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Explore the extraordinary life of Lloyd Wade, one of America’s finest WWII veterans. In this episode, Wade reflects on his childhood in Missouri, his decision to join the 11th Airborne as a paratrooper, and his crucial role in the liberation of prisoners in Manila. Through insightful interviews and personal anecdotes, learn what it means to serve with honor and how these experiences shaped his post-war life, offering lessons that inspire future generations.
SPEAKER 05 :
World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Afghanistan, and her other wars and conflicts. America’s fighting men and women strapped on their boots and picked up their guns to fight tyranny and stand for liberty. We must never forget them. Welcome to America’s Veteran Stories with Kim Munson. These stories will touch your heart, inspire you, and give you courage. We stand on the shoulders of giants. Here’s Kim Munson.
SPEAKER 09 :
And welcome to America’s Veterans Stories with Kim Munson. Be sure and check out our website. That is AmericasVeteransStories.com. And the show comes to you because of a trip that I took in 2016 with a group that accompanied four D-Day veterans back to Normandy, France for the 72nd anniversary of the D-Day landings. Returned stateside realizing that we need to know these stories. We need to broadcast them and archive them. Hence, America’s Veterans Stories was born. But we have such a treasure trove of interviews that we thought it might be a great idea to rebroadcast some of these so that you can hear history from the men and women who lived it.
SPEAKER 08 :
And I’m so excited to have on the line with me Lloyd Wade. He is a World War II veteran, a paratrooper, but he was in the Pacific Theater. So Lloyd Wade, welcome so much to the show.
SPEAKER 07 :
Thank you very much.
SPEAKER 08 :
So you are a World War II veteran, but let’s start at the beginning. Where did you grow up, Lloyd?
SPEAKER 07 :
Missouri. Okay. Hollister, Missouri. That’s right across the river from Branson.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay. And do you happen to remember, where were you when you heard that Pearl Harbor had been bombed?
SPEAKER 07 :
I was in Indiana. Indiana.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay. What went through your mind when you realized that America had been attacked?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, not a whole lot. You know, not so. I was young. And that I would be ready to volunteer, which I did.
SPEAKER 08 :
What year did you volunteer to go into the service?
SPEAKER 1 :
43.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 08 :
Now, you were a paratrooper in the Pacific. And, Lloyd, I have interviewed over 130 World War II veterans. I’ve never had the honor of interviewing a paratrooper in the Pacific. So was this part of the Army Air Corps? No, no, no.
SPEAKER 07 :
It’s just like the 82nd, if you interviewed them. It’s like the 101st, if you interviewed them. We were the 11th. And we were picked to go to the Pacific. The 82nd and 101st was picked for Europe. It’s just two different places that the activity was there, so that’s where you went.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay, so you were part of the 11th Airborne, is that right?
SPEAKER 07 :
Part of the 11th, I was of the 11th, yes.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 07 :
Never a part of anything else but the Levin.
SPEAKER 08 :
Wow. I am learning so much. So tell me about, you decide to get into the Army, and how did you decide to become a paratrooper?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, I had a friend that was one, and he was a volunteer for the 82nd. And, of course, you volunteer for it, well, you know. If I were to get the 80th second, I might get the 101st. I’d get anything. So he volunteered and went to the 80th second, and I decided, well, I’d volunteer, so I went to the 11th.
SPEAKER 08 :
So tell me about basic training and jump school. What was that like, Lloyd Wade?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, jump school, it was all… Not bad. You know, you learned how to jump, how to take care of yourself and all that. And physically get in shape.
SPEAKER 08 :
Did you feel that the training? Was it difficult or was it easy? Were you in good shape? What was your thoughts on that?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, the thing was either you were in good shape or they’d get you there.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay. So that’s not a choice. Okay. So jump school, tell our listeners how that started. How did they start to train you to become a paratrooper?
