Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

Text from Pages 1 - 248 of the 1945 volume:

i UoJxna QUkuS ztlkJU 6nmii(J f naoX«tJo( Portage, ' ' fine Island s jr Sanfituiaisc m J d ym t ►. ' JinwAii Jekiuton, jr JamOA JslaHcb ' T, i - J;, Ports of Call ' = THIS HISTORY OF THE U.S.S. ' ' LUNGA POINT WAS PRINTED ON WARREXS LUSTRO ENAMEL PAPER, USING MONOTYPE BASKERVILLE TYPE, BY THE ED- WARDS BROUGHTON COMPANY OF RALEIGH. NORTH CAROLINA, AND BOUND BY THEM IN CASES MADE BY THE S. K. SMITH COMPANY OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. THE PHOTO-ENGRAVING WAS PRODUCED BY THE JAHN OLLIER ENGRAVING COMPANY OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, FROM OFFICIAL U. S. NAVY PHOTOGRAPHS. THIS BOOK JFas published under the authority of Captain G. A. T. Washburn Commanding U.S.S. LUNQA POINT. It ivas ivritten by and printed under the direetion of Lt. S. Linton Smith, U.S.N.R. iiyz ' cy yc cycyzy GASSING PLANES! THE SMOKING LAMP IS OUT THROUGHOUT THE SHIP! U.S.S. Liinga Fuint U.S.S. LUNGA POINT CVE 94 A Pictorial Log covering the Ship ' s Career in the War against the Axis 14 May, 1944 14 Maj ' , 1945 Our ship has been recommended for a Presidential Unit Citation by CoMEsCARpORPAf: and a Unit Clita- tion liy ComAirPac. We regret that either or both were not awarded prior to pubHration. o%eu (ficl It has been regretted for some time that, because of Wartime restrictions, personaUy owned cameras are not allowed on board, and it has been impractical for the Photo Lab to attempt to furnish all hands with pictures of the places we have visited and of the many interesting, thrilling, exciting and even hair- raising experiences that we have had during this, our first year as an integral, fighting part of our Fleet. Considerable thought also has been given to devising some means whereby the memories of our many experiences, and our everyday life aboard, might be preserved in a definite and concrete form, because, regardless of how anx- ious we are to get back to our families, and re- gardless of how arduous, trying, and nerve racking our experiences have been, when the time comes for us to leave the Liinga Point, it is confidently believed that our happiness in re- turning to our families will be mingled with a genuine feeling of regret in having to leave the many friends we have made on board, not to mention the regret we shall feel in leaving the Litiiga Point, which has, after all, been our home for many months now. We feel that we can say without fear of contradiction that the Lunga Point and those who have served in her will have a very warm spot in the heart of every Officer and man who has been privileged to fight her, and that place in our hearts will ever increase as the years roll by. The Lunga Point has had a glorious record, of which every officer and man can be justly proud, whether he was on a gun or in the Black Gang ; whether he was an Aviation Mec or a Signalman; whether he was a plane pusher or a Radioman; whether he was a Steward ' s Mate or a Photographer ' s Mate; whether he was an Officer-of-the-Deck or a C.W.O.; whether he was a Carpenter ' s Mate or a Quartermaster; whether he was a Yeoman or a Baker. Wherever they served, and what- ever their duties might have been, proper execution of their duties was essential to our success. The job assigned us simply could not have been done without the loo per cent co- operation of all hands. It is felt, however, that we have closely approached that goal of per- fection our Captain set for us on 14 May 1 944. Every officer and man should, therefore, re- ceive due credit for the part he played, and for that reason, the name, rank or rate, and home address of every member of our Ship ' s Com- pany will appear in this book, except for some few who have been transferred without lea ' ing their addresses. In the above paragraphs, this book has its genesis. It is not a perfect book by any means. There have been many obstacles, some of which it was impossible to surmount, but it has been our earnest endeavor, as nearly as possible, to completely and faithfully chronicle our first year for you. If this book achieves its purpose of preserving those friendships and memories of the past year, we will have been well re- warded for our efforts, because, as your Editor, we will have that deep .sense of personal satis- faction that can come only from the knowledge of a job well done. It ' s been a grand cruise, Shipmates. Au revoir! And God Bless you all. S. Linton Smith, Lieut., USNR , IN MEMORIAM 7 l MMJfk Ensit;n WII.BLR FRANCIS BI;K. LI:R, L S. R, 25 Novt-mlx-r 1944 Next of kin. Mr. and Mr.s. Wilbur licrauor, Rtjx 175. Waldrcjn. Indiana EMMEir DOUGLA.S FOR 1 JR.. ARM2C, USNR, 25 November 1944 Next of kin. Mr.s. Dorothy P. Fort, 922 gth Ave., Bessemer, Alabama (;()RDON MALCIOLM CiREENE, AMM c, U.SXR. 25 November 1944 Next of kin. Mrs. Artiiur Cobb, 1738J Kentucky Ave., Detroit, Michigan Ensign WILLIAM ALEXANDER READ, USNR, 24 December 1944 Next of kin. Mrs, Cylvia Read, 2510 California St,, Denver, Colorado Lt, (jg) DELBERT MONT GERL. CH. USNR, i March 1945 Next of kin. Mrs. June Gerlach, 520 ' 2 South St., Rapid City, .South Dakota RANDALL WHALEN BROOKS, ARMic, U.SNR. i March 1945 Next of kin. Mrs. Ruth Randall Garwood, 5391 Ocean Boulevard, Long Beach, California KENNETH PHILLIP JOSIAS, AMM2C, USNR, i March 1945 Next of kin, Mrs. Jeannette Marie Josias, 3137 Louisiana Ave., St. Louis 18, Missouri PAUL MATTHEW HUNT, Sic. USNR. 2 March 1945 Next of kin. Mrs. E. A. Hunt, 1209 Leigh Court, Long Beach, California Lt. (jg) ADRIAN STANLEY BAZZELL, USNR. 6 April 1945 Next of kin, Mrs. Emma L. Bazzell, 609 Planter St., Bainbridge, Georgia ' ' GREATER LOVE HATH 0 MAX THAX THIS, THAT A MAX LAT DOW. HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDSr John 15:13 AWARDS AND CITATIONS , i n- ijwca mix I NAVY CROSS Capt. G. A. T. Washburn, USN LEGION OF MERIT Capt. G. A. T. Washburn, USN SILVER STAR Lt. fjg) Maximilian J, Pai-ei BRONZE STAR Commander E. R. Eastwold, USN 2 Lt. Comdr. James R. Tippett Ir USNR Lt. Comdr. R. L. Corkran, Jr., USNR 2 Lt. J. H. Garrett, USN ' Lt. Comdr. S. Linton Smith, USNR Lt. Walter W. Kaltever, Jr., USNR Lt. (jg) H. D. H.«c:nER, USNR LETTERS OF COMMEND. TION (Commenda Ribbc Capt. G. A. T. W.«HBURN, USN Lt. Comdr. R. L. Corkran, Jr., L ' SNR Lt. Alvin H. Berndt, USNR Lt. Kenneth B. Little, USNR Sheloon M. Pettit, GM3C tliorizcd) Lt. (jg) Edward J. Behn, USNR Lt. (jg) Charles E. Stimsqn, Jr., USNR Chief Machinist Walter J. Mitchell, USN Thomas B. Paul, FC3C, USNR , USNR Lt. Comdr. J. R. Tippett, Jr., USNR Chief Pay Clerk C. M. Copeland, Lr.SNR Fellx J. De Martis, AMM2C, USNR James F. Wai.terich, FC3C, USNR PURPLE HEART Clayton E. CHARLE , Sic, USNR Maurice J. Follebout, Sic, USNR James C. Herod, Sic, USNR Gil -. Ramirez, Sic, USNR John S. Sharp, Sic, USNR Elmer P. Stevenson, Fic, USNR Jesse P. Terrell, S2c, USNR Arnold L. Thomsen, Sic, USNR AMERICAN THE.XTRE ASI.ATIC-PACIFIC TCT0RY ALL HANDS PHILIPPINE LIBER. TI0N C ' ommanding Officer G. A. T. Washburn Captain. U. S. Navy U.S.N. A. Class of 1923 As I look back on the momentous year of associating with the offi- cers and men of the U.S.S. Lunga Point, it is with a real sense of pride in our accomplishments. It is my hope that each and every one of us will always remember the spirit of the Lunga Point and carry that spirit on in the Navy or in civilian life. As your Commanding Officer, to each and every one o f you a WELL DONE ! 12 v- cv , cy x 5 EX CATHEDRA JUNE 1919 13 y Z Executive Officer E. R. Eastvvold Commander, U. S. Navy U.S.N. A. Class of 1932 This ship has been trained and has operated with the thought, If you are going to do a job at all, why not do it as well as po.ssiblc? as the dri ing spirit. As is usually the case, you have little tangible to show for your hard work other than the knowledge and personal satis- faction of a job well done. We have had our anxious and trying mo- ments; you have all worked long and hard, and you can all feel proud of the part you ha e played. I trust this book will scr e in later years to help you re-li -e your life on the Lunga Point and also to give you a certain amount of personal satisfaction in the record we have achieved. I have enjoyed being Shipmates with all of you. and I hope that you will always have the same soft spot in your heart for the Lunging Lunffa that I will have. «ffi.. $ h 3«4t.: .«.« ? .!t4 •.. 4 u.s.s. ixjn(;a point CVK ! 4 Riiilt By: Kaiser C ' ompnny. Tnr.. ' ,iiu()u cr. Washinntnii Keel Laid: K) |aiiuary 1(144. Launriicci: i 1 April iu. . Commissioned: 14 May 1(144. ' ' ' Captain (;. A. I , Washburn, USX, Oimmanding. The U.S.S. Ijinga Point is named for the battle which took place between American and Japanese Naval forces ofl the coast of Guadalcanal on the night of 30 November 1942. The main Japanese installation on Guadalcanal was an airfield built near Lunga Point, which, when captured by our forces, was named Lunga Field, and, finally, Henderson Field. It was at Lunga Point that the amphibious assault by the First Division of the United States Marine Corps, under the command of General ' andcgrift, was made on Guadalcanal, 7 August 1942. On the night of 30 November 1942, an American Task Force, under the command of Rear Ad- miral C. H. Wright, USN, was proceeding to Guadalcanal to intercept any Japanese force which might attempt to reinforce their garrison. This force consisted of five cruisers; the United States Ships Minneapolis, Aew Orleans, Pensacola, Honolulu and Northampton, and six destroyers: the United States Ships Perkins. Drayton, Fletcher, Maury, Lawson and Lnrdner. Upon arriving off Guadalcanal contact was made with the enemy approaching from the north of Lunga Point, presumably to re- inforce their troops ashore. The battle was fought that night, and the results, as regards the total number of Japanese ships sunk, are not known. It is believed that the Japanese lost at least two large destroyers or cruisers, four medium-sized destroyers, two transports, and one ammunition ship. Our losses were the Cruiser U.S.S. Xorthamplon, sunk, and the U,.S.S. Minneapolis, U.S.S. New Orleans and U.S.S. Pen- sacola, damaged. The Battle of Lunga Point, though now known officially as the Battle of Tassafaronga and some- times referred to as the Fourth Battle of Savo Island, was the last major Japanese attempt to rein- force their forces on Guadalcanal, and, thus, the turning point of the campaign for the .Solomon Islands. First Lieutenant Lieutenant Commander L L Smith, L SNR. Air Officer Commander E. G. Osborn, USN, U. S. N. A. Class of 1935 14 May 1944 — 2 February 1945 Chief Engineer Lieutenant J. H. Garrett, USN., Air Officer Lieutenant Commander W. E. Bertram, USN, 2 February 1945 — Ciommuniralions Otticcr Lieutenant Robert Homans, USNR (Jiinncry rjtlK -r l.iciiicnant R. L. OfjRKRAN. Jr.. L ' S.NR. U.S.N.A. C lass of 1942 H Sr|)|j-inl -r tf)] I Senior Medical Officer Lieutenant Commander P. C. Platt, (MC). USNR. 12 December 1944 — Xa igatur Lieutenant C. ' . H. King, USNR 18 Supply Officer Lieutenant Commiuider F. P. Moore, Jr. (SC). USNR C haplain Lieutenant John D. Lee, (ChC), USNR Senior Medical Officer Commander C. M. Tirrell, (MC), USNR, 14 May 1944 — 13 November 1944 Gunnery Officer Lieutenant B. B. Upchurch, USNR 14 May 1944 — 8 September 1944 LiciiiciiiiiU S. LiNroN Smiim. L ' SNR Aid t(j Executive I ' crsonncl Officer Officer CloiiateraJ Duties Weifarc OfTicer X ' otintf Oflicer War Bond OfTicer Insurance Officer Editor Pictorial Log Battery III OfTicer Wardroom Mess Ass ' t. Public Relations C ' aterer Officer being installed in Lit Installing flight deck section i Here beginneth the story of Hull j o; an inani- mate hulk of iron, steel, copper and brass. Follow her through these pages as she takes on life; as she becomes just another ship of the United States Fleet; as she grows through youth into maturity; as she gradually but surely becomes the ' ' ' ' Pride of the CJ ' FPs. Experience with her again the thrill of groiving with her; enjoy again the Happy Hours and the Sea Stories. Pull up your chair to the Jire; light your pipe; and, in the smoke rings, draw on your memories for a replay of the joys and sorrows, the thrills and excitement, the labor and toil, and, above all, enjoy the genuine satisfaction of having done your part in transforming Hull j.fo into the l .S.S. Lunga Point the Ship with a Soul. the ways. Lunga Point next to tlic end. Luriga Point and sister ships at outfitting dock 21 PAin I { IIKISI I.. I. (;. COMMIssK ) 1. (, AM) SI I. K I, DOWN The LiDiga Puiiil was lirr name As she nriil forth to win her fame. Designated a C- 1 ' -£, .1; Aim aft Carrier, in fact, was she. Bahy Flat-tof ' is filain ambiguity. For she ' ll fight her way out of obscurity. c:hrisik inc; At the Kaiscr- anccnivcr Shipyards, ' an- couvcr, W ' ashington, on 1 1 April i )44. a threat event took place. Another of Henry J. Kai- ser ' s many ships was being launched. It was just another mass of iron and steel that was to be sent down the ways into the Columbia River. There was, however, something differ- ent about this particular launching, .something in the air prophesying a grand and glorious future for Hull 340. It was an auspicious occasion when, at exactly 1225, with her Matron-of-Honor, Mrs. R. L. Bowman of Coronado, Calif., standing beside her, holding her bouquet. Mrs. James H. McKay, also of Coronado. C alif.. our .Sponsor, ga c that hull a soul as she slammed a bottle of Champagne against the shiny, new bow, and said, I christen thee Lunga Point ' . Lunga Point going down ihc- COMMISSIONING The night before our Ship was commissioned the Officers had a cocktail party at the Officer ' s Club, U..S. Naval .Station. Astoria, Oregon, which proved to be a most delightful occasion. Our .Spo nd her Matron-of-ho npagne! . nd a bottle of Coca-Cola jld have done just Vc were highlv honored in having as Captain and Mrs. Washburn ' s guests, Captain and Mrs. J. D. Earner. Captain Earner being the Com- manding Officer of the U.S. Naval Station there, and later. Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. Shangri-La. Since there was little doubt but that we were to be shipmates for a long time, this party was an excellent means of getting the Officers ac- quainted with each other. Moreover, it af- forded an opportunity for most of the wives of the Officers to meet each other for the first time, since most of our wives had followed us, with very little urging, to that beautiful Oregon country. Many Sea Stories were swapped among the Officers, and many a new hair-do was described in minute detail. Ey mid-night, the air thick with smoke and a spirit of con- viviality pre ailing throughout the Club, the Officers and their wives began saying their Good-byes to Captain and Mrs. Washburn, because a great event was to take place the next morning, and it was to be followed by weeks of hard work, and we needed all the rest we could get. The chairs soon were all empty, but there remained a lingering presence; the ghost of good fellowship rare. Our first log entry: Sunday, 14 May 1944: 0930- 1 200 Assembled the Officers and Crew of the U.S.S. Litnga Point (CVE 94) at quarters on the hangar deck. 0945 Captain Earner, USN, Clommanding Officer, U.S. Naval Station, Astoria, Oregon, came aboard. 0950 Lt. (jg) Lee, (ChC), USNR, deli ered invocation. 1000 Pursuant to Com 13th, Serial: 9505, dated 14 May 1944, the Commanding Officer, U.S. Na val Station, Astoria, Oregon, Captain Earner, USN, read orders directing the U.S.S. Lunga Point (CVE 94) to be placed in full com- mission in active status in accordance with . rticle 637 (la) and Article 638 (i) U.S. Navy Regulations. 