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Sergeant Neil Mulhern - 6th Army/1896th Airfield Engineering Battalion - New Guinea/Philippines 1944 - 1945

-----The ELCO Engineers Symbol-------Neil in Missouri during Basic training ------Engineer & Winged Tractor badge.

Neil Mulhern traveled far from his Florence New Jersey home to participate in the jungle & island hopping campaign of General Douglas MacArthur. He worked building the airfield bases that cut Japan off from its early conquests and paved the way for the eventual return & liberation of the Philippines. As you will read, the Japanese, though on the ropes in 1944 & 45 could still exact a high price for the advance. Neil was to discover this cost first hand.

Neil was born in Bristol Pensylvania on June the 25th 1919. Neil Sr. worked at the Bristol Shipyards, his mother Gertrude was a housewife and Neil has younger brothers, Daniel Peter and John. Neil Jr. attended Saint Marks School on Radcliff Street in Bristol

before the family moved to Florence New Jersey where he went to highschool.

After highschool he took a few college courses before going to work at the Florence Pipe Foundry and Machining Company on Front street in Florence. The news of Pearl Harbor came to his family via the radio announcement of the raid. Like many of his contemporaries he did not travel far from home often. Just before his wartime service he made a trip to Canada. Neil enlisted in the service on March 6th 1943. As a machinist and inspector at his plant, his war production work was considered critical. In addition to pipe and specialty items like printing cylinders he built hydraulic presses that could stamp out other parts. Essential work for an expanding war industry. Neil says he had a good job and had there been no war he would have stayed at the plant. He was deferred from military service three times due to his war work.(each deferrment was for six months) In early 1943 along with nine of his fellow workers he enlisted. Three of his fellow enlistees died in the battles that followed by 1945.

Neil: "I was twentythree years old and wanted to be an aerial gunner on a B-17 Bomber.

. Instead I was assigned the the 1896th Avaition Battalion. His brother Daniel enlisted in the Coast Guard and served on the USS Cayuga on Atlantic patrol as a quartermaster during the war. A flag was often hung in the window of homes to show family members were in the service. Stars denoted the number. If a loved one was killed the stars color would be changed to gold show the loss. Neils family had one of these in their window.

Neil was also married to June (Rita June T. Mulhern) who he had met in June of 1938 when she was a junior at Hallahan Highschool. Neil was a life guard at Florence Island a popular summer vacation spot. June and her family had rented a cottage on the island. One day when going to see the Captain of the life guards he saw her for the first time and managed to talk with her at one of the group get togethers organizied in the evenings. Even though Neil had access to a car there was no bridge to the island and he had to row her over and back for each date in his canoe. Neil: "If you missed the tide it was pretty tough getting back and landing where you wanted to. Her aunt got angry once as I brought her home late because of missing the tide." When the summer was over Neil would drive down to Philadelphia to see June. Once when he was there he did not have enough gas to get home June had to give him a quarter. Back then that bought enough gas to get back to Florence. On December 10th 1941 just three days after Pearl Harbor, with American now involved in a two front war Neil and June became engaged. Junes mother died suddenly in April of 1942.

Neil and June married on June 27th 1942 and moved in to her parents home temporarily on Orthodox street.
Just after Neil enlisted they discovered they had a child on the way in September 1943. June was able to stay in their home in Philadelphia when Neil shipped out.

Basic training was in Missouri for close order drill and inititating the recruits to military life. Some memories Neil has. "We did a formation march past for President Roosevelt when he came to visit the camp and we were allowed to eat al we wanted in the mess hall but there was a sergeant who stood at the spot where you turned in your tray and if you did not eat all your food he made you go back and finish.

Neil was transferred to Richmond Virginia at Richmond Air base (now Richmond International Airport). All the instructors were military men, the cadre being drawn from members who had served in Panama and the Galapagos Islands. Equipment training for airfield construction was done with cast off CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) equipment that had been used in the W.P.A. programs prior to the war. Many of the men were in their thirties and forties, experienced in construction. Others like Neil were in their teens and twenties but with a aptitude for this kind of work. Neil: "With all the drilling and military training I though I was in the wrong outfit.

