‘Closer to his memory’ - U.S. Navy veteran provided medical services throughout military career6/4/2020 Clayton Hill Jr. became one of scores of young men growing up in the western Missouri community of Liberty who, though not realizing it at the time, would soon be called into service during the early days of World War II. Initially receiving a draft notice for the U.S. Army, he traveled to his local recruiting office to inquire about enlisting in the U.S. Navy instead.
“My father said that if he was going to be in the service, he wanted to sleep in a bed with clean sheets and have hot meals,” mirthfully recalled his son, Bud Hill. Following his induction into the U.S. Navy in Kansas City on May 22, 1942, the 21-year-old inductee was sent to Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Illinois, to complete his basic training. While there, he was questioned about what military specialty interested him. “He told them that his father was a pharmacist and they asked him if he knew what acetylsalicylic (acid) was,” explained the veteran’s son. “He replied that it was the scientific name for aspirin so they placed him in the medical corps.” For the next several weeks, he remained at Great Lakes and received medical training at the naval dispensary known as Camp McIntire. His accelerated training regimen continued in September 1942, when he was sent to U.S. Naval Station Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay, spending the next few months continuing to work and learn at naval medical facilities. On March 21, 1943, the apex of his military experience approached when he boarded the SS President Monroe bound for overseas service in the South Pacific. Following brief stops at islands along their route to pick up additional personnel, Hill arrived at Brisbane, Australia, on July 8, 1943, and began providing medical support for his command’s headquarters. “They moved him around frequently and two weeks after he got to Brisbane, he was transferred to Woodlark Island (off the coast of New Guinea),” said Bud Hill. “The Navy Seebees were busy building roads, airfields and other facilities, and my father provided their medical support,” he added. Six months later, in early 1944, he was transferred to Townsville, Australia, and was assigned to the Townsville Area Hospital Facility. During the war, the Townsville area served as a hub of military activity and was a staging point for many battles fought in several locations throughout the Southwest Pacific. The closing moments of his overseas duty came in late spring of 1944, when he was transferred to the town Finschhafen in New Guinea, where he worked at a 300-bed hospital. From there, he was sent to Manus Island off the northern coast of New Guinea and worked at a 1,000-bed hospital that supported medical services for a boat repair unit. “His overseas duty lasted until October 20, 1944, which happened to be his 24th birthday,” said Bud Hill. “When he arrived in San Francisco, he worked briefly at a naval medical facility there before reassignment to Naval Air Station Olathe (Olathe, Kansas) in December 1944.” While stationed at Olathe, Hill was detailed to nearby Union Station in Kansas City to provide physicals for service members who were separating from the military. It was during this timeframe that he met the former Geraldine Bourlier and the couple married on October 13, 1945. The veteran received his discharge on June 24, 1946, but the naval lifestyle had become an entrenched pursuit. Three days later, he re-enlisted in the U.S. Navy in Kansas City and was again assigned to Naval Air Station Olathe, where he continued to provide such medical services as operating the dispensary and providing flight physicals. For the next several years, Hill remained at the Kansas naval site and shared with his son only a few stories of poignant experiences, one of which involved an F-5 tornado that claimed the lives of nearly five dozen people. “My father was on his way to help paint the home of a friend who also worked on the base when he was caught in the Ruskin Heights tornado on May 20, 1957,” explained Bud Hill. “He was in his 1952 Dodge and was fortunate to have only sustained minor injuries to both he and the car.” After repairing a flat tire on his Dodge, Hill used his medical training and experience by remaining on site for several hours to assist local personnel in treating the injured and those seriously wounded during the tornado. “Cutty”—a nickname he was given because of his ping pong skills—received the final promotion of his career on June 16, 1962, achieving the rank of Chief Petty Officer. Retiring a few weeks later, Hill went to work for the Missouri Department of Health and moved his family to Jefferson City in 1963. The father of four children retired from his state employment in 1983. Sadly, Hill’s beloved wife Gerry passed away in 1982 followed by his death nine years later. The couple were laid to rest in the military section of Hawthorn Memorial Gardens in Jefferson City. As the veteran’s son explained, his father spoke very little about his military service, specifically the moments related to his time in World War II. However, a question posed a few years ago has inspired him to locate more information regarding the late sailor’s military history. “One of my cousins asked me what my father did in the Navy and I didn’t know what to tell him,” said Bud Hill. “My father never spoke about his experiences in the war because I’m sure he witnessed some tragic situations working in the hospitals and treating the wounded. I felt like I should know more so I went and got his box of stuff from his war service and began researching it all.” He added, “Eventually, the pieces began to fall together and it has brought me a lot closer to his memory.” Jeremy P. Ämick writes on behalf of the Silver Star Families of America
0 Comments
![]() Elbert Payne was drafted into the U.S. Army in March 1942. After completing his basic training at Jefferson Barracks, he received further training as a medic while stationed in Hawaii. Following his training in Hawaii, Payne served in several locations in the Pacific, providing medical aid to soldiers wounded in combat. While overseas, he met the woman who later became his wife. On October 16, 1940, while living in Lohman, a 30-year-old Elbert Roy Payne abided by the mandate of the Selective Training and Service Act and registered for the military draft. Less than four months later, he reported to nearby Jefferson City “for physical examination by an examining board of the armed forces for final determination of your military fitness.”
