After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Ernest M. Chamberlain was soon called to active duty. He was assigned to serve in the 41st Infantry Division Artillery. Unknown to any mortal, an incredible sequence of events was about to take place which would change his military assignment and the future course of his life and that of his family. Would Ernest become a “Jungleer” in the Pacific, or fight in the Battle of the Bulge?

On a peaceful Sunday morning, Ernest went to Priesthood meeting. His expectant wife, Fay, and his one year old son, Martin were home when news of the attack flashed over the radio. Ernest heard the news when he got home. He wrote in his journal:

Sunday December 7, 1941 “Like lightning from a clear sky Japan Declared war on the U.S. She struck Pearl Harbor Hawaii, Guam, and the Philippines while we were still trying to talk peace… This evening, all you hear on the radio is war.”¹

Ernest was a lieutenant in the U.S. Army reserve. From earlier news reports, he believed that war with Germany was inevitable.

Wednesday November 26, 1941 “Germans getting very near Moscow. Position most dangerous since 1812. Not so good. Looks more and more as though Hitler won’t stop till we stop him, and it may be better if we did it now while we have Russia to assist us.”¹

The U.S. was now at war and Ernest received his “red margin letter” on December 19. “Well the suspense of worrying about when and where is over” he wrote.¹

A peculiar chain of events began when Lt. Harlin offered Ernest a ride

Ernest was instructed to have a physical exam at Fort Douglas, Utah and then report for active duty at Fort Lewis Washington on December 29. Confirmation orders would follow. Ernest checked the Union Pacific train schedule but changed his plans when Lt. William P. Harlin, a fellow Army Reserve officer, called him and offered to give him a ride.

A doctor’s strange requirement

During his physical on Monday, December 23 his pulse rate was over 100. The doctor told him to return and have his pulse read twice a day for three days. He went back on Tuesday and Wednesday and again on Thursday. However, upon his arrival on Thursday, December 26 there was a different examining doctor.

“Why are you here?” he asked.

“I am here to take my final pulse reading to see if I have passed my physical”, Ernest explained.

“Who was your doctor?” 

Ernest gave his reply and the doctor left the room. In a few minutes he returned with some unfortunate news. His previous doctor had been transferred and was no longer available. Also, his additional pulse readings could not be found.

By this time Ernest was about to explode. His “internal combustion chamber went into high gear” and his pulse rate soared. The doctor calmly asked, “Do you happen to remember what those pulse readings were?“²

All animosity disappeared as he grasped the clue, “Yes, I believe I do.” He then carefully reported the previous five tests as honestly as he could recall. The doctor took his pulse and said, “You pass. That really wasn’t an important deal anyway.”²

An error in his special orders

Bill Harlin had received his orders to report to Fort Lewis on or before December 31. He said he would wait for him if Ernest had his orders by the 30th. It was now December 26. To save time, Ernest offered to take his physical examination papers to headquarters himself. However, his offer was refused as they had to be sent by military carrier. “They should be there by tomorrow morning.”

The next morning, Friday December 27, Ernest went to the headquarters of the Third Military Area in Salt Lake City. His physical examination papers had not arrived. He explained the situation and his need to have his orders so he could leave by December 30th. They assured him of their cooperation and told him to call them on Monday December 29. On Monday his papers had arrived and they told him he could pick up his orders at 8 am the next morning, December 30th.

Ernest was there promptly at 8 am, but the orders were not ready. This was very upsetting, (to say it mildly). He restrained his desired comments.  Nevertheless, he reminded them as boldly as he dared that they had promised his orders would be ready at 8 am. Finally, they asked him to come back at noon. “I am waiting right here until I receive them!” came his reply.²

As Lt. Chamberlain waited, they prepared special orders for him. In their haste the clerk omitted an important part of the document. He failed to write in his assigned unit, the 41st Infantry Division Artillery. The error went unnoticed.²

Late arrival at Fort Lewis

They decided to leave early in the morning which would get them to Fort Lewis on time, (by midnight of December 31). Heart felt and painful goodbyes filled the evening.

