World War II, Vernon Meyer
For most, Oct. 20 was another fall day. People might have been thinking about harvesting soybeans or of the coming winter season. For some veterans, Oct. 20 brought back memories of horrible combat experiences that occurred at a time when they were in their late teens or early 20s. It was the return and invasion of the Philippines by 100,000 soldiers in Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s 6th Army. Vernon Meyer, Clarence Meineka and others from the Concordia area were there.
In 1942, the Japanese Army swept south from their homeland with their vast armies, conquering and overrunning all of southeast Asia including the Philippines. Gen. MacArthur was ordered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to escape to Australia to plan for the eventual return to the Philippines.
After being inducted into the Army at Jefferson Barracks on Sept. 24, 1942, Meyer was sent home for two weeks. When he reported back, the Army sent him to Hawaii for basic training with the 24th Infantry Division. After eight months Meyer and his comrades were sent to northern Australia for combat training. He participated in the battles for Hollanda and Biak Island.
Early in the morning of Oct. 20, 1944, 300 ships in Gen. MacArthur’s invasion fleet came into the waters east of Leyte Island where the Japanese had placed mines. The invasion troops quartered in the bow of the ships had earlier been moved up on deck as a precaution in case any troop ships struck a Japanese mine.
Reveille sounded at 2:30 a.m. At 4 a.m., Staff Sgt. Meyer and his anti-tank gun squad in the 24th Infantry Division ate a hot breakfast. This was the last hot meal they would eat for several days. Meyer and his squad were hardened veterans from the brutal battles in New Guineas, Hollanda and Biak. They knew the ordeal that confronted them.
The invasion armada plowed slowly up into Leyte Gulf, then entered San Pedro Bay. Enemy shell fire created large geysers of water as they exploded in and around American warships. American battleships were returning fire with their 16-inch guns. Meyer and his squad checked their equipment that weighed some 70 pounds.
Meyer and his squad, along with hundreds of their comrades, clambered over and down the ships’ sides into landing craft infantry. It would take 30 minutes for Meyer and his squad to reach the beach at Leyte Island.
As mortar fire from the Japanese landed on the beach, Meyer and his comrades quickly dug fox holes and got into them for protection. The war to liberate 7,000 islands in the Philippine Islands would begin here.
Meanwhile, Gen. MacArthur and Philippine President Serigo Osmeno came ashore. Gen. MacArthur, using an Army radio, addressed the people of the Philippines.
He said in part, “People of the Philippines, I have returned. By the grace of God almighty, our forces are on Philippine soil. The hour of your redemption is near.”
The Japanese High Command were surprised by the invasion of Leyte. They had expected MacArthur to land on Luzon Island, the largest of the Philippine Islands.
From October 1944 to January 1945, Meyer and his comrades in the 24th Infantry Division were in constant combat with Japanese Army forces.
Meyer recalled one night when his company was encamped at the top of a hill, his men heard Japanese chattering at the bottom of the hill. Meyer ordered his men to load a canister (shell that spreads its pellets like a shotgun). He ordered the men to fire the canister at the Japanese.
Immediately, Meyer heard screams from the Japanese soldiers. In the morning Meyer and his men inspected the area and found many Japanese dead or badly wounded. Those wounded and still living were shot.
Exposure to constant tropical rain resulted in Meyer contracting tropical ulcers and jungle rot. He was evacuated to an Army hospital in New Guinea. He received a penicillin shot every four hours, 96 shots in all. Meyer returned to duty in February 1945. His unit landed on Mindanao to capture the island. Meyer was hospitalized again.
Meyer was discharged from the Army in October 1945.
Today, Meyer, 90, is a resident at the Good Shepard Home in Concordia. He is alert and remembers in great detail the historic events that occurred 67 years ago.
