Encoded for the Experiencing War web site for the Veterans History Project.
The recording of the interview with Merlyn Weisenfluh was digitized.
This transcription was encoded with minimal changes to the original text in an effort to preserve original content and idiosyncrasies of the person interviewed. Period language and terminology are also retained. Encoding is literal with regard to the transcriptionist's capitalization, punctuation, and spelling. Spelling errors are indicated with [sic]; however, recurring errors in spelling within a single document have been marked the first time and not subsequently.
Today is Monday, May 31st, 2004, and this is the beginning of an interview with Merlyn Weisenfluh at the Ocala Veteran's Memorial Park in Ocala, Florida. Mr. Weisenfluh is 82 years old, having been born on 11/26/1921. My name is Shawna Williams, and I will be the interviewer. Mr. Weisenfluh, if you could state for the recording what war and branch of service you served in.
I served in World War II from 1942 to 1946, and I served in the Korean War, or police action from--in 1950 and 1951.
Which branch?
I was in the Navy.
What was--
U.S. Naval Reserve.
What was your rank?
I was Radioman First Class.
Where did you serve?
I served in the--in the Hawaiian Islands and then I went--from there I went aboard the Missouri and was on the Missouri when the peace surrender ceremony was signed.
Were you drafted or did you enlist?
I enlisted.
Where were you living at the time?
I was living in Gresham, Oregon.
Why did you join?
Well, I had finished high school, I'd gotten a job, and when I--at that time the--the war was on, and I just felt it was my duty to--to enlist.
Why did you pick the Navy?
I picked the Navy because I wanted to get into radio work. I had been interested in radio work before joining, and I picked the Navy, I guess, because I didn't want to be a foot soldier.
Do you recall your first days in service?
Yes.
What did it feel like?
My first days in service I was in San Diego. I went through boot camp and training there, and then they asked me what I wanted to do. I told them radio work, and I took an examination for radio work, and I passed that, and then from there on I went to radio school.
Do you remember your instructors?
I remember my radio instructors at Banebridge Island. I can't remember their names but
How did you get through it--the basic--how was it?
The basic training was--was pretty rough in those days, and the facilities were--were not the--the best either, and we did drills out on a big field, and it was hot down in San Diego, and a lot of the boys keeled over there during--during boot camp training, but as far as I know, we all made it through it.
Which war did you serve in?
I served in World War II.
Where exactly did you go?
Okay. I was--my--I was at--from--from Banebridge Island, I started my radio training there, then I went to Imperial Beach, California, because I was--I got into naval intelligence, and--and as a naval intelligence officer I had to learn the Japanese code, and then I went from there to Oahu into a radio sta--naval radio station, Oahu, and from Oahu I went out to the Missouri and served on the Missouri the last nine months of the war.
Do you remember arriving and what it was like--World War II?
At what point? At where?
Actually going into the combat zone?
Yes, I do. We left Oahu, and we went--we were on a KC 135 bucket seat plane, and we went from there to Johnson Island, and from Johnson Island to Guam, and then they put me on a destroyer in Guam and took me out to the Missouri, and then that's--I was on the Missouri then until the Japanese surrendered, and, of course, I was within 20 feet of the surrender ceremony, and I served on the Missouri until the end of the war.
What was your job assignment?
I was in naval intelligence, and I was a radio intercept operator.
Did you see combat?
Yes, we saw combat. We had kamikazes that--I have a picture in my file of a kamikaze that just missed the Missouri, and actually, after it--it didn't hit a direct--it wasn't a direct hit, but it exploded and one of the guns off of the--the kamikaze came up and jammed right into one of the barrels of our--the 20 millimeter off of the plane came up--the--the machine gun and rammed right into one of our 40 millimeter guns, and I have a picture of that.
Were there many casualties in your unit?
There was very few casualties. I--in naval intelligence--to my knowledge there--that--we had a large group of people doing intercept work, and to my knowledge, there was only one person that was killed, and he was on the New Mexico, and we went out and replaced--our seven men went out to replace the--the--the boys that were on the New Mexico, and we went onto--on the Missouri.
Okay. What was your most memorable experience?
I think I'd have to say the surrender ceremony because that was a--a memorable occasion, and--to see all of the allied forces come there, and, of course, the--the senior men were--were Nimitz, and Halsey, and MacArthur, and they--all three of those signed the surrender document, and I have a--I have a picture of their signatures on--on this surrender document.
Were you a prisoner of war?
No, I was not a prisoner of war.
Were you awarded any medals or citations?
Yes. I have--that I--I have my medals at home and my citations for serving primarily aboard the Missouri, but I don't recall the names of those...
Okay. How did you stay in touch with your family?
I stay--we were able to write letters, even on the Missouri, and I have two letters that are--that are stamped September the second, 1945. That was the day of the surrender ceremony, and we were allowed to mail several letters, and they had a special stamp. And I have two letters in my file that are stamped September the second, Tokyo Bay, the day that surrender ceremony.
Did you have plenty of supplies?
We always had plenty of supplies. Our food at times was not so good because we didn't take on supplies. The closer we got to the end of the war, the little more difficult it got to take on supplies.
Did you feel pressure or stress?
