Photo By Timothy Lawn | Adolph Al Bernacki, holding a much younger photo of himself when he served in the U.S....... read more read more
TAMPA – “The bush in front of me blew apart, up jumps a skinny little Japanese Soldier, clad only in shorts and holding up a (Arisaka) .25-caliber rifle. Grinning, he pulls out a single shell and lowers his hand to the trigger ... I lower my M1 Garand and pump six shells into him.” Cpl. Adolph “Al” Bernacki said. “It was the hardest thing … to shoot the kid.”
He is stunned, until that moment Bernacki from East Chicago, Indiana, a young Army artilleryman and gun controller and his fellow soldiers view the Japanese soldiers as little more than a maddened horde of fleas that keep throwing themselves at the soldiers and Marines defending Henderson Field. Now the war comes home. It isn’t just a faceless enemy. It is a little kid, with a rifle and a round, intent on defending an island in the middle of nowhere.
That island in the middle of nowhere that Bernacki, is fighting for is Guadalcanal.
On Guadalcanal, Bernacki is a Soldier assigned to the U.S. Army’s Americal Division, a conglomeration of smaller units assembled and sent ashore in the Pacific theater to reinforce the Marines, and is the first Army unit in World War II to conduct offensive operations against an enemy force.
Bernacki is the senior leader of a team of 14 soldiers serving as scouts, spotters, and rangefinders for anti aircraft artillery.
According to Army discharge documents, he is assigned to Battery C, 199th anti aircraft artillery and automatic weapons battalion. Bernacki and his fellow soldiers’ wartime experiences and adventures begin immediately upon arrival on Guadalcanal.
“It [the island] is loaded with Japanese fleas, and we threw fire at them.” Bernacki said.
According to Army records, the Japanese commander of Guadalcanal, Lt. Gen. Harukichi Hyakutake had a force of more than 8,400 men assigned to the 2nd Division to defend and retake the island and airfield at all costs.
The tenacity of the Japanese soldier and the horrors of combat become all too real for Bernacki when he kills the Japanese soldier.
Once Bernacki recovers from the shock of close combat, he and his fellow soldiers took trench shovels, got a bedsheet and buried the enemy soldier. The chaplain even offered a prayer. In a touch of irony, and still stunned by having to kill another human being, Bernacki recalls the chaplain saying he needs a promotion.
Bernacki found the idea of promotion to be of little comfort. At this point, all he is concerned about making it home alive.
The war doesn’t end for him on Guadalcanal, Bernacki and his team move on with the Marines for combat operations on the islands of Bougainville and Leyte.
On Bougainville, Bernacki and his men dodge Japanese snipers, but, Bernacki feels his mission is getting easier.
After Bougainville, Bernacki lands on Leyte and he has a little humor injected into his war.
On the landing barge heading to Leyte beach, a sailor asks Bernacki in fatalistic humor if he thinks he is going to make it or not. As the ramp drops, Bernacki notices the water is more than four feet deep. It is so deep he has to hold his weapon above his head as he wades to shore.
“I call him [the sailor] a punk,” Bernacki said.
Later, he happens to meet the same sailor, who apologizes to him for being so callous.
On Leyte, as combat operations are ending. Bernacki has an opportunity to interact with island natives. He notices a man and woman watching him as he proceeds to shave one morning.
Using his helmet to hold his shaving water, Bernacki finishes shaving his face, cleaning off several days of dirt and stubble. He sighs as he splashes some Aqua Velva on his face.
The native motions to Bernacki that he wants to give a shave a try. At the moment, Bernacki hasn’t noticed the acne all over the natives’ face. In quick order, the native’s face is bleeding in several places from opening the sores. Bernacki motions to the man to put the aftershave on to help him heal, the man screams “Aggggghhh” as the alcohol interacts with his cuts. It is funny as hell, Bernacki muses.
His island adventures don’t end, the soldiers’ laundry is collected by an island woman, and Bernacki’s recalls her always wanting to do the laundry even if you hadn’t a need for it.
The native woman washes Bernacki’s shirts and undershirts, then hangs them to dry in the sun.
One day she arrives to collect his dirty laundry, and he notices she is wearing his T-shirt, and the snug fit of it is stretching it out. Politely, he motions to her that it doesn’t fit, she refuses and he relents. Military issue is hard to get and he wants his T-shirt back.
The next day, Bernacki is both flabbergasted and amused. In her desire to wear the shirt and avoid the discomfort of the tight T-shirt, the native woman cut holes in his shirt.
With the Leyte operations ending, Bernacki and his fellow soldiers of the Americal Division prepare for their final combat event, the invasion of the Japanese homeland.
Invading the Japanese homeland is an operation no one wants to carry out. According to Army historical records, the U.S. war planners anticipate and plan for the Japanese to defend their homeland with every capability, and no quarter given. The expense and potential for massive U.S. and Japanese casualties make the combined invasion a potentially costly victory.
Bernacki is aboard a ship and heading to Japan when he learns the war is over and the invasion is canceled. He remembers the joy he and his fellow soldiers of the Americal Division feel as they head for home.
Horror, fear and humor helped Adolph “Al” Bernacki stay alive. Hailing from East Chicago, Indiana, steel mill country, he joins the Army and, speaking fluent Polish, Bernacki anticipated going to Europe to fight Nazis, but he ends up joining the Americal Division and fights his way through the Pacific.
Bernacki’s awards for his wartime service are the Asiatic Pacific theater ribbon with two bronze stars, the Philippine Liberation ribbon with one bronze star, Good Conduct medal and the Victory Medal.
http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/72-8/72-8.htm
http://www.history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/cbtchron/cc/americal.html
http://www.americal.org/history.html
| Date Taken: | 03.01.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 03.01.2015 20:05 |
| Story ID: | 155660 |
| Location: | TAMPA, FL, US |
| Web Views: | 333 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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