"A Goat at War" — The Life of Joe Miles Sr., WWII Veteran

After a long hiatus (thanks to Kyle's new baby and summer chaos), the crew is back — and we're coming in strong with one of the most powerful episodes yet. In this long-awaited release, we sit down for a full interview with Joe Miles Sr., a 96-year-old World War II Navy veteran who shares jaw-dropping stories of enlisting at just 15, witnessing the aftermath of Hiroshima firsthand, and serving aboard the USS Iowa.

Joe takes us from island-hopping in the Pacific to the bomb-scarred streets of Tokyo, all while dropping wisdom and humor along the way. This isn't just a history lesson — it's a living memory from a man who was there. Plus, we kick things off with the usual chaos: shots of Screwball, goat debates, paternity leave roasts, and a heartfelt shoutout to the veteran foundations that changed our lives.

Featuring:
🧓 Joe Miles Sr. – WWII Navy Veteran
🥃 Todd & Kyle – Back in the studio
🐐 Goat logic and plenty of inappropriate laughter

Veteran Support Orgs Mentioned:

• Joshua Chamberlain Society
• Tunnel to Towers
• Warfighters Engaged
• SEAL Future Fund
• Focus Marines Foundation

🎧 Listen, laugh, and learn — and hear firsthand why this man is truly a national treasure.

 Instagram:     https://www.instagram.com/whendoesthefkryend/
Twitter:    https://twitter.com/WDFKRYE
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLK1ho6AACjaEoQGWO2f_uQ

Transcript

[Music]

0:14

okay so we're starting an episode cal just was like counting down with his fingers i thought he was going to count down out loud before he started the uh

0:20

Well you didn't specify well [ __ ] I didn't know I was supposed to look why wouldn't you you're waiting for my

0:26

signal ladies and gentlemen we're back that's That's not this episode that

0:31

we're pre-oing for episode 17 no we're technically back though we're pre-logging for episode 17 but it never

0:37

aired okay that's fair so technically I didn't I thought it aired already well so this is the pre-log for episode 17

0:43

and ladies and gentlemen let me tell you about it so remember when we did the episode for uh Memorial Day memorial Day

0:49

yep well let me stop you there because you know what time it is shot time shot time oh shot time

0:56

yeah he wanted to fight He wanted to fight me on this one but I told him too bad [ __ ] you're taking it [ __ ] i'm not

1:01

taking it we already decided you're No he's not police he's not taking it cuz he's got to drive home exactly right

1:10

but yes we're back so what happened was we had a little break kyle had a baby i

1:16

had a lot of things going on in my life there just wasn't time for us to actually meet up and talk about things

1:22

because we were both busy it's the summer time you know [ __ ] happens but the episode we're about to run is a very

1:29

good one i believe I think it's probably one of the better ones we could run from being gone for so long yeah I would

1:35

agree especially with the last one being the Memorial Day episode i got it okay it's bouncing stop

1:43

whispering at me just say it [ __ ] you know how this one works i don't understand what you're saying that's cuz

1:48

I'm not saying anything like I said I think it's one of the better episodes that we could possibly run with the last one being Memorial Day if I'm correct

1:54

yes okay so that was the last Oh no no no memorial Day was not the last one we did i It was episode 16 i can't remember

2:00

what it was about but it was not Memorial Day the last one we did was on July 29th was the last release date okay

2:07

so it's been that long that I can't even remember so anyway if you do remember the Memorial Day episode we had a man on

2:13

there but we're going to take the shot and then I'll continue scooter screw

2:20

ball that screw ball is delicious contact us

2:26

puts me in the right state of mind every time every time every time god I'm old so we're gonna talk about this uh

2:33

episode that we had if you remember the Memorial Day episode we had a man on there named Joe Miles World War II veteran that had tons

2:41

of stories that I couldn't believe that I had to actually cut him off and I felt bad doing it like I felt bad he was a

2:48

great guy he was He would He would have talked to us all day all day but the problem was I wanted to get other

2:54

people's perspectives and I think we did that in a light in a good manner yeah okay so I actually pulled his uh

3:03

daughter-in-law aside and said "Hey I want this man's number we're going to talk to him for a full episode." So what

3:10

you're about to hear is going to be the episode of Joe Miles Senior during World War II coming up in his life yep joining the

3:20

Navy first at like 15 I think it was i think it was it was 15 or 14 15 or 16 you'll find out because he's gonna tell

3:26

you but this man is absolutely amazing and I don't want to spoil everything and tell

3:32

you what he's done because he's going to tell you himself but I was me mesmerized by the where he was the things he's seen

3:39

things he did the things he did exactly like blown away yeah i

3:46

mean I was flabbergasted me too because this man Think about this ladies and

3:52

gentlemen the height of the war World War II and I I just can't fathom it like I know

4:00

i mean I I could have literally listened to him all day all day all day like it would have been like a 5 hour episode

4:06

yeah it would have been insane and the thing is it's funny because he doesn't really repeat himself yeah like you

4:12

would think an old man does yep but he was on track oh he was i mean he didn't

4:18

skip a beat and don't ask him about his tattoo you know what I'm talking about i was

4:25

actually thinking about that just So that's a hanger to make you want to listen it tells the story right right but yeah

4:33

we took our screw ball shot um we we actually aired or not aired but uh recorded this one a while ago and like I

4:39

said things happened we had some tech we're going to start consistently being back on again yes we are consistently

4:44

like I said Kyle had a baby [ __ ] you Kyle [ __ ] me okay i know man the man had

4:50

to go on paternity leave i had to give him paternity cuz otherwise I'm a racist person in the world he is don't worry

4:56

about it or not racist sexist i'm sorry he's that too go suck a dick uh did you

5:02

just assume my gender i'm a goat i've already decided that I'm going to be a goat you are the the goat no I'm not the

5:09

goat i'm a goat he's the goat please don't call me the goat i'm a goat a goat

5:14

the goat no I'm not the goat a goat the goat buying by saying the goat makes me

5:20

the only goat no a goat the goat that's the title don't argue with me about

5:26

pronouns please is it hurting your feelings no it's not hurting my feelings

5:32

it's making me angry as a goat or a goat as you say but your title is the goat no

5:38

my title is a goat no no you are a goat actually the title is just goat oh okay i apologize so if you put the in front

