USA > Indiana > Lake County > History Of Veterans Of Foreign Wars (1944) > Part 32
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ON DUTY IN THE PACIFIC
Hammond Times, February 20, 1944
The family of Pfc. Kenneth J. Hoover, 6415 Marshall avenue, Hessville, got word re- cently that he had arrived safely on a South Pacific island.
He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Hoo- ver, and has two sisters living at home, Rita and Constance.
Kenneth graduated from Hammond Tech in 1942, joined the army in Feb. 1943, and is now serving with the engineers of the army air forces.
Pfc. Hoover received his basic training at Jefferson Barraks, Mo. and his advanced courses at Franklin Technical institute, Bos- ton, Mass.
Page Three Hundred and Nineteen
LT. BOHNEY TELLS OF THRILLS OF PILOTING FORTRESES
Vet of 25 Raids Over Europe Home Hammond Times, January 12, 1944
Lt. Bohney
The distinguished flying cross and the air medal with three oak leaf clusters that adorn the chest of First Lt. Richard Bohney means that he has completed 25 bombing missions over Europe. The decorations do not begin to tell half the story of the exploits that be- gin to earn him the medals and a trip home.
Lt. Bohney began his forays into German held Europe as a co-pilot of a Flying Fortress and went on to become the leader of his ship. His boys sank submarines, downed 13 Nazi fighter planes, took part in the greatest Amer- ican air assault on a German city, were down- ed by anti-aircraft fire and crash landed in the North sea, and other times bailed out over
England, engaged in aerial combat with the yellow-nosed German planes, mark of Goer- ing's favorite squadron.
At home on furlough, the stories he tells held spellbound his four brothers who are too young for service, his two sisters, his father and mother.
It began in England when he went on his first mission as a co-pilot of a Flying Fortress. Nothing remarkable, except that it was his first combat flight and all went well for plane and crew. More raids followed. The submar- ine pens at Kiel where flak and fighter planes made a steel wall to repel raiders was the place where the first surface ships fell victims of his bombardier.
Shortly after Lt. Bohney said he and the others of his squadron were living on bor- rowed time. The great raid at Schweinfurt- 60 American bombers failed to return. His ship was shot up but made it home. The av- erage casualties for any bomber group is five percent and his men used up that percentage. The other missions to follow placed the air- men "In God's hands."
A 10-hour session in the North sea was an experience he will never forget. It happened after a raid on Bremen.
"We had lost one engine just before we hit the taget and another when flak hit a gasoline tank and an engine. Into the target we rode and with bombs away, we headed for home, each of us praying.
"The flight home was hell! We lost the for- mation and the enemy fighters tried to down us. Our gunners disposed of two. We did not notice the gasoline leak until the engines quit about thirty miles from the English coast. The
Page Three Hundred and Twenty
crew stood by for a crash landing and we brought the ship down on the water. We got a life raft out and in less than a minute and a half, the plane nosed under the water.
"Two of the men couldn't make the raft and they were washed away. For hours we tried to reach the shore. Rocket signals failed to attract friendly planes that flew over head. Finally an English patrol plane found us and took us aboard , but the load was too much and the best it could do was to taxi on the sur- face until another plane was located to bring us to land. We were a sitting duck for any German that might have come along."
Lt. Boheny has another tale to tell. Return- ing from another raid, the plane barely reach- England when he knew that to bring the ship to the home airport would mean endangering other planes, He decided to abandon the ship.
"We circled near the coast, set the auto- matic pilot, headed the ship for Germany and jumped." The Caterpillar club of forced par- achutists made him a member for that ex- ploit.
On one mission the Lt. served as a tail gun- ner.
"That was great sport," he said. I did not feel like a clay pigeon, the way all pilots feel on a run. This time I had a gun in my hands and believe me that was a pleasure. And I had my chance, too. I don't know that I downed anything but I do know two of the enemy took aboard some of the bullets.
