Hank Salvoni & his 4025th Signal Corps

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The Army Signal Corps had two missions: 1st, technicians built networks of wire lines & radio circuits; manned radio transmitters & receivers; maintained  telephone communication; and operated teletypewriters & cryptography equipment. 2nd, the Signal Corps served as combat troops in support of the infantrymen.

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Hank served as the top NCO for his unit, and saw duty in the Pacific, including New Guinea, the Philippines, and Japan.

 

I found an interesting account by a member of the 4025th Signal Core of what it must have been like for Hank & his fellow soldiers in the South Pacific:

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"The Pacific was beautiful, but, anyway, we got to New Guinea and we're landing. It's in the evening and, on the shore, I said, "Holy shinola, I don't believe this. It was like a Hollywood spectacular. There was a tribe of natives. They're standing there with shields, spears, bow and arrows ....and God, snakes everywhere, snakes that could run faster than you could, and rats. God, they had rats there that were bigger than cats."

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"A rifle was always ... part of you. ... It was a rugged country, rugged. I mean, I can remember being on patrols up there in the nighttime ... driving along some of those mountain roads, right on the edge of the mountain, with the sea way below, and that rain coming down and you're in an open truck and you're driving along with your lights dimmed, because [of air attacks]. It was sort of scary..."