Interview by Johnnie Faye Taylor
Bill Tyre is the son of C.C. and Nina Nobles Tyre. He was born and raised in the Brewton Community of Laurens County, Georgia.
After graduating from high school, Bill went to Madison, Georgia for vocational school. He was taking some courses when the war started. Not only was he in school in North Georgia but he met the love of his life up there also.
Bill enlisted in the Army Air Corps in October, 1942 at the age of 19. He received his training in Florida at Boca Chica and Venice Air Bases and finished his training in Fresno Air Base, California. He was actually sent to the Miami area for training as a tail gunner. While undergoing tests, it was learned that he was color blind. This meant no tail gunner job for him. He was put in the engineering section where he served the remainder of his military time.
While in training at Boca Chica, Florida, an airplane crashed just off shore. Bill volunteered to go out and help clean up the debris that was mostly body parts. The water was between waist and neck high where they worked.
Bill was granted leave after a training session and came back to Georgia. He married Evelyn Stewart while on leave. Evelyn went with Bill to California while he was training at Fresno. She became pregnant with their first child while there.
Rumors were circulating among the troops of the pending assignments overseas. Bill decided in June of 1943 that he should get leave and accompany his pregnant wife back to Georgia.
Money was scarce for the young military couple. Service men could travel by train at no cost. Their wives had to pay for travel. They managed to scrape together the funds for a train ticket and some money for food. By the time they arrived in New Orleans, Bill and Evelyn were out of money and food. Bill went to the USO and got some food for Evelyn. They travelled on to Macon, Georgia. In Macon, they called Bill's parents who made the trip to Macon to pick them up. Evelyn remembers how hungry they were and their first meal at Bill's parents' home after their long journey across country. Bill's mother had cooked a chicken dinner for the young couple. Bill and Evelyn thought it was the best meal they had ever eaten.
Bill got another week's leave to come home in August, 1943 after the birth of their son, William C. Tyre, Jr. On the trip from the West Coast, Bill again travelled to Macon by train. He rode the bus on to Dublin.
After many rumors over many months, orders came for Bill's squadron to go overseas in November, 1943. Their port of embarkation was San Francisco, California. The ship transporting them moved along a zigzag course making short sharp turns all the way across the Pacific to avoid Japanese submarines. The men were very seasick and dirty while en route. Their destination was secret. They only assumed they were going somewhere in the South Pacific. The ship made her 1st stop in Tasmania, off the coast of Australia, to take on water and supplies. The 2nd stop while en route was Ceylon in the Indian Ocean. Again, they took on water and supplies. While in Ceylon, they were informed by their commanding officer that they were going to the China, Burma, India Theater of War.
When the ship made port in Bombay, India, it was December, 1943 and they had been on board the ship for 30 days. Bill's squadron boarded a troop train to travel across India to the town of Dacca. They were flown from Dacca to Chittagong, India near the border of Burma. Bill was assigned to the 420th Air Service Squadron in the Central Burma Campaign. This Squadron was to supply the ground troops with supplies that were dropped from the air and also to keep the airplanes in flying order.
Bill's work in the Army Air Corps varied according to the needs of the Squadron. He worked on the airplanes if he was needed for that on a particular day. Other times he flew missions. The missions were called "kicking missions". That's because they literally kicked supplies out of the airplanes so they would drop near U.S. troops who needed them. The airplanes used by Bill's Squadron were C-47s.
Bill's base camp was 20-40 miles from the front line of fighting. He doesn't remember ever being under enemy fire.
Living conditions were extremely bad. The men lived in Basha Huts made from bamboo poles with straw roofs. Many men became sick with Malaria and Dysentary. On two occasions snakes dropped from the straw roofs into the living quarters. The men chased the snakes down and killed them. There were many bats in the trees around the Basha Huts.
Once while out walking near the camp, Bill got near the edge of the jungle. There was a small clearing very close to where Bill was walking. There was 1 male and about 6 female baboons in the group. The male baboon became aggressive towards Bill. He jumped forward a time or two. Bill remembers this as being a very terrifying experience.
While in Chittagong, Bill had a severe eye infection and some kidney problems. He was a patient in the hospital for about a week. The hospital was a plaster building about 100 feet long with a thatched roof. The hospital served all the military men in the Central Burma Campaign. It was not a hospital just for the 220 men in Bill's outfit. About 100 other servicemen were patients while Bill was there. Many of the patients were from other outfits that were serving in the area. After his eyes began healing and he could open them again, he could see the poor condition of some of the men. He recalls seeing some men who looked like skeletons because of their weight loss. The only drugs that Bill remembers them using were sulfa drugs. Bill took Adabrin, which is a Malaria prevention drug, on a daily basis. Some of the men failed to take their medication and suffered the consequence of Malaria.
