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WWII ANGELS

I was Seaman 2nd Class on the USS Bountiful (AH-9) hospital ship during World War II. God, Jesus and all of the angels were with me and the crew of 232. We were 275 miles away from where the first atomic bomb hit Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. The ship had been in Japan to support the occupation forces and was heading back to San Francisco with a full load of patients.

My work involved taking on supplies, and painting and cleaning the deck, when I was not on a watch. Mostly I was a helmsman and was on the starboard watch. I was always busy.

A crow’s nest is the highest part of the ship. The watchman in the crow’s nest is supposed to spot the items first, but he didn’t that day. The captain’s cabin is where the helmsman steers the ship to keep it on course. On this blessed day I was the helmsman for two hours and then on two-hour watch on the starboard watch. I just put my binoculars up to my eyes and there I saw a bomb bobbing up and down with a lot of trash around it. I called the duty officer and told him I spotted a mine. He said you are to spot an object over and over. I guess I got mad and told him the bomb is getting pretty close to us. He put his glasses up to his eyes at this time. Captain Mallard heard us and came out and said, “Son, tell me where it is.” I told him the location. He yelled at the helmsman, “Full port!” And the ship laid way down while Captain Mallard was on the speakers saying, “Secure all hatches!”

Our ship was awful close to the bomb. A bomb is like a big ball with pins sticking out of it. They have very strong magnets on them. When they get close, the magnets draw them to the ship, then “boom!” everything is gone — ship, lives and all. We were very close to the big boom. But God, Jesus, Mary and the angels were with us. I guess I was to spot the bomb and I did. Captain Mallard to me, “Son, you did a good job.” I don’t want any glory. I just did my job as a sailor. This experience makes me ask, “Why do we have wars?”

Vernon Morris
Springfield

IT AND AMY TOO

Just wanted to send a thank you note regarding the content of your paper, Illinois Times. Nowhere else do I get a diverse and well-written collection of stories and information on our area, as well as personal advice from the Advice Goddess, Amy Alkon. Thank you for a wellbalanced, weekly and free publication! I appreciate it and the work you and your writers do very much.

Roman Perun
Harvel

WRONG TRACKS

I hope Illinois Times gets the complete story on high-speed rail, because you will find that the plan also calls for increasing freight traffic to 40 trains a day along with the high-speed passenger train runs. [See “Not so fast: Existing freight tracks will impede Springfield high speed rail development,” by R.L. Nave, IT, July 9.] Everybody in Springfield remembers the days when there was a wall of trains separating east and west sides of Springfield. They are also planning to close many of the crossings in that corridor so you will be physically separated from “the other side of the tracks.”

The city has spent so much time working on the plan to have a 10th Street corridor that would have much less impact on the city that it should not be summarily disregarded by the railroad and the federal government.

That the railroad had never given any serious thought to the 10th Street corridor was evidenced by the Third Street corridor upgrade with concrete ties. Our senator says “it’s bigger than Springfield” and of course, he is correct, if you aren’t living in Springfield. This is a city that is just now starting to show the fruits of a repatriation to the downtown. We can’t sever the city and just hope that the two halves will play nice together. The traffic gridlock, lack of trade in the neighborhood stores and ethnic frustration has the potential to create an untenable situation.

I doubt that anyone has given any thought to the hundreds of school bus trips that are made back and forth across the city daily. With a multitude of crossings being closed, how much tax revenue will be exploited to purchase additional buses and hire drivers? Will our children be required to leave for school earlier to allow for train travel? Moving right along is what Springfield needs, but not with trains.

Name withheld by request
Springfield