The day I received my copy of Blackhawk Recollections I read it cover to cover...115 pages. The book was divided into sections about being soldiers, the fighting in Europe, and the end of the Blackhawks tour in the Philippines. The first entry was written by Alfred "Ted" Goodwin of the 342nd Bn Hqs Co (I think this means Battalion Headquarters Company). It was titled "Survivor's Guilt." Ted explained how many of the young officers who joined at the end of the war were called "90 day wonders"--college student ROTC members...just a year or two older than the ASTP trainees who joined them as rookie Blackhawks during the fall of 1944 (all Goodwin's words). While training at Camp Livingston, Louisiana, Goodwin was typing a letter home when he was spotted by Major Ward. Apparently typists were needed at the Ammunition and Pioneer Platoon, so Ward transferred him from I Company, where he was currently serving. He credits his high school typing teacher for saving his life.
With tears clouding my vision, I read the last entry of Goodwin's memoir. I will quote:
"Sixty years later, I still carry a burden of survivor's guilt. The lieutenant who took my place in I Company was killed in the German mortar barrage that greeted the first platoon's crossing of the Danube. Lt. John Seaton was a class of '44 ROTC student from the University of Montana. Whenever someone brings up World War II, I think of John, the Big Sky he never got to see again, and of the random craziness of assignments and deployments when a nation goes to war."
This is my Uncle Jack! Someone knows my Uncle Jack! I cried as I shared this news with my Mom on the phone. I'm not sure what the tears were from--excitement, grief for this young uncle's brief life, or compassion for my Mom, who responded to this news with tears as well.
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