My Uncle Jim
"The day I learned War is not a movie"
I had an Uncle named "Jim" who was a Navy NCO. He was a bear of a man, larger than life, with big tattoos on both arms, all of them Naval. As a young man, he served as a PT boat gunner in the Pacific during WW2, and his stories were always amusing, terrifying, or both. I'll never forget these two he told us kids when we were boys. I am not a naval expert, so any naval inaccuracies are mine and mine alone.
I believe the patrol location was to the southwest of the "slot" in the Solomon Islands, which featured some of the longest and bitterest naval fights of the war against the Japanese resupply of their forces in the area. They had become separated; it was night, and the visibility was reduced to less than a mile. They turned into a harbor that was their home base. Unbeknownst to them, they weren't even close. As they groped into the harbor, they found their dock and a small freighter tied up to it as well. They brought the PT boat to the free side of the dock, and were about to tie up and shut down when they heard voices... Japanese voices. I can only picture the momentary "oh s**t" expressions on their faces, as they slipped free from the dock, as quickly and quietly as possible. They got some sea room, torpedoed the freighter, and hauled ass out of there before any response could be mounted. They did manage to find the correct island bay which was their base of operations. I'm sure the boat navigator or equivalent bought the beer that night.
The second story I found memorable was one which taught me two things - war is bloody and miserable, and U.S. soldiers were not the John Wayne characters from the movies we grew up on... they were fighting a dirty war with an implacable enemy.
Uncle Jim's PT boat found a large but isolated Japanese freighter, and put a couple of "fish" into her. It went to the bottom, leaving the warm Pacific waters teeming with Japanese swimmers. The ship had been carrying a large number of troops as well as the crew. Dozens if not hundreds of them were clinging to debris, or struggling to swim.
"What did you do then, Uncle Jim?"
"My skipper told me to man the 50's. We shot them all in the water."
We were stunned. U.S. troops did not machine gun helpless men. I think Uncle Jim understood our shock, and proceeded to explain.
"It was both necessary and a mercy. The Japanese were desperate to reinforce their presence, and if these troops had been rescued, they would have entered the fight and killed our Marines. We had no way to take so many prisoners. If we had not gunned them, they would have either died a lingering death, been eaten by sharks, or on the off-chance of rescue, would have joined the fight. Besides, they would have done the same to us."
Uncle Jim passed away maybe 20 years ago. RIP to a fine career Navy man.
"The day I learned War is not a movie"
I had an Uncle named "Jim" who was a Navy NCO. He was a bear of a man, larger than life, with big tattoos on both arms, all of them Naval. As a young man, he served as a PT boat gunner in the Pacific during WW2, and his stories were always amusing, terrifying, or both. I'll never forget these two he told us kids when we were boys. I am not a naval expert, so any naval inaccuracies are mine and mine alone.
I believe the patrol location was to the southwest of the "slot" in the Solomon Islands, which featured some of the longest and bitterest naval fights of the war against the Japanese resupply of their forces in the area. They had become separated; it was night, and the visibility was reduced to less than a mile. They turned into a harbor that was their home base. Unbeknownst to them, they weren't even close. As they groped into the harbor, they found their dock and a small freighter tied up to it as well. They brought the PT boat to the free side of the dock, and were about to tie up and shut down when they heard voices... Japanese voices. I can only picture the momentary "oh s**t" expressions on their faces, as they slipped free from the dock, as quickly and quietly as possible. They got some sea room, torpedoed the freighter, and hauled ass out of there before any response could be mounted. They did manage to find the correct island bay which was their base of operations. I'm sure the boat navigator or equivalent bought the beer that night.
The second story I found memorable was one which taught me two things - war is bloody and miserable, and U.S. soldiers were not the John Wayne characters from the movies we grew up on... they were fighting a dirty war with an implacable enemy.
Uncle Jim's PT boat found a large but isolated Japanese freighter, and put a couple of "fish" into her. It went to the bottom, leaving the warm Pacific waters teeming with Japanese swimmers. The ship had been carrying a large number of troops as well as the crew. Dozens if not hundreds of them were clinging to debris, or struggling to swim.
"What did you do then, Uncle Jim?"
"My skipper told me to man the 50's. We shot them all in the water."
We were stunned. U.S. troops did not machine gun helpless men. I think Uncle Jim understood our shock, and proceeded to explain.
"It was both necessary and a mercy. The Japanese were desperate to reinforce their presence, and if these troops had been rescued, they would have entered the fight and killed our Marines. We had no way to take so many prisoners. If we had not gunned them, they would have either died a lingering death, been eaten by sharks, or on the off-chance of rescue, would have joined the fight. Besides, they would have done the same to us."
Uncle Jim passed away maybe 20 years ago. RIP to a fine career Navy man.
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