More World War Two Letters From Mark

Wartime papers of Mark Nider make for some very interesting reading.  As I sorted through his papers, the mundane facets of Army life generated some questions for me.  How many of us have wondered about the day-to-day military life?  Because I am not part of the military, a “military pass,” is particularly interesting to me.  That slip of paper that gives a soldier free reign to wander:  What did it look like?  Is there anything special about them?  How can you tell an authentic pass from a counterfeit pass? 

Mark’s papers contain a couple of examples of passes.  No two are alike.  A detail I found particularly interesting are the rules and reminders at the bottom of the page.  Behavior was carefully regulated with the threat of denial of future passes as the control.

While stationed in India, Mark used these passes to explore Bombay and Calcutta.  In a letter to his brother Bernard (Wad), he recognized Calcutta as the more impressive city.  In his letters to Wad and to his family home in Nebraska he set out to describe so many of the fascinating details of India.

 

In particular, a letter he wrote to Wad reveals some of the wonder of his experience in Calcutta: “The Red Cross has organized tours of the city,” he wrote.  “We saw the burning ghats, Jain Temple, black hole of Calcutta, ate at Phirpos, etc.  At the burning ghats they charge 9 rupees 6 annas (about $3.00 per head) for burning the dead and throw the ashes in the Hooghly River.  They dip the bodies in the Hooghly before the burning, too.  They have some beliefs about the “coffee colored” Hooghly as holy water.” 

The amazement of the Indian landscape did not always meet with approval.  “There was not as much to the “Black Hole of Calcutta” as I expected.  If you will remember there was quite a story about it in our history books.”

 The greatest wonderment was reserved for a Jain Temple in the city.  “The Jain Temple is a dream.  It is made entirely of marble, ivory, colored glass, gold, silver, diamonds, and other precious stones.  I saw a diamond the size of a quarter in a monkey god’s forehead—and there are many monkey gods in the Jain Temple.  There is a lamp that has been burning every since the Temple was built (75 yrs.).  They have an ivory umbrella over the flame and never in all this time has any soot formed on this umbrella.  They believe that if ever soot should form on the umbrella—it will mean that a curse has been placed on the people and something awful will happen”

Mark’s descriptions of life in Asia provide interesting reading.  Because of the war, his paper supply and the length of his letter were limited.   His letters often ended abruptly.  This particular two page letter to Wad ended simply.  After describing the Jain Temple, he wrote, “Your Brother, Mark.”  And his continued interest and desire to share the details were reserved for another day and another letter home.

A Letter From Wad

Last week we commemorated the 71st^h anniversary of the landing in Normandy, D-Day.  Bernard “Wad” Nider served as part of the landing force.  I found the following letter he wrote to his brother Mark about the landing:

 Dear Mark,  Well I guess you probably have heard by now where I am.  France is quite a place.  Only I came in the hard way.  I was in the first wave to hit the beach in France and boy it was plenty rough and I am not kidding.  Had some rough going for a while.  This is what we were doing in England all of the time.  We were working with the Navy practicing landing.  We were on the water most of the time.  We sure got good chow on board ship.  Really would love be in the Navy.

His letter ends with him thanking Mark for some photos. And the closing: Better sign off.  Write soon.

After the war Wad didn’t speak of the Normandy landing very often.  The story he tells relates going ashore in a landing craft.  Each craft is blasted by the Germans as the landing doors open.  Wad and a friend decide to go over the side before the doors open on their craft.  They are the only two member of that boat to make to shore.

I never did get to tell Wad: “Thank you for your service.”

Visiting Nebraska

We spent the Memorial Day weekend in Nebraska visiting the Nider family.  It was an eventful and fun couple of days. 

A notable comment came from Les, about the car Mark drove during his college years (the column and photo posted on May 17,).  Mark used to say the car got painted once a year whether it needed it or not.

We also managed to visit the farmstead.  Unfortunately, the house slowly deteriorated.  The barn hasn’t suffered quite so much, but still …

Mark's College Car

Mark enjoyed telling the story of his time in college, at the University of Nebraska.  He and his buddies drove an old jalopy.  At some point they decided to paint messages on the car.  One in particular, Mark liked to tell, said: “Girls who smoke throw your butts in here.”

