Since 1917

With the defeat of the axis forces in No. Africa, a change in our operations occurred. It was more of work towards making the cities livable for returning citizen. Cleaning up the streets and getting the public leaders and social services functioning. Our work as aviation engineers was to build airstrips for our airforce and to construct living quarters for incoming troops. I went on special assignments with a small contingent of soldiers and did all sorts of jobs. Pick and shovel, carpentry and surveying were some of my duties. And it was during the time that I was working with a surveyor holding a stick up while he peered thru a surveying instrument that I got lucky.

It was at this particular moment that my officer in charge called me in to accompany the officer in his jeep, to get some papers from him and return to the office. This officer was a Captain, whose Bn. did special work for the top Brass, maps and special plans. Top secret. While riding in his jeep, he drove, we talked and he asked me about my background and work experience. When he heard that I was a photographer and I complained that I had no camera equipment or darkroom facilities in my present Bn., He asked me if I would like to transfer into his special unit. ” Of course”, I said.

I heard nothing from him for several weeks, until a notice came through the office that I was being transferred to the 904th Eng AF Hq Co. without delay. I was demoted to Pvt. and registered in the new unit as a Pvt. This entire change occurred on August 5, 1943. I was happy to get into this special unit and I was told that the 904th was on its way to Sicily. I had to arrange my own transportation and was fortunate to be in the Air Force. I spoke to the Pilots for a lift to Sicily and was able to get one. This was my first flight and I was very excited. The flight was short and smooth.

When I landed and made inquiries for the 904th, I was told that their orders were changed and that they were quartered in Tunis. So, a few days later, I flew there. I was on my own. A lost soldier in a strange city looking for my new assignment. I could have gone AWOL and no one would miss me. I spent a few days inquiring at the Red Cross, and other army service bureaus. No help. So, I spent the days, 2 or 3 going to USO shows and seeing the city when I saw a familiar face, a GI who had lived in Boro Park. We recognized each other. His name was Milt. (I forgot his family name) He invited me to stay at his camp which was within walking distance of the city and he would make inquiries through his Bn. office for the 904th campsite or building. It took about a week for me to finally check into my new unit.

–more–>` The success of this operation changed the entire tenor of the war. The allies have been able to recapture Nazi held territory and proved that the Nazis were vulnerable. The Italian army was happy to surrender. Italian soldiers captured by us were happy to give up and welcomed the trip to the U. S. Gen. Erwin Rommel, Hitler’s favorite warrior was defeated. This bolstered the Allies spirit and spurred them on toward the next goal. The Army Engineers were busy repairing airfields and building new airports in preparation for the next move into Sicily and Italy.

I had mentioned Sam A in my last blog. When I was sent for,special work to another group, we were stationed in a wooded areabehind the troops who were engaged in the battle for Oran. One morning, after breakfast, I walked in the woods, sightseeing, when I heard someone singing some sort of operatic melody. I enjoyed the melody and was curious . Was it a local group being entertained? So, I edged in closer and discovered that there was only one person and no audience. He was a GI, dressed in a U.S. Army uniform . I waited until he paused and announced my presence and how I enjoyed listening to him

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I’ve been reading Shirley’s collection of my letters, written during my days and years in the army. I needed to rebuild my memories of those days and I’m getting so much pleasure in recapturing them. I had just finished about a month of letters written on a daily basis. (We had several GIs form a clique, the Daily letter club). While reading these letters and re-living the period, I felt a glowing warmth entering my heart. Those were tough days to live in and having survived has enriched our life.

That period was four generations ago. Lots of changes have taken place and I sometimes revert to my old fashioned ideals and morals and find it frightening. This morning’s paper had a headline stating “Army documents cite much shoddy work by contractors” (causing death and injuries). This is Now, 2008. In 1942, when we were located in Spokane, an engineering group made up of draftees , we moved on to a flat, mountain area and with use of earth-movers and the guidance of Army officers built up a new Army Post, the 845th Army Air Force. We did not have contractors, whose only interest is profit. And the workers were not hired help but loyal soldiers, anxious to serve in the common purpose to aid our civilization.

Regarding the problem that existed for our letter a day club, out of 6 members, 4 decided to get married and I and another decided to hold off until our return. We lived in a period of abstinence. We were not exposed to sexual activities in the 1940’s, as much as the current generation is. Who knows what is best for society. I can’t adjust to the current exposures of sex life currently depicted in the cinema and TV world. I worry about our future civilization it’s emphasis on wealth and the sex, plus the attention given to beauty and sexual activities of celebraties. Our current children are exposed mainly to fun and entertainment.

I’m reminded of the Greek civilization, which worshiped the body, and built statues emphasizing it in all of their historic structures, Then, we have the Roman civilization, gone to ruin because of wine and women, as depicted in the island of Vesuvius. ( I have photos of their porno art, if anyone is interested). I have no idea how long our Western civilization will last. We have to change our ways and develop a more caring life style for all humanity.