"The German pilots are good," he contin- ued, "but we still top them. They come in on formation at 12 o'clock and sometimes they come so close we instinctively duck our heads. The Goering squadron is no better than the rest."
The life of an airman is not without its lighter side. A story he tells concerns a new man, a gunner, on his first mission. He spot- ted an enemy plane coming into the forma- tion and yelled fighter, fighter, fighter!" The other crewmen looked about, failing to see anything one shouted through the comm-
unication system, "what time time?" "Right now!" the novice replied.
A friendly rivalry exists between Fortress men and the Liberator men. The big ship is called a "flying boxcar," and the fortress a "big - bird."
Capt. Clark Gable was a member of Lt. Boheny's formation and the former Scheer- ville high school athlete said he is a regular fel- low." He is one of the men and is accepted that way. No one gives it a second thought that he was a celebrity. He does his job and well too.
The lieutenant's last flight consisted of a trip over Paris. The target was obscured by clouds, so the planes put about and with full bomb loads, returned home. After that it was New York and for the first time since last April, he saw a city with lights, automobiles in great numbers and gay street scenes. "I did not sleep the first night in the U. S.," he ad- mitted.
Lt. Boheny summed up the attitude of the bomber crews by saying:
"When we start with the bomb bays full and the gunbelts loaded, it's for Uncle Sam that we head for the target. The best feeling in the world is when we are over the target. The plane jumps, meaning the bombs left the plane and the bombardier calls "bombs away." Then it's for our parents that we wing our way back to our base."
Lt. Bohney found a Christmas tree, with all the decorations, in his home at 12 Joliet road, Schererville. His mother and father Catherine and William, an inspector for the Pennsylvania railroad, said the tree was put up for their son. Younger brothers, Billy 18 who expects to be called to the army soon; Paul 13, Jack 11, and Kenneth 10, never tire of hearing the airman tell of his adventures. Two sisters Bertha and Rosella, also were anx- ious listeners.
Three other brothers in the service are yet to be heard from. They are Edward A., 24, stationed at Buffalo, N. Y .; Victor 22, some-
Page Three hundred and Twenty-one
where in England, and Cyril, 21, at Camp Lee, Va. Lt. Bohney met Cpl. Victor while in England and "we gave England a high coat of pink."
Mrs. Bohney said "it takes a great deal of praying to keep our boys safe, but we will never end our prayers until they all are home again."
Hammond Soldier Gets Jap Flag
No, it isn't a laundry check with a hole in it. It's a Japanese flag. The lettering at the top is Nip for "good luck," and brought any- thing but good luck to its former owner when it was found by Sgt. Bill Wopcik, right, who took it from a dead enemy soldier at Munda. The names radiating from the center are the
Jap's former regimental buddies. At the left stands A. P. Koval, 4548 Hickory street, Hammond, who served with the marine in France in World war I. Wocjik og 4914 Ma- goun avenue, East Chicago, is just back from service with the 169th infantry in the South Pacific.
Page Three Hundred and Twenty-two
COUSINS PROMOTED
DAD CRASH VICTIM
Hammond Times, February 18, 1944
L. Kornas
Word was received here recently that two cousins serving in the navy have received promotions. Leonard Kornas was made a boat- swain's mate petty officer 2/c while serving in the southwest Pacific. He has been there 16 months. He said he has visited in Pearl Harbor, Australia, New Calidonia and New Guinea. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Kornas, 4338 Sheffield Avenue, Hammond.
Edward Gora was promoted to a machin- ist's mate petty officer 2/c at Teburon, Cal. He has been in the navy for five months and
E. Gora
is assigned to a floating dry dock. His parents are Mrs. and Mrs. Mike Gora, 4335 Sheffield avenue. Both boys took their boot training at Great Lakes. They are graduates of Ham- mond high school and worked at the Taylor Chain Company.
