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Lt. Reichard’s WWII Diary – January 28, 1943

Introduction by Will Seippel, CEO – WorthPoint.com Lt. Reichard began writing a diary on January 1, 1943. In February, he bought a camera and began taking some photos. For the next three years, he wrote almost every day. When I started reading his diary, I thought it should be shared and that perhaps WorthPoint’s community of collectors, people like me who are intrigued by the past, might find the diary as fascinating as I did.

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January 28, 1943 Diary Page  (click to enlarge)
January 28, 1943 Diary Page (click to enlarge)

Transcript of diary entry   January 28, 1943

Thursday,  January 28, 1943

Gowen Fieid, Boise, Idaho

Today I won’t forget for a while. I went up in a “B17” a Flying Fortress as it is commonly called and got sick as a dog. It’s the first time I’ve ever been air sick and I hope the last. I don’t think I have ever been sicker in my life. We took off about one on a bombing mission up on the plateau to the east of camp. There is a railroad track up there and a water tower surrounded by a few houses. This we used as our objective. We went up and down that track about three or four hundred feet up for three solid hours traveling about 250 MPh. I was alright for the first hour and a half. In fact I was enjoying myself thoroughly looking the plane over from one end to the other. Then I got the brilliant idea of going up in the top gunner turret. There I played around for about half an hour training the guns on every thing in sight. It was a hell of a lot of fun and I wasn’t thinking about what the training manual said up there might be doing to my stomach until it was too late. I made a bee line for the rear mens and just made it. I was a sick individual for the next hour. The combination of low flying and the turret is probably what did it. The next time I go up I will make sure it’s a high flying mission. This evening you can bet I stayed home and nursed a sick stomach. I did manage to write some letters. I feel much better now and I did put some supper down.

Good Night

The Day That Was: January 28, 1943

• The War Relocation Authority (WRA) began processing loyalty questionnaires. U.S. Army officially activated the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, composed of the 100th Battalion from Hawaii and Japanese-American volunteers from the mainland internment camps. Nearly 10,000 Hawaiian Nisei (second generation Japanese-Americans) volunteered for military service, but only 1,100 of the mainland prisoners volunteered.

• Nine Norwegian commandos successfully climbed down the steep gorge on one side of the German “heavy water” plant at Telemark and worked their way up a 500-foot, almost sheer rock face to reach the plant on the other side of the gorge. Undetected, they gained entrance and successfully set and detonated their explosives, ruining the plant. All the commandos escaped safely without taking or inflicting any casualties. (http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/war-in-europe/scandinavia/scandinavia-index-1943.htm)

• A new conscription law in Germany was enacted. Men between 16 and 35 and women between 17 and 45 were open to mobilization. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_World_War_II_(1943))

• Japan’s Prime Minister Tojo told parliament of his government’s intention to recognize the independence of Burma and the Philippines and to aid India in its liberation from British rule. (http://www.fsmitha.com/time1943.htm)

Production Credits:
Diary transcription: Kathleen Long

Diary photos: Claudia Forbes

Video production: Alison Harder

Narration: Mountain VIsta H.S. Theater Department

Jeremy Goldson, Department Chair; Sean McGill – voice of Lt. Reichard

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