A STORY of YOUNG AMERICANS at WAR
Over the years, the happenings of World War II have been covered in many ways. However, little has been written about the impact on teen-aged American boys who were still in high school while the war was still being fought.
The age for many was seventeen. As soon as they reached this "magic" age, thousands of them joined the military services. Their country had been attacked and was now at war. Most of them had been raised during the "Great Depression". They were used to the simple life of hardship and sacrifice. This made them prime candidates for war. They looked to their coming fate with childlike anticipation and faith in God and the future.
The story is told through the eyes of Ralph who seems to personify the trials and tribulations of the teenaged boys who fought in World War II. I chose to use Ralph rather than me because I am not writing a biography. Blended in the story are Ralph's two boyhood friends and other teenaged boys that he meets along the way. Leaving home and parents, his neighbors, his high school and teachers, his community and church, Ralph like thousands of other teenaged boys went to war. Upon entering the service, he, like they, felt the immediate stigma of older men assuming the role of parents and teachers. They were chastised and humiliated. They were robbed of their dignity. This would be their training. Once at war, in combat, they became hardened veterans. They were robbed of the principles they had been taught in the past. They were programmed to kill or be killed. This became their purpose.
The story line takes you through Ralph's leaving home and entering the newly formed Army Air Corps as an aviation cadet. After completing basic training, his dreams of becoming a fighter pilot are shattered as he and thousands of other cadets are "washed out" of all training programs. Because of over enlistments, they had lost all status. They were nothing. To keep them busy, they were assigned to odd jobs "shit details" as they were called. Finally, after several weeks, Ralph and several other cadets were admitted to aerial gunnery school. The fate of the others, who knows?
From there they were sent to train in B-24 (heavy) bombers known as the Liberator. During this training, they were assigned to combat crews. To them, it was like being lost and then found again. The bomber crew of ten men (and boys) became a family to these young teenagers. It was almost the equivalent of having substitute parents. Following this training, they were sent to combat theaters all over the world.
Ralph unfortunately became ill and was left behind. Once again, he was lost. After many encounters, he was sent to the Southwest Pacific Theater of War as a replacement. Here mostly on the islands of New Guinea and then Moratai, he and his crew try to acclimate to life on a tropical jungle island as they flew combat missions against the Japanese.
Finally, Ralph, although badly injured, and his crew survive a terrible plane crash in the jungle of the island of Mindinoe. With the help of friendly guerilla forces and some somewhat hostile Moros (terrorists), they tried to reach a rendezvous point where a Catalina flying boat was scheduled to pick them up. Ralph awakened three months later in an army military hospital. Thus the story begins.
Much of what transpired in this story really happened, maybe a bit embellished, at times. It is told mostly through conversation. Included in the story are real letters, pictures, maps, cartoons, notes, and other stories relevant to the main story.