Photo Story: The Occupation of Tokyo Bay

Henry A. Shenette

Certificate Awarded to Third Fleet Landing Force, Task Force 31

(Certificate Privately Held by Cynthia Shenette; Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) At the end of World War II my dad was attached to the United States Marines and served with the United States Third Fleet's Task Force 31 which was involved in the occupation of Tokyo Bay.  He was part of the Yokosuka landing force which was deployed on August 30, 1945. My dad was a gunnery expert and his role was to dismantle the guns the Japanese had hidden in the caves in and around the Yokosuka Naval Base.  

The Indiana was part of the occupation force of  Tokyo Bay after the formal Japanese surrender on the USS Missouri on September 2, 1945. The USS Indiana sailed for the States on September 9, 1945.  She arrived in San Francisco Bay on September 29, 1945 and was the first ship to return to the States from Tokyo Bay.


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Photo Story: Dad, the Navy, and the USS Indiana

The USS Indiana Bombarding Kamaishi, Japan, July 14, 1945

Plank Owner's Certificate for the USS Indiana

(Photo of the USS Indiana is available at Wikipedia and is in the public domain. Plank Owner's Certificate Privately Held by Cynthia Shenette; Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) Dad joined the Navy in February of 1942.  He was assigned to the battleship the USS Indiana and served in the Pacific Theatre.  It may sound naive to say I knew a battleship was big, but I had no idea how big until I started researching the Indiana to learn more about my dad.  Five thousand, six hundred, fifty-three (5, 653) men served on the Indiana.  To put it into perspective the total number of sailors on the Indiana was one third the entire population of the town I currently live in.  For more information about the USS Indiana check out the USS Indiana BB-58 Homeport website which has wonderful photos and information, including the ship's log, about the ship.  You can also see a photo of my dad with other members of the Gunnery Department here.

My dad received the plank owner's certificate above on April 30, 1942 as one of the 2,109 men on board when the ship was put into commission.   Plank owners didn't actually "own" a plank of the deck.  It was an honorary title and part of a tradition which dates back to the time of wooden sailing vessels.  The Homeport website has a list of the plank owners.  My dad's name appears here.

My dad participated in 11 major battles in the Pacific Theatre.  He spoke very little about the actual battles, but I do remember him talking about a major fire on the ship.  When I started researching the Indiana I learned that the fire was caused by a collision between the Indiana and another ship, the USS Washington, which you can read about here.

My dad received two silver stars and two bronze stars for his service. Again, he never talked about what he did to receive his honors.  While he was proud of his service he never bragged about what he had done. He didn't "trot out his glory bars" as he use to say.  He was just doing his job. I did learn from someone years ago that he received one of his silver stars for throwing a live shell that had misfired off the deck and into the ocean. He was just doing his job.


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Chopin Rising

Leokadia (Szymanska) Szerejko and Helen Bulak

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette; Photograph of the Chopin Statue is in the public domain.) My grandmother's sister, Helen Bulak, visited Poland during the summer of 1937, two short years before the beginning of World War II. While she was there she spent several weeks in Warsaw visiting with my grandfather's brother Feliks Szerejko and his family.

The photo above was taken on Sunday July 4, 1937 in front of the statue of composer Frédéric Chopin in Lazienki Park. The art nouveau style statue was designed by Wacław Szymanowski and occupies a prominent spot in the largest park in Warsaw. Like much of current day Warsaw the statue in the contemporary photograph below is a replica.

The original statue was destroyed on May 31, 1940, blown up by the occupying German forces. The Germans salvaged the resulting scrap and transported it to a German steel mill to be melted and used for the war effort.  After the war a new statue was cast from the original mold and placed at the same site in Lazienki Park.

Like the statue of Chopin, Feliks and his wife Leokadia, were casualties of World War II. When I look at this photograph I can't help but think to myself, what if? What if life was different for Feliks and Leokadia and for the millions of other people just like them?

While a statue doesn't live or breath, it can serve as symbol for what was and is no more.  Bronze can be recast.  Chopin's statue was given a second chance at life, and like the phoenix it rises from the ashes to begin life anew. 


* Special thanks to Denise Levenick for posting a link to this post from her blog, the Family Curator, for the "Past is Present: Genealogy Photo Challenge for World Photography Day."


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Post World War II "Care" Packages - Amanuensis Monday

(Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette)

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

Thanks to John Newmark at Transylvanian Dutch for providing the idea for Amanuensis Monday.

I found the lists I have transcribed below along with letters sent from family in Warsaw during the mid to late 1940s.  Basic food and personal items that we take for granted were in short supply in Soviet occupied post World War II Poland.  I have a card from CARE which indicates that a blanket was sent on August 7, 1947.  Several letters ask for aspirin.  Letters from other family members in a DP camp in Germany mention items like cigarettes were sold on the black market to provide money for other needed goods.  Lists include things like socks, underwear, children's clothes, aprons, hose, and ribbon. 

Sometimes I think it's all too easy to get caught up in everyday annoyances and trivialities.  When I read the items on these lists and think about the recipients of the packages and their experiences with deprivation and hardship, I think about how lucky I really am.  I have a lot to be grateful for.

4 pkg. cheese  .80
1 lb. coffee  .29
1" peas  .13
1 can bacon  38
1 " sardines  .15
1 " spam  34
1 " tuna  .30
1 " evap. milk  .10
2 soaps  .10
1 pkg. tea  .15
1 can malted milk  .27
Hershey chocolat
Hershey Chocolate  .50
                       $    3.48


Henick
Apr. 6 - 46

1 peas  15
1 prunes  23
1 coffee  40
1 tea  25
1 cocoa  24
1 noodle  10
2 cookies  38
2 cereals  40
1 rice  23
deviled ham  13
spam  39
1 beef + gravy  59
1 lg. fig bars  59
1 beans + franks  18
1 tuna  35
6 sou.[?] soup  60
2 1/2 lb salamis
chocolate bars
3 kipper snacks 30
$5.00 in cash
2 face cloths
bullion
1 aspirin

Henick
Feb. 5-47
received
Helen


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Remembering Pearl Harbor

(Images and Text, Copyright(c) 2010 Cynthia Shenette) I took these photos on my first trip to Hawaii in 1997. I knew one of the places I had to visit while I was there was Pearl Harbor. My dad, Henry Shenette, spent almost five years in the U.S. Army, from 1936 to 1941. He finished his time in the army and separated from the service on 19 Nov 1941 in California. He barely had time to make it home to Massachusetts. Pearl Harbor was attacked on 07 Dec 1941, 18 days later. He reenlisted into the U.S. Navy on 12 Feb 1942. He served on the USS Indiana in the Pacific Theatre during World War II, and finally retired from the navy in 1957.


The Pearl Harbor Visitor's Center.


The Pearl Harbor Memorial.


The site of the USS Arizona.


The wall of names inside the memorial.




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