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A group of World War II veterans were in Independence in September for their “last hurrah.” Three days later, they rode off into the sunset with everlasting memories of their South Pacific exploits with the 8th Army’s 44th Tank Battalion.
The men of the 44th – the first tank battalion to see action in the Pacific – selected Independence as the site of their last reunion to pay tribute to their commander in chief, Harry S. Truman, who is interred in the Truman Presidential Museum & Library courtyard.
All these veterans will tell you that If President Truman hadn’t allowed atomic bombs to be dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they would have faced death in the invasion of Japan.
“So this is why we chose to meet here,” says 83-year-old Don Vandertook of Panama, Neb., co-host of the annual get-together. “We wanted to pay tribute to Harry Truman.”
On the afternoon of Sept. 16, Vandertook awaited the arrival of attendees and their families who would be checking in throughout the day and evening at reunion headquarters in the Higher Ground Hotel, formerly the Olive Branch Inn.
Vandertook, who joined the 44th as the war in the Pacific was winding down, also was awaiting the arrival of seven or eight special guests whom the 44th rescued from Japanese bondage in the Philippines.
Such guests as Ted Cadwalder and Dorothy Ruddcliff, who spent 3 1/2 years in captivity. Ted was 5 years old and Dorothy was 9 when they were incarcerated with their parents.
Vandertook, who served in the occupation army in Japan following the war, noted the children became POWs because there weren’t enough planes to fly American civilians and their families out of the Philippines following the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
The internees remained in Santa Tomas Prison – a former school – until a tank from the 44th Battalion broke through the gate and freed the incarcerated Americans and Filipinos.
“These internees have some fascinating stories to tell,” Vandertook says. Like Dorothy Hall Brooks, who recalled at a recent reunion how one of the men on the Sherman tank tossed her a Hershey’s bar.
“That was my first Hershey’s bar in 3 1/2 years,” Vandertook recalls Dorothy saying.
Now in their upper 80s, most of the veterans have unique stories to share. But none more exciting than Ed Eaton’s account of how he received two Purple Hearts and the Bronze Star as a tank commander/platoon leader on the island of Leyte.
Sitting in a wheelchair in his hotel room wearing a military cap, the 88-year-old veteran from Newport Richey, Fla., seemed anxious to share his military exploits, which nearly took his life. Not only was he blown out of a tank during the two-week Battle of Break Neck Ridge, but he also was wounded the same day as he was being transported to safety.
As platoon commander of five tanks, Eaton stood in the turret, giving directions for firefights to the tanks under his command.
While advancing through tall, thick grass, the alert commander saw the grass move. From his turret perch, Eaton moved his tank close to the other tanks and began hurling grenades at the Japs hiding in the 6-foot-tall grass.
As Eaton pulled the pin on a grenade he was preparing to toss, a sniper’s bullet tore through his arm. The grenade, he says, “fell behind the turret so that when it exploded, it came up and followed the round of the turret, hit me in the back and blew me out the top of the tank.”
Hanging outside the tank, Eaton recalls being pulled into the Sherman by two crewmembers. Later, when he was pulled out of the tank and placed on the back of it, Eaton heard Japanese bullets pinging off the tank.
When a bullet creased his leg, Eaton yelled, “Get the hell out of here.” The crew did, and Eaton spent a year recuperating in a Chicago hospital. He was discharged at age 25.
While eager to talk about his harrowing experiences, Eaton, at first, was hesitant to talk about the Bronze Star he received on Leyte.
“I don’t tell this story to everybody,” he says in a quiet voice, when asked about the fourth-highest combat award, which is given for bravery, acts of merit or meritorious service.
Eaton’s account was brief. He told how he came across a disabled tank, with two crewmen trapped inside. A land mine had blown the tracks off the tank, which was on its side.
After uprighting it, he opened the hatch, pulled out the men, placed them on the back of his tank and “got them out of there.”
“And I got the Bronze Star for (doing) it,” he says, explaining two other wounded crewmen escaped, but were unable to assist.
Eaton, who made history as a tank commander, witnessed a history-making event on Oct. 20, 1944, when Gen. Douglas MacArthur landed at Leyte Island and announced: “I have returned.”
Had Eaton’s captain not asked him to go to the beach that day and bring back some much-needed .30-caliber ammunition, he would have missed MacArthur’s historic return to the Philippines.
When Eaton drove his tank to the beach, he noticed yellow tape wrapped around the ammo dump and two MPs standing guard.
The MPs denied Eaton access to the ammunition, explaining MacArthur was about to come ashore in a Higgins personnel carrier.
Eaton watched as the event unfolded before his eyes. First, a Higgins boat landed on the beach carrying numerous photographers and reporters.
After depositing the press on dry land, the Higgins backed off the beach. Then, MacArthur and his party disembarked and waded to shore in knee-high water.
With the general safely on shore, Eaton loaded the ammo on his tank and returned to camp. Upon arrival, his captain wanted to know why he was gone so long.
Explaining he had to wait for MacArthur to come ashore, the captain replied:
“Why in the hell didn’t you go up and tell him there is a war going on.”
