1945-1969
by
Marvin T. Paulson
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Dear
Family: Paulson 08-01-01
I have just finished answering a request from
Craig as to “How it was” in the 20's and 30's to
which I added the teens. In the past, several of you have, at
times, suggested I write about experiences encountered in all
of our moves - 44 is what I remember but arguably it may be
only 41 as I sometimes claim in talking to friends. Now, I am
going to make a stab at making our travelogue interesting enough
for record.
1945-1948
Muriel’s and my trek together began in
the old military chapel at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. Talk about being
left standing at the church, but this time it was the chaplain
that forgot to check his schedule. He was chased down and finally
tied our nuptial knot 1 ½ hours late. Consequently, our
presence at the reception of Colonel Hecht’s [Commander
Maurice Hecht of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, transferred
to the Army as the chief of the Artillery Survey School at Fort
Sill towards the end of World War II] was cut short in
order to catch the train in Duncan, Oklahoma, heading for Kansas
City. Lo and behold, this was war time and the train was loaded
except one vacant seat until Oklahoma City where I could finally
get up off Muriel’s lap. From there on, another seat became
vacant but not together. Soon the train became full to standing
room only so we were afraid to leave our seats to even hold
hands a few minutes.
We arrived at the Bellevive Hotel in KC at 4:30
A. M. and was told - no vacancy. Even with reservations requested.
They did have compassion for this war-time couple and said to
wait until someone checked-out and we’d be first. Luckily,
our wait was short and the suite provided was great.
My military leave was only two weeks, so in
couple-three days we headed by train to St. Paul and then Hatton
to gather Muriel’s personal belongings and return to Ft.
Sill. My tenure at Ft. Sill had been too short for me to rate
military housing but a search of Lawton turned up a converted
garage with two rooms and bath in an apartment. It served us
well.
Our first separation came soon afterwards with
orders for me to report to General Headquarters Unit in Manila,
Philippines, and to depart on 1 January 1946. We spent our first
Xmas together packing Muriel for Hatton, her family home, and
me for overseas.
The Japanese surrendered in 1945 but, in 1946,
the Philippines were still in shambles. The Japanese had done
a masterful job of destruction in retreat from Manila. The streets
were finally being cleared by the U. S. Engineers but the citizenry
still existed in makeshift homes without any running water and
electricity. Truly a stinking mess. I was quartered in a military
tent city on the outskirts of Manila and had the assigned duty
to assist in the rehabilitation of the Philippine Coast and
Geodetic Survey. All survey records and nautical charts had
been confiscated by the Japanese and the personnel dislodged
during the war.
“Colonel” Glenn Moore, and myself,
“Major” Marvin Paulson were actually C&GS officers
still on duty with the Army and assigned to the General Headquarters
Chief Engineer under General MacArthur in Tokyo. With this leverage,
we gained title to a bombed-out Japanese candy factory in reparations
for the C&GS building destroyed in the war. Construction
equipment and supplies were plentiful from the Foreign Liquidation
Commission so remodeling, to suit office space, was undertaken
using former C&GS Filipino personnel recovered from nearly
every province in the Philippines. We acquired two surplus Coast
Guard ships for surveying and charting the Philippine Islands.
The Bureau was in full operation, though limited in personnel
capacity, by the date of Philippine independence.
Col. Moore was subsequently transferred to the
29th Engineer Topographic Battalion as Commanding Officer and
I was transferred 6 months later as operations officer. The
29th Engineer mission was post-war photo-mapping of the Philippine
Islands and based in Manila. At the end of hostilities with
Japan, there was a grand exodus of military personnel from the
war zone. To entice a volunteer rehabilitation group to remain
on duty, the military gave high priority to constructing living
quarters for the families of the soldiers. With my seniority,
and agreeing to a two year extension of duty abroad, Muriel
was scheduled on the first ship of dependents to depart the
USA but due to a snafu in her passport, she arrived on the second
ship in August 1946 - the GENERAL BREWSTER.
It is difficult for me to adequately express
the reactions that Muriel must have felt as we drove down the
Dewey Boulevard of devastation to our apartment. In the midst
of all the rubble was this modern looking 9-story building that
had been spared demolition and would be our home in Manila.
Outside appearances can, however, be misleading as to what is,
or is not, inside. The building’s name was the “The
Michelle.”
The Japanese, upon retreating, had dropped a
hand grenade down the elevator shaft to the first floor, cut
the electric wires and severed water lines. The U. S. Engineers
had to set up generators for intermittent electricity and furnish
a water supply to a spigot outside off the first floor. Now
comes the clincher, the warehouses, with all the military-housing
furniture and kitchen equipment, burned to the ground just the
night before the ship arrived. We were issued only two army
cots with mosquito netting and a bucket to fetch our own water
from the ground floor. Our apartment was on the sixth floor.
I could hardly call it a happy home coming, but we were together.
In a short time we grew accustomed to our surroundings,
like sitting on boxes, eating “out” in a mess hall,
and carrying a bucket with us every time we went down the stairs
and bringing back a “pail of water.” The Filipinos
were quick to start up their furniture businesses so we soon
bought our own set of living-room and dining-room rattan furniture.
