Kenneth Campen

U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps

Born: 1926

Residence: San Diego, CA United States

Original home: Renton, WA United States

I joined the Marines when I was 16 and heard there was a need for interrupters who spoke Japanese, which I had learned as a child. I was working in intelligence in Hawaii when the atomic bomb had been dropped. I was told to get ready to fly to Iwo Jima and then to board the naval battleship the Missouri, which was positioned in the Pacific Ocean near Japan for the signing of the surrender.

On August 14th, 1945 I was there, on the Missouri, during the signing of the Japanese surrender in case my services were needed. I don't remember any interpreters being needed as the documents were already prepared and just needed to be signed. I do not recall the details of what was going on around me that day, as everything was happening very quickly. I do remember that I was very happy to hear the war had ended.

I stayed on the Missouri for three days and then transferred to another ship that took us to Japan.Chula Vista, CA
United Statesreation and traveled around Japan organizing entertainment for our troops who occupied Japan. I remember the damage from the bomb in Tokyo. Everything was burned and it was like a ghost town.

I was discharged from the Marines in December 1945. I went to the University of Washington. During the war, the Japanese POW's would not cooperate with us, but the Korean POW's cooperated 100%. I developed a respect and liking for the Koreans that continued at the University of Washington. Because of my knowledge of Korean, I was later asked to be commissioned into the Army. Being fluent in Korean lead me to being an interpreter for President Kennedy in the White House.

Submitted by:
Luc and Rachel Perez
Chula Vista, CA - United States

Relationship to Storyteller:
Youth volunteer

Audrey Capuano

War bride (Australia)

I am from Adelaide S. Australia. Two of my friends who were also married to U.S. servicemen went to Sydney to wait for transportation to the U.S.A. The war ended while we were there. The war in the Pacific was still raging. My husband was in the Phillipines at that time.

I was elated it had ended and prayed that the Pacific War would soon end also. Thousands celebrated the end at Martin Place in downtown Sydney and I was one of them, singing and dancing in the street. The Pacific war finally ended in 1945 and then I had a long wait for transportaion to the U.S. which came April 8, 1946.

My husband was Robert Angelo Capuano. He served in the 32nd Division tank Destroyers of the U.S. Army.

Submitted by:
Linda A. Laurie
Poway, CA - United States

Relationship to Storyteller:
Adult volunteer

Bob Caredio

U.S. Army, Other (Private)

I was born in San Francisco, California. I met Mildred (Babe) in Canada during a hiking trip and married her before I was 19 years old - the time I was drafted into the U.S. Army and served in WWII. I served as a Private. We used guns such as the caliber 30 and M1 to fire against the enemy. After one year, I was discharged before the war ended, I remembered when I heard the news that the war had ended. I felt happy and satisfied. I celebrated in San Francisco, California in the streets and buildings with a group of people including Bob, one of my closest friends. We drank good wine (i.e. Vino) and champagne. I later started college at the age of 25 at Saint Mary’s College and majored in History. I became a 12th grade history teacher at Live Oak high school. I taught for 15 years and retired in my early 50’s. From my experience, I would like the generation of today to continue to question. Do not take one answer as the final one for people can be biased and produce biased answers.

Submitted by:
Diana L. Nguyen
San Jose, CA - United States

Malcolm Carmichael

Civilian

I was a six year old, living with my parents and siblings in the semi-rural area of Pinehurst, a section of Billerica, Massachusetts.

Back then we had no modern conveniences such as indoor plumbing, running water, television, electricity, radios, etc. We hauled the water we needed from a neighbors well and used rainwater caught in barrels placed under downspouts for baths and the garden.

I was helping my father in our bountiful "Victory Garden" when a neighbor, who had electricity and a radio, came over the path through the woods connecting our properties to inform my dad that "Japan had surrendered".

At that age I knew something important had happened but,couldn't appreciate the significance of it all.

Prior to the war's end I remember laying in bed hearing the never ending drone the military convoys made going from one post to another, even though the highways they traveled were miles from our home.

I recall seeing and hearing hundreds and hundreds of aircraft destined to far away places with strange sounding names as my dad would say.

That was the year my oldest brother at long last managed to enlist in the Navy. More to escape an unhappy home life than anything else. He stayed in the Navy for thirty years. The tales he would tell when home on leave!

Around that time my favorite book was "Buddy And The Victory Club". It was about a group of enterprising kids collecting tin cans and scrap metal to aid the war effort.

In a word I was "curious" about a lot of things I didn't understand.

