Wallace was a PFC in the U.S.Army. He served as a Scout, and was on Attu from either 1942 or 1943
until the end of the war. He talks about unloading coal from a boat. It was soft coal, full of slate. They
started unloading with each man carrying two bags. By the time they were finished, there was a man at
each corner of the bag, each being barely able to move.
He speaks of Cape Wrangell (located at the western end of Attu), of shooting sockeye salmon during
spawn for a change in diet and of spending a lot of time in the observation post, which he considered
easy duty.
He also talks about the President saying everyone was going to get a turkey for either Christmas or
Thanksgiving. Well, the troops on Attu didn't believe a word of it, until the Navy flew over and dropped
one. Someone had snuck a bottle of rum into the turkey package that smashed on impact. They spent
the next three or four hours picking glass out of the bird before they could cook it.
(If you know Wallace, please contact his daughter at: 2naughty@taconic.net)
Coal, Salmon, and Flying Turkeys
by
Wallace L. Stock
May 1943 - 1945