Max Peck (1920-1987) - World War II Veteran

"Max A Peck" by Nedra Myrberg Peck - 2008

Max enlisted in the Marines in April 1942. He was sent to training in San Diego. He went from there to Northwestern University. He was in a radio class. In August 1942, Grandma Peck, Tom, Faye, Reva and I all drove to Northwestern University to see Max. We would watch Max marching on the field. He got sent up to Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Illinois north of Chicago. He was on guard duty out there.

Enlisted April 1942

Max came home in November 1942 when he had a leave and we got married 30 November. The way he received this leave is quite a story. The marine authorities asked him to go in the prison to find out about a murder and also how mail was getting out. They needed somebody to go in to find out how it happened. They told him he didn't have to, but they thought he would be a good man for the job. They told him they would make it right for him. So he spent three days in prison. He got the information they wanted. He found out who caused the murder. He found out how the mail was getting out. While the prisoners were marching, they would just drop mail they wanted sent out anywhere. Someone else would see it on the ground and just naturally put it in the mail.His buddies couldn't understand why he had been put in jail. When he got out, he told his friends that they had just made a mistake and they had the wrong guy. So the authorities said he could have a leave. He came home. It took us a week to get a temple recommend. We were married 3 days before he had to go back.

Marriage - November 1942

It was March 1943 before I had enough money to go to Chicago to be with Max. My first ever escalator ride was in Omaha, Nebraska at a train stop. I met some girls on the train so I had some company there. I didn't know what an escalator was or how to use it. I stood down at the bottom and my friend had to come down and help me get on it. I have forgotten those girl's names. When I finally got to Chicago, I got off the train but when I got to the gate, they were paging me. "Nedra Peck, wait for Papa." He would be a half hour late. I thought, "Oh, no!" I was scared. I thought if that train had been going back to Salt Lake I would have gotten right back on it. I thought everyone was watching me. I was terrified. I was glad to see him when he came. We stayed together at a hotel in Chicago for 4 nights. Then he had to go back to camp. It was scary in that hotel alone. I could hear people throwing dishes and hollering. They were all drunk. At 11 am I would buy breakfast and a sandwich for later. I wouldn't ever leave my room any time other than that. I found out the church wasn't too far. They were having a bazaar and someone came and got me. It was so nice. I got acquainted there. I was only there for a week.

Max then came and got me and my luggage. We took the elevated train to Evanston, Illinois. In Evanston we went to the USO club. I was the only marine's wife. From here, we found a lady who owned a mansion house and rented out the rooms. This lady said, "I listen to that Mormon Tabernacle Choir every Sunday." We rented a room from this lady for $8.50 a month. That was expensive, but it had a basin. Max came to be with me when he wasn't in camp. Camp was 20-30 miles from where I lived. I got acquainted with the navy wives who also lived in the mansion. I got a job at Kresge Dime store. Max would come home on the weekends. We were a couple of blocks the other way to Lake Michigan. Clark Street divided Evanston and Chicago. At the store, it was so humid, the paper bags would be damp from the humidity. We would stick the purchases in the bags anyway and they would go home that way. We sold these crystal dishes for 10 cents each. I still have one of those dishes. Sometimes I worked with the fish. I would scoop the fish out to sell them as pets. We had a pretty nice time back there. Whenever our men came in on liberty, then our boss would let us leave. Most of the workers were employed in arms plants, so they were willing to have us work when we were available. But when our husbands came, they would let us off to be with them. For Sunday dinners, we would get a hot dog from the vendors pushing carts at the beautiful park along Lake Michigan. They were the best hot dogs with relish and everything. They were probably about a dime. Afterwards we would go to the corner drug store and get hot chocolate and pie. Once a group of us from the mansion house went up to Waukegan, Wisconsin to see the King Sisters in a show. That was a lot of fun. Most of the time when I went to church, I would go with a girl from the store to the Baptist church. I was surprised when I went to a baptism and it was just like ours. I couldn't go to the Mormon church all the way in Downtown Chicago. I got my first sunburn on Lake Michigan. It was cloudy. I sat there in my swimming suit. Man I got a burn. I could hardly stand my clothes on. Dad got $21 a month. They would hold out his insurance and laundry. What we had to live on was mostly what I got at the store. In July, I got quite sick. I went home for about a week. Grandma Peck came back with me and stayed a few days.

