![Picture](/uploads/3/1/3/0/31308715/2715563.jpg)
Full Name: Shelby John Bird
Spouse: Donna Powell
Children: Gary, Geneal, Carma
Branch of Service: U.S. Army
Time Served: 1942-1945
Training: Basic Training—Fort Riley, Kansas; AIT Training—Fort Riley, Kansas
Awards or Medals: American Theatre of Operations Service Ribbon, Asiatic-Pacific Theatre Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal, and Victory Medal
Where Served: New Guinea, Philippine Islands, Japan
Deceased: No
Where Living When Entered Service: Bluebell, Utah
Drafted or Volunteer: Drafted
Spouse: Donna Powell
Children: Gary, Geneal, Carma
Branch of Service: U.S. Army
Time Served: 1942-1945
Training: Basic Training—Fort Riley, Kansas; AIT Training—Fort Riley, Kansas
Awards or Medals: American Theatre of Operations Service Ribbon, Asiatic-Pacific Theatre Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal, and Victory Medal
Where Served: New Guinea, Philippine Islands, Japan
Deceased: No
Where Living When Entered Service: Bluebell, Utah
Drafted or Volunteer: Drafted
![Picture](/uploads/3/1/3/0/31308715/4738720.jpg)
One night, about 6:20 pm, we were leaving the Island of New Guinea on a mission. We were in a body of water called the Johnson Strait, which is only five miles wide; when a U.S. Oil Tanker hit the ship we were on and went all the way through our ship. One of the ships was off course. It was raining and foggy when the accident happened, there were four different companies aboard ship. The ship caught fire and there were fifty, 50 gallon drums full of diesel and gasoline, the soldiers were ordered to dump the diesel and gasoline into the ocean. There was one TD6 Cat and one water buffalo tank on the top deck of the ship when the ship sank.
Us soldiers were in the water for 6 hours before an Australian Jetty picked us up and took us to the Admiral T Islands; 39 men died that night. We stayed on the Admiral T Island for six weeks and then we were sent to the Philippine Islands, while there we got to know some of the people.
We were loaded onto a LSM which is a small boat that holds 1 truck, 12 men, and their equipment and headed for Japan. We were hit by a typhoon and ended up at Yokohama Bay. That is where I was when the peace treaty was signed on September 3, 1945. I left for the United States on Christmas Day, December 25, 1945. The war was over.
Us soldiers were in the water for 6 hours before an Australian Jetty picked us up and took us to the Admiral T Islands; 39 men died that night. We stayed on the Admiral T Island for six weeks and then we were sent to the Philippine Islands, while there we got to know some of the people.
We were loaded onto a LSM which is a small boat that holds 1 truck, 12 men, and their equipment and headed for Japan. We were hit by a typhoon and ended up at Yokohama Bay. That is where I was when the peace treaty was signed on September 3, 1945. I left for the United States on Christmas Day, December 25, 1945. The war was over.