Page 78 - The History of Veterans at Highland Springs

CHARLES J. MIDDLETON
HIGHLAND SPRINGS RESIDENT, NAVY MEMBER, VETERANS AFFAIRS GROUP
Born August 24, 1926, I was drafted into the Army for WWII and reported for induction in the Army at Ft Leavenworth, KS, November 28, 1944. After passing my physical exam, an announcement was made that a Navy officer was recruiting volunteers. I took my papers to the recruiter, he examined them and said, “Son, you are in the Navy.” I then boarded a train to Great Lakes, IL where I completed boot camp and Quarter Master School (Navigation and Signaling). I graduated, was promoted to Seaman 1st Class, given home leave, and ordered to report to San Francisco, CA – Treasure Island for deployment to the South Pacific. On July 8, 1945, we sailed from San Francisco on a troop transport with two destroyer escorts zigzagging via Hawaii and Marshall Islands and back northwest to Leyte Gulf, PI where we arrived on July 23. We disembarked our ship and were transported to Tacloban, PI for assignment in support of an invasion of Japan. The A Bombs were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and Japan surrendered on August 14, 1945. In the meantime, I was transported by ship to Subic Bay, PI to a small boat repair facility (Half Moon Beach) west of Olongapo. I operated a D-8 Caterpillar tractor with an attached crane and moved LCVP and LCM boats from the bay to the beach for repair. In recognition of my work, I was promoted to Coxswain and granted a 10-day R&R leave to Shanghai. In April 1946, the small boat repair unit was deactivated, and I was transported by ship, (USS Talladega APA 208) back to San Francisco. I was then assigned to the Talladega crew and sailed back to Shanghai and Tsingtao to pick-up troops and return to the US. In July 1946 we mothballed the Talladega at Hunters Point, CA, and I was transported to Norman, Oklahoma, and discharged August 9, 1946. Serving in the Navy was a life game changer for me. It offered a poor Kansas farm boy a chance to attend college and earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business on the GI Bill and work in the aircraft industry building and maintaining the B-36, F-111, B- 58, F-16, and the Japanese F-2 aircraft.
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