This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Brenda Brubaker, LT
to remember
Paulson, Bruce, MM1c.
If you knew or served with this Sailor and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.
Following WWII, Bruce returned to teaching history and industrial arts and coaching basketball and football at Maple Lake, MN where he met his future wife.
They would relocate to Madelia, MN where their children were born and Bruce continued teaching and coaching football. He was forced to give up his beloved football when he became the Principal of Madelia High School.
The family relocated to Mankato, MN when Bruce joined the Education Department faculty of Mankato State.
Bruce was active throughout his life in the Boy Scouts and attained the honor of the Silver Beaver.
Other Comments:
Dad served aboard LCI-193 from it's commission in Feb 1943, until it was transferred to British control. LCI-193 saw combat in North Africa and participated in invasions in Sicily, Salerno, Anzio, Nettuno before participating in the Normandy invasion. LCI-193 made at least 22 crossings during the invasion. Following D-day, LCI-193 was released to the British Navy, and Dad was transferred to the Pacific Fleet joining the USS Finnegan for the remainder of WWII.
From War Diary:
List of shipmates aboard LCI-193 (photos available of most):
A Memorial has been added for each of these shipmates
Surname
First Name
Hometown
?
Frank
?
Pat
Bellville
"Doc" Gerald
Hartford, CT
Brown
Allen
Charleston, SC
Carr
Leonard William
Winding Gulf, WV
Ceachy
John Joseph
Chicago, IL
Cooper
George Walter
Freeport, IL
Costick
Thomas Gerard
Binghamton, NY
Crudele
Donald J
Currie
Davis
Wilson
Raymond E
Doherty
Raymond J—fatally wounded by enemy fire when ship grounded off-course
Providence, RI
Durland
Arthur Edwin
NewYork, NY
Foley
John William "Jack"
Columbia, MO
Freeman, Jr
Leonard John
Gray
Edsel Richard
Oakland, CA
Hanson
?
either army or British attache
Heath
Carroll H
Attlebow, MA
Horne
Kenneth Rhett
Charleston, SC
Hunter
William "Bruce"
Cleveland, OH
Knestrick
Earl Cecil "Shorty"
Washington, PA
Kolchek
Jim
Layne
Roy Franklin
Ironton, OH
Lewis
William Patrick
Tyler, TX
Lloyd
Marshall
Emory E
Manuel J
West Columbia, SC
McGovern
Clement C. "Terry"
Peasta, IA
Patton
Ralph James
Pittsburg, PA
Paulson
Bruce Curtis
Hatton, ND
Poledna
James Earl
Cleveland, OH
Reales
Vincent
Raton, NM
Rosky
Edward G
Sauer, Jr
Joseph
Detroit Lakes, MN
Schlasser
Herray Francis
Baldrium, Long Island, NY
Simmons
Fred Robert
Lincoln, NE
Stefan
John Louis
Chicago, IL
Wagner
John H.
Turtle Creek, PA
Yanker
Peter
NewYork, NY
Officers
Claxton
Norman L. (LT)
Boney
William "Bill" (ENS)
Clark
Frank (ENS)
Smart
Samuel (ENS)
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Luzon Campaign (1944-45)
From Month/Year
December / 1944
To Month/Year
April / 1945
Description On December 15, 1944, landings against minimal resistance were made on the southern beaches of the island of Mindoro, a key location in the planned Lingayen Gulf operations, in support of major landings scheduled on Luzon. On January 9, 1945, on the south shore of Lingayen Gulf on the western coast of Luzon, General Krueger's Sixth Army landed his first units. Almost 175,000 men followed across the twenty-mile (32 km) beachhead within a few days. With heavy air support, Army units pushed inland, taking Clark Field, 40 miles (64 km) northwest of Manila, in the last week of January.
Two more major landings followed, one to cut off the Bataan Peninsula, and another, that included a parachute drop, south of Manila. Pincers closed on the city and, on February 3, 1945, elements of the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division pushed into the northern outskirts of Manila and the 8th Cavalry Regiment (organized as infantry) passed through the northern suburbs and into the city itself.
As the advance on Manila continued from the north and the south, the Bataan Peninsula was rapidly secured. On February 16, paratroopers and amphibious units simultaneously assaulted the islet of Corregidor. It was necessary to take this stronghold because troops there can block the entrance of Manila Bay. The Americans needed to establish a major harbor base at Manila Bay to support the expected invasion of Japan, planned to begin on November 1, 1945. Resistance on Corregidor ended on February 27, and then all resistance by the Japanese Empire ceased on August 15, 1945, obviating the need for an invasion of the Japanese Home Islands.
Despite initial optimism, fighting in Manila was harsh. It took until March 3 to clear the city of all Japanese troops, and the Japanese Marines, who fought on stubbornly and refused to either surrender or to evacuate as the Japanese Army had done. Fort Drum, a fortified island in Manila Bay near Corregidor, held out until 13 April, when a team of Army troops went ashore and pumped 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel into the fort, then set off incendiary charges. No Japanese soldiers in Fort Drum survived the blast and fire.
In all, ten U.S. divisions and five independent regiments battled on Luzon, making it the largest American campaign of the Pacific war, involving more troops than the United States had used in North Africa, Italy, or southern France.
