A headline in a September 24, 1944 stated, “4 McGraths of Sheldon Serve.” Not particularly remarkable since many families had multiple members serving in the war, but it embodied the unique stories of siblings Joseph, Thomas, James, and Kathleen. We looked at Joe’s service as deeply as we could, so we’ll have a look at the other three.
We will start with James’ brief and tragic service training as a gunner on a B-24 bomber. While his obituary states he flew with a crew on a B-29, all other indicators point to the B-24 model. At the age of 26 he met his death in a stateside training flight when the plane, on a training mission, crashed into a mountain in Idaho. James was brought home and buried in the Sheldon cemetery.
Andy Rooney, a past reporter on the CBS “60 Minute” show, wrote a book named MY WAR. I found in it a significant passage that might explain why James McGrath died as he did. In World War II Rooney, a reporter for the Stars and Stripes newspaper, flew with the bomber crews, and knew something about their planes. He wrote, “Training accidents were common. A disproportionate number of those were in B-24s.” Another source said the B-24s were hard to handle and pilots often compared it to flying a truck.
Information regarding Kathleen informs that she graduated from nurses training and enlisted in the US Navy Nurse Corps in May of 1943. The reason she chose the Navy was because they offered her the choice of duty overseas or stateside. Since her brothers had no choice, she thought her parents would prefer her staying stateside. Here are her words about her brother Jim, “I was at work at the US Naval Hospital in Farragut, Idaho, and I had heard of a plane crash. I didn’t even know that Jim had been flying, but I couldn’t get if off my mind. The next day I received notification. Six were killed and Jimmy was among them.” Kathleen flew back to Sheldon to be with her parents, and when she arrived, her mother looked at her and said, “You shouldn’t have flown.”
Farragut, ID where Kathleen served was primarily a boot camp for upwards of 300,000 recruits, but its hospital grew to over 1,000 surgical beds and treated acute infections, routine recruit illnesses, and later wounded combat servicemen from the war fronts, performing several thousand operations.
Over the years, Thomas became an internationally famous poet, but before that developed, he enlisted in the US Army Air Force during World War II. After training in Illinois he was deployed to the Aleutian Islands where he spent two years stationed in the cold, lonely island of Amchitka, Alaska. Here the airfield launched bombers to the Japanese held islands of Kiska and Attu. (Remember the story of the army scout Willis J. Cruden, killed by a Japanese sniper on Attu. Find it at lynnbueling.blogspot.com ) At first, he felt joining the army was the right thing to do, but his grueling assignment grew as tedious for him as it did for many others. He didn’t like the endless mud, fierce winds, heavy fogs, and freezing temperatures. Most of all, though, was the isolation and boredom.
FBI and service records indicate he was a highly disciplined airman and earned a Good Conduct Medal, the American Theatre Service Ribbon, a Meritorious Unit Award, and the Asiatic Pacific Theatre Medal. After his service he became an activist and wrote an anti-war poem titled, “All the Dead Soldiers,” which can be found at The Poetry Foundation.
Some of this material came from “Thomas McGrath: The Early Years, plus a Biographical Sketch” by Pamela Sund. Another long piece is Dale Jacobson’s “A Memoir of Thomas McGrath.” A good deal of reading can be found in these written pieces. Search them out on the internet.
Pictures from “Thomas McGrath: The Early Years” by Pamela Sund.
Another veteran story is on tap. Look for it just before Veterans Day.
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