SPEAKER 07 :
jump school they they taught you uh how to land which they use free towers and they got them down there still got them down at benny i think because i was down there a year or two ago and they were still there and they have uh those free towers which to take you up and you learn you know how to leave the plane, and if you don’t learn, you’ll know the first time. So you want to go back to that.
SPEAKER 08 :
You think? I’m sure that’s true. Well, what about the first time that you jumped from a plane? What was that like?
SPEAKER 07 :
You actually don’t know what it was like because you’d never done that before. And you looked out and looked for everything, but you couldn’t remember this or that. And actually, that become your easiest one. Your hardest one was always your second. Your second, they’ll tell you, well, that first jump, no, that first jump you didn’t pay attention to. Not at all. Because you’d never done it before. You didn’t know what to expect.
SPEAKER 04 :
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER 07 :
But the second, after that first jump, you know what to expect. So your second one become the ace. That was mine. That was the hardest jump that I had.
SPEAKER 08 :
How many jumps total did you do? Do you remember? Around 26.
SPEAKER 07 :
Now that includes jump school and all. Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER 08 :
How many times did you jump into combat?
SPEAKER 10 :
Once.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay. Well, let’s not get to that quite yet. So you’ve completed jump school. What happens after that to you, Lloyd Wade? Where did you go?
SPEAKER 07 :
After jump school, I went back to Camp McCall, North Carolina, waiting for shipment out. okay and i assume you were probably training during that time oh yeah yeah okay uh when did you then when did you ship out when it was in 44 and i i i can’t tell you exactly when it was i know where where we went in the staging area See, we stayed at Camp McCall. And at Camp McCall, then we moved down to Louisiana. And then from there, we went west and got on the ocean and stayed on a ship 32 days.
SPEAKER 08 :
Oh, man. Okay. What was that like, 32 days on a ship?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, you look for things to do. That’s about it.
SPEAKER 08 :
So what kind of responsibilities did you guys have on the ship?
SPEAKER 07 :
Just to make sure that our equipment was in good shape, you know, and we were in good shape.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 07 :
That’s about all you had to do.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay. Then where did you finally land after 32 days?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, New Guinea. That’s actually right across from Australia.
SPEAKER 08 :
How long were you in New Guinea?
SPEAKER 07 :
About eight months. Okay.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay. And so we had then taken New Guinea. My understanding is in New Guinea, though, there was a great risk to our soldiers of malaria. And so speak to that a bit, Lloyd Wade. Well, I had it. Oh.
SPEAKER 07 :
And there was a lot of malaria going on. But, you know. Hadn’t had that. I had something else probably. Okay. And very, it was more like a wilderness and stuff like that. It was a jungle.
SPEAKER 01 :
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER 07 :
And so then we got rid of that and went on to Leyte.
SPEAKER 08 :
And now is Leyte?
SPEAKER 07 :
It’s a part of Luzon.
SPEAKER 08 :
OK. And then where did you jump exactly? Is that in Tlaite?
SPEAKER 07 :
We had, let’s see, one, two, three, three jumps, and one up through the Philippines. OK.
SPEAKER 08 :
So MacArthur had said when they retreated from the Philippines a few years earlier that he would return. Yeah. Do you recall, you know, when we returned, what went through your mind? What were the news reports on that?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, we didn’t have a whole lot of reports on it. And he… He didn’t actually return. You know, his aide might have at some time through there. Okay.
SPEAKER 08 :
Now, when you jumped into the Philippines as a paratrooper, you were jumping in behind enemy lines, correct?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, yes, or getting behind them real quick. And so you have the… prison camp, the Las Benas prison camp. Do you know where that’s at?
SPEAKER 08 :
I don’t exactly. Where is that exactly in the Philippines? That’s in Manila.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay. It’s actually from the top of Tagatay, which was a road, Tagatay Ridge. You could look down on Lake Toll. And in a distance, you could see the prison. And that’s where they had the 2,700, I think it was, 25 or 27, something like that. And we freed those. Wow. Okay, so tell me. We didn’t lose a man.
