Donald Leo Bloomfield Camp Malokole |
When we got the word of what happened, three of us were sent to Schofield Barracks to haul sand bags to Pearl Harbor and Hickam. The three of us spent all day doing this. We were at Pearl Harbor about 9:00 am and were in and out until after dark that night. I enlisted September 4, 1940 and was sent to Fort Sheridan, Ill. I worked in transportation for some time and then joined the Fort fire department. Three times I tried for the Philippines and was rejected. Because I was a fireman, I was sent to Malakole. It did not have a truck and didn't get one until late 1942. I had all kinds of jobs from 1941 until late 1943 when I was accepted for Air Corps. training. I came back to the states and was sent to Kessler Field for assignment. I qualified for pilot and bombardier. I was then sent to Arkansas ACM College for schooling. On April 1, 1944, all persons that had ground or service training were dropped from the Air Corps. service. We were allowed to finish the course. 50,000 were eliminated. I was sent to Camp Van Dorn Alabama for refresher training. We trained until September and were then shipped to Europe. The 103rd and 104th Divisions were the first to land in southern France. By the first of November, we were headed for Strasburg. The first week of November, I was hit by shrapnel. Not serious, just painful. I stayed with the outfit and on November 25th a German machine gunner killed my first scout. He missed me the first burst, but got me the second one. I was hospitalized from that date until my disability discharge on July 5, 1946. My medals include: Bronze star, two purple hearts, four campaign medals with three battle stars, good conduct with clasp, unit citations and a combat infantry badge. |
Information provided by Donald Leo Bloomfield |