Vince Castaldo

U.S. Army

Born: 1924

Residence: San Jose, CA United States

Original home: San Jose, CA United States

August 14, 1945, the end of WWII, I was in Europe with the 78th Infantry Division on standby. The war with Germany was over and after dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, the Japanese surrendered. Our Division was standing by, waiting for instructions to be sent to the Pacific.

Thank God, we did not have to go, as we had barely survived the Battle of the Bulge, The Crossing of the Rhine River and the saving of the Remagen Bridge. Our division was the first to cross the standing bridge, March 8th, 1945. A large bronze plaque was made with the words "78th Lightning Division 1st to cross the bridge."

That famous day, we were somewhere in Germany and battle fatigued and all we wanted to do was to go home! Among several citations, I was awarded 3 bronze stars and a silver star.

Why did we have to wait for so long in Germany mid January of 1946 before we could return home? I have always wondered about this. I was thinking on that day that my core obligation upon returning home was reuniting with my parents and then to enter college under the G.I. Bill. Later on I did receive a degree. Our home was a short distance from Albany, N. Y. and in the fall of 1946, I secured a job with General Electric. They hired me and that is where nuclear reactors were being designed for submarines. Former President, Jimmy Carter, was assigned to assist in development of nuclear reactors at that time.

For 41 years, as an employee of General Electric Co., my position was manager of purchasing. After spending 2 years in Tokyo, Japan, I was transferred to San Jose, California, this being the company headquarters in marketing Commercial Nuclear Power plants for U. S. and foreign countries.

Since retiring late in 1988, my wife and I decided to move from Los Gatos, Ca. to Palm Desert, CA. During our stay in the desert, I volunteered as Security Officer for the Bob Hope Classic and also became a member of the Rancho Mirage Cops.

Suffice it to say that my marriage of over 59 years to my childhood sweetheart was the best ever. My wife taught school in the local schools. We were lucky as we traveled the world. Our children decided for us, that we should move back to the bay area close to them and here we are living in the Atrium.

We enjoy meeting new people, especially the Atrium staff. They are very kind and helpful. I was never an advocate, or should say a full time Army soldier, as my older brother retired as A General!

Vince Castaldo

William Chiodo

Charles Chou

Armand Christeler

U.S. Army

I was still in the Service. I was still overseas, over Europe. In Belgium, that was where I was stationed for a while.

I was working in the field hospital, dressing wounds, and got the men so that they could be carried out further.

I was with the General Hospital. There were about 500 enlisted men, officers, and nurses and other personal.

We were all very happy. And we started waiting for our turn. The Battle of the Points began, to see how many points we got where we could go home. You had to have a certain number of points. The longer you served, the more points you had and you could get home. That was in 1945. Plus you had to get a ship where we could go home.

I think the war was very necessary when you consider the evil Hitler represented.

We just had to wait around, we had to wait in the boats. I got a trip to England, Switzerland, two weeks at a time. We just trying to keep busy, keep out of the way.

I was extremely glad. I had no desire to stay on any further.

I didn’t see entirely too much action but we were subjected to the buzz bombs from Germany. As a rear movement, the hospital was, we were eventually turned into a field hospital since we were so close to the front lines.

We had a close shave from the German Army. There was a Tiger tank found 5 miles from our camp, so that shows you how close they were to running us over. We were ready to leave that day.

Submitted by:
Paphatsone L. Sirimoungkhons
Santa Rosa, CA - United States

Relationship to Storyteller:
Youth volunteer

Jack Clabough

Frances Clemons

(Maiden Name: Sexton)

Other (Child of U.S. Army Private Bernard Sexton, killed in action), Civilian

This was to be our first "big" trip for my mother, my sister and me following my dad's death in France on September 17, 1944 - my sister's 4th birthday.

Dad's sister, Margaret, lived in Baltimore, Md and asked that we come for a visit. We knew this would be a long bus ride from Princeton, WV, especially in the day when you could catch the bus anywhere along the way. People would get on carrying farm fresh eggs, butter or other items to trade for other goods at the grocery store. You could also get coffee, sugar or flour provided you had ration stamps.

Along the way word spread that the war was over and all hell broke loose. People literally climbed on the top of the bus in northern Virginia, and everyone was celebrating in their own way except for my mother, my sister and me. The internal turmoil my mother experienced upon learning of my father's death had caused her to fear everything and trust no one. Of course this was a scary time for her children as well.

When we finally arrived in Baltimore, - much later than originally scheduled, it seemed all the businesses were closed and there was no food available at the bus terminal and my mom was afraid to go onto the street to look for anything. She tried to call my aunt but wasd unable to reach her, so we got on the next bus possible and returned to WV without ever seeing Aunt Margaret.