SPEAKER 08 :
You didn’t lose a man?
SPEAKER 07 :
No. Never lost one.
SPEAKER 08 :
That is amazing. Okay, so let’s talk about this mission then, Lloyd Wade. And how old are you during all this? How old are you?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, right now, 96 years old. Okay.
SPEAKER 08 :
So you were just a kid when you were doing this?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, you figure it out. The war ended in 45, right? Right. So, 45… I was born in… So, you’re about 21 years old, probably. Well, I was born in 23. Okay. Okay.
SPEAKER 08 :
Normally I can do all this in my head, but I’m going to continue on and I’ll do that while you’re answering this question. So you’ve done all this training and you are over in the Pacific and your mission is going to be to free 2,700 of our, was it Americans? and Australians or primarily Americans there at Los Banos prison?
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, that was one of our keys, but that wasn’t the only one, you know. That just come in the routine, and we had a chance to do it, so we done it, you know.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 07 :
That’s pretty amazing.
SPEAKER 08 :
So what went through your mind when you learned that that was going to be your mission, that you were going to go free some of the prisoners of war in Manila?
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, it didn’t change any. You know, it was still the same old thing. Get in and get out.
SPEAKER 08 :
Get in and get out, okay. What about the briefings for the mission? What did they tell you was going to happen exactly, or what was the plan?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, they never tell you. They tell you the locations you’re going to be, what equipment you take with you, and that’s it. You don’t take any side stuff and grab it, get in your way. That isn’t the way they plan it. They plan it to win. And I think we’ve done a pretty good job of it over there.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, I think so. So what happened? So did they drop you? Well, let’s explain to our listeners, because there were not helicopters during World War II. So how did they, you know, what plane were you coming in on that you jumped out of?
SPEAKER 07 :
C-47. Okay.
SPEAKER 08 :
And at what altitude did you fly in at?
SPEAKER 07 :
That all depends. Okay. It depends on weather. At Los Banos, we came in at 500 feet.
SPEAKER 08 :
Wow. I can’t even. How many planes? How many planes were in that mission?
SPEAKER 07 :
I believe that there were seven.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay. And how many guys on each plane?
SPEAKER 07 :
Around 20. Okay.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay. Okay. So I tell you what, Lloyd Wade, let’s go to break. And when we come back, we’re going to continue with this very fascinating story of world peace. And we’re going to go to break. We’ll be right back with Lloyd Wade.
SPEAKER 09 :
In particular, their fish and chips and their nachos are delicious. I hear that their fish tacos are quite good as well. So, again, thank you to Hooters Restaurants for their sponsorship of the show. Join us at Grand Lake’s 14th U.S. Constitution Week, September 15th through September 21st. Grand Lake U.S. Constitution Week is the premier celebration in America of the world’s greatest governing document. The week-long event includes events that educate, promote, and celebrate the U.S. Constitution in picturesque Grand Lake. Constitutional expert Rob Nadelson kicks off the event with his discussion regarding ancient Rome and the Constitution. Nationally recognized scholar Jonathan Turley will deliver the keynote on Saturday, September 20th. For more information, visit GrandLakeUSConstitutionWeek.com. That’s GrandLakeUSConstitutionWeek.com.
SPEAKER 04 :
RE-MAX realtor Karen Levine helps bring to life the individual stories of our servicemen and women. With her sponsorship of America’s Veteran Stories with Kim Munson, Karen honors the sacrifices of our military and is grateful for our freedom. As a member of the National Association of Realtors Board of Directors, Karen works to protect private property rights for all of us. Karen has a heart for our active duty military and veterans and is honored to help you buy or sell your home. Call Karen Levine at 303-877-7516 to help you navigate buying or selling your home. That’s 303-877-7516.
SPEAKER 06 :
All of Kim’s sponsors are an inclusive partnership with Kim and are not affiliated with or in partnership with KLZ or Crawford Broadcasting. If you would like to support the work of The Kim Munson Show and grow your business, contact Kim at her website, kimmunson.com. That’s kimmunson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com.
