[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 133 (Wednesday, September 29, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1795-E1796]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO HAROLD GILDEA

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LATHAM

                                of iowa

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 29, 2010

  Mr. LATHAM. Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize Harold Gildea, a World 
War II Army veteran from Boone, Iowa, and to express my appreciation 
for his dedication and commitment to his country.
  The Boone News Republican is currently running a series of articles 
that honors one Boone County veteran every Tuesday from Memorial Day to 
Veterans Day. Harold Gildea was recognized on Tuesday, September 28. 
Below is the article in its entirety:

                  Boone County Veterans: Harold Gildea

                          (By: Greg Eckstrom)

       Harold Gildea, a Luther native and World War II veteran, 
     has had a varied military experience.
       During his time in the service, he's escorted General 
     George S. Patton, had a chance meeting with a prisoner of war 
     overseas from Boxholm, saw the end of World War II and helped 
     guard a boat full of beer.
       Typical? Not really, but what was in World War II?
       Gildea was born in Luther, a town his family had lived in 
     for 150 years. After graduating from Luther High School, he 
     signed up for the draft on Feb. 16, 1942 and was drafted 
     after graduation. By September of 1942, he was processed at 
     Camp Dodge and sent to Missouri to become a Military 
     Policeman with the 211th Military Police in the Army.
       ``I don't know how come, but I was chosen to be in this 
     military police company in Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.,'' he said 
     . . . a decision that he considered lucky, ``in a way.''
       After training, Gildea was met with an assignment that was 
     far from normal. He was sent to California at the end of May 
     to help accompany Gen. Patton across the Mojave Desert. While 
     the assignment was an honor, it was hot, to say the least.
       ``He'd run these tanks through an intersection, and our men 
     would be there to direct him,'' Gildea said. ``You could only 
     stand out in the intersection about 30 minutes and your feet 
     would start to scald. We'd have to have men in there to keep 
     changing. Those tanks, the dust would be 8 to 10 inches deep, 
     and that hot sun's over 120 degrees.''
       From California, he was sent to southern New Guinea to 
     relieve MP's in the area. The fourth morning he was there, 
     Gildea was at breakfast when he spotted a soldier that looked 
     familiar.
       ``I don't know why I put it like I did, but I said, 'Would 
     you know any of the McFarlands from Madrid?''' Gildea said. 
     ``He just sat there and stared at me. He said, `I am one.'''
       The chance encounter overseas with a fellow Boone County 
     native was interesting--almost as interesting as Gildea's 
     next assignment. He had been in southern New Guinea for only 
     two weeks when he was put on guard duty . . . keeping watch 
     over interesting cargo.
       ``We'd been there probably about two weeks and some ships 
     come in, and they assigned us to guard this one ship,'' he 
     said. ``When we got down there it was loaded with beer. A 
     whole ship loaded with beer. Well, [Gen. Douglas] McArthur 
     wouldn't let them have it, so they assigned us as duty to 
     guard that beer to make sure it stayed there.''

[[Page E1796]]

       For six weeks, the beer sat in the ship. It wasn't until a 
     few soldiers figured out how to break open a port window and 
     throw some of the beer into the ocean to scoop up later that 
     any of it could be consumed. Finally, the beer was released 
     and Gildea's strange guard duty was over.
       Gildea moved around to several different areas, being 
     assigned to various guard duties and police work. He 
     remembers the climate being hot and humid, with not much for 
     areas to escape the weather.
       At a staging area where soldiers prepared to enter Japan, 
     in Leyte, Gildea found himself in the hospital with an 
     illness. While there, soldiers from Corregidor liberated 
     American women and children from a prison there. These former 
     prisoners were sent to the hospital that Gildea was 
     recovering.
       ``I had been there for three weeks, and I was getting to 
     where I could get up and move around,'' he said. ``They come 
     in one morning and wanted to know if some of us boys could 
     get up and help the women and children with their stuff. They 
     were putting them through their interrogation. I went up to 
     this lady and little girl and spoke to her and said I'd be 
     glad to help her. We got to visiting, and the little girls' 
     folks were from Boxholm, Iowa. Her mother had died in prison, 
     and her dad was some place out in the jungles.
       ``This lady . . . I can't remember where this lady was from 
     . . . this lady brought the girl back to Boone,'' Gildea 
     said. ``They were in Boone and called my folks and went up 
     and talked to them.''
       The dropping of the atomic bombs brought about the end of 
     the war, and with it great relief from many soldiers. Gildea 
     had already been training to go to Japan. He was a part of 
     three platoons in the company--one dealing with traffic 
     control, one with prisoners and one general guard duty. While 
     being given their duties, one that struck the soldiers was 
     tagging bodies.
       ``That's how bad they were figuring it was going to be,'' 
     he said.
       Gildea was 3/4 of a mile away from the U.S.S. Missouri 
     while the peace treaty signing was being done.
       ``We could see it through good field glasses,'' he said. 
     ``You could see people moving around. We could say we've seen 
     it, I guess.''
       Following the end of the war, Gildea was sent to Yokohama, 
     where he stayed in the third floor of a large building. 
     Everything in the area had been fire bombed, however this 
     building had been spared. He also recalled one other building 
     in the area that was still standing.
       ``There was a little Methodist church,'' he said. ``It was 
     made of brick, and it never burned.''
       It was while staying in this building that he made a trade 
     with a Japanese man that was moving out of the building. He 
     had several postcards of the building on his desk, which 
     Gildea asked for, and the man agreed. He then asked Gildea 
     for some chocolate from his rations . . . he had a little boy 
     who had never tasted chocolate. Gildea obliged.
       ``He had a little boy who was seven years old and never 
     tasted chocolate,'' he said. ``It was kind of amazing to 
     think that he wanted that candy.''
       Gildea's time overseas was varied. His recollections vary 
     from the odd to touching to humorous. He enjoyed his time 
     overseas, however quickly reminds folks that at the time, it 
     was not much of a choice. Whether being drafted or not, for 
     most men at the time, serving their country was something 
     they did without much thought.
       ``We had no other choice,'' he said. ``It's just our duty 
     and we had to do it.''

  I commend Harold Gildea for his many years of loyalty and service to 
our great nation. It is an immense honor to represent him in the United 
States Congress, and I wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

                          ____________________