Sulo E. Panula
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Army
Photo: Mr. Panula during basic training, Fort Ord, California, late 1943
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Sulo E. Panula served in World War II in the Pacific Theater.
He was inducted into the U.S. Army on July 1, 1943. He did his basic training at Fort Ord, California, and then was assigned to the Pacific Theater. He traveled to the New Guinea/Borneo area and was one of a four-man crew that served aboard a LCM landing boat, providing supplies and equipment island-to-island. He was assigned to Company B of the Special Engineer Brigade, which supported the 9th Infantry Division. Mr. Panula was discharged on December 10, 1945.
His rank was T-5.
Mr. Panula was born in 1919 in Oulu, Wisconsin, the son of Jacob and Agna Panula.
He was decorated with the Good Conduct Medal, the Bronze Arrowhead, and the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal.
Source: Veterans’ Memorial Hall veteran history form; veteran’s account (below)
“Induction physical in Milwaukee (July 1943). Troop train to Fort Ord, California, for training. Leave for holidays late 1943. Troop ship under the Golden Gate Bridge en route to New Guinea. Served as one of the four-man crew aboard a LCM landing boat; provided supplies and equipment island-to-island in New Guinea/Borneo conflict area. Returned to the U.S. under the Golden Gate Bridge late 1945 for discharge.”
Sulo Panula, married with one child (Sandra--just over two years old) was drafted out of Bayfield County, Wisconsin, July 1943. Following basic training at Ft. Ord, CA, which included a very brief “seaman” training, he returned home on leave just prior to his deployment to the war against Japan in the fall of 1943.
He was assigned to Company B of the Special Engineer Brigade, which was tasked to support the 9th Infantry Division. The 9th, along with the 7th, ID were among the Allied forces commanded by General Douglas MacArthur, Commander-in-Chief of Allied forces in the southwest Pacific area.
Sulo served as one of the four crew members of a Landing Craft Mechanized (LCM), one of many LCMs which made up Company B. This particular company had the distinction of becoming a part of the task force assigned to support the Australian Forces in the Borneo Campaign of 1945.
The Borneo Campaign was one of the most complex operations involving Australian land, air, and sea forces in the war. Borneo had been invaded and taken over by the Japanese in 1942. General MacArthur selected Borneo partly on the basis that bases on the island could be used to support an invasion of Java.
The recapture of Java from the Japanese would formally restore control of the Netherlands East Indies to the Dutch. It was hoped the Allies would also be able to capture the many oilfields in Borneo.
Three distinct operations were conducted. The first was on the island of Tarakan off northeast Borneo. It was to be captured and airfields established there. The operation was code-named OBOE 1.
One of the primary objectives of landing on Tarakan island was the construction of airfields to cover subsequent operations. However, airfield construction proved a much more difficult task than had been anticipated. The existing airfields were badly damaged and the excessively boggy ground in the area selected for new airfields impeded construction. The LCMs were used in multiple ways, for example, to transport equipment and supplies from ship to shore and to push steel ramps as far onto the shore as possible in order to provide a solid foundation (over the soft muddy shoreline) for the movement of vehicles brought to shore by the Landing Ship Tank (LST).
Sulo remained deployed until after the end of the war (August 15, 1945). He was released from active duty on December 10, 1945, and returned home to Iron River, Wisconsin. That’s when he saw, for the first time, his 16-month-old son, David.
Sulo and wife Jean will celebrate their 72nd wedding anniversary on June 29, 2012. They birthed six children; Sandra, David, Michael, Timothy, Lawrence and Susan. Michael and Susan both died in 2009. Sulo and Jean are members of Bayside Baptist Church in Superior, WI.
May 15, 2012, Sulo will be honored with the opportunity to board the Northland Honor Flight to Washington DC to view the World War 2 Memorial, along with 85 other veterans of that war. Son David is honoring his dad by going along as a “guardian” on that trip.