SPEAKER 09 :
Thank you so much for listening to America’s Veterans Stories. We are rebroadcasting some of the shows that we have recorded in the past because we have these amazing guests and these amazing stories and we need to hear them. And so we thought that it would be a great idea to rebroadcast some of these so that you can hear our history and know our history because it is so important. So again, this is something that was recorded earlier and thank you for listening. Welcome back to America’s
SPEAKER 08 :
Veterans Stories with Ken Munson. I am so honored to have on the line with me World War II veteran, a paratrooper with the 11th Airborne, Lloyd Wade. He jumped into Manila to free 2,700 prisoners of war that the Japanese had taken of our guys. And so Lloyd Wade, let’s continue with the story. It’s really great to have you on the line. So thank you.
SPEAKER 07 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 08 :
So let’s continue on with the story. You’re going to jump in to free these guys from Los Banos prison camp. And imagine this, seven planes coming in at 500 feet with 20 guys in each of the planes. So 140 paratroopers jump out. So where did you guys land? What was your drop zone, Lloyd Wade?
SPEAKER 07 :
On the prison. See, the Japanese do exercise every morning. at seven o’clock now they were strict on their time that they’d done their exercises and everything they’ve done was pretty well timed out and we scouted them for 10 days and found out that at seven o’clock of a morning they came out and leaned their guns up against the barracks and went out in the field and done their exercise. Well, if you’re going to jump on somebody, it’s a good jump on them when they don’t have a gun, right?
SPEAKER 08 :
That seems to make sense, yes.
SPEAKER 07 :
That don’t take a mathematician to figure that one out. Right. So we were set to everything and found out that they deviated two minutes. That was all at 7 o’clock. They’d done it at 7 o’clock and the period of lost time in there was only two minutes. So you can’t do a whole lot in two minutes. So we decided to jump on them at that time. They didn’t have any guns. So that’s what happened. We jumped at 7.
SPEAKER 08 :
So what did the morning look like? How far did you, the plane passed the prison?
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, they came from the north part of Manila. And the prison camp is a lake tall. It’s on the southern part. Okay.
SPEAKER 08 :
So there wasn’t really enough time then for the Japanese to hear the planes coming in to run and get their guns in, is that correct? No, they didn’t have time. Okay. Okay. So what was going through your mind that morning when you got on the plane, Lloyd Wade?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, hurry up and get off.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay. So you’re coming in. Can you see what’s going to be happening? You’re coming in at 500 feet. No. Can you see what’s going to be happening?
SPEAKER 07 :
No, you don’t see what’s… When you start that stick… which they call the stick is the paratroopers. And they jump that whole stick, which is about, you know, 16, 17, 18 guys, stuff like that. And then the plane gets out of there. And you’re on your own then.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay. Thanks. So what happens then? The green light goes on. You guys jump out. You hit the ground pretty quickly. What happens then, Lloyd Wade?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, you know, you’ve got your plan and your meeting and what you’re going to do, and you just continue with it. Don’t change it or anything like that because you’ll get in trouble.
SPEAKER 08 :
you don’t like so how many guards were there how many uh and did you immediately take them prisoner or what happened then on the prisoners well yeah so when you you jumped in the japanese are exercising what happened at that time well uh naturally they couldn’t get back to their rifles we cut them off from their uh equipment and things like that and uh
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, they lost a few guys, but we didn’t lose any. And it didn’t last that long, you know. It just doesn’t take long to drop that 400 feet, I’ll tell you. Yeah, for sure. You’d rather be at 700 to 1,200. See, that’s part normal. Yeah, the ground comes pretty fast.
SPEAKER 08 :
So now that you have subdued the Japanese, what do you do with them?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, you have a ground troop that moves in, say, across the bay at that place. Most generally, you just take the prisoners and move them back to the rear echelon, you know, and let the whales take care of them.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay. Then what about the prisoners? Were you involved in freeing them at all?
