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Army buddies enjoy reunion aboard W.W. II Landing Ship Tank
By Mary Sue Chatfield/For MVM News Network
FORT MADISON - Touring the World War II Landing Ship Tank 325 during its recent visit to Fort Madison brought back a flood of memories to two old Army buddies.
Russel Randolph of New Boston and Ray Stickfort of Cedar Falls first met at the time of their induction into the Army at Camp Dodge, north of Des Moines, in March 1943.
After having lost track of each other for many years, Stickfort was recently found via the Internet with the help of Erma DeRosear, volunteer in the Genealogy Department of the Donnellson Public Library. Plans were soon made to meet each other in Fort Madison and tour the LST together.
As friends of Randolph's, Roger and I were fortunate to be invited to accompany them on their LST tour and to help record their reunion. Also present were Randolph's wife, Bonnie, Stickfort's wife, Henrietta, and their daughter, Leanne Coonley.
While touring the boat and talking to the crew members, many facts were learned about the LST. However, it was through listening to these Army buddies, who were just teenagers at the time, tell of their life and near death experiences, that a true appreciation of their accomplishments was gained.
Upon reaching the main deck, time was spent visiting about the past. Randolph, whose job was to drive a six by six truck, recalled the need to waterproof the wiring on the motor and to add a tall snorkel-type stack so the air intake would be above the water level enabling the engine to breath during landing operations.
Many times the water would be so deep that Randolph had to stand up while driving ashore.
A 50-caliber machine gun was mounted on the truck. The plan was to have a guard ride with him to man the gun while Randolph drove.
However, Randolph recalled that when the going got tough, his guard would vanish, leaving him with the choice of driving the truck or manning the gun. Since getting onto the beach was his main objective, driving the truck and continuing on by himself was the only real option.
In addition to transporting gasoline and ammunition, Randolph's truck was equipped with radar to detect the position of aircraft. Upon reaching the beach, it was necessary to bury the truck in the sand to keep it from being spotted by enemy airplanes. He recounted one time when they had just gotten the truck concealed when a group of Japanese planes flew over. When the planes kept on flying without discovering their position, the men knew they had accomplished their goal.
Stickfort's job was to load and unload the trucks, which hauled everything from food, gasoline and ammunition to other needed supplies. He told of a time when they had just finished unloading a large amount of ammunition at an ammo dump. After they had pulled some distance away, the dump was hit by enemy fire.
Stickfort's comment was, “It looked like the Fourth of July with all those fireworks.”
This comment reminded Stickfort of another close call. In order for the men to do their laundry, they would dig a hole in the sand and start a fire in the hole. A grating of some kind would be laid across the fire to hold a large kettle of water. In this instance, he had found a couple of rods from a torpedo on the beach, which he used to support the kettle above the fire.
After bringing the water to a boil, the clothes were added along with some GI soap. The cleaning process was helped along by stirring the clothes with a stick. As he finished the stirring and walked away, the torpedo rods exploded, throwing his clothes high into the air where they landed in the palm trees. Unbeknownst to him, it appeared that the rods still contained explosives. This necessitated a trip to the quarter master's to replace the clothes that were now beyond reach in the trees.
After moving on to the Philippines, for a fee, the women would take a soldier's laundry out in the ocean, lay it on rocks and pound it with a wooden club.
The Filipinos enjoyed obtaining military clothing for their own use. Being ever resourceful, they would obtain the largest size available, which could then be cut apart and resewn providing a shirt for the mother and also her child.
One time, a woman bought a barracks bag, remaking it into a pair of pantaloons. The soldiers found it quite amusing when they noticed the name Bob Brown stenciled onto the material now covering her backside.
Part of Randolph's additional invasion training time was spent in Australia. While there, he decided he would get in a little hunting. Taking his Springfield rifle and some tracer bullets, which light up the sky when fired at night, Randolph set out to see if he could find a kangaroo. Seeing one on a hillside at a distance, he fired - missing the kangaroo, but setting the dry grass and brush afire. He quickly decided it was time to exit the area.
While in the South Pacific on Biak Island, Randolph got to play baseball with “Stan the Man” Musial and Joe “Ducky” Medwick. Musial had come with a USO troupe to entertain troops on the islands.
As the mood changed with the telling of these stories, it became evident what had helped the men survive. With all the terrible things they saw and lived through, it was this sense of humor that helped carry them along and kept up their spirits and morale.
Yes, occasionally the bad dreams still come, but there was a real sense of healing in the sharing of these tales between two old Army buddies. Hopefully, other World War II veterans relived similar experiences while touring the LST.
Thanks to the sponsors who helped make the visit of the LST possible. Also to the ship crew members who are so dedicated in their work, and a special thank you to Russ and Ray for all the sacrifices they made for our freedom and for allowing us to share this special time with them. As the words of a song, “Before You Go,” say, “You did your job, you saved our way, our life and freedom you preserved. We've thanked you less than you've deserved. For what you've lived and felt and seen, for what the cost of freedom means, we give you thanks.”
