Former sailor recalls World War II service

WisconsinRapidsTribune.com: Former sailor recalls World War II service

Every time Ken LeMoine looks at his right arm, he thinks of World War II.

As an 18-year-old Navy medic aboard the USS Wilkes-Barre in the South Pacific, the Marshfield resident saw more bloodshed than most people see in a lifetime. But his right arm and its large tattoo of a Hawaiian girl make him smile. The tattoo reminds him of his short stop in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he and his comrades were able to get off the ship for a few hours of much-needed liberty.

"I had $9 left, and it cost me $9 for this tattoo. Believe me, I've had fun with it all these years," LeMoine, 85, said.

Years later when LeMoine opened a shoe store in Marshfield, he said children always wanted to see his tattoo.

"I'd make them dance (to see) it," he said.

It's been about 65 years since he returned home from the war, but he has vivid memories of his time overseas. Earlier this week, he recalled his experiences on a Never Forgotten Honor Flight. He traveled with about 100 other Wisconsin veterans to Washington, D.C., to see the World War II memorial.

LeMoine volunteered for the draft in 1943 after he graduated high school.

"We knew my number was coming up, so I volunteered for the draft. When I got to Milwaukee, the Army, Marines and the Navy were all trying to get me to come to their lines," he said.

Initially, LeMoine wanted to be a "tough Marine," but he had second thoughts before enlisting.

"I thought, well the Army sleeps in foxholes. The Marines sleep in foxholes. The Navy, as long as they're on a ship, they've got a clean bed and they've got good food. So I took the Navy," he said.

He was eventually assigned to commission the USS Wilkes-Barre, a Navy cruiser that served during the last year of the war in the Pacific.

Life aboard the ship
The crew first conducted a shakedown cruise in South America. The ship was new, so they had to make sure everything was working properly. Afterward, they picked up soldiers in Panama City, Panama, to take to San Diego. Then, they brought soldiers from San Diego to Honolulu, where he was disgusted to see the aftermath of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, which prompted the U.S. to join the war on Dec. 7, 1941.

"It was very sickening when we pulled in there to see all those ships ... that the Japanese had bombed," LeMoine said.

After the short stop in Hawaii, the ship headed for the South Pacific in early 1944. During his time at sea, his ship, the "Willie Bee," took part in strikes and rescue missions in the Pacific.

LeMoine was one of about 15 pharmacists mates on board, and there also were two doctors and a dentist. He treated the wounded, and he gave morphine, stitches and whatever else was necessary.

Saving a pilotLeMoine's most poignant memory of the war is saving a pilot who almost died when the USS Bunker Hill was hit by two suicide planes near Okinawa, Japan.

"This plane came out of the sky and that was the first plane that hit the Bunker Hill and then the second plane hit. The gunners didn't get it. They shot at it but they didn't get it because they fly low," he said.

The Wilkes-Barre went alongside the Bunker Hill to fight the fires and help evacuate some of the crew. It took about 360 wounded patients on board, including the pilot who was burned from head to toe.

"Everything was exploding. A lot of them just jumped over the side and had to be picked up (by us)," he said.

He gave the pilot 28 blood and plasma transfusions in about five days, which saved the pilot's life.

"I tell you, it was a feather in my hat and I just felt real proud and I still feel proud today," he said.

But not all of the patients who were treated on the USS Wilkes-Barre were as lucky.

"If you didn't think there was a chance of saving them, you went to someWDH - Body Copy else you can save," he said. "There were just so many medical people. I wanted to save as many people as I could."

The tripLeMoine said he never feared for his life.

"I looked at it this way, and I look at it this way today; when God wants me, God'll take me. If God wanted me, he could have taken me out in the South Pacific," he said. "At 18 years old, I guess I didn't realize the dangers we were in."

Monday, as he and the veterans toured the war memorials in D.C., he said he couldn't believe all the thank yous and applause they received from tourists.

"I didn't think I was that important," he said.