5:45

of it it makes me the only goat what about the No it still makes me the only goat unless it's a title like if I said

5:52

you were the man that's inappropriate apparently nowadays because you're that makes you the only man well I am i have

6:00

to say you're man i don't care what you have to say well whatever build me my own [ __ ] goat bathroom here we go

6:07

ladies and gentlemen i got to run down some uh What do you guys say go i got to say is um at the beginning of this

6:12

episode we actually come in on a story because we had a some technical g difficulties so we actually come in like

6:19

pretory uh I'm pretty sure he was talking about Hiroshima we missed that

6:25

half of it are we sure cuz I didn't want to give that away yeah we we missed half of it okay ladies and gentlemen in

6:32

case I don't want to be a spoiler but we don't know so I'm going to run this down for you this

6:37

man they dropped two atomic bombs on Japan hiroshima and Nagasaki it was

6:44

Nagasaki that he was at no he was at Hiroshima was he okay i can I don't know he's at one of them i can't remember exactly he was at one of them he was at

6:50

one of them it blows my mind yeah dude but this man was at 0 2 days after they

6:55

dropped the bomb he was in the crater which is insane which I don't know how he hasn't just died of cancer yet right

7:01

i mean like that makes sense i don't understand but he was at the point of history yes where no one else has been

7:08

oh my goodness yeah like I want to be at a point of history in my life Kyle where no one else has been before

7:16

i mean I feel like you you've made a lot of history Todd like just being you what

7:22

you've gone through i feel like you've done a lot you've you've been in a lot of history no Kyle that's not enough for

7:28

me i want to be the first quadruple ampute on the moon

7:33

whenever they get that moon base up and running with a monkey i gotta have a monkey okay whenever they get it on I think it's 20 it's scheduled for 2024

7:41

they're supposed to put the first base on the moon with the first woman right so then they're going to send you up all

7:47

right ladies and gentlemen like I usually do I'm going to go over some foundations that really help me out out and anyone that's still listening um

7:53

Joshua Chamberlain Society JCSOR uh Tunnels of Towers they build homes for wounded warriors i know I'm running

7:59

through them real fast but if you've been listening you know so we're going to also go with uh War Fighters Engage

8:05

war Fighters Engaged sorry you got me i got tongue tied warfighters Engaged they build [ __ ] controllers for wounded veterans against to get back into the

8:11

gaming community you got uh Seer Five fund who helps Marines with anything if

8:17

you're hurting for money or you can't find salary to pay for things i mean

8:22

there's a ton out there i might have missed them some uh did you mention the one that you're going to next week oh no

8:28

I didn't focus Marines Foundation so I'm sorry man i might I You're right i

8:33

should probably put a list here for for the major ones you know but I feel like I can do it but I You're right i miss a

8:39

[ __ ] but this is important it is i don't like to have an editorial Bolton for

8:44

what I'm going to run through and I talk to i like to go you know skin of my teeth well that's why I'm here this is

8:50

that's why I'm here right well let me get back to it uh Focus Marines Foundation if anyone out there is

8:55

listening to this and you know any veteran that is struggling please send them to the Focusmarines

9:03

Foundation.org and uh they'll have to sign up go through an application but this whole program changed my life and

9:09

I'm about to head out there [ __ ] Saturday cuz I've been through this program many many many of times and I'm

9:14

actually a mentor out there now like I'm getting my what they call black shirt which makes me a mentor out

9:21

there he's whispering again so I'm trying to look at him try to tell what he's saying oh now he's looking at the microphone it's weird all right we're

9:27

going to cut this right now we're done ladies and gentlemen see you

9:33

later

9:39

[Music]

9:45

people walk around with burns on them some of them was defaced and everything

9:51

else all from the heat that came up from that bomb

9:57

then we left that area and we went back into

10:04

uh Yaka Yakaska Japan and we help with the

10:10

uh uh Daval air naval base there and saying

10:17

that we went in there this thing this thing was well fortified

10:24

if we was going to invade it like what they was bringing everybody

10:30

into it would have been massacre for who ours not for the Japanese because they

10:38

were all prepared the whole works would have been fighting us and they was well

10:43

fortified so what you're telling me is if we wouldn't have dropped that bomb there we would have never been able to get Oh that's right that's right no that

10:51

it was it's something when you see it you know it's it's something that you'd

10:59

always remember oh yeah there's memor war memories will always be etched in

11:04

your mind no matter if you get dementia or not they're always going to be there because that's right see and then we

11:10

stayed in there and we I went from

11:16

uh Yakasa to Tokyo for 3 hours Liberty mhm that's all we had and we had took us

11:24

four hours to go by a little boat up there and I had a buddy of mine who was

11:30

in the medics army medics wait Army medics

11:35

you're Navy that's right i'm Marine Corps and when we when we got up to Tokyo

11:41

and we stepped off three buddies and myself I asked the MP I says "You

11:48

wouldn't happen to know where this 72nd station hospital where it's located i don't know

11:55

if it's in Yokohama or where you know and Tokyo was flat i mean it was really

12:03

bombed out." And he said "You see do you up there?" And I Yeah he says "That's

12:09

it." So the three of us walk up there and as I get up there's a soldier

12:16

that walked out of the building and when he come out I called him and I asked him i said "You wouldn't

12:23

happen to know Sergeant Howard Henley would you?" And he says "Yes he's in the

12:29

meshole." Now you stop and think you got Australia you got everyone that was our

12:36

companion on fighting that war they were all over everything and I picked out one

12:42

guy in the messole wow that's amazing yes they were so let's take a step back

12:47

Joe um so you were in the Navy correct oh yeah and I I want you to talk about

12:52

when you enlisted what your job was things like well what did you do i was a

12:57

fire controlman and we controlled all the major guns okay uh we car on the

13:04

Iowa we had 16in guns and them uh guns

13:10

the uh it was about 67 foot long for the

13:16

rifling and we could shoot accurately out 23 miles although

13:22

we have reached out some to 31 miles you know and then projectiles was 2300

13:29

pounds you know so what where were you what ship were you on and where were you

13:34

at in World War II like Well all over the All over yeah I was down in the

13:42

Philippines we down water not water canal but uh yeah what water canal and

13:50

that area down through the uh then we come back out of there and we headed

13:55

towards Guam and we was

14:02

sen I got to stop and think a little bit here yeah you're all right tinyan and

14:07

Saipan and Guam that's the three islands there and we over

14:14

Tyra and I lost two buddies on there that was Marines from St louis so So you

14:20

were on the island hopping campaign then then yeah so what do you think about Marines i boy I used to get them hot

