Evening star., 1953-01-14
Seventh Of q Series

JOSC a1Cer MS arrival from the
Seventh Of Series
West the other day while sitting
in the Office of his friend Ed
ward McGuinness, public re-
lations man in the new Ameri-
can Legion headquarters, at 1908
K street NV.
He was a first lieutenant, a
scout and leader of an infantry
platoon in the 91st wild West)
Division, when with several other
divisions it showed off on Sep
tember 26, 1918. into the Battle
of the Meuse- e-Argonne, as costly
an ordeal as partially trained
American troops have ever gone
through. The 91st was a draft
division. On its left was the
35th, National Guard division
from Missouri and Kansas in
which Harry S. Truman was a
captain of artillery.
After a week of trudging
through mud and taking strong
points in the woods under al
most constant machine-gun fire.
1t. Mckay got his. An .88 high
explosive shell burst right in
front of him and he was hit by
six fragments. There was a hole
in his leg six inches long, and
his right arm was almost shot
off. The surgeon in the field
hospital didn't think he was go
ing to live.
He was in hospitals for 13
months-for a year after the
armistice. Excellent orthopedic
work slowly brought back the
use of his right arm. But oste-
omylitis. infection of the mar
row, set in. For years he
couldn't lift it above his shoulder,
but now he can put it over his
head. His right hand is a bit
gnarled from the wound but he
uses it to write with and he
shook hands with 5000 people
the other day at reception at
Salem, Greg, in his honor, just
before he left for Washington.
In Hawaii on Fateful Day.
Thirty-three years later he
gratified his daughter by taking
her quite a distance to see a
football game. She was a STU
dent at Willamette University,
an institution which Fasteners
always mispronounce. The &C
cent is on the second syllable.
He was then a prosperous
Chevrolet and Cadillac dealer in
Salem, a State Senator. and
chairman of the Willamette
River Basin Commission.
The Willamette football team
had been invited to play the
University of Hawaii and Mr..
Mckay decided to make a vaca-
tion trip out Of it. He and his
daughter Shirley went along on
the boat with the team.
The game was played on the
afternoon of Saturday. December
6, 1941. Willamette took beat
ing. Mr.. Mckay doesn't remem-
ber the score, but it was pretty
bad.
The next morning they break
tasted early because they were
going to make tour of the is
lands. They were staying at the
Moana Hotel at Waikiki Beach.
At 7:45 am. the air was filled
with explosions.
Mr.. Mckay went out to in
vestigate. He could see a de-
stroyer making for the entrance
of the harbor at full steam with
bombs bursting near it.
Waikiki is the other side of
Honolulu from Pearl Harbor.
M day." said Mr.. Mckay to
himself, "just practice"
He did think it was very real
istic.
AS he turned back a shell
burst between the Moana and
the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. Then
he knew that something was
very much wrong.
A plane went overhead at 1000
feet and some one said it was a
Japanese Zero. The shell that
exploded on the plaza was prob
ably one of our 75s. The artil-
lerymen got so excited they for
got to set the pins so the shells
didn't explode until they hit
something, which was the ground.
Asked to Train Unit.
Word went around that there
was a World War ! infantry Off
Ger staying at the Moana Hotel
and the Civil Defense authorities
sent for Mr.. Mckay. He went to
the armory where they explained
to him that they had 800 extra
Springfield rifles and asked him
to organize a home guard unit
from the many volunteers and
show them how to use the rifles.
The report was that % Japanese
transports were out beyond Dia-
mond Head and landings were
expected.
Mr.. Mckay was a bit rusty on
how to handle a Springfield but
he must have done pretty we'll
because they asked him to stay
in Hawaii-wanted to put him
on the pay roll. But he wanted
to go home.
So he and his daughter man
aged to get steerage quarters on
the President Coolidge and made
the long voyage to San Fran
cisco with lights out. Japanese
submarines were operating off
Hawaii and off the California
coast.
That was quite an experience
for a young girl" he said in
telling the story.
When he got back he waived
all disability payments for life
to get commissioned again in the