These large satin banners show the names of the men who served in World War II from the neighborhood of the Ogden Thirteenth Ward in Ogden, Utah.  Andrew Clarke Baggs and John Robert Baggs are my uncles.  Deane Whitney Baggs is my father. 

  

Gold stars indicate those who died.                   AC (Andrew Clark) Baggs                                 

  

            JR (John Robert) Baggs                            D (Deane Whitney) Baggs

Clarke was drafted in 1941 and was in Basic Training at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri when Pearl Harbor was attacked.  He said, “I went to Santa Anna California for flight training school and was assigned to navigation because of my engineering background.  I was washed out of flying school because of being knocked out for 3 days while riding a bike.”  His daughter Sharon wrote, “I remember Dad telling about being a paperboy in Ogden. One day, while making his deliveries, he was struck down by an automobile.  He was taken, unconscious, to the hospital where they announced that he had a serious concussion and they could do nothing for him.  They advised Grandma to take him home to die and save the hospital bill.  Grandma took him home and cared for him.  He was in a coma for 3 days and then semi-conscious for two weeks after that.  When they learned of the concussion in flying school, they told him that after having had a concussion, the skull wasn’t as strong any more, and if he were to be in a plane that had to go into a steep dive, his head would split open like an over-ripe melon.”

Clarke wrote, “From Santa Anna to Bakersfield for a pool of washed out cadets.  Then an interview for O.C.S. Perhaps the best part of that was the fact that the O.C.S. was held in Florida and I was able to get a 3 day delay en route.

“I thumbed a ride from camp to highway 66 and thence north via thumb to Las Vegas, St. George, Provo and finally Ogden. I arrived there 24 hours after I had started.  I called Erma, asked her to meet me and then after a shower, shave, brush up, met Erma and proposed, giving her the diamond.

“After checking our alternatives, we were married in the Salt Lake Temple that evening, going through on the last session of the night… and at 2330, we were married for time and all eternity [June 19, 1942].

“I spent Saturday with my bride and Sunday I was on a train to Florida. After a 3 month training program, Erma came to Miami to meet her 90 day Wonder, and we had a 6 weeks honeymoon at government expense on the beaches of Miami.

“On Halloween Day, we left Miami for the music of New Orleans and 4 days later, Erma went back to Utah and I climbed aboard a troop ship for the Caribbean.

“I was assigned to the 24th Air Depot Repair group stationed on the island of Trinidad, [where we were] on submarine patrol, B.W.I. from October of 1941 to November 1943, and then on to New York, we were bound for the Orient.

“We sailed into New York harbor on Thanksgiving Day.  It was cold and we were in summer sun tans, no coats, a small jacket for the rain.  Six days later we rode a train for a week going from upper New York to San Antonio, Texas, there to train, recoup, refit and prepare for Guam.  Here I was transferred to a Hq. squadron assigned to Kelly Field, and was a (undecipherable word) Ed. Officer School at Lexington, Va. Back to the organization and then sent to Normoyle Field, San Antonio, Texas where [Erma was able to join him and where] Barbara [Jeanne] was born in the shadow of the Alamo.

“We were sent to Los Angeles as Personnel officer and while there I was released from the air force, Victory in Europe, and later Asia, ended the conflict.”

[Sharon’s addition – I think it was while he was stationed in San Antonio that Dad developed a persistent cough that wouldn’t go away.  One day he was doing an errand at the hospital on base and a doctor was there examining a group of men.  Dad hadn’t been able to get in to see a doctor because, so many men had been faking health problems in order to get out of military service, they had been barred from the doctor’s offices.  While he was there in front of the doctor, however, Dad asked him to listen to his chest and see if there was a problem.  The doctor said, “I don’t have to listen to your chest to know what’s wrong with you, I can hear the wheeze in your breathing from here.  You have asthma, soldier, and you’re out of this man’s army.”  Dad went home and told Mom, “I wanted to get out of the Army, but not this way.”]

John tried to enlist but was turned down.  He married Erma Johnson September 16, 1942.   John was drafted September 27, 1943 into the U.S. Army Air Corp.  He went to Fresno, California for his Basic Training and was then transferred to Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio for special training.  He was able to move Erma and Tommy there to be with him.  He developed a very serious kidney and bladder infection while in Dayton and was sent to Paterson Field for treatment.

        

On April 24, 1945, John was transferred to Kearns Field, an embarkation port. On May 29th, he left for overseas duty in the South Pacific.  In June they stopped at the island of Leyta for a few days and then landed in Manilla.  The final destination was the island of Biak, just one degree south of the equator, off the coast of New Guinea.  The island was desolate and the natives were dirty and suffered extreme poverty.  After nearly a year on Biak, John was sent to Tokyo, Japan.  In January of 1946, he received an honorable discharge and returned home to his wife and two children.

Deane enrolled at Weber College in September 1940 but he didn’t stay long enough to graduate as he had taken a Civil Service test for a typist position and received his call to start working at Hill Field.  He began work at Hill Field (Hill Air Force Base) July 1, 1941.  Soon he was up to CAF-3 and Chief of the Memorandum Receipt Unit.  Then he was drafted.  He entered the Army Air Corps August 10, 1942 at Fort Douglas, Utah.

After three weeks of basic training at McClellan Field, in Sacramento, California, he was sent to Portland Air Base, Oregon to join the 57th Technical Supply Squadron with the Ninth Air Force for a very short preparation period for overseas duty.  Realizing this, he went to downtown Portland on one of his passes and purchased a set of rings for Rose Barnes.  He had heard of a possibility of the troop train stopping in Ogden and was hoping to present Rose with a diamond engagement ring.  His plans didn’t work out; the train went right through Ogden, so the rings were sent to his sweetheart from Camp Kilmer, New Jersey and they became engaged by mail in October of 1942.

Leaving Camp Kilmer, he went overseas in January of 1943, landing at Casablanca, French Morocco. He served in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France, Germany and Austria.

During his tour of duty overseas, although subjected to enemy gunfire and aerial strafing, he received no injuries, although he did contract Dengue Fever, a severe tropical disease, while in North Africa and was hospitalized for two or three weeks with complete recovery.  While in Italy he walked through an uncleared German mine field without harm.  He was also in Italy when Mt. Vesuvius erupted during World War II.

During thirty-three months overseas they set up and operated at thirty-two different locations, usually quite close to the front lines of battle. Deane participated in three assault landings: Sicily, Italy, and Southern France, for which he was awarded the bronze arrowhead to wear on the theater campaign ribbon and a medal.  He participated in seven battle areas, including Anzio Beachhead, and the Battle of the Bulge.  While stationed just outside of Rome, Italy, he visited Vatican City and met and talked with Pope Pius XI.

Deane and his friend Norman Hall saved their candy rations and traded their cigarette and other rations for candy.  When they had saved up quite a bit of candy, they gave it to the local children.  It was especially enjoyable when they delivered candy to children at Christmas time in 1943 and 1944.

                                                       Norman and Deane                  

Deane received an honorable discharge as Sergeant from the Army Air Corps on October 24, 1945 after returning home via England on the Queen Mary ocean liner.  Two weeks later on November 7, 1945 he married Rose Marie Barnes in the Salt Lake Temple.