Hammond Times, February 25, 1944
Three draft-called fathers lost their lives in Tuesday's highway crash at Cook as they went, with 78 other selectees, for pre-induc- tion physical examinations at Indianapolis. Above, Raymond Chambly, father of two, who died of his injuries late yesterday, holds his youngest child, Sandra Lee. One other father died instantly in the crash, involving two buses and a trailor-tractor, while the third died en route to a Gary hospital.
BACK FROM SICILY, ITALY
P. Vukovich
Hammond Times, February 23, 1944
Returning from active duty in Sicily and Italy, Peter E. Vukovich S1/c, son of Mrs. J. Vukovich, 1123 Spruce street, Hammond, has been granted a 15-day leave which he spent at home. He is only 19, yet has seen two years' service.
A brother, John Vukovich, Jr., TM3/c, is serving with the fleet somewhere in the south Pacific.
Page Three Hundred and Twenty-three
WANTS 20 MORE YEARS!
Hammond Times, February 23, 1944
Some of the boys may want to get back to civilian life when the war is over, but not F/1c Oliver Lee Loomis. He wants to stay in the navy for 20 years.
"It's a great life, and I'll never get fed up," the 19-year-old veteran said today while visit-
Oliver Loomis
ing the home of his parents, Mr. parents Mr. and Mrs. Harold Loomis of 4603 Henry ave- nue, Hammond.
Oliver is home on a two-weeks furlough after fighting the Japs in the southwest Paci- fic. After serving on a destroyer escort he was transferred to a heavy destroyer and saw lots of action. While crossing the equator he was initiated into "the mysteries of the deep," victim of Father Neptune's shaving kit and all the rest. Returning to his base in San Fran- cisco, he will be assigned to school for further training to qualify as third class machinist's mate.
HETRICK NOW IN SOUTH PACIFIC
Hammond Times, February 23, 1944
After a spell in the Hawaiian islands, T/4 Robert P. Hetrick has been transferred to a base somewhere in the south Pacific. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. H. Hetrick, 3820 Grand boulevard, East Chicago. He graduated from
R. Hetrick
Washington high school and attended Indiana university, then worked at Inland Steel before entering the army in September, 1942.
Many requests for his address have been received by T/4 Hetrick's family, so here it is. ASN 35561270, 285th Ordnance Co., (M M.) APO 957, c/o Postmaster, San Francisco, Calif.
FOUST SAILS SW PACIFIC
Hammond Times, February 23, 1944
K. Foust
On the ocean blue somewhere in the lower left corner of the Pacific, James L. Foust S1/c, son of Mr. and Mrs. B. D. Foust, 726 Spruce street, Hammond, has been in the navy since last August.
Seaman Jim worked at Pullman Standard before his enlistment, and his duties at the steel plant were those of inspector. He is a brother of S/Sgt. Kermit Foust, serving in Topeka, Kas.
Page Three Hundred and Twenty-four
CROWN POINT BOY CITED
C. White
Hammond Times, February 24, 1944
Fifth army headquarters has announced the commendation for bravery of Pfc. Clifford V. White, serving in Italy. White is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Bert White, Hammond. During a three-day battle, White, a company orderly, volunteered to lay and help maintain front line communications.
For three nights and two days of intensive fighting, these lines were broken 30 times and more by artillery shells and each time Pfc. White, frequently alone, would go out under fire to trace the line and repair it.
Despite the mountainous terrain and the long period of duty, White remained at his voluntary post until the company was re- lieved. The citation reads, in part: "Pfc. White's courage, physical stamina and bravery reflect great credit upon himself and the U. S. armed forces."
White's parents just moved from Crown Point to 4729 Sheffield avenue, Hammond.
OHLENDORF NEW CORPORAL
Hammond Times, February 29, 1944
Harold C. Ohlendorf, 25-year-old former employe of the Standard Equipment and Sup- ply corporation of Hammond, sported his new corporal's stripes during a visit this week with his sister, Mrs. John C. Meyer, 5653 Sohl ave- nue, Hammond.