1005 Captain G. A. T. Wash- burn, USN, in obedience to Endorsement 5, Commanding Officer, U.S. Naval Station, Astoria, Oregon, with reference to BuPers speedlctter 92206 dated 20 March 1944, as- sumed command of this vessel, the U.S.S. Lunga Point (CVE 94), and ordered the watch to be set. Moored starboard side to Berth 9, Pier 3, U.S. Naval Station, Astoria, Oregon, with the following lines in use: Bowline 8 manila, forward bow spring 1J2 wire, after bow spring 1)2 wire, forward quarter spring lyi wire, after quarter spring i]4 wire, stern line 8 manila. No. i and No. 2 boilers in use for auxiliary purposes. Receiving fresh water and telephone service from the dock. Ships present: CVE ' s 91, 92, 93 and various small craft. SOPA in U.S.S. Makassar Straits. The commissioning of a Naval Vessel is al- ways a gala occasion and this was no exception, although it is only natural that there was a more serious atmosphere prevalent upon this W ' artime commissioning. It lacked none of the color attendant on a peacetime commission- ing, though, in that the usual formalities were rigidly adhered to and there were a goodly number of the fairer sex, dressed in all their finery, to give our commissioning the glamour that appeals to a Navy man. Captain Wash- burn, Captain Earner, Commander Eastwold, and the other officiating Officers took their places at the forward elevator, while Mrs. Vashburn, Mrs. Earner, Mrs. Eastwold, and our other guests, many of whom were the wives of our officers and men, had seats down the port side of the hangar deck. Opposite them, in a column of t% os, facing inboard, were the Ship ' s Officers. Amidships, facing forward, were the Chief Petty Officers, and behind them the enlisted personnel were formed by Di isions. To put it mildly, it presented a picture in keeping with the dignity of the occasion. Immediately after reading his orders. Cap- tain Washburn extended a word of welcome to our guests and greetings to the Ship ' s Com- pany, following which, he accepted from Mrs. VVarren K. Eerner, the wife of the Skipper . I.i.icd in Columbia River the day before Com- of the Mfiknwiir Slraih. a Im Miiiifiil silver Iray, a ijift to tin- ship from Mrs. James H. Mi Kay. our S|j( iisor, who was tinahle to he present for the jommissioniiii;. Followiii); tlie formal r T- einonies. (!apiain Washburn invited our guests clown to the Wardroom, the Cl.l ' .C). Mess and the (brew ' s Mess for refreshments, and many of our guests look advantage of the o|)portunily chaplain Bamcr ad : to look around the ship, but many of them got lost, for even their guides were unfamiliar with all the many ladders and passageways at that time, not one member of the Ship ' s Com- pany having been allowed on board before 0930 that day. .Soon, our guests all departed, leaving us with a feeling of pride in the fact that our home for months to come had appro- priately been commissioned on Mother ' s Day, a day that is dear to the hearts of all of us. At 1 300 that day. Captain Washburn assem- bled the entire Ship ' s Company on the hangar deck where he talked informally to us for an hour, telling us exactly what he expected of us and what we could expect of him as our Com- manding Officer. He had just returned from nine months in th e Pacific with the fast carriers and knew what he wanted. He emphasized over and over again that, in order to success- fully fight our ship, it would be necessary to give more than our best. He admonished us time and again that he wanted our best ' plus 25 per cent. He told us quite frankly that he realized the gi ' eat majority of us were Boots in the Navy. and. for that reason if no other, it would be necessary for us to gi e that 25 per Oaptain Washburn reads his orders at cent extra. To further emphasize his deter- mination to whip us into a first-class fighting unit in record time, he told us that, starting that day. we could expect many drills and cla.sses in various duties. He warned us, also, that he expected us to conduct ourselves in keeping with the dignity of the uniform v e wear, stressing the fact that, while he intended to do all he could for the comfort, happiness and wel- fare of his men, he could make a man feel mighty small at Captain ' s Mast. Conse- quently, few men doubting him then, few have Captain Earner make 24 had to face him at Mast to this date. We were ail impressed with his sincerity of purpose and felt that we had a Skipper who was going to be tough when necessary but fair always. Many of us. even at that early date, suspected that he Captain Earner cnngratulates Claplain Washburn at commission- ing was a Perfectionist, although he denies it at this writing, only admitdng to striving for perfection. In either case, being or ■ striving, at the conclusion of his remarks, we knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that we had a long road of indoctrination ahead of us before qualifying to strive for perfection. Following the Captain ' s talk, all hands turned to on fitting out and all that goes with it. The three weeks following our commission- ing were hectic ones. Without having gone through it, it is impossible for anyone to appre- ciate the tremendous amount of work in ol ed in putting a new ship in service. The hangar deck was piled high with what appeared to be mountains of stores, supplies and the usual ucar To y; Mrs. Washburn serves the Captain a slice of cake in ward- room followinc; commissioning exercises; center and bollom: en- listed men and guests enjoy commissioning party in forward crew mess. Ship ' s officers at ease during commissioning 25 ' fh I hangar deck at .Vslo A Lunga I ' owl lovriy and her husband at dan . storia. ird ship al that is needed to adequately outfit and supply a Naval vessel, and there was e en more in the warehouses on the adjacent dock. All hands turned to with splendid cooperation, though, and we all worked long days, passing up many liberties in order to speed up our job. Manv of the OHicers and men had their wives with them; so that, on their liberty nights, they had someone to rub liniment into their sore muscles and joints, because both officers and men were doing heavy work in trying to finish up with a tough job as soon as possible. The housing situation in the Astoria area was about the same as in every other West Coast port, and Lunga Point wi es were scat- tered all up and down the Columbia River, some even staying in Portland, Oregon. Most of our couples, though, were able to find places in either Astoria, Gearhart or .Seaside; however, we feel that those who stayed at the Gearhart Hotel, Gearhart, Oregon, were the most fortu- nate of all, because the wartime shortage of labor had made it probably the C:ountr ' s most unique hotel. We were fortunate enough to ha e gotten rooms there, and it was at the Gearhart that we first operated a passenger elc ator, because the Ele ator Boy had gone to war. It was also here that we tipped the Bellboy for bringing our bags to our room on arrival, and he promptly drew himself up to his full height and told us with great dignity that it just -SO happened that he was the Man- ager and Co-owner of the hotel. The Gear- hart had its own switchboard in the office, but, when you called for ice to be brought to your room, almost invariably you heard the voice of the wife of another Officer saying. Go get it yourself. Dearie; it ' s in the pantry. Many a Navy wife learned to be a switchboard op erator at the Gearhart, and Room .Service is some- thing we just learned to do without from the erv first day. When a guest went to check out, he would nearly always find a Na y wife behind the counter, handling the books and cash register just as though she were regularly employed there. They just all pitched in and helped where they were needed, and it seems they were needed just about everywhere except in the kitchen and dining room and as maids. And speaking of the dining room, you were a total stranger if the waitresses didn ' t call you by your first name on your second day there, and, of course, they were always expected to join the Navy couples in the bar for a beer after dinner, and the bar tender was practically always a guest of the hotel. Mixing drinks, handling the cash register and cracking ice gave the guests invaluable training for jobs after the war. Probably due to insufficient ration points, they served no lunch at the Gearhart, but the Manager himself .ser ed coffee to the wi es every afternoon before the big stone fire- place in the lounge. We assume that he felt he simply must give the wives some rest from their daily chores about the hotel. Not only was the Gearhart Hotel unique, but it was a real pleasure to have been fortunate enough to stay there. There was a spirit of hospitality and congeniality there that has made us determined to go back for another isit after the war. It was a ery spacious and comfortable hotel and has long enjoyed an ex- cellent reputation as a resort hotel, being situated mid-wav between its own golf course and the Pacific, and commanding an excellent view of each. There v erc so many Navy couples there, in connection with the C ' E commissionings, that we never lacked for con- genial companionship; consequently, we were never lacking for something to do. Another advantage in staying at either Gear- hart or Seaside was the beautiful drive in to Astoria, with the highway literally banked on both sides with Scotch Broom, its yellow blooms giving you a feeling of driving down a highway of spun gold, through the stately pines and fir of the Coast Range, with Saddle Mountain rising in the distance. This was, however, a much prettier drive at sunset than at sunrise as many an officer and man from the Liinga Point will agree. During our fitting out, we were constantly stumbling over shipyard workers who were putting the final touches to our ship, pointing up this and tightening up that. Despite the general confusion, however, we finished with our work in record time and were ready to put to sea. Consequently, the Crew was given a dance on the hangar deck on the evening of Saturday, 3 June, and it was a most enjoyable occasion. The forward half of the hangar deck had the various signal flags and pennants hang- ing from the bulkheads, forming a very appro- priate and pretty setting for the dance. The Astoria Naval .Station Orchestra played for the dance, and many a rug was ciu to smith- ereens ' by the Jitterbugs of the Liiiiga Point. Refreshments were served throughout the evening in both the C.P.O. and the Crew Mess to as lovely a group of ladies as ever graced the Lunga Point. ■Sunday, 4 June, found most of the Lunga Point wives en route home or preparing to leave, because Scuttlebutt, straight from the C;how Line, told us that we would soon be getting underway. anc:hors AWEIGH! Stand Na y down the field. Sail set to the sky ! We ' ll never change our course; ■So Army, you steer shy-y-y ! Roll up the score. Navy, Anchor ' s aweigh ! Sail Navy down the field And sink the Army; sink the Army Grey! Monday, 5 June 1944: 08-1 2 Moored as before. Set Condition Baker. 0820 Stationed all special sea details. Made all preparations for getting underway. 0857 Underway from Pier 2, Berth 4, U.S. Naval •Station, Astoria, Oregon, on various courses and speeds. Pilot, Lt. Cdr. Clark, at the conn. C aptain, Executive Officer and Navigator on the bridge. 0909 Pilot, Lt. Cdr. Hansen, USCG. relieved Pilot, Lt. Cdr. Clark, at the conn. 0944 Exercised at General Quarters. 0957 Sighted blimp; identified as K-87, U..S. Getting underway from .Astoria. 27 Navy. loof, Passed from lnlaiul to Iiitcr- iiational waters, lonfi .Seciirctl Iroiii (Jciieial Qiiarieis. .Sel Condition III. .Section • . loji I ' ilot, l.t. ( ' .dr. Hansen. U.SCXi, left the ship. Took departme on course Pji ! and p.i;.r. I no e (■ to if)4°r and p.t .e. ' The al)(j ( ' loK entry was not needed to con- vince everyone dial we were linally underway on our ' Maiden N ' oyai e. ' Notable amoni tho.se who needed only the pitch and roll of the Lwiga Point to con ince them that something new had suddenly come into their lives were Lieutenants DeAngelis and Ray, as well as many men scattered throughout the Crew ' s Quarters trying in vain to calm the seas by laying Hat on their stomachs in their bunks, with their agonized heads burrowing futilely into their pillows for comfort, which was no- where to w found. It was during this period that Lt. De. ngelis introduced a new piece of gear to be carried topside to the open Bridge Tof : Seattle from a w boat; bottom: .Seattle from air, showing Bremcrlon ferry. by till- ( )lii(ir-of-lhe-I)e( k when rditxing the Wait h jiisl a plain Inuket. After crossing the Columbia River Bar, we found ourselves in the- Pacilic for the (irst time. The I ' acilic was evcTything but what its name- im|)lies, however, and cjur ship pitched and to.ssed like a ccjrk in the- mountaincnis waves, and the plates c;f the ship rescjunded with a boom throughout that first night at sea as they gave under the impact of the heavy sea.s. It was. therefore, a relief to all. and particularly those unhappy sea-sick .sailors, when we entered the C|uiet and peaceful waters of Fuget .Sound the ne. t morning. For the next few days, we enjoyed smooth sailing in what is probably the mcjst picturesque sound in the world, while we called at Port Townsend, Illahee. Bremerton and oth er points in Puget Sound, taking on various stores, ammunition and other gear, and going through various tests of precision instruments preparatory- to our Shakedown Cruise, which was ne.xt in our schedule. As we cruised along through the narrou- straits of Puget Sound we could not help but feel that we were being allowed much the same view as met the eyes of Captain John Smith as he brought his ships into Jamestown, in the Colony of ' irginia. in 1607, because the beau- tiful pines, firs and spruce so typical of that beautiful northwest country came right down to the crystal clear water ' s edge, as virgin in appearance as one could possibly hope to see. Despite the fact that huge lumber mills were humming beyond the hills and that we were cruising through waters that are literally a highway of commerce between the United States, Canada and Alaska, the view that met our eyes convinced us in our ow-n minds that we were the first ship to chart a course through that panorama of e ergreen beauty. While we enjoyed the cruise from a scenic standpoint, we had hardly gotten underway from Astoria when we were made to realize that this cruise was not only a preliminary to our shakedown, but that it was the beginning of an indoctrination period that was to grow in its intensity until such time as all hands had been trained to do the job for which they were best fitted and to do that job well. Drills of all kinds were the order of the day — General Quarters, Fire Drill. Collision Drill, Abandon Ship Drill and many other exercises that, thoroughly mastered, would enable us to fight our ship successfully when we had reached that 28 point of near-perfection for which the Old Man strove so hard. It was just like going to school again, not only because we were having drills of some kind every day, but be- cause we were going to school in fact. The officers were ha ' ing classes every day in Officer- of-the-Deck duties, aircraft and ship recogni- tion and so on, while the enlisted personnel were having lookotit and recognition classes, too. Actually, it appeared to us that we were being ■ screened. While, no doubt, the Cap- tain was a little apprehensive at the tremendous number of dry land sailors he had under his command, we don ' t feel that he ever thought lie had a hopeless job on his hands, but that, rather, his job was to try us all out in various duties until he had found the job best suited to our individual capabilities. With this feeling in mind, we all went about our duties cheer- fully and with a determination to absorb all we could from our various training courses and exercises, and, in retrospect, we can now say vith justifiable pride that we do feel that we got off on the right foot and that we have been well rewarded for our efforts. After several days cruising in Puget .Sound and with all hands ready for a liberty or so after our long cruise, on Friday, 9 June 1944: 12-16 Steaming as before. 1442 Completed measured mile runs. 1445 Set course 300°T and p.g.c. Speed i8 knots. 1500 c c to o8o°T and p.g.c. c s to 15 knots. 1524 On various courses and speeds proceeding to dock. Lt. Cdr. Willard, Pilot, at the conn. Captain, E.xecutive Officer and Navigator on the bridge. 1544 Moored starboard side to Pier 91, Berth How, Naval Station, Seattle, Wash., with two 10 manila lines and six ]4 wire lines doubled. The Captain, of course, being in the know- as to when and where we were going, al- ready had things arranged, and he simply had to walk down the gangway and be dri en to his home overlooking Lake Washington to see his Skipper, while the rest of us, the proletariat, walked the four miles in to the Seattle business section for much-needed rest and recreation. This, of course, was not our first visit to Seattle, because we had all spent several weeks in Brem- erton, at the CA ' E Pre-commissioning School prior to going to Astoria to commission our ship; however, we were all kept so very busy while in Bremerton, attending classes, holding per.sonnel inspections and so on that we had heretofore seen very little of Seattle proper. Seattle had much to offer us in the way of diversion from our shipboard duties, and we found the typical Northwest hospitality much in evidence, what with various .Service Clubs and Fraternal Organizations, as we ll as the hotels, ready to welcome us with open arms. As a matter of fact, on arrival in the Cocktail Lounge of the Hotel Olympic a short (very short) while after we had docked, we found quite a number of Lunga Point men already en- joying their rest and recreation. The whole city was crowded that night, as well as all the time we were there, because we were not the only Naval vessel in port, and the Bremerton crowd from the Puget Sound Na y Yard was sufficient to over-flow the city, anyway. De- spite the usual .Seattle wartime crowd, though, we could eventually find a restaurant where we didn ' t have to stand in line more than an hour, and we even found a couple of night clubs that had room for us. Quite a number of our men from the .Seattle-Tacoma area had the pleasure of a short visit with their families. All in all, our first night, as well as the days to follow, in Seattle were most enjoyable. It was also while in Seattle that we in the Wardroom were served that never-to-be-for- gotten dinner — three courses of them — on Sat- urday, 10 June 1944. It made such a lovely impression on our guests that we shall ever be grateful to our Wardroom Mess C aterer, Lt. (jg) C. C. Smith, for his ingenuity in planning such a delicious menu. As long as we live we shall blush at the sight of a Boston Baked Bean. Having finished our loading of stores in Seattle, on Monday, 12 June 1944: 12-16 Moored as before. 1232 Underway from Pier 91, Berth How. U.S. Naval Station, Seattle, Washington, on various courses and speeds. 29 I ' licrc ;iic two iiii|)()rlaiit rrns rslii|) rci;iil;i- tioiis lli.it llic Niivy ;il v;iys in;m;iK s to kcc|) ;i deep, dark .secret, aiicl they are the time ol ' cli- partiire and wliere we aic i oinu. In this |)ar- ticular instance, our I xeciitive ()(iic ' r |)ulle(i a fast one on the Shijj ' s .Ser ice Ollicei ' before Icavini; Seaitie. He had intimated that we weic t oini to Alameda (San I ' ' rancisc()), Calif. . t liiis |)articiilar time the carbonator.s had not been installed in the Ship ' s Service Store and vc were selling bottled Coca-Cola. Con.se- quently, in order to conserxe space, which is always at a premium aboard ship, we took on just enough bottled C ' Dkcs to last until we reached ■ Frisco. but we didn t e en come within sight of Seal Rocks, mu( li less pass throunh the ( Jolden Gate, and we had to go withoiii our Dopes for a couple of days, b ' causc (in li ' iday, id June i ).(}: ())i-ij Steaming as before on course of 2J(n ' and p.g.c., j-,4° p.s.c. .Speed 12 knots. 0810 l- xerci.sed at Steering Casualty Drill. 0818 .Secured from .Steering Casualty Drill. 0920 Land sighted bearing I ' i ) !. 1129 c c to ;V20° ' r and p.g.c. Passed Bell Buoy A abeam to port. ii ' -j;5 Stationed all special sea details. Standing in to San Diego Harbor, Calif, on arious courses and speeds. C!aptain at the (onn. Executive Officer and Navigator on llic bridge. Instead of arriving at Alameda, wc made our first call on N.A.S., North Island, San Diego, C alif., where tho.se of us who were for- tunate enough to rate liberty had a brief but pleasant isit in the beautiful cities of .San Diego and Coronado. It was destined to be a .short stay though, because after all, there was a war going on and wc had work to do. Therefore, the next day, Saturday, 17 June 1944, we got underway from North Island for several days at sea on various tests and exercises incident to preparing a ship for its .Shakedown Cruise. . t this point, in addition to our drills and classes of instruction, the Captain introduced another indoctrination program, which was to have arious Department Heads address the oHicers on the functions and operations of their . t DesBase, San Diego, California. 