 By Dick Martin
Harvey Kastein’s first deployment, after finishing his initial Navy school, was as a Seaman on the USS Collett ship. The deployment was highlighted on February 10, 1969, by being part of a naval gunfire support team anchored at Da Nang Harbor providing supporting fire for friendly forces inland involved in combat operations twenty miles south of Da Nang. Months later during a redeployment back to Vietnam at a stop in Okinawa, Harvey felt a tug at his sleeve and turned around to face a battle hardened Marine. Not knowing what the Marine had in mind, Harvey was startled until the Marine, having seen Harvey’s Collet patch, thanked him profusely for the fire support that February 10 that the Marine said saved their rear-ends.
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 By Dick Martin
In putting together the Springfield Veterans Book, one of the big surprises for me, and there were many, was the respect our soldiers had for the German soldiers in the regular army (Heer). It seems like all of the atrocities were committed by Hitler’s other army, the Waffen-SS, which was made up of more radical, psychopathic, and maniacal soldiers; ie, the Waffen-SS were the soldiers responsible for the Malmedy massacre. An example of the regular army soldiers (Heer) was related to me by Chuck Dawes, who spent most of his time in Europe as a POW. He said the regular army Wehrmacht were much like American soldiers. He told me that he often thanked God for being a German-held POW and not a Jap-held POW. Chuck said that if the guards had food they shared it with the POWs and if the guards were without food, they all starved together. As Hitler began his European domination, he unleashed his two distinct armies on Europe. It is almost impossible to overstate Nazi Germany’s military achievements at the outset of World War 2. The two armies (Waffen-SS and Heer) competed with each other. Despite impressions of Hitler’s German State being one of monolithic centralized control, Hitler encouraged competition among the various state and party organs. It stood to reason, therefore, such duplication of effort would ultimately manifest itself on the battlefield. At their peaks, the terrorist leaning Waffen-SS was composed of approximately 900,000 soldiers and the regular army Heer was composed of approximately 13,600,000 soldiers. Initial membership requirements for the Waffen-SS were more exacting than those for the Heer. Potential recruits were required to prove their “Aryan” ancestry back several generations, be at least 5’ 9” tall and could be rejected for having even a single dental filling. Only one applicant in four was accepted into the elite force. Levels of political indoctrination were significantly higher in the Waffen-SS than in the Heer. Recruits of all ranks were given extensive classroom instruction in the National Socialist ideology. Political involvement was mandatory for the Waffen-SS. Every member of the Waffen-SS was required to be a member of the Nazi Party. It is no wonder that the Waffen-SS was much more fanatical than the regular army Heer. As the war widened volunteers were recruited from the populations of such allied nations as Holland, Norway, France and Russia. Perhaps the most fiercely debated aspect of the relationship between the Heer and Waffen-SS is the question of which organization was the most complicit in war crimes. The debate came up immediately after the war ended as the allies prepared for the Nuremberg war trials. The Heer would have us believe that the Waffen-SS, which was declared a criminal organization at the trials, was the more complicit. The Heer war crimes were spread out over an organization that was approximately 14 times bigger than the Waffen-SS. That the Waffen-SS did not have a monopoly on brutality throughout the war is well documented. However considering the size off the two organizations, the Waffen-SS would have to be considered the more evil of the two. Taken and edited from an article in the July 2020 Military History magazine.  By Dick Martin
Where was Daryl Heusinkveld from May 11, 1969 until May 13, 1970? The Air Force has always confirmed that he was an officer and a pilot during that time. His family confirms that he was nowhere close to home. The rumors are strong that he spent the entire year dodging enemy anti-aircraft rounds flying 213 secret combat missions in a prop A1 Sky raider into Laos. But don’t ask the Air Force about Daryl’s whereabouts because they, officially, have no knowledge of any activity in Laos. Better to ask Ho Chi Minh or General Giap as Daryl and his fellow pilots were taking a terrible toll of the enemy on the Ho Chi Minh Trail and in support of the Laotion Army. by Dick Martin  When researching the “surprise” attack on Pearl Harbor, one can only wonder how the Japs kept it a surprise. Breaking their secret codes had much to do with it. Japanese ally, Germany, believed that its secret codes for radio messages were indecipherable. However, the meticulous work of code breakers based at Britain’s Bletchley Park cracked the secrets of German wartime communications, and played a crucial role in the final defeat of the AXIS Powers. By the end of 1941, the United States was already reading the Japanese intelligence messages (Magic). There were those who claim President Roosevelt knew the attack was coming but needed the support of the Isolationists, so he allowed the attack to proceed. I doubt this is true; however, there is plenty of evidence to support it. Below is a chronological list of events that should have put the USA on notice that something big was coming: November 7, 1941 – Admiral Yamamoto issues Operation Order no. 2 setting December 8, 1941; (December 7 Hawaiian time) as Y day for the attack of Oahu. November 10, 1941 – Ambassador Nomura arrived at the White House to present the Japanese “A” proposal for maintaining peace in the Western Pacific. The United States had already broken the code so they already knew what was in the “A” proposal and also what was in the “B” proposal that was yet to come. November 16, 1941 – Magic intercepts a cable from Tokyo to Ambassador Nomura advising him to “fight harder.” November 20, 1941 – Ambassador Nomuro presents Tokyo’s “B” proposal. Again, because of Magic, the White House knew it was coming and what it consisted of so they were ready to turn it down. “At this point, I think it is necessary to mention that after four years of fighting and the loss of a million soldiers on mainland China, the Japs were not going to go along with any proposal that denied them of any of their hard-won Chinese conquests; and America was not going to endorse a proposal that allowed Japan to keep any soldiers in China. With no room for compromise this alone should have made it obvious that Japan had been pushed into a corner and had to do something big. Even if the USA knew the Japs were going to strike, they would have been shocked that it was Hawaii rather than the Philippine Islands. Since the turn of the century until the Japanese strike at Pearl Harbor in 1941, Washington thought the Philippine Islands were in a position to check any Japanese expansions South, West or North and spent their time, assets, and effort focusing on the Philippine Island as a block to Jap expansion.” That Japan struck first at Pearl Harbor instead of the Philippine Island may have been the biggest surprise of all to the US’s military leadership. November 22, 1941 – Magic intercepted Tokyo’s message to Nomuro that the deadline for negotiations was four days, December 7, 1941. Japs get order to sail for the Hawaiian Islands. November 24, 1941 – The Chief of Naval Operations flashed warning of “Surprise and Aggressive Movements” by Japan. November 25, 1941 – Roosevelt looks for ways to get Japan to take first shot in a shooting war. November 26, 1941 – Admiral Nagumo’s fleet strike force puts to sea. November 26, 1941 – Prime Minister Tojo gives his cabinet an ultimatum for war. November 27, 1941 – Garrison Commander General Short received an alert stating “Measures should be carried out so as not to alert Civil Population.” November 29, 1941 – Magic reveals a report from Ambassador Oshima that German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop had pledged, ¨Should Japan become engaged in a war against the United States, Germany of course, would join the war immediately.” November 30, 1941 – Japan continues with its strike force headed for Hawaii. December 1, 1941 – To maintain its empire, a half hour before they strike Pearl Harbor, Japan sees no alternative to war and schedules to reject America’s conditions. December 2, 1941 – The Pacific Fleet Combat Intelligence Unit discovers that all Japanese warship call signs have been changed, a sure sign they are up to something big. December 3, 1941 – Admiral Kimmel, Pearl Harbor Commander, received highly reliable information from Naval Intelligence in Washington that Magic had intercepted messages the day before instructing all Japanese embassies to begin destruction of codes and sensitive documents. December 4, 1941 – The Navy’s listening post at Cheltenham Maryland picked up what the operator reported as the “East Wind Rain” war warning message. December 5, 1941 – The Japanese envoys summoned to the State Department could not explain why large convoys were moving across the South China Sea. December 6, 1941 – The Japanese reject America’s ten-point proposal for peace. December 7, 1941 – Lt. Commander Kramer intercepts a message describing the movement of ships in Pearl Harbor. No action is taken. Technically, the Army and Navy personnel are on full war alert, but alerts had, by now, become so frequent as to be nothing unusual. Too many alerts, too much intelligence pointing to the impending Japanese attacks toward the western side of the Pacific, too great a reliance on Magic information, and too logical an analysis of Japanese military intentions, with a consequent failure to accord importance to the last minute Pearl Harbor clues allowed Adm Kimmel and General Short to sleep much too soundly that night. The Japanese task force closes in to 230 miles from Pearl Harbor. At 3:50 am, periscopes are sighted off the Harbor mouth. No action is taken. US radar spots the Japanese task force off Kahuku point, but no action is taken. At 4 am, Adm Kramer’s Purple machine intercepts a message to Amb Nomuro directing him to deliver Japanese peace proposal “B” at exactly 1 pm. At 0530, Gen Marshall sends an urgent dispatch to Hawaii, “Just what the significance of the hour 1300 may have we do not know but be on the alert accordingly.” Instead of sending the message to the Navy by Naval Radio, Stark sends it on with the words “Inform Navy “at the top. At 0637 submarine is spotted at Pearl Harbor and attacked with depth charges and gun fire. At 7:02, the attack by the Japanese strike force on Pearl Harbor has begun. Observation: The conduct of Japanese soldiers towards the Chinese was horrible. Their conduct, alone, warranted severe retribution. That the US wanted to keep China as an “Open Door” nation with its billion people as a market was tough to ignore. Japan considered the Pacific west of Hawaii to mainland China as its Co-Prosperity Sphere. It felt it had a right to claim this area for its own market to exploit. In retrospect it is hard for Americans to argue with this logic, since by virtue of the Monroe Doctrine, America’s Co-Prosperity Sphere included much more territory, ie the Western Hemisphere! That is not to say, I feel bad for the Japanese. In my opinion, they deserved what they got. They brought the entire WWII disaster down on themselves; but they do seem to have a point. Like most wars, there are other much more peaceful ways for humans to solve their problems. Taken from information found on Wikipedia and John Costelo’s book “The Pacific War.” By Dick Martin  BOB LUDENS arrived in Korea for his tour of duty in 1952. Because of the static nature of the war at that time, Bob got a chance to see and experience the Korean culture. The American cooks had trouble with the local hungry children stealing food from the mess area. The adjacent companion South Korean allied army had less of a problem because of the way they handled it. When the South Korean cooks caught local hungry children stealing from the mess area, their throats were cut and they were hung by the legs from the camp gate for everyone to see to persuade others from trying the same thing.
