‘Today in History’ triggers WWII memories

HIAWATHA - Jack Mills grew up to become a Cedar Rapids cop and detective, then a deputy U.S. Marshal who in 1975 helped guard noted Mafia hit man Joe Barboza of Boston who reportedly murdered 26 people and was in the federal witness protection program. Barboza was killed Feb. 11, 1976, two months after his release.

But that wasn't the historical item that caught Jack, 84, of Hiawatha by surprise and had him saying, “I remember that.”

No. The “Today in History” notice that triggered Jack's memory occurred March 19, 1945. The USS Franklin, an aircraft carrier stationed 50 miles from the coast of Japan, was heavily damaged by two Japanese bombs, killing 724 men.

Jack, a seaman aboard the nearby USS Santa Fe, a light cruiser, worked at his battle station in a 5-inch gun turret.

“You can't really see much. I heard this horrible explosion. I knew they'd dropped a bomb. Two bombs really.”

But, as he emerged, the scene was horrible as sailors burned to death in flaming oil.

“I could see men in the water and they'd disappear. We'd throw them ropes and they couldn't get to them.”

The Santa Fe had raced to the Franklin's aid, rescuing 833 men.

“I put one in my bunk,” Jack says. “I don't know who he was. He died the next day.”

After the surrender, the Santa Fe, known as “Lucky Lady” for surviving many close calls, returned to Japan. After it landed at Sasebo, sailors were allowed to visit Nagasaki, destroyed by an atomic bomb.

“It was about the size of Cedar Rapids. All the windows were blown out. You could see from one end to the other. The factories were just melted. The walls were crumbled and a steel press would be just melted right over.

“You couldn't get off the truck because of the radioactivity,” Jack says, explaining that sailors were warned not to touch anything.

Of course, that didn't matter. As we now know, radiation filled the air.

Upon his return to Cedar Rapids, Jack was a milkman for a while until joining the police force. He remembers one day in 1956 when he and detective George Matias spotted wanted bank robbers on First Street SE.

“They started speeding up,” Jack recalls, “and a train came across the (Fourth Avenue) tracks. They had to stop. We took ‘em without incident.”

He and George, cited by the FBI, were named policemen of the year.

In 1963, Jack became a deputy U.S. Marshal in Fort Dodge to not only transport prisoners, but to protect judges, attorneys and witnesses. Because Barboza was such an important witness against the Mafia, a dozen U.S. Marshals protected him at any one time, requiring 30-day rotations of officers from across the country.

“We gave him a false name and put him in the witness protection program,” Jack says. “He violated our rules so we dropped him. He lasted for a month or two in California before somebody killed him.”

That was 35 years ago for you “Today in History” buffs.