Eldon Olin, better known as Ole, was
born on 23 March 1921 in Chinook, Washington to John and Ellen Olin. He had
eight brothers and sisters, three of which were half-siblings. His father died
when Ole was about nine years old and in an effort to help his mother
financially, he retained a job delivering telegrams for the Postal Telegraph
Company.
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| Cover of a CCC manual |
Ole’s family was one of many across America who was deeply affected by
the Great Depression which hit in 1929. He quit school after the 8th
grade and upon turning 16 Ole joined the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). He
was initially tasked with felling trees in the Oakridge area for $1 a day.
Later on he served as a sign painter as well as an axe man with the survey
team. Ole inherited his father’s love of painting and after saving up for a
while, purchased a beginners oil painting set for $4. He later sold his first
painting for $5 and thus his free-time art career began.
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| Bunny & Ole on a motorbike 1942 |
In late 1939 Ole gained employment with
the Hinkson Timber Cruising Company in Eugene, Oregon. He started at the bottom
and ended up learning how to perform the variety of tasks performed on a timber
cruise. While attending his sister Elva’s 15th birthday party
(1940), Ole met his future wife Bernice “Bunny” Eversole. The two eloped (Bunny
was 17 1/2) and were married in Toledo, Oregon on 9 June 1942.
In the summer of
1942, Ole was working as a Compassman on a timber cruise out of Eugene. In
August of that year, while on a job just East of Seattle, Washington, Ole received
a telegram from his wife urging him to head home straight away. Ole was being
drafted and was to report immediately to Fort Lewis. From that moment forward
their lives were forever changed. Ole officially entered the service on 10
September 1942 at the age of 21 and went through basic training at Camp Crowder
in Missouri, as well as Message Center School.
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Louisiana Maneuvers
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He was then sent on to Camp
McCain in Mississippi for further training and after that he participated in
maneuvers at Camp Polk, Louisiana. His young bride made her way to Camp McCain in January of 1943 with the desire to spend as much time as possible with her husband before he was shipped off to war. Bunny managed to find them a room to live in, which included an old leather sofa for a bed and use of the bathroom. She also found a job at the local drugstore where she worked as a waitress. Whenever Ole was on leave he spent it with his wife. In April of that same year, the couple found out they were expecting. Bunny was quite homesick by this point so Ole, able to get a pass, took her back to Oregon by way of train.
Ole was soon sent on to Camp Van Dorn
(also in Mississippi) for mobilization training then to Camp Polk, Louisiana. He
was in the Signal Corps and was given the job of telephone lineman. This
required him to spend ~10 weeks learning to build open wire lines and lay field
wire. On 30 November 1943 his first child, Michael, was born. At the beginning
of December Ole traveled back to a couple of the Camp’s he had previously been
to, receiving training for overseas deployment.
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| H.M.S. Andes |
In late December he was given leave to see his
newborn child. Unfortunately, traveling by train from the South to Oregon was slow
going and most of his leave was spent on a train. But the excitement of being a
new father kept his spirits high and he was grateful for the precious little
time he had to hold his son before heading off to war. On 31 January 1944,
Company B of the 33rd Signal Construction Battalion began making
their way to New York where they would board the H.M.S. Andes.
On
9 February they departed from the United States and arrived ten days later in
Liverpool, England. From there it was on to Wrexham, Wales by train to receive
training on mine detection & clearing, unarmed defense, and so forth. While
there Ole stayed in an old castle. He attended gunnery school as well in
Scotland. After this training they headed to London and then crossed the
English Channel, landing on Utah beach in Normandy on 12 July. When Ole first
entered France the 33rd was under the 2nd Army but soon
moved to the 3rd under General Patton.
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| Coming Ashore at Normandy - Ole's Private Collection |
The Company was divided into squads of
eight men placed on detached service and scattered across Europe. Initially,
lines were hung from wooden poles. However this method was abolished as they
were easily seen and destroyed by the enemy. Lines were thereafter laid along
the ground and camouflaged with brush. Sometimes the lines even had to be run
across rivers.
A typical day for Ole started with
washing up by putting water in his helmet and then eating his breakfast
rations. The squad would then crowd around their Sergeant and receive their
orders for the day.