During the time at Richmond I interviewed with Inspector General Murphy. He wanted me to take the test to become an air pilot. The test was never arranged." (Photos above, top 2 are infantry training in Virginia bottom 2 are in Missouri)

[Note: About this time American bombers in mid to late 1943 were being knocked out of German skies faster than replacement crews could be found to fill the aircraft. Long range fighter escorts to provide cover all the way into Germany still did not exist. Had Neil become a gunner as originally desired he may well have become a statistic as few crews in 1943 could expect to survive death, wounding or capture. Pilot training would have taken much longer and he would not have seen combat untill late 1944 or early 1945 when the backs of the Luftwaffe & Japanese airforces had been broken. Flak however still took a heavy toll ].

The 1896th built a decoy airfield near the small town of Elko while in Virginia. The thought was that enemy aircraft would mistake it for nearby Richmond Airfield and bomb it instead. The living conditions were pretty difficult as they had only plywood huts to live in with a single pot bellied stove for warmth in the winter. Showers were taken from cold water suspended in old asphalt heating tanks. The natives of the nearby town of Elko welcomed the men into their homes and churches, arranging dances and doing what they could to make them feel at home in that winter. A small general store was the only real gathering place to meet or just hang around.

While in training one of Neils best friends was Frank Lubrono picture here with his brother Mike.

Neil: "Frank and I worked together, played ball and lived in the same neighborhood in civilian life. We signed up the same day. Frank would be lost to the Japanese attack on January 12th. My other friend was Paul Rosasco (see photos below)from Ann Arbor Michigan. After training was completed Neil was granted leave which he took with June and his three month old son Neil the 3rd.

26 Days At Sea on a troopship carrying 3200 men
In early 1944 the 1896th boards a train for the cross country trip to Camp Stoneman in Stockton California stopping at the town of Elko Nevada. Neil ships out for the Pacific in a crowded transport, it is not in convoy but sails alone, no aircraft or destroyer escort. On the way the cross the equator where the rituals of King Neptunes court were observed.

In the Navy, a sailor that has not crossed the equator is known as a Pollywog. A sailor having made the crossing is referred to as a Shellback. When a ship crosses the equator it is naval tradition for the Shellbacks to initiate those Pollywogs in a "Crossing the Line" ceremony. Those Pollywogs, often referred to as "Slimey Pollywogs" during the crossing, must endure a variety of initiation events. The specific initiation events vary to some degree from ship to ship and crossing to crossing, dependent largely on the creativity of those Shellbacks on board and the materials on hand! As a ship crosses the equator, Pollywogs must pay their respect to King Neptune, God of the Seas. The Shellbacks, having been across before and now "Sons of Neptune" (or perhaps something worse from the Pollywog's point of view) play the roles of a variety of characters such as King Neptune, Neptune's Queen, Davey Jones, the Royal Baby, the Royal Cop, and various other "needed" characters of the moment! (description and photo from the pages of the USS BUSH lost at Okinawa on April 1945 to the Kamikaze)

Neil: "There was a ritual when we crossed the equator, I remember it quite well. One of the things they did was to put us in a canvas tube then shoot us throuh it by applying a high pressure water hose behind us. Then we drank some very fishy smelling drink. After that we were give our certificates of passage."

A Liberty ship typical of the period & the badge of the 6th Army of which the 1896 was attached.

Lae - Papua New Guinea

My first assignment in the Pacific was to instruct the men of Company B how to operate the heavy equipment we had. (That is Neil on the tractor) We arrived at Lae new Guinea on April 5th 1944. My specialist number was ( 059 ) Construction Foreman." It was here the unit came up with the symbol LKO to make their equipment and distinguish it fromt he other batallions on the base. As they had fond memories of Virginia LKO was chosen for the town of Elko.