14:29

yeah because I had to go through their compartment to get to mine now before I

14:36

say anything I had a lot of good buddies in there so but every time I'd get in

14:41

their compartment I'd holler out "What the hell is a Marine?" You know and they then the

14:49

first thing you know you get some kind of answer then I say to him "Well you can't be because when you get paid it

14:55

says US Navy." You know what i've heard that before but the problem is the US Navy won't let us

15:02

go be our own department because we make too much money for them yeah but see we

15:07

we did actually pay their their salary you still do yeah that was our branch

15:13

our amphibious branching mhm and uh then

15:19

we left out of there and we went headed out for Japan

15:25

again but we we messed around there and then when we went back like I was

15:31

telling you we taking the Iowa back home and we come back and I ended up on the

15:38

Breton well the communists and the nationalists was fighting on the

15:43

mainland and they had split up and that's in China correct yeah and we our

15:49

home port was Singtow okay but we covered Hong

15:54

Kong Shanghai Singapore Borneo and then we come back around we

16:02

was moving all the time the only time we done anything is when we went back to

16:07

Guam and got supplies so a question for you because I'm really curious did you

16:13

ever have any torpedo scares on your boats any what torpedo scares

16:19

no huh no no I tell you what i I got some coins that I just had I had sent

16:27

away to American uh uh

16:33

what do they call it american Mint yeah American Mint and I got them and the

16:40

coins is all the largest battleships in World War II and the

16:46

first one you see is USS Iowa now we had on the Iowa we had

16:55

uh 56 guns that counted our 20s R50s

17:02

uh 40 millimeters 16 in 5 in 38 and we

17:08

carried three SE planes so no one dare deal one dare mess with that boat huh no

17:15

and our armor plating is 16 in and that only runs from the beginning of the bow

17:24

to the uh uh stopping of the stern it's

17:30

just midship that's where your biggest because I just got through telling you about the potting rooms the all the

17:36

potting rooms was three decks below the water line and that was the reason cuz

17:44

when you had to go through that 16 in of metal before you ever got into the

17:50

uh but then uh on the

17:55

Breton we stayed there for almost 11 months and when Changai Shek started

18:03

leaving the mainland and going into Taiwan we moved out of Singapore I mean

18:10

out of Sing towel because we were still there

18:15

protecting Chanek and what year was this pardon what year was this that was in

18:22

1946 you hear that ladies and gentlemen 1946 before half of us were even thought about this man had already been through

18:28

hell and back yeah really you know in uh I got pictures of that too

18:36

yeah so I uh we stayed there and then we finally

18:43

got called home well when we got called home we had the flag going from the mast

18:50

out that's the going home pennant and you had to be over there a year to fly

18:55

that flag when you went into port and they cut that flag

19:02

up every man on the ship got a 6-in piece of it until it get down to the

19:08

stars and stripes then the officers got the piece off of there we only got the

19:14

uh red white and blue you still have your piece pardon do you still have your piece i still got it it's only about

19:21

that long i got it in I had a little thing about that thick and I got it

19:27

laying flat in there the only thing is I can't find it isn't it amazing the things we keep from to remember and like

19:35

the I wouldn't call them souvenirs but the the nostalgia of the things that we

19:41

from our experiences and war we hold on to because that's something that you

19:46

hold dear to your heart because well when I come home on the Iowa I brought two guns I brought a 25 and a 31 and I

19:56

gave one to my brother he was in Korea I in uh World War II and he was at

20:04

uh um I got to think you're all right i'm

20:11

ahead of myself saying hey Okinawa Okinawa and Neoima oh really yeah and a

20:19

good buddy of his that was older than my brother uh they hit the beach together

20:28

and your brother were at two historical wars in World War II and are

20:34

here to talk about it and no one's ever asked you any of these questions well see he was in World War II and his

20:44

buddy his buddy land they landed together and as soon as they hit the

20:50

beach his brother got shot through the head and he got lost his life there well

20:56

when they moved out of uh they moved to

21:03

uh what' you say okinawa okinawa and he stayed on Okinawa till it

21:11

was over you know and then they moved him into uh Japan then he went home from

21:19

there i mean that's amazing to make it through Okinawa the whole time i mean ton thousands of men lost their lives on

21:26

that island i got a picture of it you got a picture of it and I right up here the Marine setting it up and and ladies

21:33

and gentlemen we have Joe Miles Senior's son here too who we're going to get to in a little bit to ask stories about his dad and stuff speaking of Uncle Leo

21:41

uh it's mentionable Leo got shot on Well there on the other place Leo got shot he

21:49

got purple heart twice but the one time he got shot right here and it moved up

21:56

over years that it was up here on top of the shoulder because your body changes

22:02

and the skin moves right along with I'd say so I got a question for you Joe you're going through boot camp and stuff

22:08

and what was initiation on the ship like pardon initiation on the ship you get

22:13

your ass yeah you could say whatever you want go ahead when you go across that equator buddy i've heard some stories

22:19

but I want to know what it was like for you well you're a polywag if you ain't ever crossed it so

22:26

what's a polywog that's just that down you're low you're low man you're low man

22:31

on the totem pole yeah and the night before you're going across if you can

22:37

get that P flag down which is flying off the mass you don't have to go through

22:43

that initiation but every time you want to go get it there's a bunch of them that's got you

22:49

and they're doing something to you so it never comes down you know well the next

22:56

morning when you start that off you go up and here's his

23:03

the crew that come up through the anchor chain and what they're doing they're all

23:09

sitting there and here's King Navy and all So these are all men that have already crossed the equator before so

23:15

what do you do they got the fattest right there you would have fit

23:22

he's pointing at Kyle he's pointing at Kyle right now say you would have fit perfect i'll tell

23:28

you you get down on your hands and knees and they got axle grease all over his

23:34

belly and you got to kiss his belly and they shove your head right into it man

23:41

you know then you go to a table and there's a bunch of

23:46

pharmacists and they got a hot uh scissor and they lay you on there and

23:53

while they're doing plug up your ears [Music]

