This is the interview I had with George Parsehgian 94 years old on Tuesday August 2, 2011 at 1:00 p.m. at his condo in the Bridge House Building 307 Prospect Avenue in Hackensack.
I had called George Parsehgian in the summer of 2010 after I had spoken to his younger brother Vahan who gave me George’s phone number. I called George and got some general information and then asked if I could set up an interview and he said sure. As things sometimes go I never followed up until I was going through my files and remembered how willing George was to let me talk to him. I called George and we set up a meeting for Tuesday August 2, 2011 at 11:00. When I got there the lady at the desk called up to his room but he was not there. I was very disappointed although I thought to myself a man of 94 out and about ‘God bless him’ and left after waiting a short while. After eating lunch I thought I would give it one more shot and so I called and he answered the phone and said to come right over and he was sorry for not being there to meet me. I drove right over and the lady at the desk called and said to go right up and when he answered the door he looked like a man in his 60’s, pleasant, friendly, and sharp as a tack.
When I first got there as I looked around the room I saw an old photo and asked
who was in the photo and where was it taken. George answered, “That’s me. I was four years old with my mother and father (Dad holding George in photo) and my cousin. We left our country Georgia which became part of Russia and now is separate again. I was born on November 12, 1916 and we left Georgia in 1921, my moms name is Armenian so be ready its long, its Haiganoush my dads name is Vahan and my cousin who came with us name is Boodak. We came to America in 1921 most of the immigrants settled in the lower east side in cold water Flats that cost $25 to month, but my Father being different we settled in the Riverdale section a high class section of the West Bronx at $75 a month. We lived there from 1921 to 1928 until my father bought the house in New Milford in 1928. (633 Stockton Street New Milford).
George when did you join the service? I joined the Army Reserve in 1942 and we went to training about once a week, and then in October of 1943 I was called up to active duty. I was full time in the Army from 1943. I was inducted at Camp Dix and the Army sent me out to camp Crowder in Missouri. After basic training we were sent back to Camp Dix and then sent to the west coast, San Francisco, where we were shipped over seas. That was in early 1943. I spent two years in the south west Pacific and came back to the west coast in 1945. We made 94 dollars a month and I would send $73 home to my mom because my dad had passed away in 1942. That left me with $21 for myself. We really didn’t need money anyway the Army gave you everything basically.
When you were in the service you were in the signal Corp what exactly did you do? initially they taught me to use Morse Code.After learning that they put me in communications I started out as a tellatype operator and then they put me into cryptography.
What does a cryptographer do? A cryptographer sends out messages to the Army, Navy, Marines. We have to send the messages out scrambled in case they got into the wrong hands and we would receive the messages scrambled and would have to decode them or unscramble them.
When you were in New Guinea were you in the combat operations? No Communications, I spent my first year overseas in New Guinea. When there was an invasion we would come in behind the troops. You have to have communications or you are like a chicken without its head running around. My main job was doing cryptography. We were always secure and safe they had to protect us because our job was so important if you do not have communications no one knows what they are supposed to do. We did at times get hit with artillery fire. I was 26 years old when I was doing this usually 4 or 5 years older then most of the guys.
You have a photo of a Japanese plane you shot down how were you involved with that? That was Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines where I spent my second year overseas and we were involved with the communications of location on many planes like that one. We were involved with the planes going in or out an attacks and stuff like that all the time.
Were you stationed near Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines? Yes just outside the base. I lived in a tent the whole time I was over seas. The food looking back wasn’t bad.
Did the combat troops come back to the base often? They would come back on the average every week to ten days then they would relax and another group would go out it was a constant circle or revolution relieving the old ones replacing new ones. They would take care of wounds and just relax, the Japs were terrible, terrible, terrible… they were vicious what they did to those poor Philippine people.
What did they do to the Philippine People? They treated them like animals. They shot them for no reason, whipped them, used them for slave labor. They were terrible the Japs (his voice fading paining him to even think about) .
Could you tell the story of MacArthur’s Brewery? We are in Manila and the Japs are bombing the hell out of us. They destroyed almost everything in Manila every building, every church, everything, there’s one building the Japs never hit Mac Arthur’s Brewery! Unbelievable not a scratch on his brewery Do you think it was a coincidence or intentional? I think it was just a coincidence (as he smiled). (Continuing the thought with some anger and good humor) It just made many of us not like MacArthur more always wanting publicity and a photo op.
Now at the end of the War where were you and how did you feel?
We were in the Philippines and they had given us new uniforms new equipment and they started training us to make the landing in Japan. So when we heard the Bombs were dropped and the war was over we went bananas!!
We went crazy!! We new that most of us would be killed if we landed in Japan we went bananas!! We celebrated for three days!! We new that we were going to be OK.
I never met a man who fought in the Pacific who thought the dropping of the Bomb was not necessary. Which was the right thing to do worry about the Japanese who attacked us or worry about saving our soldiers. I know it was devastating its barbaric but it had to be done! It was necessary for survival! We dropped one bomb and they refused to surrender! We dropped the second one! They were stubborn idiots! Pride stubbornness! At the risk of thousands more of your own people being killed it made no sense!
When you came home you went to Fort Dix? Yes that is where I was discharged from.
Then when you came home did the family know and was there a celebration or what?
Oh they new. I had sent letters and they were prepared. In fact I told them the ship I was coming home on we landed in San Francisco and they put us on a train and we spent five days crossing the country from the west coast to the east coast. We got to Fort Dix and I called my brother and said ‘I am at Fort Dix come pick me up’ and he said “OK I’ll be right there.” My brother Dick (Richard) picked me up he has passed away He worked for an outfit in Teterboro who made materials for the war effort and so he was exempt from service during World War II. Our family has seven boys and one girl(Ed Armond and George served in the second world War and Haig, Masis and Vahan served in the Korean War).
So your brother came to pick you up and ?
Dick drove down to Fort Dix and when I saw him I said boy am I glad to see you get me out a here! I was at Fort Dix for two or three days and they did a medical check and the dentist checked me and said ‘you need some work’. I said ‘well how long will it take’ and he said two or three days and I said FORGET ABOUT IT! I WANT TO GET OUTA HERE! So my brother took me home and my mother had a big cake and a dinner. With tears in his eyes George Parseghian said, That was a good time…The most valuable thing a man could have is not diamonds or gold but good memories. Good memories are more valuable then anything. Written By
Bob Meli
August 4, 2011 |