Lae had been wrested from the Japanese before the 1896th arrival and their ground forces had been driven far from the airfield. As a consequence Neil and his unit were never called on to take up arms defend themselves or others against a ground attack. At Lae they got used to the tropics and they built many of the warehouses, supply dumps and airfields for the advancing armies and airforces. One particularly difficult assignment for the construction battalion was the building of a semi circular road around a cemetery. Neil: "Seeing other soldiers being buried in mattress covers was a difficult thing to watch." The Japanese often bombed the airstrips under construction and sent over snooper aircraft to keep the troops awake and other wise harrass them.

Neil: "One night the Japanese aircraft hit the gasoline dump near our area, it all went up." The only diversions were baseball and volleyball.

(Niel in t-shirt center - all but 4 of these men died in the Jan 12 attack) Neil (in center)and his tent mates even had a pet wild pig

All mail was censored by some individual in the unit. Often families would get letters with huge sections completely crossed out depending on the zeal with which the assigned censor of the day pursued his task. Usually it was a chore given to the most junior officers who were pretty bored by the task. Unit and location information were considered secret. Neil and June had a code that they used to get by the mail censors. Neil: " June wrote to me every day when I was overseas. Each letter I wrote to her I would put a different initial between the first and last name.
Example:
SGT. Neil B. Mulhern
SGT. Neil I. Mulhern
SGT. Neil A. Mulhern
SGT. Neil K. Mulhern

It spells out the Island of Biak. The same code was used for Lae and the Philippines."

Hollandia (on Humbolt Bay) and Biak Island area of operations 1944.
At Biak, another of the islands MacArthur leapfrogged to bypass Japanese strongholds, Neils batallion arrives in June and builds the airstrips for the Jolly Rodgers B-24 unit. They repair the damage to the base, build docks and a hospital. Illness on the islands and along the New Guinea coast was rampant, tropical disease caused more casualties at time than enemy action.

Neil in the pilots seat of a 498th Bomber Squadron B-25 Mitchel and geting a close look at some of the artwork on a B-24. Note the 75mm cannon on the B-25 and the Falcon artwork on the nose. This same aircraft and its crew were shot down the very next day. While at Biak they had the ability to set up more permanent living arrangements. Basketball courts, meeting the native peoples and what could be a dangerous past time of souvineer hunting.

that's Neil in the T-shirt. His friend on the left would prowl the abandoned caves (see photo below) looking for souvineers that they could trade. There were still stragglers and snipers on Biak. More than one American was killed by booby traps and desperate stragglers they surprised as they searched the American trash dumps for food. Neil did see some Japanese prisoners. Neil: "Their equipment was so bad. It was amazing the poor quality of their equipment, split toe rubber shoes attached to the feet with cloth, they (regular soldiers) never really had a chance against us once we were prepared."

[note: The Allied authorities had forced the natives to stop the practice of headhunting before the war. Around Biak and the coast of New Guinea the Japanese who were bypassed were considered exempted from this rule and the natives hunted them with great enthusiasm. In the Pacific there was no mercy and few prisoners. The Japanese never signed the Geneva Convention on the treatment of POW's. They considered capture a disgrace to themselves and their families, preferring suicide or death in battle. They often killed Allied prisioners out of hand unless they believed some military intelligence might be extracted, beatings and torture were common means of extracting this information.]

The Americans are moving up the chain of islands in the Philippines and the return to Luzon is imminent. Neil in Company B and the some members of company A, C and the Head Quarters group (almost 200 men per company) are loaded on the Kyle Johnson for transport to the Philippines. They spend Christmas and New Years crammed into the hold of the ship off Hollandia.

Convoy to Luzon and the beginnings of Japans Kamikaze campaign.

Luzon was invaded by US/Filipino forces on January 9th, 1945. Assults against Japanese mountain defenses on Luzon ended on August 15th, 1945, with the surrender of General Tomoyuki Yamashita along with 50,000 of his troops.

