(2) |
|
I climbed the risers and
tried to hit the field but
the wind was too strong it
took me
right over the
Cliff- As I got close to the
ground I
took a look--nothing
but cliffs, rocks
and blown off trees,
I looked
at
the sky line and waited--My
thoughts?, --"Oh My Aching
Back".
�just
as I hit I
hung up,
that saved
me
from
going
over a steep
embankment,-I
had a hard time
getting out of my harness
because I couldn't get the
tension
off
of it,
It
seemed
like it
took
five minutes
to
get out
chute. all the while
I
could hear the snap of
bullets, I knew weren't Ml's
but I didn't know whether
they were our carbines or.
Nip 25's...Fina1ly
I got out of the
chute and met some of our
platoon
coming
up
the cliff, we had about 250
feet to go up from where I
was. It was some climb,
the Navy
was
still tiring at Malinta
Hill and A-20' were
straffing.
The second Bn came in about 14.30 The first Bn
was not allowed
to jump, too many jump casualties.
I
banged my leg, that
all
0. K.
now. --The first Bn
came in by boat, at about the same
time the 34th were making a beach landing.
We
were
on
the Island for 21 days and
took it from tip to tip, we
were only supposed to take
from Malinta Hill south, or
rather
west,
(half the island) but in the
end we went the whole way.
That stuff about relief is a
lot of
bull,
151st Inf came in after it
was just about over and
relieved the
34th.Mrs Dunning
says Bob has seen some
sights,
he
should have been with us.
But somehow they don�t
bother you, no dreams, in
fact
on
Corregidor I dreamed about,
Nuns--Ann--and
you Folks.That
Blast
you heard about was an awful
thing, killed a lot of our
boys and
blew
up
about 27 nips.--we were told
there were about 850 to 1500
nips on the Island. we took
22
prisoners and killed
5200.
they did their fighting from
caves,
there
are hundreds of caves on
that Island. --Pat
got
a
headache that pounded up
the
back of his neck, they
evacuated
him.---They
have
put in for a
-patch
for the 503rd, hope we get
it. (sketch) --We are
back
on
Mindoro now near where the
original
landings were
made, southwest end.If
you want to have me
tell
you
something I can't
write, put it in the form of
a statment and number it,
example 1, you are in
New.Guinea, 2 Leyte, 3
Mindoro.
I answer that third
statement
in
your letter of
Feb
xth, is a
good idea or is correct ,
They do not
censor your letters (Air
Mail)
This should brine you up to
date.Your 1eters have been
arriving 0. K. all of them,
but no packages as yet.
----Dad, if you could get me
a
45 pistol it would come
in
very handy, also a shoulder
hoister. if you do pack it
in a tin box good so it will
look like anything but a
pistol. The boxes take an
awful beating and arrive in
awful condition.--*In
reference
to the clipping,(A)is cliff
I
went over, landed about
250
feet down it, came back up
picked up ammunition and
started to go around the
edge of the field, drew too
much fire, went back and
crossed jump field, our Bn
command post was
lighthouse-(C) I was up
there watched bombing and
straffing from there, at (B)
Pat and I spent three or
four nights in the corner
room. (D) is old tank we
found some water in. I was
on top of that. at (E) we
spent two nights on
perimeter guard watching the
path between the tanks.
Those buildings were officer
quarters in the old days.
(F) is where Pat landed,
that white line into the
corner is a concrete trench
up to a large gun position
Jars were in
there. --On about the fourth
day Pat and I were getting a
chute to sleep in, they were
working on hill on left side
of picture (Just outside)
Navy was firing from along
the shore., at (G) we got
pinned down, it was really
hot, too damn close. * Think
I have told you everything.
it is
most possible
I�m
in that picture.
|
|
|
|
(3)
|
With reference to map picture.
While we were
at (5) there was a large explosion in the main tunnel, smoke and
flame shot up into the air 75
to 100 feet high, and noise
�
we thought we were going to have
Malinta Hill on our heads.
Main
caves in Malinta
Hill are marked (=====(==) ===)at
(3) there
was Regt Hdq and hospital (no I
wasn't in the hospital)
That bad blast
was at
Monkey Point. Bataan
is just above Battery Point.