30 respective departments, which was, of course, designed to give all officers at least a superficial working knowledge of those departments in which they had no direct interest. This plan not only made us more familiar with our ship as a whole, but it instilled in us a sympathetic attitude toward the particular problems of our fellow officers. Therefore, with our indoctri- nation program well underway, and feeling that we were ready for our Shakedown, on Saturday, 24 June 1944: 16-20 Steaming as before. 161 o Sighted Far- allon Islands bearing i89°T. 161 1 c c to ioo°T and p.g.c. 1656 Passed Buoy A abeam to port. Maneuvering on various courses con- forming to channel into San Francisco Har- bor. 1834 Stationed all special sea details. 1835 Passed from International to Inland waters. Passed Bonita Point abeam to star- board. 1843 Passed under Golden Gate Bridge. 1857 Passed Alcatraz Light abeam to port. 1934 Passed under San Francisco Bay Bridge (Some folks caU it Oakland Bay Bridge — Ed.). 1938 Passed Goat Island Light abeam to port. 1954 Anchored in Berth 9 in 10 fathoms of water with 60 fathoms of chain out to the port anchor at the water ' s edge, on the follow- ing bearings: Ferry Building 297. 5°T, Goat Island 005. 3°T, Red Dock 27o°T and Alca- traz Light 3i3°T. Secured main engines. We now found ourselves finally anchored in San Francisco Bay, where we were to move to the dock at N.A.S., Alameda, the next morning. Lfpon docking at the Alameda pier, all hands turned to on loading stores and other gear for our Shakedown Cruise. It being the policy of our Government to make these Shakedown Cruises pay for themselves, among other things, we took aboard quite a number of planes as cargo, and a large number of officers and men as passengers. We had so much gear to get aboard that it took a couple of days hard work, which meant a couple of liberties for those in the liberty section. Consequently, the Lunga Point was very much in evidence around San Franci.sco, at the Top o ' the Mark, Fisherman ' s Wharf, ClifT House, Seal Rocks, the Saint Francis and even Trader Vic ' s over in Oakland. Many a Lunga Point man could also be seen hanging precariously on the little cable cars as they climbed slowly but surely up Telegraph Hill. This was the first visit to ' Frisco for many men on the Lunga Point, and the quaint- ncss and charm of this lovely West Coast me- tropolis, with its most genuine C hinatown and Latin Quarter, was thoroughly enjoyed by all of us. Yes, we all had had a good time, and well we might, because we had a long journey ahead of us, which held the unhappy propect for many of us having to go through the ordeal of being Pollywogs until crossing the line, at which time we would be well initiated into the ancient and honorable ranks of the Shell- backs ; so on Shake her down ! Shake her down ! ! Tuesday, 27 Jvme 1944: 12-16 Moored as before. 12 15 Stationed all special sea details. Made all preparations for getting underway. 13 10 Pilot, Lt. Cdr. H. S. Stengel, USCG, came aboard. 1312 Under- way from Carrier Pier, Berth 7, N.A.S., Ala- h, ,: Goldc Gate bridge; bottom: View from Twin Peaks, lookii down Market Street, San Francisco. 31 mcda. C.ilifitniiii. Pilot ;it llic conn. Clap- l.tin, l ' ,xc uli c ()IIi( -r iinci Naxifjator on llic luiilnr. I ' rocccclini; on various coursrs and s|XTcls out of San Franrisro Bay. i3. ' )4 Pass ' d Alcalra Island abeam to starboard. I4f f) Passed inider (iolden (Jate Bridge. 141R Pas.sed from Inland to International waters. Spn-ed 1 -, knots. Passed between Bonita Point and Seal Roek Linhthouse. On arioiis courses ronforminn to swept channel. i-,oi Stopped. Lying to. Pilot left the ship. 1 -)io Ahead s s. .Set course :ioi°r. 202° p.g.c, and 191° p.s.c. E.xerci.sed at Cieneral Quarters. 1519 .Secured from General Quarters. Set Condition III. ]-y o c c to 148°! and p.g.c. 1540 U..S. Navy Blimp K-10-, reported for duty. i. )47 c s to ilj knots. Heard among the .Sky-larkers : I got it straight from a Civil .Service Quar- tcrman Laborer on the dock at Alameda that we ' re headed straight for Brisbane. My girl friend ' s brother has a buddy who has a sister-in-law working at the Federal Builditig in Frisco, and she says we ' re delinitely going to Pearl. A waiter in the Lotus Restaurant told nie we are going to Ulithi Atoll, when-ver that is. Boy, they do have good Chow Mein at that Lotus, too. .So that waiter must know what he ' s talking about. Now, listen, youse guys: I ' ve got the drjpe, and I ain ' t hankerin ' to tell you, but, if you must know, here it is. W ' e ' re goin ' to sea! . ow, having really gotten underway on our .Shaked(nvn Cruise, all hands were told the first night, by our Executive Officer, that wc were en route to Fin.schafen. New Guinea. We are always told, after getting underway exactly where we are going, because, after all, no one is so anxious to let out the information as to want to swim ashore with it. Ihis in- Top liji: A good place lo pass by — . lcatraz: lop nghi: CaJUslhemcs on flight deck; bollom left: Caulking off on fantail en route I iollom right: Calisthenics on flight deck (Pi.xley seems to be having a hard time). 32 formation was received with ripples; in fact, waves of excitement throughout the ship, be- cause it had been a long time since we had been to New Guinea (never, for most of us). As a matter of fact, it had been so long that we had forgotten all we ever knew about the place; so much so that we were half hoping to find it populated with gobs of those beautiful South Sea sirens, the kind that Samuel Goldwyn had accustomed us to expect, waiting for us on the beach. This happy prospect almost made us forget the unhappy prospect of our coming initiation before King Neptune. Meanwhile, the Civilian Officers of the Ship ' s Company turned to in their determina- tion to prove to the Executive Officer that he was wrong. For it was none other than Com- mander E. R. Swede Eastwold, USN, who, in his first informal talk with our Officers in Bremerton on 4 April 1 944, said, and we quote him verbatim as follows: Well, I ' ve been looking over the Officer ' s Roster and I find the Reser es (he meant civilians) in the majority. I understand that other C E ' s before us have gone out under the same uncertain and shaky conditions, though, which proves it can be done: so all I want you to do is to prove it to me. I don ' t see how it can be done, but it ' s up to you. Do the job; that ' s all I want. The Exec, however, couldn ' t have realized how far wrong he was in estimating the ability of his officer personnel. He simply hadn ' t, at that time, interviewed all the officers to see just what their Naval qualifications were, because we were so fortunate as to have lawyers, engineers, chemists, bookmakers, radio crooners (a Na- tional hook-up, too), insurance men, football coaches, petroleum engineers, business men, lumber dealers, rising young business men, dry ice manufacturers, prominent young business men, lawyers, flying machine dri% ' crs, dentists, doctors, farmers (gentleman farmers, of course), lawyers, school teachers. Harvard men (a Vale man, too, and also a son of old Nassau), law students to be, salesmen, public welfare work- ers. Ministers (Methodist), law students, paper cup salesmen, filling station operators, three graduates of the United States Naval Academ -. classes of 1923, 1932 and 1935 (adding up and di iding by three gives an average of 1930; therefore, we were somewhat comforted to know that three members of the class of ' 30 were with us to keep us oflT the coral reefs that lay ahead), detectives, lawyers, lawyers, one child of the Streets of Paris, hauling contractors. certified public accountants, lawyers, boxing instructors, G.M.A.C. Bird Dogs, lawyers, obstetricians, and lawyers. For the life of us we can ' t understand how anyone can feel that all these qualifications can ' t add up to at least Top: Our escort center : . part of New G route to New G boltoi of San Francisco enroute to New Guinea: hangar deck cargo on Shakedown to Hangar deck cargo and passengers en- 33 one t|iialiru(l ( )lli ci -ol-lhi-Di ' ck underway. And litsidts. the Kx(( ( omplctcly overlooked the fiirt that at least one ollicer not his eommis- sion on the hasis of havinij, for many years, made peri(Kli(al trips to ( ' .ap ' Lookout and the Culf Stream in a -,o-foot cruiser in pursuit of his favorite hohby of deep sea fishing without once getting sea sick. But all this is actually Ix-side the point; we had the boat out there in the Pacific, and we had to drive it; so we tigured we might as well drive it on down New Guinea way as we had been told to do. Here wc go, boys! Hold your hats!! Sailing, sailing over the bounding main. And many a stormy ivind shall blow Ere Jack comes home again. There followed many pleasant days of cruis- ing on the quiet waters of the .South Pacific, and we all enjoyed the pleasant company of a fine group of passengers, because, at that time, we ' hadn ' t begun to fight, and we had some leisure time on our hands (Oh, how we long for the leisure, now). It was the first time in those waters for most of us, and we really enjoyed the beauty of the Pacific, with its crystal clear, emerald green water, and its many species of flying fish, not to mention an occasional whale and school after school of porpoise, dolphin and shark. As the time went on. we drew nearer and nearer to the Equator, and the great ma- jority of us, being Pollywogs, looked forward to crossing the line with grave apprehension. It was, howc -er, on E minus 4 (four days be- fore crossing the line) that the secret leaked out. He had tried to keep it a secret as long as he could, but when Xeptune ' s representatives, lining up the .Neophytes ahead of time, asked him for his Sheiiljack card, he had to admit that, even though he graduated at Annapfjjis in 1932. he was an humfjje, lowly Polly wog. Well, to say the lea.st, it was som comfort to us 800 odd genuine and unembarrassed Pollywogs to know that we had a three stripx-r, 12 years out of Crab Town, going through the ordeal with us. .So, with increased fortitude and a grim determination to undergo our coming ordeal like men of the Nyvee of old, we went about our daily ta.sks, trying to forget that Davey Jones would soon be coming up through the hawse pipes with our Royal Summonses un- til on .Sunday, 2 July 1944, we received a dis- patch on board reading as follows: = FROM: HRH XEPTUXIS REX TO: USS LUXGA POIXT (CVE 94) 302330 X IT HAS BEEN REPORTED THAI IHE USS LUXGA POIXT WITH A FULL C;OM- PLEMEXT OF GROSS POLLYWOGS IS ABOUT TO ENTER MY ROYAL DO- MAIX X IT IS HEREBY DIRECTED TH. T ALL MY LO AL SHELLBAC:KS ABOARD IXSTITUTE A RO AL ClOURT TO TRY ALL SUC:H POLLYWOGS AS MAY BE FOUNT) IN THE C:OMPANY OF REAL SEAFARIXG MEX X IT IS DI- RECTED THAT A REPORT LOG BE KEPT B ' A TRUSTS ' SHELLBACIK SO THAT XO IMPERTIXEXT POLL ' WOG MAY ESC:APE due PUXTSHMEXT FOR HIS rashxess x all such OF- FEXT)ERS SHALL BE BROUGHT TO TRIAL UPOX MY ARRIX ' AL OX BOARD AT THE EQUATOR X THIS SHALL BE PROMULGATED TO THE CREW AT QUARTERS X X 302330 We continued with our classes of instruction and our arious drills with renewed interest and vigor in hopes that we could momentarily forget our impending doom, but even the con- tagious smile of our popular instructor, Com- mander E. G. O.sborn. U.SX. did little good in helping us to get our minds off our coming initiation, because on Mondays 3 July, we re- ceived another dispatch which read as follows: 34 King Neptu nd his Royal C:o FRO?. : HRH NEPTUNIS REX TO: USS LUNGA POINT (CVE 94) INCONFOx UITY WITH THE CUSTOMS ESTABLISH! D SINCE MEN HAVE SAILED BEYOND THE SEAS AND INTO MY REALM 1 HE COMMANDING OF- FICER IS REQUESTED TO HAVE ALL LOWLY POLLYH ' OGS FALL IN AT QUARTERS ON JULY FOURTH AT 1400 TO RECEIVE SUBPOENA DIRECTING THEM TO APPEAR BEFORE NH ' ROYAL COURT ON WEDNESDAY JULY FIFTH X UNIFORM FOR SUCH LOWLY C REA- TURES SHOULD BE AS FOLLOWS C;0- LOx 0FFIC;ERS comma FANCY ' GREY OR KHAKI TRC3USERS BLUE SERVICE TOP COAT AND WHITE C:APS EN- LISTED PERSCONNEL WHITE TROU- SERS BLUE JUiMPER FLAT HATS PEA- COATS AND WOOLEN GLOVES X UNDER NO C:iIRC:UMSTANCES SHALL SUC:H PERSONS BE PERMITTED TO WEAR SHOES OR SOX X SPECIAL OF- FICER LOOKOUTS SHALL BE POSTED IN THE EYES OF THE SHIP ONE HOUR PRIOR TO THE ARRIVAL OF MY ROYAL SCRIJBE DA ' EY JONES X UNI- FORM ANT) EQUIPMENT FOR LOOK- OUTS SHALL BE PRESCRIBED BY THE SENIOR SHELLBACK ABOARD X Tuesday, 4 Jul- ' 944: 12-16 Steaming- as before. 1405 Da ey Jones welcomed aboifird by Captain. Sure enoi gh, at e.xactly 1400. our officer lookouts, bemg ever on the alert, sighted Davey Jones climbing the down haul chains out of the depths of the briny deep, right up the bow of our ship and through the haw.se pipes, and they immediately reported the arrival of our dis- tinguished guest to the OOD, who, in turn, reported it to the Captain. The Old Man promptly invited Davey up to the flight deck where he extended him a warm welcome aboard, whispering in Davey ' s car that he hoped the Royal Court would give us Pollywogs H — the next day, particularly the E.xec, be- cause it was with a feeling of utter contempt that the Skipper had learned that his Executive Ofliccr, with all his years at sea, had never gotten nearer the Equator than the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal. Davey Jones expressed his appreciation to the Captain for the warm welcome, and then looked down upon the supplicating Pollywogs with a supercilious and gluttonous expression on his weather-beaten face, and commenced reading the charges, most of which were faked, against the individuals bowing in great humil- ity and fright before his Majesty ' s emissary. Davey seemed to enjoy the suffering of the Pollywogs immensely as they stood about the flight deck, barefooted, and in pea coats and top coats, with that Equatorial .sun beating down upon them (and us), and the perspiration dripping from their chins. His expression seemed to warn the poor un-initiatcd that where beads of perspiration dropped that day, drops of blood would be dripping on the mor- row, after they had been convicted without trial before the Royal Cburt, and were re- ceiving their just punishment. After warn- ing the Pollwogs to be prepared for trial at ex- 35 n lly 1401) ilif nixl ihiy. Diivcy left the sliip vi.i the li;i sc pipe-- ;i qiiirtly ;is lie li.icl ( i)in - Wfclncscliiy, jJiiK 1 )44: ij-i() Slfjimini; as l clbic. 1400 CIondiK led cnrinoiMcs incident to crossing Equator. 0 1. im! Oh, my. ' . ' I he Royal Cioiirt convened on tlic lli!j;lit deck promptly at 1400 and had rendered svsilt and just sentences upon the 800 odd Pollyv ogs at exactly 1401. It is only meet and right that the names of the individuals comprising a Cbiirt that can render ecjuitablc punishment so rapidly should be preserved for posterity: therefore, the entire Court is given below as follows: HRH King Neptune. . . C. B. Wagner. CXiM HRH Queen . mphitrite J. H. Beall. Vic Royal Scribe Lt. (jg) C. C. Smith Royal Chaplain R. O. McCormick. CSF Royal Doctor Cdr. C:. M. Tirrell Royal Dentist J- f • Handlcy, C ox Royal SherifT W. L. Baker, CSF Royal Bear L. E. Ewing. CSK Diivey Jones E. C. Ammons, MoMMac Royal Baby W. W. A. Fcurer, C:RM Royal Nurse G. R. Wallace, AMM3C Royal Barber W. W. Partin. Yic Royal Barber W. W. .Atkinson. C:SM Royal Naxisjator J. L. Nihcm. QM3C Preparing the ducking tank for the Polljisogs. ' l.owiy ■Pollywoi! kisws Royal Baby. Immediately after the .sentences had been rendered. King Neptune extended a warm and cordial invitation to all Polly vogs to join the Court on the hangar deck, where certain .secret and ugly looking gear had been set up for the torture of the damned, ' and the invitations weren ' t R..S. ' .P., either. The only consola- tion we could find in the proceedings was that nearly all our passengers were PoUwogs also, and they, poor hapless thintrs, constituted near- ly half the number being initiated. We of the Ship ' s Company would, at least, soon be giv- ing it back. After getting us on the hangar deck, they herded the entire lot of us down to the after crew mess, where we waited our turn in line for the privilege of running the gauntlet of Shellbacks the length of the hangar deck to the forward ele ator to pay homage to, and re- cei e treatment from the Royal C ourt. Pictures can tell the story of what happened far better than words. Suffic e it to say that we were a motley looking crew of Shellbacks when they had finished with us. wi th crosses of silver nitrate on our foreheads that remained there nearly as long as we had to sit on the edge of our chairs at chow, which, in at least one case, was all of a month. And the haircuts presented such a tonsorial array as has m vcr before or since been equalled in originalit y. The inge- 36 nuity of the Royal Barbers was simply mar- elous. n ' ( ' ' ;■(■ a bunch of Shellbacks, Now! Yo! Ho! Ho! And a bottle o ' rum. Beware all lowly Pollywogs, ' ' Cause our timers sure to come. The war having interrupted the education of so many of our Ship ' s Company, this cruise did serve the purpose of giving all hands something that, at least, had a vague resemblance to a diploma, because, in consequence of our suffer- ing, we were all presented with Shellback Cer- tificates as ornately decorated as any Sheep- skin we ' ve ever seen, each being appropriately inscribed with the name, rank and or rate of each new Shellback by Ens. Stuve, our Cata- pult King. Now, we were about to receive a pocket-sized Diploma, because on Saturday, 8 July 1944: 20-24 Steaming as beforf 2024 Commenced blowing tubes and pumping bilges. 2029 Completed blowing tubes. 2030 Completed pumping bilges. 