ww2letterproject

September 2, 1945, was VJ (Victory over Japan) Day.  On that day General Yamashita, the commander of the IJA forces on Luzon, formally surrendered to General Wainwright in the town at Baguio.  General Wainwright was in command of the Allied forces on Bataan when they surrendered to the Japanese in 1942.

It is likely that PFC Bill Nance and other high point GIs boarded ships and left the port at Aparri on September 7 and September 10, 1945.

During the trip home, those GIs played a lot of poker and shot a lot of craps.  Money, other valuables and war souvenirs were lost and won and lost again.  PFC Bill Nance recalled that on the trip home he won a large diamond ring in a poker game but then lost it later in the trip.  The 37th Army bands played numerous concerts.  On several occasions, the vocalist behind the mike was PFC Bill Nance.

Dad often sang as he worked or played around the house and when he was driving our family car.

I was in our car, standing behind the front bench seat.  A few inches in front of me was the back of Dad’s head and its neatly trimmed, jet black hair.  It was the early 1950s.  I was very young and short enough, that as I looked through the front windshield, I could only see the sky.  Looking at the back of the bench seat, I could see a rope loop and a slight tear in the seat fabric.  Dad was singing.  I don’t recall the tune, but some of his standards included “Stardust” and “Misty.”  He sang in a clear and wonderful voice.  The tune ended, and he asked, “Any requests?”  After a brief pause I said, “sing that song about the mule.”  He laughed and began singing…

A mule is an animal with long funny ears
He kicks up at anything he hears
His back is brawny but his brain is weak
He’s just plain stupid with a stubborn streak
And by the way, if you hate to go to school
You may grow up to be a mule
Or would you like to swing on a star
Carry moonbeams home in a jar…

(“Swinging on a Star” was composed by Jimmy Van Heusen with lyrics by Johnny Burke. It was introduced by Bing Crosby in 1944.)

I still have that jar.  It contains not a moonbeam but something every bit as magical: the memory of that moment in the car.

Dad was a quiet and unassuming kind of guy.  When my mom told me the story about how he sang on stage in front of perhaps thousands of servicemen, I was shocked.  But he and his fellow GIs had just spent more than three years in combat.  I was recently sharing a cup of coffee with a friend of mine who is a Korean War era veteran.  We were talking about WWII, and he commented, “Those WWII guys didn’t have much to say, but they were fearless; they had seen it all.”

The trip home took about three weeks.  The ship made a stop in Hawaii.  PFC Bill Nance recalled that he was told that Hawaiian girls were the prettiest in the world; even though he looked hard, he wasn’t able to find any of them during his time in Hawaii.

In late September, PFC Bill Nance passed under the Golden Gate bridge for his second and last time.  Bill was processed in San Francisco, boarded a troop train and crossed the continent again.

Bill reported to Camp Atterbury, Indiana, and was discharged from the US Army on October 3, 1945, only seven days short of five years of service.  His decorations and citations included: the American Defense Ribbon Asiatic – Pacific Theater Ribbon with two bronze stars, the Philippine Liberation Ribbon with one bronze star, and the Good Conduct Medal.

Bill Nance left Camp Atterbury and likely traveled the 100 miles to Dayton by train, passing first through Cincinnati where a reporter from a local radio station interviewed him.

A day or so later, Bill returned to 427 Jackson St, Dayton Ohio, the rented home of Marie and Russ Nance.  He had been gone for four years.  He would spend Thanksgiving with his family.

PFC Bill Nance spent more than three years in combat.  Bill traveled more than half-way around the world, crossed into the Southern Hemisphere and was stationed in New Zealand, the Fiji Islands, Guadalcanal, New Georgia, Bougainville, Luzon, Manila, the mountains of Luzon.

A few months later, on December 18, 1945, the 37th was disbanded.  For their actions in the Pacific Theater of Operations, the men of the 37th earned:

7 Medals of Honor
109 Distinguished Service Crosses
4 Distinguished Silver Medals
939 Silver Stars
61 Legion of Merits
94 Soldiers Medals
6336 Bronze Star Medals
9150 Purple Hearts

Enemy Casualties 33580 killed; 2180 prisoners

37th KIA 1834 with 8218 casualties

The 37th was the most decorated US Army Division in WW2.