More on my Dad's military service

I just received my dad's Navy personnel record.  It has some surprises, chief among which is the date of his induction, in 1944.  I had always thought he joined at the beginning of the war. It appears that his job as a chemist at the Sunshine Mine, which produced lead and other metals, was important enough that he was deferred.  Here is a summary.

1.  May 3, 1944.  Inducted in Boise, Idaho into the U.S. Navy "for Special Assignment."  His vision was R 7/20; L 7/20; BV 8/20 corrected to:  R 20/20; L 20/20.  He was given a family allowance.

2.  May 6, 1944.  "Failed Eddy Test.  Not qualified for RT rating."  [The Eddy Test was heavy on trig and was a test to find radar operators. Radar was new and very secret at the time and the operators were called "Radio Technicians" perhaps to hide what they really did.].

3.  May 7, 1944.  transferred to U.S. Navtrasta, Farragut, Idaho.  

4.  May 8, 1944.  Arrived at Farragut.  Applied for life insurance, found qualified as marksman, as a swimmer, as a night lookout trainer, given gas mask instructions, recruit training completed.  

[June 6, 1944 was DDay]

5.  July 1, 1944.  Advanced to S2e.

6.  July 25, 1944.  Transferred to ServSchCommd (Basic Engineers) Great Lakes, Ill.

7.  July 28, 1944.  Arrived at Great Lakes.  He entered as a "striker." [apparently, this means he had not completed the usual prerequisites to do this, but got in through his college training]  He completed a course on mathematics, mechanical drawing, and shop laboratory.   He was then transferred to Norfolk, VA for duty.

8.  September 29, 1944.  He arrived at Norfolk and was assigned to the Naval Landing Force Equip Depot, NORVA.  

9.  December 14, 1944.  Recommended this date for appointment to Ensign S(E) USNR (permanent Appointment).

10.  March 14, 1945.  Transferred to the Hugh Manley School, Chicago, IL for a course of study.

11.  March 15, 1945.  Arrives at Hugh Manley School in Chicago

12.  April 11, 1945.  Transfer to USNH, Great Lakes for treatment.

[May 8, 1945 was VE day]

13.  June 7, 1945.  Transferred from hospital back to USNTC, Great Lakes.  The Service Record note:  "Treatment completed.  Returned to duty in accordance with [a Naval Regulation]-Sickness not result of own misconduct."

14.  June 13, 1945.  Transferred from Chicago to Rec. Sta., Norfolk, VA "For further transfer to the USS Delta for duty.  [A photo of the Delta is shown at the top of this blog entry].

[No record as to whether he came aboard--mom told me that dad ended up on a ship which sailed up the East coast and then back; but that could have been the prior time he was in Norfolk--September, 1944 to March, 1945].

[August 6, 1945. "Little Boy," a "gun" uranium bomb dropped on Hiroshima.]

[August 9, 1945. "Fat Man," an implosion plutonium bomb dropped on Nagasaki.]

[August 14, 1945 was VJ day]

15.  August 22, 1945.  Reported for duty at the U.S. Naval Air Station, Coco Solo, Canal Zone. Note says he was qualified to wear the American Area Service Ribbon.

[To see what dad did in Panama, see the letter dad wrote from Panama to his sister Clara quoted in a prior posting]

16.  January 14, 1946.  Service Record states:  "Not qualified for Good Conduct Medal, insufficient time."  and authorized to wear the World War II Victory Ribbon and "The above man does not desire to enlist in the regular Navy."

17.  January 15, 1946.  He was transferred to Receiving Station nearest port of entry in the U.S. to Personnel Separation Center, Bremerton, WA. for discharge, convenience of the government.

18.  January 27, 1946.  He was given an honorable discharge.

As noted in item 9, above, dad was recommended for promotion to Ensign, an officer rank. My brother Bill says that dad was told by a professor at the University of Idaho not to accept an officer commission as officers were killed at a greater frequency than were enlisted men. In addition, officers owed more time to the services than did enlisted. So, apparently, dad refused this promotion. A mystery is the name of the ship dad was ordered onto that was attacked. Bill believes it was a mine sweeper. I went with dad to the Naval Yard in Washington, D.C. and we found the records of this ship and saw that it was attacked, but was not sunk, as dad had heard. It was not the Delta. I have completely forgotten the name of the ship. Sorry.

Life Sketch of Glenna Pearson

My mom, Glenna Pearson, passed away on February 3, 2008.  I gave this life sketch at her funeral; the sketch was based on a series of interviews of her.  (Note:  the marker in the photograph to the right incorrectly indicates that she passed away on February 1, 2008).  Here is the sketch:

Glenna Lucille Fullmer was born in Lost River, Idaho on January 13, 1918 to Fanny Verona Whiting and William Price Fullmer, Jr.

