While just one of millions of men and women who answered their country’s call, “Doc” had his own unique story of service. Before he passed away I sat down with him and helped him document the timeline of his service. These are the dates and events as he remembered them, with some added comments when appropriate.
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January 1943: Received Draft notice
February 1943: Underwent physical exam
– Caught a bus at the Yoctangee Park Armory (Chillicothe, OH) and rode to Columbus, Ohio
February 1943: Inducted
– Reported for duty at Fort Benjamin Harris in Indianapolis, Indiana
– Those with drivers licenses – were given wheel barrels
– Those without drivers licenses – peeled potatoes (“Doc” peeled)
February 1943: Camp Atterbury, Indiana
March 1943: Basic Training; Kearns Army Base; Kearns Utah
– Service members of mixed ages
– Very crude barracks offered little protection in the extremely cold weather
– Slept with gas masks on to protect from the sand storms
May 1943: Medical Technician School & Medic Training
Fitzsimmons Army General Hospital; Aurora, Colorado
– Joined a baseball team
– Traveled
– Taught the practical techniques on themselves (i.e. how to insert a tube to the stomach through the nose)
June 1943: Army Specialized Training Program (1 Month)
Fort Collins, Colorado
Colorado State College
Decided to hitchhike to Cheyenne, Wyoming. A family stopped and asked if they wanted to go up to the Mts. for a picnic. The place had a fence around it made with “deer” antler.
July 1943: Reported for Operational Training, Alamogordo, New Mexico
– Medical Technician for the 716th
– Lab Technician for the 716th and HQ
September 1943: Operational Training; Bruning, Nebraska
Was part of the team responsible for making sure the crews received their vaccinations. They weren’t very willing to comply so the team set up a jeep with the appropriate storage for the vaccines. They drove out to the planes catching the crews as they were “coming and going”.
– Promoted to Sgt.
November 17th, 1943: Topeka, Kansas
– First stop on route to Italy
November 27th, 1943: Morrison Field, West Palm Beach, Florida
November 29th, 1943: Trinidad
November 30th, 1943: Belem, Brazil
– Flew along the Amazon and saw “natives” on the river
December 1st, 1943: Natal, Brazil (Eastern most point in Brazil on the Atlantic Ocean)
December 9th, 1943: Dakar, Senegal
– Flew in the belly gun position
As they approached the coast of Africa they were told to be prepared to ditch equipment if necessary (the flight was long enough it was uncertain that all planes could reach Africa.)
The plane went into a nose dive when the pilot and co-pilot “fell asleep”. Quite alarming!
Went to the beach and saw horses being walked in the water. Learned that salt water toughened the hoofs so they would not split.
Visited the town.
December11th, 1943: Marrakesh, French Morocco (“weathered in”)
– Lead plane crashed in the Atlas, Mts.
– Saw C-47 unload President Roosevelt’s car
– Ike visited with them as they ate lunch
Told it was too dangerous to visit the town.
December 13th, 1943: Tunis, Tunisia
– Had Arab guarding tents. Discovered them attempting to steal personal items.
December 17th, 1943: Grottaglie, Italy
Home base for the 449th Bombardment Group (H)
Set up Medic Stations
December 25th, 1943: Christmas Day
Col. Alkire assigned “Doc” the task of going into town to get “the best ice cream available” for the Christmas celebration.
February 23, 1944: Participated in the rescue of British crew that resulted in “Doc” receiving the Soldier’s Medal.
August 15th, 1944: Identified the remains of Maj. William Nosker after seeing his 1939 OSU Big Ten Football Championship ring on his finger.
February – March 1945: Air Force Basketball Tournament
– Participated with the 716th Basketball team when schedule allowed
– Selected to be part of the 449th BG’s All Star Basketball Team
449th Team won the 47th Wing tournament
– Lost to the Tuskegee Airmen Team in the 15th AF Tournament
May 1945: Wars End returned from Italy
– Left Grottaglie, Italy by ship
Became extremely sea sick. Was unable to maintain his personal hygiene and appearance to the point that Dr. Scott could hardly recognize him. Was sent to the ships officers’ sick bay and recovered. “I thought I was going to die.”
June 1945: Fort Miles Standish, Taunton, Massachusetts
June – August 1945: Camp Atterbury, Indiana
– While on furlough attended Reds baseball game with fellow 716th member from Chillicothe (Bernard Bowers).
– Bombs were dropped on Japan ending WWII
August 1945: Sioux Falls, South Dakota
– Met Satchel Page, African American star pitcher. Watched his amazing warm up routine. (Placed a baseball on home plate and pitched to the sides of the baseball as his target.)
August 1945: Camp Atterbury, Indiana
– Discharged
– Evaluated as having hearing loss in his left ear
September 1945: Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine
– Attended under DAV grant
– Graduated in 1949
"Doc" Allen 