Norman John Gutz
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Navy
Norman John Gutz served during World War II in the Pacific Theater.
He served in the U.S. Navy from December 8, 1943, until May 21, 1946. He attended boot camp at Farragut, Iowa, and was sent to the Great Lakes Naval Training Center to study mechanics. He was assigned to the U.S.S. Wilkes Barre, which served as an aircraft carrier escort. His ship was attacked by kamikazes on numerous occasions and participated in the invasion of Okinawa. It was also present at the signing of the surrender by Japan.
Mr. Gutz’s rank was Water Tender 2nd Class.
Mr. Gutz was born in 1925 in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, the son of Gustave and Emma Gutz.
Source: Veterans’ Memorial Hall Veteran History Form; veteran’s account (see below)
World War II was no different than any previous war. It involved most every one between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five. The draft started before any of the fighting. It prompted the U.S. to prepare for the inevitable. I was only fourteen when daily reports of invasions were coming over the radio.
The young men were being forced to decide their future. Patriotism drove many to enlist in the service. Some were even going to Canada to volunteer in the Royal Army. Many waited until they were called in the draft. The draft compelled all eighteen and over to register, and all were placed in categories from A-1 to 4-F. Some petitioned the draft board for a deferrable occupation such as farming, while others simply refused to serve due to religious convictions. They were incarcerated for the duration of the war.
I experienced the war firsthand as a seaman serving on a light cruiser engaging the Japanese Navy in the Asiatic theater of war. I feel I was fortunate to get through it with no physical or psychological scars. Back in the days when I was growing up, most people were stereotyped as either a city dweller or a country bumpkin. Although our family wasn’t engaged in farming, we did live in a remote area of the country.
I attended a one-room school a mile from home. Even as first graders, we had to walk to and from the schoolhouse. I completed the eighth grade in 1939, but was unable to attend high school as it was over 5 miles into town, and the district did not provide transportation.
Like many young lads at that time, I became a wage earner. Some lads worked on the family farm in preparation for some day taking over. At the age of fourteen, I began a career as a farmhand, working for a monthly salary of $10.00 plus room and board, a job that was seasonal from planting to harvest. During the winter months, I stayed at home hunting and trapping.
I was sixteen when Pearl Harbor was bombed. The U.S. was now at war. Wanting to enter the service before I was eighteen required a parent’s consent, which Mother was not about to give, as recent convert to Jehovah’s Witnesses. She tried her best to persuade my brother and I to conscientiously object to serving on religious grounds.
Jobs in town were plentiful due to the number of men leaving for the armed forces. I decided to abandon the farm. I found employment in one of the meat packing plants (Swift’s). In September of 1943, I registered for the draft, and by December I had my physical and was inducted into the Navy. I spent boot training in Farragut, Idaho. From there I was sent to the Great Lakes Naval Training Center for mechanical training.
It was hard for me to get through a machine shop course due to the small amount of math I had at school. After completing the course, I was selected as part of a group that would be trained in marine engineering. We were sent to Newport, Rhode Island, to learn to operate steam boilers. Upon completing the course, I was assigned to the U.S.S. Wilkes Barre (C.L. 103), which was being built in Camden, New Jersey. After completion of the hull, it was moved to Philadelphia Naval Yard. Here it would be outfitted for armament and radar. We moved aboard to get indoctrinated to shipboard life. We operated the boilers even though it was moored to the dock. Later, we weighed anchor for a shakedown cruise to Trinidad in the Caribbean, putting the ship and crew through the paces, simulating battle conditions. Then returned to the Philadelphia Naval Yard to complete outfitting and correcting problems.
In November of 1944, we set out to pass through the Panama Canal and to Pearl Harbor, where we received orders to proceed to Leyte Gulf in the Philippines, where we were to join the 3rd Fleet as an aircraft carrier escort.
Our first taste of combat came as a surprise, as the same day we arrived and sat at anchor watching an above-deck movie. General quarters blared as the fleet was attacked by suicide planes. We were unprepared for combat, as we had two of our four boilers down for repair. A ship is most vulnerable to attack when it’s not moving. But handicapped as we were, the ship surged ahead to produce smoke for a screen to hide the carriers. As soon as the attack started, it was over, as the planes were shot down. Our ship performed well as part of a task force whose mission it was to engage the enemy in naval combat and support land troops in their invasion of Japanese-held territory.
Our particular assignment was to protect the aircraft carrier from submarines, dive bombers, etc. As soon as one encounter or invasion was secured, we were already engaged in the next.
The invasion of Okinawa was one of our last and hardest fought battles. Japan knew that if they could not keep control of that island, their mainland would be vulnerable to attack. Suicide attacks were almost constant, inflicting damage to both sides. Our ship accounted for the demise of seven kamikazes. In one skirmish, they came at us so thick, it was impossible to shoot them all down. Three of them managed to break through the anti-aircraft fire and scored hits on the carrier Bunker Hill. A blazing inferno erupted as the planes on deck loaded with bombs and ammunition fueled the fire. Our ship moved alongside to pump water on the flames. As the carrier listed, we were trapped under her gun mounts. We ended up with all the railings on the starboard side torn off and a 12-foot hole in our bow.
Hundreds of burnt and wounded seamen were transferred to our ship. The following morning we held funeral services for twelve men, who were buried at sea. There was no hospital ship in the area at that time, so the injured seamen had to remain aboard. The convoy was to undertake a bombardment raid on the mainland of Japan, and only vessels that could travel over 30 knots could participate. Our captain secured permission to partake in the raid. We steamed into Tokyo Bay at full speed, with guns destroying harbor installations. It was more of a demoralizing maneuver than anything, such as the Doolittle Raid.
The war was coming to an end, as the atom bomb was dropped. Our ship, the U.S.S. Wilkes Barre, was present with the fleet in Tokyo Bay as the surrender was signed. Our ship remained active after the surrender, as we were designated the flagship of the demilitarizing force, patrolling the Orient. After two-and-one-half years of service in the Naval Reserve, I returned to civilian life.
