Maurice A. Rooney (POW)
Maurice Rooney visited the United States several years back and while here attended one of the USS Block Island reunions.
At that reunion he was given a baseball type hat that bore a picture of the Block Island and and the name of the Association. This hat was very important to him because it represented a time in his life when he faced conditions that came very close to ending his life. Like the little Ronson cigarette lighter that is shown as a survivor of the sinking of CVE 21, these little, what is considered incidental, keepsakes become very important to the memory process when it involves a "life and death matter".
Maury was in the airport terminal in an Eastern U.S. City and went to the rest room. He took the hat off and when he went outside to his waiting station he remembered that he left the hat in the rest room. Back he went and it was not there. He has been very ill for the past few years and the loss of the hat has been on his mind many times. The emails are a part of that process relating to the “hat”.
On May 29, 2002 Maury sent the following message to Jack Greer to be included on the website:
Hi My Friend ( Hi Jack sounds too sinister and nowadays you don't holler that on an airplane)
Thank you for the message and the feedback from those eager to help with the replacement hat. Please make it clear to whoever oblige that I would wish to reimburse any expenses incurred and extend to them my heartfelt gratitude. You almost have my correct address, but needs slightly amending and is as follows;- 17 Abbey Close, Horsham St Faith, Norwich, Norfolk. NR10 3JW England Though having been to America several times in the last ten years, I have unfortunately been unable to attend a B I reunion. I first became aware of the B I Association in 1995 when a crew member of the 106 in 1945 John Norman hailing from Inwood, New York made contact with me in the mid nineties and we met in a several days stop over in New York in 1996 and was when he gave me the hat that has been lost and why I feel so vexed. Mainly because of health reasons and also unable to Email him (The most convenient way to correspond) we have not been in touch lately and I hope he and his family are O K. 'Butch' as he is affectionately known, is a fantastic guy and it was a great pleasure and privilege to meet him. I have a feeling he has not attended the reunion in recent years and perhaps you can confirm this. Look forward to visiting the website to learn more of the 2002 reunion. In the meantime take care, as you remark the veteran ranks of world war 11 are gradually depleting to take a rightful place in history. In spite of the harrowing times I have no regrets and wouldn't have missed it for anything and feel so proud to have been part of the era. Thanks for all your kind help
Kind regards and best wishes
Maurice A Rooney
Dear Mr. Rooney,
I am Louis (Bud) Hellwig of the Block Island's ship's company. I was a radioman aboard the CVE-106 which rescued the survivors off of Formosa at the war's end. I want to know if you got a Block Island hat?????
Please let me know.
I would also like you to know that when we picked up you and your fellow prisoners off of Formosa that I - yes me, had the honor and the privilege of being the radioman who contacted a British battleship in the west Pacific and taking over 20 hours to accomplish sent this battleship the names, serial numbers and the last known home addresses of ALL said survivors via international Morse code. It was my understanding, at that time, that for many of you this would be the first news of you for your families since your capture! The operating conditions were deplorable in that there was much interference and everything had to be repeated twice and acknowledged before going on to the next name!
Transmitting this information was then and is now my most satisfying radio duty I have ever been involved in and I am a ham radioman (WA7PVC) located just north of Seattle in the state of Washington.
I WANT YOU TO HAVE A HAT! LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE ONE! IF NOT --
I PROMISE we will send you one.
Bud Hellwig
Maury got his "baseball hat" with this message before he passed away!
As part of the special ceremony on Block Island, RI during the 2007 reunion the Formosa POWs were honored. The CVE 106 bell was rung and Michael Hurst, Director of the Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society, read a poem entitled "Liberation" by Maurice Rooney. A fellow countryman, Cecil Clarke, who was held for three-and-a half years in a camp in Formosa was present. The poem follows:
Liberation
by M.A Rooney
Manila, September 1945
For three and half years we were Prisoners
Treated by the Japanese as though slaves
We had reached the stage when we could take no more
And so many now lie in their graves
Then on August the 13th '45
We were told the war had ended
How lucky were we, who had managed to survive
And whose spirit was never surrendered.
The waiting time was not easy, of course
All the time we kept hoping to hear
That someone, somewhere, would come to endorse
Our day of freedom was near.
September the Sixth dawned with little fuss
But later there were cheers and shouts
The Yankees' had come to liberate us
And their presence dispelled all our doubts.
How happy we were to see the American ‘Tar’
And I know it was felt on that day
That those brave men as if by the Bethlehem Star
Had been guided to us and our way
"How soon" we were asked "could you be ready to leave"?
"At once" came the immediate reply
So the moment arrived we could hardly believe
And we marched from the camp heads held high.
We arrived at a near-by rail siding
Boarded a train with no banners hung
We were just thrilled to be out of hiding
On our way to the port of 'Keelung'.
At the docks were two US Destroyers
Our hopes and our spirits soared
We were greeted by kind Yankee sailors
Picking us up to carry aboard.
As we sailed, my thoughts and feelings were mixed
I heard not the 'cast off” yell
As I stood at the rail with my eyes transfixed
For the first time in years, the tears fell.
With Formosa a speck on the horizon
I moved away drying my happy wet face
And though my eyes were blurred with emotion
I saw the BLOCK ISLAND, majestic in grace.
We were taken aboard and feted
Deloused, reclothed and well fed
It was lovely to be treated so kind hearted
They almost tucked us up in our bed
We arrived at Manila after a three day trip
And as I lie in this hospital of gold
I write these verses , even though on a 'drip'
For this story just has to be told.
My thoughts turn to a very dear Brother
We've not been together of late
Or heard a word since we last spoke to each other
And I am left wondering just what was his fate?
As for me I'm relieved and grateful
And there's a warmth which stems from my heart
For those who came to answer our call
God bless them all who took part.
Maurice Rooney’s brother died in 1942 at Nong Pladuc in Thailand
