Archive for category War Context

WWII Slang

The folks over at Art of Manliness just posted a list of military slang used during the war. It’s not a full dictionary, by any stretch, but there are a lot of gems in there. Read the full post.

Just a snippet:

  • Ack-Ack. Anti-aircraft fire.
  • Admiral of the Swiss Navy. A self-important person.
  • Ammo. Ammunition.
  • All-Out. With full vigor, determination, or enthusiasm.
  • Armed to the Teeth. Well equipped with firearms; alert; fully prepared; awake to danger.
  • Armored Cow. Canned milk. Variations: Armored Heifer; Canned Cow.
  • Army Banjo. Shovel.
  • Army Chicken. Franks and beans.
  • Army Strawberries. Prunes.
  • Asparagus Stick. A submarine’s periscope.
  • Asthma. The company wit, so-called because he’s full of wheezes (jokes).
  • AWOL. Absence without official leave.
  • Awkward Squad. Men who require extra instruction at drill.
  • Axle Grease. Butter.
  • BAM. A “broad-assed Marine” (i.e., a female Marine).
  • Baby. Mustard; from its resemblance to that which comes out of the hind end of an infant.
  • B-ache/bellyache. To complain.
  • Bags of Mystery. Sausages.
  • Bail Out. Parachute jump from plane; by extension, to get out of a situation like a date.
  • Baptized by Fire. To have been under enemy fire for the first time; to have received one’s first wounds.

Chester Nez, last of the original Navajo code talkers, dies at 93

Nez was one of the first code talkers recruited for the job in 1942, while the US was seeing its codes broken over and over again by Japanese code breakers.

I thought this was a pretty fascinating read. Read the article over at Ars Technica.

Silent Defenders Patch/Logo/Insignia

I had trouble finding any good versions of the Silent Defenders logo, so I went ahead and recreated it in vector format. You may download it for your own use at the bottom of this post.

Silent Defenders patch logo

Silent Defenders patch logo

 

Stamps

After transcribing a few letters, I wanted to take a look at all of the stamps together. It turns out, I only have four unique stamps across the batch.

6 cents; Air Mail

6 cents; Air Mail

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Imperial Japanese Currency

Tucked into one of the letters home following the occupation of Okinawa, I found a wad of Imperial bills. They are pretty nifty, I must say.

Imperial Japanese currency (front); one

Imperial Japanese currency (front); one

Imperial Japanese currency (back); one

Imperial Japanese currency (back); one

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HBO Series: The Pacific

If you haven’t heard, HBO is airing a new mini series tonight about the Pacific War. It is in the style of the Band of Brothers series. One of the neat things about the website is an area for people to post their own stories.

You should read through them, or post your own:
HBO’s The Pacific, Stories

I don’t have HBO, so I’ll have to watch the episodes in delay, unfortunately.

Campaign Medals

Chuck was awarded three medals and a bronze star for his service in WWII. The medals would have been the same as those below. One of these medals would have had the bronze star pinned to the middle of the ribbon, though I am not sure which.

World War II Victory Medal

This medal was awarded to any member of the US military to serve between December 7th, 1941 and December 31st, 1946.

The medal’s front depicts Nike standing victorious, holding a broken sword, representing the broken power of the Axis, with one foot upon the helmet of Mars, the Roman god of war, representing the end of the conflict. Behind Nike is a sunburst, representing the dawn of peace. The reverse recalls the “Four Freedoms” speech by President Roosevelt, with a laurel sprig, surrounded by the words “United States of America”, and the dates of the conflict, “1941-1945”. The edges of the ribbon revisit the multi-colored rainbow ribbon of the Allied World War I Victory Medal. This again honors all the allied nations. The wide red center represents the new sacrifice of blood by World War II combatants. The thin white lines separating the central red band from the outer multi-colored bands represent the rays of new hope, two of them signifying that this was the second global conflict.

World War II Victory Medal

World War II Victory Medal

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48-Star American Flag

Measuring smaller than a sheet of paper, this flag was tucked into the personnel file. It has holes in the corners, as if it were attached to something, though no rivets or visible weathering. With that in mind, it was probably not a flag hung anywhere on the exterior of the ship, but was more likely a rally flag that would have been attached to a stick at a parade. None-the-less, it is period and a neat little trinket.

48-Star, Handheld, American Parade Flag

48-Star, Handheld, American Parade Flag

Curious Receipt or Subscription

If anyone reads Japanese, I am very interested in finding out what this is. It was amongst the rest of the naval paperwork. It appears to be a postal receipt or subscription to “The Rocky Mountain Times“.

Update: Thank you to Jeff Hannan of Cheshire, UK for the information on the history of the paper (see below).

Update: Thank you to M.S. for transcribing the receipt (see comment).

The Rocky Mountain Times

The Rocky Mountain Times

History of Rocky Mountain Times

Based in Utah, with a Christian focus, Rocky Mountain Times was one of four Japanese-American papers that published in the United Stated during the WWII. It was originally published by Shiro Iida, until it was absorbed by Utah Nippo (another Japanese-American paper) in 1927. Utah Nippo was a collaboration of husband and wife, Uneo and Kuniko Terasawa, begun in 1914. In 1939, when Uneo died, his wife took over the publication. Soon after, she added an English section to the paper that caused it to peak in circulation during the war. Then running three times per week, the circulation was up to 8,000 during the war. After the war, the paper steadily declined in circulation until Kuniko’s death in 1991.

Questions to Answer:
  • What country is this from (or what language is it in)?
  • What is it? A subscription receipt? A postal receipt?
  • Does it have a date anywhere on it?
  • What is the watermark at the bottom? (There is part of a block-type watermark facing backward at the bottom. It reads “MMERMU”.)

Map of Japan

This map was originally tucked (glued) into the journal, but had since been divorced from the book. I found it amongst some other paperwork. I am guessing it was standard issue and something most naval troops had. I have Googled the document number with no hits to find out more about it. If anyone knows more, let me know.

The map’s legend reads:

NANSEI SHOTO

OKINAWA GUNTO

FROM H. O. CHART NO. 5303

"DISTANCE CHART" (side 1)

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Written Citation, November 7, 1944

This is the citation mentioned in Chuck’s September letter home, commending the troops for their efforts in kicking off Operation Iceberg, the invasion of Okinawa during early April, 1945. This letter was given to all members of the YMS-299 crew (I have a second copy of it addressed to Thomas Morley, sent to me by his son).

042045 Written Citation

042045 Written Citation

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