World War II Veteran Remembers Service In Pacific On His 94th Birthday
August 14, 2020 at 1:49 a.m.
World War II Veteran Remembers Service In Pacific On His 94th Birthday
By Jackie [email protected]
Not many people alive today can say they were in Japan after the bombings during World War II, but Claude Shepherd, who turns 94 today, can.
Shepherd was drafted in the U.S. Army, serving from September 1944 to November 1946.
“I was 18 on Aug. 14 and in September, I was in the service,” he said. He said he didn’t quite graduate high school, but Warsaw High School granted an honorary diploma after Shepherd was out of the service.
He want to Camp Atterbury and then Camp Fannin in Texas for infantry training. Shepherd volunteered for the Airborne Service and took jump training at Ft. Benning, Georgia. He then went to Fort Ord in California before heading to the Philippines.
Shepherd said until after the war, he was an infantry solider.
“We landed at Manila and from there, we mostly walked through the little villages heading for Luzon. There we were training with the 11th Airborne Division for the jump into Japan,” according to Shepherd’s biography when he was honored as the Veteran of the Month in November 2017 at the Kosciusko County Commissioners meeting.
During an interview Wednesday, Shepherd referenced a photo taken of him doing a practice jump. The area his unit used had similar terrain to the area they were expecting to jump into.
“That’s when they dropped the first atomic bomb,” he said. “We were all ready to jump into Japan.”
On Aug. 6, 1945, the U.S. B-29 bomber Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, killing an estimated 80,000 people and fatally wounding thousands more, according to history.com.
According to the biography, the jump was planned to the hour and day they were going to jump and then the atomic bomb was dropped. “That didn’t work, so they dropped the second one. That’s when (Japan) decided to surrender,” he said.
President Harry S. Truman announced the unconditional surrender of Japan at 7 p.m. Aug. 14, 1945, addressing reporters gathered at the White House, according to www.75thwwiicommemoration.org.
Shepherd said his unit flew into Japan about three weeks after the bombings.
Shepherd’s unit stopped on Okinawa. From the air, it looked like a lot of planes were sitting on the air field, but when Shepherd’s unit landed, they saw the planes were plywood nailed together to look like planes.
One of the jobs Shepherd’s unit had was to secure an airport in Japan.
“We were there to secure the area for Gen. McArther’s plane that was to land later,” Shepherd said. He was close enough to see McArthur go out the door with his pipe he was smoking. “I was close enough that I could almost talk to him. I thought that was pretty neat. Just something I remember.”
After the treaty was signed, Shepherd was stationed in Japan during the occupation.
Shepherd described seeing Hiroshima, saying, “Everything was just leveled.” He noted there would be buildings where the windows were blown out.
A photographer was still doing business in Hiroshima and took a picture of Shepherd in the city.
“We didn’t have too good of a reputation when we were first flown in,” Shepherd said. “We were just there to keep everything straight. It was just part of the time we had left before we could be discharged.”
They made sure things were kept peaceful. Shepherd said he didn’t have any major issues while in Japan. It was just Army duties.
One of things that struck Shepherd about the Japanese was they treated their elderly people “a lot like saints. They’re the head of the household and that’s where they put them. They take good care of them. I don’t know, that kind of struck me. Not that we don’t here. We do, too,” he said. “That’s one thing I remember most about them.”
After being honorably discharged from the military, Shepherd worked for the post office for 30 years and retired in 1987.
When he got home, Shepherd said the veterans got treated with respect and love. “It makes a lot of difference,” he said.
He said all veterans should be treated that.
“If they love their country enough to maybe lose their lives for it, I think they should be treated that way,” Shepherd said. “And the ones that didn’t come back are the real heroes. We might not be living free if it wasn’t for them.”
Shepherd said the transition to civilian life was easy for him. Then again, he said, he was 19-20 years old and “you think a lot differently than you do now, at least I do.”
Shepherd said he was glad to get home. “Fact is, for a lot of us, that was the main thing we had on our mind, getting back home.”
He did like the discipline of the military. “You got to learn to take orders and at times, you got to learn to give orders,” he said. The discipline helped him the rest of his life.
Shepherd said that the Army tried to get him to re-enlist, but he didn’t.
He said if he didn’t, he may not have had the chance to meet the love of his life, Martha Middleton. They were married on June 7, 1952; she died in March 2015. They have a daughter, two granddaughters, three great-granddaughters and one great-grandson.
On May 25, 2016, Shepherd and his grandson, Dan, went on the honor flight to Washington, D.C. “It was a very good day for both of us. I’ll always remember,” according to Shepherd’s biography.
