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Jessie and Joseph Fish
Their Experience During World War Two
By: Colleen Fish
Introduction
While interviewing my grandmother, Jessie Fish, about her and my grandfather’s experience with World War Two, I learned so much about the two of them that I had never known. Talking to her about everything that they went through was amazing. Every month it seemed they would be living in a new state or possibly not even living together. This war was not only memorable because of all the traumatizing things that went on, but also because this was when they got married and had their first child. She taught me so much more about the war and I am very thankful she is still around to educate me about their experiences.
During World War II, many people needed to pack up and move to a different place. My grandfather, Joseph Fish, was planning on joining the air force to become an aviator. The Bell P-39 Aircobra was one of the planes that my grandfather learned how to fly. This plane included four machine guns, a 1x37 mm cannon and 500 bombs. Its maximum speed reached about 400 miles per hour. During his training, he used this plane. However, he was never in the war. After going through the whole training course, Joe later found out that this was not the job for him because he had failed the physical. After that he went to train to become an officer to teach soldiers how to operate machine guns and other weapons.
Joseph went to school for three months in Long Beach, California. When he finished his three months there, he then went to Denver, Colorado and went through three more months of hard training. This training was like nothing he had ever done before. It was not only physically stressful, but mentally stressful as well. At this location, they would learn to use some of the weapons that were to be used in the war. During their training they swam, ran and learned how to fly the planes.
Above is a picture of the popular Bell P-39 Aircobra.
Once he was finished with the six months of extensive training, he was now able to become a Second Lieutenant. His first assignment was based in Texas. So, he and my grandmother quickly moved there. Moving to Texas was difficult for her because she was moving to not only a new home but also a new state. She knew no one there and would be separated from Joe all day and for most of the night.
Texas is known for its vast open land. When interviewing my grandmother, she told me about how there was so much land there and how it was so different from the terrain in New England that they were used to. The immense land made great places for more and more air force bases. Planes easily were able to jet off from this area. Also, Texas was known for its excellent ports and raw materials. It had a climate that was easy for working in because it was never cold. However, the days were extremely hot. My grandmother said that at night, around 6:00 pm, there would always be a wonderful breeze that would come from the Gulf. They all could not wait for it each day because it was so hot there. Texas was also between two coasts so this made ships accessible to get to and from the bases. In Texas, my grandmother lived in Laredo, right near where my grandfather was based. Joseph taught day and night lessons in Texas and here many soldiers learned to shoot machine guns off the planes. Days were long and hard for him out in the hot and dry climate. He soon found out that this was a lot more work than he had expected.
This is a picture drawn by Colleen Fish of
a soldier using the T-47 Automatic rifle
Weapons
These troops are learning how to use the 60 mm Bazooka gun.
While Joseph was in Seattle, my grandmother flew out there to stay with him until he would be shipped out again. Leaving her young baby, Joanne, was not easy for Jessie but if she wanted to see her husband, she had to make many sacrifices. And during this time there were many sacrifices made by both Jessie and Joe. Also, it was hard for the family because they never got to see Joseph as much as they wanted. However, they understood that he needed to be there and hoped to see him soon.
My grandfather’s next assignment was based in Guam. The Lieutenants were told to be very quiet about where they were going and what they would be doing. So, when it came time to leave, my grandmother explained to me that they would say their "good-byes" a couple days before the soldiers and Lieutenants were actually leaving. Jessie said she flew back home to her daughter Joanne and then once they left Seattle, my grandfather then left for Guam, very secretively. Again, when he was based in Guam he taught gunnery to the soldiers. Joseph was sent to an airfield because he taught the men to use the weapons that were put on the planes. In Guam there were two airfields on the northern end in the Marianas Island. My grandmother told me that when Joe was based in Guam, he was shot at by a Japanese sniper but they luckily missed. She remembers how scared he was after that and how much he wanted to be safely home again with his family.
After being in Guam he was based in Hawaii. Jessie said this wasn’t so bad for him because he knew some friends that lived there and so he would spend weekends with them. Also, Joe had a better time there because he felt there was less danger. This made everyone’s spirits lighter and the atmosphere and people were much more relaxed. In Hawaii he tried to enjoy the beautiful weather and relax after many months of long and stressful days. Joseph remained in Hawaii for the rest of the war and returned home to his family in 1945.
Life After The War
Due to the years of being in the training camps and becoming Second Lieutenant, my grandfather became slightly deaf. When I was younger and we would go visit him my dad would tell us that Papa Joe helped teach people in a great war and since there were so many guns and loud weapons they hurt papa’s ears so we were to talk louder. I thought it was so interesting and had always wanted to learn more about him and what he did in this great war. My grandmother told me that after Joe came home, they bought a nice duplex home with my grandmother’s sister who had lost her husband in the war. Joseph fixed it up and they raised many of their children in that home. His next tough assignment was based in Massachusetts. This consisted of having five out of his ten children, all of which were girls, in the small duplex he had fixed up. Joseph Fish now has ten children and thirty-four grandchildren. He is known for not only being a Second Lieutenant in World War Two, but also for being a caring, humble and loving person.
Above is a picture of Joseph Fish taken in 1942.
Bibliography
Primary Sources
1. Murphy, Cullen. Peacetime Maneuvers in 1941.American Heritage-July/August 1993.
2. Interviewee: Jessie Fish - Date: Sunday December 7, 2003
3. Pictures of Jesse and Joseph were taken during the time of World War Two and were given to me by Jesse Fish.
Secondary Sources
1. A Shared Past-Texas and The US During WWII. 17 Nov. 2003
<http://www.rice.edu/armadillo/Texas/Sharedpast/war.html>.
2. Colby, C.B. Fighting Gear of World War II. New York: Coward-McCann, Inc., 1961.
3. Eskew, Sandy T. Fighting the War on the Home front. 1933. 18 Nov. 2003
<http://sandysq.gcinet.net/uss_salt_lake_city_ca25/xxx.htm>.
4. Gilbert, Adrian. Arms and Armor. Brookfield, Connecticut: Copper Beech Books, 1997.
5. Northwest Field, Guam, circa 1945. 16 Dec. 2003
http://webpages.charter.net/ljmiller/315BW/
6. Russell, Francis. The Secret War. Richmond, Virginia: Time Life Books Inc., 1981.
7. Tunis, Edwin. Weapons A Pictorial History. New York: World, 1972.
8. U.S.A.A.F. INVENTORY THE ATTACK PLANES. 16 Dec. 2003
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/1956/INDEXATTACK.HTML
9. Wilkinson, Frederick. Weapons and Warriors. Morristown, N.J.: Macdonald Educational, 1978.