Wings of Freedom Tour brings back all kinds of memories
Salina, Kan., (July 21, 2009) - Many World War II veterans who attended the
Wings of Freedom Tour at the Salina Municipal Airport, July 8 to 10, shared
stories of flying the historic, but the memories don't stop with aviation.
Vincent Anderes vividly remembers the World War II planes zooming over his
head as a young heavy maintenance field artilleryman, but the 1940s memory
that is most prominent is involves a vessel of the sea rather than the
sky.
"The
ship going down was the biggest memory I can say," said the Hope
farmer. "I was on the President Coolidge when it went down in
the Pacific. There were over 5,000 men aboard that ship headed to
Guadalcanal."
The SS President Coolidge struck a friendly mine upon approach to Espiritu
Santo on October 26, 1942, just five months after Anderes had left his
Kansas home.
"There
was so much oil in the water," said Anderes. "If it would
have caught fire it would have all been over with. The last thing
over the intercom was, 'douse all fires.'"
The ship's captain tried to run her aground and ordered the troops to
abandon ship without their belongings, believing it would not sink.
Unfortunately for Anderes and his commrades, a coral reef impeded the
attempt to beach the ship. All his belongs, and those of the
approximately 5,340 other men aboard, still lay at the bottom of the ocean.
"I climbed down, and then I paddled my way about a mile to
shore. We lost all our equipment," explained Anderes.
"All I had were a pair of shorts and shoes for 60 days."
As a result
of his time with the Army's 43rd Division, 103rd Field Artillery, the
89-year-old veteran has lost much of his hearing.
"I'm just living without it," he chided. "Too many
guns and bullets. I've had a lot of experiences. I couldn't
live through it again. I know that's a sure thing."
Anderes took care of trucks, tractors and guns, and ensured the soldiers
had enough ammunition.
"We were trying to help the country back on its feet," said the
member of the Greatest Generation. "Japan bombed us and we were
out there retaliating, that's what we were doing. The boys just
worked and worked and worked to get Japan out of the picture. We had
a boatload of ammunition that followed behind us that we had to move I
don't know how many times. I was sorry I ever saw that ammunition!"
For all his hard work, then Sgt. Anderes was paid less than $100 a
month. His first 40 days in the Army he made a modest $21 month, then
a hefty raise to $50. When he left home in May of 1942 and headed
overseas he earned $60 for a year until he was given $79.20, when he
started his homeward journey on June 9, 1945.
He traveled on a ship down the equator with temperatures reaching 100
degrees, everyday for 35 days until they docked in Virginia on a Sunday
morning. Once there, around 1000 able-bodied men delivered close to
2000 casualties to Walter Reed Hospital, he said. It wasn't until
that evening that an exhausted Sgt. Anderes would leave the ship and the
next morning call home.
"It was the first time I heard the voice of home in three years,"
he said as his audience sat captivated. "All I can say is that
we all went together, not very many of us came home and there are even
fewer of us left."
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