On October 14, 1944 the USS Houston became the first major ship attacked by Japanese pilots off the coast of Formosa, what is now called Taiwan. The USS Houston left for combat in April 1944 joining Task Force 58, the main striking force in the US Navy in the Pacific Theater. The boat and its crew participated in shore bombardments and covered landings of the island hopping campaign across the Pacific including the Marianas, Roto, Guam, Iwo Jima, Chichi Jima, Philippines, Anguar, Luzon, Mindanao, Leyte, and Samar.
Ordeal of the USS Houston from Jack Fellows’ book on the ship.
It was just after sunset on October 14, 1944 that the USS Houston’s was struck by a Japanese torpedo after successfully shooting down three of the four attacking planes. The ship was immediately dead in the water without power. During this time, the typical protocol was for the crew to abandon ship and let the vessel sink. The USS Houston was leaning over in the water, and the men were ordered to evacuate the ship.
The vast majority of the crew of 992 survived, but 4 officers and 51 enlisted perished. The Japanese reported that the USS Houston had sunk resulting in newspaper headlines describing that success on the Japanese Home Front. But in fact, the crew of the ship refused to let the USS Houston sink, and over 700 hundred of the crewmen and 33 of the officers were transferred to accompanying US ships and the ship was stabilized to tow. The boat was towed to Ulithi by USS Boston and USS Pawnee and eventually made its way to Brooklyn, New York for repairs that were completed just after the war’s end in 1945. The ship received 3 battle stars for its service during World War II.
Joseph Ignatius “J.I” Monte during WWII.
To commemorate the 70th Anniversary of this event and to fulfill the last wishes of one of the USS Houston’s crew members, daughter Lori Besselman and son Frank Monte of Jim “J.I.” Monte will be taking a voyage to the coast of Taiwan to put the ashes of their father at rest where he lost his crew.
Born in 1925 J.I., a New Orleans native, joined the US Navy in September 1942 at the age of 17 after much fight with his father to sign for his underage enlistment. After becoming temporarily blind while working as a Welder-Burner at the Delta Shipbuilding Corporation in New Orleans, his family decided they might as well send him to war before he got killed in the shipyard. He served in New Orleans until he was 18 when he signed on for duty. He traveled to Norfolk, Virginia for training and joined as a plank member, the first crew, of the crew of the USS Houston in December 1943.
During the torpedoing by the Japanese on October 14, 1944, J.I. sprained his ankle due to the deck heaving up on the high side of the ship. Because of his injury, J.I. was thrown overboard by his shipmates where he was able to swim to a life raft. He spent the night in the raft with others from the ship before they were picked the following destroyer USS Grayson.
On October 17 J.I. transferred to the cruiser USS Birmingham, and the following day, October 18, he transferred to the escort carrier, USS Rudyerd Bay. The Rudyerd Bay transported him to Ulithi Atoll. There he boarded the USS Typhoon and traveled to Pearl Harbor. Upon arrival in Pearl Harbor, the Typhoon received a welcome by Admiral Nimitz and the Navy Band playing “Anchors Aweigh.” Jim described the scene as well as quite comical because the USS Houston survivors received the welcome while wearing nothing but their undergarments, boxers and undershirts. When the crewmembers were evacuated they were only given those items to wear.
Verna and J.I. or “Jim” as she called him. When they met in California, J.I. had his initials JIM for Joseph Ignatius Monte sewn on his clothes. Verna thought it was for his name being “Jim” and continued to call him that throughout their life together.
After returning from the Pacific Theater in December 1944, J.I. was stationed at the Alameda Naval Air Station outside of Oakland, California for the remainder of the war. It was here where he met his wife Verna, who was from Iowa, while riding the trolley. Verna was also working at the Naval Air Station painting instrument dials on planes. In July 1945 the couple married, and they ventured back to J.I.’s hometown of New Orleans upon his discharge in October 1945. Together they had 5 children.
From his time in the Navy to working for the US Treasury and the US Customs Department, J.I. accumulated over 40 years of services to the government. When he retired at the age of 65, he stayed active by volunteering and serving as the Gate Chairmen for the Destrehan Plantation Festival. Alongside his wife Verna, he delivered hot meals to people living with AIDS through the New Orleans AIDS Task Force multiple times a week.
