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Robert E. Enders

June 11, 2019 by Jim Potter 10 Comments

http://jimpotterauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Robert-E.-Enders-Part-1.mp3

Robert E. Enders: Pharmacist’s Mate Third Class

Last week, I was a guest speaker at a club meeting talking about my reward postcard collection. Prior to the actual start of the meeting I was visiting with a few of the club members when in walked an elderly gentleman wearing a World War II Veteran ball cap. I introduced myself to him and we started discussing his military service in the U. S. Navy during 1942-46.

We exchanged business cards. His said, “Robert Enders, Artist: oils, watercolor and pastels, landscapes and western scenes,” but didn’t mention his wood carving.

After the meeting, I learned that Robert, or “Bob,” 95 years-old, had served on a U.S. Navy hospital ship in the Pacific during and immediately after the war years.

Bob was quick to explain that he had not been in combat. Instead, he had worked for a heart specialist on a ward on a hospital ship, predominately the U.S.S. Bountiful. The ship had a lot of specialized medical wards. Each ward had a doctor, a nurse, and a pharmacist mate (corpsman).

Later, I asked Enders if he remembered the United States moving closer to war and if at the time he felt it was likely he’d be participating. He recalled learning about Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and then on the following day hearing President Roosevelt’s declaration of war on Japan. Roosevelt’s message was broadcast at a full assembly in the auditorium at Lyons High School (Kansas) when Bob was a senior.  

Enders was able to complete one semester at Kansas State University before being drafted. Though his time in college was brief, his ROTC training helped him prepare for the military. He had hoped to study mechanical engineering; instead the military needed corpsmen. On the battle field the life-savers kept getting killed. When wounded soldiers yelled “Corpsman”, the medics, trained to respond, attracted Japanese enemy firepower.

Bob Enders was drafted in 1942 at eighteen years of age when he lived in Lyons. At the time his father, (William) Elmer Enders, was head of the draft board.

Bob Enders told me, “When you turned eighteen you were drafted. When I was drafted they took anybody, if they had a warm body.”

Enders said the Draft Board sent him to Fort Leavenworth where he was prepared to join the Army, but after sitting at the induction center all morning long he and the other men were informed that the Army quotas were full. That’s when they were told, ‘You’re going to the Navy,’ and “we were bused to Kansas City where we were sworn into the Navy.” But then, in another reversal, “we were informed the Marine Corps needed eight volunteers.” Hearing this, none of us moved or spoke. “You could have heard a pin drop,” recalled Enders. It didn’t discourage the sergeant-in-charge. He started pointing to the biggest men as he counted from one to eight. “You’re Marines,” he concluded.

In an understatement, Enders explained to me that during the war, “If they needed you somewhere, they put you somewhere.”

Enders was sent to Idaho for boot camp at the Farragut Naval Training Station. He recalled, “It was colder than a gold digger’s ass in the Klondike.” As recruits, they had boat training in Lake Pond Oreille. Enders recalled how the value of that training was questionable since they were only in rowboats. When they were rowing and took their oars out of the water, the oars iced up. He also remembered how bulldozers had to clear off the deep snow on the drill field so that the recruits could assemble and march.

Enders, guidon bearer or guide, holds the guidon at Boot Camp, Farragut, Idaho, February, 1944.

At boot camp, Enders was selected to be the guidon bearer or guide, a significant position since it represented the unit and its commanding officer. Enders carried the guidon during drills and was under a giant microscope, put on the spot. He felt like he couldn’t make any mistakes.

After completing boot camp, Enders began Hospital Corps School at the same training center. Each man was promised that if he studied hard he could become a Pharmacist’s Mate Third Class. Enders studied hard and he was rewarded with that rank.

After corps school, Enders was sent to the naval hospital in Seattle, Washington. He worked on the ward as a corpsman at first and then was designated Master of Arms of Recreation and Rehabilitation. One example Enders gave to me of rehabilitation was that for the patients that shook uncontrollably, the staff had the men repairing watches so they could learn to control their nerves. Enders said the therapy worked. The men learned to stop their twitching.

Enders told me that from Seattle he was put in the Marines and left for San Diego by ship, hugging the coastline. I was puzzled about the move to another military branch, but Enders explained that the Marines didn’t have their own corpsmen so they used Navy medics.

Traveling by ship along the coast was rough due to the ground swells over the Continental Shelf. It was Bob’s first time on a ship and he was seasick all the way to San Diego. Fortunately for him, it was the last time he suffered from the motion of a ship.

U.S.S. Bountiful, hospital ship. Photo by U.S. Navy.