2245 Crossed i8oth Merid- ian at io°S. Latitude. Advanced ship ' s clocks 24 hours. Crossing the i8oth Meridian was more or less uneventful, since the usual initiation was waived by the Captain at the request of the Senior Medical Officer, because he had made an examination of the effects of the Shellback initiation on the crew and decided they ' d had enough for one week. We were, however, ac- cepted as Loyal Members of the Society of the Golden Dragon, and presented with appropri- ate cards testifying to that effect. The only occurrence worthy of note, in this connection, was the fact that we lost a Sunday, having Top l,Jl: t:apt. •Mends wtkoinc to I)a C) JulK-i; h p nghl: DaM-y Jones ' responds to Claptain ' s welcome; hivn Ifjt: Pollywogs ' to Davey Jones on 4 July; lower right: Pollywogs crawling the gauntlet of blood thirsty shellbacks. 37 jiimixtl from mid-iUKln S;iiiiicl;iy to inid-ni lit Siiiuliiy willi very liul ' rlioit. ilic priiK ipal clloii Ixini for tin- QuartormasicTs to move tlic ship ' s throiiumctcrs forward 24 hours. Con- SL ' qucntly. we held Divine Services on Mon- day, but all liands were lookini forward with pleasant antiriijation to f ettinK that Sunday bark on our return Jcnirney to Uncle Sutjar, which couldn ' t be too so(jn for us. Oruisint; alont? over the broad expanse of the Pacilic, it suddenly occurred to us that the ci ilian Nyvee was doini; a remarkable job, because we were almost to our destination, and we hadn ' t gotten off the road even once; thoui h. one of tho.se lawyer OOD ' s did run us out on the shoulder about 500 miles a couple of limes, tnit he was assisted to some extent by om- Navigator, who is actually a dry ice salesman in civilian life, the extent of his navigating heretofore having been to plot a course from his home to his plant in San Fran- cisco. At any rate, it seemed perfectly un- canny that we were, at least, in the general vicinity of the South Pacific, and not too far from Finschafen, New Guinea. In all fairness, however, wc must admit that we had had some help in getting the boat that far, because, to be honest about it, there were scattered remnants of the Old Nyvee to be found here and there in more or less strategic parts of the ship. Our . ir Ollicer. in charge of Hying machine operations, was of th fairly old Nyvee, having graduated from the Naval Academy in 1935. Fortunately, our Head Mechanic (some folks call him the Chief Engi- neer) was of the Fighting Nyvee, and he had live other regulars to help him grind the valves, put in new rings, clean the spark plugs, remove the carbon, change the oil, adjust the Lowly PoIJywog receives nourishment. points on the distributor head, and keep her otherwise tuned up. Then, we had a Boat- swain (pronounced Bos ' n ) to pull in the anchor. We had a fellow down in the C. R. Department to teach us wood-carv-ing as well as to repair leaks in the plumbing. Then there was another one up in the Radio Shack to get the news out of the air for us. We also had another one up there as C.W.O. Then, there was a long, lean and lanky guy known as the Gunner, who was supposed to teach us to shoot, but we ne% ' er see him when the shootin ' s going on. There was also a fellow known as the Gas King, his job corresponding to that of the corner filling station operator, because it was none other than that guy who was constantly and eternally outing the smoking lamp while he filled the tanks of our fly-ing machines. Then, we had a Ship ' s Scrive- ner (some call him the Ship ' s C ' lerk), and. belie ' e me, we needed him because anyone who has ever attempted to write an official letter the Ny ' ee way- is thoroughly convinced that it takes a specialist of long standing to write it according to the book. Last but not least, we had about twenty-five Chief Petty Officers and possibly fifty enlisted men to form a nucleus on which our Skipper had to work in training us into a first-class fighting crew. Therefore, taking everything into consideration, it must be admitted that the civilians didn ' t drive the boat down that far all by themselves, al- though, even the civilians, at that point, as a result of their intensive indoctrination pro- gram, were beginning to take on the appear- ance of Old .Salts, which was quite surprising 38 considering the fact that 79 per cent of the Ship ' s Company had never even been to sea be- fore. It was not, therefore, too much of a sur- prise when on Saturday, 15 July 1944: 12-16 Steaming as before. 1207 Pilot came aboard. 1212 Commenced standing in to Fin- schafen. New Guinea harbor on various courses and speeds. Pilot, C aptain Bell, Royal Aus- tralian Navy, at the conn. Captain, Executive Officer and Navigator on the bridge. 1233 Stationed all special sea details. 1326 An- chored in Dreger Harbor, Finschafen, New Guinea, in 1 5 fathoms of water, mud and coral bottom, with 45 fathoms of chain out to the port anchor on the following bearings; Left tangent of Matura Isla nd 039°T, right tangent of Nussing Island i9i°T, Nababangdu Point 000. 5°T. SOPA: U.S.S. Liinga Point. 1355 secured special sea details. Set Condition of Readiness III, Material Clondition Baker. Cut out generator 3; cut in generator 2. Gen- erators I and 2 in use. All engines in standby condition. 1400 Set clocks back one hour. New Guinea presented a picturesque sight to us from the ship soon after the first landfall, with her stately coconut palms swinging gently in the breeze, but after coming to anchor we had a close-up view that was not so pretty, be- cause we then saw the ra ages of war at first hand. The outer islands were entirely burned out of all undergrowth from shcllfire, and even the graceful palms still standing were shell- scarred and broken. While this was a horrible sight to us then, it was to be a common sight to us in the future, since most every island we visited during our first year bore such mute evidence of the ravages of war; damage to nature ' s beauty that would take generations to restore. •Shortly after arri ing in Finschafen we se- cured docking space and shifted over to the pier where we immediately started unloading our cargo of planes and disembarking our many passengers. Not a one of our passengers knew exactly where he was going; their orders merely designated various bases with code names, however, they all disembarked at Fin- .schafen for further transportation to their ul- timate destinations, and they were a funny, yet pathetic sight as they stepped from that quickly thrown up dock into the foot-deep mud of New Guinea, not knowing how or when they were lea ing there or where they were going. Having gotten our ship down there, we were quite prepared for most any kind of a surprise. The entire West Coast of the United States was, at that time, operating under dim-out con- New Guinea; bottom: Marine camp at New I 39 clitioiis at nii ht that losrly resembled a hlat k- oul, and all the way down we had relii iously darkened ship one-half honr Ix-fore sunset each evening, and no one was allowed to smoke in any exposed location. What C(juld ha e Ix-en more siirprisini; to us, then, than to learn that there would he no black-out in Finschafen, even in oin ship? That night, Finschafc ' ii and the surroundinu; military installations looked like Times .S |uare. It seemed c|uite bold to us, what with thousands of Japs entrapjjed Just north of us around W ' ewak. At any rate, we had no attack that night and were able to pro- ceed with our job of unloading unmolested. We had another .surpri.se in the distorted picture we had had of the natives. Naturally, wc had all read books, and we had all seen movies about the .South Pacific, and we e.x- p cctcd to find the natives not bad to look at to say the least. Since our stay there was to be short, very few were allowed to lca e the dock. Fortunately, however, the Captain needed some khaki pants, and when the Old Man needs khaki panl.s the .Ship ' s .Ser ice Orticer has to go into action; in fact, when the .Skipper needs anything, somebody has to go into ac- tion. The only good thing that ever came out of being Ship ' s .Ser ice Officer was the oppor- tunity to go shopping for the C ' aptain ' s pants in New Guinea. We, being .Ship ' s .Service Officer at the time, bright and early the next morning, took our Number 2 Jeep, hoping to find tlie Captain ' s pants at an Army Post Ex- change we liad heard of about ten miles up the coast. We took along Bos ' n Luck and Dr. MacDonald; Boat.s to help us weigh an- chor in that mud. and Dr. MacDonald to treat us in case of snake bite, because we had already heard of an eight foot python crawling in the bunk of an Army Ofticer his er ' first night there. After leaving the dock, we found that the SeaBees, as usual, had done an excellent job of building roads up and down the coast; so we headed north along a er - good dirt road, only occasionally running into deep mud. We passed camp after camp of Army and .SeaBee units as we dro e along through the hot. humid groves of coconut palms. We finally found the Post Exchange we were looking for, but they- didn ' t have the correct size pants for the Captain: so we began our return journey to the ship. On the way up we had seen numerous natives in British uniform, patrolling the roads, but we hadn ' t seen any natives in their native dress. Finally, returning to the ship along this jungle road, we saw two individuals with a very dark sun-burn emerging from the jungle on our p)ort hand. .Slowing down to get a go(xi look, it turned out that they were none other than New Ciuinea ' s Dagwood and Blondie out for a .Sunday morning stroll. We had always heard that the natives in these parts made the women do all the work, and these two con- firmed it. Pop was out frcint. wearing a loin cloth and nothing else, and carrying about a six fofjt staff in his right hand. He .seemed to be awfully well built and in the best o( shape physically. It was, of course, impossible to tell his age, but, though he didn ' t look it, we guessed his age as about fifty. Mom was trudging along about six feet astern, wearing a length of what appeared to be brightly colored, but dirty, gingham wrapped around her body from her arm pits to just above her knees, and she was carrying a heavy burden on her back, suspended in a sort of sling from her head. .She was diminutive to say the least, and appeared to be aljout 15 years old, but not holding her youth too well under the burden imposed on her by being Dagwood ' s spouse. .She was everything but the Dorothy Lamour type we had expected to find. Returning to the ship, we found them load- ing old planes and a few passengers for trans- pwrtation back to the .States. We also found lots of visitors at our Gedunk .Stand, Ijuying ice cream and anything else we could sell them. These . rmy lads and .SeaBees had been there a long time without too much in the way of luxuries; so it was a pleasure to let them have anything we could spare, including our pre- cious cargo. We also found three .Army- Nurses, not too glamorous looking in their cover-alls, waiting for the .Ship ' s .Service Officer to see if he would sell each of them one of the pretty leather compacts that were reserved for the .Ship ' s Company. After one good look at them we realized that they were in desperate need of something to combat the effects of. the New- Guinea climate on their complexions; so we let them each have one, and they were three happy girls if we ever saw .any. As a matter of fact, we believe they would gladly ha e paid five times the price we charged them. The sight of these three girls, undergoing the same hardships as the men in New Guinea, convinced us of the many sacrifices they are 40 Bringing Army planes aboard at Finschafen 41 I ' iin nf our Ciircii of ;irmy plam-s on fii;lil deck at Kspirilu S.inloi. niakinir in tliis war, and tlu-y are doing it liappily, too. Having completed our loading of cargo and passengers, on Sunday, iGJuly 1944: 1G-18 Moored as before. 161 7 Underway from Pier 1 1 , Drcgcr Harbor, Finschafen, New Guinea, on various courses and speeds to con- form to channel. Pilot, Captain Bell, at the conn. Captain, Executive Officer and Navi- gator on the bridge, ifi i Pass ' d Red Drum Huoy abeam to port, distance ' ,0 yards. I ' J; ' } I ' ilol left th - ship. 1 37 With . ussing Island bearing 050° ' ! ' , distance ] i mile, tcjok depar- ture. Ahead s s. 1642 Set ba.sc cour.sc J7o. ' 3° ' I , 270° p.g.c. and 260.5° p..s.r. 1645 . head full speed. I73j c c to oo-j. ' ! ' , 005° p.g.c. and 3 ,7. ,° p.s.c. 1738 Darkened .ship. .Again, we were underway for s(jmewhcrc, and, shortly after leaving New (juinea, where we had been for little more than 24 hours, we were told that we were en route to Espiritu Santos, New Hebrides, where, if we were for- tunate enough to get on the Ix-ach, we might ha ' the opportunity rjf trying out our French on the natives. The cruise up to Espiritu .Santos was une cnlful; just the everyday rou- tine, drills and more drills, clas.ses and more das.ses, the entire Ship ' s Cxjmpany being oc- cupied in teaching or learning to man a ship. It was at this point that we began to see the re- sults of our indoctrination. The Captain, who had heretofore felt it advisable to remain on the bridge nearly all the time, except for a few hours at night, began to spend a little less time up there. There was also a definite atmo.s- phere of mutual confidence developing be- tween the Chaplain and the Ship ' s Company. Harbor -ie v- at Espiritu Santos, 42 Hangar deck passengers returning to Uncle Sugar frc We were getting the feel of the sea. Our Gunners were staying on target more and more in our Gunnery Exercises. We had a definite feeling that our Progress for Combat was shaping up to the satisfaction of all con- cerned, and a definite feeling of pride in our ship and in ourselves was beginning to develop. We not only felt, but we knew we were on our way, and that we had reached that near state of perfection with our many drills and exercises. It was, therefore, a happy and more confident crew that on ESPIRITU SANTOS Thursday, 20 July 1944: 16-18 .Steaming on various courses and speeds preparatory to entering harbor of Espiritu Santos, New Hebrides. 161 6 Dead in water. Captain at the conn. Executive Officer and Navigator on the Bridge. 1631 All engines ahead i ,3. Maneuvering to enter Segond Channel. 1651 Passed through anti-subma- rine nets. 1653 Pas.sed Beacon A abeam to starboard. 1 708 Passed Beacon C abeam to starboard. 1 7 14 Passed Beacon G abeam to starboard. 1720 Maneuvering to moor at Buoy 16. 1728 Line aboard buoy. 1743 Moored to Buoy 16, Segond Channel, Espiritu Santos Island, with 10 manila bowline and wire pre enter. Various cargo and repair craft moored in harbor. SOPA: U. S. S. Briaius. 1 745 Sludge barge received alongside. Secured main engines. 1757 Executed colors. The sun having set just as we anchored, we saw no prospect of getting ashore that night, and Scuttlebutt, straight from the Chow Line, having pretty well convinced us that we would be getting underway sometime the next day, our hopes for getting ashore rapidly diminished. Fortunately for us, however, the Captain still hadn ' t gotten his khaki pants; so he sent us in at 0800 on the 2 ist to try again to get them for him. We found the pants right away, which we didn ' t mind very much, becau.se, after all, there were no more places of interest to shop in between Espiritu and Uncle Sugar, and we had every reason to believe we were returning to the States. Our boat was not to return for us until 1 100; so we had over two hours to wait. We decided to use that time to look up some friends at our Seaplane Base; so we hopped a ride down there in a Jeep. En route, we were immediately impressed with the fact that the New Hebrides were a much prettier and more civilized Gunto than we had expected. There was not as much mud as in New Guinea, and the SeaBees had built perfect sand and gravel roads all up and down the island. The more affluent citizens were of French extraction and lived in very attractive homes scattered along the roads, and many of them had their own French automobiles, though they were of a rather old vintage. Even the natives lived in more civilized homes than were found in New Guinea; however, we saw no villages, the homes merely being scattered sparsely along the roads with plenty of Leibenstraum. 43 Mavinn spt ' iit a vrry plcisanl hour wiili our frifiids at tlu- Seaplane Base, w - lio[)|)ccl another Jeep ricU hack to the boat landini;. En route, we pass -cl three natives, dressed in their In-st loin cloths, with their arms full of miniature out-ri ij; r eanoes, which we felt t er- tain they were takinir to the landinir to sc-11 as souvenirs to the Army, Navy and Marine per- sonnel stationed lh -re: so we asked our bene- factor if he would mind stojipini; loni eiKJunh for us to buy one. We approached the elder of the three and said, How much? Not a i runt was forthcoming, e en after the third attempt. Then, in our very Ix-st French, which we hadn ' t used in i8 years, we .said, Qu est-ce que le prix? Immediately, the words came back, ■ ' Fifty C:ents. ' We finally got out of him that the only English they spoke was Money, and we can well understand that, because wc later learned that, two years iDcfore, .American service men could buy boars teeth from them Top: .Sailing off Lo IS Beach; hdou: Rainbow f .-Xuditorium, Long Beach. for J-, cents, whereas, now that they have learned that all .Amc-ricans are rich, they charged Im Dollar for thi-m. aiifl iliey got it. With the Captain ' s pants and our out-rigger (anoe. we returned to the ship perfe tly con- tent with our three-hour visit to the New Heb- rides. Upon arriving at the ship, we .saw that the main reason for our calling at Espiritu .Santos was to take on a large number of Army. .Navy and .Marine p -r.sonnel for transportation back to the States. Our Might deck and hangar deck were kjaded with planes, and there were row upon row of cots all up and down the hangar deck for the enlisted pas- sengers, and every inch of space in Officer ' s Country was taken up with officer pa.ssengers. They were a most cheerful lot of passengers, be- cause they were all going back to the States, either on duty or leave, after many months in the New Hebrides getting our various ba.ses established. We, too, were in a cheerful mood, because the prospect of an early reunion with our families meant much to us also. Therc- fon-. it was one happy ship when on Friday, 21 July 1944: 12-16 Moored as before. 1422 Stationed all special sea details. Made all preparations for getting underway. 