15th Signal Radar Maintenance Unit


John Moriarty
by Patricia Nagle (John's daughter)

WWII

In the fall of 1942, John left Iowa State College with his friend Charles Heide and enlisted in the Army. 

They signed up for the Signal Corps.

In Sept of 1943 he was sent to Camp Kohler near Sacramento for telephone lineman training and next he went to Camp Crowder, Missouri. for training in switchboard repair.

In 1944 John was sent to Camp Reynolds, Pa. where he met his future wife, Peg, at a USO dance. 

Soon afterwards he boarded the troop ship James Kincade and debarked near the Aloha Tower in Honolulu, HI.  The men were put on the open gondola cars of a pineapple train and as they passed the Dole factory, girls were tossing pineapples onto the train. 

He was assigned to the 15th Signal Radar Maintenance Unit based at Fort Shafter. 

"I volunteered to drive officers to a party off base.  One party was in Lilihia near Kailua with an officer of the 15th Signal Radar Repair Unit who had just arrived from stateside.  He found that I had radar training and quickly assigned me to his six man unit." - John Moriarty

He serviced all Signal Corps communications equipment including radars.  His best memory was installing new long range radars at Mokapou Point to aim a new sea coast artillery battery called the Pennsylvania Battery. 

The Navy gave the Army two 14"  turrets from the sunken ship USS Arizona. 

"I was not involved with moving the guns or turret which was done by civilian contractors.

"I was told that the loads were lifted off the Arizona using floating cranes and barged around Mokapu Point where mobile cranes lifted the parts onto flat bed trailers. 

"For the turret, they welded two trailers together, pulling with two diesels and pushing with two bull dozers to reach the end of the road. 

"Then a dual track inclined railway was built to get to the barbette.  "

"All this was finished before we arrived to install the SCR 268 or 270 long range radar set." - John Moriarty


After John returned to the continental U.S. from Hawaii, he was sent to Fort Getty, Rhode Island out in Narragansett Bay. 

Thousands of German POWs were there.

Soon John was put on a troop train with the POWs traveling to Fort Eustis, Virginia. 

From Fort Eustis, the German POWs were then to board ships at Newport News, Virginia The Germans were happy to be going home in one piece.


John was discharged in 1946 at For Lewis, Washington.
A Short History of John Moriarty's WWII Service by John Moriarty
.letter

John Comrades
John Moriarty
Telephone/cable crew (John is 2nd from right)
Train Truck
Pineapple train in Honolulu Autocar tractor in Honolulu

Post WWII Service

John continued in the Army reserves.

He served for over 30 years and in 1982 retired at 60 years old as a full Colonel. 

He said he was one of the oldest Colonels in the Signal Corps.
Pole Photo Uniform
Lineman at Fort Eustis, Virginia LEFT TO RIGHT: Col. George Eckert, Col. Holly Markle, Col. John Moriarty John's uniform.

Rest of His Life

He immediately got a switchman's job. 

From there he always had jobs in telecommunications, the longest being at Hughes Aircraft in Culver City, Ca.

John was married to his sweetheart Peg until their passing in 2010 (6 months apart).

They are survived by their four children who are extremely proud of the father's accomplishments.

The Telephone Man by John Moriarty
1 Truck
Hughes Aircraft FlightTest Division Data Reduction Lab
John with army truck similar to earlier picture in Honolulu.

Radio News:
From the collection of Camp Crowder trainee, the late John Moriarty courtesy of his daughter Patricia Nagel. Donated to the Virginai Holocaust Museum in Richmond.

15th Signal Radar Maintenance Unit

Unofficial Archive of the U.S. Army Signal Corps in Northwest Europe in WWII

All material not in the public domain © 2015 - 2016 Leonard H. Cizewski
and Patricia Nagel


Last Major Revision: February 27, 2016
Posted: October 21, 2015
Last Reviewed:

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