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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2011 21:30:58 GMT 8
I am Byron Kearbey H Battery (Geary) 59th CAC. I was gunner on number 1 gun until the day we came in second place in a big noisy dual with the Japanese 9 inch howitzers.
I wonder how many of us are left alive. I'm 87 and going strong, slow but strong.
If you are one of us or know someone that is, I would appreciate hearing from you. Thanks BK
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Post by okla on Jul 28, 2011 21:55:02 GMT 8
Hey Byron....Thank you for your service. To have gone thru all that you endured, the actual siege, captivity,etc and still be "hangin' in" after all these years, you gotta be a hell of a specimen of humanity. Your must be a remarkable person, soldier and man. Thanks again for what you did for your/our country.
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Post by fots2 on Jul 28, 2011 22:11:18 GMT 8
Hi byron6203,
I can think of nothing better to say than what okla just posted.
I hope you do not mind adding some of your experiences from H Battery for us all to read.
If you are interested, in another day or two I will post quite a few photos of what Battery Geary looks like today. There are many things I do not know about the battery so feel free to make comments or corrections to anything you see. There is no better source of information than someone who was there.
Welcome to the forums.
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Post by The Phantom on Jul 29, 2011 3:44:36 GMT 8
That must have been an explosion you can never forgot Byron.
When those of us lucky enough to visit Corregidor go to your Battery we are always amazed at what had been there before the explosion, (see pictures this thread) and what remains there today. The destruction was so massive.
A few questions Sir if I may .........
1/ Is part of Battery Geary, a very large chuck of concrete parapet, near the road to Battery Ramsey?
2/ Was there a building, or concrete foundation across the road to the south of the Plotting room?
3/ And were you involved in digging the Air Raid Shelter under it?
Always glad to hear from the veterans who were actually there, thanks for getting in touch with us, and welcome. Your input is invaluable to us on this site.
As stated by those above, thanks for your service to our country, and the Philippines.
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Post by rlbj25 on Jul 29, 2011 4:12:13 GMT 8
For what its worth for Mr. Kearbey's search, I found this recent thread from Will Walker who was looking for Battery H veterans. He may already have a list for you. www.corregidor.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=talk&action=print&thread=954I am a relative newbie to this Board, and only a 2 time Corregidor visitor so far (with many more to come, God willing), but I find Battery Geary to be one of the most fascinating spots on the island. I can only read about what you experienced, Mr. Kearbey, and wish to thank you for your service and sacrifice. If by chance you live near Washington, DC, I'll come by and thank you in person.
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Post by darthdract on Jul 29, 2011 13:46:46 GMT 8
Mr. Kearbey Like what the other members have said, it will be really nice to hear stories from a veteran's perspective thank you for your service
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2011 4:36:35 GMT 8
Thanks for all your replies; I'll ask Will if he will post the stories I've sent him. I would like to share with all interested parties. REMEMBER; I WAS A PRIVATE. I WAS NOT PRIVY TO MUCH INFORMATION OTHER THAN FOLLOWING ORDERS. I'M OLD AND STILL HAVE A GOOD MEMORY HOWEVER THIS STUFF IS A LONG TIME AGO. IT IS MY EXPERIENCE AS I SEE IT AND REMEMBER IT.
I made it a point to try and forget or at least put my short war and internment out of my mind since I returned in 1945. It hasn't always worked but I made my mind up not to a professional EX-POW and carry on with my life. That's the way it was until I retired and made the mistake of asking a guy at the gas pump, "Where did you get that X-POW license plate?" He told me and in no time I was joining organizations I didn't know existed. That was over 30 years ago and I participated until last year. I'm in my 10th year as commander of my chapter of AX-POW.
Then one day I got an email from a young man from Arkansas who asked the right questions to crack open the long time closed door of my memory. It didn't hurt and I can think of things only a private or PFC serving on big guns would remember. Here is what we would do.
Htry H was a 12 inch mortor outfit. It hadn't been used for a long time when our unit was formed for the express purpose of manning that battery. Naturally everything had to be cleaned made shinny again so privates and pfc to the front. NCOs at that time only supervised and never dirtied their hands. Private and pfc did the labor. We finished burnishing the guns, cleaning the concrete walls and the powder magazines leaving the shell rooms to complete. I need to ad here that we only worked in the mornings until noon. We had a two hour quiet hour in the barracks so everyone could rest up for the evening fun and games. We lived in our brand new barracks and had to take a large rubber lined canvas bag for water and carry several cans of water to fill same. We had ice to help keep it drinkable. The bag was called a (lister bag). That may not be the correct spelling. On to refurbishing the shells in the shell rooms. On a shell cart we would roll out one shell at a time for each four man team of pvt, pfc to work on. We would remove the nose cone and remove the charge consisting of one block of TNT. The reason we removed it was to wipe out the cavity of TNT chips or dust. Working with TNT caused us to have a bitter taste in our mouth that lasted for several days after the job was completed. We privates had a complaint with the NCOs and other non workers due to the fact they would stand around drinking the water and some of us would have to go fetch more. One day during our break time as we stood around the lister bag we decided to put a pinch of TNT powder in the water to make it taste bitter for the culprits drinking out water. That's the was we saw it. We did and it worked like a champ. It really ticked the NCOs off. We couldn't even smile, but we enjoyed it. It was a small victory.
Thanks again to all. Byron K
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Post by fots2 on Aug 25, 2011 7:52:11 GMT 8
Hi Byron,
I expect that small victory made your day. Thank-you for the stories. It is rare to hear about the day to day life you guys experienced at that time.
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Post by okla on Aug 25, 2011 9:34:27 GMT 8
Hey Guys...Great story. It proves again, regardless of who's army, what war, etc, the Privates and PFCs always got and always will get, the short or sh@#$y end of the stick. It is written in stone, methinks. Cheers.
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