The greatest generation: Three Du Quoin WWII veterans will marshal Nov. 11 downtown parade
David Johnson, now 94, was part of a mobile combat reconnaissance unit serving at Guadalcanal at the height of World War II. He helped American troops who were sweeping Japanese-held Pacific islands in the closing months.
Charles Bishop was drafted into the army at the age of 20. He was placed in the 83rd Infantry, which was mainly composed of members of the Ohio National Guard. Mr. Bishop landed on Omaha Beach in early June 1944, just after the D-Day invasion had begun. Bishop was involved in heavy fighting as his division prepared to invade and liberate French cities.
August A. Campanella was a tech sergeant in the 3rd U.S. Army. He was drafted like many others in the later part of November 1941 at the age of 21. Once he and his group were overseas, they arrived in Scotland at a small town near Glasgow in March of 1944. When they got there, they boarded a train which took them to Knutsford, England. They stayed in the Knutsford area until about May. From there, they served in France. When they arrived, it had been about two weeks since D-Day and the fiercest fighting of the war.
They are all from Du Quoin and all part of The Greatest Generation. Their numbers grow smaller and these three will be honored as grand marshals for the November11 Veterans Day parade in downtown Du Quoin. The parade starts at 10 a.m. at Banterra Bank, will move east through downtown Du Quoin, will turn north onto Washington Street and empty into Keyes City Park for the 11 a.m. American Legion observance.
"I went in on April 8, 1941 and served almost three years," says Johnson. "We took care of communications. There were about 500 men in the squad. I was part of a hit and run outfit on Guadalcanal," he said.
"When I got there we were trying to clean up on the island," he said. Johnson remembers the constant torture having to listen to Tokyo Rose on the radio. Tokyo Rose was a generic name given by allied forces in the South Pacific during World War II to any of approximately a dozen English-speaking female broadcasters of Japanese propaganda. The intent of these broadcasts was to disrupt the morale of allied forces listening to the broadcast.
The men were sick of her and the men begged Johnson for another broadcast.
Their prayers were answered. One night because of what's known as "radio skip", a signal carrying a broadcast from the "national ballroom in Chicago" 3,000 miles away bounced into Johnson's half-track armored truck. Johnson remembers the dozens of troops that gathered around. The music continued to play long after the American troops had fallen asleep.
When the war ended, Johnson returned to the states and worked as a bowling alley pin setter (pins were reset by hand) and at a bakery.
In Du Quoin, you will remember him working alongside Les McRoy at Linkon's Auto Parts on North Mulberry Street for more than 20 years. He lost his wife in 1990 and the card he wrote out by hand decades ago asking her to marry him still sits on the desk near him in his living room.
Upon arriving in France, Charles Bishop was shocked by the sight of death and mass graves along the countryside. One of Charles' fellow soldiers remarked that "you ain't gonna die of old age in this occupation." This remark was almost prophetic as Mr. Bishop was hit in his lower left leg by shrapnel, breaking both bones, just a few days after his 22nd birthday. Nine of the 12 men with Mr. Bishop were killed in this attack. Bishop survived because a soldier carried him to safety. He remained in shock for five days due to the loss of blood. Due to this injury, he was hospitalized for ten days in France before being sent to England, where he remained in traction for eight to nine months. Oft-times, Bishop slept wearing a straight jacket due to nightmares. The straight jacket prevented him from doing further damage to his broken leg.
With his active fighting behind him, Bishop was sent back to the United States on a troop ship. It was protected by larger ships and submarine chasers. It took 14 days to get back home.
Campanella was a typist and stenographer in the company that accompanied General Patton and the mobile 3rd U.S. Army's headquarters. He had an assistant that helped with all the typing of the records and documents; they had to make six copies of every document. He carried a pistol as a sidearm. He and his company were privileged in that they were able to travel through many of the areas that were famous in the earlier World War I.
America used England as a base of operations. "There were anywhere from 500 to 1000 planes in the air at one time when the raids and pushes forward were conducted. "The ground just vibrated when they went over, and boy I mean to tell you thankfully they belonged to us. They did a great job," recalled Campanella.
Since he traveled in the same circles as many of the officers in the allied command, his company was careful never to stay at any one place for more than a week if they could help it. Since he was stationed with the headquarters, he just followed the troops and made sure to stay with the group so as to have protection.
If your group would like to participate in what promises to be a great Veterans Day parade, please contact the Du Quoin Chamber at 542-9570.