William Paulus, World War II, Part 2
When General Douglas MacArthur said, "I shall return.", he was talking about returning to the Philippines. So he, along with Admiral C. W. Nimitz, Commander of all the Pacific Fleet, decided to invade the island of Leyte as the next step in the liberation of the Philippines.
Their goal was to land near Samar, Leyte. The largest landing force ever used in the Pacific campaigns was assembled. The scheduled date was October 20, l944. This led to the largest and greatest naval engagement of the High Seas. It also became the most lopsided engagement of surface ships ever fought.
The American fleet was smaller, their torpedos were slower, their cruisers had only one torpedo tube compared with the Japanese cruisers that had a battery of tubes. The American battleships had only 16 inch guns compared with the Japanese 18.l inch guns. The two new Japanese battleships, the Yamato and the Musashe were 18,000 tons heavier than any American battleship.
The Japanese fleet consisted of 17 battleships, 23 heavy cruisers, 6 light cruisers, 4 large carriers, several light carriers, 34 destroyers and several torpedo boats and submarines.
The American fleet was composed of 24 light carriers, 8 large carriers, 6 old battleships, 6 new battleships 13 heavy cruisers, 11 light cruisers, 2 antiaircraft cruisers, 144 destroyers, PT boats, and submarines.
Admiral Halsey with a large force of fighting ships was decoyed away from the Leyte Gulf area by what was thought to be the main Japanese force. He did defeat the decoy unit including the Yamato. His ships were sorely missed at the main battle area. The CVE's supporting the invasion were left with little protection..
One of the major problems for the Japanese fleet was that all directions for movement and coordination came from Tokyo. Each of the four separate units of this fleet did not know what the others were doing. The Japanese lost 4 large carriers, one light carrier, 3 battleships, 10 cruisers, 12 destroyers, one sub, hundreds of planes and ten thousands sailors and airmen. American losses included one light carrier, two CVE's, one light cruiser, 3 destroyers, one sub, one torpedo boat, several planes and 3 thousand sailors and airmen..
During the raging sea battle on October 25th l944, Bill Paulus received a flag message from a neighboring ship and went below deck to give it to an officer in the radio room. Several Japanese planes were above the Suwannee, and all but one were destroyed by American planes and antiaircraft fire. The Kamikazis were especially trained pilots that would die for the glory of the Emperor. They were directed to hit the enemy carrier flight deck next to the bridge. The injured Japanese plane missed the target area, but it went through the flight deck and came to rest on the main deck, two decks below the flight deck. One deck lower held aviation fuel, and it would have been a fatal blow had it been penetrated.
The bombs on the Japanese plane exploded, bombs from U. S. planes on the hanger deck exploded and flaming gasoline moved over the area. Some of the planes melted and hot metal ran over the sides of the Suwannee into the ocean.
The radio officer that Bill reported to was killed and Bill was severely wounded with shrapnel. His eyes were burned. He remembers wandering around on his hands and knees in the dark, dazed , and unable to see. He was pulled out of this area by helping hands from above through a hole in the deck. Ninety of his shipmates died with the Kamikazi attack the night of the 25h of October, l944.
Bill awoke with bnadaged eyes and thought he was blind. He was later flown to San Leandro Naval Hospital near San Diego, and William Paulus was medically discharged June 15, l945. He received the Purple Heart. One of Bill's fondest memories is shaking hands with Admiral Nimitz after the Leyte Gulf campaign.
The USS Suwannee, after putting the fires out and making minor repairs, continued in battle, but after another Kamikazi hit on October 26th, l944, she lay dead in the water with large clouds of smoke coming up from the burning ship. She was reported sunk by Tokyo Rose.
However, Suwannee got under way and was escorted by destroyers after transferring off the wounded. She entered Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton Washington. After six weeks of repair of ship and soul, she headed west again ready for action. Their next engagement was for 85 continuous days in the battle of Okinawa. At the end of the war a Suwannee plane escorted a Japanese official to set up the Unconditional Surrender aboard the USS Missouri.
The Suwannee had the fourth highest casualties of any carrier. She lost 130 seamen and 46 airmen. She was awarded 9 medals and 14 Bronze Stars and received a Presidential Citation. ;Just as "old soldiers never die" so did the USS Suwannee fade away as she was scrapped at Balboa, Spain in l962.
Bill returned to Tiffin and worked at various jobs including the American Clay Forming Co and American Standard. He joined the Tiffin Police Department in June l957 and retired as a sergeant in l977. From l977 – l987 he worked in the maintenance department at Heidelberg.
April 22, l948, he married Jean M. Noller, and they had ten children, Tom, Ed, Leonard, Joseph, Virginia, Timothy, Pam, John, James and Sue. Tom served in Viet Nam. Sue was only 13 when her mother died. Bill has 25 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren.
His house was one of the first ones built on Longfellow Drive and he has lived in it 44 years. He likes to watch the Cleveland Indians and football, but he thinks fishing is a waste of time. He only felt in danger one time as a policeman. That was when he went to a domestic violence scene, and the man opened the door with a shot gun pointed at his stomach. He talked to the man and gently pushed the gun aside. He can only remember of one Tiffin policeman ever being murdered.
William Paulus, a Purple Heart recipient of World War II, and a Second Class Petty Officer, plans to attend the 12th reunion of the men of the USS Suwannee this October in San Antonio. Good Luck, Bill.
Was World War II the last war in which all Americans could join together in spirit, unite and focus all of their tremendous energy and be concerned for freedom for all people?