H-Hour Plus Three

About the Book

H-HOUR PLUS 3: The Saga of the U.S. Army Amphibian Engineers in the Pacific During World War II is about the adventures of the men of the 534th Engineer Boat and Shore Regiment from its inception in Fort Devens, Massachusetts, in January 1943 to the occupation of Japan in the fall of 1945 (to January 1946).

The men of the 534th were trained at Fort Devens, Camp Edwards, and Washburn Island in Massachusetts and at Camp Gordon Johnston in Carrabelle, Florida (where some of us, including the author) went through a form of "Ranger Training". Overseas, some of our regiment trained in Australia. The rest of us trained in New Guinea.

Some elements of the 534th "ranger" group were used to ferret out remaining elements of the Japanese army in New Guinea. We all participated in the invasion of Morotai Island and, later, the Philippine Islands. After the surrender of Japan in the fall of 1945, we were transported to Japan as part of America's first military occupation.

About the Author

"My first attempt at writing was in the late 1940s (as a reporter on the Daily Iowan at the University of Iowa). As a graduate student, I switched my major to American History and minor to Religion. My first published book was College Credit By Examination (C.L.E.P.) in 1974. Next was a Study Guide for the Humanities for D.C. Heath Company in 1993. A similar study guide was published by Houghton Mifflin Company in 1997.

I received my Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1984.

I've had a number of careers in my life: first was that of a clergyman serving parishes in Iowa and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. 1960 found me working for the YMCA of Chicago assigned to ghetto communities on the West Side. From 1963-66, I was on special duty with J.O.B.S., the Antipoverty program designed by President Kennedy. My teaching career began in 1969 with Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills, Illinois. I returned to the ministry (part-time) following my retirement from the college in 1995. The college called me back three times as a "consultant" for Muslim and Christian relations. The last assignment was during the academic year, 2001-2002.

This book was initially conceived in the mid 1980s, when my mother handed me a rumpled grocery bag containing 70-plus letters that I wrote to her during World War II. Like many veterans, I did nothing with this correspondence. Then, in the late 1990s, I met Dr. William Oldson, director of the Institute for World War II and the Human Experience at Florida State University.

Later, I sent Dr. Oldson copies of the letters. Later still, with my approval, FSU sent several of my letters to the History Channel in New York City. Two of my letters were included in the TV program, Letters to Home".