Russel Randolph of New Boston and Ray Stickfort of Cedar Falls first met at the time of their induction into the Army at Camp Dodge, north of Des Moines, in March 1943.
After having lost track of each other for many years, Stickfort was recently found via the Internet with the help of Erma DeRosear, volunteer in the Genealogy Department of the Donnellson Public Library. Plans were soon made to meet each other in Fort Madison and tour the LST together.
As friends of Randolph's, Roger and I were fortunate to be invited to accompany them on their LST tour and to help record their reunion. Also present were Randolph's wife, Bonnie, Stickfort's wife, Henrietta, and their daughter, Leanne Coonley.
While touring the boat and talking to the crew members, many facts were learned about the LST. However, it was through listening to these Army buddies, who were just teenagers at the time, tell of their life and near death experiences, that a true appreciation of their accomplishments was gained.
Upon reaching the main deck, time was spent visiting about the past. Randolph, whose job was to drive a six by six truck, recalled the need to waterproof the wiring on the motor and to add a tall snorkel-type stack so the air intake would be above the water level enabling the engine to breath during landing operations.
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A 50-caliber machine gun was mounted on the truck. The plan was to have a guard ride with him to man the gun while Randolph drove.
However, Randolph recalled that when the going got tough, his guard would vanish, leaving him with the choice of driving the truck or manning the gun. Since getting onto the beach was his main objective, driving the truck and continuing on by himself was the only real option.
In addition to transporting gasoline and ammunition, Randolph's truck was equipped with radar to detect the position of aircraft. Upon reaching the beach, it was necessary to bury the truck in the sand to keep it from being spotted by enemy airplanes. He recounted one time when they had just gotten the truck concealed when a group of Japanese planes flew over. When the planes kept on flying without discovering their position, the men knew they had accomplished their goal.
Stickfort's job was to load and unload the trucks, which hauled everything from food, gasoline and ammunition to other needed supplies. He told of a time when they had just finished unloading a large amount of ammunition at an ammo dump. After they had pulled some distance away, the dump was hit by enemy fire.
Stickfort's comment was, “It looked like the Fourth of July with all those fireworks.”
This comment reminded Stickfort of another close call. In order for the men to do their laundry, they would dig a hole in the sand and start a fire in the hole. A grating of some kind would be laid across the fire to hold a large kettle of water. In this instance, he had found a couple of rods from a torpedo on the beach, which he used to support the kettle above the fire.
After bringing the water to a boil, the clothes were added along with some GI soap. The cleaning process was helped along by stirring the clothes with a stick. As he finished the stirring and walked away, the torpedo rods exploded, throwing his clothes high into the air where they landed in the palm trees. Unbeknownst to him, it appeared that the rods still contained explosives. This necessitated a trip to the quarter master's to replace the clothes that were now beyond reach in the trees.
After moving on to the Philippines, for a fee, the women would take a soldier's laundry out in the ocean, lay it on rocks and pound it with a wooden club.
The Filipinos enjoyed obtaining military clothing for their own use. Being ever resourceful, they would obtain the largest size available, which could then be cut apart and resewn providing a shirt for the mother and also her child.
One time, a woman bought a barracks bag, remaking it into a pair of pantaloons. The soldiers found it quite amusing when they noticed the name Bob Brown stenciled onto the material now covering her backside.
Part of Randolph's additional invasion training time was spent in Australia. While there, he decided he would get in a little hunting. Taking his Springfield rifle and some tracer bullets, which light up the sky when fired at night, Randolph set out to see if he could find a kangaroo. Seeing one on a hillside at a distance, he fired - missing the kangaroo, but setting the dry grass and brush afire. He quickly decided it was time to exit the area.
While in the South Pacific on Biak Island, Randolph got to play baseball with “Stan the Man” Musial and Joe “Ducky” Medwick. Musial had come with a USO troupe to entertain troops on the islands.
As the mood changed with the telling of these stories, it became evident what had helped the men survive. With all the terrible things they saw and lived through, it was this sense of humor that helped carry them along and kept up their spirits and morale.
Yes, occasionally the bad dreams still come, but there was a real sense of healing in the sharing of these tales between two old Army buddies. Hopefully, other World War II veterans relived similar experiences while touring the LST.
Thanks to the sponsors who helped make the visit of the LST possible. Also to the ship crew members who are so dedicated in their work, and a special thank you to Russ and Ray for all the sacrifices they made for our freedom and for allowing us to share this special time with them. As the words of a song, “Before You Go,” say, “You did your job, you saved our way, our life and freedom you preserved. We've thanked you less than you've deserved. For what you've lived and felt and seen, for what the cost of freedom means, we give you thanks.”
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