As we continue this series of articles on World War II, I would like to reintroduce you to Carl. Born in Columbus County in 1923, young Carl and his family eventually wound up in Monroe. As was common during the Great Depression, a family could be picked up and relocated, depending on where Dad could find work - Carl's family was no exception. As a young man, Carl earned money by working at Monroe's Swiss Colony. One day while working his shift, Carl decided on a future with the U.S. Marines.
He tried to enlist, but due to the super flux of recruits, the Marines were swamped. Carl explains his roundabout way of first getting rejected, then accepted: "(Archie, a friend of mine, and I) went to work for the Swiss Colony. That's when we decided; we knew we were going to be called up anyway, so we decided to join up with the Marine Corps. We went to Madison in December of 1942 and tried to enlist, but they wouldn't take us because they were filled up. So they said they'd call us when we were needed, probably after Christmas. So (Archie and I) went back to work, and the latter part of December we got a call from the Marine Corps. So the first part of January 1943 we went up there and signed up. So we took our first examination and they shipped us straight to Milwaukee and swore us in. Then we had to take another examination and Archie didn't pass, so he couldn't go into the Marines, but he later went in the Army.
"After I passed my exams they swore me in, and that same afternoon I left for Chicago. I never got home! I got down to Chicago and was waiting for a train; it was about 9:00 or 10:00 at night, waiting to go west. I called my mother and told her I was on my way, I wasn't going to get home. I never got home for three and a half years - for three and a half years!"
As Carl and I sat and talked, he remarked that in three and a half years, amazingly, he never got a scratch - even on Iwo Jima, during the worst fighting in the war. "Well, I lost my hearing through an artillery round. We were up on the front lines, on the last pocket of resistance on the north end of the island, just getting ready to get out. We were all packed up, standing up, ready to go back, and this artillery hit, and it was just unreal - just unreal. I never was so close to a hit in all the time I was over there. The concussion just knocked us over completely but we were lucky - not a one of us got hit by shrapnel. What protected us, I don't know. It was a hard hit - it was as close as I ever got."
Standing at the phone in Chicago speaking to his mother one last time, Carl had no idea that he wouldn't see her for more than three years. Nor could he have guessed that he was Iwo-bound; at this point, his destiny was up to the Marines. From Chicago, Carl arrived at San Diego for training. Now Carl laughs at the memory, "That was some other new experience in the Marine Corps - boot camp. You never heard such words - they called you everything but a gentleman! I'd never heard such language, but you just took it; that's the way they were." Carl showed me his U.S. Marine Corps Identification Card, which after more than six decades, was only slightly tattered and faded. He weighed 137 pounds.
"We had a hell of a good marching platoon - I caught on pretty quick to left, right, and rear march. We ended up with a sharp platoon, but that's when I caught bronchial pneumonia - I was in the hospital for two weeks. After I got better I was put in a platoon that couldn't march worth a darn! It was terrible, and I made the mistake of opening my mouth. Well, that didn't go over real well, and a group of them just beat the heck out of me one night when it was dark - I never knew who it was! They said, 'keep your (darn) mouth shut', and I learned - that's how you learn to keep your (darn) mouth shut!"
Training for the Marines consisted of incessant running - "We ran everywhere!" followed by time on the rifle range. Having grown up partaking in hobbies like rabbit hunting, this was one thing Carl enjoyed: "I forget how many days we were up there, but we'd run a mile there, and then back, but shooting was fun - I liked that. I did pretty well, but I couldn't shoot offhanded. I ended up six points short of making expert rifleman. If I was shooting prone, at 500 yards I'd have six bull's-eyes, and two in the four-ring.
After boot camp, Carl was put into the Cooks and Bakers' School. He shook his head - "I wondered why the hell they picked me for Cooks and Bakers' School and I wanted to get out. Well, they put me in because when I signed up, I put that I worked in a bakery and made cheese before I left for the service. Then I got talking to some of the guys, who said it was the best outfit to get in! So I stayed - sounded good to me!"
