aerial engagement with the Japanese naval forces near the Santa Cruz Islands on October 26, 1942. After ably escorting and protecting an attack group of planes, which inflicted heavy damage on Japanese 26 The Japanese were apparently willing to sacrifice any number of ships and men to land goods on Guadalcanal. It was up to the American air and naval forces in that area to meet this challenge. Bad weather and darkness gave the Japanese ships some cover. It was murderous weather. I was serving as gunner on a torpedo bomber. We headed up through the squalls and fog patches just about dusk, with fighter protection of fat barrel Wildcats and P39s. It got where we could not see the fighters, because of the overcast. Then about 6:40 o’clock, just off the tip of New Georgias, we sighted the Japanese ships. There were 12 Japanese ships, divided into three columns, coming down the alley. When they spotted the American planes, the ships began to weave and sent up anti-aircraft (AA) fire, blackening the sky. Soon, there were Japanese Zeros on the attack against American fighters and torpedo bombers. Silva saw two Zeros go down, retelling the incident: Our 39s and Wildcats shot down 11 of them. We lost one plane, Stanislaus Historical Quarterly Summer 2008 but the pilot was saved. The A.A. had us bouncing around plenty. Ours was the second plane to dive. We released our bombs quite low, afterwards going right down to the water to get out of the cone of explosion. The enemy was giving us everything they had. San Francisco, who shot the final enemy soldier. Baldwin heard his radio squawking a short distance away. It was his company commander trying to locate him. It was time for his bomber to dive and release its torpedo. The pilot flew the aircraft through the crossfire and AA, eluding a destroyer, heading straight for a heavy cruiser, with its Rising Sun flag clearly visible. His torpedo and those from other bombers struck deadly blows. Silva remarked: “The Rising Sun looked like a bonfire that night. We saw ship after ship aflame.” Modesto Bee, January 20, 1945 Rewritten version: Riverbank sailor, Fireman First Class Bart Mertino, was aboard a light cruiser off Bonin Island, 600 miles south of Tokyo, during the bombardment of the island on December 24th. B-24 Liberators bombed the Japanese-held island, while P-38s harangued the enemy with straf- Riverbank Youth Tells of Attack on Enemy Isle On their return flight to the base, they encountered dense fog, and then a gasoline tank malfunctioned, requiring the pilot to resort to using a hand pump. This caused their plane to fall out of formation, and soon they were alone. Silva glanced at the compass, realizing they were heading in the wrong direction. He commented: That’s where a course I once took in practical navigation came in handy. I tried my damnedest to figure the way home. Every spot looked like an island. If you looked out and tried to find one, you’d get really balmy. Twice I had to pull myself back into the cockpit. Finally, through the clouds, they saw a searchlight from an American airfield, landing their torpedo bomber safely. Silva had shot down one Zero, and the pilot dropped two 500 lb. bombs directly on a Japanese cruiser. His squadron had sunk four ships, with the loss of just one plane. Silva was given a medical discharge, and then became employed at an aircraft plant in southern California. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Silva of Modesto. Modestan Jumps into Shell Hole Meets Six Japanese Navy photo Martin L. Jones’ fellow Marines firing artilley on Iwo Jima ing and other firepower, keeping them away from their large artillery. Mertino commented on the barrage: Our targets were coastal guns, buildings, fuel dumps, ships, planes, anything with the Japanese red circle on it. We pumped our big shells into their gun positions, and we lobbed over plenty of five- inch stuff too. It was really something. We plugged at them for over an hour. We started some fires. . . . We also did some counter-battery fire; that is, we fired back at some shore batteries, which revealed themselves by shooting at us. It was better than a turkey shoot, and we left a lot of Christmas Eve headaches for the Japanese on the island that day. . . . We raked their airfields with five-inch fire and poured in plenty of big stuff, while our spotter kept saying: “Right on – no change – no change,” which meant we were hitting the target. We worked over boats, buildings, and gun emplacements. We hit one Japanese plane dead center on the runway, and when the smoke cleared, the plane was gone. That made our captain pretty happy, and he passed around a “well done.” Modesto Bee, November 7, 1944 Rewritten version: Trying to escape a heavy firefight in the Leyte jungle during the invasion, Lieutenant William Baldwin of Modesto decided to jump into a shell hole. He was carrying a radio on his back at the time. To his surprise, he had landed on top of six Japanese soldiers, camouflaged with leaves, but they were equally surprised. One enemy solider reached for his rifle, causing Baldwin to step on his hand, while another Japanese soldier yanked the radio off Baldwin’s back. It was at that time Technical Sergeant Pinnelli of Los Banos peered over the rim of the crater, firing his tommy gun, killing five of the enemy. Baldwin went to shoot the sixth Japanese soldier, but the ammo clip from his rifle fell out. The enemy soldier hurriedly covered himself with the Two days later, the squadron of ships returned to bombard dead bodies. Three hand grenades were tossed into the hole, Bonin once again, as recalled by Mertino: During that bombardment we fired on a Japanese escort gunbut he still escaped. Into the hole steps Sergeant McElroy of 27 Stanislaus