francescabellcoursenperritt.com

Tag: books

  • Albert Lonski Wartime

    My father, Albert Thomas Lonski, wore his dress uniform for this portrait photograph. This uniform, his dress uniform, included a forest green coat, trousers of the same color, a khaki shirt, and tie. The insignia on his hat and lapel was the Eagle, Globe and Anchor (EGA). This was Marine Corps symbol.  The next photo shows his Service ribbon bar at the top. This bar is divided into 3 parts. The Presidential Unit Citation on the left was awarded to all the men in his unit for heroism in action. His unit was Headquarters and Service company, !8th Marines. He was in the mapping section. In the center, the American Defense Service medal is represented. Military service members who served on active duty between 8 Sep 1939 and 6 Dec 1941 got this medal. In the right section is the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal. It went to those who served in that area from 1941 to 1945. Albert had 3 service stars on this right side of his service bar. These stars were often called battle stars because they meant that he participated in a named campaign.

    Albert’s sweetheart, Helen Wolfe, also served during WW2 in Normandy, France. Toward the end of her life she wrote her story of day  of Victory in Europe.

    She, an army nurse, was my mother. In this piece she reacts to the news the war has ended. She heard it as “La Guerre est finie.”

    “La Guerre est finie” boomed the French voice from the radio shattering the darkness.
    I stood alone and listened. I was caring for a large ward of wounded soldiers. It was midnight in France in 1945 (May 8). To all of us this meant we could go home again to our own families and our country.
    I asked myself should I wake my soldiers and tell them. I didn’t, saying to myself what if it is a false report as it might be? For days the two armies faced each other in the valley. This meant that the Germans had finally surrendered the command to the Americans. It was very dramatic standing in that darkened room hearing the war was at last over. The radio became lively with chatter spoken in excited German voices. I spoke a little (German) and could make out only a little bit. I did understand that Hitler married his sweetheart, Eva Braun, then both committed suicides. 
    I stood alone in the dark talking to myself with world shaking news leaking around me. Oh, why didn’t I wake up some of my soldiers? I didn’t.  I did go to my night supper where all on duty went for a meal. There I got to share and say, “La Guerre est finie”. Most of them had not heard.
    How different was the next night! I left the radio on for all the soldiers to hear a discussion about the GI bill. This bill would make a difference in the lives of these young men. They could go home, marry their sweethearts, have babies and go to school (with the help of this GI bill). It was a wonderful investment in people. Our government’s G I bill would make a difference to each of us and we were grateful and ready.
    The next week I received five proposals of marriage. These soldiers were ready to start a family and start living.
    I had a recent quarrel with my Albert, but he still held my heart. I accepted one of the offers, knowing I would not keep it. I, too, wanted to go to school.
    Instead, we married as soon as we saw one another.
    Eventually, we had two beautiful daughters (their oldest one being born almost exactly 9 months after they married). There was enough to do. We used the GI benefits and felt so rich with the 90 dollars the government gave us to live on. We soon had everything. We had two lovely children and enough to eat and La Guerre est finie, no more war.
    We lived in my mother’s old house in Oregon. Albert remade it into a beautiful palace covered with stones he carried from the rock quarry (also on his mother-in-law’s property).
    Our daughters grew daily. 
    Next part -Albert’s career
    After years (of higher education), Albert was tired of college. He contributed (his skills) to making airplanes. He helped develop the 747. We moved around the country a lot with him working for Boeing. He helped get the Saturn Booster in the air.
    It all ended (when Albert retired). We went back to our stone castle on the river. By that time we had four beautiful grandkids. What treasures they were and still are.
    Now our country is in a miserable war (Iraq War) which they cannot win. I hope these soldiers can come home and be ordinary people again. Then perhaps la Guerre est finie can happen.

    Albert Lonski Goes to War

    Early life

    Albert Thomas Lonski arrived in this world on February 6, 1922, In Bremerton, Washington, USA. This was the same year Hitler formed Jugenbund, predecessor to the Hitler Youth organization in Germany. Albert’s mother, Anna Luise Taubert, was born in central Germany. She came to North America as a young woman. Her brother, Walter Taubert, kept in contact with her and her family. He sent birthday cards to his nephew, Albert. Here is a photo of the postcard Albert received on January 21, 1933. Walter’s son, Helmut, who was Albert’s first cousin, wrote out the message. “Greetings to you, from your Helmet, Parents and Grandparents”. The grandparent would have been Luise’s mother who was also the grandmother of Albert.