 by Dick Martin
JOE UKEN JR may have been the luckiest man in the United States Navy during WWII. He was transferred from two submarines that were shortly thereafter sunk with all aboard lost. He later was on the crew of the submarine Darter, the submarine that before running aground located the Japanese fleet, sank two Japanese ships and became one of the most important parts of maybe the most decisive naval battle in the Pacific War, the allied victory in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. by Dick Martin
Bob Slade spent three months on Luzon Island in early 1945 as part of the liberation of the Philippine Islands. One of his unit’s assignments was to trek into the mountains to dig out the Japanese who were known not to surrender. While investigating a cave, Bob and another soldier came upon bags and bags of Japanese Yen, which was going to be used to pay the Japanese soldiers. Since the Japanese were losing the war, Bob figured the Yen was worthless, so he kept a few bills for souvenirs and burned the rest. When the war ended, Bob was deployed into Japan as part of the occupational force where he found that the currency they had found was legal tender.  By Dick Martin
Enigma Cypher Machine – is an encryption device developed and used in the early – to mid-20th Century. As used in practice, the Enigma encryption was broken from 1932 by crypt analytic attacks from the Polish Cipher Bureau, which passed its info to the Allies. Germany believed that its secret codes for radio messages were indecipherable. However, the meticulous work of code breakers based at Britain’s Bletchley Park cracked the secrets of German wartime communications, and played a crucial role in the final defeat of Germany. Magic – was set up to combine the US government’s cryptologic capabilities in one organization dubbed the Research Bureau. Intelligence officers from the Army and Navy (and later civilian experts and technicians) were all under one roof. Although they worked on a series of codes and cyphers, their most important successes involved RED, BLUE, and PURPLE. RED - In 1923, a US Navy Officer acquired a stolen copy of the Secret Operating Code code book used by the Japanese Navy during World War I. Photographs of the code book were given to the crypt analysis at the Research Desk and the processed code was kept in red-colored folders (to indicate its Top-Secret classification) The code was called “RED.” BLUE – In 1930, the Japanese government created a more complex code that was code named BLUE, although RED was still being used for low-level communications. It was quickly broken by the Research Desk no later than 1932. US Military Intelligence COMINT listening stations began monitoring command-to-fleet, ship-to-ship and land-based communications using the code. PURPLE - After Japan’s ally Germany declared war in the fall of 1939, the German government began sending technical assistance to upgrade their communication and cryptography capabilities. One part was to send them modified Enigma machines to secure Japan’s high-level communications with Germany. The new code, code named PURPLE (from the color obtained by mixing red and blue), was baffling. ULTRA – was the designation adopted by British Military Intelligence in June 1941 for wartime signals intelligence obtained by breaking high-level encrypted enemy radio and teleprinter communications at the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park. The decisive or turning point battles were at Midway Island and Guadalcanal Island. Because we had broken the Jap code, we were waiting in ambush for them as they arrived at Midway. Later in the war, we were able to find Admiral Yamamoto and shoot down the plane he was in. If the codes had not been as successful in breaking the Axis’s code in transmitting messages as they were, some experts think the war could have gone on for a bloody three more years. Taken from information found on Wikipedia and John Costelo’s book “The Pacific War.” by Dick Martin  Double-Take!
Anyone who has been in the military knows how important the “luck of the draw” is during their service. It appeared John Palsma had won the lottery and would spend the war in Corsica, South Dakota, 47 miles from Springfield. A closer look at his orders, however, revealed John wasn’t so lucky because it was the island of Corsica in the Mediterranean Sea, 5500 miles from Springfield, that he was headed for.  Movie in the Jungle!
Submitted by Dick Martin Excerpt from letter dated June 24, 1944 from Lieutenant Jack Martin to his uncles in Springfield: “I just got back from the show. It was “Song of Bernadette”. I wonder if that’s been to Springfield yet. If you folks haven’t seen it and it comes within driving distance – that must be on your must list. If you can visualize an outdoor theater with a broken down screen, and a sound system in which you could hear a word every now and then. Plus a battalion of soldiers sits in a hushed silence strains patiently for two and a half hours to hear what they could and when it was all over leaving without a word being said. That was “Song of Bernadette”. We’re coming along O.K. working pretty hard as usual but that’s only to be expected. The war seems to be coming fine on all fronts. We don’t have any radios. But have to wait for the daily communiques which don’t arrive every day unfortunately.” Jack |