139th Port Company U.S. Army

On July 23, 1945 the 136th Port Company Transportation Corps of the United States Army arrived by ship at the Port of Naha, Okinawa. The following are excerpts from the letters of Captain Daniel E. Lewis.

September 12th

It was some kind of typhoon we had here yesterday. They say it was the worst storm in twenty years. The wind gauge recorded 120 mph. It was a terrific force. There must have been plenty of casualties at sea as some bodies have been drifting up on the coral reefs. We made a tour to see what damage had been done. Everywhere we went we saw where buildings and other structures had been blown over, twisted and broken. Ships were piled up along the coast in countless numbers. We still have food in the form of K-rations that should take good care of us as long as the supply is available.

My duty at the Port is over and I am now back as the executive officer of the 136th Port Company. I have also been appointed to the board for Special Court Martials as Defense Council. I don’t like this type of duty any more than the duty I had as Trial Judge Advocate when in the 33rd Brigade in San Diego.

September 16th

The Ryukyus Islands are referred to as “Typhoon Alley” and typhoons are called “Ladies of the Pacific.” It is typhoon season, and although the center of the storm was about fifty miles at sea, yesterday’s typhoon drenched our tents inside and out, and we were lucky to keep ours standing. We reinforced it and prayed that it wouldn’t go over. Many others did, however. Our rain gear consists of pants tied around our ankles and heads covered with a hood. The only exposed parts of our bodies are our faces. The boots are not waterproof.

September 25th

Today a big gasoline staton across the road caught fire. The flames and smoke shot a great distance into the sky. We all ran for cover, afraid the gas tanks might explode. One man was badly burned.

A few months later, Dan wrote about a worse explosion.

I was writing a letter in my quarters when I heard a tremendous explosion. I hurried outside and saw the whole northern sky aflame. It was a huge Army dump, several miles away, where a large number of full acetylene gas tanks blew up and shot into the air like rockets, leaving their blazing contrails behind. It was a spectacular display.

October 1st

Capt. Chervin, Lt. Lanier, and I hoped into our jeep last evening and went to a large outdoor movie show located several miles north of here. The GIs sit on the hillside on box crates all crowded together. During the show something caused the audience to stampede. It was one of the strangest things I have ever experienced. All at once, like spontaneous combustion, everyone was a part of a big, horrible mob trying to get out of the place, desperately going in all directions all at once.

Quite a few men were hurt and nearly everyone must have received some bumps and scratches. I was knocked down several times and each time I got up was knocked down again. The seats (boxes) were all smashed as if they were match sticks. Scattered everywhere were hats, helmets, raincoats, etc. I lost my helmet and Capt. Chervin lost his raincoat.

The best explanation I could find for the stampede was that someone had caught a big rat by the tail and the disturbance triggered the whole disaster. It is a helpless feeling to be in the middle of a mob like that. When we went to get our jeep where we had parked it, it was gone. GONE! GONE! Gone! We had experienced this type of theft before as there was no way to lock an Army vehicle. Our only solution was to take the jeep belonging to another outfit and return to our camp.

The photo: The soldiers were not permitted to bring cameras from the States so there were only a few on the island. One of the officers had a 620 box camera which Dan borrowed, using film sent to him from his two sisters.

If you missed my story about Dan joining the army after Pearl Harbor, you can find it in the February 2021 blog, Dad’s Valentine. My March blog is Anxieties in War, Anxieties in Peace.

If you have narratives or photographs of your family members from World War II, consider donating them to the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. For more information, contact them at https://ahec.armywarcollege.edu/donate.cfm

Next month’s post: A Mysterious Moaning

The whole build up of men and equipment on the island is to prepare for the invasion and occupation of Japan by the U.S. forces. This is the last stepping stone to victory. We have cargo ships off shore that our port companies unload onto barges. Then our men unload the barges onto trucks. From here another unit hauls everything to large “dumps” for temporary storage. There are many huge military airfields with thousands of planes and pilots preparing for the invasion of Japan. The sky is often filled with planes of all descriptions.

August 4

Naha was formerly the largest city on the island and Okinawa’s largest sea port. The destruction here is unbelievable. It is just a shambles and practically all wiped out. No worthwhile buildings remain standing. Prior to our encampment, large areas were prepared for Army occupation by leveling with large bulldozers. We live on top of rubble that was once a city of 65,000 people. We have been living in the rough, enduring much wind, rain, and mud.

August 6

I have been working from 5 A.M. to 6 P.M. at top speed Then on top of that we usually are disturbed during the night with air raids from the Japanese. There is considerable noise and fireworks from gunfire.

August 7

Tomorrow we officers will move into our tent houses. We have fixed up some real fine quarters—a far cry from the way we lived on arrival. At night we can lift up the flap of our tent and see the Battalion movie, as the screen is just a short jump from our quarters. We still wash in our steel helmets but soon will have an improvised shower made from an auxiliary airplane tank that we hoisted and mounted on a supporting framework.

August 8

When we first arrived here we had many air raids—sometimes several during the night. The sky would be full of tracer bullets and search light beams. It was pretty to watch but was a time of anxiety. Several of our men who were working at the docks at night were shot at by snipers who hide in caves during the day and come out at night to harass our workers. At night we don’t go far from camp without our carbines close by. It is never safe to take side roads when driving through the hills.

August 11

When the announcement was made that Japan had offered to surrender, we were watching a movie. It came to an abrupt end as men began to shout and jump and run and celebrate in a spontaneous outburst of joy. Men ran for all the weapons they could find—from small arms to antiaircraft guns— and caused the biggest display of fireworks I have ever witnessed or probably ever will. Tracer bullets literally filled the sky. I was much more frightened of peace than I had been frightened of war. I went to my tent and put on my steel helmet just in case some stray bullet might find its way in my direction.

It was later reported that the peace casualties on the island were thirteen killed and two hundred wounded.

If you missed my story about Dan joining the army after Pearl Harbor, you can find it in the February 2021 blog, Dad’s Valentine. Follow my blog for more excerpts about typhoons, a stampede, and a mysterious moaning.

The photos: The soldiers were not permitted to bring cameras from the States so there were only a few on the island. One of the officers had a 620 box camera which Dan borrowed, using film sent to him from his two sisters.

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Tag Archives: 139th Port Company U.S. Army

Typhoons, an Explosion, and a Stampede (a World War II story)

Anxieties in War, Anxieties in Peace (a World War II story)

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