Illinois - March 1943

Then in August, Max got orders to go to Camp LaJune in North Carolina. He was going to leave this one day and then I had to leave and come home. My friend, Evelyn, took me to the train station in Evanston and then I was on my own. So he went east and I needed to go west. I got down to the train station in Chicago. It was such a big place. There were so many service men. Only service men and their families could go on the train. Service men and families went first, but my husband had gone east. No telling how long I would have sat there. I was just praying I could meet someone I knew. I looked up to this Lieutenant and said, "Are you Phil Jensen from American Fork?" and he said, "Yes." I told him I was my Ed Clements granddaughter. He said, "You're my sister now. We'll take care of you." I didn't have to worry anymore. Phil Jensen said, "You're going to sit with my wife." Her name was Ruth. They got off in Ogden. He was going home on leave. I thanked the Lord so many times. Phil Jensen used to be the Sunday School teacher when I would go with Elaine to Sunday School so I knew him from there. I knew his name. He called about a year ago, in 2007, asking me questions about that day and how I happened to find him. He's been a stake president. I have still wondered where he was stationed and how he came to be there.

Camp LaJune - August 1943

From Camp LaJune, Max went down to Panama and then to Camp Pendleton. Anyone who lived within 800 miles got leave. He had 12 days. When he got to my parents home, I was at Aunt Eva's home. I had no idea he was even coming. Edna called Eva and told her she needed me home quickly. I couldn't find a bus so I walked the two miles from 5th East and 4th South to 7th South and 4th West. I was between 2nd and 3rd West when I recognized Max walking toward me. I was so happy. I got pregnant during that leave in September 1943. When he went back to Pendleton, he went and saw my Aunt Marie Myrberg Lundgren in Los Angeles. Then I went down and stayed next door to Aunt Marie with her daughter Gladys Lundgren Scott in Los Angeles. That was quite a way from Pendleton. Max would hitchhike up there. I was so sick from the pregnancy. This was the only pregnancy I was sick with. Aunt Marie and Cousin Gladys were such good cooks, but just the smell made me sick. I decided I should go home. I thought Max would get a leave before he shipped out but he didn't. It was hard to leave him but I thought it was for the best. I went home to momma and daddy.

Camp Pendleton

Max got shipped out in January 1944. He went straight to the Marshall Islands. Gladys had told Max that if he ever got near the ship Woodmansee, to look for her husband. Gladys's husband was in the Coast Guard. Max got assigned on that boat. He asked someone, "Do you know Edward K. Scott?" He was told that Scotty was down in his bunk. When he got into his area, he asked, "Do you know anybody that lives at" and he rattled off Gladys's address in Los Angeles. Scotty jumped up and said "That's my wife and daughter." He had a little girl that was a year old. All the other guys from Max's group had to sleep out on the deck but Scotty would take Max in his room to sleep. While Dad's group had to scrounge for food, Dad got steak dinners. He was treated so well by Scotty. While on the Woodmansee, Dad went in a machine shop and made a knife and a leather case. It was all made out of airplane parts. I would always use that knife in my cooking. Tim was in the service so we thought he should have the knife.

Roi Namur - January 1944

Max went from the Woodmansee to Maui to his home base. He was there until they left for Saipan in June. He was in Saipan when Maxine was born.

Saipan - June 1944

Then he went to Tinian on 24 July 1944. I didn't hear from him for 8 weeks before she was born. Dad was in the fox hole with his friend Harold Cowart. Howard still lives in Jacksonville, Florida. I hear from him almost every Christmas. Harold went for the mail call. They were all waiting to hear about "Junior Peck." Max got this letter from Aunt Goldie, Mom's cousin, with the news about Maxine's birth. Goldie's letter got to him before the Red Cross notification. I had a letter back from Max within a week of him receiving the news. V mail letters were little letters with a picture of a soldier's baby given to the mom to write as if it was from the baby. There was a "Hello Daddy" section in the newspaper with a picture of Maxine. From this, Nedra was sent copies of this v mail. She wrote a sweet note from Maxine to Max. He kept it with him throughout the war. Max would send her cute little things: dresses, bathing suit, a necklace. When he got to Maui he would get her those things and send them. He sent a sweater and a hat.

On Tinian, Max was awarded the bronze star. His leader was injured and Max took over and that's why he got the bronze star. He saw his friend shot and killed. There was a cave from where the enemy was shooting. He went right up to that cave with no thought for his own safety and just shot into that cave: boom boom boom. He just hated seeing the enemy kill his good friend.

Tinian - July 1944

© 2014 Joy