The convoy with Neils transport ship the Kyle Johnson is attacked by 26 Kamikaze. All the aircraft were shot down or missed their targets but one. Loaded with sulphur bombs it hit on January 12th 1945 at 6:37 p.m. The Japanese were resisting the Luzon invasion with all remaining aircraft and small suicide motor boats at their disposal in Kamikaze attacks. The attacks were so strong and damaging that for a time the invasion at Lingayen Gulf was almost called off until the Navy could pound the airfields and reduce the threat. Neil was up by the pilot house and saw the plane comming in. His ship was in the center of the convoy and the Japanese pilot bored straight in. The results were devastating. 129 men, 80% of Company B became casualties, the majority of them 111 were killed or later died of their injuries. Neil was one of the handful who escaped injury from the blast, and resulting fire. As the ship was afire and night was falling it was ordered to stay behind the rest of the convoy as the smoke and flame would lead more kamikaze to the other ships. In the morning the fires had been put out and the damage repaired to the point that the Kyle Johnson could retake its spot in the convoy. During the night they had to bury their friends at sea in canvas with scrap metal tied to them so they would sink. There was little time for ceremony.

Two days later the damaged ship landed the remaining members of the company in Lingayen Gulf, where they pushed south with the ground forces to Manila the capital.

There after the liberation of the city they set up camp and began the rebuilding of the infrastructure in preparation for the invasion of Japan.

The Kamikaze

....................................... A6M5 Zero...................................................... Ki-115 Tsurugi (Saber)............................
The A6M5 variant of the Zero fighter made the majority of Kamikaze atacks in the Philippines during the October 44 - March 45 invasion. By wars end Japan was short on strategic materials and sought a quickly produced, simple aircraft to prepare for the invasion of the home islands. The Ki-115 was designed from the ground up as a suicide attack aircraft, capable of using what ever engines might be available, with no instruments, guns or armor and a skid for a tail wheel, it sole purpose was its one way mission. Neils ship was most likley hit by a Zero out of Clark. The unit could well have been an Army unit as well. Niel indicated there were some twin engined attackers as well. Japanese airmen in the past had on occasion crashed their aircraft into American ships, but this was when they had been badly damaged or the crews wounded. There are a few examples of Allied pilots behaving in this way under similar circumstances. The Kamikaze were different. In the beginning they were volunteers that knew when they took off their sole purpose was to dive their bomb laden aircraft into their target. There was no hope of escape, though miraculously a few survived the crash of their aircraft when shot down into the ocean near the ships and their bombs failed to detonate.

For his actions on 12 January 1945, after a Kamikaze struck his Liberty ship Sergeant Mulhern was awarded the
Soldiers medal for his actions.

US Army Soldiers Medal (For Heroism) Instituted: 1926 Criteria: Heroism not involving actual conflict with an armed enemy of the US. Notes: Award requires personal hazard or danger and voluntary risk of life.

COPY OF WARTIME DOCUMENTS ON CITATION

In addition to the Soldiers Medal Neil has several of the Campaign decorations. Left to right - Good Conduct Medal, Asiatic Pacific medal (2 stars), WWII Sharp shooters Badge with Rifle bar, WWII Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, Philippine Liberation Ribbon and Honorable Service Lapel Button.

Once in Luzon Neil and his unit survivors go about repairing the buildings and roads destroyed by the Japanese. To relax he was able to go with friends into Manilia. The Japanese Army commander General Yamishita had withdrawn from the city but the Naval Commander decided to return and fight. The result was the almost total destruction of the city known as the Pearl of the Orient and the slaughter of thousands of civilians. Neil played football in Rizal stadium where the last Japanese holdouts had to be dug out with dynamite and flame throwers, the damage can be seem in some of the photos.

The Japanese still had an airforce capable of hitting the Phillipines and one night Neil and his friends were in Northern Luzon when an aircraft alert was sounded. Neil: "Blair, Knudsen, Rapport, Lazarvich and I slept in the same tent. The Japanese aircraft dropped bombs near us.

Blair, Knudsen, Rapport and I ran to the 'L' trench we had all dug for this eventuality. Doc Lazarvich came running out and all he had on was his shoes, helmet and M-1 rifle. he always slept naked under his mosquito netting as it was so hot. It was the funniest thing I had seen.