1458 Underway from Berth 16, Espiritu Santos, on various courses and speeds proceeding out of Segond Channel. C ' aptain at the conn. Executive Officer and Navigator on the bridge. 1546 Passed through anti-submarine nets. ' The Plan-of-the-Day for Saturday. 22 July, had thereon the note. En route San Diego. Uncle .Sugar. which was most welcome, but not altogether unexpected news to all hands. Until then, we had been afraid they might, by some remote chance, transfer our cargo and passengers at Pearl Harbor, and send us on the road to Tokyo without another good look at the U.S.A. before starting on our business trip. The cruise back to the .States was a ery pleasant one, with most of our spare time spent either in classes of one kind or another or out on the forecastle or fantail. watching the many species of flying fish as they sailed excitedly ' away from our ship, and otherwise enjoying the beauty of the Pacific waters, while telling and listening to all manner of .Sea .Stories. We could not have desired a nicer bunch of 44 passengers than we had on our return trip, and many friendships were formed amongst them. The enlisted personnel were a particularly well behaved and orderly group, and at least one of them was a rather enterprising young chap. He was a Marine Pri ate, and he had with him one of those miniature Singer sewing machines. Our Tailor Shop is always rushed ith work prior to returning to the States, because they have much work to do, not only in pressing, but also in sewing clean Watch tape and Rating Badges on uniforms, so that the men will look their best when they see their one and only. C ' onsequently, this Marine, not wanting to overlook a good thing, just set up business right there on the hangar deck, and he did such a thriving tailoring business that there is no telling how much he did make on that cruise. Everytime we passed his cot, he seemed to have all the business he could handle. As an important part of our training, we ne ' er o erlooked an opportunity for Gunnery Exercises. Frequently, while at sea. we would have one of our own planes tow a slee e target for us to practice on, but nearly always, just before entering, or just after leaving port, we would ha e one or more planes from the beach tow targets for us, because we felt pretty certain that we would soon be grateful for all the gun- nery practice we could cram into our routine. Our first contact with the States on our return therefore, was with planes from North Island towing targets for us. We could, at that point, see concrete evidence of the results of our many hours firing at towed sleeves in the hot tropical sun. because we were hitting the target pretty regularly. We had hardly secured from Gun- nery Exercises when on Saturday, 5 August 1944: 08-12 Steaming as before, 0804 c c to o64°T and p.g.c, 056° p.s.c. 0807 c s to 16 knots. 0838 Sighted outer buoy bearing o63°T, distance 2 miles. 0839 a e ahead 2 3. 0901 c s to 10 knots. 0917 Commenced maneuver- ing on various courses and speeds to conform to channel. 0931 Pilot, J. T. Johnston, came aboard. 0957 Passed Point Loma abeam to port. 1030 Moored starboard side to Pier Item, Xorth Island, .San Diego, Calif. 1153 Passengers disembarked. Ev eryone on board was happy that morning as we docked at North Island, but none were happier than our passengers who were return- ing to the States after many months duty in the South Pacific, and they nearly went wild with cheers when they saw their first American girl since leaving the good ' ole U.S.. . She was a civilian employee of the Air Station, driving a tractor on the dock, but she looked like a glam- Tofy: Beach and Tennis Club, del Coronado Hotel; center: Coronado Hotel; bottom: .Aerial view of San Diego. 45 onms Drl)iit;int( ' iil llic Stork (liil) lo ili()s - boys that mtJinini;. Havini; clisrmbarkcd our passmgrrs and un- loaded our carijo of planes, liinTly staried for the I ' ort Watch at ifioo. and that niKht the telephone lines were busy from Coronado and Dago to all sections of the country, as .iiiigfi Point men awaited their turn in line to call their wives and families. It Ix ' intj pretty well under- stood that we would be in and around Dago and Long Beach for several weeks at least, many Liinga Point wi ' es were given orders to return to that area with least possible delay, since many of them had returned to their homes, scattered all over the country, after wc shoved ofT from Astoria on 5 June, exactly two months before. The next day, 6 August, wc got underway for Terminal Island, Long Beach, Calif., where wc were to go into the Yard t(j iind rjut just hi w ucll we had shaken her dt)wn. Most of the men s[x-nt th -ir first few days there trying to hnd a room, any kind of a room, for their wives, l)ecause the li(jusing situation wa.s sfjmcihing terrible. Many a wife was en route, not know- ing where she would stay; howvver, they were all taken care of one way or another, either in hotels, apartment houses or private homes. While at Long Beach all hands were offered five days lea e, with most of the single men go- ing to Los Angeles, Hollywood, .San P ' rancisco and .San Diego, and most of the married men remaining in Long Beach with their families. Quite a few Lunga Point men were able to get rooms at the Hotel Hilton or the ' illa Ri iera in Long Beach, while those in the upp cr bracket stayed at the Biltmore in Los .Angeles. .Actually, we had one representative from our .ship in that upper bracket. It mattered not to us of the proletariat, though, because we could get to Los Angeles on the Pacific Electric in forty-five minutes. In any event, it was here at Long Beach that many lasting friend- ships were made amongst the wives of the Lunga Point men; friendships that were going to mean much to them during their lonely hours awaiting our return from the fighting front later on. One event in particular did much to cement the friendships amongst the wi es of the ofiiccrs. and that was the luncheon that Mrs. Washburn gave for them in the Rcndez- ous Room of the Biltmore in Los . ngeles dur- ing our Long Beach sojourn. We husbands, of course, did not rate the luncheon, but were told all about the delicious food, the lovely centerpiece, and some of the gossip that night. I of Captain at personnel inspection. North Island. Personnel inspection, North Island. 46 There they were, all together, about thirty of them, and the field wide open for gossip, dis- cussion of the latest styles, the latest hair-do, the latest book, and the new movies. The luncheon was at 1300; however, it was 1700 bv the time they returned to Long Beach just ■■talked out. There is no doubt but that that luncheon was the starter for many friend- ships, because, even that night in the hotels of Long Beach, the gals started all over again, talking about the hair-do that hadn ' t quite set when they left the Rendezvous Room. After necessary work had been completed on our ship, most of our wives followed us on down to Dago, from where we were scheduled to operate for several weeks, and, after another frantic rush to find rooms, most of the wives settled down to wait, because that is just what they were doing a good part of the time there. We went out on short cruises, lasting from two to ten days, going through v ' arious exercises and tests, and, of course, our wives never knew when we were coming back; so each time we came in we got just about as big a thrill as we did on returning from our Shake- down Cruise. Lunga Point wives could be found in almost every hotel and apartment hou.sc in Dago and C ' oronado; therefore, the Lunga Point was al- ways -cry much in evidence around the U.S. Grant Hotel and the El Cortez in Dago and the del Coronado in Coronado. In fact, our men and their wives could be found almost any- where you went in that area. Our stay in the San Diego area was not only a pleasant and happy one, but also an interest- ing one, since many availed themselves of the opportunity to visit places of interest in the vicinity while on liberty, not the least interest- ing of which were Tia Juana and Agua Cal- iente, Mexico. There, one could see the races on Sunday afternoons or spend an evening browsing around the many gift shops of Tia Juana, buying leather goods and Mexican siher, after a delicious dinner at the American C lub, highlighted by one of those tempting Romaine salads. The .San Diego area was a most pleasant one in which to be from another standpoint — the fact that it is truly the Cross-roads of the Navy. There is seldom a day passes that you don ' t run into friends you have known some- where else in the Navy or in civilian life. This is particularly true at the del Coronado Hotel, o er in Cloronado, where almost e eryone feels perfectly at home, walking into the lovely and spacious, high-domed dining room or into the Cocktail Lounge, because you are almost cer- tain to meet up with friends even before you have had a chance to sit down. This only adds to the gaiety that seems always prevalent at this charming hotel. ' C-85 Reports Abo.ard On 16 August, our Squadron, Composite Squadron Eighty-Five (VC 85), reported aboard for duty, and e promptly go t under- way to qualify them. Right from the start they made a most favorable impression on us, and they went about their Shakedown aboard the Lunga Point with a seriousness of purpose that was bound to have been most pleasing to our Old Man. From that point on, until we left on our business trip a good part of the time for the next several weeks was devoted entirely to shaking down our Squadron. ' We made several short crui.scs with them, and they left the ship once for a couple of days special training at one of our nearby land bases. They worked hard and long, and were really shaping up into a fine Squadron, but, becau.sc of the intensity of their work, we of the Ship ' s Com- pany were unable to get acquainted ..jvith them as quickly as we would ha ' c liked We were determined to operate as one; so we decided to have a C VE 94- VC 85 Dutch Treat Cock- tail Party at the Officer ' s Club, North Island. The party was given in the Sun Rocn% of the Club on Wednesday, 4 October, and it was a RH-at siucfss. Pra( tirally all i)f tlic oflif rs and ihcir wives were prcst-nl, and it aflordcd surh a pleasant atmosplicrr for us to i i-t actiuainlcd in that wo are convinced that that party played a delinite rcjle in makinif lis work scj wc-ll to- j ether in tiie loni; months of combat that followed. Most of the couples remained at the C!lul) for dinner followini; the party, i ettin together in informal groups. (!aptain and Mrs. W ' ashhurn, ( ' ommander and Mrs. Ivist- wold and Lieutenant Commander Herriman, the .Squadron C ' ommander. oc c upied the head table. The only bad thing about tiie party is the fact that, a.s wc sit here pounding out this story just off the .shores of Okinawa, wc can just taste tho.sc great big hunks of lobster that literally covered the Hors d ' ocvre.s platters, while all we ha e to look forward to for dinner tonight is more pork chops, because we ' ve al- ready seen the apple sauce on the tables in the W ' ardroom. It was while operating off Dago that wc learned about THE CHAIR. Undl this particular occasion, no one had paid any spec- ial attention to that high chair that occupied a good part of the space on the cnclo.scd part of the bridge. It looked comfortable enough, and, no doubt, had been sat in by many an OOD during the long, dark hours of the Mid Watch; however, Lt. Tippett, our popular Second Division Officer, was found enjoying its comfort on the Forenoon Watch by our Skipper one day, and the Old Man told him ofT as follows to wit Quote Young Man, I ' ll ha e you know that it took me t enty-fi e years to earn the privilege of sitting in that chair. That chair is the C. PTAIN ' S CHAIR, and no one else is to sit in it. If I ever catch anyone else sitting in my chair he will enjoy the pri- vilege of counting rivets in his Stateroom for two weeks Unquote. The word spread rapidly about ' THE CHAIR, and to this day, no one has been caught occupying the Captain ' s Chair, probably because the Captain, by this time, has sufficient confidence in his OOD ' s not to bother about coming to the bridge during the Mid Watch. The only draw-back to our stay in the Dago area was nothing new in the life of a Navy man; it was not knowing when we were shoving off on our business trip, so that our wives could make train reservations home. Scuttlebutt had it that we would get underway about 1 5 Septem - ber; therefore, most of the Lunga Point wives crowded the ticket offices of the Santa Fe, Union Pacific and Southern Pac ilic, hoping to get reservations somewhere in the neighbor- hood of that date. We had a right good break in this respect, however. It seems that some of the men and ihc-ir wivc-s had gotten rooms at the del Coronado Hotel, among them being Captain and Mrs. Washburn, . lcjng about 10 September, Mrs. Washburn casually re- marked t(j .some of the wives that she had can- celled her reservations for .Seattle for the i-,th. By noon the next day the reservations of all the I.iiniia Point wives had been cancelled. Cllose tab was kept on Mrs. Washburn thereafter, and, when she let it out that she had made res- ervations home for 1 7 October, the railroad ticket oflices were again filled with the wives of our officers and men, making reservations for on or about the 17th. That time, Mrs. Washburn didn ' t cancel her reservations, darn it; .so, after fond farewells to wives and sweethearts, on Tojo, Here We Come! Monday, 16 October 1944: 12-16 Moored as before. 1 23 1 Lighted off No. 3 boiler. 1515 Made all preparations for getting underway. 1520 Pilot, H. N. Krog, came aboard. 1527 Got underway for Pearl Harbor in obedience to ComFairWestCoast dispatch 010 of 251702. Pilot at the conn. C aptain. Executive Officer and Navigator on the bridge. .Standard speed. .Standing out of .San Diego Harbor on various courses and speeds conforming to the channel. 1556 Pilot left the ship. Captain at the conn. 1559 Passed between Points Loma and Zuniga. Entered International waters. We were finally en route to Pearl Harbor, and all of us felt pretty confident that our peri- od of indoctrination was rapidly coming to an end. and that wc would soon be showing those .Sons of Hea en how the Lunga Point could dish it out. . nd there was good reason for that feeling, because we were, for the first time, cruising as a part of newly-formed CarDiv 29, with Rear Admiral C. T. Cal Durgin, USN, in the capacity of ComCarDiv 29. The other ships in our Division were the U.S..S. Makin Island (CVE 93), U.S.S. Bismarck Sea (C T 95), and the U..S.S. Salamaua (C ' E 96). with our Flag being in the Makin Island. We felt very much at home, now, because we had come to know the officers and men of the other ships in our division just about as well as we knew each 48 other on the Liinga Point. We had all gone through the CVE Pre-Commissioning School and had spent a while at Astoria together just before commissioning, and we knew we would work well together. The cruise to Pearl Harbor afforded us the opportunity of training in station keeping and maneuvering as a Division, and much valuable training was received in that respect. It also afforded us further opportunity for the Squad- rons of our Division to train together, and the time was well spent in both directions. All hands, including the Squadrons, were kept very busy with their training during the run out to Pearl, and, just before reaching there, we re- ceived the following dispatch from ComAirPac: COMAIRPAC: VELCOMES COMCAR- DIV 29 AND C.ARDI ' 29 TO PEARL AND THE AIR FORCE PACIFIC: FLEET. % ' i . ' .jm Inp I, It: Waik.ki Beach, D.a nd Head in background; tofi Tight: King section; below right: Bisht That message, while appreciated, drove home to us the fact that we were in the war, and would soon be reaping the benefits of our long and arduous training period, and on Monday, 23 October 1944: 08-12 Steaming as before. 0900 Secured all gun stations from firing exercises. Set Con- dition of Readiness III. 0906 Passed Maka- peru Point Lighthouse abeam to starboard, range 2 miles. 091 1 Passed Kokohead abeam to starboard, range 2 miles. 0913 c c to I70°T and p.g.c, 157° p.s.c. 0951 Passed Dia- mond Head abeam to starboard, range •2]4 miles. 0952 c,s to 14 knots. 1012 Sta- tioned all special sea details. 1024 Entered Pearl Harbor, Oahu, swept channel, passing between Barber ' s Point and Diamond Headj . entering Inland waters. 1037 Pilot. Lt. Jc ere Gillen, USNR, came aboard and took.Ve and the a a finer and 1 fc l BT Scjuadron than L B I i JL. ' ' ° ' ' ' primary I H B |[D ' PI being to serve its := _ I LI a -- Yi pardonable pride, VI p| M| e had already achieved I I lffl| Pspect. The spirit of co- 9 ' ■■r etween our Squadron and y was certain indication of were to achieve in action in (omc. The only sign of friction twcen the Squadron and the IjDany resulted from the fact that the lad better card players than we n so, it was all forgotten before the next morning, and plans were ■ing made for that evening ' s rec- Later on, even this friction was to iated by the Exec ' s clamping down on O ' clock Lights. ready, our planes had taken to the air, and doing an admirable job in providing us P (Local Combat Air Patrol), and L.- SP cal . nti-Submarine Patrol) coverage, and say that our planes overhead gave us a com- ortalDlc feeling is putting it mildly. Enough )f our planes had already been launched and recovered by us to convince us that our pilots were able to handle any mission assigned them. We had also seen them operate enough to know that our LSO, Lt. (jg) Hatcher, and his As- sistant, Lt. (jg) Whitehouse, were to be large- ly responsible for the ver ' small number of flight deck crashes on our ship as compared 49 ' I ifl -, All entwines stopped, i 143 Moored slar- hoard side to Quay l -3. Ford Island, Pearl HarlxH, Oalni. I . H. i- ariy lilxrty was granted at Pearl. Ixrause they still had an early curfew, hut, d -spitf this, all hands were able to see something jf Hono- lulu during our ver - brief stop, since both Port and Starboard watches had a liberty each. Hawaii was nothing new to the Old Timers aboard, hut, to those new to the Navy, it was a place of great interest. .Ml were impressed with the natural beauty of the islands, Oahu in particular; however, the most interesting thing to those of us who had ne er been there before was the fact that we found Honolulu such a thriving, modern and hospitable city; very much the same as our own cities back home. ■ this connection we were much impressed. ° ' ;ic afternoon we had in Honolulu, by rca y s(. . j. loads of school children, riding Wardroom. , ■ 1 • .  ■ , •_ the mam busmcss streets, gomg to It was whu. p anfj singing their .school song learned about • ..jhc Caissons Go Rolling particular occasion, , ial attention to that h. ,j j p - _ good part of the space . ,• . , , , ' . , I 1 1 J ' Timcdiatclv on gettmg the bridge. It looked •, 1 d ' 1 , -, , 1 1 1 Mkiki Beach, some to and. no doubt, had been . OOD during the long, dark Watch; howe cr, Lt. Tippc Second Division Officer, was t its comfort on the Forenoon W Skipper one day. and the Old Man as follows to wit Quote Young Ma you know that it took me twcnty-fi earn the privilege of sitting in tl. That chair is the CAPTAIN ' S CHA no one else is to sit in it. If I ever cati else sitting in my chair he will enjoy vilege of counting rivets in his Stateroi two weeks Unquote. The word spread r about THE CH. IR. and to this day. no has been caught occupying the C aptj Chair, probably because the Captain, by t time, has sufficient confidence in his OOD ' s r to bother about coming to the bridge durini) the Mid Vatch. The only draw-back to our stay in the Dago area was nothing new in the life of a Naxy man; ' it w as not knowing when we were shoving off on our business trip, so that our wives could make train reservations home. .Scuttlebutt had it that we would get underway about 15 Septem- ber; therefore, most of the Lunga Point wi es crowded the ticket offices of the Santa Fe, the Oiilriggi-r Club, .some just shopping the streets, and .some had a very unifjiie experience. It s -ems that most of the barbers in Honolulu are females. Some of our men had the unifjue ex|J Tience of having their hair trimmed by these Lady Barlx-rs, which is not only the last time they have Ix-en near a woman up to this writing, but it is al.so the last non-Reg hair- cut they have had. .So. with a boat load of Hula .Skirts, Lcis, Ukuleles, and plca.sant memories of this most hospitable outpost of the United .States, on Wednesday, 25 October 1944: 08-12 Moored as before. 08 if) Underway from Pier F-13, Ford Island, Pearl Harbor. Oahu. T.H. Pilot, Lt. James Gillen, USNR, at the conn. Captain, Executive Officer and Navigator on the bridge. Maneuvering as necessary to clear berth. 0822 Clear of berth, a e ahead 1 3. On course i53°T, 155° p-g-c, and 140° p.s.c. 0904 Passed lighted buoy No. 6 abeam to starboard, 50 yards. Pilot left the ship. Captain at the conn. 0907 Exercised at General Quarters, a c ahead 2 3. 091 1 a e ahead standard. 0916 took departure from Pearl Harbor, T.H., on base course of 253°T, 255°Pgc-, and 244°p.s.c. ship. 50 PART II LEYTE GULF Leyte Gulf was her first operation In her fight for our great nation, With her Squadron, tried and true, Flying away, over the blue. There she proved herself full-grown, Thousands of miles she ' d sailed and flown. Shortly after getting underway from Pearl Harbor we acquired a strange new word for our vocabulary — ' ' Eniwetok, because we were told that we were en route there. After fran- tic scanning of large scale charts we found a pin point atoll in the Marshall Islands bearing that name. It was not the last island or atoll we were to visit bearing an unfamiliar name, though. In fact, we have visited so many places perfectly strange and unfamiliar to us that we have long since lost confidence in om- old brown Geography of the World. Now that we ucre on the outskirts of the combat zone our duties became heavier and the everyday routine was accomplished in a more serious and determined manner. Frivolity was on the wane, and seriousness of purpose was the order of the day. Everyone went about his duties in a grim sort of manner, know- ing that we might contact enemy undersea craft at any moment, and that we would soon be within striking range of enemy aircraft. Lookouts were constantly alerted and the C aptain spent more and more time on the bridge, because he wanted to be there ready for any emergency. At this point, however, our training had reached such a degree that all hands had been more or less permanently settled in the job where they could serve best. The Captain had selected OOD ' s in whom he had sufficient confidence to turn over the bridge to a good part of the time. The Chief Engi- neer had whipped the Black Gang into a smooth operating organization, and the Gun- nery Officer seemed content with his gun batteries. In fact, we had practically finished our indoctrination, and were eager to get into combat to see the actual results of our long period of training, which had, quite frankly, reached the point of monotony at times, par- ticularly, as we on the guns stood out in the broiling hot sun at gunnery exercises, hour after hour, preparing ourselves to repel any- thing the Japs might throw at us. Our Air Officer had built up a most cfl cient Air De- partment, and we could already see that we were going to have a record in air operations second to none. Yes, our indoctrination pe- riod was virtually over, although we did con- tinue to have classes in aircraft identification, and they continue to this day, so that we can keep up with the latest models of enemy planes. It was, therefore, with a feeling of mutual con- fidence existing between the Skipper and the entire Ship ' s Company that we sailed into the West, determined to do our utmost to bring glory to our Country, to the Lunga Point, and to VC 85. Our Squadron had long since sold them- selves to the Ship ' s Company, and, from here on out, VC 85 and CVE 94 were one and the same. We couldn ' t have desired a finer and better qualified group in any Squadron than we found in VQ 85. The sole and primary purpose of an aircraft carrier being to serve its Squadron, we feel that, with pardonable pride, we can safely say that we had already achieved our purpose in that respect. The spirit of co- operation existing between our Squadron and the Ship ' s Company was certain indication of the joint success we were to achieve in action in the months to come. The only sign of friction e ' er existing between the Squadron and the Ship ' s Company resulted from the fact that the Squadron had better card players than we had. Even so, it was all forgotten before breakfast the next morning, and plans were again being made for that evening ' s rec- reation. Later on, even this friction was to be alleviated by the Exec ' s clamping down on Ten O ' clock Lights. Already, our planes had taken to the air, and were doing an admirable job in providing us LCAP (Local Combat Air Patrol), and LAS? (Local Anti-Submarine Patrol) coverage, and to say that our planes overhead gave us a com- fortable feeling is putting it mildly. Enough of our planes had already been launched and reco ered by us to convince us that our pilots were able to handle any mission assigned them. We had also seen them operate enough to know that our LSO, Lt. (jg) Hatcher, and his As- sistant, Lt. (jg) Whitehouse, were to be large- ly responsible for the very small number of flight deck crashes on our ship as compared 51 with the numlxT of such rrashcs customarily rxp Tt cl. Likewise, our Fiif;ht Derk Crews were already op -ratini; like veterans as they re-spottecl the deck in record time, while our V-2 Division on the liangar deck was nursinp; our planes so well that we were destined to have a ' plane a ailability ' of not less than cjcj.a per cent at any time during our first year, whether in actual coinbat or just routine ojx-rations. In short, wc felt ready. Finally, after a comfortable and uneventful cruise, on ' W ' l ' diicsday, i o cmber 1(144: 04-08 .Steaming as before. 0430 .Sighted land on horizon. 0457 Ceased zig-zagging. Re- sumed base cour.se 245°T. 0500 .Sounded Gen- eral Quarters. 0525 Made preparations to enter Eniwctok Atoll. 0551 U.S..S. Torktoicn passed on opposite course to port, 2500 yards. 0556 Stationed all special sea details. 0701 Secured from General Quarters. 0732 a c stopped. 0734 s e back 2 3. Anchored in Berth K-f), with 90 fathoms of chain out to port anchor at water ' s edge in 27 fathorrLs of water, in Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands. 075,1 .Secured spi-cial sea details. .Set regular sea watches. .Since we were to b - llicre only one day very few got on the beach; however, it was an in- teresting stop, since it was our first call on a small Pacific atoll, and we did enjoy the view from the forecastle and fantail. Eniwctok, too, had been torn and burned by the ravages of war, resulting from our having taken the island a few months before, but, from the ship, it presented a rather pretty and typical picture of a small Pacific isle. The entire length of the island was only about two miles and it averaged about a half mile in width. Its highest point of elevation was probably not more than ten feet above .sea level, but it was pretty, with its remaining palms swinging gently in the warm ■ ship. 52 tropical breeze. And, now tliat we had seen Eniwetok, on Thursday, 2 November 1944: 08-12 Anchored as before. 0934 Lit off No. 2 and No. 4 boilers. 0945 Stationed all special sea details. Made all preparations for getting underway. 1041 Underway from Berth K-9, Eniwetok, Marshall Islands, on various courses and speeds conforming to channel. Captain at the conn. Executive Officer and Navigator on the bridge. 1053 Secured all special sea details. Set Condition of Readiness III. 1059 X ' isibility reduced to JX mile due to rain squall. 1 1 50 c s to 19 knots, c c to I I5°T and p.g.c, 1 1 1° p.s.c. This was to be a short hop, because on Sunday, 5 November 1944: 12-16 Steaming as before. 1234 .Sighted land bearing 256°T and 253°T, distance 15 miles. 1433 Entered swept channel entrance to an- chorage, Ulithi Atoll. 1533 Anchored in Northern anchorage, Ulithi Atoll, Western C aroline Islands, Berth 153, on the following bearings: Beacon N 322°T, Temporary Bea- con 336. 5°T, Tower on Mangejang Island 057. 5°T, left tangent Lolang Island 083. 5°T. Although we were at Ulithi Atoll h -e days on this stop, only a chosen few were privileged to get ashore due to the shortage of boats to transport liberty parties to and from the many ships present. It seems that a grave emergency existed in the Captain ' s Cabin, because Port- hole. the Skipper ' s cat, was in dire need of a fresh supply of sand. Consequently, Boat- swain Luck was given orders to do the needful, and he did. He took, in addition to him.self, one BMic, two BM2c, three Coxswains, four Sic and Five S2C, and the Athletic Officer, Lt. DeAngelis (to provide the fishing gear), not to mention the No. 2 Motor Whale Boat and its crew of three, and the Bos ' n ' s Gig, to get that bag of sand. They were gone all day on this recreation party to Lolang Island, 2000 yards on our starboard beam, and we happened to be on the forecastle when they returned that afternoon with the Gig just loaded down with all kinds of coral, sea shells and other sou- cnirs entirely obscuring from view the one bag of sand for the Captain ' s cat. Looking up to- ward the aviation boom on the flight deck we could see Porthole ' s head looking down at that one bag of sand, with a forlorn expression on her face, as if to say, It doesn ' t look like they got enough to last until we hit port again, be- cause the Captain has told me where we ' re going. As soon as our forces took Ulithi Atoll the natives were all moved to the island of Fa.ssari, and some of us on the morning watch had a rather interesting experience one morning. We were anchored only about 2000 yards off Fassari, and, with our binoculars, we could get a very good view of the scattered native huts. Just as the sun was rising we had our glasses trained on a fairly large hut, and, as we watched closely, we could see the matted grass curtains pushed aside by a lazy arm, and, there, right before our eyes, was the Fassari counter- part of Dorothy Lamour, stretching and yawn- ing, and, apparently, hating to leave her palm leaf mat just as much as a Park Avenue Debu- tante hates to leave the percale sheets of her Simmons Beauty Rest mattress. But, being a Ulithi frau, she had her chores to do; so, finally, she got up and made a dash for the surf, splashing water all over her face and body to thoroughly awaken herself. Having com- pleted her toilet, she returned to the hut to awaken Pop. With no little effort, he finally got up, and, with spear in hand, walked down to the inlet about 200 yards from their place. After several dives into the breakers made by the coral reefs, he walked triumphantly back to the hut with their breakfast, which appeared to be two very nice fish. You could see them building a fire and cooking, and, soon, we saw no more of them until about sunset when we happened to be on the flight deck. They came sailing by in their over-sized outrigger canoe, with Dorothy ' doing most of the work in sailing the craft, and Pop and the kids lolling in the waning sun. Somehow, there was much to be envied in their way of life. We couldn ' t help recall the Presidential election taking place in the States the following Tuesday and all the sorrow and disappointment that would accom- pany it, regardless of who won. Such trivial matters never bothered Dorothy and her Old Man ; politics was something they couldn ' t even read about. Then, we thought of income taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, franchise taxes, capital stock taxes, excess prof- its taxes, tax surcharges, poll taxes, cigarette ta.xes, gasoline taxes, business licenses, auto- mobile licenses, amortizing the mortgage, life insurance premiums and the many other 53 privileges we I ' lijoy. ' •s, tlicrc u;is soinc- tliiiiK to envy in tiiis Fassari fainiiy after ail. ' I ' lie Cuiptain pondered on tliis, too. .So, in order to prevent vvliole.sale ' ■jumping siiip to talce lip abode on Fa.s.sari, lie decided to Friday, lo November 1944: 16-18 Anchored as before, itv j Made all preparations for getting underway. Stationed all special .sea details. 1(145 .Set Condition Baker. 1719 Sunset. 1725 Underway on various courses and speeds from Northern anchorage, Berth 153, Ulithi Atoll, Western Caroline Islands,on orders from Commander .Se cnth Fleet Dispatch No. 01 0321, dated 10 Novem- ber 1944. Captain at the conn. Executive Officer and Navigator on the bridge. 1 740 Stopped. Hoisted in No. i Motor Whale Boat. 1745 a,c ahead 10 knots. 1 7 ' )9 Set coin se 2i5°T and p.g.c. 212° p.s.c. The E. ecuti c Officer told us that night over the 2;enernl announcing svstem that we were en route lo Kossol Koads, I ' alaii Islands. Our geographies had failed us again, because wc were again headed for a place we had never heard of, and this also was to be a short hop, JK-cause on .Saturday, 11 November 1944: i()-i8 .Steaming as before. i(J02 a c ahead 15 knots. 1604 c c to 172°T and p.g.c, 169° p.s.c. iGjb Anchored in 15 fathoms of water, 75 fathoms of chain at water ' s edge, in Kcssol Pas- sage, Berth No. 8, Palau Islands, Western Caroline Islands. a,e stopped. On this World War I Armistice Day, we found ourselves in strange waters, anxious to prove the results of our long period of training, and determined to do our utmost to prosecute the war to a successful conclusion, and bring about another Armistice Day that would be more significant and lasting than that of 1 1 No ' ember 1918. 1 he Old Swimming Holr at Kossol Passage. 54 Convoy of LST ' s approaching Lcyte, Nove Even before we got there, we recalled that the Palau Islands had just recently been taken by our forces; in fact, all of them had not yet been taken, and haven ' t been at this writing. We were anchored about 8000 yards off Babel- thaup, one of the larger of the Palaus, and it added nothing to our peace of mind to learn, on anchoring, that the Japs still held that island. We understood, however, that though the island was heavily defended, all their big guns were pointed south in a fixed position, and fortunately, we were north of it. It was mighty fortunate for our side that the Japs couldn ' t train their guns on us, because the anchorage was literally full of all types of naval vessels. Naturally, we not only didn ' t get ashore here, but we had no desire to. It did afford us much satisfaction, however, to listen to the radio in Combat and hear our Peleliu-based pilots talk- ing to each other as they bombed and strafed the Jap installations on Babelthaup, while, out- side, we could see the columns of smoke rising from the island, proving to our satisfaction that the attack had not been in vain. About the only recreation for all hands while in Kossol Roads on this particular visit was ' ' swimming over the side, which was enjoyed by the majority of officers and men, despite the possible presence of sharks that might be sympathetic to the enemy. Foreseeing this danger, however, the E.xec posted men with riffes on the forecastle and fantail, and the Life Guards in the No. 2 Motor Whale Boat were also armed. While the swimming was en- joyed, it was marred by an unfortunate oc- currence when Dr. Tirrell, our Senior Medical Officer, tried to keep up with the young Blue- jackets by diving from one of the .Sponsons and came up with a broken arm, which later nec- essitated his being detached. Having taken on all the supplies and fuel we needed, on Monday, 13 November 1944: 04-08 Anchored as before. 0630 Stationed all special sea details. Made all preparations for getting underway. 0657 Underway from Kos- sol Roads on various courses and speeds con- forming to channel. Captain at the conn. Executive Officer and Navigator on the bridge. 07 1 5 Exercised at General Quarters as modified by special sea details. 0726 Passed through Kossol Passage; took departure on course 275°T and p.g.c, 278° p.s.c. Steaming at 15 knots. 0742 Secured special .sea details. 0747 c s to 18 knots. 