The second oldest of the veteran’s four children, Gary Payne, explained, “We know very little about his military service. We knew he served in several major campaigns in the Pacific and he occasionally talked about it, but never provided any great detail about where he was and what he did,” he added. Inducted into the U.S. Army at Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis on March 2, 1942, Payne remained at the post for the next several weeks to complete his basic training. On May 22, 1942, he boarded a troop ship to begin a journey that would span nearly three years of overseas service and introduce him to the woman that would become his wife. Upon his arrival on the island of Oahu, the 31-year-old soldier was assigned to the Medical Detachment of the 35th Infantry Regiment under the 25th Infantry Division. While in Hawaii, he received several weeks of instruction in a specialty for which he previously had no experience. As his Army Separation Qualification Record indicates, Payne was trained as a “medical aidman” and learned to serve in an aid station, dressing wounds, administering plasma and providing first aid in combat. Shortly after completing jungle warfare and amphibious training at nearby Schofield Barracks, “the 35th Infantry departed Oahu on 25 November (1942), arriving at Guadalcanal on 17 December 1942,” reported a history compiled by the 25th Infantry Division Association. The division spent the next several months assaulting and securing areas of the island once held by Japanese forces, earning a Presidential Unit Citation for their valorous actions. During the campaign, Payne provided first aid for wounded soldiers while attached to a rifle company within the division. “The one thing I remember him saying about his time on Guadalcanal was they were always soaking wet—it was hot, humid and there were huge mosquitoes and jungle rot to contend with,” said Gary Payne. During the summer, the division became part of the drive to remove Japanese forces from the Northern Solomons, with the 35th Infantry given the lead in seizing the island of Vella Lavella in a campaign beginning August 15, 1943. Once successfully completed, the island was turned over to New Zealand forces on September 18, 1943 while Payne and his fellow soldiers were sent back to Guadalcanal a few weeks later. “While my father was overseas, he was given leave in New Zealand and attended a local dance that was put on for the soldiers there,” explained Gary Payne. “It was at this dance that he met Bette, a local woman who would later become my mother,” he smiled. “They traded letters back and forth until he got back home.” The 25th Infantry Division Association notes the move was made to New Caledonia in February 1944 to conduct additional training exercises. “The training lasted throughout the summer and into late fall,” the association explained. “Maneuvers and landings were conducted … in preparation for the anticipated invasion of the island of Luzon in the Philippines.” Arriving in Lingayen Gulf on January 11, 1945, the 35th Infantry Regiment became part of the amphibious assault landing on Luzon. The next few weeks were spent clearing the central plains region of enemy resistance while Payne assisted the wounded in a battalion aid station. “There was a time that dad and I were watching a war movie and I asked him if he wore the Red Cross armband on his uniform since he was a medic,” Gary Payne said. “He stated that they didn’t wear one because that made them a target for Japanese riflemen.” His son added, “My father also mentioned that there was a time he and his fellow soldiers noticed their rations were disappearing. It wasn’t long after that they caught some Japanese soldiers who had built tunnels under palm trees and were sneaking into their camp at night and stealing the food.” On April 20, 1945, after having spent two years and ten months overseas, Payne was sent back to the United States. He received his discharge at Jefferson Barracks on June 9, 1945 after achieving the rank of Tech 3 and having earned four Bronze Service Stars for his participation in several major campaigns of the war. Shortly after the war ended, the veteran brought his fiancée from New Zealand to the United States, where the couple were soon married and went on to raise four children. Payne finished a career as a postal clerk in Jefferson City while also operating a farm near Russellville. The veteran passed away in 1990 and his wife died 14 years later; both were laid to rest in the cemetery of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Stringtown. His son recognizes that buried with his father were scores of military stories that can now only be pieced together through blurred recollection and military records. “He would have nightmares about his service right up until he passed away,” said Gary Payne. “I can remember the times working on the farm years ago when we’d be shoveling wheat into the bin and I’d ask him about his service. He might share a little bit about what happened but never in great detail.” He added, “At the time, I didn’t think much about it but as you get a little older, you want to know more about what your parents went through.” Pausing, he concluded, “I know it’s too late to be asking question now but it’s nice to know that there are records that can help show what he did back in the war.” Jeremy P. Ämick writes on behalf of the Silver Star Families of America. Brimming with experiences - Veteran’s military career spans U.S. Army, state regiment, Marine Corps6/1/2020 A photograph captures a specific point in time, oftentimes providing the viewer with an insight into bygone days. For one local veteran, however, it is not only a glimpse into the period of the Spanish-American War, but points to a distinct moment in a long and interesting military career that spans service in the regular army, Missouri National Guard and Marine Corps.
