37th Div 148th Infantry Purple Heart Grouping

[Bob Hudson]

The story of SSgt Robert L Haney, Company A,148th Infantry Regiment, 37th Infantry Division:

 

 

[Bob Hudson]

He was in high school JR ROTC in Chicago:

 

[Bob Hudson]

Jumping straight from ROTC to the end of combat, here's some sort of Japanese document filled in with what I assume are the names of his buddies. Anyone know what the document is?

 

 

[644td]

Not sure about the document but I bet it was a great day when he wrote VJ Day.

Marty

[Bob Hudson]

He enlisted on Nov. 25th 1942 and It looks like he was in the 104th Division, 415th Infantry until he left for Pre-Aviation Cadet (Air-crew) training at Buckley Field, Colorado in early May 1944. But in August 44 he is with the 42nd at Camp Gruber, Oklahoma and orders show he and several others are bound for the Army Ground Forces (AGF) Replacement Depot at Fort Ord. I suspect this was when the Air Corps decided they had too many trainees in the pipeline and a lot of would-be flyers ended up in the infantry or back in the infantry as is the case here.

 

[Bob Hudson]

He kept a copy of the 42nd newspaper from Camp Gruber and it shows that he was indeed part of the Air Corps manpower reduction.

 

 

[Bob Hudson]

Not sure about the document but I bet it was a great day when he wrote VJ Day.

 

Marty

 

I'll bet the best day was when he got the meal ticket for the ship ride back to the States:

 

 

[Bob Hudson]

This photo was taken about the time he left the 42nd enroute to Fort Ord. He was allowed to drive his personal car home from Oklahoma to Colorado, so this is him (on the right) and another soldier who was authorized to ride with Sgt. Haney. The government reimbursed him 3 cents a mile (and $1 per meal) for the trip. I assume they took the train from Denver to California.

 

 

[Bob Hudson]

Had he not been accepted to pre air cadet school in May 1944 he likely would have landed with the 104th Timberwolves at Cherbourg, France in September 1944.

 

I do find it interesting that he served with three divisions in something like 4 or 5 months: 104th, 42nd, 37th.

 

He was a young-looking Staff Sergeant. What would an SSGT's role been in a WWII Infantry Company?

[Bob Hudson]

He was sent to the First Convalescent Hospital in the Philippines after being wounded on Feb. 2, 1945. I don't know if or when he returned to combat after being wounded, but here's the timeline (from wikipedia) of the 37th until his wounding (likely while his unit was capturing Clark Field).

 

During the Luzon Campaign in early 1945, the 145th Infantry participated in the invasion of the island of Luzon and the approach march to the Philippine capital of Manila. The assault on Luzon commenced on the morning of 9 January 1945. In the first few days, over 175,000 troops landed on the twenty-mile beachhead. Despite strong Japanese opposition, by 31 January, the 145th and 148th Infantry Regiments took Clark Field on Luzon.

[Geoff]

Hi Bob, that is a great group! Thanks for sharing it with us. In WW2 a staff sergeant would serve as a squad leader in an infantry platoon, or in a noncom staff position with the headquarters company

[Bob Hudson]

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[Bob Hudson]

Pocket bible:

 

 

 

 

[644td]

Love the Bible.

 

 

Marty

[Bob Hudson]

 

I'll bet the best day was when he got the meal ticket for the ship ride back to the States:

 

9.jpg

 

10.jpg

In reconsidering things, I now think the meal ticket is for the boat ride to the Philippines, which began in mid December 1944. The ride home after the end of the war was in November 1945.

[Bob Hudson]

According to the Tyler Webb thesis ( https://kb.osu.edu/bitstream/handle/1811/84780/1/Tyler_Webb_Thesis.pdf )

 

"May through December 1944 the 37th conducted a massive, three-phase training program...The battle-tested infantrymen of the 37th Infantry Division knew they were shipping out when they received oranges at breakfast in mid-December 1944."

 

"The beginning of the end of World War II for the 37th Infantry Division commenced at 0445 hours on January 9, 1945. The guns of the 3rd and 7th Fleet pounded the shores of Luzon as U.S. aircraft flew overhead. The 129th and 148th Infantry Regiments landed at 0930 hours on Crimson and Yellow beaches.The landing was essentially uncontested as the Americans were greeted onshore by a number of Filipinos. The 148th Infantry Regiment quickly seized Binmaley and the crossed the Calmay River in the afternoon in the wake of the 129th Infantry Regiment."

 

The meal ticket shows the proper number of days for the mid-December (I'd say Dec. 19) to January 9th voyage.

 

[Bob Hudson]

There is a "short snorter," in this case a Japanese Philiipines peso note, signed by women. I found some info about two of the women and I suspect they were nurses or other staff at the First Convalescent Hospital. One for sure was an Army Nurse in the Pacific.

 

 

 

 

[Bob Hudson]

I found some more information that pins down when and where he was wounded on Feb. 2, 1944. The official Army history of "Securing the Manila Bay Area" show his unit meeting up with 500 Japanese troops in "a short but bitter stand."

 

"On 31 January, as the 148th Infantry crossed the Pampanga, [37th CO General] Beightler relieved the 145th Infantry at Clark Field and started it south along Route 3.

Without waiting for the 145th to catch up, the 148th sped rapidly down Route 3 through an area becoming more and more densely populated.

The regiment secured Malolos against minor opposition on 1 February and on the next day sent patrols south another eleven miles to Marilao, found void of Japanese. On the same day one battalion worked east from Calumpit toward Plaridel along the south bank of the Quingua and Angat Rivers. At Plaridel one of Shimbu Group's many provisional infantry battalions, about 500 men strong, in a short but bitter stand held up the 148th's battalion until noon. Then the American unit marched on through Plaridel and about 1700 established contact with elements of the 1st Cavalry Division near destroyed bridges that had once taken Route 5 and the Manila Railroad across the unfordable Angat."

That battle would have been in this area:

[Dogsbody]

Hello Bob, beautiful grouping and, as ever, beautifully photographed.

 

Rene

[Bob Hudson]

I had wondered if he re-joined his unit after being wounded? Some new info about this suggests he did.

 

A member of our sister forum WorldMilitariaForum.com said this is a Japanese military postal savings booklet whose last entry was Jan 31, 1945, two days before Sgt Haney was wounded. I was able to look up a couple of the guys who signed it and one of them was clearly ID'ed as being in the 148th - and since this was marked for VJ Day, it sounds like he was with his regiment at the end of the war, not in a hospital or back in the USA.

 

[Bob Hudson]

Since we showed a photo of the one the signers of the short snorter, here's one of the guys who signed the Japanese document: He was born in Kansas, raised in Canada, enlisted in the US Army from Kansas and went back to Canada at the end of the war:

 

[Bob Hudson]

As mentioned above, he qualified for Aviation Cadet (air crew), but the Air Corps cancelled school for many thousands of Cadet candidates.

 

What is "Aviation Cadet (air crew)" - does that mean you're going to be trained as a B-17 gunner, radio operator or such?

 

[Bob Hudson]

The odd bits of paper in a soldier's often provide insights. There are several general orders mostly dealing with being moved from one Division to the next. One document shows he applied for disabiity at the end of the war for leg wounds and malaria. The VA only approved the malaria claim and declared him 10% disabled.

 

For that he got an $11.50 monthly pension at a time when it possible to rent an apartment for $50.