Before Glenna was born, her parents and her older silbings lived in Wallsburg, UT.  Her dad ran a small grocery store there.  He was called on a mission from there at a time there were 8 children at home and, when he returned, he was made the Bishop.

A few years later, Glenna's dad bought a farm in Lost River and Glenna was the first child born there.  They stayed there for about 8 years after which they moved to Menan in about 1926.

They bought the Eames farm in Menan and signed a large note.  In addition to farming, the family had a garden and an orchard and they sold fresh vegetables and apples.  Glenna's mom baked 8 loaves of bread every other day.  They washed the family's clothes on a washboard until they were able to buy a hand-powered washing machine.  This required someone to move a lever back and forth to operate the agitator.  Later they added a motor.

Glenna's dad was a high counselor in Menan.  Whenever he spoke at another Ward, he always took his wife and one of his children.  They traveled to these meetings in a car in the Summer and on a sleigh in the Winter.

After about 7 years on the farm, in about 1933, Glenna's father died.  He became sick prior to this and the Stake Presidency visited him, saw how sick he was, and insisted that he finally seek medical care by going to the hospital in Idaho Falls.  He died there.

After the funeral, Glenna's mom spoke to an attorney in Rigby who advised her to sell the farm, move to Idaho Falls, and put the children to work there.  Glenna's mom did not take this advice saying she wanted to continue what her husband had started:  farming.  This might be an indication where mom got her stubborn streak.

One of Glenna's brothers took over the farm and, with the help of his siblings and their mother, paid off the note in the late forties.  They had survived through the Great Depression and came out the other end with no debt.  Maybe Glenna's mom was correct to ignore the attorney in Rigby.

Between Glenna's Junior and Senior years of high school, Glenna's sister Maude was able to pursuade their mother to have Glenna  go to Berkley, CA to tend Maude's boys while Maude worked.  This would have been about 1934.

After Berkley, mom worked sorting pea seeds.  She was able to save enough money to buy clothes including a nice dress suitable to wear to a dance.  She also saved enough money to help finance her college.  Glenna finished high school at Midway High and then received a National Youth Administration fellowship to attend Ricks.

She lived in the dorms at Ricks and, as such, was required to work in the kitchen.  That is where mom met a handsome young man named Bill Pearson.  Mom asked Bill to a big dance at the ball room in the Bonneville Hotel in Idaho Falls.  She wore, for the very first time, the dress that she had bought with pea sorting money.

She was 20 when she graduated from Ricks with an AA degree. Her first job was teaching at Rose Grade School.  She then transferred to Rigby Elementary school where she taught for two years.  She married Bill Pearson on November 5, 1941 while teaching at Rigby.

Bill and Glenna went up to Moscow to finish up at the University of Idaho; when he graduated he got a job as a chemist at the Sunshine Mine in Wallace, ID.  This job kept him out of the war until 1944.

Mom and dad lived with dad's sister and her family in Kellogg, ID, while he worked at the mine. They stayed there until dad was ordered to report for a draft physical and which time he joined the Navy.  More about his Navy service can be seen on this blog under the heading "My Dad."

Dad spent most of the war in the Canal Zone.  While he was gone, mom had to take care of us without his help.  

After the war, Dad got a job teaching general science at the Junior High in Idaho Falls and, later, was asked to transfer to the high school to teach chemistry.  The job did not pay that well and he soon had five children.  So, in addition to teaching, he took part-time jobs as a clerk at Montgomery-Wards, a movie theater checker with MGM, and a chemist at the sugar factory in Lincoln, ID (where his dad had worked).

We lived in the basement of his parents' house.  I remember mom getting up before everyone else, wadding up newspaper as kindling to build a fire in the stove to both warm the apartment and to cook breakfast.  She worked hard to keep house for us.  She would go up to Menan and can fruit and make soap for us.

In about 1951, the AEC (now Department of Energy) opened a facility in the desert West of Idaho Falls.  Dad was hired at a salary at least equal to what he earned working the four jobs. This made it possible for them to buy a house on North Boulevard in Idaho Falls. It was $200 down and $60 per month.  I remember them wondering if they could afford it.  When we kids got a little older, mom went back to work teaching school; she spent most of her career at Riverside Elementary.

A typical day for her would be to get us up, fix breakfast, get us dressed and out the door.  Then she would go to work.  She came home, made dinner and got a small amount of help from us with the dishes and cleaning.  Then she had to force us to go to bed.  Meanwhile, she a some significant church callings including Primary President and Relief Society President.

