|
|
|
North and South
Stories and Genealogy of Theodore Charles Anderson and Sara Carlene Shuttleworth
The Second World War
|
|
|
This page has been visited 3682 times
|
Many Served
|
We are sure many cousins from both the Northern and Southern families served in WW II, but we don’t know their stories and so can’t relate them here.
What we do know is that Ted’s 1st cousin Robert Doing, Jr. (Aunt Ruth’s and Uncle Bob’s son) was drafted and went to boot camp where he died of pneumonia in 1944. Ted’s half brother Richard Francis Langley was also drafted but he was classified 4-F and was not inducted into the Army. Ted’s brother-in law, Hank Bradley served as a Sergeant in the Army and fought in the Battle of the Bulge and many other battles in Europe.
Sara’s Uncle Billy, William John Thompson (1912–1989) served in the Navy as a Quartermaster and served in the South Pacific but he never talked much about it so we don’t have any stories about his service.
Uncle Billy and Rose (circa 1943)
Sara’s GreatUncle–in-law, Joseph Andrew Holly (1896-1987) (husband of Sara’s GreatAunt Cass Carlene Tuller), went to West Point and was a General in the Army. He served in Alaska, as Commandant of Fort Knox and in Europe under the Generals Patton and Eisenhower.
General Joe Holly (Uncle Joe) (circa 1944)
His decorations and medals include:
 Legion of Merit with 2 Bronze Oak-leaf Clusters
The Bronze Star Medal
Army Commendation Ribbon
World War I Victory Medal
American Campaign Medal
Army of Occupation Medal (Germany)
Army of Occupation Medal with German Clasp
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
World Word II Victory Medal
Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (Commander)
Croix de Guerre with Palm (France)
Order of Orange (Commander) (the Netherlands)
War is a young person’s thing. During WW-II, unless you were already in the military, you pretty much had to be in your late teens or twenties to be called up. As they ratcheted up the age limit, Sara’s father, Tom Shuttleworth, tried to enlist but he was always a year too old to be accepted, so he never served in the Military. Several of the Shuttleworths on the English side fought and died during the war too (visit The Rifleman).
Many Irbys, Tribbles, Fullers, Washburns and Blacks must have been involved. We just don’t know who they were.
The only other direct bloodline ancestor to serve in the military during World War II that we know a lot about was Ted’s Dad, Lt. Cmdr. O. T. Anderson.
He joined the Navy on his 18th birthday in 1922 as an able-bodied seaman (visit The Sawmill).
In 1941, prior to the outbreak of World War II, he, then a Chief Warrant Officer, had been in the Navy for 18 years. He was stationed at NSA North Island, San Diego, CA.
|
VJ-2
|
The Insignia of US Navy Utility Squadron VJ-2
|
After a tour of duty at sea aboard the aircraft carrier USS Lexington, in 1940 he had been, as was the Navy's custom, assigned shore duty to the Utility Squadron VJ-2.
|
Chief Warrant Officer O. T. Anderson (in front) (circa 1940)
VJ–2 Squadron 7, NAS North Island, San Diego
Most Navy Aviation Squadrons have designations taken from the planes that equipped them; i.e., VF is a Fighter squadron, VSB a Scout Bomber squadron, etc.; but some squadron designations are not so obvious. The letters VJ stand for a Utility Squadron.
VJ-2 was a Utility Squadron flying PBY-1 Catalinas and Grumman J2F Ducks for anti-submarine and reconnaissance
Prior to the war, Ted’s Dad had been asked several times by the Navy to become a commissioned officer but had always said no. He commented that the Navy was really run by the Chief's and Warrant Officers anyway. Shortly after the war started, however, Dad was asked again to take a commission, which this time he couldn't refuse. So, after almost 20 years in the Navy, he became a Lieutenant (Jg.).
