Ohio Valley WWII Family Photo Album
Share your photographs and stories of friends and family who served in the military or on the home front during WWII. Upload your photos and stories at http://www.archivingwheeling.org/blog/WWII-memories
Staff Sergeant Robert A. Lewine
Army Medic 1944-1946
This is not the exciting story my dad had hoped to tell about his years in the Army during World War II, but it is his story. In 1944, a year before graduating from Brownsville High School, he enlisted in the Army. He was 17 years old.
While waiting to be called up to go for basic training at Camp Blanding in Florida, the principal of his high school and the Army worked out a plan so that my Dad attended Johns Hopkins University as a pre-med student. If he passed the first semester classes, they would also give him credit for his senior year of high school. He was successful. In the fall of 1944, my dad went to Camp Blanding for basic training and was prepared as a medic. Following this, his platoon was put on a train traveling across the country. When they got to Tacoma, Washington they were put on a ship. They had no idea where they were headed, but thought they were going to Japan. However, after days at sea, they docked near Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Hawaii. The platoon settled in at Schofield Barracks while awaiting further orders. It was 1945 and most of the fighting was now in the Pacific Theater. They figured when they shipped out this time, they would be heading toward Okinawa.
When the orders came for everyone to ship out, the Captain told my dad, “You are not going. We need you to stay here to help run the hospital. We are expecting many casualties. You have a gift to become a fine physician….and I am not risking your life.” My dad was terribly disappointed with this news. He desperately wanted to go with his platoon and hated being left behind. My dad said he was very lonely at Schofield; except-he would joke, for the lizard that lived in his “in” box on his desk.
That was the last time he saw his army buddies. They were shipped out to fight in the Pacific Theater. No one came back. My dad was not sure if any of them survived. However, he was sure that his Captain had, indeed, saved his life.
Upon discharge from the Army in 1946, he used the G-I bill to fulfill the promise of becoming a physician. In 1956 he started his medical career in Wheeling, WV, becoming a respected and beloved Pediatrician. My dad, Dr. Lewine, cared for thousands of children during the 45 years he practiced in the Ohio Valley. He was a dedicated physician who made a difference in the lives of many families…. because his Captain ordered him to stay at Schofield Barracks Army Base.
Respectfully submitted by: Barb Lewine
William R. Winters
My Dad, William R. Winters tried to get into the Army 3 times…they turned him down because of a heart condition. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the Army would take my Dad.
Submitted by: Sandra Norman