Battalion Hdq found
a
very impressive
looking Nip sign and
hung it over the door. They found out later
it read. 0FFICERS
IATRINE ONLY.
Keep well so we can raise h--- when I
get back, it sure will be grand to be home.
I was working
on a platoon Bazooka team for a while, went
on
mission with the team
�
Thinking it over I have the
following ribbons (l)
American Theatre of War,
(I think, do you know? (2) Pacific Theater
of War, (3) Philippine Liberation, (1) Bronze Star 60 days
in combat zone, initial landing, (1) Arrowhead initial Parachute
lump, Overseas Stripe, We
hope the 503rd will
get Presidential
Citation for the
Corregidor Jump, Plus that New Patch.
Lt. DeRonde has been
with the 503rd since it was formed, left
N.Y.M.A.to the Paratroops, he has been
overseas 29 months, That's a hell of a long
time.
Am trying
to get
some pictures of Corregidor to
send along
with DeRonde ---That Coconut I sent you from
New Guinea, there is
a coconut inside that husk,
full of milk and meat,I tried to seal the ends with wax because it you get a break in it,
it will either go
rotten or sprout shoots and you'll
have a
tree
instead of a nut, think
you should shellac it.
They
are
taking
group
pictures of all the boys who
jumped
on the Rock', by states,
I'll have mine taken with N.Y.
it will go
to
Long Island paper, watch for it.
In one of
the envelopes there
is
a
training memorandum, I was going to send
it to
Mrs Wood, it just
might be her husbands
handwriting on
the top, but it is
quite good, typical �Old Army� and
I thought you might read it
or perhaps copy parts, then if you will have Mother send it on to
Mrs Wood, I found it
on
March
6th.
I've been adding
to this letter
for three days, DeRondo
leaves
on the 16th or
thereabouts. We've been doing just about
nothing since we got back from the Rock. Don't know how long this will
last. We get
up at 0700 eat chow,
we've been taking an hour hike in
the mornings, no equipment, spend most of the day reading or writing, go
down to the stream about 1430 stream is so fast
that you can�t stand up, we get
ice
cold coke at the Red Cross at
1600, then chow 1700
after that we g
to the field where they have
a show (movie) we get
there early to get a
seat, bring a book or some writing
along. A few nights a week
Father
Powers has Mass at 1800
across the street, we get someone
to save our seats and go over to
Mass. After the show we usually have a billie coffee, or tea,
sometimes corn on the cob
from the fields, make our own
fires.
|
|
|
|
|
(4) |
March
15th ,45
Here
is a Poem one of the boys
in my platoon wrote,
�CORREGIDOR�
I
Bunker Hill is still historic,
So's the charge of the Light Brigade.
And theres lots of famous others,
Here�s the latest yet been made.
II
From the planes they went
aleapin,
Never pauseing in the
door.
As they hit the
Famous Pock pile,
Called Mac's Corregidor:
III
I know they are remembered,
Deep in American hearts.
The 503rd Paratroops,
I am proud to be a part.
IV
They floated down on bunkers,
Others hit the shell torn trees.
And they knew just what awaited
them.
Were the grinning Japanese.
V
Landing out behind defenses,
Of the dirty Rising Sun.
But on top their shining helmets,
Just
to grin
and
watch em run.
VI
You'll remember
all these
troopers
From
their grim and fierce looks.
Don't forget to mention �Airborne�
As you write those history books.
VII
I know it will be famous,
As the ones of years before.
The 503rd Paratroops.
Jumping on
Corregidor
(Bert Hardy)
503rd Parachute Rgt
(Do not rewrite as,
Paratroopers.)
Dad, no changes � It is his as is.
****************
Miss
you all.
Almost forgot had a picture
taken with the
N. Y. group
Its a group picture by
states of the boys who jumped on Corregidor. It will
be sent to hometown paper.
On the"Flick"
we had 186 killed 757
wounded,
2200 of us jumped.