While perusing thru the war letters, I’m only up to Nov 18, 1942, I came across an envelope, which had SWAK on the back seal. So don’t think you young folk invented Texting. Do you know what it means?l
Also, I discovered a letter indicating the fact that I finally found a suitable birthday present for Shirley. It was a suitcase,that would be useful for our honeymoon trip. I bought this from an acquaintance Max Lang, who I met in a Spokane synagogue where I attended during Rosh Hashana. He invited me to lunch at his home, We had a friendly relationship during my stay in Spokane. I would see him at his Luggage Shop whenever I got in the city.  He had been a peddler and found Spokane to  be hospitable. So he settled here.  Nice guy.

What this new generation is missing, is the ability to write letters and to express themselves to another person. We did not have cellpones and the long distance phone calls were very expensive. So, we used, what you now call snail-mail. You miss the excitement of receiving letters of romance. Here is one I mailed to SW. in Nov., 1942. (I’m sorry. Can’t find it. When I do, I will publish it..I want to show off.  IR

My last post was June 16th.  I now have my room and computer for myself.  I had written to you family readers that our granddaughter, Rebecca had moved in for one month.  She attended the Film Academy on E. 17th St., to study film-making, script-writing, etc.  She had a busy schedule, which kept us on our toes, trying to co-ordinate our slow pace with her hectic one.  We enjoyed the excitement.  Also, we were proud of her achievements. Some of her works are posted on U-Tube.  E-mail her for info on viewing.

Let’s return to Irv in Spokane, where he finally landed to go into basic training. We arrived in Fort Wright Field on Sept 18, 1942.  We camped in Geiger Field and were to be trained for the Air Force Engineer Group.  Hindsight now clarifies the picture for our destination. In August of 1942, FDR and Churchill  had agreed to invade the Atlantic Coast of North Africa.  The action was named Operation Torch.  FDR and Gen. Marshall    appointed Gen. Eisenhower in charge, who named Gen George Patton and Gen Mark Clark to field the  troops.

At the same time the draft was activated.  Private Irv Roth was part of this major action .  He was untrained for any war action, as were all of the draftees. You never saw such a mixture of misfits, who were mostly 1B or older than 30, or unfit to be warriors.   After three months of active training, we developed into a disciplined group of Engineers, ready to support the Air Force.  During  those 3 months, we marched and drilled, we learned to fire  rifles, we learned how to  crawl with rifles ready, we marched for sixty miles with 50 lb backpack that stored our mess-kits, tents and other equipment.  We also built a wooden bridge across the Spokane River after failing  on our first effort. While our training was in progress, shipments of earthmoving tractors and heavy trucks were arriving.   Our officers successfully turned the motley crew of draftees into a functioning group of engineers.  On November 1, 1942, we were awarded our own banner naming us the 845th Bn./AAF.  This was a momentous occasion for us and I was able to borrow a Speed Graphic camera from the photo lab in Ft. Wright.  I have photos of the occasion.

I am listing names of the officers and some GI’s. Perhaps they are still alive and may see this blog.
Contact me.  Major McCrone, Lts. Hordyck, Winkle,McMinn, McCabe, Crockett, Cone, Chaplain Hall, 1st.
Sgt. Matta from New Jersey .  Contact me.  Irving Roth

I spent a week in Fort Dix. It was a week of change in my life-style. As I reflect on this, I realize that I left a self-directed existence to one that was dictated by a massive governmental organization. I was a GI, an insignificant part of a million or more GIs, who needed to be trained. Shirley always tells me that I am a Zen person, a winger. And I find that this is true. I had no trouble adjusting to this new environment. Early morning reveille, line-up for roll-call, marching in a group to Hup, two, three, four, etc. was part of the conditioning that we experienced. We also got instructions on personal matters, such as making your own cots especially cornering the blanket under the mattress and making the blanket taut, so that the bed was neat and spotless. I never made my own bed for 25 years. Can you imagine what I had to go through in order to serve my country?

Fort Dix was merely an assembly point for the purpose of dispensing clothing and essentials to the draftees. We were examined by medical people, we were shown educational movies relating to health and army life and we moved as a group on marches in the campsite. Slowly, we were being trained to follow orders , to salute the officers, etc. I can’t recall what we did with our civies. Probably sent them home.

After a week in Fort Dix, we got orders to pack up our duffel bags and prepare to move out. We were advised not to report our movements to family or friends. Everything was hush-hush. We were being conditioned to a wartime environment. I have no recollection of the number of draftees  being moved to our final campsite or destination. We were called up in the evening to assemble and be loaded on to trains on Aug. 27, 1942. I still have memory of the train coaches. The interior of the cars were luxurious, probably used by the wealthy travelers during the old days. The seats were covered with velvet cloth, but were frayed and worn down. We had individual seating and slept in seats for the entire voyage.