Like many WWII veterans, he didn’t talk much about his experience in war until later in life. His wife Verna described that “as he got older, the time he spent in the service became more important to him.” From that time, he became more involved with the Houston Association and hosted a reunion for the ship in New Orleans at the Westin Hotel in 1997 with at least 150 survivors and their families in attendance. He even began proudly wearing a WWII Veterans Cap that was purchased from the Museum’s gift shop. It honored him greatly to receive words of gratitude from people both young and old for his service to our country. In 2010, he received another great honor from Governor Bobby Jindal when he was awarded the Louisiana Veterans Medal of Honor for his service during WWII. Jim “J.I.” Monte passed away on January 18, 2012.
The children of Jim, Lori and Frank, are excited to have made this venture to Asia to fulfill their father’s wishes. They grew up with him saying, “I want my ashes to be in the South China Sea,” and now they have made that wish come true.
The discharge papers of J.I.
USS Houston during a shore bombardment of Guam (closer to the camera) in a high speed turn with sister-ship Vincennes.
View looking aft showing the damage to the starboard catapult after the first torpedo hit.
US Navy Official photograph.
USS Houston (CL 81) Off the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia, 11 January 1944.
Japanese aerial torpedo hits the ship's starboard quarter, during the afternoon of 16 October 1944. This view shows burning fuel at the base of the torpedo explosion's water column. Houston had been torpedoed amidships on 14 October, while off Formosa, and was under tow by USS Pawnee (ATF 74) when enemy torpedo planes hit her again. USS Canberra (CA 70), also torpedoed off Formosa, is under tow in the distance.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center #NH 98826.
View looking aft, showing damage to the ship's stern area resulting from a torpedo hit amidships received off Formosa on 14 October 1944. This photo was taken while Houston was under tow, but prior to the second torpedo hit on 16 October. Note OS2U floatplane that had been jarred off the port catapult, breaking its wing on impact with the aircraft crane.
Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives #19-N-106304.
J.I. during his service.
J.I. receiving the Louisiana Veterans of Medal of Honor from Governor Jindal alongside his wife Verna on April 16, 2010.
Ordeal of the USS Houston from Jack Fellows' book on the ship.
J.I. at the World War II Memorial with the Louisiana Honor Air in May 2011.
J.I. during his service.
As a plank member of the USS Houston, J.I. received a piece of the ship's plank when it was decommissioned and scrapped in 1959.
The medals J.I. was awarded for his service in the US Navy.
Verna and J.I. or "Jim" as she called him. When they met in California, J.I. had his initials JIM for Joseph Ignatius Monte sewn on his clothes. Verna thought it was for his name Jim and continued to call him that throughout their life together.
An MP directs Red Ball Express drivers to
stay on the ‘Ball.’ September 5th, 1944
Gift of Julian Dean, 2010.523.350
Hand drawn map showing one of the original
Red Ball Express routes around Chartres, France
Massive Red Ball Express convoys passing
through a regulating point
70 years ago today, within an environment of institutional prejudices and against a stubborn German foe, the most famous American service unit of World War II – the Red Ball Express – was born. Throughout most of the War, the predominant assignments given to African-American servicemen was within the Quartermaster and Transportation Corps. Nevertheless, although many African-American soldiers found themselves segregated from white units and relegated to non-combat roles,this did not keep them, or the over 75% African American drivers of the Red Ball Express, out of the fight.
The Red Ball Express – its name taken from a railroad term meaning express freight – was a massive, round-the-clock convoy of supply-trucks, organized in north-western France as an immediate response to the problem of keeping the forward-area elements of the American First and Third Army supplied with petroleum, oil and lubricants (also known as POL supplies). Following the late July 1944 break-out in Normandy, American forces found themselves outpacing the reach of their supply lines. In an effort to solve this crisis – described by war correspondent Ernie Pyle as “a tactician’s hell and a quartermaster’s purgatory” – and bridge the gap between the soldiers at the front and the supply dumps at the Normandy beach-heads, the Red Ball Express was born.