23:59

Maryanne they they got a condrum and they got it loaded with some kind of

24:05

cream and you're laying there on that table and they're rubbing that song but across your belly and all the time this

24:13

guy's got that up there and he's squeezing it and right in right in the mouth right in

24:20

but then they take you out of there and you go around to the wash man and you or

24:27

barber rather and you sit down in that chair and they just cut your hair any

24:33

damn way they want you know then they release it backwards and when you go

24:39

backwards you fall into a tank of water and that water is just deep enough that

24:46

you got to stand on your tiptoes to take and stand up they have a

24:52

a a mattress that goes over the side of it everybody's got to go out over that

24:59

mattress and as you're going over that mattress they're beating your

25:05

ass and you get down on your hands and your knees and you start

25:11

crawling and everybody on that ship that is a bell

25:18

not polyw that's the one that's got to crawl

25:23

but they go across it and then uh everybody it's a shell back they go

25:32

down as far as it goes to they run out of shell backs and they all got challes

25:39

now what's a challe for people and a challe they fix them in a piece of canvas and they're about that long and

25:46

they're filled with sawdust so we're looking at maybe about a foot foot and a half yeah well your butt will

25:53

show up when you get to the end a buck and a half yeah that's about it you're

25:59

about that long and I Everybody Everybody beat you and when you get I

26:04

had a buddy and he's standing right on the end of that line and he said "Joe

26:10

Joe get up get up." But I start to get up and when he hit me I went over close

26:17

to them white lines over there yeah he said "You're finished."

26:23

So you're a showback now now you're a shell back it all goes in your record if

26:28

you ever lose the record I have a card someplace but if they if I can find the

26:33

card again you have to go back through it if you lose the records oh well I'm a Poliwog i'm a Marine i've never been

26:41

across the equator so did you yeah i never have oh man i Well that my problem

26:46

was I never got to go over it again well I nowadays Joe they'd call that hazing

26:52

but you know yeah see yeah but they're getting soft out there in the military well my

26:58

brother-in-law he was or son-in-law but he was on a

27:04

carrier and he says "Well I've been through uh all them that they have

27:11

different one for but the big one is when you cross that equator."

27:16

And he said "But we didn't get nothing like that." He said "We had barbecues." [Laughter]

27:23

That's right you [ __ ] so we we got Joe's son here and I want

27:29

to bring him in for a minute uh you're also Joe as well correct um so you know

27:34

growing up did your dad ever talk to you about these stories or Sure i've I've I've heard uh many of his stories

27:42

probably very many of them yeah and what growing up what'd you

27:47

think about that i mean interesting very interesting interesting i mean because being a young child with

27:52

the father in the service and stuff and not knowing about that type of stuff right i mean was it like w learning

28:00

about World War II in elementary did you always go well my dad was in there or I don't actually recall like that but uh I

28:08

the South Pacific I was very familiar with that those battles yeah with the island hopping campaign yes um much more

28:16

than the European part of that war because all of my uncles and of course my dad was in the South Pacific okay

28:22

yeah and then that's for the army out there you you hear that just cuz you took over a whole continent and we took over a bunch of little islands but those

28:29

islands were all fortified like you wouldn't believe well on on

28:37

Guam whenever we was there for supplies they take and

28:43

have the island people working for the government thing well they'd get in line

28:50

to go through the trial line and the Japs was coming out of the

28:56

out out of the their caves in there all over the island and they come down they

29:02

get in the lion try to pass herself off the like the Guanges you know and that's how they

29:08

catch them but when they catch them all the thing they was doing was sending them back to Japan so instead of taking

29:15

them prisoner of war they sent them back to Japan hey I I I took and guarded

29:21

German uh prisoners of war up in the island up

29:28

in uh not San Francisco but Oakland Oakland

29:33

up in the mountains they had a we had a concentration camp and I was waiting on my third trip out and that's the only

29:41

thing they had for us to do was watch Germans man they loved it hell they you you go look at it they look like a big

29:48

farm and they had their own thing all built up and they do anything they want they're walking all over yeah cuz they

29:55

probably seen their half them didn't want to go back to Germany let's go back to what Todd had mentioned there because

30:01

that's pretty interesting i think uh you were talking about Guam and when they would catch the Japanese I guess they

30:07

were soldiers at one point and they would send them back to Japan was that after the war and treaty was signed or

30:14

were they doing the war that was that they nothing went back there until after they signed on the ship but like on

30:22

Okinawa for an example uh when they the battle was going on

30:29

there now they show that battle so many times but they never show

30:38

them jumping off of the end of the island and the jabs is we took Guam and

30:46

uh uh that they was pushing them and the women on there at Okinawa and everything

30:53

and they always thought that the Americans was going to rape them and all that so they were jumping right off with

31:00

them so at the end of the island was a cliff and everybody's just jumping off everybody was jumping off they done the

31:06

same thing on Guam how far how far of a drop was it oh hell i guess it was about

31:12

a story and a half i mean so so there's just floating out no it was way up it was rocks here's here's the beach right

31:20

here okay i thought the ocean was Oh whenever they they jumped they jumped

31:25

way down and they ended up in them rocks you know they were pregnant or whatever

31:31

you know and they was trying to stop them because they held them until they

31:37

got them all back together they would then the soldiers and that would have been sent back to

31:43

uh the mainland so you're telling me during the war we were sending soldiers back to come back or Yes they did no the

31:52

ones that come down and went into the trout line they catch them they'd send them back you know because they already

31:58

signed well pardon me if I say this but that's fooar that that was that was after the treaty

32:04

after the treaty oh it was after the treaty still fooar you know what we don't got to kill him but I some kind of

32:10

punishment or something let him swim back so tell me tell me where you were

32:16

at when the treaty was being signed when did you hear about it uh because it was signed on the US Missouri if I'm correct

32:21

on the Missouri yeah okay where were you and what boat were you on the Missouri got in there missouri got in there

32:28

before we did you know because we started to go home you know and then we

32:34

went on in but the Missouri wasn't there no more after that was signed they came out of

