John Francis Hunt Jr

We honor the life of John F. Hunt Jr., a man of valor, family, and community, who passed away at the age of 102. Born to Maude Nero Hunt and John F. Hunt Sr., John was a brother to Richard Hunt and Madeline Hunt Kanarowski. He was a devoted husband to Catherine Allison Hunt, with whom he shared the joys and challenges of life until her passing.

John's academic and athletic achievements were notable; he graduated from Lincoln High School where he lettered in football and placed in the state high school 440-yard dash. At the University of Puget Sound, he lettered in football and track. He finished his athletic carrier at Washington State University, earning a letter in track.

After college graduation, his service to the nation was distinguished; he joined the Marine Corps through the V-12 program and commanded an infantry platoon in the 2nd Bn 8th Marines from Saipan to Sasebo, Japan at the end of World War II. Following the war, he led the Tacoma Marine Reserve Company during the Korean War mobilization. In peacetime, John, alongside his family, built Hunt’s Office Supply, a cornerstone of the Tacoma business community. His entrepreneurial spirit was matched by his commitment to his family and his country.

John's heart found its match in 1947 when he married Catherine Allison, and together they nurtured a loving family, including sons Robert T. Hunt, James A. Hunt, and Gerald P. Hunt. Their legacy flourished with eight grandchildren and nineteen great-grandchildren, all of whom brought immense joy and pride to John's life.

Retiring to Oakbrook, John found joy in golf and cherished time spent with Catherine and their friends, their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

John's memory will be held in the highest regard, and his impact will continue to resonate through the generations. We bid farewell to a man of honor, courage, and unwavering dedication. May he rest in peace.

This is a letter to my sons Bob and Jerry. It is the background that formed my thinking.

When in High School, I went to Pullman for track championships in 1938 and 1939. The championship participants were housed on the WSC campus. I was able to stay in a fraternity house. I liked the atmosphere of the fraternity and of the college.  I decided then that I wanted to go to WSC. In the spring of 1939 when the time came to choose a college the football coach from CPS contacted my family and talked my parents and me into going to CPS. The coach told us that the starting quarterback was a returning senior, but he had been hurt and everyone thought that he would not be able to play in the fall. The told us that CPS would need a quarterback. I was his choice if l would go to CPS. When the fall came I went to CPS. The starting quarterback was able to return and was given the starting position. I played some, but not much. It was a disappointing season. I stayed at CPS for the remainder of the year. As I looked to the future I knew I wanted to return to WSC.

My Dad started Hunt's Office Supply after my first year of college. I stayed out of school for that year. In the fall of 1941 the business my Dad and I had started was doing well enough for me to return to college. It was the fall of 1941. I was on my way to WSC.

I had a number of friends from Lincoln that were already at WSC. During High School a couple of these friends had played in the Mickey Mouse Band with me. I played saxophone and clarinet. My friends had formed a dance band. They had a place in the band waiting for me. I joined my friends at WSC. My band friends were members of Lambda Chi Fraternity, so I was invited to join. Going to WSC and being a member of a fraternity was great fun, it was like I had imagined it could be when I visited WSC as a member of the Lincoln High School Track Team. Being in the band and in the fraternity inspired me to study and work hard. I did well in grades.

Two months after school started, the first Sunday in December, I went to Mass as I normally did. On the way back to the Fraternity house I heard that a place called Pearl Harbor had been bombed. It was December 7, 1941. We knew we were at war. No one needed to ask. No one knew where Pearl Harbor was. Everyone had to ask "Where is Pearl Harbor?"  Many of my friends left college and volunteered for the service.  Soon the draft started. I was of course eligible for the draft. The President of the College advised all of the boys to stay in school until they were needed. The different branches of the Service gave the same advice.

WSC was a "land grant" college which meant that all men were required to take ROTC during their first two years of college. I was a sophomore so I had to take ROTC.  I didn't have experience with the military before ROTC, but my ROTC company commander was a Lambda Chi. I was made a sergeant right away. The biggest event on campus after the war began was the "Military Ball." My dance band was chosen to play at the ball. The dance was chaperoned by members of the military. One of the people in charge was an Army Major. During the dance members of the band visited with him. We didn't know anything about rank or much else about the military. Our only experience with the military was through the movies. The Major was friendly but we hadn't been introduced. We didn't know his name or even know what call him. We decided that since he seemed to be in charge he must be a sergeant, so we all called him "sarge". He didn't correct us. We learned later in the year about rank.

In July of 1942, I enlisted in Marine Corps program called V-12. This program allowed me to stay in school and graduate from college. After college I would go on to OCS. This was one of the programs offered to college students. Because it was thought that the war would last a long time, the services established programs to sustain the long term flow of college graduates into the Officer Corps.