The photograph inspiring such an investigation is that of Leof Harding, drawing attention to our state’s proud military tradition and a conflict that would help establish the United States as a major player on the world stage. Born near the community of Virgil City in Vernon County, Missouri, in 1869, records accessed through the Find A Grave website note that Harding’s father, a farmer named Jacob “Nathan” Monroe Harding, passed away the same year as his son’s birth. The loss of his father, though likely devastating to his many young siblings, did not seem to detract Harding from the pursuit of a storied military career, which began with the regular army sometime prior to 1898 as noted in the May 16, 1898 edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Muster rolls from the Missouri State Archives indicate Harding transitioned to service with the Missouri Militia (predecessor of the Missouri National Guard) on April 27, 1898, when Col. William K. Caffee enrolled him in the Second Missouri Volunteers in Nevada, Missouri. The May 16, 1898 edition of the St. Louis Post Dispatch reported that Gov. Stephens commissioned Harding as “first lieutenant and battalion adjutant for the regiment.” As noted in the “Report of the Adjutant General of Missouri: January 1, 1917 – December 31, 1920,” the itinerant veteran soon joined the regiment in their volunteering for the Spanish-American War when they mustered into service “at Jefferson Barracks on May 12, 1898.” Days later, the report explained, the regiment “moved to Chickamauga (Georgia) where (they) were assigned to the Third Brigade, Third Division, First Army Corps.” While in training, Lieutenant Otto Fleming resigned his position with Company L of Jefferson City on August 4, 1898—a vacancy that was filled by Lieutenant Harding, as noted in “A History of Jefferson City” by James E. Ford. The Missouri regiment later spent time in camp in Lexington, Kentucky, and finally at Albany, Georgia, where they remained until mustering out of federal service on March 3, 1899, never deploying overseas in support of the war against Spain. Though many soldiers returned to their Missouri communities and packed away their military uniforms, the July 8, 1899 edition of The Portsmouth Herald (New Hampshire) reported that Harding chose to continue his military career when he accepted a reduction in rank and appointment as a second lieutenant with the Marine Corps. Two years later, the officer participated in a number of interesting assignments, including service as judge advocate in the trial of a military paymaster accused of scandalous conduct and then as the officer in charge of the opening of a Marine Corps recruiting station in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. His military experience demonstrated an intriguing evolution when the Scott County Kicker newspaper (Benton, Missouri) reported that the lieutenant’s wife gained the “unique distinction of being the only American woman” on the island-municipality of Culebra, Puerto Rico. The “Report of the Secretary of the Navy” notes that Lt. Harding was placed in command of “(t)he few men left at Culebra.” Additionally, the report said, “Harding was commanded to make a survey of the Government land on the island” and continued “the work on the magazine and gun emplacements”—all of which earned him a commemorative diploma from the Marine Corps’ commandant in recognition of his “valuable services.” The next decade was a sustained, feverish tempo of duties such as the command of Marines at Mare Island, California, officer-in-charge of the Recruiting District of California, commander of the Marine Barracks in both San Francisco and Sitka, Alaska, and judge advocate in the trial of a naval surgeon undergoing a court martial for allegations of drunkenness. Retiring from active duty at the rank of captain, it was noted in the August 4, 1918 edition The Washington Herald (Washington, D.C.) that Harding was recommended (and later confirmed) for promotion to major as part of “clauses in the new naval appropriation act that provide for promotion of retired officers on active duty …” Later documentation indicates the retired officer and his wife remained in California, living in the town of Redlands where he served as an officer on the board of the community’s country club. Harding passed away on March 22, 1961 in San Diego at the advanced age of 91. (His wife had passed away 17 years earlier.) It is difficult to describe curiosity that compels a person to research the subject of a photograph such as that of Spanish-American War veteran Leof Harding; yet in this process of investigation a life emerges from the ashes of history, casting a light upon a person whose life teemed with interesting experiences. To borrow a phrase from American novelist Tatjana Soli in her award-winning book The Lotus Eaters, the author describes the enchanting process that unfolds when seeking to personify a photograph of a person, such as the long-deceased Major Harding and his role in the Spanish-American War. “Pictures could not be accessories to the story—evidence—they had to contain the story within the frame; the best picture contained a whole war within one frame.” Jeremy P. Ämick writes on behalf of the Silver Star Families of America. ‘Really something else’ - Navy veteran served aboard a submarine chaser in Pacific during WWII6/1/2020 In the years after he finished the eighth grade a St. Francis Xavier School in Taos, local resident Bernard Heet remained actively employed helping his parents work their farm. However, as World War II continued to expand and a number of young men were called upon to fight on land, air and sea, the 18-year-old farmhand received his own draft notice and soon found himself aboard a Navy ship traversing the Pacific Ocean. Inducted into the U.S. Navy in St. Louis on October 24, 1944, Heet traveled to Farragut, Idaho, for his basic training—an inland naval station that opened in September 1942 and was decommissioned in June 1946.
