Note: This was a project for a college history class. The original letter from Jack Cunningham is in the Archives at Nicholls State University, Thibodaux, Louisiana.

My grandfather, John William Cunningham, is the only World War II veteran I know. My earliest memories of him are also related to my first awareness that there was a World War II. During our frequent visits with him while I was growing up, I learned that much of his current behavior and who he really is, is closely related to his war experiences. I have always been intrigued by his story, most of which has been pieced together by family members as a result of tearful tales he told while he was drunk.

In the forty-five years since the end of the World War II, my grandfather has remained virtually silent about his service in the U.S. Navy. Nightmares about the war still occur but only during bouts of heavy drinking has he ever revealed any of his thoughts and feelings about that period of his life. Although he has had a close, loving relationship with his wife and four children, he has kept his memories of the war to himself. Even now, these memories seem to cause him great pain.

Because my grandfather has never openly discussed his Navy experiences, I wasn't certain he would agree to any kind of interview on the subject. For my entire life I have been told that "Pap" had some bad war memories that made him drink and have nightmares and I knew that I should NEVER mention it. However, I did contact him at his home in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia and he reluctantly agreed to answer my questions in writing.

The only son of a mountaineer family, Pap was eighteen when he enlisted in the Navy in 1942. He had graduated high school and, still unmarried and living at home with his parents, was working at Wheeling Steel Corporation as an office worker. He said, "All the events at the time the war began made me feel as though I must do my share, so I enlisted.... When I joined the Navy my parents were surprised. My friends, at least most of them, were in or were about to go. Those who did not go if they could, lost full respect forever... My friends and I got along fine after the war. During the war your friends were closer. I lost respect for those who could have gone but didn't."

Pap and two of his very good friends left West Virginia and traveled by bus and train to Norfolk, Virginia for four weeks of "boot camp." Pap says, "This was no ways near adequate." He emerged from the training a Seaman Second Class. He said he made many friends during those four weeks but he said, "They were soon just a memory. I kept in touch with one, but he is now deceased."

The sailors, Pap says, were always treated "good but firm." He said, "My superiors always treated you good as long as you did as you were told. Any hazing was mild and in fun. We were too busy for that." He claims that the food they ate was not fancy but it was good. He found the medical care to be better than he had expected and he says that the military equipment was as good as could be provided at the time. According to him, he didn't notice any racial discrimination "because I was from up north."

After Pap finished "boot camp," he went to a Service School for sixteen weeks. Then, about six months after he enlisted, he was sent over seas aboard the U.S.S. L.S.T.4. He said the first "action" was an air raid so there was no real contact. However, he said, "On the way over we were followed by a wolf pack of subs and that was for twenty-seven days." Regarding battles, he said, "In the Navy, the big danger was from mines, torpedoes and air raids. I was in the amphibs and our job was taking supplies and troops to the beach. As for casualties, our flotilla was numerous landing craft. I saw several of them lost to different things. I have no idea how many lives were lost. I only saw a couple who broke down. Mostly, the men just took it day by day and held up good. The officers were men the same as the enlisted and done a good job. They set good examples for the men... I don't think anyone can understand war. I think if we had not gone to war over there, later they would have been over here... I think all wars are fought for greed, power and politics."

My grandparents, like so many others, were married during the war while Pap was on leave. My grandmother was only sixteen years old and they barely knew each other but Pap wanted someone waiting for him, perhaps so he could be optimistic about the future.

Pap says he was happy when the war was over but that he later became depressed and cried. He said, "I cried for no real reason. I knew later the reason was that I was a hill boy who never was on a bus or train. The change into that big, crazy world had a bad effect on me. Then after the years in the service (two over seas), you are suddenly discharged and back to being a hill boy. The changes were too much for a shy hill boy who didn't know much except the hills of West Virginia. That affected me much more than the war itself... I think Germany and Japan suffered enough in the war, especially the civilians. All the people of the world suffered, so no one won. I did not celebrate as I was at sea. You don't celebrate when so many people died or were crippled or had mental problems. I got discharged shortly after the war was over, October 14, 1945.

Following the war, Pap said, "I was treated fairly good when I got home. There was not any parades or parties. I was depressed for quite some time. As I said, it was due to the sudden changes. I went back to work two days after I got home. I was not treated too good by the place where I worked, but the people treated me fine. I did resent the ones who stayed home. They made all the big money and we paid the price. I joined the American Legion when I came home."

My grandfather did not expand his answers any more than necessary to answer my questions. He says that this is the most he has written in fifty years and I'm certain that is the most that he has ever said about the war during a lucid moment.

One particularly interesting story about Pap's war years (told on many occasions while he was drunk) comes from my grandmother and my great-grandmother. Pap had three sisters and had always wanted a brother. During the war he became very close to another sailor on his ship. His name was Sam and he had spent his entire life in an orphanage. Pap had made plans with his parents and with Sam to take Sam back to West Virginia with him after the war to be a part of his own family. However, in an attack on their ship, Sam was blown up into little pieces while standing not far from my grandfather on the ship. Later, my grandfather and his mates had to literally scrape their friends' remains from the floors and other surfaces of the ship. - - Pap named his only son, Sam.

My family believes that some traumatic event, possibly the attack that killed Sam and many others, occurred at Christmas time. It is during this season every year that Pap is the most depressed and melancholy and when he drinks the most.

There have been other wars since World War II and with each there has been an increasing awareness of the mental and emotional effects of war that often impair the veterans as greatly as physical injuries. It seems that my grandfather would have been an excellent candidate for psychiatric care to deal with what is now being called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It also seems a shame that my family wasn't able to help him more. As it is, he has continued to carry World War II with him for nearly half a century.

USS LST-4, World War II

LSD - Dock Landing Ship

Web page by Linda Cunningham Fluharty.