Throwback Thursday - The Notebooks

To clear up some confusion, the Notebook passages posted on Throwback Thursday were written by my father and found by me after he passed away. They were his attempt to tell the family history. He was in his late 80s or early 90s when he wrote them. Today's chapter:

While we were in Brisbane I was assigned to New Guinea to Japanese identification of their aircrafts. Fighter and bombers and I would also when I returned give lectures to have the men be able to identify and distinguish between their and ours and type. And I was airborne for that.[ed: U.S. Army Air Corps] 

A good part of the island was safe for that. It was not a long stay about a week. I returned and soon after I gave my lectures and we moved again. northward to another town, I forgot its name, but it was the jump off place for New Guinea. 

I can't remember how long we stayed and we knew we were in the boondocks. It was a small quaint town and closer to the Equator. Where Sydney would be the equivalent of our New England except that there was no snow and their Winter was mile. Brisbane would be like Virginia climate and this town for weather would be like Florida.

They had a theater that was also oddly built. Its structure was such that the outside wall was not tight. There were spaces so that the air would flow through out the inner building. If it had been build tight, it would be more than hot in the inside. Quite comfortable.

Eventually we shipped off for New Guinea. A short ship ride and landed right at the beach. It was so deep water that there was no need for docks. In the jungle area. Set up camp and machine guns around it. And ordered to be alert night and day. While we held the open ground, the enemy held the jungles.

Our area seemed quiet and our air force owned the skies.

It did not take long to clean the island and before long we would be called out for reveille. And taking count of heads, we hoisted Old Glory to the masthead or bringing it down at days end. Eyes were always watery. It was symbolic, it was the country's representative. Telling us we are with you. Our home folks following us.

I had bee there before and I also to an area where I spent 90 hours of study of chemical warfare. It arose from intelligence sources that stated the Japanese were stocking huge amounts of chemical products. The war was going our way. Our Navy had all but destroyed theirs in the Pacific at different areas so we we also were gaining control the of the sea and skies.

MacArthur was in the process of planning his landing in Leyte Island and in the bay of that island it would be the end for them. Our Navy would when it happened cross the T. Which is moving ahead. The Japanese Navy would go with the bay in single file. While our Navy would be waiting with ships broadside thereby bringing more naval guns to bear on the enemy while the enemy could only use their fore fire power.