Shepherd said God has been good to him.
Not many people alive today can say they were in Japan after the bombings during World War II, but Claude Shepherd, who turns 94 today, can.
Shepherd was drafted in the U.S. Army, serving from September 1944 to November 1946.
“I was 18 on Aug. 14 and in September, I was in the service,” he said. He said he didn’t quite graduate high school, but Warsaw High School granted an honorary diploma after Shepherd was out of the service.
He want to Camp Atterbury and then Camp Fannin in Texas for infantry training. Shepherd volunteered for the Airborne Service and took jump training at Ft. Benning, Georgia. He then went to Fort Ord in California before heading to the Philippines.
Shepherd said until after the war, he was an infantry solider.
“We landed at Manila and from there, we mostly walked through the little villages heading for Luzon. There we were training with the 11th Airborne Division for the jump into Japan,” according to Shepherd’s biography when he was honored as the Veteran of the Month in November 2017 at the Kosciusko County Commissioners meeting.
During an interview Wednesday, Shepherd referenced a photo taken of him doing a practice jump. The area his unit used had similar terrain to the area they were expecting to jump into.
“That’s when they dropped the first atomic bomb,” he said. “We were all ready to jump into Japan.”
On Aug. 6, 1945, the U.S. B-29 bomber Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, killing an estimated 80,000 people and fatally wounding thousands more, according to history.com.
According to the biography, the jump was planned to the hour and day they were going to jump and then the atomic bomb was dropped. “That didn’t work, so they dropped the second one. That’s when (Japan) decided to surrender,” he said.
President Harry S. Truman announced the unconditional surrender of Japan at 7 p.m. Aug. 14, 1945, addressing reporters gathered at the White House, according to www.75thwwiicommemoration.org.
Shepherd said his unit flew into Japan about three weeks after the bombings.
Shepherd’s unit stopped on Okinawa. From the air, it looked like a lot of planes were sitting on the air field, but when Shepherd’s unit landed, they saw the planes were plywood nailed together to look like planes.
One of the jobs Shepherd’s unit had was to secure an airport in Japan.
“We were there to secure the area for Gen. McArther’s plane that was to land later,” Shepherd said. He was close enough to see McArthur go out the door with his pipe he was smoking. “I was close enough that I could almost talk to him. I thought that was pretty neat. Just something I remember.”
After the treaty was signed, Shepherd was stationed in Japan during the occupation.
Shepherd described seeing Hiroshima, saying, “Everything was just leveled.” He noted there would be buildings where the windows were blown out.
A photographer was still doing business in Hiroshima and took a picture of Shepherd in the city.
“We didn’t have too good of a reputation when we were first flown in,” Shepherd said. “We were just there to keep everything straight. It was just part of the time we had left before we could be discharged.”
They made sure things were kept peaceful. Shepherd said he didn’t have any major issues while in Japan. It was just Army duties.
One of things that struck Shepherd about the Japanese was they treated their elderly people “a lot like saints. They’re the head of the household and that’s where they put them. They take good care of them. I don’t know, that kind of struck me. Not that we don’t here. We do, too,” he said. “That’s one thing I remember most about them.”
After being honorably discharged from the military, Shepherd worked for the post office for 30 years and retired in 1987.
When he got home, Shepherd said the veterans got treated with respect and love. “It makes a lot of difference,” he said.
He said all veterans should be treated that.
“If they love their country enough to maybe lose their lives for it, I think they should be treated that way,” Shepherd said. “And the ones that didn’t come back are the real heroes. We might not be living free if it wasn’t for them.”
Shepherd said the transition to civilian life was easy for him. Then again, he said, he was 19-20 years old and “you think a lot differently than you do now, at least I do.”
Shepherd said he was glad to get home. “Fact is, for a lot of us, that was the main thing we had on our mind, getting back home.”
He did like the discipline of the military. “You got to learn to take orders and at times, you got to learn to give orders,” he said. The discipline helped him the rest of his life.
Shepherd said that the Army tried to get him to re-enlist, but he didn’t.
He said if he didn’t, he may not have had the chance to meet the love of his life, Martha Middleton. They were married on June 7, 1952; she died in March 2015. They have a daughter, two granddaughters, three great-granddaughters and one great-grandson.
On May 25, 2016, Shepherd and his grandson, Dan, went on the honor flight to Washington, D.C. “It was a very good day for both of us. I’ll always remember,” according to Shepherd’s biography.
Shepherd said God has been good to him.
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