1st Bn 503rd came
in on beach
about 900
makes 3100
503rd men on the island. In
the N. Y. picture I am in the first row about 5th from your right,
(what no glasses) DeRonde is last
man in 3rd row
on right. In first row
near center is
Joe Gardner, was in
20th A with as at Camp Campbell
|
|
|
|
|
(5)
On the Rock one night
he and his
buddy saw Japs creeping
in front of where they were lying down, Joe�s carbine
jammed when he tried to fire, other boy couldn't find
his, they were going to
let the Jap
go by (two
Japs) but they saw Joe.
When he saw he had been discovered
he dove
for the first Jap,
other Jap grabbed the other boy, Jap
got Joe's
buddy down and was
banging a grenade on his head,( Jap grenades you pull pin - thump
on a rock to set up powder
train then it goes
off the next time
it hits)�Joe
killed his Jap with his fists and rocks
then rushed
over to his buddy
and banged the Jap on the
head with a rock...He is
getting Bronze Star.
I'm going to have
DeRonde put his name on this so
you won't
think I'm in the
states when you see
envelope.
Have
a small Pilot Chute, goes
on reserve to
help pull it out of pack, Think I'll send one to
Frankie. I'll
have to stop soon or
this won�t fit into envelope...Your boxes are so late
because we have moved
around so much.
Dad, if you could I wish
you would send
me a 45 Pistol
and a shoulder holster (45 Automatic) It comes
in very handy
when you get hung
up and can't get to
your carbine and its handy to
have around at
night. Originally all troopers
were issued 45's but they
aren't able to do
that now.
I doubt if cookies would reach here in good
condition but they would be nice.
How about a fruit cake, a
small box seems to
arrive in best
condition, its the corners that break first. We could use some
Tea and can you get any of those canned hot dogs?. Now don't use
up all your points. Remember that can of
Ginger Bread-had
nuts
in it?, That would
be swell��wonder is
some cream cheese would
make it through the heat,��
a few oranges now
and then would be
nice, but perhaps they would spoil...Bad weather
over Leyte had
held up our mail for the last few days. We
have little rain
here but when it
does it makes up for lost time.
Its quite hot
here now.
They had a short at the show
the
other night, silent
pictures, cowboy was
shooting it out
with Indians��Then
you heard Bar'S, Ml's
Machine Guns and
bombs. ---some battle the boys really got a kick out of
it. Also we had a Military Band before the show, really
wonderful, to-morrow there will be a dance band before the show.
Hav'nt heard from Pat
as yet, That pocket chess
game is a grand
idea. I thought I might
send a panel of a
white chute to Ann.
Have a piece of my
chute from the jump on the Rock, note bullet
holes near the top. There
were more up
higher but the
chute
was
in a tree and I couldn't reach any higher.
Don't be frightened if there happens to be a little
hair between my nose and my upper lip, it started on the Rock,
its
something to do. I just wanted to see what it would look like,
forgive me. I know that
there are parts of this letter that you will never be
able to read, but I hope it you will be able to read enough to
find it interesting.
|
|
|
|
|
|
(6)
|
On our mission there were miracles by
the score
�I saw
one boy
with a streamer,( Chute that
doesn�t open)
��fall
like a rock with his cute streaming
after him
��he
fell out of sight behind
some tress and with
his feet within inches of
the ground the reserve popped open
-( you come to a
dead stop when your chute
pens) and he landed 0. K. .....Another boy
had his static line break
so his main chute never came
out of his pack. he pulled
his reserve and it was a streamer,
but it caught on a
tree.--and he was 0. K.��God
sure jumped with us that day.
The only two reporters who
really know about the 503rd are
Smith of
the Chicago Sun and Wells of the Chicago Times ,(hell) as you
were, its the other way around Smith of the
Times and Wells of the Sun...They Jump right with us and you can
believe what they
say...if they claim it was rough,
it was rough.
If you could
send
some photographic paper
I
could use
it....Were you ever able to get a telescope. Don't lose
that data on page 13-14
I�ll make a record of it too.
Page 34, go ahead I dare
you to say something about my not
telling you much, Now.
This is very disconnected I know, but
I've been writing things
down as I think of them.
Adios
Love
Richard.
Pvt
Richard J. Adams, Jr.
#33745957
Hdq. Co. 3rd Bu,, 503rd Prcht Inf. R.C.T.
A.P.O. 321, %
Postmastr,
San Francisco, Cal
|
|
|
|
|
|