Warren H. Cochran

Warren H. Cochran was born in Lenox, Iowa in December 1923. Prior to his military service, he was a senior in high school and worked part-time in a grocery store. While Cochran was performing home chores, his father told him of the Pearl Harbor attack. With many of his high school friends enlisting in the military, he decided to join the army. Cochran was sent to Radio School at Des Moines, Iowa, to Telephone School at Dunwoody Institute in Minnesota, and finally to Camp Dodge, Iowa. Most of his fellow trainees were draftees assigned to the Army Signal Corps, as he was. Cochran, along with his classmates, was then sent to Camp Crowder, Missouri for basic combat training, after which he was sent to Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, for more telephone training. At Monmouth, he was cautioned to be extremely careful when climbing poles to lay cable wire in a combat zone, due to the possibility of enemy snipers lurking nearby.

After training at Fort Monmouth, Cochran was sent to a Communications Pool in Pennsylvania, from where he was assigned to the 85^th Signal Operations Battalion in Maryland, which was transferred to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. His training had begun in September 1942 and went on until the end of 1944. By the time his unit was ordered overseas, in the spring of 1945, the war in Europe was over. The 85^th was sent to Seattle, Washington to board the fastest troop carrier ship in the navy, along with detachments of Medical Corps doctors and nurses. After a stop in Hawaii, the troopship joined a convoy enroute to Okinawa.

On arrival at Okinawa, the passengers debarked, but there were no trucks and other supplies for several weeks. During this period, there was a Kamikaze scare, and smoke screens were established ten miles apart to confuse any such attack. The Kamikazes never appeared, but the Japanese blew up a nearby ammunition dump; and, although the Japanese ground force had been defeated, snipers in caves were still a threat.

Cochran’s unit set up a tent camp and began to lay communication wires. One night a Japanese soldier came down a nearby hill with a grenade in his hand and was shot by a corporal in the 85^th. On another occasion, a Japanese pilot landed at the American airfield. He was ordered to leave the plane with hands up, which he did. Asked why he surrendered, unusual for a Japanese aviator, he said he had two brothers in the American army and did not wish to endanger them! He and his plane provided valuable intelligence, and he was detained at a separate location from other Japanese POWs. The POWs were all treated well, provided with nourishing meals and opportunities during their captivity.

Cochran told the interviewer that his job was to lay wire from a command post to outlying unit headquarters. As Okinawa was secured, he was preparing for the invasion of Japan. When Cochran heard of the Japanese surrender, he was overjoyed. He was certain that an invasion of the enemy’s home islands would have resulted in massive casualties on both sides.

The war was over. In October 1945, Cochrane was sent to Korea, previously occupied by the Japanese, and remained there until February 1946. It was a very frigid winter, with frequent snowstorms. In Korea, his unit was tasked with establishing a communications center in a large, abandoned school building. The Americans were assisted by local Koreans who extended wire to nearby locations. The issued phone equipment worked well, despite the temperature extremes. He noted that he was issued an M1 carbine as a weapon.

While in Korea, Cochran’s unit was advised to refrain from eating Korean food, which was allegedly filled with “waste material,” which was probably a misinterpretation of kimchi. The Americans were told to only eat “fresh food,” like eggs. Morale in his unit was quite good, and the soldiers got along well with the Korean civilians, who complained that since General MacArthur had not occupied the entire peninsula, a future war was inevitable.

When his tour of duty in Korea ended, Cochran was sent home, although his unit remained in the country, attached to Tenth Army Headquarters. He recalled that his trip home was “terrible.” Cochran was initially sent to Hong Kong on a ship, which picked up many American soldiers and civilians at the British colony. The weather proved horrible during the whole trip. Everyone was seasick, and there was considerable vomiting aboard. The ship finally docked in Seattle, Washington, where Cochran boarded a train to Fort Dix, where he was discharged from the army. He was awarded the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the American Campaign Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal for his service.

Cochran told the interviewer that he belonged to the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion, yet he had not attended any unit reunions and had no desire to visit locations where he had served. He stated that he had been interviewed and videotaped by Fred Carl, curator of the InfoAge Museum in Wall Township, New Jersey.

A month after his discharge, Cochran began working for New Jersey Bell Telephone; he worked for the company for thirty-three years before retirement. Although he was offered a return to the military during those years, he declined, believing he had done his share during the war. At the time of his interview, Cochran worked three days a week for Habitat for Humanity, building homes for needy people. He also retained his membership in Telephone Pioneers, produced a large map for teachers to use in class and, with other volunteers, provided donations to a church food bank in Neptune, New Jersey.

Warren H. Cochran passed away at home at the age of 85 on March 9, 2009. Notably, memorial donations in his name were made to the Western Monmouth Habitat for Humanity.

Additional Resources:

• Wire and Linemen for messages
• The Coast Star article
• The Coast Star obituary