thedrifter
11-16-08, 06:54 AM
Witness to history
November 16, 2008
BY GREG HOUGHTON Staff writer
When Leo McCarthy enlisted in the Coast Guard in November 1942, he did it in a noteworthy way.
Some of his experiences during World War II remain noteworthy today, 66 years after he lived them.
A self-described "South Side Irishman," McCarthy was part of a group of six friends who enlisted in the armed services on the same day.
"That was November 1942," McCarthy said from his home in Tinley Park. "I was 19 when we all decided to enlist together. We all lived around 55th (Street) and Damen (Avenue). You could say we emptied out the neighborhood."
The rush of troop deployment in 1942 quickly took McCarthy from Chicago to the high seas of the South Pacific. His path led from Brooklyn, N.Y., to New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, Mississippi, Louisiana and Hawaii.
Arriving in Pearl Harbor, he was stationed aboard the LST 758, a troop carrier capable of carrying 900 Marines, two tanks and 1,100 tons of ammunition. McCarthy's main assignment was to serve as a coxswain of a Higgins boat, a small landing craft used in amphibious attacks.
McCarthy and his mates on the LST saw plenty of action as part of the Allied campaign to liberate the Japanese-occupied islands of the Pacific. McCarthy said Iwo Jima stands out in his memory.
"My boat was in the fifth wave of the Iwo Jima invasion," McCarthy said. "Our mission was to bring Marines to the beach - we'd load up 40 at a time - and then to pick up wounded and bring them back to the ship."
McCarthy said he was thankful the Japanese were poor shots, at least when aiming at his own craft.
"We were under plenty of fire, but they couldn't hit us," he said, adding, "Many, many Marines died once they landed."
When McCarthy debarked onto Iwo Jima, he experienced grim events, including what he called a "bonsai attack," a suicidal wave of 30 Japanese soldiers in which every attacker was killed. He said he remembers seeing the deadly effects of American flamethrowers, as well.
McCarthy witnessed a moment of glory at Iwo Jima when he stood within a few feet of the flag-raising at the top of Mt. Suribachi, the event immortalized by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal.
According to McCarthy, the flag and 21-foot-long piece of steamfitters pipe came from his own ship, the LST 758.
Iwo Jima was not the end of McCarthy's wartime experience at sea. In his three years, two months and 12 days in service, he spent almost the entire time at sea and weathered numerous typhoons, some of which he said were of hurricane strength.
"All you could do during these storms was put on your life jacket and grab a Bible," McCarthy said. "Guys who said they were atheists started praying to God."
At Okinawa, McCarthy's craft was assigned to help protect the battleships Wisconsin and Missouri. Suicide planes and a bomber nicknamed "Big Betty" by the sailors made numerous attempts to destroy the ships, he said.
"So we made circles around the battleships and laid down a smokescreen. This tactic really worked. You couldn't see a thing," he said.
The USS Missouri eventually sailed to Tokyo Harbor in Japan, where it served as the site of Japan's surrender on Sept. 2, 1945. As for McCarthy, his enlistment ended but he found himself stuck onboard a ship far from home. By the time he returned, it was 120 days after the official end of his hitch. He said he chuckles about it now.
After the war, McCarthy returned to Chicago and took a job with Carnegie Steel on the city's Southeast Side. He took a bride, the former Angie Paloncasz, and had a daughter, Chantell (Cameron), who resides in Frankfort, and a son, Christopher, who resides in Tinley Park.
McCarthy, 86, is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Tinley Park.
Greg Houghton can be reached at ghoughton@southtownstar.com.
or (708) 957-8781.
Ellie
November 16, 2008
BY GREG HOUGHTON Staff writer
When Leo McCarthy enlisted in the Coast Guard in November 1942, he did it in a noteworthy way.
Some of his experiences during World War II remain noteworthy today, 66 years after he lived them.
A self-described "South Side Irishman," McCarthy was part of a group of six friends who enlisted in the armed services on the same day.
"That was November 1942," McCarthy said from his home in Tinley Park. "I was 19 when we all decided to enlist together. We all lived around 55th (Street) and Damen (Avenue). You could say we emptied out the neighborhood."
The rush of troop deployment in 1942 quickly took McCarthy from Chicago to the high seas of the South Pacific. His path led from Brooklyn, N.Y., to New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, Mississippi, Louisiana and Hawaii.
Arriving in Pearl Harbor, he was stationed aboard the LST 758, a troop carrier capable of carrying 900 Marines, two tanks and 1,100 tons of ammunition. McCarthy's main assignment was to serve as a coxswain of a Higgins boat, a small landing craft used in amphibious attacks.
McCarthy and his mates on the LST saw plenty of action as part of the Allied campaign to liberate the Japanese-occupied islands of the Pacific. McCarthy said Iwo Jima stands out in his memory.
"My boat was in the fifth wave of the Iwo Jima invasion," McCarthy said. "Our mission was to bring Marines to the beach - we'd load up 40 at a time - and then to pick up wounded and bring them back to the ship."
McCarthy said he was thankful the Japanese were poor shots, at least when aiming at his own craft.
"We were under plenty of fire, but they couldn't hit us," he said, adding, "Many, many Marines died once they landed."
When McCarthy debarked onto Iwo Jima, he experienced grim events, including what he called a "bonsai attack," a suicidal wave of 30 Japanese soldiers in which every attacker was killed. He said he remembers seeing the deadly effects of American flamethrowers, as well.
McCarthy witnessed a moment of glory at Iwo Jima when he stood within a few feet of the flag-raising at the top of Mt. Suribachi, the event immortalized by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal.
According to McCarthy, the flag and 21-foot-long piece of steamfitters pipe came from his own ship, the LST 758.
Iwo Jima was not the end of McCarthy's wartime experience at sea. In his three years, two months and 12 days in service, he spent almost the entire time at sea and weathered numerous typhoons, some of which he said were of hurricane strength.
"All you could do during these storms was put on your life jacket and grab a Bible," McCarthy said. "Guys who said they were atheists started praying to God."
At Okinawa, McCarthy's craft was assigned to help protect the battleships Wisconsin and Missouri. Suicide planes and a bomber nicknamed "Big Betty" by the sailors made numerous attempts to destroy the ships, he said.
"So we made circles around the battleships and laid down a smokescreen. This tactic really worked. You couldn't see a thing," he said.
The USS Missouri eventually sailed to Tokyo Harbor in Japan, where it served as the site of Japan's surrender on Sept. 2, 1945. As for McCarthy, his enlistment ended but he found himself stuck onboard a ship far from home. By the time he returned, it was 120 days after the official end of his hitch. He said he chuckles about it now.
After the war, McCarthy returned to Chicago and took a job with Carnegie Steel on the city's Southeast Side. He took a bride, the former Angie Paloncasz, and had a daughter, Chantell (Cameron), who resides in Frankfort, and a son, Christopher, who resides in Tinley Park.
McCarthy, 86, is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Tinley Park.
Greg Houghton can be reached at ghoughton@southtownstar.com.
or (708) 957-8781.
Ellie