It began to snow over night. They loaded their belongings and had their skis on top of the car with dreams of skiing on Mt. Rainier. Finally, they were on their way. The storm got worse as they headed north up Highway 89. At Bountiful, Utah they were involved in a sudden head on crash. Both vehicles were moving very slowly through the storm so no one was injured. However, Bill’s car was damaged and not likely able to make the trip. He drove to an auto repair shop and called his brother to take care of the situation. Bill and Ernest got a room at Hotel Utah. Bill’s brother was sworn to secrecy as they did not want to worry the families nor endure again the emotional goodbyes.²

They sent a telegram to the Commanding General, Fort Lewis, Washington explaining the situation. They would be on the next available train to Fort Lewis. Their train arrived at Tacoma, Washington the afternoon of Friday, January 2, 1942. The military transportation booth to the post had closed for the week-end, so they flagged down a captain of a tank unit. He took them to Fort Lewis where they reported their arrival about five minutes before closing. They were told to come back in the morning for processing.²

Saturday and no one around to correct the mistake

The next morning they reported to Major Garver, the Adjutant of the IX Corps. He read Bill’s orders and promptly assigned him to the 76th Field artillery Brigade of the IX Corps. Lt. Chamberlain’s orders simply read, “Report to the Commanding General Ft. Lewis, Washington.”

The major read Chamberlain’s orders and left the room for a long time. When he returned he explained the problem. He showed Ernest his orders. Unlike Bill’s orders, there was no unit assignment. Their late arrival time at Fort Lewis placed them in Major Garver’s office on Saturday when almost everyone had left the post for the week end. Therefore, after calling the offices of the 41st and the 76th, he was unable to locate anyone who knew Chamberlain’s assignment.²

“I have to assign you somewhere.” the Major said. “Your headquarters and reporting date is the same as Lt. Harlin. So, the best bet is to assign you to the same unit.” He assigned Lt. Chamberlain to the 76th Field Artillery Brigade, 183rd Regiment.²

“One big pain in the butt!”

The entire Pacific Coast was concerned about a possible attack by the Japanese.
The 183rd Regimental Headquarters was located at Camp Murray. They assigned Ernest to a firing battery, Battery E, at an isolated defense post near Grays Harbor on Puget Sound. About a week later they sent him on special assignment to Officer Training School and then to Post Guard Duty on the main post. Because of these assignments he was away from his regular unit from January 12 to March 11.³

When he returned to Regiment Headquarters a sergeant called him over and said, “Lieutenant Chamberlain, you have been one big pain in the butt!”

“How could I have been? I have been on special assignments.”³

The sergeant showed him a file which was an inch or two thick. “This,” he said, “is correspondence between the General of the 41st Infantry Division Artillery and the General of the 76th Field Artillery Brigade. Each is claiming that Lieutenant Ernest M. Chamberlain belongs to their organization!”  The 41st  was preparing to leave for the Pacific and the situation needed to be resolved by a higher authority. He then showed Ernest a telegram from the Pentagon. It stated that although Lt. Chamberlain was originally assigned to the 41st Infantry Division, he is currently with the 76th Field Artillery Brigade and there he will stay.³

The Sargent said, “Welcome to the 76th!”³

After Ernest learned he was in the 76th, instead of the 41st, he began to ponder the strange events that led up to the change in his assignment. He slowly began to realize that if any of the frustrating experiences of December and January had not occurred the assignment change would have not have happened.

Martin seemed to know what was happening but no one would listen

Martin, (Ernest and Fay’s 1 and 3/4 year old son) seemed to have some insights about the situation which were oblivious to his mother and grandmother. When Ernest arrived at Fort Lewis he wrote to Fay and told her his experience with the auto accident and ride on the train. In a letter of January 6, Fay wrote to Ernest about Martin:

“Martin was surly cute and understanding. He knew you had gone from us. All day the day you left he told everyone his Daddy had gone on the too-too. Now, every time we ask he says, “Daddy on too-too.” By the way, how did he know you had gone on the train? None of the rest of us knew until a couple of days later.”⁴

On January 16, Martin’s grandmother, Livonia Barney wrote:

Ernest dear you and Bill were surely blessed in your experience on the Highway. We will always be thankful for such a blessing granted you. It was strange, Martin insisted you had gone on the “toot-too” every minute and was very excited when we would say “Car with Bill”.⁵

The 41st Infantry Division

In February 1942, units of the 41st Infantry division began movements to deploy overseas. By May 1942 the entire 41st Infantry Division had arrived in Australia. It was the first American Division to go overseas after the attack on Pearl Harbor and it served overseas longer than any other division. It was the first division trained for jungle warfare. This division became known as “the Jungleers” and fought in more campaigns than any other division, mostly in New Guinea and the Southern Philippines. On December 31, 1945 at 2400 hours, the 41st Infantry Division was deactivated in Kure-Hiro Japan.⁶

The 951st Field Artillery Battalion

In 1943 the the 76th Field Artillery Brigade’s 183rd Regiment was reorganized. The First Battalion was named the 183rd, and the Second Battalion became the 951st Field Artillery Battalion. Ernest served in the in the 951st for the remainder of the war. The 951st landed on Utah Beach in Normandy on D-day + 6, fought in the Hurtgen Forest  campaign and in the Battle of the Bulge.⁷

Some old questions began to haunt him

When Ernest returned to his home in 1945, he put the war behind. He never spoke of the war nor his experiences. He placed his energy into establishing a career, serving in his church, building a home and raising a family.