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| Ole with his M-1 |
Being a lineman on the battlefield was no easy task and
being shot at was a very real concern as they were often in enemy territory. The
men would rotate which one was 1st , 2nd , 3rd
, etc. Ole was among those who came under fire while on the job. The men always
had to be on guard and they stayed with the job until it was finished, even
when it meant staying overnight in enemy territory. Ole carried a .30 Cal. M-1
on him and a Thompson Sub-machine gun was kept in the truck.
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| .30 Caliber M-1 |
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| Thompson Sub-Machine Gun being Demonstrated by a British Cpl. |
Ole’s job included
determining where telegraph or telephone wire would be laid, laying the line,
maintaining them, and performing any repairs. Once a job was completed, they headed
back to the bivouac area in their truck(s), ate their dinner rations, and
grabbed some shut-eye. Canned rations, that Ole sometimes had, included ham
& eggs, hash, cooked potatoes, and fruit. Fruit was less common and was a
real treat for the men when it was available. When it came to sleeping, the men
would round up whatever bedding materials they could from old mattresses to blankets.
Such “luxuries” quickly came to an end when they procured lice infested bedding
which led to them all being given some sort of salve by the medics to kill the
lice.
Mail call…..nothing compared to letters
and packages from home. When the mail would finally catch up (after going through
the hands of censors, travelling thousands of miles, and criss crossing its way
across Europe) to Ole and the others, each and every one hoped to hear their
name called. “I was thrilled and so were all my buddies (about receiving post).
Even little French and Luxembourg children would hang around. We would share
like a third of a Butterfinger to three kids and such,” Ole said of mail call
during the war. The locals were always very appreciative of anything Ole and
his buddies gave them, whether it was a cigarette to an old man or a piece of
candy to a little girl. He went on to say that his wife Bunny sent him many
Gumdrop cakes, cookies, and candy; which he would generously share with his
buddies.
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| Mail Call at unknown location with unknown men |
News from home was about the only “news”
Ole and his buddies got, except for the occasional radio they would come across
in an abandoned house. Ole recalled that he and the guys loved it if they could
tune into music or the BBC. In his free time, Ole loved to sketch and paint. He
even managed to paint a picture of his wife (from a photograph) onto the canvas
of a German machine gun cover while on the Brest peninsula in France.
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| A sketch of Ole's wife Bunny, drawn by him during the war |
When
Company B was close to the German border, Ole witnessed a buzz bomb launched.
Then on Thanksgiving Day 1944, he and his buddies stood in the chow line
anxiously awaiting a celebratory meal. Unfortunately, their plans were
disrupted when German planes strafed the group of men. Ole was second to last
in line with his Captain directly behind him when the event occurred. As the
planes came down the street, everyone ducked inside a building. Thankfully no
one was injured. Like many husbands and fathers who were in the military, Ole
worried about returning home to take care of the family he had just begun.
Getting home was always on the forefront of the telephone lineman’s mind. Ole's outfit went into Germany during the Battle of the Bulge. He witnessed at least one of the concentration camps and the liberation of the camp.
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| Braving The Cold For Communication |
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| L to R Eldon Olin, Sgt. Slacker, Charles Stewart) - Frank Marks Collection |
On 10 February 1945 Lieutenant General
George S. Patton, Jr., Commander of the U.S. Army, commended every officer and
man of the Third Army Signal units for “the superior manner in which his tasks
have been performed.” Also according to
the commendation letter, the men “in spite of an unprecedented change of direction,
and in the minimum of time, the men maintained the signal communication of the
Army at a time when signal communications were more than usually vital, and
under conditions of weather and enemy action particularly difficult.”
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| "Baker" Company Marching in England (Ole's Collection) |
Later on 26 June 1945, the 33rd
Signal Construction Battalion was the direct target of a commendation from
Colonel Elton F. Hammond, Signal Corps Signal Officer, for their outstanding
performance in the France, Luxembourg, and Germany campaigns. In it Col.
Hammond states that he had desired to commend the men of this Unit in person.
However, he was unable to meet up with them before their departure from the
area they were in at the time. In the letter the Colonel states, “The best
measure of success of your organization in accomplishing this difficult
assignment is the fact that despite frequent and unpredictable changes in
Corps’ command post locations, this headquarters was never without adequate
wire communication to its subordinate Corps. It is well known that the establishment
and maintenance of these all-important wire communication facilities could only
be accomplished by the loyal, hardworking, and extreme devotion to duty of
every member of your organization. The successful accomplishment of your
missions contributed materially to the successful operation of the Third U.S.