On August 25, 1944, the Red Ball Express highway – two long-distance, one-way ‘loop highway’ routes – was opened at the port town of Cherbourg. Similar to the human circulatory system, the Red Ball highway’s northern route was for delivering supplies and the southern route was for returning convoys, with both routes open only to military traffic. A shortage of trucks and drivers for the Red Ball Express routes saw any non-essential vehicles pressed into service and many ‘volunteers’ – some of whom had never driven any type of automobile before – thrown behind the wheel and transformed overnight into drivers. One Red Ball recruit recalled that ‘Red Ball trucks broke, but they didn’t brake.’ On average, over 900 ‘deuce-and-a-half’ trucks were rolling on the Red Ball Highway at any one time, carrying thousands of tons of supplies forward, fueling the American advance.
Though only in existence for three months, from between August 25th and November 16th, 1944, the importance of the Red Ball Express and the heroic efforts of its drivers was clearly understood by Allied leadership in this, the world’s first “100 percent internal combustion engine war.” Over the course of 83 days, the Red Ball Express and its drivers delivered over 500,000 tons of supplies vital to the American war effort and the liberation of Europe. The Red Ball Express also served as indisputable proof of the quality of African-American soldiers. In an October, 1944 message to the troops, General Eisenhower was not at all faint in his praise for the Red Ball Express’ drivers.
October 1944
TO: The Officers and Men of the Red Ball Highway
1. In any war, there are two tremendous tasks. That of the combat troops is to fight the enemy. That of the supply troops is to furnish all the material to insure victory. The faster and farther the combat troops advance against the foe, the greater becomes the battle of supply.
2. Supplies are reaching the continent in increasing streams. But the battle to get those supplies to the front becomes daily of mounting importance.
3. The Red Ball Line is the lifeline between combat and supply. To it falls the tremendous task of getting vital supplies from ports and depots to the combat troops, when and where such supplies are needed, material without which the armies might fail.
4. To you drivers and mechanics and your officers, who keep the Red Ball vehicles constantly moving, I wish to express my deep appreciation. You are doing an excellent job.
5. But the struggle is not yet won. So the Red Ball Line must continue the battle it is waging so well, with the knowledge that each truckload which goes through to the combat forces cannot help but bring victory closer.
Program from the 10,000th Boat Ceremony. The National WWII Museum, 0000.045.001
July 23, 1944, was a milestone in production for Higgins Industries. Seventy years ago today, Higgins Industries held an enormous celebration upon the delivery of the 10,000th boat to the Navy. The 10,000th boat, an LCM, was completed a day earlier and transported on a platform to the site of the celebration, New Orleans Lakefront. Not even two months following the D-Day landings at Normandy, Higgins staged a reenactment of those landings at New Orleans Lake Pontchartrain. A ship anchored in the lake unloaded troops onto landing craft which invaded the seawall of Lake Pontchartrain where thousands watched the display. PT boats also played a role in the show, patrolling the shores, and aircraft flew as if in defense against enemy aircraft. The ceremony was attended by Bureau of Ships chief Rear Admiral E.L. Cochrane, who in his address to the crowd called Andrew Jackson Higgins “a pioneer” in the field of landing craft. He praised the work and achievements of the men and women of Higgins Industries.
Ceremony for the 10,000th Higgins boat on Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans, 23 July 1944. Gift of Louis Gilmore, 2008.379.023
Ceremony for the 10,000th Higgins boat on Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans, 23 July 1944. Gift of Louis Gilmore, 2008.379.024
Ceremony for the 10,000th Higgins boat on Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans, 23 July 1944. Gift of Louis Gilmore, 2008.379.038
Ceremony for the 10,000th Higgins boat on Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans, 23 July 1944. Gift in memory of Andres N. Horcasitas, 2009.428.010
Ceremony for the 10,000th Higgins boat on Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans, 23 July 1944. Gift in memory of Andres N. Horcasitas, 2009.428.011
Ceremony for the 10,000th Higgins boat on Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans, 23 July 1944. Gift in memory of Andres N. Horcasitas, 2009.428.012
US Navy Official photography, Gift of Charles Ives, from the collection of The National WWII Museum
Seventy years ago today, US Navy personnel examined the German Goliath in Normandy. The tracked mine was developed for use beginning in 1942. Goliath operators used a joystick control box connected by 2,000 yards of wire to steer the battery powered device. Carrying over 200 pounds of high explosives the device was intended for one-time use including destroying tanks, disrupting troop formations and demolishing structures.
