Loyd Leatherman was 18 years old when he first stepped aboard the U.S.S.
Oglethorpe, the massive Navy cargo ship that would be his home for the
next two years. It was 1944, the world was at war and Leatherman had
just finished his training in San Francisco. He was preparing for life
thousands of miles away in the Pacific when his captain approached him.
“He said, ‘You’re going to be the first man over the side when we hit
port and you’re going to be the last man to board when we leave. And
that’s just the way it’s going to be,'" Leatherman, now 90, told ABC
News.
Leatherman's mission was one that was crucial to morale, his captain explained.
"He said, ‘I want you to understand, from my point of view, the mail is
the most important thing on this ship,’” Leatherman said. “We delivered
the good news, basically."
Janet Weinstein/ABC News :
A photo of Loyd Leatherman during his WWII military service as a mailman. He was 19-years-old.
Leatherman said that once the U.S.S. Oglethorpe set sail, the captain's
words rang true: loaded down with about five bags of mail, he said he
was the first person off the ship when it docked and the last person to
board when it left port. He carried letters from soldiers to their loved
ones at home to the port's post office, and picked up mail for sailors
on his way back. Sometimes his journey included riding in the back of a
jeep, other times he would have to trek by foot. He said he was almost
always accompanied by armed escorts.
“Every time I got back to the ship with all this mail, they could hardly
wait for me to get it sorted and get it out to them,” Leatherman said.
According to the Post Office Department's 1945 Annual Report, more than
56,000 postal personnel like Leatherman served in the U.S. armed forces
during World War II.
They worked, lived and died alongside the U.S. soldiers deployed across
the world. Their mission was one that, while not always mentioned in
history books, was crucial to the war effort.
Janet Weinstein/ABC News
Mail was often the only lifeline troops stationed far away had to their loved ones back home, Leatherman said.
"The physicality of the mail itself –- the smell, touch, handwriting –-
were reminders of people and relationships, while the sentiments and
ideas expressed were reminders of values and priorities in life," Lynn
Heidelbaugh, a curator at the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum, told
ABC News.
"Mail had the power to shape morale by providing a connection to
oneself, to people one valued, and to one’s community," Heidelbaugh
added.
Leatherman said he delivered many magazines to troops stationed around
the Pacific Theater. He also remembers picking up money orders bound for
their families back in the U.S.
Janet Weinstein/ABC News
Most of the pieces of mail he handled, however, were handwritten letters to loved ones at home.
“Dear folks, today I received two letters from you and I was mighty
pleased to get them,” Leatherman himself wrote to his parents in 1946.
He still has that letter in his home.
Leatherman was assigned to the ship after the war ended for wrap-up efforts, he said.
“After we get all unloaded, we’re supposed to be available for troops
and cargo on the return trip. I figure it will take four months, so I
should be eligible for discharge when I’m back,” he wrote to his parents
at the time.
Janet Weinstein/ABC News
Though as a mailman he never fought in battle, Leatherman said there
were times that the job could be dangerous. As he was walking on the
main deck of the ship with a friend, he said a Japanese spy plane flew
out from behind the clouds and shot and killed the man right beside him.
“He got a bullet in his heart and his heart exploded. He was dead before
he hit the deck. And I never got a scratch,” Leatherman said.
“Unfortunately, I don’t remember his name,” he added. “A lot of the guys, I can’t remember their names after this time.”
Janet Weinstein/ABC News
Today, Leatherman lives in a small apartment in Denver, Colorado. He
said he was married once, to a woman named Betty, for more than 25
years. She died in 1978 of a heart attack. They had two kids, both grown now, and he never remarried.
Surrounding him in his cluttered back room are scrapbooks and photo
albums from his near-century-long life. One book has a dozen or so
pictures that he took aboard the U.S.S. Oglethorpe. The book also
contains some of the letters he wrote to his parents while at sea and
the original arm patch he wore on his uniform.
It’s been more than 70 years since Leatherman was aboard the U.S.S.
Oglethorpe, but “I couldn’t have asked for a better duty,” he said of
his time there.
Leatherman said he tried to get involved in the postal service when he
was discharged, but his small town of Rand, Colorado, wasn’t hiring at
the time. He said he ended up getting involved in a family friend's
business selling jewelry. While he loved his job, he said he missed
delivering the mail.
When asked if he could ever foresee something like World War II happening again, Leatherman grew solemn.
“In World War II, we had to stop the Nazis cold,” he said. “And we had
to stop the Japanese cold. We just had to stop it completely. And if we
hadn’t done that, nobody would have any rights at all today.”
“Too many people running around in this country don’t even think about
those things," he added. "They don’t even realize how lucky they are.”
Source : http://abcnews.go.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment