Harry Rosenfeld
Electrician 3rd Class
USS Nevada ’43-‘45
D-Day, So. France, Iwo Jima, Okinawa
Electrician 3rd Class
USS Nevada ’43-‘45
D-Day, So. France, Iwo Jima, Okinawa
Harry Rosenfeld was born in 1925 on the lower East Side of Manhattan. Although he grew up during the Great Depression it didn’t leave any lasting memories. His father was a tailor at a shop on the lower east side focusing mainly on women's clothing. He attended Seward High School in Manhattan and graduated in January of 1943. We was drafted into the US Navy on 7/7/43. We went to boot camp in Sampson, NY and then went to electrician school in Bainbridge, MD. Harry was trained to repair the electrical systems and it was his responsibility to raise and lower the anchor.
In February ’44 he was sent to Boston to pick up his ship, the USS Nevada. The USS Nevada had a long history dating back to World War I but is best known as the only Battleship to survive Pearl Harbor. The Nevada was docked at the end of Battleship row when the Japanese attacked. The USS Arizona and the USS West Virginia were sunk in the harbor but the Nevada was able to get underway toward the exit to the harbor. However, it was hit by a torpedo and six bombs causing it to eventually sink. The Navy was able to salvage the ship and it eventually made its way to the Puget Sound Navy Yard in Washington to be repaired and modernized. The West Virginia was also refloated, repaired, modernized and rejoined the War effort in October ‘44.
The Nevada left Boston and headed for Maine for firing practice and then back down to NYC where it headed across the Atlantic as a convoy escort providing protection to the convoy of ships delivering soldiers, supplies and other war materials. Harry and his ship docked in Belfast, Ireland. While on leave in Belfast, Harry remembers a US GI coming to find Harry and his group with a message from the Captain, “return to the ship immediately, they were preparing to get underway to France”. They then learned that they would be part of the D-Day invasion. Harry said they headed toward France but the weather caused the invasion to be delayed one day and they stayed in Wales until the weather cleared. “We left in the middle of the night on June 6th and we arrived off Utah Beach and it was my job to anchor the ship. The firing began at 6:30 am.” “The Germans had railroad guns that moved up and down the tracks. We put those out of commission”. The ship shelled the Germans relentlessly. Targeting not only the pill boxes and troops near the beach but also sending shells as deep as 20 miles behind German lines to disrupt German troop concentrations and counterattacks. “We had 35 spotters (aircraft overhead) who called in the German locations so we were able to knock out all of the German guns.” Harry remembers shelling the Normandy countryside for 3 days until they ran out of ammunition. He said they headed back to Portsmouth to pick up more ammunition and returned to Omaha Beach on D-Day +4 where they continued to support the troops making their way inland.
I asked Harry if he was ever worried they wouldn’t’ succeed at Normandy. “It never cross my mind”. “I remember all of the bodies floating in the water. It’s something you can’t forget.” Harry mentioned that the Battleship had two planes on board that served as spotters to call in the locations to direct the shelling. He also mentioned that they had electrical systems on the ship that were able to jam the V-Bombs launched by the Germans and “they just fell out of the sky”. I asked Harry if they were attacked by the German Luftwaffe and he said, “the Air Force took over the airspace so the Germans flew very few planes” during the invasion.
Once the beaches were secure and the Germans were retreating the Nevada turned its guns toward the Cherbourg Peninsula. It provided heavy shelling that enabled the Army to take that peninsula. In August of ’44 the Nevada was sent to the Mediterranean as part of Operation Dragoon and supported the invasion of Southern France. The Nevada provided heavy shelling to help the Allies take the port of Toulon and Marseilles and then shell the Greek Islands to disrupt the German supply lines. “We bombed the crap out of them.”
At the conclusion of the operation the Nevada was sent back to Norfolk, VA but a hurricane caused them to head into NY Harbor. “When we saw the Statute of Liberty we were so happy, everyone kissed the floor. We were home.” The ship docked and the crew was given leave. Harry jumped off the ship and headed to the lower east side to visit his family. Harry mentioned that his best friend Harry Rohrer from Lancaster, who was a Mennonite, got married during that leave.
Harry mentioned that he thought the Navy was anti-Semitic. “They gave us the worst jobs. There were guys from the south who never met a Jew and they didn’t like us and picked on us. Luckily we had a guy, Father Kelly, who looked out for the Jewish boys.”
After their leave they headed to Norfolk, Va for the ship to be refitted. From there they sailed through the Panama Canal to Long Beach, CA and then on to Pearl Harbor. In early ’45 they headed to the US Navy base in the Solomon Islands for some R&R and to get ready for the trip to Iwo Jima. In February the Nevada headed toward Iwo Jim with Vice Admiral Rogers on board.
Harry dropped the anchor and the Nevada was at the base of Mount Suribachi. On February 16th the bombardment began. “The island had Navy ships all around it.” The shelling of the island began on 2/16 and lasted three days. During the Battle of Iwo Jima one of the planes on the Nevada was shot down and the pilot was killed. Harry remembers an LCI (Landing Craft Infantry) heading toward the island where “the Marines were going to try and clear the mines and other underwater fortifications. The Japanese opened fire and killed 24 marines”.
On 2/19 the Marines began their amphibious assault. The intensive bombing of the island would force the Japanese out of their caves and tunnels to other shelters. The Nevada had 40mm machine guns that they used to “pick them off as they ran”. Harry saw the US flag go up over Mt. Suribachi and then come down and then go up again. The battle officially ended on March 26th. Next stop, Okinawa and Operation Iceberg.
The Battle of Okinawa was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific Theater and lasted three months. This was a strategically important battle for the US because it would provide the US with a base of operations to attack the Japanese mainland. In this battle the Japanese would lose its battleship, the Yamamoto. “We shelled the west side of the island and then went to the east side of the island to where the invasion was going to be and shelled that.” Harry recalled one particular day when he wasn’t working in his usual location. “the Japs were shooting at us and one shell went right over my head and skidded of the deck and killed 12 of our guys.” Otherwise the ship did not incur much physical damage. “You couldn’t sink that ship”
Harry said that the Japanese had move approximately 2,000 farmers from Iwo Jima to Okinawa. “They used the Japanese farmers as fodder.” I asked him if he was ever scared. “Nah, you don’t really think about it. If it’s my time to go it’s my time.” I asked him if he hated the enemy. “You don’t really think about it.”
From Okinawa he headed to the China Sea to provide support and protection for smaller boats clearing mines. From there they went to the Philippines and that is where Harry was when the Japanese surrendered. The ship return to Washington State and Harry then boarded a train for Long Beach, NY where he was discharged on 11/28/45. Harry quickly got on with his life and enrolled at LIU (Long Island University) in January of 1946 on the GI Bill. “I was supposed to be in insurance and real estate but the classes were full. So I took accounting one and I liked it so I became an accountant.” In 1948 Harry met his future bride Sylvia while in the Catskills. During college summers Harold would play his clarinet and saxophone in the Catskills for $8/wk plus room and board. Sylvia said, “you know he still has his saxophone? It’s over 100 years old.” Sylvia was from Hartford Connecticut. After graduation, he was still living in NYC and he took a job with the CPA firm Miller & Co. Harry and Sylvia were married on October 28th, 1950 and Harold moved to Hartford. Harry eventually passed his CPA exam and went into business for himself and retired at the age of 66. They often went back to the Catskills. Sylvia said “we went to Grossinger’s once, it was very nice. We met Mrs. Grossinger. She was very nice.”
Harry and Sylvia have been married for 70 years, have 3 children and 4 great grandchildren. I asked Sylvia about what she remembered from WW II. She remembered the rationing and “mothers worried like hell about their sons.” Her brother served during WWII.
Thanks to Harry and all of the others like him who helped saved the world.
In February ’44 he was sent to Boston to pick up his ship, the USS Nevada. The USS Nevada had a long history dating back to World War I but is best known as the only Battleship to survive Pearl Harbor. The Nevada was docked at the end of Battleship row when the Japanese attacked. The USS Arizona and the USS West Virginia were sunk in the harbor but the Nevada was able to get underway toward the exit to the harbor. However, it was hit by a torpedo and six bombs causing it to eventually sink. The Navy was able to salvage the ship and it eventually made its way to the Puget Sound Navy Yard in Washington to be repaired and modernized. The West Virginia was also refloated, repaired, modernized and rejoined the War effort in October ‘44.
The Nevada left Boston and headed for Maine for firing practice and then back down to NYC where it headed across the Atlantic as a convoy escort providing protection to the convoy of ships delivering soldiers, supplies and other war materials. Harry and his ship docked in Belfast, Ireland. While on leave in Belfast, Harry remembers a US GI coming to find Harry and his group with a message from the Captain, “return to the ship immediately, they were preparing to get underway to France”. They then learned that they would be part of the D-Day invasion. Harry said they headed toward France but the weather caused the invasion to be delayed one day and they stayed in Wales until the weather cleared. “We left in the middle of the night on June 6th and we arrived off Utah Beach and it was my job to anchor the ship. The firing began at 6:30 am.” “The Germans had railroad guns that moved up and down the tracks. We put those out of commission”. The ship shelled the Germans relentlessly. Targeting not only the pill boxes and troops near the beach but also sending shells as deep as 20 miles behind German lines to disrupt German troop concentrations and counterattacks. “We had 35 spotters (aircraft overhead) who called in the German locations so we were able to knock out all of the German guns.” Harry remembers shelling the Normandy countryside for 3 days until they ran out of ammunition. He said they headed back to Portsmouth to pick up more ammunition and returned to Omaha Beach on D-Day +4 where they continued to support the troops making their way inland.
