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47 is a Lot Better Than 29

Posted by on June 26, 2017

September 20 and 26, 1945. Dad writes two relatively short letters home from Guam where he is stationed at Northwest Field with the 331st Bomb Group. With the war being over in the Pacific, it is no wonder that his thoughts have turned to the possibility of discharge. Additionally, he clarifies a few things that he wrote in earlier letters.

On the 20th he writes that he is starting to quickly accumulate points and honors towards discharge. “So far I’ve got 42 points which is slightly better than the 29 I had when we first came here. We have been awarded on battle star and are expecting a group citation for the good work performed by our fliers and the rest of the ground men. The advance echelon, those who came by boat (includes me), are hoping to get another battle star for being here May 12th.” By the time the 26th comes around the point tally has been increased. “So far I’ll be having 47 points. We now have two battle stars and are expecting a presidential citation to come through. I hope we get a third battle star which will give me 52, but 47 is a lot better than the 29 I came over here with. If I had stayed in the States I would have had about 33 points now instead of 47.”

As far as what’s next, Dad writes, “Please tell ma not to expect too much about my getting back to the States by Christmas. We might be moving around here and there and I do hope for the best.” Although his discharge  may still be a few months off, Dad acknowledges how things are going for other family members, specifically his cousin and brother. “So Eddie Morawski is home already! Here’s hoping Stanley gets out of this Army very soon if he already isn’t being released now.”

Apparently Dad’s descriptions of the heavy rains on Guam have been cause for concern back home. Dad seeks to straighten the record. “Ma appears to be worried about floods around here. Tell ma not to worry as my descriptions are a little too colored; I guess I just can’t help exaggerating. In fact, our whole outfit is located on a high plain.”

Other than counting points and assuaging his mother’s fears about high water, Dad also writes about some live entertainment they enjoyed. “Last night, through the auspices of the Red Cross, a small party was put on for the group with about 8 Red Cross girls to a mob of well over 1500 men. I got to see what the female specie looks like even if it was about 50 feet away outside a building looking in through a window across 5 lines deep of men standing outside the building as there was no room in the building. You may say on good authority that we do have a woman shortage here.”

He closes, “Seems that is about all. God bless you all.” Then he adds a P.S, “I believe I’m putting on a couple of pounds.”

As you may recall, to close out the months when Stanley was writing from England I would list the missions flown by his squadron. I’ve yet to list the missions for the 331st Bomb Group as they only flew 11 missions on targets in Japan in the relatively short time they were active on Guam. Now that we are coming to the end of September 1945, here’s the list:

  • July 9-10, Oil Refinery, Yokkaichi
  • July 12-13, Petroleum Center, Kawasaki
  • July 15-16, Oil Refinery, Kudamatsu
  • July 19-20, Nippon Oil Refinery, Amagaski
  • July 22-23, Oil Refinery, Ube
  • July 25-26, Mitsubishi and Hayama Refineries, Kawasaki
  • July 28-29, Oil Refinery, Wakayama
  • August 1-2, Petroleum Center, Kawasaki
  • August 5-6, Oil Refinery, Ube
  • August 9-10, Nippon Oil Refinery, Amagaski
  • August 11-15, Nippon Oil Refinery, Tsuchizaki
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