By Rosanne Gulisano

I blog about snippets and snapshots of the memoirs and life stories of everyday folks attending my Lifestories workshops. I have changed the names, but the stories are the real thing, from the plain and simple to the sinister and dangerous. Enjoy!

Lester’s War Memoir

After long months of training and getting used to the tropical climate of the South Pacific, the men in Lester’s airborne unit were both anxious and tense about getting into action. The division sailed for Leyte in the Philippines in October, 1944, to engage the Japanese. Tension and fear were common emotions, but Lester remembers an incident where he very nearly lost his life.

Often putting ashore was as dangerous as hand-to-hand combat. As the unit was making for shore off the coast of Luzon in amphibious vehicles called “ducks,” their vehicle was under fire, struck and damaged. The driver steered towards a swift running river to avoid further harm. The sump pump couldn’t keep up with the rising water in the boat. They stuffed rags in the bullet holes, but it was still necessary to abandon the duck and swim for shore. The men were weighted down by a carbine, a pack, helmet and heavy combat boots. The waves were over Lester’s head and the current from the river was pushing them back out to sea. After dumping his pack and helmet, Lester swam for his life and managed to crawl up on shore, thankful to be alive.

War movies and novels do not even come close to describing the conditions, from terror to tedium, that are part of a combat soldier’s life. In the Philippine Islands in 1944, Lester and his fellow soldiers endured months of heat, rain, humidity and endless mud, marked by sporadic, but intense, encounters with the enemy. Doing their job and coming home to a safe America kept these men going through trying times.