0750 Proceeding to position 1000 in cruising formation 5-LS at ig knots. We were finally underway on our first actual operation of the war, and that night the Gap- tain gave us the word. It seems that things were not going too well with General Mac- Arthur ' s invasion of Leyte as far as his supply line was concerned, and the Old Man told us that they had called on the Lunga Point and VC 85 for support. This talk of the Captain ' s was the first he had made to us to keep us in the know, but, from then on, he never failed to address all liands onci (lie i;ciicnil announcini system every nii hl tiiat lie iiad someiliini of iiUerest to lell about our own operations or tlx- proi ress of the war in (general. He eonstanlly kept lis informed as far as lie eoiild eonscien- tiously do so, and this expression of ccjniidence in us undoubtedly made us try a little harder to deliver the goods. Between uj ' ]0 and 20150 nearly every night while underway, it became quite common for us to hear the Bos ' n ' s Mate sound attention over the general announcing system, followed by, Testing; i-2-[ . Uh, this is the Executive OHicer speaking. I ha e the C aptain here to talk to you; .so e erybody stand by. E erybody stand by. Our mission in the Leyte operations was to proceed with CarDix- 2() to Leyte Ciulf where our planes were to co er the convoys as they sailed through the CJulf in to the Leyte beaches. Our planes did a magnificent job of covering the convnvs as well as our own I ' ask L nit. and To r Poliywogs in supplicating attitude second crossing of the line; btlou-: Four Pollywogs ' with : hair-do ' s, the work of the Royal Barbers. many a ship got safely through to Leyte that might not otherwise hav - made it had it not been for our pilots. In fact, all the .Srjuadnjns in (:arF)i - ' j() turned in a most (reditable per- formance. liRsrJ.M ' Pi. Ni-; ' ■Tuesday, 21 November 1944: 08-12 Steaming as Ix-fore. 09 2 Sighted Jap ' Francis ' . Ship went to Cjeneral Quarters. Plane passed overhead (iring her guns. Dis- tance about 800 yards. oc)-,j Japanese plane ciisa[)[)cared bearing ;j25°r. . l o9 ' )2 that gong rang out its doleful notes. In a Hash, all hands were at their Battle .Stations. With all rjur speed, however, we did not fire a round at him. The Jap had paid us a surprise visit. Not a ship in our Division had picked him up until he was virtu- ally on us, having just sneaked in as they do occasionally. He came zooming by the Bis- marck Sea (CVE 95), which was dead ahead of us. crossed our bow, and flew down our port side at about 200 knots or better and only about 800 feet abo e the water. He was strafing as he flew by, but his strafing hit the waters of the I ' acific only. We could have opened fire with (jur Ciondition HI guns very easily except for tile fact that the Captain saw that our range was fouled by the Bismarck Sea (CA ' E 95) and the Makiii Island (CA ' E 93), and they probably failed to open fire for the same reason. That Son of Nippon missed a golden opportunity to .score, because it is not often that an enemy plane can get in that close wit hout our knowing he ' s coming long before he gets within range of our guns. We will never know what he was up to, and, as he flew over the horizon, we again settled down to our routine with some- thing to talk about for the remainder of the Leyte operation, because it was the first Jap plane most of us had ever seen. We had a most unfortunate occurrence on the morning of 25 November when two of our I orpedfj Bombers collided in mid-air at about (3ooo feet, within view of our ship. The cause of the collision was undetermined and resulted in the death of Ensign Vilbur Francis Berauer, L SNR, the pilot of one of the planes, and his two Air Crewmen, Emmett Douglas Fort, Jr., ARM2C, and Gordon Malcolm Greene, AMM 3c. The other plane made a successful forced landing and the entire crew was picked up by one of our screening destroyers. The loss of 56 these three men was keenly feh by all Ship and Squadron personnel, but was accepted in the same noble spirit that is always found on the loss of one ' s Shipmates, strongly evidenced by a grim determination to carry on and bring honor to our ship and squadron with certain knowledge that those who have gone before are equally responsible for future achievements. The Claptain attended the Memorial Services the Squadron held for these men at Ponam Air Strip on i 7 December while we were anchored at Manus, in the Admiralty Islands. Revenge is Sweet After a rather tiresome and not too interest- ing an operation, and with our mission success- fully completed, we headed south, and the idea of crossing the Equator again appcalled to most of us on board, because the great majority had at this time been trusty old Shellbacks for at least four months, and the idea of getting re- venge for all we took at the hands of King Neptune when we deserted the ranks of the Pollywogs was most pleasing. We crossed the line this time on Sunday, 26 November, and the great majority of our Pollywogs were in the Squadron. As a matter of fact, the only ones we recall outside of the Squadron that walked the coals on this second crossing were Lt. Cdr. Sands, Lt. Corkran, Waer, Sic, Longoria, Flc, and Mcintosh, HAic. In any event, we had around 150 to work on, and when it was all over we felt that, after all, it was worth being initiated just to wreak vengeance on that inno- cent and unsuspecting bunch of land- lubbers. We had hardly gotten the ship looking ship- shape after the crossing the line ceremonies when on Monday, 27 November 1944: 08- 1 2 Steaming as before. 08 1 3 Changed to Time Zone — 9: set ship ' s clock back one hour. 0840 c s to 14 knots. 0841 Stationed all the anchor detail. 0910 Commenced manu ering on various courses and speeds to enter .Seeadler Harbor, Admiralty Islands. loio Anchored to the starboard anchor in 1 2 fathoms of water, 45 fathoms of chain to the water ' s edge, in .Seeadler Harbor, Western part of Admiralty Islands, in Berth W-30. 1032 Secured the anchor detail. Set normal port routine. Softball between officers and chiefs at Pityilu. 57 ' I III Admikai ins Long IxfcjiT iciuliiiiK Munus, our l);isc ii Scciicllcr H;irl)or, we had Ix-ijiin (o suHcr from llic 111-. It worse than ever Ix-t ' orc. While llie Top: Tan o on Pil ilu with his ration of beer; hrlow: Liberrs ' Pitv-ilu. ckcls and dimes at Times Square C:hristmas Eve. air was hot and humid in New Guinea, we weren ' t bothered by it much because of the ex- citement of our first visit to a South Pacific island as well as the fact that we were hardly there long enough for it to take hold. We had now been cruising for several days in the Equatorial heat, and the Admiralties are prac- tically on the Equator. At first, the heat was almost unbearable, and nearly everyone aboard went to Sick C all daily for heat rash treatment. Even at night, we would lie in our bunks liter- ally wringing wet from perspiration. Al- though, it seemed impossible at first, we did finally become pretty well accustomed to the climate, in addition to which we were to have ample opportunity to swim in the beautiful, crystal clear waters of the Pacific, and this alleviated our discomfort from the heat some- what. Probably more than anything else, we simply became reconciled to the heat, because we had already heard the most reliable Scuttle- butt, straight from the Chow Line, that we Captain extends greeting I hands at Chi-istn would be in and around Manus for some weeks before our next operation. We had, at this time, been out of the States since 1 6 October, and, except for a very few- letters awaiting us at Ulithi, we had received no mail since leaving. Mail is the one thing we look forward to more than anything else, being second only to actually returning to the States. Consequently, nothing could have pleased us more than the siaht of an LCM full of mail coming alongside our ship even before we had dropped our hook in Seeadler Harbor. We received thirty odd bags all told, and nothing could have made us happier at that point than the many letters we recei ed that afternoon, because our men in the Post Office had worked like Trojans to get it up for us at the earliest possible moment as they always do. Also, their desire to get our mail to us as soon as possible made an e ' erlasting impression on us Scene entering Seeadler Harbor, Manus. 59 Sania Claus pass( s llif quarler deck as he approaches the sta e. ; the goods. of the excellent service that the Manus Naval Base rendered the Fleet. As a result, we be- lieve that all hands really enjoyed their stay in Manus more than at any other place we have called up to this writing. m 1 «- - m . il Native hut on Pit ilu. There were many things to interest us at Manus, not the least of which was the oppor- tunity to visit with friends from the many ships in the harbor, as well as with friends attached to the Naval activities ashore. The recrea- tional facilities here were, by far, the best and most complete we have seen in the Pacific. On Pityilu Island, where we ha e an air strip, there was an unusually nice enlisted men ' s recreation area, featuring Dufiy ' s Ta crn, where our liberty parties were allowed from two to four bottles of good, cold beer or Coca- Cola per man per day. depending upon the supply on hand. There were ball diamonds, basketball courts, hand ball courts and tennis courts, not to mention a beautiful white sand beach right out in front of Duffy ' s Tavern. It was a rather picturesque sight to see the hordes of soldiers, sailors and Marines from the many ships present as they lounged about the tables in the ta ern and othersvise made use of the facilities at hand. There were always many of them taking advantage of the oppor- tunity to hunt cat eyes and tiger eyes and the many other literally thousands of various sea shells peculiar to the Admiralties. Some of the cat eyes found were er) ' pretty, and there is many a one and only back home now wearing a cat eye ring made on board our ship from a piece of stainless steel which was also found on the beach. Another favorite Choir singing carols at Christmas party. sport was climbing the coconut palms for coco- nuts, although that was not necessary, because one could find all oi them he wanted on the ground. It was here, loo. that we learned how to eat coconuts without very bad and discom- forting after effects. After a ery hard lesson, we learned that the milk is drunk from the green ones and the meat eaten from the ripe ones, the latter being the kind so many men have sent home as souvenirs. The Officers and Chief Petty Officers also liad their recreational facilities, there being ery nice Clubs for both groups in Manus, approximately an hour ' s boat trip from our berth. We had many a pleasant afternoon there with our friends from other ships; pri- marily from the Makin Island. Bismarck Sea and Salamaua, since we all, from CarDi - 29, had a ery close feeling toward each other. ha - ing been together from the ery start. How- ever, we were constantly running into friends at the Clubs from other ships present, and some of us were fortunate enough to have friends based there, who were kind enough to show us the sights ' of Manus. the sights consisting primarily of a ery pretty waterfall about a mile from the Base. V ' e did have the opportimity one afternoon of being dri en by a friend in his Jeep up to the 63rd Construction Battalion Headquarters, about three miles from the Officer ' s Club. In driving through those jungles the admiration we already had for the SeaBees increased ten- fold. OH the sand and gravel road, you liter- ally could hardly see daylight through the dense grow th of bushes, vines and weeds that bound the forest of larger trees together as one. There were a great v ' ariety of beautifully plumed birds flitting about through the trees, and wc couldn ' t help but feel that some of them were flying excitedly away from the sight of a python or other large serpent common to that locality. Nevertheless, the .SeaBees went right through that same swampy jungle and built those roads, and in record time, too. Bra e men ! It was on Pityilu Island that Scotty, our mascot, of whom you will hear more later, got on the beach for the first time since leaving the States on 16 October. On this particular day, an emergency existed in that the Exec and se eral Officers and Clhief Petty Officers had some flight time to make up; otherwise, they would lose that flight pay, and, after all, what does a man get wings for if not to get that flight pay? So they decided to go over to our air Top: C itholic Mass on Christmas Day; biloii : Protestant Di Services, Christmas Day. 61 I ' rcparini; C:hrislmas dinner in llic wardroom gallry. strij) on Pityilii anci put in tlicir llighi time. V went along with them and carried Srotty witli us, because we couldn ' t wait to see him inake love to the first tree hr had seen in so many weeks. He accomplished the purpose of his first visit ashore with due diligence and des- patch, and, since we wanted to get a ride hack to the ship before lunch, we started walking down the road to the enlisted recreation area. Imping to find a ride there. ' I ' hc heat wa.s K-rrilit ; so mu( h so that Scotty, with his heavy (oat of blat k hair, just fell over in the road with heat prr)stration. We carried him in our arnxs (III- remaining mile to Dully ' s I ' avcrn, where he rested in the shade for an hour, and, when 111- appeared to be all right, we returned with him to the ship. .Sf:onv (;of-s A.W.O.L. Despite the fact that .Scotty showed no lurther indication of wanting to get a.shore, he was destined to see more of Pityilu. One day, one of our Clhicfs carried him to Pityilu, and, when the time came to return to the ship, Scot- ty wasn ' t to be found. He had gone com- pletely A.W.O.L. Unable to locate him, the Ohief returned to the ship. The next morn- ing we sent word to the Clhief Master-at-Arm.s ' Shack on Pityilu for them to be on the lookout for him, and, if they found him, to turn him () -er to our liberty party returning to the ship that afternoon. .Sure enough, when our party returned to the ship, Scotty was the first to leave the boat, none the worse for his experi- ence of roaming the ' wilds of Pityilu ' all Godsey, SFic, leads Christmas chow line. 62 Christmas dinner on the hangar deck. night. That was, however, the last time Scotty has been ashore up to the present time, and he seems perfectly content to lounge about the ship just dreaming of Coronado, California. It was not all play while at Manus, though. All hands knew that we had come there to pre- pare for an operation, and most of our time was spent in taking on stores, ammunition, fuel, and the gear that would be needed for an extended operation. Every day the harbor seemed to become even more crowded with ships of all types, not a few of them being transports loaded with troops. There was a great air of secrecy about the ship, and everyone was guessing as to where we were going. While no one was fold where we were going, we did know that the coming operation was to be of great magnitude, because, with all the hundreds of ships and thousands of men in the harbor, we were told that Manus was just one of the harbors in which the Fleet was being assembled. Finally, toward mid-December, we left on a rather mysterious cruise, but, after getting imderway, the Old Man told us that we were going out for several days on a practice in- vasion. That, too, was quite interesting, but lacking in the excitement that accompanies the real thing. . fter being out a few days we returned to Manus to wait for orders to move out on our operation. ComEsCarForPac _Upon returning from our practice invasion we were all ery proud to learn that our own Admiral Durgin had been placed in command of all combat CVE ' s of the Pacific Fleet, and Wrestling match during Christmas ' Holidays. 