Historical Quarterly Summer 2008 boat and another large landing ship near the boat basin. The gunboat blew up, and the ammunition in the other ship was still exploding when we went over the horizon. These Nips were sorry to see this Christian Christmas holiday. . . . After all, Christmas is a time when you give people presents . . . and this year our present to you back home was the walloping we handed the Japanese on that island. Mertino joined the Navy on February 14, 1943, at the age of 18, being trained in Farragut, ID and San Diego. He saw action in the Philippine Sea and in the invasions of the Marshall Islands, Saipan, and Tinian. His brother, Nick, was a Fireman First Class, as well, and was deployed in the Pacific too. They were the sons of Mr. and Mrs. Pete Mertino of Riverbank. Marine Sergeant Writes of Hard Battle on Iwo Modesto Bee, March 10, 1945 Rewritten version: Marine Sergeant Martin L. Jones of Ceres, attached to the 4th Pioneer Battalion of the 4th Marine Division, characterized the Iwo Jima as “a hell of a mess.” Jones was wounded by shrapnel and shipped to an Army hospital, where he was treated for superficial leg wounds. He noted that the island was pretty cold during the invasion, about 40 degrees. Not deterred by his wounds, he commented from his hospital bed: “I sure hope I can get back in my old outfit if there are any of them left.” He was 22 at the time and had seen action in the invasions of Roi, Namur, Tinian, and Saipan. He had attended Jones Grammar School on Grayson Road and graduated from Turlock High School in 1941. He joined the Marines in late 1943, being trained at Camp Pendleton and Camp Elliott. His brother was a sergeant in the Army, attached to a combat engineering unit in the European Theater. They were the sons of Mr. and Mrs. J.A. Jones of Ceres. Modestan’s Sub Sinks Ship in Japanese Home Waters Modesto Bee, June 2, 1945 Rewritten version: Modestan, Arthur W. Clark, Jr., served aboard the submarine Tirante that became renowned for its combat performance. Lt. Commander Edward L. Beach was a crewmember, who would later write the novel, Run Silent, Run Deep, which was made into a movie. The submarine’s first kill was recounted: A blunt nosed Japanese freighter serene in the knowledge she was in home waters, churned southward one day, carrying supplies to the emperor’s troops. Crewmen slouched indolently at the rails. Then there was a terrific explosion and the vessel disappeared . . . roundfaced, genial young skipper, Lieutenant Commander George L. Street, III, of Norfolk, Va., turned away from his periscope and grinned. His submarine had drawn its first blood. Street searched for other targets, one time sending his submarine under Japanese fishing Navy photo nets off the coast of Japan. When he surfaced U.S. submarine Tirante that Arthur W. Clark, Jr. occupied one morning, he discovered his submarine was in the midst of a fleet of Japanese fishing schooners. His The invasion began on February 19, 1945, with Jones being crew fired a five-inch shell through a large schooner’s rigwounded by shrapnel on the 21st. He described the action: ging notifying the vessel that it would be boarded. Tirante’s They cut loose on us with artillery, mortars, machine guns, and even ack ack shells. Men kept falling all around me. I was really crew took on three Japanese fishermen for interrogation. The scared. They were really good with those damn mortars, and submarine continued to track enemy vessels, sinking them in they could shoot them anywhere. They held the advantage as order, amassing an astounding record of destruction in its first they were on high ground and could see every movement we cruise. made. . . . We hadn’t been on the beach five minutes when three of them came from behind a big sand pile with grenades in their hands. One of them somehow didn’t like my looks, so he threw a grenade at me as he yelled “banzai.” I was so excited I forgot all about the grenade and let him have about six slugs – and he went down. Then I looked around and saw the grenade, and I ran like hell – but it never did go off. Thank God! 28 The submarine came across a downed Japanese plane, with three disconsolate Japanese fliers sitting on its wing. Still having the Japanese fishermen aboard the sub, one of them shouted to the aircrew in Japanese that they were being rescued. When the submarine came alongside the floating aircraft, the pilot threw a flare on the submarine’s deck, prompt- Stanislaus Historical Quarterly Summer 2008 graduate of Oakdale High School and attended Modesto Junior College before entering the Navy in June 1943. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. J.T. Winkle of Riverbank. ing Lt. Commander Beach to “part his hair with a rifle shot.” The Japanese pilot played dead, but his ploy was discovered while being hauled aboard. One of the fliers drowned himself purposely, but the remaining enemy airman conceded to be rescued. Beach then peppered the plane with rifle fire, being the first person to sink an airplane from a submarine deck with a rifle. “City of Modesto” Fortress Sets Many Records Modesto Bee, October 4, 1945 Rewritten version: Captain James Brian Douglass named his B-29 Superfortress “City of Modesto,” after his home town. It set a record 29 straight bombing missions, without breaking from formation or failing to drop its bombs. Douglass took his aircraft in raids over Japan in flights of 200, 300, 400, 500, and 600 Superfortresses. The “City of Modesto” would Riverbank Torpedoman Tells of Suicide Attack on Ship Modesto Bee, July 9, 1945 Rewritten version: As crew member of the Navy destroyer, Hazelwood, Torpedoman Third Class Wilburn Winkle of Riverbank told of the kamikaze attack off Okinawa that killed 77 shipmates. It