Midland Remembers Howard Moe, Medic in World War II

Now 94 years old, Howard Moe has vivid memories of the atrocities he saw during World War II. 'I still have nightmares over it,' he said. Now 94 years old, Howard Moe has vivid memories of the atrocities he saw during World War II. 'I still have nightmares over it,' he said. Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Midland Remembers Howard Moe, Medic in World War II 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

At 4 a.m. the Japanese attacked from the jungle using bamboo sticks to pound against the tree trunks to draw fire from the American troops. When the battle was over and daylight poured into the jungle and on the beach, the Americans found Filipinos dead from their bullets. The Japanese had forced civilians to stand in front of them to draw fire from American troops. Once daylight came, it showed the slaughtered Filipino civilians. Bulldozers came in digging huge trenches on the beaches where they buried the dead. There was no way to identify anyone.

Howard Moe was 20 years old at the time and today he is 94 but he remembers the incident as though it happened just a month ago.

Howard enlisted on April 14, 1943 and traveled by train to Fort Custer. On April 25 he found himself in Fort Polk in Louisiana for basic training which continued until Jan. 23, 1944 when he left for Fort Ord in California. He ended up in the medical unit.

He said, “The man in charge said, ‘You with those other guys, over there.’” Howard asked, “What am I going to do?” The man replied, “You’re going to be a medic.”

As a medic the young men learned to give shots, take blood pressure and every day they had dispensary duty. A Dr. Talbot needed a cadre of 12 men and Howard became one of the 12, serving the rest of World War II with that group. Talbot brought in four men he had worked with before: a master sergeant, a staff sergeant, a first sergeant and a corporal.

“We never got a promotion because of the four men Dr. Talbot brought in with him and there was nothing we could do about it,” Howard said.

Years later, Dr. Talbot retired and lived in Sanford, Michigan. Howard said, “I saw him just once when I got out of the service.”

Their cadre of medics became members of the 536th Armored Amphibian Tractor Battalion. “The tractors were more like tanks but they could travel on land or on water," he said.

After California, the battalion went to Fort Lawton in Washington. Some of the training involved learning to maneuver the tractors over coral. “You could tear the bottom off the tractor if you weren’t careful," Howard said.

The 536th was assigned to the Pacific Theatre of Operation and their assignment involved the invasion of Leyte with the battle going on from Oct. 12, 1944 to Dec. 26, 1944. Howard’s convoy invaded the town of Dulag in the Philippines Oct. 20.

The medics went in first carrying their backpacks filled with splints, bandages and supplies to treat the injured. Oct. 20 was also the day that General Douglas MacArthur was photographed striding through the Pacific Ocean to the beach at Leyte, saying, “I have returned.” Howard was on the beach and watched MacArthur as photographers put the historic moment on film.

The young medics took their arm bands off because they had a red cross on them identifying them as medics and rubbed wet sand on the red cross on their helmets to cover the red cross. The Japanese tried to pick the medics off first. Because the medics were always in the first wave to hit the beaches in battle, they carried .45 for protection.

Before the ground troops went in, battleships anchored off shore pounded the beaches with 16-inch shells. The heat from the incoming shells burned their necks so badly they had to tip their helmets back off their heads to cover their necks. American aircraft flying overhead sprayed bullets on the beach and were flying so low the shell casings fell on the men. Three medics were injured.

“We could only treat so many at one time and then send them down to the beach where they would be sent out to the hospital ship anchored in the harbor," Howard said.

In the heat of the battle 18,000 rockets were exploded in 15 minutes from the battleships, destroyers and other landing craft.

It was during the battle on Leyte that the 4 a.m. attack occurred with the Japanese using Filipino civilians as shields.

One night Japanese planes came over flying so low one could hear the click of the bomb as it was released.

“I began running and the bomb hit the fuel oil drums and lit up the skies," Howard said. "The concussion sent me flying.”

When he landed, he hit a tree stump and finally found his way to a foxhole. He felt his side and when he couldn’t feel any blood, he decided that he was still alive. He spent the night in the foxhole with a chest bruise that hurt so bad he wondered if he was going to make it. He didn’t report it because he didn’t want to leave the medical unit he was with.

After Leyte, there were several more landings in the Philippines, one of them at Pusan on Jan.14, 1945. His memory of that island is the Catholic Church where the Japanese had left several hundred dead women and children. “I still have nightmares over it," Howard said.

Howard’s battalion was sent to Okinawa eventually where the 82-day battle became the bloodiest in World War II. It began on Easter morning, April 1, 1945 and lasted until June 2, 1945. Howard remembers that a Japanese soldier was found dead in a tube with no way to get him out. A rope was tied to one ankle and they pulled on the rope. Only a hip and one leg came out.

The Allies counted 12,000 men dead and 35,000 wounded. The Japanese lost 100,000 soldiers and civilians.

When Okinawa was safely in the hands of Allied troops, the 536th Battalion was given its next assignment, the biggest one yet: Invade the Japanese mainland. But before the battalion reached the waters around Japan, the Japanese had surrendered.

Howard was honorably discharged on Dec. 27, 1945. He is proud of a citation he received which reads: "Among the medical personnel attached to my unit was Howard Claude Moe, U.S. 365 96 172. I do say, and can say, that Howard Claude Moe was closely engaged in providing combat medical support to my unit. Lieutenant Lonnie Kirkland."

He was awarded the Victory Medal, the American Theatre medal, Asiatic-Pacific Theatre ribbon with two bronze battle stars, the Bronze Service Arrowhead, Philippines Liberation with two bronze battle stars, three gold stripes for overseas service, Philippines Presidential Citation, a Good Conduct medal and an Army Occupation medal. A fitting recognition for a young man who served his country.