SPEAKER 07 :
The prisoners?
SPEAKER 08 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 07 :
The people who were there? Yes. That’s the one we got out of there. Okay.
SPEAKER 1 :
2,700.
SPEAKER 08 :
So how did you do that, and how long had the guys been there?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, they see there’s water now between us, and we had to get across the bay and And so they also have water buffaloes. And that’s what they use, the equipment. We call them, there’s nothing but, and they call them ducks and water buffaloes and all that kind of stuff. And it’s actually a vehicle with an engine and can get about 10 or 12 guys in it. that’s okay and you got them and the prisoners and everything and of course that has to also meet up to you know the same time that they figure you’re going to take the prisoners everything’s got to work or something like that don’t like give it up
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay, so what was it like then as you were releasing our guys, our prisoners of war? What did that look like?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, I don’t know. They were happy to be freed, but they also, for some reason or another, they had lived there for quite a while and personal things they had and things like that. They wanted to take it with them, but you can’t do that. You know, get yourself and get out. That’s the way it is.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay. Well, it had to take some time to get 2,700 people moved out of it. Okay. What kind of… Go ahead.
SPEAKER 07 :
But we had plenty of help.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay. What kind of condition were the prisoners in, Lloyd?
SPEAKER 07 :
I’d say physically they weren’t bad. Not the ones we’ve seen. And I’ll just use… might have lost a meal now and then we all in there but physically they were fine mentally they didn’t have any idea what was going on they tried to Instead of saving their self and thinking about that, they thought, well, I’ve got to take this with me. I’ve got to take that with me or this. You know, get yourself and get out. Okay.
SPEAKER 08 :
But it worked. So then what happened to you guys after you’d freed the prisoners? How did you get back to, you know, where you were supposed to be?
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, we crossed the bay, just a little, what we call ducks, and just rode back. Okay.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay. So what about, were there congratulations with the fact that you had had such a successful mission and that you’d freed these guys? What happened back at the base?
SPEAKER 07 :
The base? It operated as, you know, it does every day. It knew what was done. It was naturally on call and made sure that we recovered safely. Okay. And it worked good.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay. So now that you’re back and have done this, Lloyd, what is the next thing that happens to you there in World War II?
SPEAKER 07 :
Next thing that happened to us, we had units like the engineers and stuff like that and uh i was uh and the engineers c company and uh we got the building road a few roads that they could get you know traffic in and out and then all at once they said that we were heading for japan which meant was going to invade japan and about Some of the time right then and there, they dropped atomic bombs. And that ended the war. Okay.
SPEAKER 08 :
Let’s go back just a little bit about building these roads. Is there any particular stories that you would like our listeners to know about building roads? I assume it was in the jungle, yes or no?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, sure. Tagatai Ridge, which was between… where we went in on the beach and Manila. And that was Tagatai Ridge. And then beyond that was Lake Tall, and that’s down there is where the prison camps and everything is at. And in the past years, the Corps of Engineers tried to build a road down from Tagatai. ridge to Lake Tahoe to move traffic down. Well, they didn’t get the job done. And we finished that. And, you know, getting things back in shape. And then the war ended.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay. why didn’t the Corps of Engineers, why were they not able to finish the road? Was it because they were attacked, or do you know why?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, evidently they gave it up because of the equipment they had, and I think they gave it up because they didn’t want to work on it. That’s what I think. But I happen to be one of those that cut the road down through there, so… And we got it done in seven days. Wow. So that wasn’t too hard.
SPEAKER 08 :
And that must have been very important to be able to move equipment back and forth then.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yes, that’s what it was for. Okay.
SPEAKER 08 :
What is your… Do you have any opinions on the Japanese? I’ve heard comparisons from soldiers that the Japanese in World War II were very, very cruel. And, of course, we’ve heard stories of the Nazis over in Germany, and they were cruel as well. But do you have any thoughts about the Japanese soldier?
