Albert Bernard Breck was an employee of the
Homestake Gold Mine in Lead,
South Dakota,
when the Japanese attacked Pearl
Harbor.
In early 1942 he left his job
at Homestake
to join the war effort. He was
34 years old,
married to Myrle Breck. They
had three children,
Evelyn, 5, Abbie, 4, and Betty,
3, which
placed him in Selective Service
Class 3.
With his extensive experience in mining,
he was chosen for the then Top
Secret Red
Hill Underground Fuel Storage
Facility being
built near Honolulu, Hawaii.
To construct
the complex, the Navy used advanced
mining
techniques and employed over
three thousand
expert miners and laborers to
carve out space
several hundred feet deep in
volcanic rock
for 20 gargantuan fuel tanks,
each big enough
to hold an entire twenty story
building!
The Red Hill facility is still
in use today,
storing more than 250 million
gallons of
fuel for the US Navy, Air Force
and Marine
Corps sea and air fleets stationed
in the
Pacific.
The project remained top secret until 1995,
at which time the American Society of Civil
Engineers designated the Red Hill facility
a civil engineering accomplishment on a par
with the Brooklyn Bridge, the Washington
Monument, the Hoover Dam and other feats
of American civil engineering. It has been
called the "Eighth Wonder of the Modern
World".
It was designated a National
Historic Civil
Engineering Landmark in 1995,
and dedicated
to the "Red Hillers",
the miners
and laborers who constructed
it.
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Two plaques mark the site now:
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The dedication plaque reads:
"To the thousands of loyal "Red
Hillers" who participated
in the construction
of this mighty wartime project
from August
1940 to September 1943, this
effort stands
as one of the proudest of American
achievements.
On the far-flung outpost of the
Pacific theatre
of War, this great army of defense
workers
labored day and night on the
home front,
in the pursuit of a gigantic
War effort,
fusing their behind-the-scenes
strength in
the great united struggle for
Liberty, Freedom,
the Principles of Democracy and
the Right
to enjoy the American Way of
Life." |
The Red Hill project was
finished nine months
ahead of schedule, so Al
returned home briefly
before boarding a train
to Minneapolis, where
he joined the Merchant
Marines.
Here he is aboard the train departing from
home, saying "Farewell for now"
to his wife and daughters. |
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After training at the US Maritime Graduate
Station in Brooklyn, NY, while awaiting assignment
to a sailing ship, Al was sent out into the
streets of Brooklyn on bond detail. In a
letter home he wrote that he sold a lot of
bonds, and "was nearly a wreck; my feet
are in bad shape from the walking involved."
His efforts were acknowledged by the War
Finance Committee for New York.
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In his Merchant Marine service, Al was assigned
first to the SS Watertown, then
the SS Wahoo
Swamp.
The Merchant Marines played a
key role in
transporting the troops and war
materials
that enabled United States and
Allied Forces
to turn the tide of victory against
the Axis
powers.
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| As a 2nd Class Seaman whose specialty was
Messman, Al helped prepare a traditional
Thanksgiving feast for the homesick sailors
on board the Wahoo Swamp in 1944. The menu
included all the usual Thanksgiving trimmings
and more. |
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It was during this time that Al penned a
poem on a brown paper bag, entitled
it "Alone",
and dedicated it to his faraway
family.
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Al's letters home mentioned ports of call
in exotic places such as Aruba,
Cuba and
the Panama Canal Zone, as well
as San Francisco,
New York City and Baltimore.
His young daughters
responded to those letters with
letters of
their own, written with excitement
and enthusiasm.
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Al received his discharge from the Merchant
Marines at the end of the war in 1945.
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When the Merchant Marines were retroactively
made a part of the US Coast Guard
in 1988,
Al received his Honorable Discharge
from
the US Coast Guard.
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Al's family is proud of his contribution
to the war effort as a miner, Merchant Marine,
bond salesman, and cook. It was the combined
efforts of everyone that resulted in victory
and the preservation of our freedom. His
family feels he did indeed help "make
their lives worthwhile", as he expressed
in his poem "Alone".
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"Alone"
When you're alone all evening, and the nights
are lonely and long,
You lie awake just thinking, of the days
since you left home.
You think of the ones you love dearly. They
are so far away.
And you know that you won't see them, for
many a weary day.
You are lonesome for your babies, you are
longing for your
wife,
But to spare them any hardship, you'd give
your very life.
Although your heart is aching, on your face
there is a smile,
For you know the work you are doing, will
make their lives
worthwhile.
But you know the day is coming, when this
work will all be
done,
When our enemies will be beaten, and we'll
have this damn war
won.
Then eager, lighthearted and happy, we'll
turn our footsteps
toward home,
And the future will leave only memories,
of the days when
we were alone.
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"Dedicated to My Family"
Albert Breck |
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Article Published in Dakota Press Newspaper: Page 1 , Page 2
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