I went back to college in September of 1942. I continued playing in the dance band and continued my education. During that year the Marine Corps program was changed. It was decided that we would be called to duty in July of 1943. As part of V-12 I was posted to the University of Washington in Seattle. We were put into Marine Uniforms and assigned to a women's dorm which was called a Marine Barracks. There were 4 or 5 hundred men in this program at the UW. There was a Captain in charge of all of us and a Warrant Officer as the Executive Officer. There were eight to ten NCO Drill Instructors. We went to classes and had military drill. We wore the Marine Uniforms at all times.

I was at the UW for two "quarters" which was about eight months. At the end of the second quarter I was called to report to Paris Island, SC in March, 1944. The UW informed me that at the end of that second quarter I had 178 credit hours from all colleges. I needed 180 credit hours to graduate. They informed me that because of my grades I could graduate from the UW lacking the two credit hours. My other choice would be to go back to WSC after the war and finish the degree there. I chose to graduate from the UW.

I reported to Paris Island, SC in March, 1944 for Boot Camp. Boot Camp was three months long. It was difficult. The Drill Instructors all seemed to hate us. Some of those who started with us were "Flunked Out" by the Drill Instructors. Those of us who survived Boot Camp were ordered to OCS at Quantico, VA. We had 10 days to get to Quantico from Paris Island. In those days air transportation was expensive and hard to get. Train transportation was slow. It would take five days to get from Paris Island to Tacoma and five days from Tacoma to Quantico. Going back to Tacoma over the break was out. There were five of us from Washington State who were bound for Quantico. Washington State was out because of the distance, so we decided to go to New York City. We had a great time in New York City. They couldn't do enough for us. We got tickets for Broadway shows. We got tickets for NY Yankees games. We were treated well.

I reported to Quantico in June 1944. OCS was hard and all business. After three months those of us who survived were commissioned 2nd Lieutenant. After the ceremony we were marched across the street to another set of barracks and continued in the same manner as we had the previous three months. This was called Reserve Officer School and we were Officers. Nothing else was different. It was hard. More "flunked out." Those who did not make the cut this time had to return to the enlisted ranks. We made it. We were ready to go into the Marine Corps.

I was given 15 days leave. I went back to Tacoma in September 1944 in my fancy new 2nd Lt Uniform.

In October 1944 I reported to Camp Lejune, NC for assignment to a unit. I was sent to Camp Pendelton, CA. We took two weeks going across the country by military train. There must have been 40 or 50 2nd Lt's in the group being transported Camp Pendelton. In California we waited to go overseas. Every day we would expect that we were shipping out. Every night we went to Los Angeles thinking it was our last night at home. Finally we were shipped out on an APA ship. It took us four weeks to get to the island of Siapan. We had to take a zig-zag course to avoid submarine attacks.

December 1944 I was sent to the 2nd Marine Division, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Battalion. There were several classmates from OCS and ROS with me. We lived three Lt's to a tent in "Officer Country." We lived as a Battalion.  The Officers Mess Hall was a big tent with picnic tables to eat on. One part of the tent had an additional tables which was the bar. (Battalion Officers Only).  We had not yet been assigned a platoon.  We were to be replacements. At first we were excess baggage to be assigned where needed. They gave us a lot of odd jobs. Jobs like Officer of the Day. This was kind of scary. The island had been secured for only about three months. There were still Japanese Soldiers hiding out in the caves and in the bush. They would sneak out of their hiding places at night. They were mainly looking for food.

There was a big bar called "A Slop Chute" located in the port where the ships and troops came in. This was a couple of miles from our area. We often went there on Sunday afternoon for a social hour. We would occasionally see some of our buddies from other units. One Sunday a number of our friends from OCS and UW V-12 were on there way to Iwo Jima. They knew where they were going and discussed it with us. Little did they know what a big battle they were heading into. Several of them that we talked to that day were killed in the battle. We did not go to lwo Jima. We were preparing for the next battle (it turned to be Okinawa). At the time we did not know where we were going to be sent. We knew we had to be ready.

Finally I was given a job. I was appointed range officer. It was a rather small rifle range, about 40 or 50 targets. It had been a rifle range when the Japanese were on the island. It was right on the beach, the ocean was the impact area. It seems like we had a company at a time on the range. We could only handle a platoon at a time firing.  Each man as he fired had an instructor with him; an NCO ran the firing line. I supervised the NCO that ran the range. My job was to get the "clear to fire" from Division.  I was very impressed. I had to call by phone to Division Headquarters when we started to fire and when we ceased to fire. I had very definite hours and it was up to the units to report to me at their given time. Even though it was the same time each morning and afternoon I had to call for the clear to fire because the Division had to ensure that there were no boats off shore for a number of miles.