 Well, I found a photograph of the car with the message proudly painted on the back half of the driver’s side doors.

Mark always finished his story by remembering that the young men were called into the College President’s office and given the stern suggestion that they might want to paint over this particular message.

So, the message didn’t last long.  But we have the photograph.

There Is a Rich Diversity to the Nider Family Farm

I found an interesting article published in the Evening State Journal and Lincoln Daily News newspaper on 22 October 1928.  It reported: Leslie Nider, prominent farmer southwest of Plymouth, planted a bushel of Irish Cobbler potatoes last spring and has just harvested forty bushels from the patch.  The seed pieces were cut generous but restricted to one or two ayas, making a considerable number of pieces from the bushel, and the patch was on good bottom ground. 

I don’t know why, but I thought that was an interesting bit of news.  So, I share it with you all.

More on Mark in the CBI

The attached photo is Mark Nider in service with the U. S. Army during World War Two.  I am just now beginning to appreciate the time Mark spent in the war.  He wrote a number of letters home to his parents that provide some insight into his service.

It would appear Mark was either drafted or enlisted late in 1943 or early 1944.  He was attending the University of Nebraska when he was called up.  For a span of about six months, Mark’s letters have either been lost or he stopped writing.  But suddenly, in the last half of 1944, he is in India.  After the war, the family found out he was serving in the China-Burma-India Theater of the war. 

The CBI is the underappreciated theater of the War.  This was one of several supply lines from the allies to aid China during the Japanese occupation.  So much attention in this area is given to the Army Air Corps and the efforts to fly supplies “over the Hump.”  Yet, a closer investigation of this theater reveals the operations in China-Burma-India as complicated and horrific.  In the area focused on Burma and China, and to a lesser degree, India; American, British and Chinese armies fought the Japanese for control of the region.  Jungle warfare with limited transportation and extreme weather conditions, flip flopping from wet to dry, created a particularly deadly challenge. 

Wounded in battle was just one challenge for soldiers in CBI.  A more common enemy than the battlefield was disease.  In one instance, in the Galahad Task Force, Lt.Samuel Wilson was reported to be the “sickest man in World War Two.  He was diagnosed with mite typhus, amoebic dysentery, malaria, infected jungle sores, nervous exhaustion, and starvation.  He suffered from all of these diseases at the same time.  At one point, 80 percent of the taskforce suffered from dysentery.

From the details I have been able to glean, Mark served in this unrecognized theater of war for at least two years, from 1944 to the end of 1945.

            In an effort to put Mark’s service into some perspective, I have begun reading books about the theater of the war.  The best I have found so far is The Burma Road The Epic Story of the China-Burma-India Theater in World War II by Donovan Webster.  This is where the information about Lt. Samuel Wilson is published.  I can only imagine that Mark suffered some of these same challenges.

Photo of Burma taken by Mark. 

Imagine the challenges of fighting in this jungle

 

Mark Makes It To The Army

A detail we need to mention about Mark Nider, and all of you grandchildren and great-grandchildren, pay attention to this.  Mark Nider was color blind.  This is important for two reasons:

1-Color blindness is, to a certain extent, hereditary. 

2-The fact Mark was color blind led directly to his enlistment in the Army.  Mark seemed to enjoy this story, so I am repeating it now.  During the war Mark was in college for a time, attending classes at the University of Nebraska.  For whatever reason, he decided to enlist.  He went down to the navy enlistment office.  They tested his eyesight and announced him unfit for the navy.  The final words of the recruitment officer, as he led Mark out the door were, “try the Army.  They will take anybody.”  Mark walked down the street to the Army enlistment office and before too long he was being trained and shipped to the China Burma India Theater of the War.  The Navy enlistment guy was right, the Army would take anyone.

While Mark was in training, he liked to tell about how he passed the swimming test while his buddy Todd Brennaman passed the radio operator’s test.  Mark was having trouble with the swimming school; he had never learned how to swim.  Meanwhile, Todd Brennaman was having trouble working his way through the radio operator’s school.  So, on days that the two had those classes, they would change dog tags and Mark passed the radio exam for himself.  Then later Mark took the radio test as Brennaman and passed the test again.  In the meantime, Todd Brennaman passed the swimming tests for both himself and Mark. 

They both managed to stay in the Army, serve together and remain lifelong friends.