Remembering World War II

A local veteran looks back on his time in the Pacific Ocean theater
Hannah Koeller

When he was 23 years old, Gordon Holt left Flandreau.

He boarded a bus in front of the Moody County Courthouse with 28 other men on Feb. 12, 1942.
They were heading to Fort Leavenworth, Kan. to be inducted into the United States Army.
After spending 21 days on sick call with the mumps, Holt continued on to his basic training at
Camp Wolters in Texas.
He completed his training in June without knowing where he would be sent. He got on a troop
train that took him and other men to Bakersfield, Calif. Then they were taken to Angels Island,
off the coast of San Francisco.
Five thousand men, including Holt, received their equipment and boarded a large ship. Five days
later, they were on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, six months after Pearl Harbor.
Holt remembers watching the Golden Gate Bridge disappear on June 15, 1942. He would not see
the bridge again until August 1945.
I was one of the lucky ones; I came home, Holt said.
During his time in the Pacific theater, Holt served for campaigns in Hollandia, Dutch New
Guinea, Sydney, Australia, the Philippine Islands and Guadalcanal.
In December 1944, he was working on an island in the Philippines at the end of a crane pulling
wire from the crane to hook onto barrels of octane gas. Trucks full of these barrels were loaded
onto a tank landing ship, or LST, bumper to bumper.
On Dec. 21, the ships traveled to another island where Japanese forces were bombing an airstrip.
Holt said he was sitting under a Jeep, enjoying the Navy food, which was refrigerated and better
than he was used to in the Army.
Then, a Japanese kamikaze pilot crashed into the ship, landing 20 feet away from him. The pilot
had phosphorous fire bombs on the plane which set the ship on fire.
The skin fell off of my hands, it was hanging right off my hands, Holt said. But thats all it
was I should be driving a Jeep today. I was laying under the Jeep that protected me.
He knew he had to get off that ship. Other LSTs in the area had also been hit and people were
already in the water in life jackets.
Holt said there was a big cable off the back of the ship leading to a personnel barge that could
unhook and help survivors. He went hand over hand down the cable toward the barge and waited
in the water until dark for a personnel barge to come for help.
See how our government was already looking after us, Holt said. If that personnel barge
hadnt been there, I wouldnt be talking to you.
Following the injury, he was taken to the Admiralty Islands 500 miles east for treatment. Holt
stayed there for a month recuperating from his burns.
During this time, the American and Filipino forces were fighting to defeat and expel the Japanese
army that was occupying the Philippines.
Just think, I wasnt hurt that bad but the rest of my boys were still fighting, Holt said. Many
of my men were killed, our companies were replaced, wiped out, replaced. And I missed all that.
Thats why Im here today.
In January 1945, Holt was awarded the Purple Heart, which is given to military members killed
or injured while serving. He still has scars on his hands from the injury.
After his recovery, Holt was flown to Guadalcanal. One day as he slept in cabin, he heard a
terrible explosion. It blew him out of his bed.
Liberty ships were unloading deck bombs, 50-gallon barrels of gasoline used to hit
submarines. One of these ships, made of steel, had exploded killing all the men on board.
Holt started running. He heard large pieces of steel falling all around him. The next day, Holt
said bodies parts - hips, arms, shoulders - came floating up to shore in the water.
By 1945, Holt had been overseas for three years. It was his time to go home. He left from Hawaii
on July 23. Two weeks later, America dropped the worlds first atomic bomb on the Japanese city
of Hiroshima.
Three days later, an A-bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. Following the attack, Japan surrendered,
ending World War II.
On the way home we went zig zagged in the water so the submarines couldnt line up on us,
Holt said. The minute they dropped the A-bomb, we took a straight shot. I saw the Golden Gate
Bridge reappear.
His entire time overseas, Holt kept a small notebook, writing down dates, where he traveled,
names of the men in his company. The book remained undamaged, even through his time in the
water. He said he must have kept it in a plastic bag to prevent harm.
He also had a small camera he used to take copious amounts of pictures with, which now make
up a number of scrapbooks he still has.
You dont talk to many World War II veterans who have the pictures Ive taken, Holt said. I
wanted people to know what Id gone through when I got home.
Holt would send the camera film back home and his parents would develop the photos for him.
His sister put together the scrapbooks.
My sister saved everything I sent home, because they didnt know, maybe I wont come home
again, Holt said.
He said he had to do a little flirting around when he got home. Holt married his wife Mavis on
Jan. 25, 1949 and lives on a farm southeast of Flandreau.
The pair have five children together, who have their own children and grandchildren now. One of
their sons, Wayne, farms their land.
Holt turned 98 in September, but said he is in pretty good health, besides having to wear glasses
to see.
Through his experiences, Holts temperament appears light-hearted and unhindered by the war.
But, as he said, It was an experience that I wouldnt volunteer [for].