Slow moving and highly visible Goliath’s command cables were often severed, and its thin armor provided minimal protection during battle. Despite its limited success, technology used to develop the Goliath helped to lay the foundation for modern remotely operated vehicles.
The capture of U-505. Image courtesy of the Historic Naval Ships Association.
Seventy years ago on June 4, 1944, German submarine U-505 was captured by United States Navy off the coast of West Africa. The capture of this elusive U-boat not only protected essential Atlantic supply routes, but also resulted in the successful recovery of German encryption technology and code books. The Enigma machine with its code setting manuals was a key piece of intelligence in allowing the Allies to interpret complex German encryption.
The U-505 was responsible for sinking three American ships along with 47,000 tons of Allied shipments. Using intercepted radio transmissions, U-505 was intercepted and brought to the surface by a depth charge attack from the USS Chatelain. Boarded by a party from the USS Pillsbury, U-505 was the first enemy ship captured at sea by American forces since the War of 1812. The long range U-boat, now housed underground at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, is the only Type IX-C submarine remaining in the world.
Learn more about this capture and the Battle of the Atlantic in our Lunchbox Lecture: The 70th Anniversary of the Capture of U-505 by John McGuckin on Wednesday, June 4, 2014. For more details on this event, visit us here.
“Exhausted from their rapid advance inland from the Normandy beachhead, U.S. soldiers relax for a few minutes outside of a French cafe.” 20 June 1944. U.S. Navy Official photograph, Gift of Charles Ives, from the collection of the National WWII Museum. 2011.102.386
As the 70th Anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy approaches on June 6th, many teachers are looking for educational resources to help bring this content into their classrooms. A great place to start is with some of The National WWII Museum’s D-Day lesson plans and fact sheets. One way to appeal to visual learners and to introduce students to the magnitude and the significance of the D-Day landings in turning the war in favor of the Allies is through the use of historic photographs. Our lesson “A Picture’s Worth A Thousand Words” contains several iconic D-Day photographs and teaches students to “read” the images as primary sources to learn more about the high degree of planning and preparation, as well as the tremendous challenges that Allied soldiers faced in making the D-Day landings a success. This lesson can be enhanced with some lesser known Normandy photographs from The National WWII Museum’s Digital Collections site, or can be paired with our D-Day Diary, Eisenhower Speaks, WWII by the Numbers or Mapping the Geography of D-Day lessons for a more interdisciplinary approach.
Other resources which can help bring the events of D-Day to life for students and assist them in developing historical empathy is through the use of the Museum’s oral histories. The National WWII Museum’s Digital Collections contains a number of compelling interviews with WWII veterans who experienced D-Day and lived to tell about the invasion. For instance, Coast Guard coxswain Martin Perrett from New Orleans, LA vividly recalled the tension and fear of the soldiers as he ferried them to fight at Utah Beach in his LCVP boat on June 6, 1944. Len Lomell, Company D, 2nd Ranger Battalion shared his inspiring story about how he and other Rangers risked their lives to storm and capture German guns at Pointe du Hoc. Students can also listen to Walter Ehlers, as he recounts his heroic actions near Normandy that earned him the Medal of Honor, and Abe Baum, as he reflects on D-Day and what it meant to be an American Jew fighting against the Nazis in WWII. Finally, any teachers and students who are in or will be near New Orleans next week are welcome to join us onsite at The National WWII Museum for our D-Day Commemorative events on Friday, June 6th and Saturday, June 7th. For those who are unable to visit us in person but who still want a unique way to observe D-Day on Friday, June 6th, please check out our new minute-by-minute D-Day timeline on the Museum’s D-Day70.org website.