“When my boot camp was finished, they sent me to Bremerton, Washington in early 1945,” Heet recalled. “That’s where they assigned me to the USS PC-817—a submarine chaser.” Commissioned in July 1943, the USS PC-817 had a crew of nearly five dozen sailors and spent the year prior to Heet’s arrival escorting supply convoys and transporting passengers to American bases in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. In the latter part of November 1944, the vessel traveled to the state of Washington to undergo a major overhaul. Shortly after boarding the ship on February 23, 1945, the young sailor requested assignment to the engine room since he liked working with various types of equipment and had yet to be placed in a specific job. However, once he was able to visit the engine room he “quickly decided against it because of all of the noise and you couldn’t see anything,” he jokingly recalled. He was then appointed to serve as a signalman aboard the ship, learning to communicate from ship to ship using flashing lights. The earliest part of his training, he explained, consisted of learning Morse code by first using flashlights before transitioning to the larger lights mounted on the ship. “We weren’t at Bremerton for very long before they sent us to Pearl Harbor,” he said. “That was our home base and was from where he operated on runs throughout the Pacific searching for enemy submarines,” he added. For the next several months, his ship would conduct exercises in concert with submarines from the United States, such as the USS Catfish and USS Bowfin. During other maneuvers, Heet’s ship honed their skills in using sonar to detect enemy submarines while conducting patrols and provided escorts between islands for a number of naval vessels. On other occasions, naval records indicate, while training with ships and submarines of the Pacific fleet, Heet and the sailors aboard the USS PC-817 learned to evade torpedo attacks, dropped depth charges in areas with suspected enemy submarine activity and expended thousands of rounds of ammunition during simulated gunnery operations. Despite the many dangers presented by Japanese aircraft, submarines and vessels throughout the Pacific, Heet affirmed, “We never found any Japanese subs and they never found us, which worked out alright.” When the war ended in late summer 1945 with the surrender of Japan aboard the USS Missouri, the USS PC-817 returned to the West Coast in September 1945 and shortly thereafter traveled to Jacksonville, Florida, via a waterway that left quite an impression on a young man from landlocked Mid-Missouri. “I think the most memorable experience of the entire time I spent in the Navy was going through the Panama Canal,” said Heet, his expression lighting up from the memory. “Going through those locks had been something I had read about before, but it was nothing like experiencing it firsthand,” he added. Arriving at port in Florida in late November 1945, Heet remained with the ship until March 1946, at which time he received his discharge from the United States Navy. According to his discharge records, he spent a total of one year, four months and 26 days in active military service. The USS PC-817 remained in service for several years, during which time it was used to help train Navy Reservists. The vessel was struck from the Navy Register on April 1, 1959 and, shortly thereafter, met with the inglorious fate of being sold for scrap. Returning to Mid-Missouri, Heet married his fiancée, Laurine, in 1950, and the couple raised seven children. In the years after his wartime service, the Navy veteran worked for a few years in the garage of a local Ford dealership before the Missouri Highway Patrol hired him, the latter from which he retired in 1994 as superintendent of all their garages throughout the state. There may exist an extensive compilation of memories from his brief wartime service on which he can now reflect, yet Heet chooses to view the time he served in the Navy from a rather simple and humble perspective. “When you grew up in a small town, you really didn’t go anywhere or doing anything—then you end up in the Navy and get to see the world. That’s really something else,” the veteran grinned. “We were certainly a long way from home and I never asked to serve, I really didn’t have any other choice.” He added, “But I am glad for the experience and have always been proud to have served my country.” Jeremy P. Ämick writes on behalf of the Silver Star Families of America. |
AuthorJeremy P. Ämick is an award-winning author and historian and dedicated to preserving music, military and local histories. Archives
July 2024
Categories |