Mr. Delbert J. Parris B Company, 124th Infantry Regiment 31st Infantry Division in World War II I learned of Mr. Delbert Parris through his son, Stewart Parris, who found my father's World War II Diary on the internet. Stewart wrote, "My father who is 82 years of age enjoyed this diary very much for it brought back many memories of his tour with the 124th Infantry. My father made the very same trek through the jungle just months before your Dad. It's amazing just how similar their tours were and what they both reported." I called Delbert Parris on 21 March 2001. Delbert Parris grew up in Anniston, Alabama, the second of twelve siblings (8 boys and 4 girls). During World War 2, he was a member of B Company, 1st Battalion, of the 124th Infantry Regiment. He fought at the Driniumor River near Aitape, New Guinea, in July and August 1944. He said, "We did what we we had to do. We had been fighting near the Driniumor River for 19 days. The Japanese had just about quit attacking, and our CO said we were going back to the beach. We got to the beach and dug our perimeter. The next morning we got out our K-rations for breakfast. Those K-ration boxes burned good, and we used them to make cooking fires to heat the rations. I think that an artillery spotter from the 32nd Division spotted the smoke from our cooking fires, and called in artillery on us. It was all kept very hush-hush at the time, because if news of this had gotten home to the States, it would have been bad for morale. I learned later that the artillery fire had killed 4 men and wounded 35. I was among the wounded. They sent me to a hospital that was on a small 20 acre island about 1/4 mile off the coast of New Guinea. The hospital was a tent city where I stayed for about two weeks. After I was released, I boarded a destroyer and sailed to Morotai to rejoin my unit. I was not involved in the Morotai landing, as it had happened while I was hospitalized. We guarded a big air base on Morotai for about six months." "In the Spring of 1945, we sailed for Mindanao in the Philippines. We landed near Cotabato, and found the Japs waiting for us. We sailed up the Mindanao River to Fort Pikit, and eventually ran into a large force of the enemy north of there at Colgan Woods. The forest there had great big mahogany trees and quite a bit of undergrowth around the trees. Those rascals [Japanese soldiers] were hidden in there. My battalion was the first one there. We fought hard, and Navy planes bombed and strafed the Japanese; but we never did get through until the artillery arrived. They laid down a two hour artillery barrage, and then it was over. Most of the Japanese fled and we walked on through." "Father Colgan was killed in that battle. A medic had been hit, and Father Colgan felt duty bound to go to him. He shouldn't have done it. A company commander warned him about snipers and told him not to go, but he went anyway. He was hit by a sniper first, and then a machine gun blast got him." "At the time the first atomic bomb was dropped, we were fighting up in the mountains on a ridge. We had been cut off by the Japanese, and eventually broke out with the help of artillery. When we got back, I heard about the first atomic bomb being dropped. That was the first time I heard of it. Then the second bomb was dropped and the war was over." "I remember going through the Del Monte Pineapple Plantation after the war. At that time there were Army MP's guarding it at two or three places. They told us to leave those pineapples for the Filipinos, but we got in and got some anyway. There were great big pineapples with a beautiful golden color growing at the tops of the plants. We got a few, and they were delicious. That was the first fresh fruit we had in a long time." "When the war was over, I remember having lunch with a Filipino boy and his sister. We ate dry fish. Those kids were very interested in what was going on in America." "Because of an old injury, I was transferred to a big hospital near Tacloban, Leyte. I sailed home from Leyte on a converted banana boat that had a top speed of 18 to 20 knots. I was in the part of the ship that was blocked off for patients. The regular soldiers were in a separate section. In our section there were a lot of men missing arms and legs. They treated us like kings on the way home. We had ice water and Dixie Cup ice cream, and it was really good. We didn't have anything like this during the war." "The ship docked in Tacoma, Washington, in November or December 1945, and I stayed at Fort Lewis for two nights. Then I boarded a long troop train to Memphis, Tennessee, where I stayed at another hospital for several days. The train trip took two or three days and was very relaxing. I was in a Pullman coach and slept between sheets every night. From Memphis I went home to Anniston, Alabama. Then I had to go to Fort McPherson in Atlanta, Georgia, to be discharged from the Army. Four or five months after returning home, I moved to Dallas, Texas." "I enlisted in the Army in 1949 for two or three years. I was a cavalryman at Fort Hood, Texas, where we trained rookie draftees. I decided not to reenlist when I learned that it would mean a transfer to Korea." I thanked Mr. Parris for his service and told him that is was a pleasure talking with him, and an honor to know him. He returned the compliment, and invited me to call again, saying, "I will think of some more things and be ready for you next time." -------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr. Delbert J. and Elizabeth Parris 2555 Valwood Parkway Farmers Branch (Dallas), Texas 75234 Telephone: (972) 247-2126 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: Telephone conversation between Mr. Delbert Parris and Paul Webber on 21 March 2002. Transcribed by Paul M. Webber on 21 March 2002 Home Page: http://home.pcisys.net/~pwebber/31_id/rtw.htm