SPEAKER 07 :
No, we had no trouble with them, and especially the Japanese soldiers. When we went into Japan, see, we couldn’t land in Tokyo because the bay is full of ships turned upside down. And we went in up north. to the naval base there. And on the street, openly one day, this Japanese young fellow, about a year younger than me, I guess, and he’s speaking as good of English as you’ve ever seen. And I asked him, I said, does your schools teach English, you know, language in their schools here? And he says, no. I said, well, where did you get yours? He says, I graduated from Southern Cal.
SPEAKER 10 :
Wow. Okay.
SPEAKER 07 :
Lloyd, go ahead. So from then on, I had quiet conversations with him, just like a buddy. I had no problem with the Japanese. They were there like we were.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, regular people, regular people. So, hey, Lloyd, let’s go to break. And when we come back, we’ll finish this story with you. I’m talking with World War II veteran Lloyd Wade, part of the 11th Airborne that jumped into Los Banos prison in Manila and freed 2,700 of our guys. So we’ll be right back with America’s Dutchman Stories.
SPEAKER 09 :
Join us at Grand Lake’s 14th U.S. Constitution Week, September 15th through September 21st. Grand Lake U.S. Constitution Week is the premier celebration in America of the world’s greatest governing document. The week-long event includes events that educate, promote, and celebrate the U.S. Constitution in picturesque Grand Lake. Constitutional expert Rob Nadelson kicks off the event with his discussion regarding ancient Rome and the Constitution. Nationally recognized scholar Jonathan Turley will deliver the keynote on Saturday, September 20th. For more information, visit GrandLakeUSConstitutionWeek.com. That’s GrandLakeUSConstitutionWeek.com.
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SPEAKER 01 :
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SPEAKER 09 :
Thank you so much for listening to America’s Veterans Stories. We are rebroadcasting some of the shows that we have recorded in the past because we have these amazing guests and these amazing stories, and we need to hear them. And so we thought that it would be a great idea to rebroadcast some of these so that you can hear our history and know our history because it is so important. So again, this is something that was recorded earlier, and thank you for listening. Join us at Grand Lake’s 14th U.S. Constitution Week, September 15th through September 21st. Grand Lake U.S. Constitution Week is the premier celebration in America of the world’s greatest governing document. The week-long event includes events that educate, promote, and celebrate the U.S. Constitution in picturesque Grand Lake. Constitutional expert Rob Nadelson kicks off the event with his discussion regarding ancient Rome and the Constitution. Nationally recognized scholar Jonathan Turley will deliver the keynote on Saturday, September 20th. For more information, visit GrandLakeUSConstitutionWeek.com. That’s GrandLakeUSConstitutionWeek.com.
SPEAKER 08 :
Welcome back to America’s Best in Stories with Tim Munson. I am so honored to have on the line with me Lloyd Wade, part of the 11th Airborne that jumped into Los Angeles prison camp in Manila during World War II and freed 2,700 of our guys. Lloyd Wade, it is just really an honor to get to do this interview with you. Thank you so much.
SPEAKER 10 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 08 :
There’s so many things I would like to ask you, and so help me out if there’s something that I need to know and I haven’t. But I want to ask a bit more about building this road in the jungle in seven days. What kind of work was that? It had to be grueling work to try to clear that, to do that. And it had to be, I’m guessing, hot, right?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, don’t forget you’re in combat. That’s the first thing. Oh. And the other thing about it, of course, you had the equipment, the small dozers to get a footing for the big units to go in. And it was just a cutback, cutback, cutback all the way down. The mileage wasn’t so far. You know, you could see it. But the earth moving, you know, and that was one of the places that I cheated, I think. How so? Well, I was running a bulldozer instead of using a parachute, putting that road down. And I did get a bullet pretty close, you know. In fact, I had a fatigued jacket on, and I got a little hole in that collar. So that’s too close. And I didn’t even know it. Didn’t know that they got it until one of my buddies says, what’s wrong with your collar? You’re fatigued. I said, nothing wrong with it. He said, you got a hole in it. That’s how I found out. So it wasn’t easy. Just put it that way. You think? No, I don’t think so at all. But you got a lot of luck, too.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, that’s pretty lucky.