"Exhausted from their rapid advance inland from the Normandy beachhead, U.S. soldiers relax for a few minutes outside of a French cafe." 20 June 1944. U.S. Navy Official photograph, Gift of Charles Ives, from the collection of the National WWII Museum. 2011.102.386
Hundreds of GIs boarding a ship in preparation for the D-Day beach landings. Image courtesy of The National Archives and Records Administration.
Eisenhower talking with Paratroopers from the 101st before the invasion. Image courtesy of The National Archives and Records Administration.
Allied soldiers on LCT troop transport in the English Channel. U.S. Navy official photograph, courtesy of The National Archives and Records Administration.
One of Robert Capa's iconic photographs of Company E, 16th Regiment, 1st Infantry Division as they invade Omaha Beach. Army Signal Corps Collection, The National Archives and Records Administration.
Wounded men on Omaha Beach. Army Signal Corps Collection, The National Archives and Records Administration.
Higgins Industries production of LCVPs in preparation for D-Day and other amphibious landings. Image courtesy of The National Archives and Records Administration.
French partisans greeting Allied troops from the 7th Army in Aubagne on 23 August 1944, U.S. Army Signal Corps photograph from the collection of The National WWII Museum, 2002.337.921.
Liberated French citizens welcome American soldiers. 15 June 1944. U.S. Navy official photograph, Gift of Charles Ives, from the collection of The National WWII Museum, 2011.102.473.
Post by Megan Byrnes, K-12 Curriculum Coordinator.
Image Courtesy of The Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum
70 years ago today, on May 11, 1944, the Fourth and final Battle of Monte Cassino began as the U.S. Fifth Army and British Eighth Army attempted to smash through the fortifications of the German Winter Line. Serving within the British Eighth as part of the attack were units from throughout the British Empire and Commonwealth as well as several formations composed of exiles from Nazi-occupied nations. One such formation was the Polish II Corps on the British right flank, among whose ranks marched a most unique soldier.
Rescued in the mountains of Iran as a cub in 1942 and adopted by the Twenty-Second Artillery Supply Company of the Polish II Corps, Wojtek – a Syrian Brown Bear whose name means ‘smiling warrior‘ – traveled with Polish forces throughout the Middle East and North Africa, doubling as both mascot and morale booster. Polish II Corps servicemen quickly taught the young Wojtek how to salute and to wrestle as well as how to smoke and eat cigarettes and to drink beer. However, unlike other mascot animals who were not permitted to accompany soldiers into combat, Wojtek made the journey from Egypt to Italy alongside the Polish II Corps after being officially drafted into the Polish Armed Forces in the West with the rank of Private; the Poles even going so far as giving the bear his own paybook and serial number.
Image Courtesy of The Imperial War Museum
Image Courtesy of The Imperial War Museum
Though stories of Wojtek driving supply trucks and carrying ammo crates into battle are no doubt apocryphal, Wojtek was with the men of the Twenty-Second Artillery Supply Company during the hard fighting at Monte Cassino: the bear’s popularity being recognized in the battle’s aftermath by a new unit emblem depicting Wojtek carrying an artillery shell. Wojtek would survive the Italian Campaign and the war, retiring to the Edinburgh Zoo where he lived until 1963, inspiring children’s books, several documentaries, an official brand of Wojtek beer as well as a memorial statue in the Polish city of Krakow set to be unveiled later this year.
This June, the Museum will be taking four D-Day veterans back to the shores of Normandy, France to partake in the 70th Anniversary of D-Day commemorations. During their time in Normandy, they will revisit the battlefields where they were stationed and will be honored with other veterans at the 70th Anniversary French and American Ceremony at the Normandy American Cemetery. These veterans will also share their war stories with those aboard the Museum’s 70th Anniversary of D-Day Cruise in a Veterans Panel monitored by NBC’s Tom Brokaw.
Meet D-Day veteran Tom Blakey, of the 505th Reg., 82nd Airborne Div., who will be traveling back to Normandy with the Museum this June.
Blakey at Camp Mackall, North Caroline in 1943. Image courtesy of the National Archives, from the collection of The National WWII Museum.
