By NIKKI PATRICK THE MORNING SUN Posted Nov. 10, 2013 @ 7:30 am ARMA Despite German U-boats and a plane crash, John Kmetz is alive and well in Kelso, Wash., and will celebrate his 93rd birthday in December. He was born in 1920 on a farm near Arma, the son of Joseph and Catherine Kmetz. His father came to the United States in 1905 from Czechoslovakia. There were nine kids in the family, and Im the only one left, Kmetz said in a telephone interview. He and brothers Andrew, Victor, Frank and Paul all served their country during World War II. Me and two others were in the U.S. Navy, Andy was in the U.S. Army with Patton on D-Day, and Victor was with the 8th Air Force, Kmetz said. Andrew and Victor served in the European Theatre, Paul was on Liberty transports in the Pacific, Frank was with the 2nd Air Wing in the Hawaiian Islands, and Kmetz was with Liberty transports in the Atlantic. Liberty ships, cargo ships that could be built quickly and cheaply, were used extensively during the war for the delivery of desperately needed war materials. They were frequently stalked by enemy submarines. Kmetz entered the Navy on Nov. 17, 1942, and said that he was on convoy duty. During the war they had a lot of German submarines in the North Atlantic, so they put Navy gunners on the ships, he said. My first trip was to Casablanca, then there were two trips to Scotland and two to England. There was one trip through the Panama Canal. There was a big storm around Nova Scotia and we had to drop out of the convoy and put in for repairs. Then we caught a convoy to Scotland. We had sub attacks, but destroyers accompanied us and kind of took care of us. On June 6, 1944, D-Day, Kmetz was on one of the ships ferrying soldiers for the invasion at Normandy, France. We were going back and forth across the English Channel with troops to the beaches, he said. The first trip was the worst. I saw a lot of dead bodies floating in the water. We made 13 trips across the channel that summer. Kmetz didnt think much about his own peril at the time. When youre young, you dont get scared, he said. Now when you look back and think about it, you think it was terrible and wonder how you stood it. But the five Kmetz boys did stand through it all. All of us came out without a scratch when it was over, Kmetz said. Sadly, the war took its toll on their mother, who died on Jan. 29, 1946, at the age of 57. She had five sons in the war, and that was a lot to worry about, Kmetz said. Before the war, Kmetz and his family made it through the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. I was 12 or 13 in the Dust Bowl, and I remember it was so dusty that when I came home from school I could hardly see our house, Kmetz said. We had to stuff papers and rags around the doors and windows to keep the dust out. He remembers that there was an especially bad dust storm on March 2, 1932. A lot of Oklahoma blew into Kansas, thats what they told me, Kmetz said. He was in the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) for 21 months. I was at Camp Farlington and helped with the spillway project while I was there, he said. Then they moved us to Concordia. After he got out of the U.S. Navy in October of 1945, he worked at a sugar mill in Colorado, then a candy factory in Chicago. He moved to Washington State in 1947. I worked in logging, then from 1951 until I retired in 1984 I was at the Longview Fiber Co., a lumber mill, Kmetz said. In 1979 union workers at the plant went out on strike and Kmetz went to Chicago for a visit. On the way back he lived through a plane crash. They were going to get the landing gear down, but it was stuck, so the plane kept circling up there, Kmetz said. They were about to run out of gas and we crash-landed at the Portland airport. We went into some trees and hit a house. Ten people were killed, but I wasnt hurt. Hes made trips back to Kansas with his wife and children, but said he hasnt returned to his home state since 1988, when brother Paul died. Andy died in 2006, but I was gone and didnt know it until later, Kmetz said. I sure would like to come back to Arma and visit some year for V-J Day. His wife is deceased, but he had six children in his life. Theyre around all the time and look after me like an old mother hen, Kmetz said. He would enjoy hearing from any friends or relatives left in the area. Cards and letters may be sent to him at 4942 Pleasant Hill Road, Kelso, Wash., 98626. Read more: morningsun.net/article/20131110/LIFESTYLE/131109841?tag=2#ixzz2kJKnFqwX
Posted on: Mon, 11 Nov 2013 05:19:23 +0000
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