    This same Helmut joined the German army when grown. He likely belonged to Hitler Youth as a teenager.

    When Albert was only 16, when he graduated from Franklin High School. Then in December of 1938, wanted to join the US Marine Corps. Young men were allowed to join at age 17 if they had written parental consent. It was likely Albert’s father, Thomas Lonski, who gave this consent. This must have been a difficult time in the Lonski household. Seventeen days after his 17th birthday on February 23,1939 Albert did join.

    In the Marine Reserves

    According to the Marine Muster Rolls from the National Archives, Albert drilled at the Canadian National Dock in Seattle. Dates included were March 1, 8, 15, 23, and 29.

    On December 20, 1939, he qualified as an Expert Rifleman.

    Albert’s unit, the second Division Combat Engineer Battalion, was activated on November 1, 1940, in San Diego, California. Albert stayed in Seattle, but drilled with his reserve unit at Aberdeen, Washington.

    Out of the Reserves into Training- Camp Elliott

    Pearl Harbor Attack occurred on December 7, 1941

    Albert went to Camp Elliott before the Pearl Harbor attack. He trained at this camp in San Diego and is here in April 1941.  Second Lieutenant, Ben Webtherwax, led class 2. Albert was a topographer. On the October muster roll he was also a topographer.

    Still at Fort Elliott in January 1942, Albert was then a private 1st class working in the mapping section.

    Camp Dunlap, Miland, California

    By July of 1942, Albert trained in a California desert camp, Camp Dunlap. Here he met Helen Wolfe, a nurse working at Brawley Hospital. Three liberty passes for Albert have the wrong birth date typed at the top. This made him seem two years older than he was. Helen was 24 when they met; Albert was 20. When Albert showed Helen his liberty pass, she thought he was 22. Of course, the truth came much later and she was mad.

    His October 1942 Muster Roll read,” Albert Lonski, computer, mapping section”.

    New Zealand

    In 1942 and 1943 New Zealanders in Wellington shared their space with 15,000 young American Marines. The U.S. Marine corps used Wellington, New Zealand as a base for training and staging during WW 2. It was also a place for soldiers to rest and recover from being in the field.

     Albert with the 2nd Marine Division arrived in January 1943. His unit was stationed at Camp McKay. Albert took photos. Few had written descriptions; many were stamped on the back with this mark.

    Here is a group photo of his unit in New Zealand. He is in front on the right. This is written on the back, “March 29, 1943, after 3 months.” Albert is in the front on the right.

    He photographed more than a few natives while in New Zealand.

    More photos

    In the Field

    His first stay here was brief. He left on December 12, 1942 aboard the USS Bellatrix. He wore the 3 stripes of a technical sergeant on his sleeve. The Marine Muster Rolls don’t say where he went, just that he went to sea and was in the field.

    Campaigns

    On September 8, 1942, headquarters changed Albert’s Division to the first H&S co., 18th Marine (engineer), 2nd Marine Division. H & S stood for Headquarters and Service.

    The engineers of the 18th took part in campaigns in Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Tinian and Okinawa. According to his discharge papers, Albert “participated in action against the enemy”. He was at the Battle of Saipan of the Marianas Islands from 16 June 1944 to 9 July 1944”.

    Saipan

    Before Japan attacked the fleet at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, crippling the fleet, Saipan was a farming community. After Japan took formal control of Saipan in 1919, large sugar cane plantations were planted there. Warm, humid air, year-round rain and much sun made the land lush with plants. The terrain was mountainous. Cliffs and gullies dotted the landscape. There were many dark caves and swarms of mosquitoes. Malaria was a problem.

    Months before the U.S. Army, Marines and Navy attacked on June 15, 1944, the Japanese had fortified the island with extra troops. Many of the civilians’ homes were confiscated for military housing. People were forced to live in caves.

