News, Citizen Profile, Millard C. Bird, LaSalle Parish, La. ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** Submitted by: Craig Franklin of The Jena Times, Jena, LaSalle Parish, La. Millard C. Bird - Citizen Profile Wednesday, March 7, 2001, page 11A A Times-Signal Feature "Citizen Profile" A Very Special Salute From Old River, to Tarawa Atoll in WWII, and back For Millard C. Bird of Old River, traveling has never appealed to him. In fact, he could probably count on one hand the number of times he's been off on a trip since he married back in 1945. The reason: World War II. A veteran of the Marines who saw much action during the war, Mr. Bird says through that experience he's seen enough. "I had seen all the world I wanted to after World War II," Mr. Bird said. "After that, I never wanted to go anywhere." Mr. Bird was born on September 5, 1920, on the river banks of Old River, which was called Archie back then. His parents were Harry G. and Mary Jane Pritchard Bird, who farmed the rich land along the river path. All of the recent heavy rains brought back memories to Mr. Bird of the many floods that had driven out his family and many others along the low land east of Whitehall. "In the flood of 1927, it actually floated our house miles away from where it once stood," he said. "This was before the highway (Hwy. 84) and after that flood daddy rebuilt on other (south) side of where the highway is today." He also remembers the flood of 1945, and recalls mail being delivered to residents in the flood area by boat. Then in the great flood of 1973, nearly all they owned was damaged or destroyed as water rose five feet inside their home. Growing up in the farming community in the 1920's and 1930's, Mr. Bird said life was hard for everyone. Most of the children had to help their parents work the fields in order to provide money and food to be able to survive. "I had four brothers and two sisters and all of us boys had to work," he said. "After the flood in 1927, we moved to Franklin Parish for about five years during the depression. During that time, a drought occurred and cotton dropped to 5 cents a bail. That's when we moved back to Old River." He'd started school at the Pritchard Church school and continued his schooling in Franklin Parish, where he finished the sixth grade. He started the seventh grade back at Jena in 1935, but that year the water came up again and the school was closed for some time. Mr. Bird simply never started back and went to work farming with his daddy. During 1942, Mr. Bird and his youngest brother were out in the field chopping cotton, when they got the idea to join the service. Their two older brothers were already in the service so they thought it would be a great thing to join up as well, especially since they both were tired of working the long, hot hours in the field. So in August of 1942, they both hitchhiked their way to Alexandria where they joined the Marines (which was then a part of the Army), and then were bused to New Orleans where they were sworn in. Over the next three or four months they would endure rigorous training until January 4, 1943, when they were part of a release force at the Quata Canal. After several days of intense fighting and seeing first hand the tragedies of war, it was Mr. Bird's brother who turned to him one day and said he wished he was back home hoeing cotton. After experiencing war, working the fields back home was a wonderful thought for both of them. They stayed at Quata Canal until February 19, 1943. Although they were in the middle of the great war, some comfort was given in the fact that they were both together. In fact, the brothers served in the same division, the 2nd Division, and the same company. Their other brothers served in different outfits, two in the Army and one in the Air Force. In was sometime during this period that the five Sullivan brothers were all killed in action. Most readers today know the story from the hit movie, "Saving Private Ryan" with Tom Hanks."After the Sullivan brothers were killed, it was decided that no brothers should serve together in the same company," Mr. Bird said. "But they made an exception for us two, beings how we had three other brothers serving in different parts." Still, the devastation of the war made the two brothers think. At that time, American men were being killed by the thousands, and Mr. Bird said he really didn't know if any of the Bird brothers would ever make it back home. So he and his James in the Marines decided to split up, at least partly, in order to keep them both from being killed by the same blast. "We talked it over and decided this was best," he said. "This was, at least one shell wouldn't kill both of us." The two made corporal at the same time and although they still served in the same company, now they were in charge of two separate squads, with ten men underneath them apiece." This kept us seperated most of the time," he said. November 20, 1943 will be a date the Mr. Bird will never forget. The 2nd Division was sent to the Gilbert Islands to began a series of bloody South Pacific island invasions. It all began on this date, when the U.S. Army set its sights on Tarawa Atoll, which is marked in history as one of the bloodiest of the Pacific battles against the Japanese. Of 12,000 total men in the American force, 1,056 died and 2,292 more were wounded in the attack on tiny Betiop Island, part of the Tarawa Atoll prized for its 4,000 foot airstrip. Defending the island were 4,836 Japanese soldiers. By the end of the 76 hours of fighting, only 17 Japanese soldiers were left alive to be taken prisoner. The Japanese had 15 months to build up their fortifications on the 291 