We were the envy of those waiting for the military new supply
to come in. When shipments from the states finally began arriving,
we were issued a new Serval refrigerator that operated on kerosene
instead of electricity. Finally - most of the comforts of home,
so to speak, except no running water to which we quickly became
adjusted. The army provided a well-stocked commissary and Post
Exchange for all of our shopping needs. We were well advised
not to buy local products for eating. Socializing, the first
year, was primarily within our own apartment complex. All occupants
were military families of various ranks but under the same circumstances
in a foreign “ravaged” country. Several close friendships
developed.
Our second year saw the influx of the civilian
population for the various U. S. Government Bureaus engaged
in the Philippine Rehabilitation and Independence process. Several
were Coast and Geodetic Survey officers and Civil Service personnel.
Kind of “old home week” for us meeting the ships
and getting acquainted. Brick and Leila Maynard were two of
the civilian group that became our very close friends. Both
had been prisoners of war under the Japanese. Brick was with
Douglas MacArthur on Corregidor Island and was taken prisoner
with Gen. Wainwright [Editor’s note: Captain Paulson
probably meant General Jonathan Wainwright.] and shipped
to Japan. Leila was interred in Santo Tomas with all the rest
of the civilian “prisoners of war.”
The accounts of the atrocities that they endured
are amazing, to say the least. Brick was subjected to extreme
physical torment that required several months of rehabilitation
exercises in the hospital following liberation. Leila, physically
speaking, faired remarkably well with outside friends being
able to make contact. She was a teacher of English classic literature
before imprisonment, so she helped organize and manage school
classes for the children in Santo Tomas. I just wish that I
could relate, with accuracy, some of the stories we were told.
Much of what we learned about the Philippine culture we got
from them, and it was Brick that taught me to mix the perfect
martini. I was forever grateful.
We were allowed one 10 day stint of R and R
(rest and relaxation) that we spent in Baguio, the Shangri-la
of the Philippines. Actually it is called the summer capital
for the Government but occupied by the U. S. military for temporary
R and R. It is a mountainous area at about 6000 feet with a
golf course through a valley. One infamous par 3 hole is about
50 yards on the horizontal but about 100 yards straight up from
the tee to the green. There is a long zig-zag path to follow
up with a landing about half way for a drop area for hitting
errant balls. The landing was full of divots. Thank goodness
the balls were on the house.
The war-time complement of the 29th Engrs, as
with most of the military organizations at the time, had elected
to take their leave of active duty and return to civilian life.
Consequently, most of the 1500 personnel of the Battalion were
untrained Filipino Recruits. Training the companies into surveying
cadres and dispersing them to field mapping projects was the
responsibility of the Operations Officer and, therefore, entailed
numerous inspection trips throughout the Islands for supervision
and instructions. As a result of this assignment, I visited
every major island of the Philippines and became familiar with
its terrain. Muriel became a “war-bride-alone-again”
during my many absences.
After the Philippines gained their independence
from U. S. dominance, there was almost immediate deterioration
in the camaraderie with the U. S. The rebel (Huk-Bala-Hop) insurgence
became rampant and made travel, even to the Commissary, dangerous
without a convoy. We were relieved to have our Philippine duty
terminated in April 1948.
It was sort of a nostalgic feeling that we
felt as we departed Manila on the troopship General Brewster,
but the realization of going home to the good old U. S. A. soon
took over our thoughts. We had a three weeks shipboard trip
with welcome stops in Guam and Honolulu. The highlight of the
trip, however, was the daily bridge games we had with a Lt.
Col. and his wife, whose names elude me just now, for a total
of 52 rubbers. Muriel and I were ahead as we docked in Honolulu,
but as we approached San Francisco Harbor they were champions
by one final game and 100 points. Maybe that is why I can’t
recall their names.
What a treat it was to dine at the “Top
of the Mark.” Everybody spoke English and there was no
hesitation about the menu items. Clearing the military hurdles
to begin leave took a couple days and then by railroad we were
on our way home to Fargo and Hatton, North Dakota. Life was
beautiful.
Another day begins (present time) and as I woke
up this morning it came to me that our bridge compatriots were
Maria Kaldor Pennington and her husband Col. Pennington. I’m
not sure that he had a first name. Maria had been a student
of Leila’s in pre-war days and her parents were social
friends of the Maynards at the Polo Club. Brick and Leila were
both tournament caliber bridge players and low handicap golfers.
And now, back at the U. S. homestead, we began our terminal
leave of 60 days spending a few days at each of our homes back
and forth, and learning a little more about golf when we could
break away. Thinking back, the leave time went so fast that
I can’t think of a thing we did except enjoy being home.
We bought our first car. At the end of leave, I was ordered
back to Washington, D. C. to terminate my Army assignment and
revert back to the Coast and Geodetic Survey for duty. My return
greeting wasn’t exactly exhilarating but more like “Glad
to have you back. How soon can you leave. We need you to take
over a triangulation party by the end of the week in Alturas,
Calif. -- But first, report to the Supervisor of the San Francisco
Office.” Talk about a long days journey into night ---
We were totally exhausted on arrival in California. At that
time, I vowed never to travel over 300 to 400 miles a day on
any of our future travels. As a matter of fact, we did adhere
to this schedule on all subsequent moves and found out the pleasure
that traveling can be with time for 9 holes of golf where available
each day. A different golf course every day is enjoyable.