occurred on April 29, 1945: It was just about 6 p.m., and near sunset, when we first picked up three planes on our listening devices. We had been in a screening position, protecting carriers, when a suicide pilot hit another destroyer, and we were going to her aid when our attack came. We shot down one plane about two miles away, and the second came in afire, just barely missed the No. 4 gun, where I was stationed. . . . I think he would have had us if he had his wheels down. We could feel the heat of the burning plane. We were shooting at him but could not hit him. The pilot evidently was dead, or he could easily have dipped and hit us. He crashed into the ocean about 50 feet away but did not damage our ship. We began to search for the third plane but did not see it. Just as we were making a hard right turn, he came sneaking in over the fantail at about 10 feet altitude and crashed into the No. 2 stack and exploded on the deck just about amidships, some 50 feet from my gun position. The fire from the explosion divided the ship into two parts, and I was on the aft or rear. Some fellows around me were wounded by shrapnel, but I didn’t get a scratch. We later decided the third pilot was lurking in one of the two clouds in the sky. After the crash our power was out, and we couldn’t man our guns, so we retired to the fantail where an officer gave the order to abandon ship. I spent about an hour and a half or two hours in the water before being picked up by another destroyer. I just swam around and relied on my life belt to keep me afloat until help came. We threw powder cans overboard, so wounded men could cling to them for support. Army photo B-29 Superfortress, similar to the “City of Modesto” While in the water, Winkle helped two shipmates to keep afloat. One was wounded, and the other was not a good swimmer. Hazelwood actually survived and returned to Mare Island Navy Yard for repairs. Winkle noted that the suicide planes were poorly constructed, covered with oil cloth, and held together by wire. It was his opinion that the kamikaze attacks were to kill as many sailors as possible, while sinking any size ship. He said his ship sank two Japanese destroyers, while it was returning from a Tokyo raid. Winkle had seen action in the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He was a 29 have 35 bombing missions, which included runs on Tokyo, Nagoya, Kobe, Osaka, Yokohama, and Kyoto. The bomber was declared “war weary,” being retired from combat duty. Its machine gunners were credited with shooting down six Japanese fighter planes. Crew member, Lt. Colonel George W. Taylor, described one lethal attack by the “City of Modesto” on Tokyo: On March 9th, the Super Forts of three wings of the 21st Bomber Command were on their way to Tokyo. It was a good night. From the moment the lead airplanes came over the target the mission was highly dramatic. The Japanese homeland was hidden under a perfect blackout. Suddenly, off a little to the right, there was an oblong of yellow flame. Japanese searchlights combed the sky at the expected altitudes – 25,000 to 30,000 feet. The first two airplanes dropped their bombs from a perfect blazing X. Two hundred and twenty-seven B29s followed to spread that X into one of the greatest fires in history. The first incendiary bombs had been dropped on Tokyo. Douglass was the son of Dr. and Mrs. Aubrey A. Douglass of Modesto. His father was superintendent of Modesto City Schools during his son’s piloting exploits over Japan. Stanislaus Historical Quarterly Summer 2008 Youth, Prisoner of Japanese Two Years, Returns slept on thin strawmats and ate gruel of pumpkin greens and carrot tops, plus rice and barley. Forty-four Marines and Navy Modesto Bee, October 25, 1945 Rewritten version: On April 22, 1943, Modestan, men were liberated at Sumidagawa, flown home, becoming Electrician’s Mate First Class Richard Hinkson, was taken immediate patients at a Navy hospital. Hinkson was the son prisoner by the Japanese. He was aboard the submarine, of Mr. and Mrs. R.L. Hinkson of Modesto. Grenadier, which was on duty in the Indian Ocean, when it was scuttled by its skipper, Lt. Commander J.A. Fitzgerald, Modestan, Killer of 39 Japanese, Returning Home Modesto Bee, November 26, 1945 to avoid being taken by the Japanese. The entire crew was taken captive and considered missing in action for the dura- Rewritten version: Modestan, Staff Sergeant Clarence Teller, was officially credited with killing 39 Japanese soltion of the war. diers, while being wounded four different times, during 44 months of combat in the Pacific. In December 1942, he was wounded in the leg by a Japanese rifleman on Buna. He received another rifle wound in the fall of 1943, during combat on Sador. He was wounded by a mortar shell in December 1944, during action in Ormoc Valley on Luzon. His final wound came from shrapnel of his own grenade that landed near him. He carried a submachine gun during most of his combat, being a platoon leader, seeing hand-to-hand fighting. His outfit once spent 43 consecutive days fighting on a hill, where his unit killed 157 Japanese soldiers. He was awarded the Purple Heart, with three Oak Leaf Clusters; Presidential Unit Citation, with two Oak Leaf Clusters; Combat Infantryman’s Badge; and Navy photo Japanese POW camp Sumidagawa, where Richard Hinkson resided seven campaign ribbons for battles in New Guinea, Buna, and the Philippines. He was For over two years, Hinkson and his shipmates worked as discharged after 49 months of military service. He was the slaves in copper mines, some 2,000 feet below ground. They son of Mr. and Mrs. A. Gardner of Modesto. Article by Robert LeRoy Santos History of My Activities during World War II I by Jean T. Smith had been working at the