Ernest and Fay had five children, three boys and two girls. Three of their children were born after the war, Deanna Fay, Lyle Brent, and Mary Ann. To them, their family was the most important accomplishment and purpose in life. To Latter-day Saints, families last through eternity.

After Ernest retired in 1976, he organized an Army reunion of those who fought with the 951st Field Artillery Battalion. These reunions brought back to his mind the military experiences that had laid dormant for years. Some old questions began to haunt him. He again began to ask, “Why?” “What difference would it have made if I had gone to the Pacific with the 41st?”

“Now you know!”

In March 1978 Ernest and Fay went to visit their son Lyle Brent Chamberlain who was stationed at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines. During their visit, Lyle took them to visit the large Manila American Cemetery and Memorial. They spent considerable time at the beautiful memorial. 

Lyle drove them along a road in the cemetery where they viewed thousands of white crosses and stars of David, each marking an individual grave.

Suddenly, Ernest said, “Stop the car!”

“What’s wrong?” Lyle replied.

“I just have to get out of the car,” Ernest said, and he then began wandering through the rows of markers. He came to the place he felt he should go and looked down. The inscription on the unnamed cross before him simply read: “41st INFANTRY DIVISION – KNOWN ONLY TO GOD”.²

As he gazed at the marker, he began to tremble. He felt a clear voice say in his mind: “NOW YOU KNOW!“²

“Lean not unto thine own understanding”

As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ernest believed that we all lived as spirits in the heavens before we came to live on earth. Even before the earth’s creation when “the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” (Job 38:4-7). Like Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:4-5), we may have a specific mission in life and we will be able to accomplish that mission by seeking the Lord’s guidance.

From that sacred moment in the Manila cemetery, Ernest wrote, “I knew… that I would have been killed in combat if the Lord had not intervened, and… there was a strong inward feeling that in the preexistence a promise pertaining to the family had been made.”³

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” (Prov. 3:5-6)

To be continued….

Chapter 29- Ernest and Fay Chamberlain During WWII, 1942

If you got this far, please click Goodbye or Table of Contents. This will simply tell me that someone looked at this post. Thank you! Dennis Chamberlain

© Copyright Dennis D. Chamberlain, The Chamberlain Story, 2018. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the written content of this site without express and written permission from the author and owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that credit is given to Dennis D. Chamberlain and direction to www.thechamberlainstory.com.

Photo of Graduating Officers:

IX Army Corps, Officer Training School Graduation, Fort Lewis Washington, February 15, 1942.

First Row: 1- Lt. Kenneth Ames, 2- Lt. Gilbert Brittain, 3- Lt. Robert Burnham, 4- Lt. Manton Carl, 5- Lt. Ernest Chamberlain, 6- Lt. Elton Gray, 7- Lt. William Harlin Second Row: 8- Lt. Arthur Hedlund, 9- Lt. Niel C. Jackson, 10- Lt. Alfred Jacobsen, 11- Lt. George Keyse, 12- Lt. William Long, 13- Lt. James Mc Leod, 14- Lt. ??? Third Row: 15- Lt. James Moe, 16- Lt. Ferral Ogilire, 17- Lt. Glen Petersen, 18- Lt. Frank Quante, 19- Lt. Allen Scott, 20- Lt. Archie Selders, 21- Lt. John Shonsey Last Row: Lt. Norman Tanner, Lt. Wellington Webb

References:

1- Ernest M. Chamberlain, “Year Book”, hand written journal for 1941-1942.

2- Ernest M. Chamberlain, an unfinished autobiography.

3- Ernest M. Chamberlain, “Now you know”, My Constant Companion and Prayer, unpublished.

4- Fay Barney Chamberlain, personal letter to Ernest, January 6, 1942

5- Livonia Adams Barney, personal letter to Ernest, January 16, 1942

6- The 41st Infantry http://freepages.rootsweb.com/

7- Ernest M. Chamberlain, Battalion History, 951st Field Artillery Battalion

Published Jan. 4, 2019, Re-published on Dec. 7, 2019