This month in our family has two very important anniversaries:
December 26: Joseph N. Ermer (WWII veteran, athlete: billiards), 95th birthday anniversary (centennial is 2018).
December 31: President Truman Proclamation WWII cessation of hostilities (centennial is 2046).
Joe Ermer's legacy remains alive, strong and vibrant in many people today and we celebrate a true mentor, friend and leader who lived by example and brought out the good in everyone around him.
Like many of those who serve in war, Joseph "Joe" N. Ermerlooked at every day after returning home as partially having a responsibility to honor those who didn't come home. Joe Ermer's memoirs, in part, were his way to keep light on those years and those greatest of American heroes. Click here for audio version.
"I was at a Health Seminar yesterday and the moderator asked the crowd 'do you know what day tomorrow is? 'I piped up, 'Pearl Harbor Day'. She was looking out at us and said, 'Um, I was thinking more of the last day to change your HMO,' "Joe Ermer wrote December 7, 2011. "I remember those day, very vivid, just like it was yesterday. Faces -- all very clear. Still
By the early 1940s, Joe Ermer was a young man doing well: he had his parents and brother Bobby, friends, health and hope for a better future. But turmoil was growing in Europe; Joe, like many of his generation, had a deep sense of duty and gratitude to his country; this also was strengthened coming out of the Great Depression. "Everyone was tired of being tired."
"War clouds were beginning to gather. There was a draft lottery. I wound up with a very high number, but wanted some experience, while still keeping my job at the bank; so I joined the (New York) State Guard," Joe Ermer wrote. "I really enjoyed the experience: lots of drills, some firing practice, a few maneuvers on the beach (hunting saboteurs). The main benefit was getting military experience. That may have been a reason that the Navy put me right on active duty and bypassed Boot Camp. I made Corporal in the Guard and joined the Navy as a 3rd class PO, equivalent to a Buck Sergeant."
"I was inducted into the Navy in March '42. My first duty assignment was at Floyd Bennett Field. I was only there long enough to get my uniform and gear when orders came to transfer three (men)...to D.C. for further assignment. That 'further assignment' worried the rest of the guys, so they gave it to the last three on board: Egan, Eschbacher and Ermer. The three Es. We got traveling money and went to DC on the old Baltimore and Ohio. When get got there, the chief told us we would be the night shift and we'd get a living allowance and to go get a place to stay. This was wartime Washington DC. We were riding a trolley out the NW area, when the motorman heard us talking and said he might have something for us. He gave us the address and a note to his wife. They had an extra furnished bedroom with twin beds and a connecting closed-in sun porch with a couch. We took it gladly. They were nice people with a little girl. Our work was in the Precedence Section, which had to do with Officer Promotion. I learned so much about politics and the ins-and-outs of officer promotions that, later on, I was fairly popular with the Officers on the Elmore.
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| Ruth A. Ermer |
I managed to find a furnished apartment with a nice old southern landlady. She would bring fruit cobblers. Ruth and I had a great honeymoon in the Poconos. We got pretty friendly with some of the other sailors and their wives. We'd picnic on the Potomac, go to amusement parks and eat out. Obviously, it couldn't last.
When we were advised that if we volunteered for Sea Duty, we might get what we asked for - I requested Destroyer Escort in the North Atlantic. I figured that I'd make it back to Brooklyn once in a while. I got it alright: Attack Transport in the South Pacific. Except for knowing my chances of getting home were now nil, I had always been fascinated by the islands of the Pacific: read everything I could get on them.
Soon, Joe Ermer would see the best and the worst of 1942 South Pacific. Stay tuned for more on the life of a true friend, mentor, artist and role model: Joseph "Joe" N. Ermer.
Joseph "Joe" N. Ermer Memoirs (click links below to view/hear):
Celebration of Life: Joseph N. Ermer
Celebration of life: early childhood: Joseph N. Ermer
Celebration of Life: sports in the early years: Joseph N. Ermer
Celebration of Life: early years: Boy Scouts: Joseph N. Ermer
Celebration of Life: WWII part one: Joseph N. Ermer
Celebration of Life: WWII part two: Joseph N. Ermer
Celebration of Life: WWII part three: Joseph N. Ermer
Celebration of Life: WWII part four: Joseph N. Ermer
