Recalling the Secrets of a Life Well Lived

CEDAR RAPIDS - Wearing a T-shirt with an illustration of an American eagle and the words, "Freedom is not free," Bill Ranshaw knows how close he came to giving his life for his country.

Back in 1945 he was 17, a soldier for only a few months, packed like a sardine among 5,000 men in a troop transport off the coast of Japan.

"Mr. Harry Truman saved my life," Bill says, "by dropping the atomic bomb."

In the 67 years that followed, Bill married his wife, Joanna, twice (the first was a secret). They had three children. He became an expert window builder and an accountant, working at Amana Refrigeration, Square D and Penick and Ford in Cedar Rapids. He worked for a time in California, moving back to Cedar Rapids from California when Barbara, the oldest, was 16, while Craig was 11 and Steve, 7 according to a photograph that appeared in The Gazette.

That original black and white picture, as well as a clipping, hang in Bill's apartment at Cottage Grove Place. Barbara lives near St. Louis, Craig is in New Jersey and Steve in North Carolina. Joanna died in April after battling Alzheimer's.

"Oh, do I miss her," Bill says, tears coming to his eyes. "She was my heart and soul. We went through a lot together."

At 84 and sorting through their possessions, Bill has naturally caught himself reminiscing about some of his life's secrets.

His first close call with death came at 8. Helping his dad on a threshing crew near Tiffin, he drove the tractor towing the machine down a steep hill and nearly lost control. "I never told dad," he confesses.

At 16, Bill joined the Army. He didn't exactly lie about his age, he just worked his way around it. Besides, he tested very high on the intelligence test, was made a sergeant and never had to do guard duty or KP. "I never told anybody," he says.

In early August of 1945, after Germany had surrendered, Bill found himself near Japan.

"We were going to be the invasion force for the east side," he says. "Another one was on the west side. We were the diversionary force, the sacrificial ones."

The plan, as they climbed into landing crafts, was to draw Japanese troops away from the main forces landing on the opposite side.

"Then they changed their mind and told us to get back on the ship," Bill says. "We didn't know why. We didn't know about the bombs."

But, soon he found himself at Hiroshima where the devastation was unbelievable, even as "some trees had green leaves on them."

Back at the University of Iowa to earn his degree, Bill fell in love with Joanna Files. Her family had another man in mind for her to marry. Bill offered to step aside, but she suggested they marry. So, they did on a quick trip to Illinois in 1949 when she was 18, then continued to live with their families until making it official a couple of years later.

That makes Bill laugh. "We never told anybody."