One day we were firing at the range as usual when someone started yelling "cease firing." Off the side of the range coming out of the bushes carrying a white flag was a group of about 60 Japanese soldiers. They were marching single file. Everyone looked to the Officer in Charge-ME!   "What  now?"  Here are 50 men (mostly young nuts) with  loaded rifles pointed at the advancing line of Japanese soldiers. This was a time of war and the Japanese were intensely hated by all the young Marines. I said "Hold Your Fire". Then I remembered to call headquarters. Within five minutes the place was swarming with Colonels, Generals and News people. I was shoved into the background. We were back to firing after lunch. I was a forgotten hero. However that night back at the bar before dinner I was the big hero. All of the 2nd Lt's were sure I was a hero. After 2 or 3 rounds I was awarded a number of other than official decorations and there were a number of speeches. The 1st Lt's and Captains were very bored with the entire affair. Because there were a lot more 2nd Lt's than anything else we had a lot of fun. Evidently the Japanese that I "captured" had been hiding in the caves and between our area and the beach. They would sneak out at night and raid the garbage area or steal from the mess hall.

April 1945 we sailed for Okinawa and the invasion. I still did not have a rifle platoon. I was an AKA (I think), I had a ship's platoon. We helped load and unload supplies on the ship. I was on one of many, many, many ships as we zigzagged our way to Okinawa. Easter Sunday 1945 the landings started. There were a number of airplanes above us dropping bombs on shore and fighting off Japanese airplanes; Kamikaze airplanes. I was awakened about 3 in the morning. The big gun at the aft of our ship was firing at a Kamikaze. I saw one Kamikaze shot down. I saw another Kamikaze dive into one of our ships. There were ships everywhere going in all directions.

My Division was deployed on both sides of the island of Okinawa. We went over the side and rode up to the beach in Landing Craft. We returned to our ship without actually going onto the beach. This was a feint to hold some of the enemy away from the real landing site. The main effort was on the other side of the island by the 1st and 6th Divisions. We were the reserve Division. We were to be sent into the battle as needed. The 1st and 6th Divisions ran into little resistance. We stayed on board ship waiting to be committed to the battle. During the time we rode around we rode through a number of storms and were not committed. We were sent back to Siapan. The story then was that our C.O. (Commander 8th Marine Regiment) a colonel who wanted to make General. He was disappointed that we were not sent into combat so he could prove his worth. At that time there was an island off Okinawa le Shima (Shima means island). There was another island called Ihe Shima. (both pronounced IBA).  Ernie Pyle, a famous War Reporter was killed on one of them. We invaded the other.

The story goes that the 8th Regiment was "chosen" to invade one of the islands because our Regimental C.O. complained so much about not getting into combat that Marine Corps Intelligence decided one regiment could take the island. We prepared to go again. I still did not have a permanent platoon. I ended up commanding a ship's platoon. We loaded and unloaded supplies. We were sent on what I believe was an LST (Landing Ship Tanks). This ship carried tanks, trucks, jeeps, graders, I don't remember what all. The Captain of the Ship was a full Lt (2 stripes). I was the senior officer (I was the only Marine officer). I was called the Commander of Troops (approximately 45 men). We sailed up near the island and dropped anchor. The Colonel assembled all the "brass" for final orders. The "brass" included the Commander of Troops for each ship (that was ME) and the Captain of each ship. We were picked up by a "Captain's Barge" a fancy small gig. It took both of us the Captain and the Commander of Troops (ME) over to the meeting on a large Navy boat ( maybe a Destroyer or a Battleship). I was very impressed with ME. As we sat down with Colonels, Lt Colonels, Majors, Navy Captains, Commanders we were given plans on paper sealed - not to be opened until a specific time. The landing took place at the scheduled time. The problem was that a tremendous wind came up.  We had a hard time transferring vehicles off our ramp to smaller boats and to shore. We lost an expensive grader over the side. We were ordered to the other side of the island where we would be out of the wind. In the mean time several Marines were injured and three were killed. One Japanese soldier was found on the island. This was the story that went a round. It did not speak well of Marine Intelligence.