    War raged in Saipan from June 15 to July 9, 1944. These are the dates on Albert’s separation papers that he fought there. About 3,426 Americans were killed. Japan lost 24,000 soldiers and 22,000 civilians were also lost. Many of these civilians committed suicide; some were shot by their own soldiers.

    Before this battle Albert had been temporarily attached to the 2nd Division Marine Fleet. He was then with the Amphibians Corps. The first day of the Battle of Saipan saw a fight between American amphibious tanks and Japanese tanks. At the end of the first day most of these vehicles had been damaged beyond repair. Most were put out of commission by soldiers in fox holes.

    Albert, a phototopographer in the mapping section and a technical sergeant, never mentioned his fighting days in Saipan. What he did talk about was his surveying and mapping of Saipan. A phototopographer surveys and maps a terrain based on territorial photographs. The navel construction battalions, the Seabees, built the Navel Advance Base, Kogman Point Airfield and Isley Field on Saipan. Airbases on these islands were critical to winning the war in the Pacific.

    There is a documentary online from Real Time History called Saipan 1944 Total War in the Pacific. Here is a link to Total War.

    Albert took photos.

    Going Home

    By September 1945, Albert back in the United States, was assigned to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina .Albert had been assigned to active duty on November 7, 1940. He received his Honorable Discharge Button at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina on September 20, 1945. The Marine Corps also gave him a travel allowance of 5 cents per mile to get home to Seattle, Washington.

    In Albert’s collection of photos from his service days, I found a photo that touched me. An Asian child, barefoot and beautiful, leans against a dead snag on a deserted beach. The sun is shining as shown by the sharp dark shadows behind the snag.

    I don’t know if the photo is posed or is something Albert just happened across.

    I do know I felt achingly sad, looking at it.

    What was Albert doing here? He had become an engineer. Engineers like to build things.

  • Water and Steamboats

    Part 3 of the Daniel Ferguson Story

    Frances Perritt, my husband grandmother, saved a clipping of her grandmother’s obituary. Her Grandmother, Margaret St John Ferguson Reynolds, was Daniel’s daughter. The part in the obituary about Daniel reads:

    Her father Daniel H Ferguson was a mill man and steamboat owner. In the early days and at one time he owned the dam where Oregon City locks are now located.

    The obituary of Louis P. Reynolds reads that “he was the grandson of the late Daniel H. Ferguson who was one of the principal owners of the Willamette Falls Canal and Milling Co. of Oregon City, in 1852 to 1853.”

    In my search for the owner of Willamette Falls Canal and Milling Co., I found several articles about Robert Moore saying he was the owner of this company. Then after much searching, I found a newspaper article In the Oregon Argus, dated August 21, 1858. This article explained the ownership of this company. But first a little background would be appropriate.

    Before Daniel bringing his family to Willamette Valley, he prospected for gold on the Yuba River in northern California. He and his brother, Thomas, had other business besides gold mining. One was investing in fast growing towns. Thomas wrote in a letter to his wife in Florida in April of 1850. He said “I have invested in Lindd <sic> City (Linn City, Oregon) one thousand dollars.”

    Daniel and Thomas were in business together. They referred to themselves as Ferguson & Ferguson or the Ferguson Brothers.

    So, Daniel had some dealings with Linn City a couple of years before his arrival in Oregon.

    The Main Water Ways of Oregon

    Before railroads came to the Willamette Valley, travel by steamboat was the main way to get between Astoria and Marysville. Shipping on the upper and lower Willamette was a profitable enterprise.

    Two river dominated Daniel’s life after he moved with his family to Oregon—the Columbia and the Willamette. The Columbia River separated Washington Territory from Oregon Territory when Washington Territory was established on March 2, 1853.

    The Willamette River flows through the Willamette Valley north from Eugene. The upper tributaries of the Willamette originate in the mountains outside Eugene.  On its way north to the Columbia River this river flows through the many Oregon towns. Some of these towns along the upper Willamette are Eugene, Corvallis, Albany, Salem, Newburg, Wilsonville, Oregon City, and Portland. It empties into the Columbia River at Kelley Point, Portland, Oregon. It is the 13th largest river by volume in the United States. The Willamette Falls is located between West Linn and Oregon city. It is the second largest waterfall by volume of water in the U.S.