32:41

there and I don't know where in the hell they went but we we went in there and

32:46

then I told you we helped deactivate that naval base there yeah nagasaki yeah

32:52

and I I've been on the the uh Yakakota which was Japanese one of them they was

32:58

there to bomb Pearl Harbor and uh you ain't seen nothing so crummy as them was

33:06

they had a room that must have been you see how wide them three parking spots

33:13

are so we're talking about as wide as park about that wide and it must have been half as times long everybody jump

33:21

in there one time and take a bath in there oh man so life on a ship they

33:29

walked around the street if they had a pee right there in the street right if

33:34

they had to take a crap they pull the bars down [ __ ] right on the street so

33:39

you were on the the Iowa was there ever a moment when you thought "Oh no this isn't good." Or I'm going to tell you

33:47

what I had a a w a moment and it was the biggest one I had in my life and we was

33:55

going home on the Iowa and every evening at

34:00

6:00 after the meal everybody's got to be finished but at 6:00 there's always a

34:07

chaplain who comes on and he says a little prayer over you a prayer of

34:14

thanks well this night uh we're there and

34:21

Bolson may come on and he says uh after the prayer that the uh pastor had had

34:29

and he says crew the captain wants to talk to the crew

34:36

so when he comes on he says "This is Captain so and so." He says "And I want

34:42

to take and warn you that there's a chance that we'll hit a tidal wave."

34:51

He says "And when you hit that tidal wave if we should happen to flip just

34:57

hold on as much as you can because everything will drop off and the ship

35:04

will take in 15 minutes would come back up but then there's nothing left on it."

35:11

Well that was if we hit the tidal wave he says "We're going to try to miss the

35:17

tidal wave we're going to change course." So we changed the

35:23

course and we didn't hit the big part of it but we hit the where she's the

35:30

thinner part of it and we had two 50

35:35

mm up on the bow right on right on the edge of the bow then we had two 40

35:44

mm over here and then right back in here you had

35:50

smaller guns and you had the 5-in 38s starting of them we had 10 of them

35:58

but we only thought that was going to happen but what when that little bit that we

36:05

hit is it tore the guns off the bow it

36:10

tore the 20s that we had there the 40 millimeters had a a shield around them

36:17

to protect the guns and the ammunition and they bent that like

36:22

bread both of them it tore off the mics it tore off the scopes that we had on

36:29

the 50s and that uh it damaged our 5 in

36:35

38s it tore two airplanes off the lifeboats was tore off we had nothing

36:43

and And think about that ladies and gentlemen he just said the USS Iowa was one of the biggest ships in the fleet it

36:48

was it almost tore this boat in half yep yep you tell it it buckled the bow a

36:54

little bit you know and although I've seen the Pittsburgh didn't have a bow

37:00

left you know and that was it were at Guad at Okinawa

37:07

and she backed all the way back to Guam and they fixed her up to hold and she

37:14

left and made herself all the way back to Pearl Harbor with no

37:20

bow so a large But think about these large ships that the Navy sails the seas in okay she

37:29

went in reverse all the way to port and then they fixed it up this is a giant

37:34

battleship we're talking about here well they welded up everything so you know and then they all the way back but uh

37:42

the battleships uh as big as they was they always sit

37:49

here and then you had carriers that sit here so the carriers sat outside the

37:55

battleships each one the heavy heavy cruisers then the light cruisers so they made their way out the only one was they

38:03

protected the battleship because you could shoot over everything they had so the battleship was the main ship then

38:09

and everything worked its way out from there you had the smaller ships on the way out so I do have a question cuz

38:16

growing up I I was fascinated with World War II just because of the simple reason of what you men and women went through

38:23

at the time like I watched Saving Private Ryan one of my favorite movies of all time when they stormed the beach

38:29

in Normandy and stuff like that did you ever witness the airplanes flying over

38:34

and bombings and things like that or anything i mean they did on the

38:40

battleships they never got that far in oh you know on the older battleships you know they was off in

38:47

another area because they would be fighting another battle but the heavy ships would take on the islands that

38:56

they would a lot of fortification on it see and they they stayed out here

39:03

that's why I got that picture of of uh EVO okay you know

39:11

because we stayed out and we could take and fire in anything so you were fire

39:17

support then i was Yeah see I was fire control they sent me to school for fire

39:23

control okay and when you went went to school uh

39:29

fortunately I didn't have uh education for um you got one after World

39:35

War II didn't you you get it while you're in there but it ain't the same thing

39:45

oh you got any questions K yeah so so how long was your your training then for your schooling

39:51

how before I How long was your schooling for for your job oh for my job six weeks

39:58

six weeks that seems kind of short to be a guy sending off missiles that'll destroy an

40:04

island joe well you know it was you out in San Diego yeah I was at I heard you say you

40:11

go but see we couldn't even go on on that island mhm that was for officers

40:17

all in the marine huh what what island or San Diego

40:24

but we couldn't go on there at all that was for officers and uh chiefs and that

40:30

you know so So what was your rank i was a fire controlman first that was the uh

40:36

Well what was your rank oh our liberty rank i was third class e What what were

40:43

you an E3 an E4 we we didn't go back oh petty chief officer i mean we went first

40:48

class second class that's it see I don't know much about how the Navy is ranos but another thing about when we went

40:55

through boot camp before we ever went over we had to go up to Pendleton

41:01

okay and when we got up to Pendleton it was for rifle range

41:06

and they had a a bomb not a bomb but a uh an ammunition go uh building up there and

41:16

they flooded it with uh uh gas mhm well whenever we took and

41:23

got up there and they we get through with one we went in the other one well we go in they tell us before we went in

41:30

you know when they say you got to walk in you're talking about the gas chamber

41:36

aren't you yeah you got to walk in and we're telling you now you better take and walk straight in

41:44

and straight out cuz if you don't you're going back through well I've seen them

41:49

take a lot of them man go back through again i think sometime they was up with

41:54

it oh man that gas chamber is brutal i'll tell you what but best memory about music we we took boats and we left out

42:04

of the naval base and we went across the harbor and we made attacks on the uh

42:11

beach and the wire laid on the ground and next step up and we had to crawl

42:17

backwards and hold up the wires and everything you know and we had a a chief

42:23

petty officer that was taking us through all that and he stood up and he had some

42:30

rocks in his hand and he'd see somebody stick their head up and he'd throw that rock at him

42:38

he said "Just think if there was a bullet catching you." But that anytime that somebody says "Let's lay on our