In 1960, mom and dad built the house on Ada Avenue.  I remember I suggested to them that they buy a lot in another part of town, but they made it clear they wanted to live in the 18th Ward, where their friends lived.

Dad died in the Fall of 1989, so they missed their Golden Anniversary by 2 years.  Mom had been a widow for 19 years before she died.

As mom got older, she spent time in Las Vegas and St. George to be with her kids who could help her with her daily needs.  She did not like to leave her home and her friends in Idaho Falls, but we could often get her to warm areas for at least part of the Winter.  This past Winter she lived with Kathy and Doug in Las Vegas and then went to St. George to live with Susan and Ray.  Her health failed and she passed away on Sunday February 3, 2008 in the early morning hours.  

She worked hard for us giving us her best years.  Now she can rest.  We miss her.

love,

Jon

links to other blogs

Jonny and Kimberly's blog:  http://jollypotato.com/pp/

Andy and Jamie's blog:  http://www.pearsonspillars.blogspot.com/

Melanie's blog:  http://melaniepearson.blogspot.com/

Letter from dad to Aunt Clara written in Panama in 1945

My father, Lennart Glover Pearson, was a sailor during the Second World War.  He had graduated from the University of Idaho student in chemistry and had recently married my mom.  He worked at the Sunshine Mine in Wallace, ID, as a chemist immediately after college. This mine, I believe, produced lead as well as the silver for which it was famous.  The lead could be made into bullets for the war.  Perhaps the need for lead waned and Dad lost his draft exemption. Anyway, he knew he was about to get drafted, so he joined the Navy.  He ultimately ended up in Panama, but not until just after the war had ended.  What he did there can been ascertained by the following letter, dated September 2, 1945, to his sister Clara.

"Your letter came a few days ago.  Since you have written several of them I shall attempt to get an answer off today.  The Post Register and Coronet magazine also got here.  Thanks for them.

"I believe I told you that I am working in a plating shop at the Naval Air Station.  It's a pretty good deal.  We started on a 40 hour week.  We have liberty every third day so I'll have one day off nearly every weekend.  We have a large shop and do nearly all kinds of plating.  The work is done by Panamanian civilians and there are only five sailors there.  We are to keep all the tanks at the right concentrations and see that everything is going all right but the actual work is done by the civilians.  Labor is cheap here and there are hundreds of Panamanians working on the base.  They get about $20 a week and seem to have plenty of money to live on or buy lottery with or bet on the horse races.  They all seem to buy lottery tickets and expect to win on them.  The lottery is sponsored by the government and approved by the church (Catholic).  The newspaper even quotes scripture on why the people should buy lottery tickets. The horse races are held in Panama City every week end but even the natives complain about how crooked they are.

"The people are Indian, Spanish, Puerto Rican, Jamican, Negro, and Chinese.  The Chinese and Negroes were imported to work on the Canal while it was being built and are still here.  The Indians are very small and nothing like the Indians in the States.

"About 60% of the people in the Republic live in the cities and those who don't live there now want to move in.  As a result the towns are dirty and crowded.  Outside of a few small towns along the Canal the only cities are on either entrance of the canal.  On the Atlantic side is Colon and Christobal.  Christobal is on government soil and is under U.S. jurisdiction.  The government embassies, office buildings, and homes for civilian employees are there.  Colon is in the Republic of Panama and all the natives are out to get all the money they can from the service men.  Christobal is Spanish for Christopher and Colon means Columbus and the two towns are built right together.  On the Pacific side is Balboa and Panama City.  Balboa belongs to the U.S. and nearly all the persons there white while Panama City is like Colon.

"The temperature varies but little and the extremities are between 68 and 97.  I have found the climate very enjoyable.  The humidity is often 90%.  Sometimes in the forenoon it gets so high it is uncomfortable but then by afternoon it rains and the humidity goes down.  The rainfall is about 130 inches a year and about 100 of that falls during the wet season.  As much as 10 inches has fallen in a day and once in Balboa it rained five inches in about an hour.  The wet and dry seasons have no definite starting date.  One year the wet season will start one month and the next year it might be a month or two earlier or later.  The wet season is roughly from July to December.  This is really their winter but I believe the sun's rays are hitting more directly this time of year than at any other.  There are local breezes and enough rain to keep it cool.  During the dry season there is lot of sunshine and clear weather instead of being cloudy nearly all the time.  I hear some nights are cool enough to use a blanket on our bunks.