    This large waterfall was an obstacle to steamboat travel on the Willamette River between the upper and lower river.

    Photograph of Willamette Falls in Oregon City, Oregon, from California Historic Society and USC

    Grass crops like wheat and rye did well in the upper Willamette Valley. The excess crops needed to be transported down the Willamette to Portland and beyond.

    Ideally transporting these excess crops on the river would solve the problem. The typical steamship was large and deep keeled. It couldn’t maneuver in the shallow water of the upper river beyond Oregon City. The Lot Whitcomb, built in Milwaukie, Oregon in 1850, ran on the lower Willamette. She traveled between Milwaukie and Astoria. Daniel planned to enter this new industry with boats designed for the shallower upper river waters. Getting the right design of steamboat was not the only problem.

    The other problem was getting the goods from the upper river to the lower river.  There was a 35 feet drop over Willamette Falls at Oregon City. A portage road around the falls existed at this time.

    Robert Moore’s Linn City

    Donation Land Claim Map 1852 Linn City and Oregon City from West Linn Historical Society

    Robert Moore’s Linn City (West Linn) was situated on the west bank of the Willamette River. Oregon City on the east side was directly across the river. In 1846, Linn City consisted of about 15 houses occupied by mechanics employed by Moore. They worked in his flour and lumber mills. His employees also ran a ferry which crossed the river to Oregon City. Moore also owned Willamette Falls, Canal, Milling and Transportation Company and a newspaper, The Spectator.

    Daniel Ferguson in Linn City

    When the Ferguson family came to Portland, they soon acquired a home there. Their house stood on 2nd Street, one door down north of Mill Street. It was close to the Willamette River. Soon after they were settled in Portland, Daniel started traveling upriver to Linn City. By 1853 Daniel even had living quarters on the hillside overlooking Linn City. Robert Moore lived nearby. By the time, this man was tremendously overweight, unhealthy and had debts.

    In December 1852, Robert Moore transferred the title and the land of this company to Daniel. Robert gained some capital and a promissory note. Daniel acquired a ten-year mortgage. Daniel was now the owner of the Willamette Falls, Canal, Milling and Transportation Company. He also owned the land where the Oregon City Locks are now located. Daniel’s ownership of these properties lasted only a few months.

     In January, 1853, he asked the provincial government of the Oregon territory for permission to incorporate this business. Then in March of that year he transferred the title and the debt to this new corporation. People referred to this company as the Willamette Falls Company, the Willamette Falls Canal Company, D. Ferguson Company and Messrs., Ferguson and Company.

    Daniel’s Building Projects at Canemah

    In June of 1853 Daniel ran this ad in The Weekly Oregonian.

    Wanted Immediately

    Twelve good drillers and blasters; Fifty good common labors, person used to quarrying and working rock; Six good carpenters, such as are used to working timber; Three good hands used to boating and rafting timber; Also One good blacksmith, one that is competent to do all kinds of black smith work.

    Constant employment and good wages will be given to such by applying to the office of the Willamette Falls Canal Company.

    Daniel H. Ferguson         Superintendent

    “Wanted Immediately,” Weekly Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) 2 July 1853, p.3; digital images, GenealogyBank (http//:www.genealogybank.com

    Daniel wanted to build a breakwater. His men would dig a basin big enough to accommodate a steamboat while loading and unloading cargo. This work would be carried out at Canemah. Canemah was at the southern end of portage around Willamette Falls. It was used by native Americans as a takeout place for canoes before carrying the canoes around the falls. Here boat traffic from the upper Willamette River stopped. People and goods were unloaded and taken around the falls to Oregon City around the falls. Then they were loaded into another boat.

    Before Daniel left Canemah he and his men had built a sawmill, gristmill a warehouse, and a wharf.

    In August of 1853 Daniel Ferguson is praised by the editor of the Oregon Spectator. The article reads.

    At Canemah, within the past twelve months…Our neighbor too, Linn City is not behind in enterprise and good works. Under the energetic management of D. Ferguson and Company, a fine breakwater and dam are rapidly advancing to completion. Mills and warehouses are now framed and soon to be erected, all calculated to give unsurpassed facilities for transportation of merchandise above and below the falls together with magnificent water power which could drive all the mills of Lowell and Rochester combined. The work is built so far as we can judge, in the most durable and permanent manner, with great strength and on a judicious plan. Nature has done wonders for the locality, and Messrs., Ferguson and Co. are most ably seconding her labors.

