Tim Carroll - World War II Akron

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC

www.historypress.com

Copyright 2019 by Tim Carroll

All rights reserved

First published 2019

e-book edition 2019

ISBN 978.1.43966.640.1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018963531

print edition ISBN 978.1.46713.973.1

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

CONTENTS

1

THE ROAD TO WAR

In August 1937, the Akron Beacon Journal celebrated the American boy, noting that he could enjoy his youth in events like the All-American and International Soapbox Derby without worrying about the wars of Europe. The American boys splendid isolation, and that of the nation, would not last. On December 14, 1941, the Soapbox Derbys major sponsor, General Motors, contacted Beacon Journal editor John S. Knight to inform him that the 1942 derby was canceled due to the shortage of rubber and other materials after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Fast forward to 1962, when the Beacon Journal published a list of boys who competed in Akrons first derby in 1934 that the paper could not find, such as William Kottke, who participated at eleven and loved it so much he competed again in 1935, 1936, 1937 and one final time in 1938 at fifteen. The Beacon Journal didnt realize that it couldnt find him for a commemorative Soapbox Derby parade in 1962 because Lieutenant William Kottke died at twenty-two on January 23, 1945, when the B-29 bomber he was a flight engineer on was shot down on a raid over Tokyo. Williams parents lost their only son, and he left behind his fiance, Marilyn Rains.

In August 1940, fifteen-year-old Dan Climer was pictured in the Beacon Journal watching one of the last Soapbox Derbies before the war with his friends. Private First Class Dan Climer served in General Pattons Third Army and was killed in the Saar Valley in Germany at nineteen on December 18, 1944, during the German surprise attack that turned into the Battle of the Bulge. The American boy was built for peace, but he went to war.

The American boy was building for peace in 1937. Reprinted with permission of the Akron Beacon Journal and Ohio.com.

But the road to war did not run smoothly, and the nation travelled slowly and reluctantly toward conflict. President Roosevelt visited Akron on October 11, 1940, and was greeted by a crowd of forty thousand at Akrons Union Station. The Republican and Democratic platforms of 1940 were essentially the same, with both candidates promising to keep America out of war. Many Akronites felt the same.

Capitol Hill gets a powerful petition. Reprinted with permission of the Akron Beacon Journal and Ohio.com.

One such person was John M. Carroll, my grandfather, who was drafted on March 1, 1941. The peacetime draft was started when Nazi Germany conquered France as Americans became concerned about the growing Nazi threat. The peacetime draft had little to do with Japan. The Central Armory in Cleveland, which many Summit County and Northeast Ohio draftees were sent to in 1941, was located at Lakeside Avenue and East Sixth Street. The armory inducted 145 Northeast Ohio men a day in the winter and spring of 1941. The Fort Hayes Reception Center began inducting selectees shortly after the Selective Service Act passed in the fall of 1940 and continued doing so until February 21, 1944, when it was closed. In his first letter to his then girlfriend and later wife, Betty (my grandmother), John Carroll wrote:

The world celebrates Armistice Day in 1938. Reprinted with permission of the Akron Beacon Journal and Ohio.com.

President Franklin Roosevelt shakes hands with Sherman Dalrymple, president of the United Rubber Workers of America, at Union Station. Reprinted with permission of the Akron Beacon Journal and Ohio.com.

President Roosevelt shakes hands with Akron congressman Dow Harter before speaking to a crowd at Union Station in Akron in October 1940. Reprinted with permission of the Akron Beacon Journal and Ohio.com.

Sunday, March 2, 1941

10:30 a.m.

Dearest Betsy,

There is absolutely no question in my mind but that I am definitely in the army. Life has been hectic ever since we arrived in Cleveland yesterday morning. Dad took me to the bus + Link was there to bid farewell.

We arrived in Cleveland at 9:00 + started in immediately on the physical exam. I breezed thru the damn thing like nothing + next thing I knew I was fingerprinted + in the army. We were not allowed to leave the Armory + had to just sit around. We sat + continued to sit from noon until 7:30 P.M. just bored stiff. Finally we left for the depot. After sitting all day, we get on the slowest train in the U.S. + it took us 6 hrs to get to Fort Hayes [Columbus]. When we got here, they lined us up all 200 of us + examined us for colds + venereal diseases at 3:30 A.M. By that time we did not care whether we lived or died.

We finally got to bed at about 4:00 A.M. + we were told that if we wished to miss breakfast we could sleep until eleven. So what happens but at nine Oclock on the Sabbath morning we were rudely awakened + had to make our beds + clean up. Two other fellows + I were appointed to the task of keeping the John clean all day. This is the first chance I have had to write + it being Sunday I cant purchase a stamp to mail it.

Honey, I dont know where we are going. All I can tell you is that we will be here from two to five days + then shipped someplace else. Please write me here right away + maybe I will get your letter before we leave.

Write me to Company B Receiving,

Reception Center

Fort Hayes

Columbus, Ohio

You may now address me as Private Carroll.

I feel like I have been gone for years already + I miss you plenty even in this short time.

I think Ill take a short nap now, probably just get to sleep + some Sargeant [sic] will come in bellowing orders.