Claremont Hotel in Berkeley, when I was drafted into the Army in September 1941. The Army sent me to Camp Callan near San Diego, where I received basic training and instruction concerning coastal artillery. On December 7th, I finished training and was stationed on the cliffs near Torrey Pines golf course, operating coastal artillery. I was assigned next to an anti-aircraft battalion going overseas. We had some brief training at Camp Irwin. I was assigned to a searchlight company and shipped to Hawaii, where we set up our searchlights and radar in an area that covered one-fourth of Oahu. In the middle of 1942, I suffered major burns from a gasoline fire and was hospitalized for four months. Returning to duty, I was assigned to a 30 radar and searchlight unit in the middle of Oahu. In the spring 1943, our battalion went to the Gilbert Islands and set up a radar site on the island of Apemama, 60 miles from Tarawa. In spring 1944, we returned to Hawaii. In August, I was diagnosed as having filariasis, a disease affecting the lymph glands. I was sent to Queens Hospital in Honolulu and then to De Witt Hospital in Auburn, CA. Having recovered, I reported to Fort Bliss in Texas to teach at an anti-aircraft school and to do experimental radar work. I traveled to Camp Stewart, GA, to demonstrate anti-aircraft equipment and technology to West Point graduates. In May 1945, I returned to Fort Bliss and was discharged in October. Bette Belle Anderson and I were married at the Ft. Bliss chapel on May 4, 1945. Stanislaus Historical Quarterly Summer 2008 Riverbank Aluminum Plant of World War II Providing Material for the Nation’s Warplanes nce again, the country was forced to enter a world war, O this time by an attack on Pearl Harbor. It was a frantic time that called for urgent measures, forcing the nation to go on a war-footing in its industries. Military aircraft would be the backbone of the nation’s fighting force, causing the establishment of numerous factories producing aircraft materials. Light weight aluminum was the fabric used throughout all aircraft, making aluminum production crucial to the war effort. There were aluminum plants in the East, which led to the necessity of having such a facility on the West Coast, where numerous aircraft assembly plants were already located. The vast Central Valley would be the home of a number of new military facilities, necessary to the prosecution of the war. Stanislaus County would have two auxiliary naval air stations, an Army hospital, an Army rehabilitation center, a manufacturer of incendiary bombs, and an aluminum manufacturing facility. Word of a New Plant The first public notice of interest in building “an ordnance or munitions plant near Modesto or Riverbank” appeared in the Modesto Bee on February 26, 1942. It came from an odd source. San Francisco’s assistant city attorney, Dion Holm, along with other city officials, had been in contact with the federal government in Washington, D.C., wanting to sell electricity to the burgeoning war industry. J.A. Krug, chief of the War Production Board’s (WPB) power division, had commented to Holm that a munitions plant was being considered for the Modesto area that would need ample amounts of electricity. Lines from San Francisco’s Hetch Hetchy power source crossed Stanislaus County on its way to the Bay Area. At that time, San Francisco was selling electricity at wholesale prices to Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), then a private utility, which was in violation of the law. San Francisco was receiving $2.4 million a year from the utility for 83,000 kilowatts of power coming from its Hetch Hetchy power plants at Early Intake and Moccasin Creek. In 1913, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Raker Act of 1912, which stated that power produced on federal land could not be sold to a private utility. San Francisco was defying that ruling and was given by the federal courts until July 1942 to find a public consumer for its electricity. The city wanted to buy PG&E, but San Francisco voters rejected such a pur- 31 chase in nine different elections; thus, the city was anxiously seeking another buyer for its electricity, now turning to the federal government, a public consumer. It contacted WPB and Interior Secretary Harold Ickes, with the hopes of selling electrical power to the Defense Plant Corporation (DPC). On March 14, 1942, word was received in Modesto that the WPB approved the location of an aluminum production plant in the Central Valley. It was said that a plant near Modesto or Riverbank was being considered. Not only was there access to Hetch Hetchy power lines locally, there were major railroad systems nearby. On March 23rd, local congressman, B.W. Gearhart, announced that WPB approved the location of an aluminum plant near Modesto, which would receive financing from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) and owned by the DPC. A representative from DPC visited the Riverbank area to evaluate local sites. It was calculated that the aluminum plant under consideration would need 100,000 kilowatts of power when in full production. San Francisco could provide 83,000 kilowatts, and the rest would be purchased from the irrigation districts. The Aluminum Plant Is Planned On March 25th, Gearhart received further information concerning the aluminum plant. WPB wanted the facility to produce 100 million lbs. of aluminum a year, which would be one-fourth of the nation’s aluminum production in 1940. The new plant would cost $12 million to construct and equip, requiring 600 employees when in full production. Studies were done in the area to determine manpower supply, housing needs, and transportation availability. Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA) was contracted by the government to operate the aluminum plant for the duration of the war. Company engineers had been involved in the selection of a site, originally considering three locations in the Riverbank-Oakdale area. DPC’s engineer, Clifton H. Chadwick, made the final decision after visiting the area. On May 12th, Gearhart disclosed that DPC had selected a 320acre Riverbank site for the aluminum plant. It was located at the northeast corner of Claribel and Claus roads. Deeds were sent to RFC’s San Francisco office to purchase the land. On May 30th, DPC signed a contract with San Francisco to pur- Stanislaus Historical Quarterly Summer 2008 chase 83,000 kilowatts of power for $2.4 million annually. In July, the new plant manager, Howard W. Frye, arrived in Modesto from the Pacific coast division of ALCOA. Construction of the facility cost $4 million, involving several hundred workers. Cahill Brothers of San Francisco was given the contract to lay the plant’s foundation, with construction tion of gasoline and rubber tires. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) could not help, because its funds were spent on permanent residences. Private construction companies weren’t interested, not seeing profits in marketing temporary houses. Oakdale discussed the installation of a trailer camp at the northern edge of town, on the backside of the Almonda camp grounds. This was a two-block area, owned Web photo Today’s Riverbank Industrial Complex, formerly Riverbank Aluminum Plant and Riverbank Army Ammunition Plant beginning July 10th, employing at nearly 200 workers, who were mostly from the Bay Area. The plant’s buildings were constructed in brick, cement, and steel, which by government standards was considered to be a permanent facility, an important fact for the postwar era. The facility would be built in three units, with the first unit ready for aluminum production on February 1, 1943. Westinghouse Electric Company was contracted to manufacture the motors and other electrical equipment. In August 1942, the federal government found that copper was in short supply, which was a key metal in the transmission of electricity. Permission was given to borrow silver from the U.S. Treasury to substitute for copper in war production, with the stipulation that the silver would be returned when the war ended; therefore, the aluminum plant used silver in its electrical components, and Westinghouse did the same for its large electrical devices it was making for the facility. Concerns about Local Housing and Transportation There was local concern about housing the workers expected at the aluminum plant, especially in Riverbank and Oakdale. On July 8, 1942, the Oakdale Leader urged local residents to rent spare rooms to the visiting construction workers. In August, a citizens committee for housing was formed in Riverbank, with the purpose of convincing the federal government to build governmental public residences, since the aluminum plant was a federal project. The committee argued that such housing near the plant would help in the conserva- 32 by Santa Fe Railroad. State health authorities cautioned that such a facility had to have lavatories, sewers, laundries, and bathing facilities. In mid-December, the National Housing Agency announced that it had approved construction in Riverbank of 150 dwelling units and a community facility through its defense housing program. Riverbank Housing Authority was constituted and provided with construction plans. Each dwelling would have 2,100 sq. ft., 21 ft. wide and 100 ft. long, containing four rooms. Modesto architect, Russell G. DeLappe, was contracted to design the 3,500 sq. ft. community facility, which would be an L-shaped structure, having a craft room, kitchen, store room, lobby, furnace room, two offices, community meeting room, maintenance room, and paint shop. Construction began in January 1943, and as residences were completed, they were rented and occupied. Concerning the issue of worker’s transportation to the aluminum plant, it was government policy to give priority in gasoline and tires to an automobile that carpooled three or more workers. Willis M. Kleinenbroich of Modesto operated the Modesto-Riverbank-Oakdale Stage Line, a sanctioned public transportation business. His stages carried passengers, baggage, and express packages, with fares for round trips from Modesto to the Riverbank plant costing $7.50 monthly, Oakdale $7, and Riverbank $5. In May 1943, Oakdale opened its trailer camp. It was located Stanislaus Historical Quarterly Summer 2008 at East Railroad Avenue and Fourth Street, once leased by the Oakdale Garden Club. The campsite had some 30 oak trees and would accommodate 100 trailers. Water, electricity, gas, and sewage hookups were present. Floyd Edwards was the manager, who also managed another trailer camp in Oakdale. Manufacturing Aluminum American aluminum industry, similar to all American industries on war-footing, sprang to life, soon out-producing the world. The president of ALCOA, Roy Hunt, declared that his company’s output for 1942 was already greater than Nazi Europe and eight times more than Japan. ALCOA’s overall productivity, in fact, was 63% higher than the entire world together, with its 1943 production projected at two billion lbs. of quality aluminum. Just one of ALCOA’s sheet mills was turning out more high strength alloy in one month than the entire nation had produced in one year. Also, the mills were rolling out a finished product 50 times quicker than before the war. A lighter aluminum alloy for aircraft engines had been developed, reducing the weight of a B-17 Flying Fortress, allowing it to carry more payload and fly greater distances. To manufacture aluminum, an electrolytic process, known