From San Diego, Enders was sent to Guam. That’s where he boarded the USS Bountiful, a hospital ship. It became his military home until his tour of duty ended in 1946.

Enders kept the rank, Pharmacist’s Mate Third Class, his whole time in the Navy. Pharmacist Mate Description He explained to me that given the circumstances of his duties, making sure the injured and wounded were fed and taken care of on his ward, it wasn’t an assignment with much turnover. There were no battlefield promotions on the hospital ship.

Enders knew he had it good. “You had a nice clean bed to sleep in, food, and water. No one was shooting at you.”

To Be Concluded in Part Two: “Robert E. Enders and the USS Bountiful.” http://jimpotterauthor.com/robert-e-enders-part-2/

Until next time, happy writing and reading!

The Kansas Authors Club http://www.kansasauthors.org is a statewide organization that encourages and supports great writing. It’s divided into seven districts. In Hutchinson, Reno County, (part of District 6) we have monthly meetings at Hutchinson Community College. http://www.hutchcc.edu You’re invited. Questions? Contact Jim Potter, jim@copintheclassroom.com

 

 

 

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Filed Under: Blog posts Tagged With: Corpsman, Elmer Enders, Farragut Naval Training School, Guam, Hospital Corps School, hospital ship, Jim Potter, Kansas Authors Club, Lyons High School, Master of Arms, Pacific theater, Pearl Harbor, Pharmacist's Mate, President Roosevelt, Robert E. Enders, Robert Enders, US Navy, USS Bountiful, World War II veteran

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Alex says

    June 12, 2019 at 8:01 am

    Living history!

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      June 12, 2019 at 8:23 am

      Yes! All around us. Save stories!

      Reply
  2. H.B. Berlow says

    June 12, 2019 at 10:23 am

    I find oral histories to be fascinating, largely because there is an emphasis on the humanity of the stories. Too often we are burdened with dates and places as opposed to honest day-to-day living commentary. Great post. Looking forward to part 2.

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      June 12, 2019 at 10:26 am

      Thanks, H.B. I agree. Interviews are really a favorite of mine. These are stories worth saving.

      Reply
  3. Ronda says

    June 12, 2019 at 10:18 pm

    He sounds like a great guy. This reminded me of so many uncles who served and are no longer with us.

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      June 12, 2019 at 10:22 pm

      Yes, great guy, really sharp! Some memories are more memorable than others. Thanks for the feedback.

      Reply
      • Ronda says

        June 15, 2019 at 7:12 am

        Jim, It’s great to be writers so we record not only for our own legacies, but it surely is wonderful to do for other folk’s families as well. No amount of money makes up for the gift of memories and legacies.
        I bet you’ve heard this before but it’s a favorite of mine. ‘We all die twice. Once when our soul leaves our body and the last time someone says our name.’ You help people live forever. As Kevin Rabas would say, ‘write on’. Ronda

        Reply
        • Jim Potter says

          June 15, 2019 at 7:13 am

          This is right on. I think of it as saving stories.

          Reply
  4. Rock says

    June 13, 2019 at 11:57 am

    A good one!

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      June 13, 2019 at 11:58 am

      Thanks, Rock!

      Reply

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What People Are Saying

Denise Low, author of Jackalope (Red Mountain Press)

Jim Potter is a cop, retired, but he brings deep understanding of this job to his novel Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery. This layered novel has literary dimensions as characters explore crisis situations. Congratulations to this fine writer for his debut novel.

Rebecca from Proud Police Wife

Taking Back the Bullet is an emotional, yet captivating novel. Jim Potter does a superb job of intertwining each character and putting their individual identities on display. All law enforcement storylines are a true reflection of Potter’s years as a police officer because they are realistic and relatable. This is a book I highly recommend.

Dennis Perrin, educator

Masterful storytelling, exquisite character development, so real as to HURT and HOPE, a real page turner. Begs for stage, screenwriters, and visual episodic development a.k.a. TV series . . . Thanks Jim Potter for telling it like it is AND providing us visions of how it could be. Well done!

Rebecca Schillaci

As a former law enforcement officer, I found the story very relatable as it details the life of a law enforcement officer and the struggles some face throughout their careers. . . Taking Back the Bullet is a journey of understanding, respect, and forgiveness . . .

Sheryl Remar

I enjoyed the different stories of this book because Tom, James, and Suanna, the three main characters, represent in their own way the different struggles with themselves and society’s idea of what is normal.

