Below is an article that was written by my uncle, Arthur John KOSTER,
which was printed in his local newspaper on Pearl Harbor Day.
The Battle of Midway, which took place 51 years ago this week, has a
special meaning for me. The men who fought and died in that battle may have
enabled me to survive the war.
I was 21 when Pearl Harbor was attacked. After enlisting in the army, I
was sent to Fort Bragg Artillery Center.
When our training was completed, we were shipped to the Hawaiian island
of Oahu. When we arrived at Pearl and saw the superstructures of the sunken
ships, and later the wreckage of Hickam Field, we were filled with feelings
of sadness and anger.
Although we were trained as field artillery, we were needed for coast
defense. We became Battery A, 55th Coast Artillery, and later Battery A,
178th. Our 155-millimeter guns were set up on the coast at Fort Kam.
The following days were hectic as we tried to prepare for the invasion
of Japanese troops, which everyone felt was a certainty.
Time passed and one day we received news that the Midway battle had
taken place. The Japanese fleet suffered such heavy losses that they fought
the rest of the war on the defensive.
After the war, military archives were found that showed the Japanese had
planned to attack the island of Hawaii, build airfields and then attack
Oahu. Before Midway, the powerful Japanese fleet and air force probably
would have been successful.
I don't think our guns and crews would have survived.
When Task Force 58 was assembled in 1944, our battery went along with
the Army's 7th Division. This task force was the largest ever assembled, and was
to invade the Japanese-held Marshall Islands. A total of 217 ships and
64,000 troops took part. Our attack group's objective was Kwajalein Atoll. The assault took place
from Feb. 1 to Feb. 6, 1944. When the island was secure, our guns were
brought ashore and we prepared defensive positions. An air strip was built, and every day B-24 Liberator bombers would take
off to attack Japanese targets. Some of the planes had pretty women painted
on the sides and sported names like "Tropical Trollop" and "Kansas Cyclone." The final move for our battery was to Guam. After three years and three
months in the Pacific, I was told to get ready to go home. It was almost too good to be true. The atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima when our ship was three days out
of San Francisco, and I believe that the troop train I was on was the first
returning after the bomb fell. After receiving my separation papers at Fort Dix, it was home to Yonkers,
N.Y., and my family.
Please Visit Val's Other Pages
KOESTER / KOSTER GENEALOGY PAGE
SIMON / SIMMON GENEALOGY PAGE
KEARNEY GENEALOGY PAGE
ROTHERT GENEALOGY PAGE
MEHLER / MEILER GENEALOGY PAGE
MEUTER / MEUTHER GENEALOGY PAGE
HORN GENEALOGY PAGE
BEISEL GENEALOGY PAGE
THUMJAN GENEALOGY PAGE
KLAPPER GENEALOGY PAGE
GROSSER GENEALOGY PAGE
BOESENBERG GENEALOGY PAGE
WINDHORST GENEALOGY PAGE
WESSEL(S) GENEALOGY PAGE
HUGHES GENEALOGY PAGE
MY VOLMERSWERTH CONNECTIONS
GEILS GENEALOGY PAGE
JACHENS GENEALOGY PAGE
KARVOSKI / KARWOSKI(E) GENEALOGY PAGE
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