acre island after taking it on December 20, 1941. Days of heavy bombardment by U.S. bomber and fighter plans and battleships, cruisers and destroyers before the invasion had little effect on the Japanese defenses. When Marines with the 2nd Division finally waded ashore, they faced fierce resistence from Japanese soldiers who were dug into the island in bunkers and pillboxes. A miscalculation in determining tides around the island also forced many Marines to wade and swim in full combat gear across 600 yards of open water over a coral reef to reach the beachhead. Mr. Bird and his brother were two of the 12,000 men storming the beach on that fateful day. "I never will forget that date as long as I live," he said. "We stayed there 10 days. I was in the combat engineers, which consisted of flame throwers and demolition. We stayed there a little longer than everyone else, burying people, burning out bunkers and pillboxes, and destroying other things." During the invasion, Mr. Bird had malaria, like many soldiers. After the , like many soldiers. However, because of the call of duty he fought with the disease and helped the American forces with the victory. The company was next sent to Hawaii, to rest and get prepared for their next mission. While recuperating on top of a mountain, orders came down to start packing and getting ready to go once again. "We never knew where we were going," he said. "They would just tell us to pack up and get ready and later on we'd be told our mission." As the group prepared to leave, the doctor came by and called Mr. Bird off to the side. "He told me that I couldn't go, that the malaria had gotten worse," he said. "They way he explained it, if I got over there and fell out, it would take two men to carry me back - in essence taking out three men. But I wasn't the only one. There were about 18-20 men in the whole division that had to stay." Mr. Bird said he talked it over with his brother and both agreed that at least this way one of the two brothers would make it back home. "You know, when you get in those situations, especially in war, you think about your parents," he said. "We wanted to make sure at least one of their five boys made it back home." As it worked out, all five of the Bird boys made it back home after the war, much to the relief of their mom and dad. On October 4, 1945, Mr. Bird was discharged from the Army. He moved back home to Old River where he went back to farming - the only boy of the five who chose to take up his father's profession. "I was the only one that wanted to farm again," he said. Before the war, Mr. Bird had met a young lady while attending church at one of the home churches. Her father ran a store at French Fork, the nearest store around, and the two knew each other from this, just as everyone knew everyone in small communities back during those days. While Mr. Bird was in the service, they started writing back and forth and before long a love began to spring up between the two. After returning home from the war they became even closer. On October 13, 1945, Mr. Bird and Avie Breithaupt were married. After living with his parents the first year, the newlywed couple moved into the old house that Joe and Jack Francis had lived in before moving to Jena. "When we had our first crop and the first bail of cotton, he bought me a Maytag washing machine," Mrs. Bird said. "It's funny, because at the time we didn't even have electricity to run it. Electricity didn't come to this part until 1948. So I took the washing machine down to his aunt's house and we'd wash our clothes together there. She didn't have one, so she paid for the electricity while we used my washing machine." Although times were harder back then, as compared to all of the modern conveniences that people enjoy today, Mr. Bird says that life was really better in his opinion. "The world was a better place back then," he said. "We had to walk everywhere we went and working the fields was had with the mules and all, but it just seemed that things were better." He also notes that the Lord has blessed him and his wife throughout their 55 years of marriage. They've both been life-long members of Pritchard Baptist Church, raised three children and now have 8 grandchildren and 9 great - grandchildren. "We've had a good life," Mrs. Bird said. "The Lord has blessed us and we give Him all the credit." Because of the experiences he had during the war, Mr. Bird does not like to travel, and hasn't since 1945. Although he has taken the family on a trip or two, mostly he enjoys staying close to home. His favorite hobbies include gardening and working with his flowers, and feeding the birds. This week, we salute one of LaSalle Parish's great veterans, and thank him for his service to his country which allows us to have the freedom we enjoy today. Caption under photo: SEVENTY-NINE YEAR-OLD Millard Bird of Old River has experienced some of the most horrific fighting of World War II during the Tarawa invasion in 1943. Since then, he has enjoyed the simple life of raising a family in the Old River community. (See story.)1 col cutline . . .A YOUNG Millard Bird stands proudly in his Marine uniform during his three-year service in the armed forces. Speaking of one of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific islands invasions, Mr. Bird said, "I will never forget that date as long as I live." (See story.) Caption under photo: A young Millard Bird stands proudly in his Marine uniform during his three- year service in the armed forces. Speaking of one of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific Islands invasion, Mr. Bird said, "I will never forget that date as long as I live." (See story)