While this was a time of joy for many, it was just another grief-stricken day in our lives. Although it will be 65 years since my father's death my mother at age 91 is still the sad person she became when my father died. Remember, many casualities of war do not die on the battlefield, nor are they buried in military cemetaries in the U.S. and abroad.

Frances S. Clemons
Daughter of Pvt. Bernard Sexton

Estella Cojulun

Carl Cole

U.S. Army Air Corps

Where was I on August 14,1945? I was setting in the pilots seat in a C54 aircraft flying over San Francisco, CA when the celebrating began. We had just taken off from Fairfield-Susun air base and were headed west. We found out later we were part of a group of 350 C54's and 500 crews headed to Okinawa to drop paratroopers over Japan.

Fortunately we did not have to do this. Instead we moved an airborne division, an infantry division, and a marine division into Japan. My crew and I made 4 round trips taking men and equipment to Japan and bringing back our liberated prisoners-of-war.

In talking to some of the prisoners they told me that the guards left their posts and they were free to go, so some of them started roaming around the streets and were later gathered up by our forces and moved to the airport to start home. Some of the prisoners were not in very good shape but all were very happy to be heading home.

I talked to one man who grew up during the Depression on a farm and said he was physically strong and could stand the punishment, but many of his friends who grew up with an easy life were either killed or starved. They were all excited about being free.

From 1941 to August 1945 I made 52 combat missions in bombers (10 in B26's,37 in B25's and 5 in B24's)in the Southwest Pacific, and in 1945 made 9 other trips across the Pacific in C54 aircraft. I just had my 91st birthday and have many memories I could Share.

Roger Connor

ALBERT Craibari

James Crawford

John Crowhurst

U.S. Army, Civilian

At the start of the war John had been living in San Fransisco with his family. Soon John was drafted and sent to Texas for 5 weeks of training. There John was trained to be a battlefield medic in the AMERICAL DIVISION. After training he was shipped out from San Diego to join everyone else in the Pacific. The boat trip there had been long, and finall John found himself on the island Leyte in the Phillipines. Throught the war John was in Leyte, Cebu, the Soloman islands, and Fiji where he had to sturuggle with the agonizing tsetse flies, whom gave him the awful Dengue fever. As a medic in the war, John was constantly in the center of the fighting treating his fellow wounded soldiers. Facing many near death expierenes, John spent a total of three years away from home fighting in the Pacific. When the war finally ended, John was on the first boat of soldiers to go under the Golden Gate Bridge to come home.

Submitted by:
Anya A. Boersma
Santa Rosa, CA - United States

Relationship to Storyteller:
Youth volunteer

Brian Curtin

Mitchell Cwiek

U.S. Army Air Corps

2nd Lt. Mitchell S. Cwiek with his P-38 Lightning fighter plane. July 1944 with the 37th Fighter Squadron, 14th Fighter Group, 15th Air Force.

Born: 1922

Residence: Escondido, CA United States

Original home: Terryville, CT USSR (Soviet Union)

I was visiting with my favorite cousin and his wife, Bill and Marion Morris, on Woodland Street in Hartford, Connecticut when the news of the wars end was received.

We decided to walk to the center of the city, a distance of about two miles, to see what was going on because we anticipated some celebrations.

As we approached the area of Main Street we encountered increasingly heavy crowds of boisterous, happy people. The area in front of the Old State House and The Travelers Tower was crammed with people. No traffic of any kind was able to move. The noise was overwhelming.

I was soon separated from my cousin Bill and his wife Marion as I was swept along by the crowds. All liquer stores were closed but there were cheerful ladies shouldering their way through the crowds along Asylum Street with brown paper bags containing bottles of whiskey and a supply of small paper cups. They were happily pouring drinks for any person in uniform.

There was a lot of hugging and kissing in evidence. There was an underlying joy among all the military people because this good news meant they would not have to face the prospect of combat in the Pacific area. If Japan had not surrendered who knows how many of the happy uniformed people in Hartford that day might never have survived to enjoy a future life.

This experience was in marked contrast to what I experienced on VE day (Victory in Europe) in May 1945. On that day there were equally boisterous and happy crowds in London, England and in other Allied cities in Europe, but I happened to be in a U. S. Army hospital near Liverpool. I had only recently been liberated from a German POW camp and I celebrated VE Day quietly. I was invited to an Army doctor's office in the hospital to share a drink with a couple doctors.