Occupation Forces To Japan
Neils unit was brought into Japan initially to Yokohama which had been devastated by B-29 fire bombing. There with the first occupational forces they moved closer to Tokyo and prepared facilities for the airforces.

Neil returned home on November 21st 1945. The US military used a point system and unlike pilots and aircrews who often served a set time in combat the ground troops were often there for the duration. Because he had been there the longest joining the batallion in Richmond and with his citation for bravery he had a high number of rotation points. Neil: "The points system for rotation home went something like this. Points were granted for each month overseas, for each month in the service, for the Purple Heart and for other decorations or medals for heroism there were 5 extra points.

In October 1945 departing from Yokohama Japan, Neil boards the USS Laurens with members of the 77th Infantry Division who were with Ernie Pyle the Journalist when he was killed in I-Shima during the Okinawa campaign. He arrives at Fort Lewis in Tacoma Washington. He was finally discharged at Fort Dix, New Jersey on December the 5th 1945. Some comments on his appearance to his family at the time were that he looked a bit like a hobo, his hair was so long that it could have been put up in curls. June was there to greet him with their son Niel the 3rd. Her father, sister and Alice were also on hand. Neil: "After about a month of civilian life and thinking how lucky I was I went back to work. It was not difficult to fining a job, 12 hour shifts, 5 days a week happened pretty quickly.

I retired from my last work with the Government as an equipment specialist at the Robbins Avenue facility in Philadelphia. I bowl, golf, play soft ball and am a member of VFW post #2 (the oldest existing post in the United States, photos of Spanish American veterans hang on the walls and members are active in the Bridesburg community)and Post 821 of the American Legion. The Post recently had a fire and they are in the process of rebuilding. Neil and June have one child, son Neil Jr. He and his wife Ginny and granddaughter Colleen and grand son John live close by along with Genie, John, Shane, Tyler, Erin and Kelsey.

Neil was the marshal of the Bridesburg memorial day parade in 1998 and serves on the Community Action Committee as a liaison between the chemical manufacturing plants and the residents that share Bridesburg.

The Batallion was officially disbanded in June of 1946 by the Defense department and since then the ELKO Buddies have met for reunions. Neils last reunion with the members of the ELCO unit was at their old base in Virginia

A memorial has been erected on the site of the old training grounds at Elko in Henrico county Virginia. Today a semi conductor factory stands there and the old country store where soldiers gathered has long since been torn down. The memorial dedicated in 1978 by the citizens and batallion members stands at the ELKO Community center on White Oak Road. Neil is standing second row on the far left. Kneeling in the front row from left to right are his friends, Paul Rosasco, Gota Goranson, Earl Davison. Standing left to right is Neil Mulhern, Bob Limbaugh, Lou Greber, Lee Nichols and Clyde Jenkins. (not in the photo was Vic Lechowicz, Jack Popyak and Frank Harris.) This was their last reunion. Recently Neil heard from his old CO Captain Warren Sutherland who along with Colonel Moore were the best officers Neil met while in the service. (data from Times Dispatch news paper article written by Carrie Johnson)

Neil and his wife June live in Philadelphia not far from their original home in the 1940's

The Dedication of the 1896th Avaition Batallion memorial at Wright Patterson's Memorial Park USAF Museum in Dayton Ohio in 1994.

Left to right - Jack Lott, Tom Stringfellow, Gote Gorannsson, Bob Limbaugh, Neil Mulhern, Clyde Jenkins, Lee Nicol, Lou Greber, Paul Rosasco

Left to right - Warren Fletcher, Vic Lachowitz, Jack Grime, Joe Atwater, Red Evans, Andy Madsen, Frank Harris, Bert Schaffer, Walt Puhowsky, Walt Latino

Left to right - Tony Puskarich, Mark P, Frank Blackburn, Harvey Ueberroth, Henry Bartnick