    “Improvement,” Oregon Spectator, (Oregon City, Oregon) 26 August 1853, p.2 col 2; digital images; Historic Oregon Newspapers,(http://oregonnews.edu

    In the January 7th 1854, the editor of the Spectator again praises Daniel’s work in Linn City. The editor describes the breakwater Daniel is having built. The editor also describes a device Daniel is having built that will make unloading and loading the boats much easier.

    …The plan is admirable, and no giant power of water could have been more completely controlled and managed. The breakwater is some thirty rods cast from, and running parallel with the west bluff of the river, and continues near one-fourth of a mile up the river from the perpendicular falls, so that by a connection of the west bluff with the breakwater by a dam passing along near the brink of the precipice, the various designs and objects in view of water into are fully accomplished, viz: the reception of water into the harbor for the admission of steamers, and for the purpose of driving their and extensive saw and flouring mills and enable them  to exchange the lading from boats above and below the falls, loaded with the various products of the upper country, and those below laden with  goods, can come together and have their freight discharged by a timber built into cribs, which  are piled with stone and sufficiently covered with plank. The works are placed upon the solid rock and are as lasting and durable as the very hills. Ferguson and Co. are much applauded for the undertaking of that which seemed almost impossible…

    “For the Spectator,” Oregon Spectator, (Oregon City, Oregon) 7 January 1854, p.2 col 3; digital images; Historic Oregon Newspapers,(http://oregonnews.edu

    The Steamboats

    In 1851, the only way boating on the upper Willamette was by canoe. The trip to Salem and Marysville (Corvallis) was long, tiring and not practical for transporting goods.

    In 1853, four steamboats operated out of Canemah. They were the Oregon, the Wallamet, the Portland and the Belle. Daniel’s Willamette Falls Company, owned the Belle and the Oregon. In April 1854 ,Daniel planned to launch another steamboat that was being built at Canemah. This steamboat, the Gazelle, would run on the upper river between Marysville and Canemah.

    The Belle, which was already in service ran on the lower river. With the launch of the Gazelle the company would have three steamboats on the Willamette River.

    On March 4, 1854, Daniel puts this ad in the Weekly Oregonian.

    Notice to the Public

    The Willamette Falls Co. is now ready to receive and forward all kinds of merchandise, through their new warehouse, up and down the river. The steamer Belle, Capt. Wells, is running from Portland to the falls in connection with the steamer Oregon from our new warehouse to the head of navigation on the upper Willamette.

    The new steamer Gazelle, under the command of Capt. R. Hereford, will be ready to run in a few days.

    Charge for passing freight over the fall is $1 per ton.

    Passengers will be conveyed to and from Oregon City at all times with dispatch.

    D. H. FERGUSON, Superintendent

    Notice to the Public,” Weekly Oregonian, (Portland, Oregon) 4March 1854, p.5 Col. 1, digital images, GenealogyBank.com,  (http://www.genealogybank.com

    On March 11, 1854, Daniel puts this ad in the Weekly Oregonian.

    On March 18, 1854 the Gazelle made her first run on the upper Willamette with Capt. Robert Hereford at the helm.  A local newspaper had this to say about the run.

    The fine weather and good music tended not a little to enhance the pleasure of the ladies and gentlemen on board, and all were highly entertained and pleased. Her tables are laden with Oregon’s choicest productions, together with a select variety of imported fruit, etc. Who wishes for better accommodations, even in this Tyee day of Oregon refinement?

    “Gazelle (sidewheeler,1854)”, Wikipedia, Sept. 1, 2011, (http://en.wikipedia.org:

    In this description of the Gazelle’s first trip on the upper Willamette, the editor uses the term “Typee day. The term, “Typee day”, comes from a novel by Herman Melville called Typee and published in 1846. It means a relaxed and unhurried day. This is a high point in Daniel’s life’s work and is about to change. It would be a long time before Daniel had a Typee day again.