42:45

back and crawl through." That's a tough job because that rifle you got you're

42:50

holding it here and you're scooting with your legs and your butt there ain't no wiggling you just go

42:58

right straight back so you're crawling under barb wire and you're holding You're talking about

43:04

wiggling backwards with the rifle above your head on your back i could imagine that's tough i mean I

43:10

sure did did they ever fire live rounds over the barbwire while you were going through a year a good year before they

43:17

ever decided to get everybody together uh for

43:22

mainland you know they they took and uh was calling everybody they were loading

43:31

it up man they were loading it up and when you went into uh

43:39

uh the Philippines and when you you got into the harbor all you could see were

43:46

the ships uh crossarms and they had sticking up out of the water you know so the whole

43:52

order so I'm going to take a little situation here uh Pearl Harbor happened

43:58

and America decides to join the war where are you at in your stage in life and where did when did you decide to

44:04

join where was I at in your stage of life when you heard about Pearl Harbor were you already in when did you join

44:10

the Navy my brother-in-law uh was on the Maryland and they wanted to go to church

44:17

on Sunday morning they didn't have a Catholic chaplain so they took him to the West Virginia so were you already in

44:24

the Navy at the time no no but I used to take and joke with him because they were

44:30

going to church and we were coming out of St michael's and uh that was

44:36

downtown and uh my two cousins and their wives and

44:42

myself and we was going out to my cousin's house and he reached over and

44:47

he turned the switch on the radio and it said the Japanese is now bombing Pearl

44:52

Harbor that's why they was going to church see but he was in the water for

44:57

about 3 days you know but he went in about 4 months before the the war

45:03

started and uh so you were at home at this time yeah yeah yeah so when did you

45:09

decide to join i would have joined the next day and they have called me i know

45:14

we went through the story before I think on the Memorial Day one but but how when and how did you join the Navy well how

45:22

did I join it yeah i went downtown on 12th and Clark i was going

45:28

to go to the post office the old post office i was going to join the Coast Guard so when I get to the Coast Guard

45:35

they told me I couldn't pass cuz I was too little but she told me she says "Go home

45:43

eat all the bananas you can eat don't do nothing but then come back

45:49

down here." So that's what I done then when I took the old street car Lee street car

45:57

and I went down to 12th Street again and when I got off the street car I said "Well [ __ ] I'mma join the Navy." So I

46:04

went across the street up on the ninth floor and they to join the Navy the

46:09

first thing they done was strip and what year was this all the little spots on

46:16

you what year was this yeah huh what year was this 45 45

46:21

yeah all the uh little spots on you and

46:26

me like a damn fool I had my name put on but you know why I had that put on there i have no idea huh no idea cuz I always

46:33

thought if I went down and they found me they'd know who the hell I was well what if your arm was missing well that's

46:39

somebody else's i have a funny story about that one time i believe I was a little kid we were at

46:46

the bank and for whatever reason he didn't have any identification on him i think you were cashing a check or

46:52

something and you they wouldn't uh they they didn't want to cash your check cuz

46:59

you didn't have any ID and then you pulled up your your uh you pulled up your sleeve and the person

47:06

behind the the bank teller said "Well I guess you wouldn't have somebody else's name on your arm." It's kind of like one

47:13

story that happened to me i went to go rent a hotel room and didn't have any identification and I told the lady at the front desk just to Google me and she

47:19

goes "Well that works." You know what it cost me to have my tattoos put on i

47:25

don't know how much it cost i'm going to show you something i can't show it on there anyway but you see that one yeah

47:31

the one that says Joe Miles US Navy i never knew I had that one you're talking about the one with the boob huh you got

47:37

a boob on your arm yeah how did you So you that every time that we got shots

47:45

the nipple on it they'd stand there and they'd go like a dart oh no yeah

47:53

yeah that thing here right there okay so you're in the Navy

47:58

right there let Let me see that lift that up again that is a boob yeah it is joe you got a boob on your arm that's

48:05

[ __ ] amazing but I didn't know I had that so so how did you get it then yeah but tell us the story were you wasted or

48:12

what we just got back home and it was a bar that we used to go

48:18

to and when we get halfway finished up the bartender would call a cab and say

48:24

"Take them back." They knew then when we went back in we used to pay him see

48:31

well we're on our way walking back to Pico Landing and that's where the

48:36

Liberty boats come in and we're about halfway back and they

48:42

had a like a carnival there along the area and that's Long Beach

48:49

California and we're halfway through

49:01

halfway through you know and some sailor I don't know who in the hell he was but

49:07

he ran out from the end of a building and he cracked my one body and they start fighting well right

49:16

away there the whole crowd around and I could see somebody moving that you know so I I get right out there with them and

49:23

I'm telling them I'm going to hit the first one that makes a move out that way well they must have thought I was

49:31

tough but I wasn't that's cuz you ate all them bananas

49:36

but they all stopped well we slept in a motel not a motel but it was the

49:44

um uh what do they call them we we have them around here when they're collecting

49:49

for holidays and that Salvation Army and they used to charge us a quarter to stay

49:56

all night in there all it was was a bunk go in lay with your clothes on and you

50:01

know just a quarter at the time quarter yeah well nowadays they put those in the vibrating machine beds the next morning

50:08

when we got up you know I look over and I What the hell is that you know I never

50:16

remember getting it put on I wonder what was going through your mind when you did it like put that boob

50:23

right here yeah i wasn't ready you know i said "Well just give me that one i don't know what the hell one it was."