SPEAKER 07 :
But don’t get stupid about it.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah. That’s always been good advice. That’s actually something my dad told me all the time is don’t do something stupid. And I try not to, but anyway. So you guys get the road done. That had to be quite an accomplishment. What was the temperature when you were building this road?
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, it wasn’t too bad. It was running around 100, something like that.
SPEAKER 08 :
OK. So you get the road done, which was absolutely important for us. What is the next thing that happened after that? Is that when you thought that you were going to be going to Tokyo?
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, yeah. And we was getting ready. And of course, at that time, since I was one on Tagatai Ridge, on that road, they left me in charge of heavy equipment. So I got to get the heavy equipment, get it ready, and get it on a ship, get it headed up north. Because we were going to invade Japan.
SPEAKER 08 :
My understanding, Lloyd Wade, is that if in fact we would have invaded Japan, that there would be significant loss of life of both American soldiers and Japanese soldiers and citizens. Did they tell you anything about that as you were potentially preparing to invade Japan?
SPEAKER 07 :
Not really, but we knew it, and we knew what was going to happen if it happened. And we also knew that we were going to have a bunch of casualties. Or if we could say they’re going to have more than us.
SPEAKER 08 :
So where were you when you learned that the atom bomb had been dropped on Japan?
SPEAKER 07 :
We were actually on our way out of the Philippines, and it was in the water somewhere around Okinawa.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay. And what… What did you find out? What did they tell you had happened?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, they did drop the atomic bomb. And we would be under some orders and stuff like that. And so we were settled down for a whole four or five days. And then we went in. We got to Tokyo and couldn’t. Couldn’t dock because the docks were just blown all to pieces. So we went on up to Sendai.
SPEAKER 08 :
And what were your responsibilities at Sendai?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, we have a place to stay is one of them. We stayed in a naval base there, a Japanese naval base.
SPEAKER 08 :
And what were your responsibilities? What did you do every day?
SPEAKER 07 :
My responsibilities there, I got a replacement in that replaced me, and I came home.
SPEAKER 08 :
And what was it like when you got home?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, I don’t know. I can’t say. it wasn’t much of a change you know just one of those things well did you go back to missouri then no i went in when i went in the service i went in at indianapolis okay i was discharged
SPEAKER 08 :
And after you were discharged, did you go back and start to make your life in Missouri, or what did you do after that?
SPEAKER 07 :
No, I stayed right in Indiana. And when I went in, I was working for Del Corrimi, General Motors. And when I come out of the service, I went back to work for them. And from that, I, of course, I had my, while I was in the service, I had an engineering little catch on all of that. And so when I came out, well, I got a job at General Motors. Stayed there until a few years. And then I came back. To Denver.
SPEAKER 08 :
And how long have you been in Colorado?
SPEAKER 07 :
That’s 53, I’d say.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay. You’re close enough to be a native, that’s for sure, Lloyd Wade, I would say. Yeah.
SPEAKER 07 :
Awful close. Yeah.
SPEAKER 08 :
And so the 53 years that you’ve been in Colorado, what have you done during that time?
SPEAKER 07 :
The year? Well, I naturally had the castle from the service, you know, as an engineer. So I got a job on the road for them using, well, building buildings.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 07 :
This… thing we built out here at North. I was in on that. I was in on one in Little Rock, Arkansas. See, I traveled for about five years.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 07 :
For them.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay. And… Wait, wait. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 10 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 08 :
So as you look back, looking back to World War II, I think it’s so important that we have these stories. So I’m so appreciative of you doing this interview. But as you think about it, what would you say to the young people of America today? What’s a message that you think that they should hear from you?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, that’s a biggie. But… I would say that whatever they have, whatever they can get, you know, that was fought for. And I’d like to see them, you know, say, hey, it’s been paid for, you know. To respect… More than anything, I guess I would say. Some do, some don’t. You know, that’s the way the world is.