Cpl. Ohlendorf came home to a belated Dec. 25 party. His sister kept the Christmas tree up because she knew he was to arrive
H. Ohlendorf
about Feb. 1, his first furlough since entering service June 17, 1941. He was stationed at Kodiak, Alaska, since October of 1941 and is ordered to report back to the Alaskan base March 8.
WINFORD GOURLEY, PARATROOPER, HELD AS NAZI'S CAPTIVE
W. Gourley
Hammond Times, February 18, 1944
Pvt. Winford P. Gourley, 20-year-old para- trooper, is a prisoner of the German govern- ment, his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Pressley Gour- ley, 2613 Spruce street, Hessville, learned re- cently.
The telegram from the war department said he was taken prisoner in Italy.
A former student at Morton Junior high school, Gourley has been in service about 22 months and has been overseas for almost a year.
He received his training in the United States at Ft. Benning, Ga., Camp Walters, Tex., and Fort Bragg, N. C.
Page hre Hundred and Twenty-five
ACCUSE BRITISH FOR INDIAN DISSENTION
Missionary Blames England
Hammond Times, February 24, 1944
DISTRICT
John Baker, Hammond Kiwanis Club President, and Miss Olive Dunn
Hammond Kiwanians were told British policy in India is to "divide and rule" at a luncheon meeting yesterday by Miss Olive Dunn of South Bend, for 22 2years a mis- sionary in India for the Methodist church.
A sister of Ralph Dunn, Hammond busi- ness man, she has another brother who is a war correspondent for Columbia Broadcasting System.
She accused the English in her address of promoting ill feeling in the cities between the
two main religious groups of India - Hindu and Mohammedan. Members of both sects in the villages which contain 90 per cent of the population live in harmony, she declared.
She said the rulers control all key positions in the government and army and control all the guns. The air force and tank corps have white personnel, and she cited the fact that the country, with 289,000,000 population is controlled by 2,500 Englishmen.
India, though rich in raw materials, has an estimated 240 million persons starving, Miss Dunn declared. The life span of the average Indian is 27 years. The average income is $23 a year, yet some of the richest men in the world live in India. They are the rajahs.
The Indians wished to wage war on the Japanese, but the English viceroy did not con- sult the people when war was declared. They want to take part in the new world, she said. They are fighting for independence while 8,000 of the leaders are in jail.
The British do not mistreat the Indians, but consider them inferior, she declared. Only four cents per person per year is spent on education by white rulers. Tax money is spent on the army and governmental offices, Miss Dunn said.
The native government workers number 500,000. The jobs they hold are minor. The defense and foreign policies are made by the English. The jailed Gandhi exerts great in- fluence on the populace.
Though India makes up three-fourths of the population of the British empire, they pay no tribute to the home government. The rulers advocate a motto for the Indians-"Be loyal to your employers" she said. Rewards for loyalty are titles given by the English.
Page Three Hundred and Twenty-six
FORMER GARY PHOTOGRAPHER DIES IN HARNESS AS YANKS TAKE ENIWETOK
Where's My Camera ? Bushemi's Last Words
Hammond Times, March 1, 1944
Staff Sgt. John A. Bushemi
Staff Sgt. John A. Bushemi of 3500 Con- necticut avenue, Gary, Ind., Yank magazine photographer and formerly Gary Post-Tri- bune cameraman, was killed in action today at the height of the battle for this island.
He was felled by a mortar blast which pain- fully wounded Capt. Waldo Drake of Los Angeles, Pacific fleet public relations chief, and scratched Harold Smith, Chicago Tribune correspondent.
The slight, dark-haired Bushemi, a veteran of five Pacific campaigns, was the eighth cor- respondent to die in this theater and the second on Eniwetok atoll. Columnist Raymond Clap- per was killed in an airplane collision over the atoll a fort-night ago.
The Yank photographer was with a group of correspondents approaching the front lines who suddenly became a target for Japanese knee mortars fired from trenches less than 100 yards away. Shrapnel cut an artery in Bushe- mi's head and mangled his right leg. He lived less than three hours.