In June 1940, the Squadron embarked on the USS Yorktown for duty at NAS Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (Ford Island) and was there on 7 Dec 1941 when the Japanese attacked. Fortunately, Dad was home in La Jolla, CA at the time and so missed the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He was immediately recalled to the station, however, and we didn't see him again until well after the Japanese surrendered on August 15, 1945.
We found out later that VJ-2 was deployed to one of the islands in the South Pacific. You know, "Bali-Hi", "Pappy Boyington", "The Black Sheep Squadron" and all that stuff. From his Aviators Flight Log Book we know exactly where he was, at least from January 1944 to the end of the war. It was an island named Pityilu which is located off the north coast of Papua New Guinea.
Pityilu Island
|
Photos
|
Here are some of the pictures he brought home after the war.
 Lt. Jg. O. T.
 Keeping the
 Maintenance
Anderson (1942)
 Planes Flying
Hanger
VJ-2 Base, South Pacific
Sailors J2F Duck Crew
Bob Hope and Frances Langford at the VJ-2 base, 1944
Parachutes
Mail Call
After the war, Dad returned to NAS North Island which had been his homeport all during the war.
As it turned out, after 1945, Dad was either stationed at sea (home-ported in San Diego), at War (in Korea) or had shore duty nearby, so we stayed in La Jolla (very unusual for a Navy family). Peggy, Mike and Ted all grew up in La Jolla, went to school there and all graduated from La Jolla High School.
Peggy married her High School sweetheart Henry Bradley, Ted married his High School sweetheart Sara Shuttleworth and Mike married the girl next door Kathy Shaw
We all had kids and most of them now have kids of their own, and some of those kids have kids too, but that’s another story.
|
Tune "Victory at Sea"
|
The introductory tune used on this page is the theme song from the series "Victory at Sea" written by Richard Rodgers in 1952.
This rendition is performed by the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Roobert Russell Bennett.
Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was one of the great composers of musical theater, best known for his song writing partnerships with Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II. He wrote more than 900 published songs, and forty Broadway musicals. Many of his compositions continue to have a broad appeal and have had a significant impact on the development of popular music.
Rodgers is perhaps best known for his work with Oscar Hammerstein II, with whom he had previously written a number of songs (before ever working with Lorenz Hart). Their first musical, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Oklahoma! (1943), was groundbreaking, and marked the beginning of the most successful partnership in musical theatre history. Their work revolutionized the form. What was once a collection of songs, dances and comic turns held together by a tenuous plot became an integrated work of art.
The team went on to create four more hits that are among the most popular of all musicals and were each made into hit films, Carousel (1945), South Pacific (1949, another Pulitzer Prize winner), The King And I (1951), and The Sound Of Music (1959). Other shows include the minor hit, Flower Drum Song (1958), as well as relative failures Allegro (1947), Me And Juliet (1953) and Pipe Dream (1955). They also wrote the score to the movie State Fair (1945) and a special TV production of Cinderella (1957).
Their collaboration produced many well-known songs, including "Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'," "People Will Say We're In Love," "If I Loved You," "You'll Never Walk Alone," "It Might As Well Be Spring," "Some Enchanted Evening," "Getting To Know You," "My Favorite Things" "Sixteen Going on Seventeen", "Climb Ev'ry Mountain, and "Edelweiss", Hammerstein's last song.
Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals earned a total of 35 Tony Awards, 15 Academy Awards, two Pulitzer Prizes, two Grammy Awards, and two Emmy Awards.
Rodgers worked without a lyricist to provide all the music for the 26-episode World War II television documentary "Victory at Sea" (1952-53). This NBC production (26 half-hour episodes) pioneered the "compilation documentary"--programming based on pre-existing footage--and would be eventually syndicated for broadcast in dozens of countries worldwide. Rodgers had also produced several symphonic pieces, including Winston Churchill: The Valiant Years, for which he won an Emmy Award.
|
|
This page and all genealogical data contained on it are Copyrighted © 2007/2008
by Theodore C. Anderson
|
|
|
|