MILITARY: WWII Experiences, Bullitt Co,. KY ********************************************************************** USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net Transcribed by: psettle@yahoo.com Date: 14 Oct 2000 ********************************************************************** Letter to Brenda Woods from Porter Harned: 10-9-2000 Ms. Brenda Woods Mt. Washington, KY 40047 Dear Brenda: With many others, I was requested to write a war story with the assumption that we would be competing (Louisville that is) with other cities to get Tom Brokaw to agree to come to Louisville to speak and autograph his new book, "The Greatest Generation." Tom Brokaw did come to Louisville. The enclosed story was one of only two mentioned at the meeting. If anyone desires to use the story in any way they will be welcome to do so. I hope to send to you several more photographs when I get them together. Sincerely, (s) Porter Harned MY LAST RECONNAISSANCE PATROL It was early August of 1945 when we were in the Luzon Province of the Philippine Islands. Our "Jungle Bird Dog" outfit was ordered to leave the lowlands to go into the mountains. We were to find retreating Japans soldiers. Our unit was the 32nd Division's Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop. It consisted of approximately one hundred and twenty men. Although the unit was mechanized, most of our time was spent on foot in the jungle in "No Man's Land." On our two-day trip into the mountains, I was assigned to man a fifty-caliber machine gun which was mounted on the back of a jeep. I had a driver and an assistant driver, both of whom had just recently joined our unit. I will relate their fate later. Half-way into our destination, we stopped for the night and slept by the side of the road. During the night, we heard sporadic gunfire which continued into the daylight hours. I remember the next morning for three reasons. The first began with a distraught soldier's fussing, cussing, and lamenting that he had only two weeks' overseas service left to be eligible to be returned to the states, but he said that he would never make it. The next day he was blown to bits by a Japanese mortar. The second event occurred while we were having breakfast. A young soldier who had been in our outfit only a few days, drank coffee from his canteen cup, and then threw the cup down the mountain side. He prophetically said he would not need the cup any more. Shortly thereafter he was killed. The third event involved my hearing a crackling sound whirl past my head. Immediately I hit the ground thinking that the bullet had been meant for me. On the second day of our journey, we arrived at our destination. We established headquarters there. Since the mountain air was quite cold, we recognized our need for shelter. My buddy and I assembled our shelter halves together to make a pup tent for the night. To provide heat, we took a can of sand; poured a small amount of gasoline into the can; and lighted it. This makeshift stove was wonderful until one of us accidentally kicked it over. That made one big fire in a flash! Needless to say, we rolled out of that tent in a most unconventional way. Each of us rolled out from the bottom sides of the tent. Before we could settle down again, some of the perimeter guards opened rapid fire into the bushes. We jumped into combat readiness and looked to our other fellow soldiers for answers. The guards moved into the bushes to investigate. What a relief! The noise maker was a wild boar, which the guards had killed. The information seemed to ricochet immediately all over the camp. Like water seeking its level, twenty or thirty natives appeared from all directions carrying fire wood and built a fire in a deep ravine nearby. The boar was dragged to the fire to burn off its hair. Within minutes, the boar was cut up and carried away, leaving absolutely nothing but burning embers. The following day, scouting patrols were dispatched on foot in several directions. My patrol traveled down a mountain ridge. As night approached, we erected our pup tents in the middle of a mountain path. During the night, a torrential rain turned the path into a small river, which interrupted our rest. The next morning, we spotted the enemy down in the valley, we looked at them, and they looked at us. We remembered our standing orders: Order No. 1 - To find the enemy; No. 2 - Determine the direction of their movements; No. 3 - Determine the strength of their numbers; No. 4 - Determine the amount of equipment; and No. 5 - Always catch a prisoner if possible for questioning. During my time with the troop, we caught more prisoners than we had men in our troop. We were not expected to confront the enemy unless we had to fight our way out. The third day, we were ordered back to headquarters where I learned the bad news. My jeep driver and his assistant had been severely wounded. They were taken away by ambulance. We never heard from them again. From information which was given to me about their wounds, I doubt they survived. Late that evening we heard some whooping and hollering. Japan had surrendered! Immediately, an order came to leave for the seashore. I drove an M-8, which was an armored tank on tires, down the mountains. There we boarded a ship and headed for Japan to become part of the occupational forces. Submitted by: Edgar Porter Harned Louisville, KY