There was no church or chapel on this primitive base. They did have a chaplain stationed there but no scheduled worship service for the men to attend.
Bill remembers the food well. Many times they only had K Rations which included items like canned eggs, powdered milk and fruit bars. Part of the time they had a mess tent where the food was just fair.
Water had to be boiled. It was put in canvas lister bags and boiled over open fires. The bags were then hung on a tree limb until it was used. Bill and the other men there never had cool or cold water to drink. At best, it was warm.
Card Games were often the only entertainment the men could enjoy. About twice a week movies were shown on a screen hung on a tree. The movies were a welcome change for the men.
A cyclone hit the area one night and flattened the Basha Huts. The men began cleaning up the camp as soon as the storm was over. Since these huts had been home, the men had to sleep out in the open until pup tents and other makeshift shelters were put up. Regular military tents were finally put up but it took several weeks to complete the job. The regular work had to be completed daily before working on their temporary housing. The war would not wait.
Christmas came and went in 1943 and 1944 with no day off and no celebration. The war continued and so did the servicemen's jobs.
Mail call was usually about twice a week. Sometimes it was a month or longer getting there but the letters were always welcome. Bill remembers getting an empty package one time while in India. The box had been opened on one end and the contents removed.
Bathing was done with water in their helmets. Nearly the end of their time in India, they acquired a 55 gallon drum that they put holes in the bottom of so they could have a makeshift shower. By hanging the drum full of water, they at least had some water running over them. Their clothing was always dirty and sometimes ragged. There were no laundry facilities.
Bill and the other men were constantly homesick and sometimes physically sick. The filthy living conditions were thought to be a cause of some of the illnesses the men suffered.
One time he heard rumors that some of the surviving people of the famed Merrill's Mauraders came through Chittagong on their way to a hospital. The war was over for the Mauraders at that time. They had done their work well. Bill remembers being a little excited about the news. He was hoping to see his brother, John L. Tyre, who was with the Merrill's Mauraders on their march through China and India. However, Bill did not get to see him in India.
Poverty was evident everywhere Bill went in India. Hungry children were begging for money or food. This bothered Bill and he shared his meager amounts of food with as many children as possible. He also gave them money whenever he could.
The camp did not have any theft problems. The children didn't steal items from the Americans. They just hung around the area hoping to get food to eat.
Bill and the other men in his Squadron first heard about the Atomic Bombs dropped in Japan while listening to the radio. Later their commanding officer made the announcement. The men began packing up for the trip home.
About 2 weeks after the Atomic Bombs were dropped, Bill and the other men were on their way home. They travelled by ship via the Suez Canal with stops at Ayden, Arabia and Port Said, Egypt. They arrived in New York in November, 1945. Bill had completely circumnavigated the world.
Bill was discharged at Fort MacPherson, Georgia in November, 1945. He was awarded the American Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal with Bronze Star and the Good Conduct Medal.
Bill moved to Clarksville, Georgia with his wife and his young son whom he hadn't seen for 14 months. He took a job at Burch's Trading Post and worked there for 6 years. During this time Bill andd Evelyn's daughter, Joy Tyre Tanner, was born in 1949.
While living in Clarksville, Bill was active in the American Legion. He held the office of Adjutant General in the Clarksville American Legion.
The family moved back to Dublin about 1952. Bill worked for J.P. Stevens and Company as a supervisor in the shipping, receiving and billing department. He worked at Stevens for 12 years.
An opportunity arose for Bill to take a job with his brother-in-law's company, Young's Farm Service. He worked at Young's selling farm equipment until his retirement.
Bill and Evelyn are members of First Baptist Church in Dublin. Bill enjoys fishing and gardening. They are looking forward to their son's return to Dublin in the near future. He has a house under construction here now.
Bill, fairly recently, had the opportunity to visit with other Brewton natives who also had served in World War II. Seventeen young men from that community went into service for their country. A homemade flag was sewn and a star put on it for each of the 17 young men. The men all returned after the war and the flag was put away. It resurfaced and a reunion was planned. The men enjoyed being together again after all these years.
No comments:
Post a Comment