In the last blog I told you about volunteering for duty in the Pacific. With the surrendering of the Japanese it was clear that Canadian service in the Pacific was going to be very limited. Although I had no word from the Army as to my status, I had fourteen days of leave coming to me. I decided to take that time and visit my sister, in Washington, D.C. My sister Vera was working for the British Government War Office. I had been in touch with her when her Naval Officer husband was lost at sea, in 1943. He was on convoy duty on a Corvette escorting Liberty ships across the North Atlantic. His ship was on duty when it suddenly disappeared. There was no distress call; it just disappeared. All hands were lost; it's assumed that it was torpedoed and probably blew up; sinking so fast that it was over in a matter of minutes. It remains one of the wars unsolved mysteries.
I called my sister and she was very happy that I wanted to come to Washington to visit her. She shared an apartment with another war time secretary, but said that they had an extra room and I would be welcome to stay with them. I arranged to arrive by train and set off for Washington on the Canadian Pacific Railroad. Once again, I crossed the beautiful Rocky Mountains, across the Canadian prairies to Toronto, where I changed trains to New York, and then again to Washington.
Vera met me at the station in Washington; this was August 1944, and the temperature must have been about 100 degrees in the shade. I had no idea how hot it got in Washington during the summer. I had on my heavy Army winter uniform, which in Canada was comfortable all year round. I did have a summer uniform, but that was in my barracks box back in Chilliwack. We made our way to Vera's apartment and I met her roommate Audrey. It was a nice apartment and I was happy to see my sister after such a long time. We spent the whole evening catching each other up on our lives to date.
Washington was a lovely city. Tree lined streets, many large buildings and what seemed like thousands of people hurrying everywhere. I spent several days just sightseeing as there was much to see. Vera invited me to visit her office and meet her boss, Sir Christopher Courtney. He was very kind and spent time welcoming me to his office and talking to me about the war. The war with Germany was over and he was looking forward to his return to England.
I had another great experience while in Washington. I had lunch with General Dwight Eisenhower and his wife, Mamie Eisenhower. Here is how it came about. I had made arrangements with Vera to meet her for lunch. We were to meet at a certain hotel down town at 12:30 noon. I had been sightseeing and arrived at the location about 12 noon. I was just standing there when an American Officer came up to me and offered me a ticket to the Eisenhower luncheon. It was a luncheon honoring General Eisenhower for his service. Apparently they had a cancellation and the officer was told to go out on the street and give the ticket to a serviceman. At first I thought it was a joke of some kind. The officer said it was no joke, and if I didn't want it he would find someone else.
I decided to take a chance and go with the officer. The luncheon was being held in the hotel I was standing in front of, He led me into this huge Room. There must have been several hundred people eating lunch. Up at the head table were General Eisenhower and Mamie. I was led to a table right in front of the General. It was the experience of a lifetime. Here I was, an insignificant Canadian Army Lance Corporal, having lunch at a table full of high ranking American officers, having lunch with The General. I never did find out the name of the organization that was honoring the General and his wife. They were presented with a beautiful silver tea service. As happened, my sister was going crazy looking for me. I rushed out and actually was walking down the staircase to the lobby just behind the General and Mamie when my sister spotted me. When I told her what happened, she said that she would never have believed me had she not seen me walking down behind the General. It was a surprising event.
My Army leave seemed to be full of unexpected events. I had some more travelling to do.
Vera had been a widow for about a year and was now dating a sailor. His name was Harold Carlson and they had been dating for a couple of months. They decided to get married, and Vera wanted me to go with them to Rhode Island where the Carlson family lived. It was important to her to have some representation from her family at the wedding. This came as a very great surprise as I had no idea this was about to happen. I still had another week of leave before I had to report back in Canada. The three of us caught a train to Providence where they got married with his family in attendance. This was all done on a weekend. The three of us again boarded a train, Vera and Harold to Washington and I left for New York, where I could pick up a train back up to Canada.
When I arrived at Grand Central Station, I found that the next train available was early morning the next day. Grand Central Station was a madhouse. It seemed that there were hundreds of soldiers, sailors, armed service men and women trying to get someplace. I had the afternoon and night to spend in New York. I didn't want to waste a minute of it. I found a check room and left my small bag. From there, I found my way to a Service Personnel Information Booth. They had several ideas of what I could do in the few hours I had. First on my list was the Empire State Building. I was amazed at the view from the top. I had never seen such a fascinating view of a city. New York certainly was big. I wondered what it was like to live in such a large city. Little did I know that someday I would live and work there?
After hours of walking and looking, I made my way back to Grand Central Station. I found that on the mezzanine floor, anyone in the armed forces could find an army cot. A volunteer lady pinned a note on my uniform indicating what time I needed to be woken up so I wouldn't miss my train. I must have been very tired, as the next thing I knew someone was shaking me and telling me to get up. They directed me to a booth down on the main floor, where the Salvation Army gave me a cup of coffee and a donut.
Soon I was on the train heading back to Vancouver and Chilliwack. What information would be waiting for me? Had any decisions been made as to demobilization? What options would I have? I assumed that I would have some decisions to make!
No comments:
Post a Comment