11 - Entertainment

Overseas the movies got pretty old and not first class. Sometimes it was Tom Mix, Ken Maynard and we traded with different outfits and the Navy. The Air Force had the best and the newest as they would fly theirs in and had a chance to get new ones

You hear a lot about USO shows during WWII. When I was in the army I saw two before the war was over. The first was Jack Benny at Fort Lewis in April of 44. The next was Bing Crosby at Camp Roberts in June of 44. Most of the shows never got close to the smaller Islands as the front line was too close to the rear and the USO people didn’t like to get shot at. After the war was over they flocked to Japan and really put on the shows for the troops. After the war was over they (the army) put on a rodeo in Tokyo for the troops who wanted to go to see it. They had bucking horses the whole works also one of the big brass rode the Emperor’s white horse. After the show the white horse was shipped to the states and it ended up in California (LA). It seems that the President of Arden Farms boy was the rider and they kept it for a year till the President of Arden was drowned in a boating accident. My friend Gary Sinclair lived next to the stable and got to see the horse, but never got to ride it. I don’t think it was too big a deal. He didn’t do much horseback riding only on ceremonial occasions.

When my outfit was on the canal Joe E. Brown (a comedian) got in the island and wanted to entertain all the troops but no lights at night. He made a personal visit to the front lines and got into the fox holes around Henderson Field. He was the only star that I know of that put himself in harms way.

We had one movie star in our outfit. The guy that played (Lou Ayres) on Kildare was a conscientious objector. So they put him in the first field hospital. That was the first combat that they could get him into. I was able to meet him when I had malaria. He was with us till about July of 1945. I guess thy figured he had done his bit after about five years overseas. Most of the actors got in but were put in special services. That is entertaining the troops. They didn’t get shot at.

The Jap’s always believed that the Divine Wind would protect the home islands. When the war ended in September of 1945 with the atom bomb were set to invade in November. The planning had all been done and the supplies were being stockpiled and the extra troops were being shipped from the European Forces. What some people don’t take into account is how many of us wouldn’t have gotten to the beaches. Every man, woman and child had a job to do to repel the invaders. In November the island of Okinawa where the supplies were stockpiled was hit by a typhoon that destroyed almost all of the supplies, clothes, food, etc. It would have been their Divine Wind I’m sure. Once they quit it was a whole new story. McArthur gave women equal rights, turned the whole Japanese world upside down. The rest is history.

Ken's World War II Experiences 01-Into The Army 02-California Living 03-Food, Drink & Rations 04-On Patrol 05-Never Volunteer! 06-Jungle Patrols 07-Foxhole Lore 08-God In the Foxhole 09-Life As It Was 10-Humor <Previous 11-Entertainment Next> 12-The End of the War 13-After The War 14-Coming Home 15-On Veterans