Army in one of the most outstanding military campaigns in modern history.”
While in Luxembourg-Merl, Ole and his
buddies stayed in the “Beim Wooner” (At The Carriage Builder’s”) tavern for a
bit. The business was owned by Jean Pierre and Rosalie Laroche-Gaviny.
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| The tavern Ole and his buddies stayed in while in Luxembourg-Merl |
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| Ole's Painting of "Susie" |
Rosalie
had noticed the talented artist drawing his buddies to pass the time. One day
she asked Ole if he would please do a drawing of her daughter Suzanne (called
Susie by the G.I.’s). He asked his commanding officer thinking he the answer
would be a firm no. Much to his surprise the CO agreed, saying it was the least
they could do to repay the family’s kindness. (*Note: The tavern is still
around today but is now known as “Café De L’arret” (Bus-Stop Tavern).
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| “Café De L’arret” (Bus-Stop Tavern) |
Ole was still
in Germany when the country surrendered on 8 May 1945. Everyone was beyond
excited for Victory in Europe (VE) Day….this part of the war was over. His platoon visited Munich and went into Austria while making their way out of Europe. Ole had
acquired enough service points to head home but he was sent on to the Pacific
Theater. While in route, Japan surrendered and no longer would Ole have to
worry about the Axis Forces. He did have to spend two months in the Philippines
though. According to Ole, he and the others spent them drinking beer, eating
coconuts, and laying on the beach. They had certainly earned it.
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| 2nd Plat. Co. B 33rd Signal Construction Battalion in the Phillipines |
He ended up
transferring out of his outfit into the Buckeye Division of Ohio and shipped
out at the beginning of December 1945, arriving in San Francisco on 11 December.
He hopped onto another boat that took him to Tacoma, Washington where he
reported to Ft. Lewis. Three days later he was discharged with the rank of Corporal.
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Company B with some of their war booty
(L-R Elmer A. Bokamper, Joseph LaBarbera, Charlie Seelenger, Charlie Stewart, Ray Martin) |
Ole served in the Normandy, Northern
France, Ardennes, Rhineland, and Central Europe campaign’s in over nearly a
year’s time. His decorations and citations include the Good Conduct Medal,
Victory Medal, American Theater Service Medal, European African Middle Eastern
Service Medal, and the Asiatic Pacific Service Medal. Ole passed away on 27 March
2014, obviously before he could see his war story published on this blog. Thankfully
he was able to visit the National WWII Memorial in Washington D.C. in October
of 2012 thanks to their local chapter of Honor
Flight. Ole described his involvement in the Second World War as “the worst
time of my life.” At the wars’ end he suffered from “battle fatigue” and hoped
that those who read his story will do all they can to prevent such an event
taking place again.
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| "Monday Morning" Painting by Ole |
He went on to obtain his pilot’s license
in 1948 and to have a second son, Greg, on 11 June of that same year. Using this new skill and his experience in the timber industry, Ole
ended up creating a career as a self-proclaimed “tree detective”, providing clients
with aerial photographs of their land. Ole was one of many who helped bring
aerial photography into the civilian world, proving to clients that the
photographs contained a wealth of information pertinent to their business. He
and Bunny had their third child, a daughter named Bonnie Jo, in February of 1951. Ole continued to
paint in his free time, often using his timber career as the subject matter. Getting his hands on proper supplies once the end of the war brought him back stateside, allowed the true depth of his talent to show. To
view or purchase Ole’s work, visit www.eldonolin.com.
In order to help preserve the history of the telephone lineman and the 33rd signal Construction Battalion as a whole, Ole donated his personal collection of photographs he had taken during the war to a 33rd S.C.B. reenactors group out of New Jersey. You can find them on the web at 33rdscb.tripod.com or on Facebook. (**NOTE: Any photographs that do not give credit to anyone in particular came from the author's research on the internet)
As always, comments on the war stories, requests for your war story to be written, or anything else are greatly appreciated. IF you request that I respond to your comment please leave your email address. If you prefer to contact me directly, email me at aengleford@gmail.com and note WWII Blog in the subject line. Thanks for visiting the blog.