Our journey by train was very slow and tedious. We made many stops in rail-yards to allow more important trains carrying material to factories or army camps. Our squad of draftees were speculating about our destination. When we stopped in Chicago for several days, we wondered if it was the southwest. When we started up again and began to go North, we ventured a guess, the Alaska coastline. I personally was beginning to enjoy the trip. I was seeing country that I never saw. My furthest distance from home was in Baltimore, Md. when I took a job in Ritz Camera Shop to work with Arthur Bobrick. I was upgrading my pay and thought I could get work in the Baltimore shipyards. I invited Shirley to join me, but this was not an acceptable proposition. (Things were different then) A month later, I was offered a photo assistant job in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, which I accepted. This lasted until my draft number was called up, about 4 months.

So, here I was on a military train wending it’s way through the countryside. When we left Chicago, we started to go north by northwest. And this is the part of the slow journey that I still remember. We were on the Northwestern Railway , slowly climbing high mountains and revealing to me the most gorgeous scenery. I sat transfixed by the Rockies and the forests in full bloom, it was the end of August and early September, the colors were still in sight. So, it is not surprising that I recorded in memory these scenes. I have no recollection of out lineup in the train for chow-time, etc. My only memory is the slow climb of the train over the Rocky Mountains. It was an eye-popping trip which stimulated my desire to travel.

As I reflect on the past, I realize that the war, WWII, changed the lives of the entire country. The U.S.became the supplier of arms and planes and ships to the British and Russians. To do this and also to supply an army for Europe and for the Pacific, we were forced to turn all factories into making arms and munitions plus tanks, etc to aid our allies. And to accomplish this we needed workers and funds. So, we opened up the factory workers to women and we sold U.S. Bonds, with the aid of women. Shirley and my sister Blanche were on many committees involved with these meetings. This war is called the good war. So different from the last several wars, we were involved in.

In the middle of September, we finally disembarked in the 922nd Engineers Camp.  The location was on a leveled field on a mountaintop situated about 15 miles outside of Spokane.  The air was fresh and  brisk and we were happy to  get on to solid ground.

Viewing the Channel 13 tapes on the TV, on the presidency of FDR, revived my memory of my teen age years and the struggles our population experienced. FDR was president from 1932 to 1945 when he died at Warm Springs. He was the only president to be elected 4 times. He took office after the Wall Street Crash and was immersed in trying to solve the economy and then the war problems,from 1938 to the time of his death. He had a rough time physically and personally but he always managed to present a calm confident appearance when he gave his lectures to the country. He was much loved by the greater majority of voting public.

I was 15 years old when FDR took office. When he died, I was in Germany . During his years as President, I was subject to his policies and attempts to help solve our economy and the war. I had complete faith in him as I believe most of our population did. The scenes of the trains transporting his body for burial in New Hyde Park showed the mourners lined up along the railroad tracks was indicative of the sorrow we all felt.

So when I awoke early to report to our draft board for entry into the army, it was done without fear or anger. We, the people were all aware of the importance of the necessity to stop Hitler’s efforts to take over the European continent. I have this vivid memory of the early morning sun shining through the trees. There was not a soul on the street. Just me walking into an unknown future, having said good-bye to Shirley last night and to my parents this morning. I felt sorry for them, because my brother Bill was in the army and was heading for the Pacific and my younger brother Nat who was due for draft in the end of the year. We all felt that it was our duty to be part of the effort to stop Hitler.

I walked to the draft board office, where the draftees were meeting, It was very early in the morning. Not many people up that early. When I arrived on 47th St and 13th Avenue, there were several young men milling around and I joined them. We were told to wait in front of the entrance to the office. We were told that two army trucks would pick us up and drive us to Ft. Dix, N.J.   After loading up, we sat on the open platform six abreast, 12 to a truck and were on our way, before the rush hour.   As we rode down the highway to Fort Dix, we were greeted with waves and thumbs up by drivers and workers on their way to their jobs.
I was feeling good, in spite of the sad departures from Shirley and my parents. We, all the draftees, were proud of joining in the effort to stop Hitler and the Nazis. We arrived at Fort Dix, a short trip of about 2 hours. We unloaded and were lined up in twos to walk en- masse to our barracks for wash-up and breakfast. As we were walking, I hear a voice spoken loudly “Hey Jewboy, how come they got you? I thought all you Jews were getting deferments?” I stopped and turned towards the voice and saw this young soldier, with a nasty smirk on his face. ( I still see it, now. over 60 yrs ago) He was standing on the porch of a barrack alongside of the road, about twenty feet from us. I stopped and was about to confront him, when I felt a tug on my elbow and arm. The draftee walking with me said “Ignore him, he’s a jerk. Probably an Irish Father Coughlin supporter, who is preaching Anti-Semitism on radio. New Jersey is filled with them”. So keep quiet and move on. Ignore him.” So I moved on and felt upset by not being able to prove to him how wrong his premise was. This was my first day in the army.   What a beginning.

How timely this program was shown yesterday May 12th.  This was the part one of a two part series.  Part two will be the period of his presidency and the WW II years.  How exciting and fortuitous that it occurred at the same time that I am describing my own experiences.  I hope that all my family who follow my blog will view the next chapter , part two  of FDR’s life.  Check the video page for the date.  It should be within the next week .