DONALD M.
BAYLES
ARMY
Middle Island
Donald M. Bayles, son of Thomas and
Gertrude Bayles, was born in Middle Island December 10,
1923. In September 1929 he was with the first students
attending the new East Middle Island School on Yaphank
Road. He graduated in 1937 and in September of that year
entered Port Jefferson High School where he graduated in
June 1941 as salutatorian of the senior class . A couple
of months later his high school principal informed him
that a scholarship-loan had become available at New York
University's College of Engineering. He went to see the
Dean of Engineering, applied for the loan and was
accepted.
Three days before Donald's 18th birthday
United States forces were attacked at Pearl Harbor and we
were at war. On June 30, 1942 the Draft was expanded to
include those aged 18 to 20 and he registered. At the
middle of his sophomore year Donald volunteered for the
draft and on Feb. 17th 1943 was in the U.S. Army at Camp
Upton. Within a few days he was shipped to Camp McCain
near Grenada, Mississippi and was assigned to the
Anti-Tank Company, 346th Regiment, 87th Infantry Division
which had just been activated and was beginning basic
training. That summer he had the opportunity to apply for
the Army Specialized Training Program (A.S.T.P.) and was
sent to Alabama Polytechnic Institute in Auburn for
advanced civil engineering studies. In March 1944 the
training program at Auburn was terminated and Donald was
sent to the 86th Infantry Division at Camp Livingston
near Alexandria, Louisiana which was beginning basic
training. This time he was assigned to a rifle company
but he was a corporal and a squad leader. On Aug. 17 a
notice was read requesting non-coms to volunteer for duty
overseas. He was so disgusted with repeating training and
the hot weather in Louisiana that he volunteered and two
days later was bound for Fort Ord, California. After a
month at Fort Ord he was on a ship bound for a
replacement depot at Oro Bay, New Guinea and on December
3rd was on Leyte in the Philippine Islands assigned to
Company C, 34th Regiment, 24th Infantry Division.
For the remainder of December
"Charlie" Company was engaged in clearing out
Japanese forces from the northwest tip of Leyte. Then
after a three week rest the 34th was sent to Luzon as a
regimental combat team (RCT) and on January 29th 1945
made a surprise landing on the west coast of the island.
They moved quickly to Subic Bay and then to Zip-Zag Pass
on the road across the Bataan Peninsular where the Japs
had been waiting for 3 years. After a fierce fight they
pulled back and let the air force neutralize the Jap
forces so that another division could take over. The 34th
joined the rest of the 24th Division on Mindoro Island
for a couple of months rest and in April made another
surprise landing on the west coast of Mindanao. In this
operation Donald's company traveled up the Mindanao River
by landing craft. The regiment then moved quickly across
the island to the east coast where the Japanese had
expected the invasion of the Philippines to take place.
The next 3 months were spent in mopping-up operations and
pushing the remainder of Japs back into the hills. On
July 2th Donald was injured when a Japanese mortar shell
landed a few feet away. He was taken to a field hospital
and 2 or 3 days later was evacuated by air to an Army
General Hospital on Leyte. There he was confined to a
hospital bed for 3 months and on Oct. 6 left Leyte aboard
the USS Gen. W.G. Haan for a voyage of 6813 miles to
Seattle. He finally managed to obtain a discharge on Dec.
19th from Kennedy General Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee
and arrived home by Christmas.
On September 1, 1946 Donald married Virginia Doris Faron
of Coram and returned to the College of Engineering at
NYU under the GI Bill of Rights. He graduated with a
Bachelor of Civil Engineering degree in June 1948.