as electroplating, was used. At the Riverbank plant, electroplating occurred in a series of “pot rooms,” utilizing direct current (DC) electricity. Enormous transformers at the plant converted Hetch Hetchy alternating current (AC) into DC. A refined clay, alumina, was shipped to the facility, which was reduced in the electroplating process to aluminum. Railroad cars delivered alumina, with conveyors carrying the material to outside storage tanks until it was needed. The mineral, cryolite, which was imported from Greenland, was used as a solvent in the process as well. From the pots, molten aluminum was poured into casts, where nonmetallic impurities were removed, with the pure metal being drained into iron molds, forming ingots. Sheets of aluminum would be produced from the aluminum ingots. Plant Production Begins On April 20, 1943, W.N. Farquhar replaced plant manager, D.H. Tilson, who had operated the facility for awhile. Farquhar came from a Washington ALCOA plant, with Tilson moving to ALCOA’s St. Louis facility. On May 8th, ALCOA ran this advertisement in the Modesto Bee: Aluminum Needed for the War Now -A Peacetime Necessity Immediate Openings - For Steady and Permanent Jobs Unskilled Men Satisfactory -Training Program Under Way Training Rate 85 Cents per Hour - 48 Hours per Week Time One-Half Over 40 Hours -Rapid Advancement After a Short Training Period, Considerably Higher Wages Will Be Earned Get in on the Ground Floor of a New Vital War Plant Apply Employment Dept. -Aluminum Co. of America Riverbank, Calif. - Phone 150-Y-1 Farquhar, hired 200 employees to operate the plant’s first unit, which was 40% of full production. The weekly payroll was $10,000 for this initial workforce. The facility opened midnight on May 18th, with nearly all of the employees coming from the region, with a few specialists hired elsewhere. All employees received extensive training, because of the complex technology and the dangers encountered when producing aluminum. Farquhar told the Modesto Bee that “Everything went off without a hitch, even better than we expected.” When asked about opening ceremonies, he replied, “We are too busy. This is all business for things like that.” A month later, Harvey Blair, 24, of Riverbank, was savagely burned when scalded by escaping steam from a boiler. The safety plug blew, burning 75% of his Webphoto body. He was rushed Aerial view of today’s Riverbank Industo the hospital, was trial Complex, formerly Riverbank Alurevived and treated. minum Plant and Riverbank Army AmIn August, the plant’s munition Plant second unit began operation, requiring 120 additional men. The third unit was ready in the fall, employing another 100 workers. The plant was fully staffed in September, prompting the National Labor Relations Board to call for a collective bargaining election. Employees had two unions from which to select: Stanislaus County Central Labor Council (AFL) and the Warehousemen’s Union (CIO). They could also choose not to have a union, but CIO was the victor. Complaints of Pollution Complaints concerning air pollution from the plant became public on August 21st, when the Modesto Bee reported that a dozen ranchers declared that livestock and crop damage was 33 Stanislaus Historical Quarterly Summer 2008 occurring downwind from the facility. Blame was placed on the dust particles emitted into the air by the plant. One dairyman commented that his cows’ butterfat production fell 50%. Another rancher reported that his apricot trees had defoliated. These complaints were sent to the aluminum plant, with Farquhar assuring the public that the matter was “being carefully investigated.” In the meantime, a contract to erect public housing in Riverbank was granted to Matthew A. Little, a San Francisco contractor, with a winning bid of $85,000. The company built 40 temporary dwelling units and 24 dormitory sections for the Federal Public Housing Authority (FPHA). On August 26th, the Riverbank City Council and city school officials met with Fred D. Prakel, regional tax analyst for FPHA, to discuss budgetary problems. Riverbank representatives expressed to Prakel that the city did not have money to fund the additional expenses incurred by the housing project, such as, law enforcement, school needs, and sewer expenditures. Prakel assured those present that FPHA would contribute its share through city and county taxes, as required for any resident. On September 28th, Claus-Riverbank Farm Bureau met at the Dry Creek Clubhouse to discuss the pollution issue. Evidence of destruction to livestock and crops was presented by area ranchers. It was decided to contact Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors, requesting immediate testing of the dust and fumes emitted into the air by the aluminum plant. In response, county supervisors ordered county health and agricultural officials to make “a full and complete investigation of the damage to trees, crops and other vegetation, livestock, and health.” The investigation was completed, with a full report filed with the county supervisors by Milo M. Schrock, agricultural commissioner; J. Lyle Spelmann, county health officer; C.M. Steiger, county livestock inspector; and Mark Odell, county sanitary inspector, which read in part: In the course of our survey, dust was found in quite large amounts on plants and very small concentrations of fluorine were found in samples of water collected from the survey area. Both subjective and objective evidence indicates that damage to livestock in this area has taken place, and this damage may be due to fluorine content of the dust given off. . . . It would seem that the greater damage at present is to livestock in the immediate vicinity of the plant and in the areas in which the dust is