SPEAKER 08 :
You know, Lloyd, I’m not sure that we’ve really been teaching it in our schools. When I returned back from Normandy, I’d actually made a presentation out at a junior high school and was talking about D-Day over in Normandy, and I asked the kids how many of them had heard about Dudos. And not a student raised their hand. These were junior high school kids. And then I asked about, have you seen Saving Private Ryan? And a couple of the kids raised their hands. And I realized at that point that it’s really a travesty that we are not sharing these stories. Because what can happen is if you don’t know these stories, you take it for granted. And as you mentioned, a lot of young people don’t. And freedom is something to preserve, protect, and certainly fight for. And so I’m so grateful for your generation that has done that. So, Lloyd Wade, is there any other stories from World War II that you would like to make sure that our listeners hear?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, one thing, like… You go walk up and ask them when D-Day is or something like that. Do they really know what date that is? That comes easy for me.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 07 :
Because that’s my birthday.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay, that makes it easy, huh? Yeah.
SPEAKER 07 :
But no, I think they should be proud of what they’ve got. Try to make it better. It’s still worse. When they see something that they can help out with, why don’t they do it? You know?
SPEAKER 08 :
I think that’s really good advice.
SPEAKER 07 :
If we… Pardon?
SPEAKER 08 :
Now, you go ahead, please.
SPEAKER 07 :
You know, I don’t think we were any better than anybody else, but as time goes along, I wonder about it. I don’t know whether it’s me that’s changing or the world that’s changing or what it is, but it’s just not like it was.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, and I think getting these stories out and letting people know just the sacrifices that were made, the courage, the human cost was really important. So, Lloyd Wade, we are just about out of time. My last question is, when you see the American flag, what goes through your mind?
SPEAKER 07 :
You know, I’m glad it’s there. You know, it could have been somebody else’s. Yes. Very glad that we’re there. I think it should be respected that way. Agreed. Agreed.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, Lloyd Wade, we are out of time. This is Kim Munson with America’s Veteran Stories. I’ve been talking with World War II veteran Lloyd Wade. who served with the 11th Airborne. They jumped in and they freed 2,700 soldiers from the Los Banos prison in Manila during World War II. Lloyd Wade, thank you so much. It has been such an honor to get to talk with you today.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, thank you very much.
SPEAKER 09 :
Join us at Grand Lakes 14th U.S. Constitution Week, September 15th through September 21st. Grand Lake U.S. Constitution Week is the premier celebration in America of the world’s greatest governing document. The week-long event includes events that educate, promote, and celebrate the U.S. Constitution in picturesque Grand Lake. Constitutional expert Rob Nadelson kicks off the event with his discussion regarding ancient Rome and the Constitution. Nationally recognized scholar Jonathan Turley will deliver the keynote on Saturday, September 20th. For more information, visit GrandLakeUSConstitutionWeek.com. That’s GrandLakeUSConstitutionWeek.com. Thank you for joining us for this episode of America’s Veteran Stories. While some of the details may be a bit dated, the courage, sacrifice, and stories of our veterans never go out of style. For more incredible stories, past and present, check out our website. That is AmericasVeteranStories.com or catch new episodes each week. Until next time, thank you for listening and for honoring those who served. We indeed stand on the shoulders of giants. God bless you and God bless America.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thank you for listening to America’s Veteran Stories with Kim Munson. Be sure to tune in again next Sunday, 3 to 4 p.m. here on KLZ 560 and KLZ 100.7.
SPEAKER 02 :
The views and opinions expressed on KLZ 560 are those of the speaker, commentators, hosts, their guests, and callers. They are not necessarily the views and opinions of Crawford Broadcasting or KLZ management, employees, associates, or advertisers. KLZ 560 is a Crawford Broadcasting God and country station.