I felt a little pressure and stress because of the watches we were standing. Sometimes we were on 24 hours, sometimes we were on 12 on, 12 off, and when we would pull back out of a zone, of a war zone, then we would go on eight on, eight off. Yes, it was stressful to be on duty, sometimes 24 hours.
How did people entertain themselves?
Well, there wasn't too much entertainment. It was--it was--when I got on the Missouri shortly after it was commissioned, the war was really winding down. And most everybody was either resting or on duty. There wasn't too much enter--entertainment aboard the Missouri.
Where did you travel while in the service?
Where did I travel?
So from Basic you went to...
From Basic I went to Banebridge Island, because I got in radio. I took my Morse code training there. Then I went to Moscow, Idaho, to finish my Morse code, then back to Banebridge Island, and I learned the Japanese code, we called it "Kana," and then I went to Imperial Beach, and then Imperial Beach to Oahu out in the Hawaiian Islands, and from Oahu I went to--aboard the Missouri.
Do you have photographs?
Yes, I have photographs.
Of?
I have photo--
Fellow soldiers?
I have photographs of the surrender ceremony and of--and of the documents, and, of course, I got photos of the Missouri, and I've got pictures of this--this is a letter here that was dated the day of the surrender ceremony, U.S.S. Missouri, September the second, Tokyo Bay. And--so there's not a lot--there's not a lot--there's not a lot--there's not a lot of those--of those letters. So, my family are trying to get me to--to give them these--these letter with that stamp on them, but I--so far I haven't done it. Now this--
What--
This is a--was written up in the Star Banner, and it's pretty much tells all about me being at the surrender ceremony, and I--I would like to give that to you now. I just made a copy of the original, and that tells pretty much about the whole surrender ceremony and who was there, and--that--I guess that's pretty much, you know... I have pictures here of the surrender ceremony. That's a picture of--of Halsey. That's a picture of Wanewright. This is a picture of the kamikaze, right there, that just missed the Missouri, and one of his 20 milimeter guns is right there jamming into one of our 40 millimeter guns. What else do we have here? That's Tokyo Bay, and that's Mount Fuji. That's where the surrender ceremony... This is a picture of the--of the allied forces, and that's Nimitz there, and MacArthur is there, Admiral Fraser from the British is the one in white, and I don't know what else. This--this is a picture I gave you, that's the one--because that tells pretty much... And that's a picture of the Missouri. It was about 945 feet long and had 13 decks and 45,000 tons. Had 16 inch guns. Beautiful ship. It was, you know, it was one of the newer ships. That--that's a picture that I gave to ... This is a picture of--of Nimitz signing the surrender ceremony. This is a picture of Mamoru Shigemitsu. He was the Japanese--he signed for Japan--the surrender--he signed for the emperor. That--that's just about it.
What did you think of the officers--officers and fellow soldiers?
Officers and fellow soldiers aboard the Missouri were just really, really good, and, of course, our commander was Halsey, and he was very good too. He'd come down and would eat with the enlist--enlisted men, they would invite him down, and so he was a, I think he was a real sailor's man.
Did you keep a personal diary?
Yes, I did.
Do you recall the day your service ended?
Not the exact day. Well, it was in November 1946.
What did you do in the days and weeks afterwards. Did you go to work, did you go to school?
I went to school under the G.I. Bill.
Okay.
And I went to--I went to school, oh, let's see. I--I--I started in 1946 when I got out and I graduated in 1949.
Did you make any close friends while in the service?
Yes, I did. And--
Did you continue any of those relationships?
I--I'm still continuing some friendship with some of the people that I served with.
Did you join a veterans' organization?
No, I--I've never joined--the only--well, yes, I did too, because I belong to a--there's a group of--naval intelligence group, and we--we get together every year for a reunion.
Where--where did you get together?
We get together at different places every year. Sometimes it's out on the West Coast, sometimes the middle of the state, sometimes--we had one back here in Orlando.
What did you go on to do as a career after the war?
Okay. After the war, I was called back into the Korean situation for one year, then when I got out of there, I went to work with the Central Intelligence, the CIA, and my career, 20 year career, was spent with CIA from 1953 to 1973.
Did your military experience influence your thinking about war or about the military in general?
Yes, it did.
How so?
Well, it had--my--when I got out of the service, I had so much training in--in intelligence work, I wanted to go and further that if I could, and, of course, the civilian side of that was CIA, so I joined the CIA, and did the--the training that I got in naval intelligence was very similar to what CIA was looking for, so I proceeded in CIA with my intelligence work in Central Intelligence Agency.
How did your service and experiences affect your life?
Well, I think it made me more conscious of--of the servicemen that--what they do for their country, and I--I think maybe sometimes civilians don't--some of them do but a lot of times I believe that they don't really understand what--what our servicemen are doing for their country. That they're putting their life on their [sic] line, and so today I still respect--all the--the wars since then, and the people, I try to look up to them and--and--and congratulate them, the ones that made it and the ones that didn't make it, you know, I have a high regard for people who serve in the--in the military; Navy, Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, any of them.
Is there anything you would like to add that we have not covered in this interview?
No. I think we've, we've done--we've just about covered my--my military service which included World War II, one year in the Korean situation, and my--my active career with Central Intelligence Agency. We've--We've done a good job.
Okay. Thank you, Merlyn.
Thank you.
Uh huh.