However our Colonel complained more than ever (so the story goes) and we were sent directly to Okinawa. I was now a rifle platoon leader 2nd Platoon, Company G, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. We went ashore near the big town of Naha. We walked (hiked) thru Naha and moved to an area east of the town where the Battalion stopped. The Battalion had run into some Japanese soldiers, but not much resistance. That first night on Okinawa my platoon was sent forward to protect the battalion. I was to defend three hills in front of the battalion as well as the road running through my position back to the battalion. I was reinforced with the machine gun platoon from battalion. I sent one squad to each hill and two machine guns from the machine gun platoon with each squad. This established a crossfire in front of my position. I knew that when it got dark the Japanese civilians would come walking down the road to get away from the fighting. I also suspected that Japanese soldiers would try to sneak past my platoon with the civilians. I had a phone connection back to the battalion so that I could ask for mortar illumination fire. The illumination would light up everything. Just as the sun was setting I called for some illumination. In the illumination I could see Japanese civilians walking down the road. Because of the illumination I thought the solders may have dropped back from the groups of civilians.  A little later, after the sun had set while it was still twilight there was one dumb Marine still standing on top of the middle hill with the sunset behind him trying to observe and direct things. Two shots rang out. I fell to the ground. The shots had knocked some leaves off of the skinny sickly tree right next to me. Then I knew then there were soldiers among the civilians. They may or may not have had their uniforms on. After that every time we heard a sound or thought someone was moving out there, I asked for illumination flares. After a while the Battalion Commander came on the phone and told me to stop asking for mortar fire because it was keeping the entire battalion awake. He said the men were tired and had much work ahead of them in the morning. So-o-o, that night the Japanese soldiers left the road and attacked my platoon's positions in an attempt to retake the hills we occupied. We killed a number of the Japanese soldiers and lost no one. We were in holes and trenches the Japanese had dug to defend the hills and themselves. The next day we were sent out on "mopping up" Ill1ss1ons. We had to seek out the Japanese who were still there in caves and in cane thickets. The cane was 5 to 6 feet high and grew in large clumps something like 100 yards by 300 yards. We had trained dogs to flush the soldiers from the thickets, but throwing incendiary grenades into the dried cane stands ensured that the soldier came out hiding in the fields. Even with field on fire the soldiers sometimes came out shooting their weapons. This was very dangerous. Clearing the caves of Japanese soldiers was riskier yet. We could not be sure that a cave was empty or if there were soldiers in the cave waiting. If there was a question of a cave containing soldiers who were not willing to surrender we would not take chances. A Marine entering the cave from the outside would be a perfect target for a hostile soldier. The lighting provided a very clear silhouette of anyone at the entrance to a cave. Much of the time I had a flamethrower at my disposal. In the case of any questionable cave, we would shoot the entrance to the cave full with flame. This would take the oxygen out of the air, clearing the cave. However the preferred method of clearing a questionable cave was to use one of the tanks with a blade. The tank would seal the cave and we would move on.

On one of our final days on Okinawa, early in the morning, it was quiet little movement or activity could be seen or heard. It was a bright and clear sunny morning. Suddenly there was a lot of activity coming from behind our lines. In the distance I could see a number of vehicles carrying photographers and top brass. There was noise and commotion everywhere around the group of vehicles. It was obvious something big or important was happening or about to happen. I remember commenting something big is going on; certainly the Japanese out there would see the spectacle and understand something big was going on. The caravan stopped about 75 to 100 yards from my position. The brass brought out their big high powered binoculars and set them up with a good view of the enemy positions to the east. I felt sure that the binoculars would pick up the sun's rays and reflect them back into the places where the Japanese were still hiding and waiting for our approach. Sure enough!!! Blamm! Blamm! Incoming fire. Then a lot of confusion. Return Fire. More confusion. Finally the calm returned. We were told General Buckner had come up to survey the situation and was killed. Buckner Bay on Okinawa and the summer training area at West Point (Camp Buckner) is named in his honor. He was the second highest ranking member of the U.S. Military to be killed in World War II. It was too bad he was killed but it was a dumb, show-off thing to do. A few days later the island was considered secure.

We were ordered back to Siapan. We spent our time training for our next invasion. We were never told where we were going. We all guessed it would be for the invasion of Japan. We of course were happy to learn of the Atom Bomb and the surrender of Japan.

The war was over. We were sent to Japan as part of the occupying forces. We landed near Nagasaki a few days later. We were told that an Atom Bomb had been used on the city. We didn't know what to expect. We had of course heard about radiation. Nobody knew about any kind of precautions to take. There were no precautions taken. I heard scientists came through the area of the city and took measurements with radiation detection equipment and said the levels were OK for us to enter the area. Nobody really knew. Some of us joked that we would need to hold our breath the entire time we were in the area. I was amazed that a single bomb had destroyed the city. It didn't look a lot different than any bombed out city. Only a few of the cement buildings were standing. Everything seemed to be rusted. We were sent to Sasebo in Nagasaki Prefecture. Sasebo is the place where the order to Attack Pearl Harbor was broadcast to the Japanese fleet those many years before. As a member of the occupying powers I was assign the task of destroying military weapons and supplies. We destroyed planes, ammunition, guns and other supplies from the military depots. This was dangerous work. We would pile planes and supplies together pour gas on the pile of equipment and burn it. The ammunition was sent to the Navy where they dumped it at sea or got rid of it in other ways. We also went out on patrols where we looked for and confiscated any military equipment or supplies that we found. For me, the occupation ended about six months later when my unit was ordered to return to the U.S. be deactivated. I was discharged from active duty but got talked into joining the Marine Reserves.