Arnold's Story: February 1946 Japan and Korea

It appears they visited Tachikawa Airfield or departed from there for Korea for his next post. The primary defense of Tokyo, Tachikawa also produced fighters, troop carriers, and bombers, and was also the site of imperial technical schools. It was subjected to intense bombing by the U.S. Army Air Force near the end of World War II and ultimately rendered inoperable. The U.S. rehabilitated the airfield and designated it as a transport base, providing transportation for passengers and cargo in the Tokyo Area. It served as an air base for the U.S. through the Japanese occupation, the Korean War, the Cold War, and the Vietnam Conflict before being returned to the Japanese government in 1977.

Fritz Finley, February 1946, at a U.S. Army Air Force base in Korea

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Arnold's Story: February 1946 arrival in Japan

Arnold arrives in Japan in February 1946, probably by ship, given these harbor photos. 

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Arnold's Story: October 16, 1945

Although World War II is technically over, Arnold is now posted to Camp Pinedale near Fresno, California. He mentions his stay at home (by which he certainly means Glendale), so perhaps that stay included the visit to Mount Wilson. 

Suntan pants and shirts are trousers and shirts of lightweight tan or khaki fabric that make up the summer uniform of some branches of the military.

There are no more letters from 1945 — a gap in the record. The next information from Arnold shows him in Japan in early 1946, then moving on quickly to Korea, where he will spend several months.

I could not figure out the date of this black and white photo; it looks to be in a desert. Perhaps it is from the San Joaquin Valley, with the Sierra Nevada Mountain foothills in the background.

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Arnold's Story: 1945 Mount Wilson

Here is another set of undated photos, this time from Mount Wilson in the San Gabriel Mountains, California. It is the site of the Mount Wilson Observatory. It appears that Hazel, Dolly, Laura, and Arnold had a family outing around 1945 or perhaps later. Accompanying them are a friend of Laura's and Dolly's boyfriend Lee. There will be more about Lee in 1947 after Dolly and Lee marry. 

Arnold might have been on leave from Camp Pinedale at this time, or it might after his military service in 1946, 1947 or even 1948 (though by June 1948 Lee was out of the picture).

Mount Wilson Observatory, circa 1945 (photo by Arnold Nevis)

Mount Wilson Observatory, circa 1945 (photo by Arnold Nevis)

Mount Wilson Observatory, circa 1945 (photo by Arnold Nevis)

Dolly Nevis with Lee, Mount Wilson, circa 1945 (photo by Arnold Nevis)

Dolly Nevis with boyfriend Lee, Mount Wilson Observatory, circa 1945 (photo by Arnold Nevis)

Dolly Nevis, her boyfriend Lee, Hazel Nevis, Laura Nevis, Laura's friend,
Mount Wilson Observatory, circa 1945 (photo by Arnold Nevis)

Hazel Nevis with daughter's boyfriend Lee, Mount Wilson Observatory, circa 1945 (photo by Arnold Nevis)

 

Laura and Arnold Nevis, Mount Wilson, circa 1945 (photo by Arnold Nevis)

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Arnold's Story: 1945 Salt Lake Temple

By October 1945 Arnold was back in California, assigned to Camp Pinedale. Here are some photos of the Salt Lake Temple in Salt Lake City. There is no date on them, but I am guessing he took them on route by train from the East Coast to California. He might have arrived at night or the wee hours of the morning at the Salt Lake City training station and then walked around downtown during the layover. (These might instead be from his cross-country trip in June 1948 or an excursion that same month when he was working at the McCloud River Lumber Co.)

Salt Lake Temple, circa 1945 (photo by Arnold Nevis)

Salt Lake Temple, circa 1945 (photo by Arnold Nevis)

Salt Lake Temple, circa 1945 (photo by Arnold Nevis)

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Arnold's Story: 1945 misc

I discovered this letter a bit late to place in order for 1945. The envelope shows it is from Arnold's Boston days and seems to describe activities from his lumberjack time in northern California.

Here is a July 12, 1945, envelope from Harry Schmidt, whose contents I could not find, but the envelope shows Arnold now six or seven hours up the road from Glendale at Camp Pinedale, Fresno. (I lived about a half mile from there between 1990 and 1995 when I taught at California State University Fresno, a factoid I just calculated right now.)

I am not sure who Eva is, but here is an undated photo and note from here. The ranch she mentions might be the Elmer's logging camp; that is of course a complete guess on my part. The photo and note  may be from a year or two earlier.

next post  1945 Salt Lake City

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Arnold's Story: February 17, 1945

Hazel mentions scarcity of goods such as shirts during the war. And she uses points from her ration cards to purchase beef steak. 

next post  April 19, 1945

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Arnold's Story: February 9, 1945

Dolly chastises her brother for not writing except when he needs a favor. Ouch! 

Bob Mello is Wilfred Mello, brother of Edwin "Ed" Mello.

next post  February 17, 1945

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Arnold's Story: February 8, 1945

I remember from my years in Fresno, California, that people there spoke about "having weather" as if it was not constantly around us. One Fresnan said "we have weather, too" in comparison with the Midwest and East Coast, but meaning that it sometimes rained or rarely snowed or frequently fogged up, but most of the year it was sunny and cloudless. (I guess that is when they did not "have weather".) I see Hazel uses "weather" in the same way.

The U.S. Post Office was extremely efficient in the 1940s, perhaps more than nowadays, some 75 years later. Although I see from this letter that they now have home delivery only once per day instead of the previous twice. I suppose that is why she no longer puts "AM" or "PM" on her letter dates.

God Is My Co-Pilot was a 1943 memoir by Gen. Robert Lee Scott Jr. about his exploits in World War II with the Flying Tigers and the U.S. Army Air Forces in China and Burma. The book was adapted as a film of the same name, released in 1945. The Nazarene was a 1939 novel by Sholem Asch.

Ted W. Lawson wrote Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo as a memoir of his participation in the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo in 1942, which ended in a crash, from which he was rescued by friendly Chinese and then repatriated to the U.S. The book was subsequently adapted into the 1944 film of the same name starring Spencer Tracy, Van Johnson and Robert Mitchum. 

next post  February 9, 1945

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