carried by the prevailing winds. This will undoubtedly be influenced by seasonal wind changes, and the damage may, in large part, be dissipated during the rainy season. At present, there is no definite indication of hazard to human beings. The investigators added that monitoring should continue, urg- ing federal government involvement. Aluminum plant officials promised to do everything possible to curb the pollution. Monitoring continued, with some of the local ranchers receiving monetary settlement from DPC for the damage done to their crops and livestock. Plant to Close On January 1, 1944, the Modesto Bee reported that the Riverbank aluminum plant was among plants in New York and New Jersey ordered by the WPB to stop production, because of a significant aluminum surplus of some 700 million lbs. According to Missouri senator, Harry Truman, of the Senate’s War Investigating Committee, $8 billion in military contracts had to be canceled because of surpluses. On January 14th, the new Riverbank plant manager, R.B. Weaver, indicated that he had not heard of a shutdown, but the facility had indeed closed some of its production lines as part of a slowdown. Concern was voiced locally over loss of revenue to the region. The Modesto Chamber of Commerce was the first to go on record requesting the federal government to keep the aluminum plant operating, stating: The factors favoring continuation of this plant are: (1) Hydrogenerated electric power is used at this plant, so there is no consumption of vital natural resources, such as, oil and coals; (2) local residents are employed; hence, there is no manpower problem. This is not a critical labor area; (3) Information available indicates that the cost of production is close to the average costs at other plants; (4) the product of this plant is of high quality; (5) no greater demand is made on transportation facilities by this plant than at other plants in the nation. The closing of the plant would be a serious economic loss to this community. Donald M. Nelson, chairman of the WPB, informed Congressman Gearhart that it was his desire to keep the Riverbank plant operating, because he considered the aluminum industry a promising one in the postwar era. Nelson noted that his department was continuing to study plant emissions in its quest to eliminate damage to livestock and crops. The Modesto Bee reported on July 26th that Robert C. McCandless had filed a $22,100 suit against the plant for damages done. He owned a 54-acre ranch, a mile south of the plant. By this time, more than 40 such suits had been filed against the government by local ranchers, which amounted to $500,000 in restitution, with $90,000 already paid out. It was the government’s turn to file a lawsuit of its own. In June, DPC sued to recover $69,690 in 1943 taxes, paid under protest, to Stanislaus County, Riverbank School District, and Riverbank Fire Department District. The plant’s land was assessed at $20,720 and improvements at $2,105,500. The 34 Stanislaus Historical Quarterly Summer 2008 government’s argument was that “personal property” belonging to the federal government, such as transformers, furnaces, and rectifiers, could not be taxed according to federal law. DPC asked that the county’s assessment be reduced by $1,377,568 for items that were clearly personal property of the government. Too Much Aluminum Bad news came to the community on August 3rd, when Congressman Gearhart learned that the plant was to close immediately. He commented in the Modesto Bee: If the plant is closed, it will be due directly to aluminum overproduction, the fruit of a boondoggling project, which without the consent or knowledge of congress, has set up competition for American businessmen outside American borders, with the money of American taxpayers . . . from a contract entered into by WPB and its Small Plant Corporation, with the Aluminum Corporation of Canada, for purchase of Alcoa’s entire aluminum production, at 11 cents a pound above the American market price and its construction with American money of a $500,000,000 aluminum plant project near Quebec. which meant it would be manned by a skeleton crew, using only 400 kilowatts of power. San Francisco was upset with this development, because it would lose $2.4 million from DPC for Hetch Hetchy power. Federal judge Michael Roche and Interior Secretary Ickes were contacted concerning the city’s contract with DPC, charging contract violation. Ickes explained that the Riverbank plant was closed because of its remoteness to high grade aluminum clays. California aluminum clays were of a lower grade. He felt that within time, there would be better technology to utilize the lower grade ore more fully. Official reasons for closing the Riverbank plant were reported by the Associated Press: 1. Existence of an excess supply of aluminum. 2. The War Manpower Commission feels the plant’s workers could be better utilized in that area, considered a critical labor region. 