Warke recounts his wartime stint in Japan
HONORED — Eugene Warke stands near some of the World War II memorabilia that can be found on the walls of his New Richland home, which he built. Warke, 87, said he was honored to be one of 13 NR area people honored for their service in WWII as grand marshals of this year’s Farm and City Days Parade. (Star Eagle photo by Jim Lutgens)
By JIM LUTGENS
Editor/Publisher
In 1945, Eugene Warke didn’t wait to be drafted into the Armed Forces. At age 17 years, 3 months, he skipped his senior year of high school to enlist.
“There was a group of guys from around here going in,” he explained. “I wanted to be with the ones I knew. Age was not a question then.”
Though the war was over by the time they got overseas, some enemies either didn’t know or refused to acknowledge it. Warke and his friends dodged plenty of sniper bullets and endured their share of hardship on Japanese islands. Of 14 who went, three came back. Warke came home carrying 119 pounds on his 6-foot frame.
“After swearing in at Fort Snelling, we were sent to Fort Hood, Texas for training,” said Warke. “We should have had about five months of training. We had five weeks.”
They were swiftly deployed to Japan, where Warke served with the Army’s 866th Air Corps Engineers, operating heavy equipment for the post-war cleanup. They started in Tokyo and ended in Manila.
Simply getting there was an adventure — and a taste of things to come for Warke. His ship ran into a typhoon.
“The ship was tossed about so bad that the captain told us there was a strong possibility the ship would sink,” he said. “We were in the lower compartment fearing we would sink. The compartment was covered with vomit. Most everyone got sick. I did not. I did a lot of swallowing though. Somehow, we made it through that.”
After arriving in Yokohama, Warke was one of 18 chosen from four battalions to serve with the Air Corps Engineers.
“I was a good candidate, I thought, because of my farming background and some involvement with equipment,” said Warke. “We went to many Pacific islands, building air strips and roads.”
There, they lost a lot of friends who were shot by Japanese snipers. The original 14 who went in together were all separated by then.
“We were constantly shot at,” said Warke. “It was terrible. Some of it at first was unbelievable. I lost a lot of my buddies. We were separated from everyone and everything. No mail, no pay, no food except K rations, for five and a half months. They couldn’t catch up with us.”
On one island, they opened their K rations to find mold. They lived on mostly prunes for about two weeks.
“To this day, I am not fond of prunes,” said Warke.
Water was readily available on most of the islands, though the soldiers went a long time without showers or cleaning up. For drinking, they often had one canteen of water for a day.
As they continued south from island to island, the shooting never stopped.
“They kept coming at us,” said Warke. “We had been given machine guns and MI rifles to have with us in our equipment. Our equipment became a weapon, too.”
And a target.
“One time I was running a grader and they shot the motor out,” said Warke. “Another time I was in a bulldozer that was hit and destroyed. We had gotten out before it was hit. Everyone thought we were dead. They were shocked to see us walk back into camp.”
There were other close calls involving transportation.
“Once, we were flying to another island and the four motors on the plane started to go out, one by one,” he said. “The last one gave out as we landed.”
Another time, on an LCN Merchant Marines ship, they hit a storm and the ship spun around like a top.
Though Warke’s crew had good equipment to work with, travel was always an adventure, with constant mechanical issues on airplanes and ships.
“It didn’t matter where we went, there was always a problem with transportation,” he said. “I was scared.”
How were they treated by Japanese civilians?
“Not too bad in Yokohama, because they knew the war was over,” said Warke. “It was not good, but not bad. It wasn’t until we got to those damn islands.”
Warke said he was fortunate to befriend two soldiers who were veterans of the war in the Pacific.
“They knew a lot, they helped me a lot,” said Warke. “I slept between them.”
There still were close calls.
One time, snipers shot into Warke’s tent, hitting a soldier sleeping just above him.
“The bullet grazed his hind end,” said Warke. “He wouldn’t sleep in the tent with us after that. He slept outside.”’
He did run into one classmate from home, Tommy Donovan.
“He was aware I was there and he had been looking for me,” said Warke, who disturbed Donovan’s sleep with his work.
“He yelled, ‘shut that thing off!’” said Warke. “Then he looked out, and it was me.”
Warke was discharged in December 1946, carrying the rank of Tech 5 Corporal with stripes.
How did the war change him?
“I learned how to take orders,” he said. “I learned how to work.”
After returning home, Warke farmed with his father, then worked construction before building a gas station near NRHEG High School. He also built the home where he currently lives, widowed, at age 87.
“I’m supposed to be retired, but I haven’t retired yet,” he said. “I’m still selling fertilizer. I like something to do.”
Warke has been very active in the New Richland American Legion, marching in parades until a knee replacement a couple years ago. He regularly attends the National American Legion Convention and took part in an Honor Flight to Washington, D.C.
He didn’t talk much about World War II until a couple years ago.
“The sleep machine, I’d wake up, think it was a gas mask and throw it,” he said. “It’s funny I’m still alive, I guess.”