Holiday reminds local veteran of war
Bill Kennedy
Bill Kennedy, of Woodsboro, spent July 4, 1945, in the Philippines dreading the pending mission ahead of a land invasion of Japan. No one knew A-bombs existed, much less that they would end the war in a month.
By RUBI REYES •
Originally published July 3, 2009 at 5:15 p.m., updated July 3, 2009 at 11:25 p.m.
EXCERPTS FROM REMEMBRANCE OF ANOTHER FOURTH OF JULY
By Bill Kennedy of WoodsboroIt was three days after VE Day (Victory in Europe Day, May 9, 1945) and I received orders to go to the Philippines... After six weeks of preliminary ...
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EXCERPTS FROM REMEMBRANCE OF ANOTHER FOURTH OF JULY
By Bill Kennedy of WoodsboroIt was three days after VE Day (Victory in Europe Day, May 9, 1945) and I received orders to go to the Philippines... After six weeks of preliminary training in the Philippines, July 4, 1945 arrived and I spent it dismally drinking beer at the un-bombed San Miguel Brewery. Joining me were thousands of long faced GIs who were equally terrified of the upcoming invasion.
The next day, I reported to an assignment that was only worse than anything yet. I was told that, as a medic, I was to join doctors and other GIs for training in the gliders of the 11th Airborne Division.
Oh Brother! I had seen in Europe what happened to gliders who were defeated by the Japanese with more sticks staggered in open fields.
I, and others "chosen" (I had always thought airborne was volunteer. Not then, not then) were readying for our glider training, with preparations taking a good five weeks.
Well, before permanent (suicidal) assignment, along came the Aug. 8, 1945 and the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
Like almost everyone else, we didn't know what in hell this meant. But, we soon found out that (sadly, where we realized so many civilian had been killed in Japan) our invasion was off.
In effect, we had been granted a delightful reprieve from any danger.
From Aug. 8, 1945 'til we were furloughed home we happily drank our San Miguel beer amid much joy and laughter.
WOODSBORO - The Fourth of July, a day to celebrate the independence of the United States of America.
A day to gather with family, barbecue hamburgers, grill hot dogs and eat some sweet apple pie.
A day to thank veterans and those in the military for our freedoms.
"There is no other nation like it in the world," Bill Kennedy of Woodsboro said.
For the 83-year-old, Independence Day is a day for reflection. He can still remember the fear he felt in May 1945 after returning to the states from Europe just to be sent back to the Philippines, he said.
"There's only been one bad Fourth of July I've known in all my 83 years," Kennedy said.
I flew out of March Field, Calif., in the almost worst frame of mind."
He thought he was lucky to come out of Europe alive, but then "I was heading into a gigantic staging area for the suicidal invasion of Japan," Kennedy wrote in a letter for the July installment of the Advocate's Your Life, Your Stories series.
He spent two years at war in Europe, and after three days of being in the states, he was sent to the Philippines during World War II.
"They were sending us over there by the hundreds of thousands. Most of us were almost in tears," Kennedy said. "I couldn't see nothing but getting killed."
Upon landing in the Philippines, soldiers received six weeks of preliminary training. On the Fourth of July, Kennedy and many soldiers spent the day drinking at the San Miguel Brewery.
"There was no celebration. It was all seriousness, a lot of beer drinking," Kennedy said. "We were just terrified."
The war had gone on long enough and the soldiers knew about invasions, paratrooper drops, gliders and suicidal Japanese waiting in caves for them, he said.
"It was a very unhappy circumstance," he said.
However, after all his training and thoughts of fear, relief would come in August 1945.
"Before permanent (suicidal) assignment, along came Aug. 8, 1945, and the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima," Kennedy wrote.
Every Independence Day, the Woodsboro resident ponders about that horrible Fourth of July.
"We had been granted a delightful reprieve from any danger," Kennedy said.
Although the retired postmaster does not know what he'll do this holiday, he'll spend it like most, reflecting upon his past and the current life that might not have been, he said.
"Fourth of July is a bonafide holiday. That's another reason I like it, not manufactured in honor of some organizational president or secretary. Nobody can touch the Fourth of July. It will always be here," Kennedy said.