KYLE V. JOHNSON (January 12, 1945)
En route to Lingayan Gulf as part of a hundred ship convoy, the Johnson was hit by a kamikaze plane which crashed on the starboard side of number three hatch, ploughing through the hull plates and into the deck below. On board the Johnson were 500 US Army troops and 2,500 tons of motor vehicles and gasoline in fifty gallon drums. The resulting explosion blew the steel hatch beams high into the air. Dropping out of the convoy the Johnson's gallant crew fought the fire until the flames were extinguished. Apparently her 20mm fire hit this plane. Flames broke out on the ship. This ship received credit for one plane destroyed and for an assist against another during the day. She reached Lingayen Gulf. She then rejoined the convoy but on board lay the bodies of 129 dead men and many injured. The Kyle V. Johnson survived the war and was scrapped in 1975 at Panama City.

US SHIPPING LOSSES IN JANUARY 1945
January 1945 (33 ships) Date Ship Type Cause Result Location Deaths 01/01/45 John M. Clayton Liberty Bombed Damaged Philippines Crew 2; AG 4 01/02/45 Sunoco Tanker Explosion Sunk & salvaged Eastcoast Crew 10 01/03/45 Henry Miller Liberty Torpedo Total loss NAtlantic None 01/04/45 Kyle V. Johnson Liberty Kamikaze Damaged Philippines None 01/04/45 Lewis L. Dyche Liberty Kamikaze Sunk Philippines Crew 41; AG 30 01/05/45 William D. Byron Liberty Unknown Unknown Unknown None [AG wounded] 01/05/45 J. L. Luckenbach Liberty Unknown Unknown Unknown None [AG wounded] 01/06/45 Isaac Shelby Liberty Mine Total loss Med-BlackSea None 01/08/45 Blenheim Freighter Bombed Damaged NEAtlantic Army Several; Civilian 18 01/09/45 Thorstein Veblen Liberty Unknown Unknown Unknown None [AG wounded] 01/09/45 Jonas Lie Liberty Torpedo Sunk NEAtlantic Crew 2 01/10/45 Saginaw II Scow Foundered Sunk Alaska Unknown 01/11/45 Pontus H. Ross Liberty Kaiten manned torpedo Damaged Pacific None 01/11/45 Roanoke (USAT) Refrigerator Ship Torpedo Sunk NEAtlantic Crew 2; AG 2 01/12/45 David Dudley Field Liberty Kamikaze Damaged Philippines None 01/12/45 Edward N. Westcott Liberty Kamikaze Damaged Philippines None 01/12/45 Elmira Victory Victory Kamikaze and shelled by U.S. ship Damaged Philippines None 01/12/45 Kyle V. Johnson Liberty Kamikaze Damaged Philippines Crew 1; Army 128 01/12/45 Otis Skinner Liberty Kamikaze Damaged Philippines None 01/14/45 Martin Van Buren Liberty Torpedo Total loss NAtlantic AG 3 01/14/45 Michael Dekovats Liberty Rocket Damaged NEAtlantic None 01/15/45 Calvin Coolidge Liberty None None Med-BlackSea Crew 2 while ashore 01/16/45 James Harrod Liberty Collision/fire Total loss NEAtlantic AG 4 01/16/45 Marina Freighter Mine Damaged Normandy None 01/16/45 Raymond B. Stevens Liberty Collision Damaged NEAtlantic None 01/16/45 ST-10 (USAT) Harborcraft Foundered Sunk Unknown Crew 5 01/21/45 George Hawley Liberty Torpedo Total loss NEAtlantic Crew 2 01/22/45 Alcoa Banner Hog Islander Bombed Sunk-salvaged-scuttled NEAtlantic Crew 2 01/26/45 Cape Victory Freighter Unknown Unknown Unknown None [AG wounded] 01/27/45 Ruben Dario Liberty Torpedo Damaged NEAtlantic None 01/27/45 Katherine L. Bates Liberty Unknown Unknown Philippines None [AG wounded] 01/28/45 Will Rogers Liberty None None NEAtlantic Crew 2 in V-2 Rocket attack ashore 01/_/45 Samuel Lancaster Liberty Unknown Unknown Unknown None [AG wounded]
E-Mail Me @ worldwar2mem@yahoo.com

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