3. Alleged damages to surrounding vegetation from poisonous dust and gases from the plant had resulted in filing of many damage suits against the government. The Chemurgic Corporation in Turlock, a plant that assembled incendiary bombs, curtailed its production too. In fact, nearly 50 wartime factories and sites in California were closed and earmarked for sale. It wasn’t known if the aluminum plant would be sold as war surplus. The site was sizeable with its 330 acres, 24 buildings, and an immense amount of machinery and equipment. The U.S. Justice Department declared that ALCOA could not purchase the closed Riverbank plant or the closed eastern plants, because the corporation would be considered a monopoly. On October 3 rd, President Roosevelt reluctantly signed a law, requiring the Surplus War Property Administration to seek congress’ approval before selling plants that were worth more than $5 million. In November, equipment and materials from the aluminum plant were auctioned off, such as, rubber boots, electric torches, hand tools, and electric motors. National Archives photo Rosie the Riveter, fastening an aluminum sheet during He further commented that the Quebec installation included the erection of a hydroelectric power plant, with machinery. He blamed the Quebec plant’s production for the overproduction of aluminum, since it was supplying 3.7 billion lbs. of aluminum a year. Gearhart was livid over the use of American taxpayer’s money to damage the American aluminum industry. He planned to introduce legislation, requesting the dismantling of the Quebec plant. He was disappointed about the announced closure of the Riverbank plant, because he had received full assurance from WPB’s Nelson that it would remain open. The plant ended operation the first week of August, after just 15 months of production, being placed in “standby condition,” On January 9, 1945, Congressman Gearhart announced that the Riverbank aluminum plant was to reopen partially in May to manufacture military fuses. The manufacturing company was the Production Engineering Company of Berkeley, with a government contract of $4.5 million, employing 400 to 500 workers, of which two-thirds would be women. Machinery for the fuse project was received at the plant and 50 employees began working on the project, but news was received on May 3rd that the contract was cancelled, because the war in Europe was over. On January 29, 1945, the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) claimed that ALCOA closed down its aluminum plants too soon in its haste to reorganize for the postwar era. 35 Stanislaus Historical Quarterly CIO president, Philip Murray, declared that there was “a critical shortage of aluminum sheet for warplane construction.” He stated further that an “unbelievable series of errors and misjudgments by high ranking officials in the WPB and other government agencies” led to the current aluminum shortage. His complaint fell on mute ears. In February, RFC in San Francisco announced that the Riverbank plant would be one of 80 plants in the nation selected to store and sell surplus equipment and materials, but on September 28, 1945, the government declared that the Riverbank plant would be sold as surplus property, as would 60 other governmental facilities in California and 950 nationwide; however, the Riverbank plant instead underwent a series of intergovernmental transfers, ending up with the Army as its keeper on June 1, 1951. Army Ammunition Plant The Korean War brought life to the old plant. Norris Thermador Corporation was given a contract to produce steel cartridge cases for Army and Navy munitions. The plant began production on September 17, 1952, ending in 1954. The facility became known as the Riverbank Army Ammunition Plant, and occasionally, as the Riverbank Ordnance Plant. In 1966, production was reactivated for the Vietnam War, with Norris Thermador manufacturing 105 mm, 60 mm, and 81 mm casings, stopping production in 1975. From 1975 until 1994, short-term manufacturing took place under military contracts. In 1994, the facility was deactivated and was assigned preservation status. Concerns over environmental pollution in the 1970s led to studies by the Environmental Protection Agency of ground Summer 2008 pollution at the plant. When the facility was used for the production of aluminum, wastes were buried or burned on the property. The plating of ammunition cases for Korean and Vietnam wars required large quantities of cyanide and zinc, plus quantities of chromium, cobalt, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, and silver. These wastes, including sludge and solid waste, were disposed in a landfill at the northeastern section of the plant’s acreage. After 1966, solid wastes were transported off the property. The cyanide waste was treated with chlorine before flowing to unlined industrial treatment ponds, located over a mile north of the facility, on the flood plain of the Stanislaus River. The ponds occupied 30 acres, where evaporation-percolation technique was used. Treated liquid was then released into the river. The greatest concern was the contamination of ground water at the plant site and the treatment ponds. Ground water was used for drinking, washing, irrigation, and recreation. Environmental studies done during the 1970s concluded that ground pollution levels never posed a health hazard, but the old disposal site at the facility was thoroughly treated and capped-off, as specified by governmental standards. No further action was required, but monitoring of the site continued. In 1990, the facility was placed on closure status by the U.S. Department of Defense, with the date of closure scheduled for 2011. In the 1990s, in conjunction with the city of Riverbank, the facility become the home of over a dozen civilian industrial enterprises and named the Riverbank Industrial Complex. The facility has 109 buildings, six miles of pavement, and five miles of railroad tracks. Article by Robert LeRoy Santos Missed the first issue of Stanislaus Historical Quarterly? There are copies available, and one can be sent to you without cost. Also, consider being placed on the mailing list to receive the new issues when published. We are trying to develop a mailing list of interested readers. Please consider sharing your SHQ issues with others. No charge for the issues. Just contact: Robert LeRoy Santos, Alley-Cass Publications, 2240 Nordic Way, Turlock, CA, 95382. Tel: 209.634.8218. Email: [email protected] Also in this Summer’s issue: WW II’s Riverbank Aluminum Plant