A short WWII history of some of “Boppy Hausers” war experience: Ted Allen Hauser was born August 12th 1926. This was just before the great depression so things were tight financially pretty much everywhere until after the war. At seventeen Ted got his folks written permission to leave high school and go to war to defend his country. He joined the navy and was trained in ordinance. He was “first tail-gunner” and “second bombardier”. That meant his first duty was to man the twin fifty caliber machine guns in the tail turret of the four engine bomber he flew in and his second duty was to drop the bombs the plane carried. By the age of 18 he had achieved the rank of Second Class Petty Officer. He spent his time during World War Two stationed mostly on Guam and Tinian. These are islands in the south pacific where they did their bombing runs from. During each mission the crew would be in the air for as much as 13 hours all of which was in combat zones. No bathrooms so the guys didnt drink much liquids during a run as they were expected to “hold it like a man”. The hardest thing was keeping awake. The drone of those four huge engines coupled with the lack of sleep from the Japanese bombing the island every night kept the crew in a state of constant fatigue. Yet they had to remain on heightened alert the entire time they were on the plane. On one mission the bomber crew attacked a Japanese fleet a few hundred miles off the coast of China. They sank a troop transport ship spilling about 8 thousand Japanese soldiers into the ocean. Then they were shot down by one of the destroyers in the same fleet. They were brought aboard the command ship which was a Japanese destroyer and stripped of all their clothes and personal belongings. They were given thin pajama-like pants and shirts that couldnt close and didnt cover much as they were much too small for the larger American guys. They had their hands tied behind their backs with a loop going around their neck and they were placed in empty vegetable bins. These were slatted so the cold ocean air could keep the veggies fresh. The Japanese deck hands were understandably angry at the loss of life suffered by the sinking of the transport ship so they spent much of their time beating the American fliers with the heavy bars they used to move things around the deck. The vegetable bins were “double decker” so there was a prisoner above and a prisoner below. One thing that would almost bring Ted to tears was retelling how after hours of trying to hold it he had to pee on his friend Slim who was just below him. The loss of dignity for he and Slim was more than he could bear. Thirty six hours later they arrived on the Chinese coast and were brought ashore. They were immediately lined up against a wall, blindfolded in front of a firing squad and then heard the command to “ready...aim....FIRE” in Japanese. The guns werent loaded but the effect on the American crew was about the same. They were then put in prison and given a bowl of rice each but were much too sick from the beatings and 36 hours of exposure to cold damp ocean air to eat. After that they were only given much smaller portions. Ted went into the service weighing 175lbs. After the Japanese government surrendered, the Japanese in charge of the POW camp hurriedly began to feed the imprisoned bomber crew to fatten them up. Trying to hide the fact that they were starving them to death in opposition to the Geneva convention. Upon his release from the prison camp he weighed just 115 lbs. Ted had his 19th birthday in a Japanese prisoner of war camp. After his release from the POW camp he eventually wound up in the Navy Hospital in San Diego California where he recuperated for about a year. His body was mostly healed though he suffered from dysentery for two more years. His nightmares remained till the end of his life. At age 74 he finally went to get help from the VA and was diagnosed 100% disabled from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Interestingly, he never was angry or bitter towards the Japanese. He would always comment on what worthy opponents they were and how much we had underestimated them as an enemy. He loved visiting “Little Tokyo” in downtown Los Angeles during Nisei week and remained interested in Japanese culture for the remained of his life. Today there are many vets suffering the effects of whichever conflict they served in. Please remember to give them respect even if they seem a bit odd. When someone fights for our freedom they often help secure a way of life they no longer get to enjoy....... Our “Boppy” was 87 years old when he died.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 14:18:15 +0000
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