Helmet Deflects Shrapnel
Drake's life probably was saved when the shrapnel was deflected by his helmet. He suf- fered a deep gash over his right eye but despite the streaming blood he refused treatment of his own wounds until the photographer was cared for. Smith's wound was superficial.
Bushemi, Drake and other correspondents were following the 106th army infantry regi- ment as it battled its way down this long, nar- row island.
"We had moved in from the beach about 200 yards below the mid-island pier when the Japs spotted us and began firing with mor- tars," Drake said.
"The first shell hit a few yards away, the second was closer and we hit the dirt. Bushemi was beside me and the others were a few yards away.
"A shell got us. It crashed down in our midst and a fragment struck the front lip of my helmet, hurling me over backwards. The blood was spurting from my eyes but I could see Bushemi try to rise and then fall back to the ground.
"The blood from his head wound doused him and I thought he was hit in the stomach. I was afraid he was done for."
Smith and Staff Sgt. Merle Miller, of Mar-
Page Three Hundred and Twenty-seven
shalltown, Ia., a Yank correspondent, led the stretcher bearers to the scene.
Where's My Camera
Miller said Bushemi's first words after the explosion were: "Where's my camera?" He joked with Smith on the beachhead while awaiting transfer.
Members of the party escaping injury, be- sides Miller, included Hal O'Flaherty, Chicago Daily News; Sgt. Charles Rosecrans of Hono- lulu and Lt. Girhard Roth of Portland, Ore.,
both signal corps photographers, and Chief Petty Officer Joseph Dean of Bushemi's ship.
Bushemi was the first Yang staff corres- pondent to die in combat anywhere in the world and was one of the army magazine's most widely-published photographers. He covered the entire Kwajalein action and had filmed the Makin, Munda and Vella Lavella assaults. He came here at his own request.
He was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Bushe- mi and before the war had been a photog- rapher for the Gary Post-Tribune.
THE FIRST OF WORLD WAR II VETER ANS TO BECOME MEMBER OF THE EDWARD H. LARSEN POST.
Lt. Linkiewicz Hailed at Feast
Hammond Times, February 6, 1944
C. Linkiewicz
Were muffled drums beating last night in the Phil Smidt and Son restaurant as Lt. Casimer E. Linkiewicz rose to receive a hero's acclaim?
Or was it the throbbing of hearts?
Casimer would be a hero in any man's town, and well the folks of Calumet City knew it when they tendered a public banquet to battle-scarred warrior back from fighting the Japs at Tarawa.
Tarawa wasn't the only place where Casi- mer made some of the enemy wish they had kept out of his way. It just happened to be at Tarawa that he got that Jap rifle bullet in his face, right under the left eye. That was the incident that led to his award of the Order of the Purple Heart by Adm. Nimitz. The hero wasn't wearing his Purple Heart. But his mother was. And she will keep right on wear- ing it - very close to her own heart.
It seemed most everybody in Calumet City was at Phil Smidt's last night to honor the young marine officer who brought such honor to the home town and such pride to his mother, Mrs. Pauline Linkiewicz, of 666 Hirsch street. His many friends and relatives were there, including his brother, Ensign Stan- ley Linkiewicz of the U. S. navy air corps.
Page Three Hudred and Twenty-eight
Plant executives of the American Steel Foun- dries where he held a responsible job in the Indiana Harbor plant were present. City officials and members of the chamber of com- merce and many Hammond business leaders attended. James Muchian, Calumet City post- master, presided as toastmaster.
Nobody has yet written a book on Lt. Linkiewicz's career with the marines. And the officer is hardly the autobiography-writing type. But what a sizzle it would be, that saga of adventures and heroism!
Linkiewicz started as a buck private and was commissioned in the field last July 17.
Pull out that terrestrial globe and flex your fingers for a bit of twirling if you would fol- low Linkiewicz. All set? Begin then, in In- diana Harbor where he left a splendid position to answer the call of duty. That was on May 20, 1940. He enlisted in Co. C, of the marine reserve in Hammond. He went on active duty the following Nov. 8. He saw his first service in Iceland where he was stationed from May 30, 1941 to March 8, 1942. Then he came to America for six months before he left for the south Pacific where he was destined to serve for 16 months.
Then came the tough part - the fighting, the suffering, the exhaustion that the folks at home never will and never can appreciate no matter how hard they clap, how loud they cheer, how their hearts drum in pride, what nice things they say or how good a dinner they serve him at Phil Smidt's. But they did the best they could, and Casimer knew it, even though they couldn't wipe away that scar on his left cheek nor the deeper scar on the soul of every man that has been through hell.
The officer is on furlough now. But he is going back to a naval hospital in California to see what they can do about that injury the Jap rifle bullet inflicted last November 22 at Tarawa. Then what's he going to do? Back to his old job? Back where he can take things easy and maybe have some more banquets and tell the people all about what he did at Tarawa and other places? No. He's going right back
to the war zone for whatever fate holds in store. That's why Calumet City is proud. And that's why all the banquets and nice words at Phil Smidt's can't begin to tell how proud they are.
In the first edition of the V.F.W. History we quoted James R. Fritz as being the first World War II veteran to become a member of the Larsen Post. This is an error as it was Lt. Casimer Linkiewicz who was the first to become a member of Edward Larsen Post.
SPENT 11 DAYS WITH WIFE
Hammond Times, February 24, 1944
H. Swiontek
Now back at Camp Peary, Va., Henry C. Swiontek, carpenter's mate 2/c, visited his wife, Mrs. Marie Swiontek, 1928 New York avenue, Whiting, and his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Casimir Swiontek, 4410 Towle avenue, Hammond, recently.
Petty Officer Swiontek is a brother-in-law of Sgt. Steve Chrustowski, former Hammond Times legman, who is now in Oahu, Hawaii. Swiontek is taking further training as mem- ber of the naval construction battalion (Sea- bees) in Virginia.
Page Thre Hundred and Twenty-nine
GEORGE AJINOVICH OF WHITING DIES IN PACIFIC ACTION
Adjinovich
Hammond Times, February 24, 1944
Two soldiers, one from Whiting and the other the brother of a Hammond woman, were listed by the war department today as killed in action. Pfc. George J. Ajdinovich, 26, son of Mr. and Mrs. Trivum Ajdinovich, 1535 - 121st street, Whiting, was killed Jan. 31 on Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands, south Pacific.
Pvt. Robert M. Lakey, 26, brother of Mrs. Frank E. Balling, of 5253 Ann street, Ham- mond, was killed Jan. 28, in Italy.
Ajdinovich was inducted into the army Jan. 31, 1942. He received his basic training at Camp Wheeler, Ga., and went overseas last November and served in Hawaii before being sent to the Marshall. He graduated in 1937 from Whiting high school. He was a member of SS. Peter and Paul church and of the Croa- tian Fraternal union, Lodge 57 of Whiting. He formerly was employed by the Youngs- town Sheet and Tube company in Indiana Harbor.
He is survived by his parents, by three sis- ters, Mrs. Frank Scibacic of Gary, Mrs. John Balog and Mrs. Stephen Hipka of Whiting; three brothers, John S. Ajdinovich of the U.S. coast guard, Sgt. Joseph with the army engi- neers in England and Peter of Whiting.
Lakey, a gunner in the field artillery, lived
in Ashland, Miss., where he is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. R. L. Lakey. A brother, John, is a gunner in the navy while another brother, Albert, is in the army at Camp Pickett, Va.
DERMODY DOWN UNDER
M. V. Dermody
Hammond Times, March 1, 1944
Sea bees get around. They build things for a ubiquitous navy, and there's no telling where a member of the construction battalion will be next. For instance, "Mick" Dermody S1/c, writes from somewhere in the south Pacific: "Say hello to my friends at home. Although I'm too busy to answer letters soon as I get them, tell the gang to keep on writing."
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