I asked Harry if he was ever worried they wouldn’t’ succeed at Normandy. “It never cross my mind”. “I remember all of the bodies floating in the water. It’s something you can’t forget.” Harry mentioned that the Battleship had two planes on board that served as spotters to call in the locations to direct the shelling. He also mentioned that they had electrical systems on the ship that were able to jam the V-Bombs launched by the Germans and “they just fell out of the sky”. I asked Harry if they were attacked by the German Luftwaffe and he said, “the Air Force took over the airspace so the Germans flew very few planes” during the invasion.
Once the beaches were secure and the Germans were retreating the Nevada turned its guns toward the Cherbourg Peninsula. It provided heavy shelling that enabled the Army to take that peninsula. In August of ’44 the Nevada was sent to the Mediterranean as part of Operation Dragoon and supported the invasion of Southern France. The Nevada provided heavy shelling to help the Allies take the port of Toulon and Marseilles and then shell the Greek Islands to disrupt the German supply lines. “We bombed the crap out of them.”
At the conclusion of the operation the Nevada was sent back to Norfolk, VA but a hurricane caused them to head into NY Harbor. “When we saw the Statute of Liberty we were so happy, everyone kissed the floor. We were home.” The ship docked and the crew was given leave. Harry jumped off the ship and headed to the lower east side to visit his family. Harry mentioned that his best friend Harry Rohrer from Lancaster, who was a Mennonite, got married during that leave.
Harry mentioned that he thought the Navy was anti-Semitic. “They gave us the worst jobs. There were guys from the south who never met a Jew and they didn’t like us and picked on us. Luckily we had a guy, Father Kelly, who looked out for the Jewish boys.”
After their leave they headed to Norfolk, Va for the ship to be refitted. From there they sailed through the Panama Canal to Long Beach, CA and then on to Pearl Harbor. In early ’45 they headed to the US Navy base in the Solomon Islands for some R&R and to get ready for the trip to Iwo Jima. In February the Nevada headed toward Iwo Jim with Vice Admiral Rogers on board.
Harry dropped the anchor and the Nevada was at the base of Mount Suribachi. On February 16th the bombardment began. “The island had Navy ships all around it.” The shelling of the island began on 2/16 and lasted three days. During the Battle of Iwo Jima one of the planes on the Nevada was shot down and the pilot was killed. Harry remembers an LCI (Landing Craft Infantry) heading toward the island where “the Marines were going to try and clear the mines and other underwater fortifications. The Japanese opened fire and killed 24 marines”.
On 2/19 the Marines began their amphibious assault. The intensive bombing of the island would force the Japanese out of their caves and tunnels to other shelters. The Nevada had 40mm machine guns that they used to “pick them off as they ran”. Harry saw the US flag go up over Mt. Suribachi and then come down and then go up again. The battle officially ended on March 26th. Next stop, Okinawa and Operation Iceberg.
The Battle of Okinawa was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific Theater and lasted three months. This was a strategically important battle for the US because it would provide the US with a base of operations to attack the Japanese mainland. In this battle the Japanese would lose its battleship, the Yamamoto. “We shelled the west side of the island and then went to the east side of the island to where the invasion was going to be and shelled that.” Harry recalled one particular day when he wasn’t working in his usual location. “the Japs were shooting at us and one shell went right over my head and skidded of the deck and killed 12 of our guys.” Otherwise the ship did not incur much physical damage. “You couldn’t sink that ship”
Harry said that the Japanese had move approximately 2,000 farmers from Iwo Jima to Okinawa. “They used the Japanese farmers as fodder.” I asked him if he was ever scared. “Nah, you don’t really think about it. If it’s my time to go it’s my time.” I asked him if he hated the enemy. “You don’t really think about it.”
From Okinawa he headed to the China Sea to provide support and protection for smaller boats clearing mines. From there they went to the Philippines and that is where Harry was when the Japanese surrendered. The ship return to Washington State and Harry then boarded a train for Long Beach, NY where he was discharged on 11/28/45. Harry quickly got on with his life and enrolled at LIU (Long Island University) in January of 1946 on the GI Bill. “I was supposed to be in insurance and real estate but the classes were full. So I took accounting one and I liked it so I became an accountant.” In 1948 Harry met his future bride Sylvia while in the Catskills. During college summers Harold would play his clarinet and saxophone in the Catskills for $8/wk plus room and board. Sylvia said, “you know he still has his saxophone? It’s over 100 years old.” Sylvia was from Hartford Connecticut. After graduation, he was still living in NYC and he took a job with the CPA firm Miller & Co. Harry and Sylvia were married on October 28th, 1950 and Harold moved to Hartford. Harry eventually passed his CPA exam and went into business for himself and retired at the age of 66. They often went back to the Catskills. Sylvia said “we went to Grossinger’s once, it was very nice. We met Mrs. Grossinger. She was very nice.”
Harry and Sylvia have been married for 70 years, have 3 children and 4 great grandchildren. I asked Sylvia about what she remembered from WW II. She remembered the rationing and “mothers worried like hell about their sons.” Her brother served during WWII.
Thanks to Harry and all of the others like him who helped saved the world.