"The vegetation is very green and very dense.  There are all kinds of palm trees.  Between here an the other coast are some quite high mountains.  Last Sunday we went to an experimental garden and saw all kinds of tropical trees, rubber trees, banana trees, cocoa trees and bamboo.  Then we went into Panama City and took a bus back here.

"As you know the canal gets water from Gatun Laker formed by damming the Chagnes River.  That is really a  big lake and about 4/5 of the lenth of the canal is through it.  I've seen Culebra and Gulliard cuts a couple of times where the whole mountains were cut through.  At a distance it looks just like an overgrown irrigation ditch.  The ships are raised 85 feet by a series of locks by the time they get to the lake and then are lowered by more locks on the other side. Right now there are many ships at the entrance waiting to go through.

"I've heard this is one of the best fortified places in the world.  I imagine it is too.  There are dozens of air fields and army posts along the coast and through the jungle.  There are anti-aircraft and artillary guns everywhere.

"Now that the war is over all I'm interested in is getting home.  I'm trying to keep busy enough and get enough interest in something around here to keep from going crazy before then. I've been trying to learn some Spanish and I'm going to start playing golf whenever I have a day off.

"I'm out of stationery so I'll have to quit.   Love, Bill."

Here is something I wrote on the anniversary of RFK's death

Bobby Kennedy was shot in Los Angeles 40 years ago today.  On March 27, 1968, just six weeks before he was killed, he gave a speech at BYU.  I was there. There were at least two noteworthy things that happened during his speech.

First, the speech was given in a large field house.  In this forum, the speakers stood at one end of the basketball court and spoke facing the other end.  The entire floor of the court was covered with chairs and the seats surrounding the court were all filled, with maybe 25,000 people.  When RFK came in, he stood behind and to the side of the podium while he was being introduced.  An aid handed him his speech.  Bobby scanned it in the "Evelyn Woods Reading Dynamics" manner, that is, waving his hand along each page and quickly turning to the next page.  Bobby then handed the speech back to the Aid and gave the speech entirely from memory. The speech was custom-written for that audience as it compared the Kennedy family to a Utah family.  I have often wondered about the ability of a person to speed-read a speech and then give it without notes.  What kind of a President would he have been?

Second, at the end of the speech, he asked for questions.  This was somewhat brave as the audience was overwhelmingly Republican and some carried signs critical of Kennedy's wealth, and his liberal, and anti-war positions.  One of the questions was about his opposition to the Viet Nam war.  In response, Bobby asked those who supported the war to raise their hands.  A lot of hands went up.  He then asked those with their hands up to keep them up if they had volunteered for the military.  I realized my hypocrisy on that issue at that moment.

He had been the Attorney General under his brother.  I have talked to several employees at Justice who said that he was the best Attorney General in their memory (the worst being Ramsey Clark).  Here is the type of AG he was:  when an employee worked on the weekend that employee could park inside the building.  A staffer would take down the license plate numbers of those who had parked there and, on Monday morning, a letter would be on that employee's desk thanking him or her for working the weekend.  Bobby met with the employees of the Department in small groups and sought advice and suggestions from them.  I wonder today if the situation with the "unlawful combatants" at Guantanamo Bay could have happened if the Attorney General listened to his people.

We miss you Bobby.

My Corvette

About 2 years ago, I bought a 1959 Corvette on eBay.  I had a blast driving it for a few months, and then decided it needed some work.  Believe me, it did.  After some fits and starts, the engine ended up with LP Racing in Upland, and the rest of it went to Walden Dahl in Victorville.  Lang rebuilt the engine and Frank Freitas and I took it to Walden in the back of my pickup.  Walden installed the engine on a new frame, built by Morrison.  The frame has the front end of a new Corvette and the rear of a recent Ford.  The news now is that the clutch is installed onto the engine and the transmission onto the clutch.  The body is ready to paint Boyd Coddington Red, both in memory of the late car builder and because I flat out like that color.  The paint will go on late this week or early next week.

My biggest concern is that I will not live long enough to see the car through its restoration!

Innocence Project

I volunteered with the Innocence Project at the University of California, Irvine.  I live close to the campus.  This has been very interesting, but we have not yet found anyone we are sure is innocent.  The project is run by a professor who has an expertise in fingerprints and we hope to find a case where this might help.  With Summer coming, the students are graduating and moving on, or are off until Fall; so we will slow down until then.

I will continue to work on an interesting case involving a man convicted of murdering his life-long friend.  We are looking into an audio recording that may exonerate him--or may firm up his conviction.

future items

I will post items about:

My father's sanctioned theft of Uranium.

notes about my children

notes about my grandchildren.

Anything else I feel like