SIXTY YEARS AGO a recently-rated T4/Sgt. called John Karlson shipped out for Europe on the French luxury liner Louis Pasteur.

More about Pasteur

Sgt. Karlson, you might surmise, is my late father. My mom recently found a package of letters he had written to his parents and put together a collection of highlights for me. From time to time over the next year I will post stories from this collection.

Dad was assigned to the Headquarters Battery, 912th Field Artillery, 87th Infantry Division. In the course of researching this post, I discovered a reminiscence of the crossing from another member of this battalion called Gilbert C. Berry.

I was with the 87th Infantry Division (with the Golden Acorn Patch), 912th Field Artillery Battalion, A Battery.

We left approximately November 1, 1944,from Camp Kilmer to New York harbor. That morning we passed the Statue of Liberty. On boat, we were assigned the area we were to stay. No bunks - just hammocks. It was an ordeal getting in and ou of these hammocks. The ship was rolling a lot and lots of men were sea-sick - so the ocean was really rough.

I went to the store aboard ship to get some candy and cookies and then came back to our area and it was on the back of the ship and there were other GI's there and we were sitting down and then some of theGI's left the area. It was all enclosed.

Then we were told they were going to fire their gun (boat was English manned and we didn't know why they were going to fire)- and they fired it- and the concussion blew (out) the back end of the bulkhead, wounding me and four other GI's.

I don't remember much after that but laying on the gurney and medics came by and lifted up the towel that had been put across my face and they shook their heads and they had given me a shot to deaden the pain and make me sleep. I don't remember anything until I was on the operating table and they were sewing up my face and nose (my nose was broken and also my cheek bone). They put me in the hospital aboard ship. (The beds there were nice beds because they stayed level no matter what position the ship was in - the beds stayed level.

I stayed in the hospital and the medics would come in and tell us where we were. The day before we landed at Liverpool, they sent me back to my outfit - my face still bandaged.

We landed at Liverpool and taken by truck to Mackelsfield and put into a school house with corn husk mattresses for beds.

If Mr Berry or any members of his family happen to read this post, please give a shout out to skarlson at niu dot edu. Dad's letter has Pasteur sailing on 4 November, arriving Liverpool 13 November, with the troops training to Macclesfield.