Tom Blakey, was born in Nacogdoches, Texas but his WWII service took him far from his hometown. He jumped into Normandy on D-Day as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne. He landed in a church cemetery and made his way to a small but strategic bridge at La Fiere just west of Ste. Mere Eglise. There he was a part of the “costliest small-unit action in the history of the US Army.”
After the Normandy Campaign, Blakey participated in Operation Market Garden in Holland and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. During the Bulge he was pulled off the front lines to serve as an aide to Lt. Gen. Lewis Brerton of the 1st Allied Airborne Army, where he was stationed in Paris for the remainder of the war. Tom has been a loyal volunteer of The National WWII Museum for 14 years and recently he received the rank of Chevalier in the French Legion of Honor, France’s highest award to any person, civilian or military.
This June, the Museum will be taking four D-Day veterans back to the shores of Normandy, France to partake in the 70thAnniversary of D-Day commemorations. During their time in Normandy, they will revisit the battlefields where they were stationed and will be honored with other veterans at the 70th Anniversary French and American Ceremony at the Normandy American Cemetery. These veterans will also share their war stories with those aboard the Museum’s 70thAnniversary of D-Day Cruise in a Veterans Panel monitored by NBC’s Tom Brokaw.
Meet Darold Rice of the 359th Reg., 90th Div., who landed on Utah Beach and fought in the Faliaise Gap on that fateful day that brought the Allies closer to victory who will be traveling with the Museum this June.
Image courtesy of John Grindahl.
Darold Rice grew up in Flint, Michigan. He registered right when he turned 18, in July 1943. Less than one year later he was landing at Utah Beach on D-Day. He served as the ammo bearer for a water-cooled machine gun in “D” Company of the 359th Regiment.
Due to the losses incurred during “Exercise Tiger,” Darold’s unit was attached to the 4th Infantry Division for D-Day and landed in the late afternoon of June 6th. Upon landing, they began to make their way to Ste. Mere Eglise to link up with the paratroopers. He was involved in heavy fighting on Hill 122 near La Haye-du-Puits then his unit swung east to help trap the Germans in the Falaise Gap. He had a “ring-side seat” for the battle for Chambois as his unit overlooked the town in August 1944.
This June, the Museum will be taking four D-Day veterans back to the shores of Normandy, France to partake in the 70th Anniversary of D-Day commemorations. During their time in Normandy, they will revisit the battlefields where they were stationed and will be honored with other veterans at the 70th Anniversary French and American Ceremony at the Normandy American Cemetery. These veterans will also share their war stories with those aboard the Museum’s 70th Anniversary of D-Day Cruise in a Veterans Panel monitored by NBC’s Tom Brokaw.
Cosmo Uttero in 1943. Image courtesy of Cosmo Uttero.
Meet D-Day veteran Cosmo Uttero, of the 175th Reg., 29th Div., who landed on Omaha Beach, who will be traveling with the Museum this June to Normandy.
Cosmo Uttero of Wellesley, Massachusetts joined the Army in June 1943 at the age of 17. He was assigned to Ft. Devens, Massachussetts and then went to Camp Croft, South Carolina for basic infantry training. After finishing training in 16 weeks he went straight overseas on the Queen Elizabeth, landing in Scotland in November 1943 where he was assigned to the 29th Division. From there he shipped down to Cornwall, England where he and his unit were told that they would be the spearhead of the invasion. They trained along the English coast until 10 days before D-Day, when he was sequestered in preparation for D-Day.
On June 4th his ship sailed for France, but had to turn back due to bad weather and the invasion being postponed for one day. On D-Day, Uttero’s unit was not set to land until the day after but the horrific losses suffered by the first waves of the 29th Division forced his unit to go in at Vierville-sur-Mer around 12:00pm on June 6th. Dealing with seasickness onboard the landing craft, Uttero wondered what it was going to be like dying, but his seasickness made him feel like dying would’ve been the lesser of two evils.
Unloading in neck-deep water, Uttero made his way to the beach after jettisoning all of his gear. As soon as he reached the beach he retrieved a rifle from one of his fallen comrades and made his way forward to the high ground overlooking Omaha Beach. After making it to the top of the bluffs, he made his way to a small building, having a chance to look back at all of the dead men and burning and wrecked vehicles down below.