John & Cindy Morrill, 20 years Air Force retired, 17 years law enforcement

I enjoyed your book. When I am looking for a new read, I always read the first page, last page and choose a random page somewhere in the middle before I decide to buy it. You had me on all three pages. I also like reading a book where you can relate to the characters and the settings in which they live and work. It makes a story more realistic if you can say, I am familiar with the area; I know where that town is or I have traveled that street. It was easy to relate to the characters. In one way or another, I have met them all somewhere in my journeys.

Judy Hawk

. . . I was impressed with the Native American information as well as the depth of character development . . . .

Wynona Winn, PhD, retired school superintendent

Three main characters walk different paths but with the same destination – each coping with his or her self-discovery, self-identity, and self-realization. Much like their earlier counterparts – Huck Finn and Holden Caulfield – their journeys are often joyous, often tedious and often tragic.

Diana Dester

Good story line, building the characters along the way. Great job!

Deb Theis, LSCSW, clinical therapist/hypnotherapist

Jim Potter has done it again! After his book, Cop in the Classroom: Lessons I’ve Learned, Tales I’ve Told, Jim has written another great work. In Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, Jim Potter takes us on an insightful journey into the lives and relationships of numerous characters. Jim is such a talented storyteller that the reader quickly becomes immersed and has a ‘bonding experience’ with each of the characters, feeling their joy, fear, passion and pain. Jim’s novel speaks to the empowerment of persistence with the characters as they work through their trials. As a therapist, I appreciated the heartfelt struggles from each of the characters and their diversity. I also found value in the novel’s understanding of society’s misunderstanding of both mental health and other conditions in which people struggle. The novel contains rich exposure to various realities that many of us do not know about . . . but should. When I finished this captivating novel, I was wanting to read the sequel! It was an honor and a wonderful, mesmerizing experience reading this book. Congratulations, Jim!

Jane Holzrichter

I finished it last night around midnight. What a great piece of work. It kept me intrigued all the way to the end.

Sean McArdle, Winchester, England

Retired police officer Potter’s novel centres on very disparate characters and through the tried and tested means of gradually introducing each one, builds a sense of anticipation about what is going to happen to them. This often used methodology is not easy to do well but is superbly handled by Potter who knows how to give enough detail to bring the characters to life, yet not too much so as to slow down the pace of the developing story. A climactic event affects the main characters and it is at this point Potter’s deep knowledge of people and police procedures really hits home; page by page we read how a seemingly simple, though terrible occurrence, can have huge consequences. To Potter’s credit the story does not have a completely conclusive or simplistic ending. Instead it leaves the reader thinking about how the events of a single minute can affect lives forever. I would whole heartedly recommend this book not as a crime novel or even as a novel about crime but as a beautiful and positive affirmation about what it is to be human and how ultimately it is relationships which matter more than events.

Morgan Penner

Taking Back the Bullet is a novel that provides the reader with a window into the world of law enforcement. As the novel unfolds, the reader is able to see how split-second decisions alter the lives of the main characters in the story. Taking Back the Bullet also explores how humanity is impacted by mental illness. One of my favorite quotes from Taking Back the Bullet is “We’re all just a critical moment from being disabled or mentally ill, and we don’t want to think about it.” The novel also provides the reader an opportunity to gain a better understanding of how mental illness impacts the individuals, their family, friends, and society. Taking Back the Bullet is a story of forgiveness and overcoming life’s struggles and tragedies.

Steve Becker

I’m impressed. It was an excellent read. . . . I hope you continue with more projects in the future.

Larry Kruckman, anthropologist

Jim Potter displays ethnographic skills in Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, creating vivid scenes and fascinating characters. The Greeks had a word for subcultures and people’s behavior: ‘ethos,’ or ‘ways of being.’ In colorful, sometimes marvelous detail, this novel captures various people and settings . . . the ethos of rural Kansas: a jail, art fair, powwow, rehab center, courtroom, albinos, and even someone in the throes of postpartum depression. So detailed are the descriptions that they must be drawn from the author’s personal experience. Besides the artfully created characters such as the struggling jailer and husband Tom Jennings, local artist Jesse Thomas, and Native American Joe Morningcloud, there is a tight story line that grabs your attention and won’t let go. Human tensions, love, conflict, joys and sorrows are all there. Magically, all the many pieces come together in a final crescendo, giving hope that even when we find ourselves in big trouble we can survive. This is a novel I highly recommend!

Larry Kruckman
Anthropologist
Karleen Wilson-Moon

Terrific story relevant to today’s social issues . . . well written . . . likable characters . . . insightful perspective from an insider in law enforcement.

Karleen Wilson-Moon

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