50:29

He's just pointing at something on the wall so this leads me to another question and my wife didn't know I had

50:35

that you know that's what I was going to ask and then eventually I told her I said "Well I had

50:41

that point on cuz I was going to put your name in there." So So were you married while you were in the military

50:48

were you married while you were in the Navy were you married while you were in the Navy no he was 15 when he joined so

50:55

you're out of That's right i forgot about that thanks for reminding me but so so your wife never seen it no but

51:04

that was when my we got going you know and then we got married but she had

51:09

never seen my arm you know and you've been naked around her arm not up here i guess not back then i mean that was the

51:16

same way you know all these little ones i had them all put up here right that nobody can see them you know oh I'm

51:23

covered if I took my shirt off I'm covered in tattoos i ain't got a tattoo on here that cost over a dollar and a

51:30

quarter and that's it oh man I I went back well the doctor I had a good buddy

51:36

of mine that was family doctor and him and I went to school together and he

51:41

told me he said Joe don't worry about them he said because when they go over

51:48

to take them off he said you're going to have a hell scar you know so he said just leave them on your sleeves will

51:54

cover them i said thanks John i was worried about it because I was like I heard when you get older tattoos fade

51:59

but Joe your stills look pretty good how long ago was that i know i mean you were like what 17 16 15 18 i don't know but I

52:07

mean like look I'm going to I'm going to show you just in front of me but like I'm covered in tattoos my whole back's

52:14

covered oh boy that's good i got them everywhere yeah the only ones I don't

52:20

like to see it on i don't like to see it on a woman not at all well I like you said you got

52:26

to keep them to where they're not if they're doing it you know but they showed all over their legs you know and

52:33

arms and then we should I'd never seen any sailor ever have that many well join

52:40

the Marine Corps that's like a thing to do I guess with military guys is get tattoos wouldn't

52:45

you say that's right but I tell you the Marines would we had uh

52:54

uh I'm trying to think what they we call them fleet Marines yeah fleet Marines

53:00

yeah and I I had a lot of buddies in there you know fleet Marine Force yeah

53:05

so I never had to worry when I only weighed 116 pounds when I went in the Navy so you had to put rocks in your

53:12

pockets to stay on the ground bananas bananas

53:18

oh that's that's great navy suit we have it upstairs and it's like that white

53:23

so uh she's shown us his how wide his Navy suit was and it's probably about maybe a foot

53:30

little skinny Joe in little in his whites i'm surprised they didn't recruit you for a submarine

53:37

i volunteered for the submarine oh so you you've actually been on a submarine then but they wouldn't take me because

53:44

see everybody I Where'd you take your uh uh uh physical my what physical physical

53:52

uh down in St louis i forget where it was see all of us back in them days everybody had to go to JB Jefferson okay

54:00

okay yeah arkansas and different places that it

54:06

was attached to uh Missouri went to JB well JB they just

54:14

push you through so people who don't know Jefferson Barracks is the VA hospital here in St louis one of them

54:22

but uh that's what he's talking about but see they took and uh push you right on through there and

54:30

with me they go in my ear and they told me

54:35

they says "You're supposed to be rejected because of your

54:41

ear." And he said "You really want to get in the Navy?" And I said "Well that's what I'm here for." He said "Well

54:49

I'm going to pass you." He said "Now when you get to boot camp," he said

54:54

"you're going to get another physical just like this." and he said "If they catch it they might send you back home."

55:02

So when I get out there sure enough boy that was the first thing they called with that damn mirror and uh he said to

55:09

me he says "Uh how did you get through St louis?" He said "They should have rejected

55:14

you." And I told him what went about and then uh he said "Well they passed you."

55:22

He says "I'm going to pass you too." Well so the amount of men and women that

55:27

we needed for this war they were still rejecting people wow that's amazing that is I mean that's

55:34

crazy to think that we're at war with the world and they're still telling people you're not fit for military service yeah well you know I told you

55:41

about that ear being you know I stuck that left ear over well she'll tell you

55:47

I'm always saying what what what yeah I'm always saying what too i got

55:53

blown up so like on my left ear I'm always like "Huh?" Yeah i tell you when you can't hear it's great sometimes it's

56:00

good cuz then you don't hear people yelling at you i'll tell you something else how perfect they was on making you

56:08

uh physically fit to go well they pass me from my ear you know well after I get

56:15

out of the Navy uh I had a couple things that happened

56:20

to me in there you know and they should be in my medical records but anyway

56:28

uh we get out and his buddy of mine like I told you was my family

56:35

doctor and he said to me he said "Joe," he says "I tell you what I'm going to do." He says "I'm going to put you in St

56:41

john's." And he said "I'm gonna give you a physical from the top of your head to your bottom of your feet." So he stuck

56:47

his finger in your butt uhhuh yeah he said "Go ahead." He says "Well," he said "Sure I'll do that." you know so he put

56:55

me in there and the first day I'm in there that morning they come down and

57:01

they take me down for a kidney uh

57:07

x-ray and he takes a shot of it and he

57:13

walks out to me and he says "Did you ever have any problem with your kidneys?" And I says "Not a one." I said

57:21

"I could drink a half a barrel of beer and it wouldn't have hurt me." Well he said "Well I want to take

57:27

another shot." So he took another shot and he come out and he said "You sure you never had any problem with it?"

57:33

I said "No problem." So he took one of this side

57:38

and they sent me back up and here come John and I said "You better go and find

57:44

out what the hell is wrong." I said "They think they found something wrong with one of my kidney." But then he

57:49

comes up and he tells me "Well Joe you know how I am." He said "I won't do no cutting until we're sure." So he called

57:57

a urologist in and they went up in me and he pulls it back out and he said

58:02

"Don't worry about it." He says "You ain't got a kidney."

58:08

So you have one kidney yeah and in the Navy you were only born with one kidney

58:13

yeah born with one kidney you know well it end up you know uh before I went in

58:21

the Navy I was just a kid selling papers and twice I had a kind of

58:30

a monkey uh feeling i'll put it like that i got

58:36

my cart and I'm pushing it up Sbury and all of a sudden everything

58:41

gets yellow and when I'm dizzy and all you know well I sit and first thing you

58:49

know it it cleared out little by little well I went ahead delivering my

58:55

papers two weeks later I got my cart and I'm going back up Salsbury and this

59:00

one's even worse so I sit

59:05

home went home i had a passage to go in the house and my mother asked me she

59:11

said "What are you doing here?" I said "I got to sit for just a little bit." And I told them about it well I go down

59:19

and I join the Navy and how old were you when you joined the Navy they got that then after I got out

59:28

of the Navy you know and one day I'm out cutting the

59:33

grass and I could feel myself and I could put in the

59:40

backyard and I'm laying in the grass passed out and I come out of it and I thought

59:46

"What the hell am I doing down here?" So I go in the house and I said to my wife

59:52

I said "I was laying in the grass out there passed out." And I said "You always telling me make sure you let me

59:58

know don't feel good." So so how old were you when you found out you didn't have a kidney well 40 49 47 something

1:00:08

like that so you were 47 years old and that's how until you found out you were missing a kidney even I even the tube

1:00:15

for it it didn't have nothing yeah that's so 47 years you lived 47

1:00:20

years till you found out you were missing a kidney yep then I come out of

1:00:25

it well then this here all went out you know and I went in the

1:00:30

Navy and on the Iowa I had a bad thing happen i got this

1:00:37

creepy feeling you know and I sit down i told my buddy I says "I'm going down to

1:00:43

the dispensary." So I go down i got a fever high

1:00:49

fever and the doctor told him he said "Well just lay put him in bed give him something for a fever."

