WORLD WAR 2
ALBERT BRECK MILITARY SERVICE
Story of Albert Breck's World War 2 Service
Submitted to South Dakota Public Broadcasting
by his daughters Evelyn, Abbie and Betty Breck
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| NAME: |
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ALBERT BERNARD BRECK |
| BRANCH OF SERVICE: |
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Merchant Marines |
| NAME OF SHIP: |
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SS Watertown and SS Wahoo Swamp |
| HIGHEST RANK: |
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Seaman 2nd Class |
| MILITARY SERVICE DATES: |
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April 6, 1944 - November 26, 1945 |
| CIVILIAN WAR SERVICE: |
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May, 1942 - March, 1944 |
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Albert Bernard Breck was an employee of the
Homestake Gold Mine in Lead, South Dakota,
when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
In early 1942 he left his job at Homestake
to join the war effort. He was 34 years old,
married to Myrle Breck. They had three children,
Evelyn, 5, Abbie, 4, and Betty, 3, which
placed him in Selective Service Class 3.
With his extensive experience in mining,
he was chosen for
the then Top Secret
Red
Hill Underground
Fuel Storage Facility
being
built near Honolulu,
Hawaii. To construct
the complex, the
Navy used advanced
mining
techniques and employed
over three thousand
expert miners and
laborers to carve
out space
several hundred feet
deep in volcanic
rock
for 20 gargantuan
fuel tanks, each
big enough
to hold an entire
twenty story building!
The Red Hill facility
is still in use today,
storing more than
250 million gallons
of
fuel for the US Navy,
Air Force and Marine
Corps sea and air
fleets stationed
in the
Pacific.
The project remained top secret until 1995,
at which time the
American Society
of Civil
Engineers designated
the Red Hill facility
a civil engineering
accomplishment on
a par
with the Brooklyn
Bridge, the Washington
Monument, the Hoover
Dam and other feats
of American civil
engineering. It has
been
called the "Eighth
Wonder of the Modern
World".
It was designated
a National Historic
Civil
Engineering Landmark
in 1995, and dedicated
to the "Red
Hillers", the
miners
and laborers who
constructed it.
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Two plaques mark the site now
The dedication plaque reads:
"To the thousands of loyal "Red
Hillers" who participated in the construction
of this mighty wartime project from August
1940 to September 1943, this effort stands
as one of the proudest of American achievements.
On the far-flung outpost of the Pacific theatre
of War, this great army of defense workers
labored day and night on the home front,
in the pursuit of a gigantic War effort,
fusing their behind-the-scenes strength in
the great united struggle for Liberty, Freedom,
the Principles of Democracy and the Right
to enjoy the American Way of Life."
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The Red Hill project was finished nine months
ahead of schedule,
so Al returned home
briefly
before boarding a
train to Minneapolis,
where
he joined the Merchant
Marines.
Here he is aboard the train departing from
home, saying "Farewell
for now"
to his wife and daughters.
After training at the US Maritime Graduate
Station in Brooklyn,
NY, while awaiting assignment
to a sailing ship,
Al was sent out into the
streets of Brooklyn
on bond detail. In a
letter home he wrote
that he sold a lot of
bonds, and "was
nearly a wreck; my feet
are in bad shape
from the walking involved."
His efforts were
acknowledged by the War
Finance Committee
for New York.
In his Merchant Marine service, Al was assigned
first to the USS
Watertown, then the SS Wahoo
Swamp.
The Merchant Marines played a key role in
transporting the
troops and war materials
that enabled United
States and Allied Forces
to turn the tide
of victory against the Axis
powers.
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Citation of appreciation for War Bonds efforts
| Al's letters home mentioned ports of call
in exotic places such as Aruba, Cuba and
the Panama Canal Zone, as well as San Francisco,
New York City and Baltimore. His young daughters
responded to those letters with letters of
their own, written with excitement and enthusiasm.
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Al received his discharge from the Merchant
Marines at the end of the war in 1945
When the Merchant Marines were retroactively
made a part of the US Coast Guard in 1988,
Al received his Honorable
Discharge from
the US Coast Guard.
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| Al's family is proud of his contribution
to the war effort as a miner, Merchant Marine,
bond salesman, and cook. It was the combined
efforts of everyone that resulted in victory
and the preservation of our freedom. His
family feels he did indeed help "make
their lives worthwhile", as he expressed
in his poem.
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"Alone"
When you're alone all evening, and the nights
are lonely and long,
You lie awake just thinking, of the days
since you left home.
You think of the ones you love dearly. They
are so far away.
And you know that you won't see them, for
many a weary day.
You are lonesome for your babies, you are
longing for your wife,
But to spare them any hardship, you'd give
your very life.
Although your heart is aching, on your face
there is a smile,
For you know the work you are doing, will
make their lives worthwhile.
But you know the day is coming, when this
work will all be done,
When our enemies will be beaten, and we'll
have this damn war won.
Then eager, lighthearted and happy, we'll
turn our footsteps toward home,
And the future will leave only memories,
of the days when we were alone.
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"Dedicated to My Family"
Albert Breck |
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Al's daughters posted the story on this website
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