On Sunday, April 29, 2018, Jerry Krim, a WWII veteran and member of the Jewish War Veterans, will join us for our program, Remembering Jewish Delaware’s Greatest Generation. Krim is a survivor of a kamakazi attack of the aircraft carrier, Belleau Wood, in the Philippines, 30 October 1944.
It’s A Small World
About 3 years after the end of the war, I engaged in conversation a young man who came into my father’s place of business in my home town of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, a small city of thirty thousand souls in the hard coal region of northeast Pennsylvania. It wasn’t long until the fact that we both served in the navy came out and when i said i was on the U.S.S. Belleau Wood he excitedly announced that he was on the U.S.S. Patterson Dd 396 that had fished out of the ocean 13 crew members of the Belleau Wood on that fateful 30th of October 1944! When I told Jim (his name was James McHlarny) that I was one of the 13 it wasn’t long until we realized that because of a particular thing that happened that day, that Jim was the actual one who hauled me aboard and gave me his sack that night.
To make a long story short, when the Patterson, several hours after the kamikaze attack, came back to pick up guys who were forced by fire and explosions to go into the sea came upon four of us who where clinging to a lifenet. I missed the cargo net the Patterson had lowered about midship. The ship still had some forward movement and I managed to cling to the propeller guard just above the still turning screws. The sailor who climbed down from the poop deck was Jim McHlarny. As I told my experience that day we both instantly realized that we were the two involved.
Jim said “I got something at home to show you” and rushed to his house to bring back a picture of the burial at sea of two of our Belleau Wood shipmates that later died on the Patterson. The next morning we were transferred by breech boy and stretchers to a fleet tanker and then to the Belleau Wood being escorted back to Ulithi along with the damaged U.S.S. Franklin.
I lost track of Jim when I left the coal regions in 1949. Several years ago when in a letter from the U.S.S. Patterson reunion group appeared in our newsletter looking to locate guys from several different ships (including an Australian cruiser) that the great little ship rescued. I contacted them and discovered that Jim McHlarny unfortunately died in an industrial accident in 1978. For the information of all, the Patterson was one of the most decorated tin cans and a Pearl Harbor survivor and was in the Pacific for the entire war. Bravo zula to the great crew of the Patterson •… Jerry Krim (am3c) VI Div.
Make a reservation for Remembering Jewish Delaware’s Greatest Generation today.
Join us on Sunday, April 29, 2018 at the Siegel Jewish Community Center at 101 Garden of Eden Road, Wilmington, DE 19803. The annual meeting will begin at 1 o’clock PM and the program will follow. Light refreshments will be served at the conclusion of the program. The event is free and open to the public.
Take an inside look at the “Dear Mollye” collection with the Jewish Historical Society of Delaware’s archivist, Gail Pietrzyk. We’ll tell the story of Mollye Sklut, who wrote to hundreds of men and women serving during WWII and go beyond to pay tribute to the many other heroic Delawareans who served and sacrificed for the war effort. Learn about the Gold Star Mothers, who lost their sons in battle. Honor those who earned Silver Stars, Purple Hearts, Distinguished Flying Crosses, and many other citations for bravery and courage.
Discover how letters and photographs stored for 75 years can come to life and the stories of long ago can inspire and enrich us today.
Post card from Leonard Cooper to Mollye Sklut, Under the K.P. tree
“These letters have everything,” says archivist Pietrzyk, “romance, humor, courage, and if you count KP duty, even the kitchen sink! “
This introduction will launch the JHSD’s web-exhibit for the “Dear Mollye” collection. We hope visitors will share their memories, stories, and photographs to help us all preserve and remember the Greatest Generation.
The Jewish Historical Society of Delaware will hold its Annual Meeting on Sunday, April 23, 2017 at 2 PM. The program, “Hagley, Business History and the Jewish Community” will be presented by Marty Mand and Dr. Roger Horowitz, director of The Center for the History of Business, Technology and Society at Hagley Museum and Library. The event will be held at the Soda House, Hagley Museum and Library, 298 Buck Road, Wilmington, DE 19807.