1:00:56

So aspirin and bread i'm in there for over two and a half weeks they're trying to break that fever but that fever was

1:01:04

the same thing that yellow color you know well one day whenever I'm home I go

1:01:11

do this then I done it again and the second time that I passed out in the

1:01:16

yard is when it was worse than the first

1:01:22

time and then first thing you know I had a

1:01:29

bypass quadruple bypass and they tell me that my blood is only 30% they ain't got

1:01:37

enough to push it up so you make it through World War II

1:01:44

and then you you almost die because you found out you were missing a kidney

1:01:49

that's right so I had so I had heart problem you know oh wow i got a

1:01:54

pacemaker sitting up here that's amazing like that's a scary thought about like I

1:02:00

made it through Afghanistan and Iraq and I've probably almost died more times

1:02:05

being home than than I can even imagine like can you like you make it through this war and then something so minute

1:02:13

and just could take you out in a minute how old are you now Joe yeah i'd be 94

1:02:19

94 years old okay so ladies and gentlemen if you're out there right now and you're listening to this if you ever

1:02:25

see a World War vet World War II veteran ask them about their stories they're are living history i mean there's nothing

1:02:32

you can get closer to knowing about what happened back then than to talk to one of these gentlemen i'm sure they

1:02:37

wouldn't mind i didn't know Joe doesn't mind right now talking to us i mean back then yeah probably but nowadays it's

1:02:43

like it's over i mean it's over but it's history but you you you think and then

1:02:50

you remember something then you you get hesitant because you don't remember it

1:02:56

and you have to go back and pull it out again you know right

1:03:01

they're an older generation pretty soon they're not going to be around anymore no i mean so this kind of stuff recorded

1:03:07

on history is amazing for me to have this conversation with you because we're getting the Joe Miles Senior story put

1:03:14

on record but if you take and go to any of the VFW books or anything like that

1:03:22

and it's got in there you know we got this particular marine medal mhm you

1:03:29

look in there and it goes all the way back to Korea and you never see anything in there for a World War II veteran

1:03:36

anymore right none really i did not know that well there ain't many of us left

1:03:42

anyway you know and then then it's it's I don't want to say it's sad cuz it's a

1:03:47

long time ago we all outlive our time but like I said it's history you guys are a part of history and not to be able

1:03:54

to to hear it firsthand your stories to hear what I learned about in school is

1:04:02

just amazing and fascinating to me but see I had an RNR in

1:04:09

Japan and it was up in Atami Japan and I was up there for 10 days

1:04:17

there was five sailors count myself that was the first time the sailors had

1:04:23

ever been up in there so anyway that uh I was talking to

1:04:29

my wife one day and I said to her I says "You know I wonder if I can pull up

1:04:37

Nakasaki not Nakasaki but a Tommy Japan on a computer."

1:04:45

So I went to the computer and I wrote typed in at Tommy Japan hit the button

1:04:52

when it comes on boy all these new modern buildings is up and everything like that i said "Hell I didn't see

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nothing like that." So I shut it back down and then I put

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1945 you know and I hit it and when it comes up

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there it is man there it is yeah it's just exactly like it was whenever I had that RNR there yeah well Joe I don't

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want to cut you off here and I'm sure you got more amazing stories but we're we're reaching towards the end here i'm

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going to let you go so you can go back home but to sit here in front of you like I said and and have this amazing

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conversation of someone who's been to a historic event like Nagasaki I mean it's

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talked about everywhere in history books and you actually stood there that's just amazing to me so to meet you I got to

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give you credit when you threw there on something a marine yeah you're giving a

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marine credit uhoh we almost hit a

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uh what the hell you call the floats the um they they had them out

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there sink the ships oh the lamp the mines mines i could think of a little

1:06:11

worm but anyway wasn't one of the guys was on

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watch and when they spotted it it was about like that far from the tree from

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the from the so about 20 30 feet so they called one of the sharpshooters up out

1:06:30

of the you know the marine division and they sit there and they kept hopping

1:06:35

until they hit that point and when they hit the point boom then you being in the Navy you know why the Marines exist

1:06:42

right oh yeah yeah so you can make fun of them no no no no you know why the

1:06:48

Marines were made it was so we could be on the ships to protect the sailors and you know and you know the reason why the

1:06:54

officers have the cross on top of their hats right we put that up there so we wouldn't shoot the officers that's where

1:07:00

all the pay was right so we wouldn't shoot the officers from the mast it's exactly why that's right

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i had a guy I our fire our directors for the uh 40 mm

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50 mm and we had to go up and take these uh off of there all the time to check

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them you know and they told me they said Joe when you go up paint that damn

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director he said because they're going we're going going in port and they'll be looking for that and you got there's

1:07:33

some rest spots on it well I wouldn't have normally done them they would have sent a deck or something i'm up there

1:07:40

and I paint that son of a gun the same color as his

1:07:45

shirt boy they come down they want to know who in the hell painted that

1:07:50

director they wrote me back up there the first thing you know here's a first class firefighter woman were out there

1:07:57

painting that damn thing well sir we'll we'll have to have you on again and I really do appreciate your

1:08:03

time but we're kind of running out of it uh I would like to thank his son for bringing him out here to us so that way

1:08:09

we could uh enjoy his time absolutely guys todd thank you very much for having

1:08:15

us out and uh like I said ladies and gentlemen if you don't know much about World War II you need to brush up on your history this man has been through a

1:08:22

lot and seen a lot but uh we're going to end it with that

1:08:27

we've got all kinds of things going on right now here in the parking lot it's getting a little crazy so this is a little bit out of my format but we'll

1:08:33

end it with that and uh we'll catch you on the next episode thanks for taking the time oh thank you John thank

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