Heartland Heroes: Remembering World War Ii

287 Pages·2003·10.08 MB·English

by  Kenneth K. Hatfield

Heartland Heroes:
Remembering World
War II
Ken Hatfield
University of Missouri Press
Heartland
Heroes
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Heartland
Heroes
Remembering World War II
Ken Hatfield
University of Missouri Press
Columbia and London
Copyright©2003by
TheCuratorsoftheUniversityofMissouri
UniversityofMissouriPress,Columbia,Missouri65201
PrintedandboundintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Allrightsreserved
5 4 3 2 1 07 06 05 04 03
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Hatfield,Ken.(KennethK.),1955–
Heartlandheroes:rememberingWorldWarII/Ken.Hatfield.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferences.
ISBN0-8262-1460-6(alk.paper)
1.WorldWar,1939–1945—UnitedStates. I.Title.
D769.H382003
940.54'0973—dc21 2003001786
(cid:1)(cid:1)™Thispapermeetstherequirementsofthe
AmericanNationalStandardforPermanenceofPaper
forPrintedLibraryMaterials,Z39.48,1984.
Designer:JenniferCropp
Typesetter:Bookcomp,Inc.
Printerandbinder:Thomson-Shore,Inc.
Typefaces:Minion,Americana,BickleyScript
To my parents,
Dean and Donna Hatfield,
to whom I owe everything
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Contents
Preface ix
PearlHarbor 1
FirstStrikes 21
WarinthePacific,Part1 31
OceanWar 42
Italy 63
WarinthePacific,Part2 75
WomeninWar 80
AirWar 86
D-Day 114
WarinthePacific,Part3 148
WarinEurope,Part1 164
BattleoftheBulge 177
WarinEurope,Part2 184
TheSecretWar 203
Luzon 208
IwoJima 216
WarinthePacific,Part4 235
Okinawa 242
WarinEurope,Part3 258
V-JDay 266
Sources 269
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Preface
In1984,IwasworkingasareporteratasmallweeklynewspaperinLiberty,
Missouri,whenIinterviewedaguynamedBobBarackman.MikePerrault,a
friendandcoworkerwhohappenedtobeBob’snephew,hadtoldme“Uncle
Bob”hadlotsofwarstoriesfromwhenheservedwiththeU.S.Marinesinthe
PacificduringWorldWarII.So,onawarmandsunnyspringday,Idroveout
tohishomeinKansasCity,Missouri,lookingforastory.
Idon’tremembermuchabouttheactualinterview.IdorememberBobwas
friendly, gracious, and extremely candid. He was only fifty-nine at the time
and already retired because of arthritic knees, so he had lots of time on his
hands.Hehadbeentellinghiswarstoriesforyears,but,asitturnedout,only
certainones.Somehehadkeptbottledinsideforfortyyears,thatis,untilhe
toldthemtome.
I was with him for several hours, occasionally prompting him with ques-
tions,butmostlyjustlistening.I’msuredredgingupsomeofthosememories
was painful, but I think it was ultimately beneficial. I think talking about it
allowedhimtogetsomeofthatpoisonoutofhissystemandfinallyreconcile
hisfeelingsafterallthoseyears.That’smyhopeanyway.
It’s hard to explain the effect his stories had on me. My own father was a
marineveteranofWorldWarIIandhadservedinthePacificbutnotincom-
bat,somyimpressionsofwarwereshapedmorebyfilmsandtelevision.Ialso
hadgrownupintheshadowofVietnam,hadseenthepicturesofmaimedand
mutilatedyoungmeninLifemagazine,actuallyhadtosweatoutadraftlottery
duringmysenioryearofhighschool.Imaynothavehadanypersonalexpe-
riencewithwar,butIalsohadnoillusionsaboutwhatitwaslike.Ibelieved
thenasIbelievenow:Thereisnogloryinwar.
But listening to Bob bare his soul, I learned that war is more than simply
good and evil, more than courage and unrelenting terror. War is also about
ix