A group of World War II veterans were in Independence in September for their “last hurrah.” Three days later, they rode off into the sunset with everlasting memories of their South Pacific exploits with the 8th Army’s 44th Tank Battalion.
The men of the 44th – the first tank battalion to see action in the Pacific – selected Independence as the site of their last reunion to pay tribute to their commander in chief, Harry S. Truman, who is interred in the Truman Presidential Museum & Library courtyard.
All these veterans will tell you that If President Truman hadn’t allowed atomic bombs to be dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they would have faced death in the invasion of Japan.
“So this is why we chose to meet here,” says 83-year-old Don Vandertook of Panama, Neb., co-host of the annual get-together. “We wanted to pay tribute to Harry Truman.”
On the afternoon of Sept. 16, Vandertook awaited the arrival of attendees and their families who would be checking in throughout the day and evening at reunion headquarters in the Higher Ground Hotel, formerly the Olive Branch Inn.
Vandertook, who joined the 44th as the war in the Pacific was winding down, also was awaiting the arrival of seven or eight special guests whom the 44th rescued from Japanese bondage in the Philippines.
Such guests as Ted Cadwalder and Dorothy Ruddcliff, who spent 3 1/2 years in captivity. Ted was 5 years old and Dorothy was 9 when they were incarcerated with their parents.
Vandertook, who served in the occupation army in Japan following the war, noted the children became POWs because there weren’t enough planes to fly American civilians and their families out of the Philippines following the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
The internees remained in Santa Tomas Prison – a former school – until a tank from the 44th Battalion broke through the gate and freed the incarcerated Americans and Filipinos.
“These internees have some fascinating stories to tell,” Vandertook says. Like Dorothy Hall Brooks, who recalled at a recent reunion how one of the men on the Sherman tank tossed her a Hershey’s bar.
“That was my first Hershey’s bar in 3 1/2 years,” Vandertook recalls Dorothy saying.
Now in their upper 80s, most of the veterans have unique stories to share. But none more exciting than Ed Eaton’s account of how he received two Purple Hearts and the Bronze Star as a tank commander/platoon leader on the island of Leyte.
Sitting in a wheelchair in his hotel room wearing a military cap, the 88-year-old veteran from Newport Richey, Fla., seemed anxious to share his military exploits, which nearly took his life. Not only was he blown out of a tank during the two-week Battle of Break Neck Ridge, but he also was wounded the same day as he was being transported to safety.
As platoon commander of five tanks, Eaton stood in the turret, giving directions for firefights to the tanks under his command.
While advancing through tall, thick grass, the alert commander saw the grass move. From his turret perch, Eaton moved his tank close to the other tanks and began hurling grenades at the Japs hiding in the 6-foot-tall grass.
As Eaton pulled the pin on a grenade he was preparing to toss, a sniper’s bullet tore through his arm. The grenade, he says, “fell behind the turret so that when it exploded, it came up and followed the round of the turret, hit me in the back and blew me out the top of the tank.”
Hanging outside the tank, Eaton recalls being pulled into the Sherman by two crewmembers. Later, when he was pulled out of the tank and placed on the back of it, Eaton heard Japanese bullets pinging off the tank.
When a bullet creased his leg, Eaton yelled, “Get the hell out of here.” The crew did, and Eaton spent a year recuperating in a Chicago hospital. He was discharged at age 25.
While eager to talk about his harrowing experiences, Eaton, at first, was hesitant to talk about the Bronze Star he received on Leyte.
“I don’t tell this story to everybody,” he says in a quiet voice, when asked about the fourth-highest combat award, which is given for bravery, acts of merit or meritorious service.
Eaton’s account was brief. He told how he came across a disabled tank, with two crewmen trapped inside. A land mine had blown the tracks off the tank, which was on its side.
After uprighting it, he opened the hatch, pulled out the men, placed them on the back of his tank and “got them out of there.”
“And I got the Bronze Star for (doing) it,” he says, explaining two other wounded crewmen escaped, but were unable to assist.
Eaton, who made history as a tank commander, witnessed a history-making event on Oct. 20, 1944, when Gen. Douglas MacArthur landed at Leyte Island and announced: “I have returned.”
Had Eaton’s captain not asked him to go to the beach that day and bring back some much-needed .30-caliber ammunition, he would have missed MacArthur’s historic return to the Philippines.
When Eaton drove his tank to the beach, he noticed yellow tape wrapped around the ammo dump and two MPs standing guard.
The MPs denied Eaton access to the ammunition, explaining MacArthur was about to come ashore in a Higgins personnel carrier.
Eaton watched as the event unfolded before his eyes. First, a Higgins boat landed on the beach carrying numerous photographers and reporters.
After depositing the press on dry land, the Higgins backed off the beach. Then, MacArthur and his party disembarked and waded to shore in knee-high water.
With the general safely on shore, Eaton loaded the ammo on his tank and returned to camp. Upon arrival, his captain wanted to know why he was gone so long.
Explaining he had to wait for MacArthur to come ashore, the captain replied:
“Why in the hell didn’t you go up and tell him there is a war going on.”