Carl showed me an old liberty card, from Camp Pendleton, Calif. - his next destination.
- Dan Wegmueller is a columnist for The Monroe Times. He can be reached at dwegs@tds.net.
He tried to enlist, but due to the super flux of recruits, the Marines were swamped. Carl explains his roundabout way of first getting rejected, then accepted: "(Archie, a friend of mine, and I) went to work for the Swiss Colony. That's when we decided; we knew we were going to be called up anyway, so we decided to join up with the Marine Corps. We went to Madison in December of 1942 and tried to enlist, but they wouldn't take us because they were filled up. So they said they'd call us when we were needed, probably after Christmas. So (Archie and I) went back to work, and the latter part of December we got a call from the Marine Corps. So the first part of January 1943 we went up there and signed up. So we took our first examination and they shipped us straight to Milwaukee and swore us in. Then we had to take another examination and Archie didn't pass, so he couldn't go into the Marines, but he later went in the Army.
"After I passed my exams they swore me in, and that same afternoon I left for Chicago. I never got home! I got down to Chicago and was waiting for a train; it was about 9:00 or 10:00 at night, waiting to go west. I called my mother and told her I was on my way, I wasn't going to get home. I never got home for three and a half years - for three and a half years!"
As Carl and I sat and talked, he remarked that in three and a half years, amazingly, he never got a scratch - even on Iwo Jima, during the worst fighting in the war. "Well, I lost my hearing through an artillery round. We were up on the front lines, on the last pocket of resistance on the north end of the island, just getting ready to get out. We were all packed up, standing up, ready to go back, and this artillery hit, and it was just unreal - just unreal. I never was so close to a hit in all the time I was over there. The concussion just knocked us over completely but we were lucky - not a one of us got hit by shrapnel. What protected us, I don't know. It was a hard hit - it was as close as I ever got."
Standing at the phone in Chicago speaking to his mother one last time, Carl had no idea that he wouldn't see her for more than three years. Nor could he have guessed that he was Iwo-bound; at this point, his destiny was up to the Marines. From Chicago, Carl arrived at San Diego for training. Now Carl laughs at the memory, "That was some other new experience in the Marine Corps - boot camp. You never heard such words - they called you everything but a gentleman! I'd never heard such language, but you just took it; that's the way they were." Carl showed me his U.S. Marine Corps Identification Card, which after more than six decades, was only slightly tattered and faded. He weighed 137 pounds.
"We had a hell of a good marching platoon - I caught on pretty quick to left, right, and rear march. We ended up with a sharp platoon, but that's when I caught bronchial pneumonia - I was in the hospital for two weeks. After I got better I was put in a platoon that couldn't march worth a darn! It was terrible, and I made the mistake of opening my mouth. Well, that didn't go over real well, and a group of them just beat the heck out of me one night when it was dark - I never knew who it was! They said, 'keep your (darn) mouth shut', and I learned - that's how you learn to keep your (darn) mouth shut!"
Training for the Marines consisted of incessant running - "We ran everywhere!" followed by time on the rifle range. Having grown up partaking in hobbies like rabbit hunting, this was one thing Carl enjoyed: "I forget how many days we were up there, but we'd run a mile there, and then back, but shooting was fun - I liked that. I did pretty well, but I couldn't shoot offhanded. I ended up six points short of making expert rifleman. If I was shooting prone, at 500 yards I'd have six bull's-eyes, and two in the four-ring.
After boot camp, Carl was put into the Cooks and Bakers' School. He shook his head - "I wondered why the hell they picked me for Cooks and Bakers' School and I wanted to get out. Well, they put me in because when I signed up, I put that I worked in a bakery and made cheese before I left for the service. Then I got talking to some of the guys, who said it was the best outfit to get in! So I stayed - sounded good to me!"
Carl showed me an old liberty card, from Camp Pendleton, Calif. - his next destination.
- Dan Wegmueller is a columnist for The Monroe Times. He can be reached at dwegs@tds.net.
