Could be . Young Ben

[Independent Voter]

[Truckman]

There is a familiarity about that scene, right down to the wrinkled fatigues...But I don't recall working shirtless unless it was that time in '67 when summer arrived unexpectedly on a Thursday afternoon...In West Germany we learned to take advantage of those sudden seasonal changes if we wanted to get a tan...Next day it was back to winter...I'm reminded now of my Dad's experience on the beach on Attu, he is shown below modeling the latest in US Army issue beachwear in the summer of '44......Ben

[UTAH]

"Attu is the only land battle in which Japanese and American forces fought in snowy conditions, in contrast with the tropical climate in the rest of the Pacific. The more than two-week battle ended when most of the Japanese defenders were killed in brutal hand-to-hand combat after a final banzai charge broke through American lines."
- Wikipedia

Your father is an integral part of our nation's history.

Hunter

[Truckman]

"Snowy conditions" is a mild understatement...Blizzard conditions were in effect maybe 9 months in the year...I wasn't joking about Dad's pose in the snow, it really was their summer...Here is a pic of the top of Dad's Quonset hut as they were digging it out in the spring thaw...This is actually 30 feet above ground level...When the winds picked up, the snow drifted that high...They all built scaffolding at the hut entrance and walled it in...They could add to it as needed and used steps to climb in and out to go to work or the chow hall or wherever needed (I can't locate the pic I have of that)...They also piled green oak pallets, oil drums, whatever they had around the outside of the sheet iron walls for strength and whatever insulation they provided...Inside they packed anything they had against the walls that might offer some insulation...Dad was in the Quartermaster Corps so he had access to plenty of uniforms which they stuffed in duffel bags and stacked against the walls...Each Quonset hut also had a stove which was another good reason to store pallets...Dad said the blizzards would bring in drifts well over 20 feet, but he didn't remember any that went much higher than 40 feet...Also shown below is Dad with the gear he wore to walk to work......Ben

[FredK]

Salute to your dad.

[Truckman]

Salute to your dad.

He would have said a salute would be wasted on him, that he worked for a living...However, I did pick up my lifelong habit of addressing everyone I meet as sir or ma'am from him......Ben

[UTAH]

Excellent pics.

If I were a film maker, I'd love to do one about our Attu war effort. Yeah, we're Americans - so we'd have to add romance/sex - but, other than that, it practically writes itself.

Hunter

[Truckman]

Excellent pics.

If I were a film maker, I'd love to do one about our Attu war effort. Yeah, we're Americans - so we'd have to add romance/sex - but, other than that, it practically writes itself.

Hunter

Dad said on Attu there was a woman behind every tree...There just weren't any trees......Ben

On edit: the GI"s did the best they could to not forget what women looked like...

[Sandman]

Seriously cold duty.. coats on, inside in last snap..

I was given a “shell” (a huge windbreaker hoodie pulled over layers of insulating clothing) like your dad is wearing in the Snow White sand beach picture.. wore it shoveling snow well into the 2000s when the fur around the hood got mange

My first home was a Quanset hut.. hospital to USMC housing at Camp Pendelton..

[Dave Grubb]

Thanks to your Dad for his service.

I lived in a Quonset hut about 20 years latter----they still looked the same and likely smelled the same.

There was no latrine in ours----your Dad likely would have had to go out to go

[Truckman]

There was no latrine in ours----your Dad likely would have had to go out to go

Yep, that was the case...In blizzard conditions, making the climb up that ladder and onto the surface of the snow and ice was not done just for the exercise...Combat alert, work, chow hall, mail call and latrine were the only real reasons, and likely as not these actions were combined as often as possible...Being in the Quartermaster Corps, Dad's assignment was management of the warehouse holding all the clothing (making him a pretty popular guy no doubt)...Below is Dad at his work desk, and the other I believe to be an improvised bed in the warehouse when outdoor conditions made it more convenient to stay in the warehouse...The wood and canvas cot he slept on is now in my garage...I used it to sleep on in the woods when my brother and I went hunting...

The pretty young lady in the framed photos was my Mom who was waiting patiently for the war's end and a reunion...At that time she lived in an apartment over my Granddad's garage in Houston...They had been married a month and a day when Pearl Harbor was attacked...Dad enlisted the following day...Mom kept herself busy with an office job at the OPA in Houston...I wrote about a lot of this in one of my books for anyone interested...Mike says he'll get around to reading his copy someday......Ben

[UTAH]

...USMC housing at Camp Pendelton...

Wifey and I went to Camp Pendelton for one of their tours in 1986. One thing we still remember and talk about - no inmates in their jail holding area were on sick call that day. Instead, all of them were out removing grass/weeds from what were considered unsightly areas in Pendleton. And, it wasn't easy work. We saw that the working inmates were hot and tired while they worked outside. A supervising officer said that any inmate on sick call was required to handle "bed pan duty" - which was gross and disgusting. Now, I'm not saying that's what every jail should do - but we did see that the system worked very well at keeping their inmates busy and productive.

Hunter

[Dave Grubb]

When I was a little guy we did not have indoor plumbing so going out to go was not new to me but I believe I was the only one of that class when I was living in a Quonset hut. There was always a lot of bitchin about the trek to the latrine.

Regarding the heater shown in one of you photos, visually that is identical to the ones we had. We did not burn wood---there wasn't any! We burned diesel fuel in Gerry cans. We hung the can on the side of the stove and put a siphon tube down into it---the outflow was to a "carburetor." The carburetor controlled the siphon flow by means of a float and needle valve, then metered the flow into the fire box. That flow could be varied depending on need.

When it got really cold we would turn the darn thing off and let it cool for a few minutes, then turn the flow back on---but not ignite it. We would let it "flood" the fire box and then we would lite it off. It would get cherry red and "huff"----we stood as close as we dared while it burned off the load of fuel we put in I suspect we lost overall heat output but at least we had some feeling of warmth for 10-15 minutes

You are lucky to have those photos Ben

[Truckman]

You are lucky to have those photos Ben

I feel honored to have known the man at all......Ben

[Sandman]

USMC brig.. my grandfather was also a Marine, Old Corps China Marine 1916-1924 WestPac.. then Stateside and Nicaragua retiring as a First Sergeant.. In 1942 he was recalled as a “retread” Captain, reverted back to enlisted in 1946 and retired (again) as a Sergeant Major.. now he had some stories! He told me that the Marines make the brig worse than regular duty or all of the malcontents would just sit out their enlistment in the brig.. DaNang had a “Red Line” brig that is infamous.. before WWII if a brig rat tried to escape or was a trouble maker he wore a shirt with a target on the back.. how would that go in today’s prisons?

Quonset hut.. my last time living in one was in 1990 in Rota Spain.. Seabee quarters.. had a private room, semi-private bath air conditioning and a color TV with two channels of NBC European cable.. Jay Leno came on while getting ready for work.6AM in CET is Midnight in New York.. NBC cable was just like home tv except the times.. here a teaser is followed by “ 8 eastern, 7 central”.. there it was “8 UK, 9 Central European “..