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This photograph has quite the story behind it. It was taken on the Alaskan Island of Kiska in 1943, with 2^nd Lt. Bob Livermore’s camera. Bob is in the foreground holding a pan over the fire, and Capt. Everett Bailey is in the rear holding the salmon. At the time both men were in Company F of the 87^th Mountain Infantry Regiment. The 87th had conducted an amphibious landing on Kiska, expecting to meet fierce Japanese resistance. Unbeknownst to the Allied invasion force, the Japanese had evacuated the island under cover of fog.

The picture was printed in an article which, aside from switching who was who in the description, made an oft-repeated claim (in a quote by Col. Emmett Nations) that the fish were caught by tossing hand grenades into one of Kiska’s many streams and then scooping up the fish. Bob Livermore saw this article in the summer of 1968, and sent a copy to Everett Bailey with a letter which included the statement that “someone ought to straighten out Emmett about the grenades – or was this one of those fish that 2^nd Platoon trapped in a pool?” Everett agreed, and wrote the excerpted following letter:

Colonel Emmett L. Nations USA (Retired)                       October 7, 1968

Dear Emmett:

Enclosed is a copy of a newspaper article which I received from Bob Livermore in Boston who, in turn, received it from Slim Davis in San Mateo, California. Bob suggested that one of us straighten you out (and I agree) on the caption with the picture you supplied. It is Bob Livermore holding the pan, and “yours truly” with the fish. If we hadn’t had our hats on, my bald head would have made identification easier. More importantly, the caption errs in indicating that fishermen of our pure natures stooped to the use of grenades for such a purpose.  Perhaps a club, but grenades, no.

Actually, quite a bit of planning went into this fishing trip, which was the principal reason for our visit to the Island of Kiska. Before leaving San Francisco, we had collected a goodly assortment of flies, leaders, reel, line, and a fly rod. Bob and I carried the small items ashore with us. The other member of our “Sports Club,” Padre Bracken, arranged to accommodate the comparatively bulky fly rod in the landing along with the Mass equipment.

I don’t think Bob, Padre Bracken, or myself would require a retraction from the INDEPENDENT JOURNAL, but I am sure we would agree that you should be chastised for perversion of the facts in a military dispatch.

And so it was that, as Capt. Bailey, 2^nd Lt. Bob Livermore and Fr. Thomas Bracken waded ashore in what they believed would be a violently defended invasion of Kiska, Ev and Bob carried in their packs items of illicit fishing gear, and Fr. Bracken smuggled the fly rod in with his equipment as “FRM-1: Religious Supplies.” The reputation of the 10^th Mountain Division as having been comprised of troops who were all too willing to sacrifice military discipline in favor of outdoor recreation was apparently well earned.

This blog is part of a larger body of research culminating in the publication of the book ‘Heroes in Good Company: L Company, 86^th Regiment, 10^th Mountain Division 1943-1945’ which is available in select bookstores and on amazon.