63 would lurtaftcr Ix- CIomEsCarl ' orPar iii- strad of ComCIarDiv 29. Why sliouklirt vc Ih- proud: hadn ' l wi- liclfKcl irain liiin. It was wilh a feeling of i cnuinc satisfaction to all hands, however, that we learned that Ad- miral Cal would continue to be ri«;ht with us, at least most of the time. A few days Ix-fore Clhristmas our Sf|uailron went over to Momote Air Strip, l.os Xegros Island, for a few days special iraininu;, and we were all (rreatly saddened to learn tliat one of our lighter pilots. Ensign William Alexander Read, was killed on an operational llight at the Air Strip on C hristmas Eve. Burial and Mass were held for him at the American C emetary, Los Xegros Island, on 26 December, witli all the Squadron and Captain Washburn in attendance, and he. was buried with full Mili- tary Honors. Christmas In The Admiralties The idea of spending Christmas in the Equa- torial heat of the Admiralties was not a situa- tion we would ha -e deliberately chosen, but it was all a part of the war; so we just had to make the best of it. Despite the fact that we longed for a white Christmas back home, we were given a definite and cheerful reminder of the .Season as we crossed the hangar deck on Christmas Eve afternoon and saw .Saint Nick standing on the corner at Times .Square ringing his bell, while benevolent passersby dropped nickels and dimes in his kettle hanging appropriately from its tripod. A coconut palm would not make a ery graceful Christmas tree, although it would havi- been most appropriate. We, therefore, built us a Christmas tree, using a 4 by 4 and nailing narrow Ixjards up and down the trunk at angles to form a conical shaped tree. We took a Iwjat to Fityilu and got sullicient palm fronds and other greens to tack on the tree, and the result was certainly Ix-tter than nothing. We had bought an ample supply of (Christmas tree ornaments during our stop in Honolulu, and we ended up with a very pretty tree, thanks to the men in the E Division who furnished a complete set of vari- colored lights, and to Des Jardins, .Sic, 2nd Division, and Terrell, Sic, ist Division, who helped us decorate it. We had a party Christmas Eve night, and, thanks to Des Jardins, who was a professional window dresser before entering the service, we had a very- appropriate setting for our party. He ingeniously used red tow .sleeves as back- drops forward of the forward elevator, and completely framed the elevator in palm leaves, making a perfect stage for .Saint Nick to pa.ss out his presents from as he stood in front of the large Merry Christmas sign painted by G(jlin, Sic, 3rd Division. With the stage set, the party was on, and everyone was in high spirits; at least as high as can be expected so far from their loved ones. The party started at 1930 with the officer in charge of arrangements introducing the Ex- ecutive Officer, who, in turn, introduced the Captain. The Captain made a very timely talk, expressing to all hands his appreciation for their splendid cooperation, and wishing us all a very Merry Christmas. The Old Man had hardly finished his talk when down the after elevator came .Santa Claus. He got aboard a hangar deck tractor, with his big bag of toys over his shoulder, and was driven for- ward where he bounded up on the stage, and immediately began passing out presents to all hands. In addition to the presents, everyone was given two bars of candy, a package of gum and a can of mixed nuts. Periodically, through- out the program, which lasted until about 2200, our choral group, led by Lt. Corkran, sang a number of Christmas Carols, which added much to the occasion. The program ended with the reading of The Night Before C:hristmas by one of the officers standing in the dim light of the tree, and all hands then went below for ice cream and cookies, following which we all turned in with visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads. ' 64 Protestant services were held on the hangar deck by our Chaplain on Christmas morning, followed by Catholic Mass, which was said by a visiting Priest from another ship in the har- bor. Both ser ' ices were very impressive, being high-lighted by the Christmas Stoiy and the singing of Hymns appropriate to the Season. The enlisted personnel had a treat Christmas Day that was almost worth coming to Manus for. They always have turkey on such days as Thanksgiving and Christmas, but, this time, they not only had turkey and all the trimmings but they were privileged to dine on the hangar deck, where they had plenty of elbow room ' and could take their time as they went to work on their drum sticks. All in all, it was about the best Christmas a man could expect to have while in a strange land fighting a war. It did seem funny, though, for so many of us to be spending Christ- mas afternoon walking through the hot palm groves of Pityilu Island, and searching for cat eyes along the sandy beach, while the folks back home were worrying over getting sufficient fuel ration coupons to get oil for the furnace in order to keep out the cold for vhich we longed so. The next couple of days were taken up al- most entirely with loading stores, taking on more fuel and ammunition, and on Wednesday, 27 December 1944: 12-16 Underway from Berth VV-45, Western Anchorage, Seeadler Harbor, Manus, Admi- ralty Islands, on various courses and speeds. Captain at the conn. Executive Officer and Navigator on the Bridge. 1234 With black buoy abeam to starboard, distance 100 yards, took departure on course ii5°T and p.g.c, 1 19° p.s.c, at 17 knots. Shortly after leaving port we had our usual Gunnery Exercises, firing at targets towed by planes from the beach. It was, as usual, terribly hot out there in the sun as we fired away at the targets, but we were destined soon to be more than thankful that the Skipper and the Gunnery Officer were so insistent that we get in gunnery practice just as often as possible. After all, we were en route to the real thing, and, with that knowledge, the gun batteries fired away at those targets with even more in- terest and enthusiasm than they ever had be- fore. It was, so to speak, our final test. Ex- cept for our gunnery practice, this short cruise was uneventful, and on Saturday, 30 December 1944: 08- 1 2 Steaming as before. 0834 c s to 5 knots, c c to i97°T and p.g.c, 180° p.s.c. 0841 a e stopped. 0921 Anchored in Berth 24, Kossol Passage, Western Caroline Islands, in 18 fathoms of water with 75 fathoms of chain at water ' s edge to the starboard anchor. 0936 Secured main engines. 0940 Secured the anchor detail. Set Condition of Readiness III, Watch I. 0955 Secured No. 3 generator; cut in No. 2 generator. 1035 Made daily in- spection of magazines; conditions normal. Here we were in Kossol Roads again. And, again, it was to be a vcr short visit: just long enough to take on some more stores and ammu- nition, because we all knew that a really big and important operation was in the offing, and we were to be a very active part of that opera- tion. We still didn ' t know exactly where we were going, but there were many among our Ship ' s Company vho were pretty good guessers. New Year ' s Eve this year was not celebrated by us by the ringing of bells, the blowing of whistles and the usual hilarity that accompanies it, but, instead, we were all very bu.sy getting our ship and ourselves ready for tl e job just ahead of us. As we rang out the Old Year, we also brought to an end another chapter in the Odyssey of the Lunga Point. 65 bOPPO ACTION RtPORT, US5 LUNCA POINT 21 DE.CLM E.R 4 PART III LUZON Next came the great Battle of Lii-on: It was nip and tuck with the Sons oj Nippon, As our planes demolished shore installations In liberation oJ the Philippine Nation, And our Ship s guns fought off the foe. In certain victory from the word, Go. Monday, i January 1945: 04-08 Anchored as before. 0430 Stationed all the anchor detail. Made all preparations for getting underway. Set Material Condition Baker. 0601 Underway. Steaming in com- pany with various units of Task Group 77.2 and Task Group 77.4. OTC in U.S.S. California .(BB 44). Guide in U.S.S. Makin Island (CVE 93) - W ' c had hardly gotten underway when the Skipper told us over the general announcing system that we were a part of one of the great- est military operations in history. We were en route to Lingaycn Gulf, where the Invasion of Luzon was to take place, and the numtier of ships invohed would be one of the largest in world history in a single operation. The large number of ships of all types in our own Task Force was already well known to us, and we were told that we would be joined by other groups from time to time as we proceeded on our way. The Old Man also told us that S Day (the Luzon invasion day) was to be 9 January, but that we were to arrive off Linga- yen Gulf several days ahead so that the planes of our group could go about the ta.sk of bomb- ing and strafing enemy shore installations and otherwise softening up the invasion beaches, paving the way for our landing forces. New Year ' s Day 1945, will forever be indel- iijly impressed on our minds, because, instead of sitting at home by the fire, listening to the Rose Bowl game with a group of friends, there was an even bigger game that occupied us, and we were not spectators, either. Realizing the magnitude of the game ahead of us, and determined to live up to what was expected of us, every officer and man turned to with a seriousness of purpose that was bound to spell success for our part of the Luzon operation. Except for one emergency turn, resulting from ;i siihmaiiiic roiiiad. our rriiisc from Kossol Roads lo the I ' hilippiins was more or k ' ss iiiuvtiitfiil. However, inlcrcst and cx- citcmciU yrcw throiic;hout the ship when we entered Snritjao Straits, rii ht in tlie lieart of the Philippines, all of whose islands, except Leyle, were enemy held, and from that point on we were to run the gauntlet of these enemy held islands right up to Lingayen Cnilf, but not with- out our share of excitement. The sun was just risinu; as we entered Surigao Straits, be- tween I.cNle and Mindanao, and sailed on into the Mindanao Sea, passing Bohol Island and rounding the southern tip of Negros Island where we entered the Sulu Sea. There is no doubt that we were seen by the enemy as we proceeded on this course, because wc were never out of sight of land until after we entered the .Sulu Sea. Quite frequently, wc would encounter native outrigger canoes along the route, one of them being .so large (about 75 feet) that one of our screening destroyers hailed her and sent a party aboard to investi- gate to make certain she was not an enemy. It was quite interesting while on watch topside, at night, to see the large number of fires burn- ing on the islands, some of which were, no doubt, in enemy encampments and some in Guerrilla encampments. Likewise, we quite freciuently saw Hashing lights ashore, and we just knew they were Ja[is signaliinn ahead to the next islarifi, Here comes ' Cal ' Durgin and his boys. Undoubtedly, the only rea.son we had not been attacked up until this time was simply be- cause our Task P ' orce was too pfnverfui for any- thing the Japs had to throw at us then. We felt, however, that, as we cruised north and the enemy was alile to concentrate his forces for an attack, we might have the opportunity to prove the value of our many anti-aircraft drills. ow that we were in the Sulu .Sea, our Ta.sk Force had grown tremendously: so much so that wc could see our Na al essels in all di- rections all the way cjver the horizon. The Japs undoubtedly felt, by this time, however, that they simply had to do something if for no other reason than to save face. Conse- quently, on First J.ap Fl. g Thursday. 4 January 1945: 16-18 .Steaming as before, i 705 Manned anti- aircraft batteries. Ship put at General Quar- ters. 1 71 5 Emergency turn to i47°T and p.g. c, i63°p.s.c. 1 7 16 .Shot down one Jap plane, believed to be a ' Zero, diving from the bow and crashing about 75 yards astern of the ship. Ship ' s position 131° 16.8 E 9° 32.3 N. 1721 c c to 090°T and p.g.c, 106° p.s.c. on emer- gency turn. 1725 Second raid bearing 230°T. ■735 U.S.S. Ommaney Bay (CVE 79), bearing i6o°T, range 10 miles, which was hit, aban- doned ship: destroyers picking up sur i ors. We were cruising along, minding our own business, just west of Panay Island and just south of Mindoro Island when we went to Gen- eral Quarters. From the Log, one can easily see that we had hardly manned our gims when that Kamikaze came at us. He peeled off at about 6000 feet and made his dive from dead ahead. We could hardly see him as he peeled off. but as he came nearer and nearer at such terrific speed, his plane grew rapidly in .size un- til it looked like a multi-motored transport. Fortunately, however, our forward guns hit him fatally and at 1716 he was a dead duck, having crashed with a tremendous explosion just astern of us. There was no damage to the ship; however, one officer and one enlisted man were nicked by flying shrapnel from the ex- ploding plane. Chalk up one Jap flag on our bridge! Our first, but by no means our last. There were Jap planes all around, and we, naturally, remained at General Quarters, al- though no more got through to us, thanks to our Combat Air Patrol and the lesson we had already taught the one that did get through. . t 1735, one of our Sister ships, the U.S.S. Ommaney Bay (CA ' E 79), was hit by a Kami- kaze, necessitating abandoning ship, but with comparatively few casualties. She was later sunk by torpedoes from our own destroyers. Finally, tired from .so long at our Battle Stations, we secured from General Quarters at 1902. We had had our first real test; not just a test of the gun batteries and those on the bridge, but a test of the nerve, ability and fight- ing spirit of exery single man in the Lunga Point, and we had come through with flying colors. Yes, we had had our first taste of ac- tual combat with the enemy and we had met the test deliberately and with the determination that was to sustain us and bring us successfully through every engagement confronting us in the future. Our long period of intensive train- ing had produced the desired results, and it was a proud and happy Skipper that addressed the men of the Lunga Point over the general an- nouncing system that night. While the Cap- tain told us of his gratitude to all hands, he also 1 i f : First Jap plane we splashed Sulu Sea; below: Ommaney Bay bui Makin Island right center. xplcded just astern of ng following Kamikaze w arned us that we had to continue at the peak from there on out, because that was just the beginning of our contacts with the enemy, and that we must be prepared for anything, any- time. Squ. dro. ' s First J. p Fl. g Friday, 5 January 1945; 08-12 Steaming as before. 0817 Dog fight re- ported bearing 023°T, 27 miles. 0818 Manned all gun stations. 0820 General Quarters sounded. 0824 One enemy plane shot down by our CAP. . lthough our Squadron had done an ex- cellent job of flying Clombat Air Patrol and Anti-sulDmarine Patrol over our Task Force, they had not, up to now, been able to get in close contact with the enemy. On this partic- ular day, however, our CAP Tally Ho ' d en- emy aircraft about 27 miles away, and Lt. (jg) 69 Lt. (jg) Raim-y has his su-ak and rake for ■■splashini; Jap plane. Ranicy shot down a Zcke, the first enemy plane shot down by our squadron. There was much celebration, because our squadron had proven thereby that they could dish it out. Consequently, that night in the Wardroom, Lt. (jg) Ramey had the tradional steak and cake for dinner, while the rest of us had our usual Wardroom meal. And another Jap flag was painted on our bridge. This was destined to be a big day in the life of the Liinga Point and her Squadron, because First J. p Ship 12-16 Steaming as before. 1445 Received orders from OTC to arm four V ' T ' s with tor- pedoes. 1527 Four ' T ' s ready to fly with torpedoes, and four FMs ' s with rockets, to intercept reported Japanese destroyers. Two enemy destroyers had been sighted just ofl Luzon about 20 miles away, and our planes, in company with planes from two or three other Squadrons, went in for the attack. The net result was that, with our rockets and tor- pedoes hitting their target, two Nipponese des- troyers reported to their Honorable An- cestors, and a Jap ship is now among the decorations on our bridge. All of our planes returned safely to the ship. That same afternoon, our Task Force was subjected to a rather heavy enemy air attack, and, while a number of our ships were hit, there was no great damage done any of them and their casualties were small. While we were at CJeneral Quarters this lime no enemy aircraft came within range of our guns, al- lliougli we could see the other shi|js in our I ask Force repelling the attack. .Mlhough we were attacked a number o( times and had many a snoopK-r coming in to get a locjk at us, we arri cd f)fr Lingayen (julf on the ap|3ointed clay, and our planes immedi- ately began their bombing and straling runs on iiiemy shore installations, while our Battle Wagons, cruisers and destroyers stood off- shore right in Lingayen Gulf, giving the enemy beaches a withering gunflre day and night without let-up. literally pulverizintj enemy installations, paving the way for our troops to establish their beach head. S D. Y On .S Day. g January 1945, it was a Liinga Point plane, flying high abo e the Linga- n, ' S ' ' yen beach, that radioed the signal for otir Men o ' War to hft their gunfire inland, and at ex- actly 0930 the first wave of troops hit the beach, followed at periodic intervals by other waves. Our forces of surface craft and planes had un- doubtedly left the enemy dazed by their so hea ily concentrated attack, becau.sc, much to our surprise, the actual landings were made with practically no resistance, and, conse- quently, with hardly any casualties. We were, therefore, able to put ashore literally thousands of troops, vehicles and other material that first day, and our troops advanced on S Day to the point that they had hoped to reach on S plus three. In any event, the hardest part of the Battle of Luzon had been won. On S plus two, 1 1 January, we were par- ticularly pleased to recei e from Admiral Durgin the following dispatch: i am more than plea.sed with the wav our share of thi.s .show is being .a.cciomplished x we un- derstand the reasons for most of your difficulties and are trying to c:orrect them x your loc;al cooperation has eased the pain of many headaclhes x ship handling is good X OUR LIT- TLE FRIENDS HAVE RESCUED EVERY PILOT .AND ARE TURNING IN THEIR USUAL TOP FLIGHT PERFORMANCE X OUR A ' LATORS ARE EXECUTING THEIR MISSIONS LIKE VETERANS AND ARE MAKING THEIR PRESENC:E FELT AT THE TARGET X FLIGHT AND HANGAR DECK CREWS ARE DOING A WONDERFUL JOB X EVERYONE HAS PITCHED INTO A DIFFICULT TASK WITH .SPLENDID SPIRIT X WELL DONE X Lt. (jg) GiLKEY T.-VKES A TrIP We hung around for some time after S Day, with our planes continuing to cover our troops as they advanced south toward Manila, and they did a bang-up job of it, too. We were fortunate, however, in losing only one torpedo bomber in the entire operation, but thereon hangs a long story; too long for Lt. (jg) Arthur W. Gilkey of Front Royal, Va. and his two air crewmen. (His story will be found at the back of the book.) Lt. (jg) Reilly Cr.acks the Whip Like all other aircraft carriers, we occasion- ally have a barrier crash on the flight deck with usually nothing more than superficial damage to the plane ' s propellor or engine cowling. On 1 7 January, however, we had a barrier crash that is undoubtedly unique in the annals of Naval aviation. Lt. (jg) R. C. Reilly was bringing his torpedo bomber in for a landing. The China Sea was rough that day, and the Lunga Point was pitching and rolling to beat the band. Lt. (jg) Reilly ' s approach was satisfactory and the LSO (Landing .Signal Oflicer) gave him a cut. .Apparently, he held ofi too long, and. as he flew just a few feet Lini, ' dvcn Ciult beachhead on .S Day, 30 minutes after H hou . ii strip in center; ' . ' lIigators in foreground. Top; Enemy trucks destroyed b ' our planes during Lingayen op- eration; behw: Underground ammo dump near Santa Cruz. Luzon, •■8- ' + 5. above the flight deck, the heavy sea pulled the deck down so that his hook would not grab the arresting gear cables, but, instead, the hook caught the top wire on the No. 2 barrier. With a Bang, his plane landed on the starboard side of the flight deck just forward of the island, not in one piece, but in two pieces. The impact had been so great that it literally jerked that big torpedo bomber half in two just aft of the pilot ' s cock-pit. It would not have been sur- prising if the pilot and his two crewmen had been killed or seriously injured. On the other hand, two of them came out unscratched, and the one air crewman who suffered superficial cuts was discharged from Sick Bay the next day. We mention this merely to show that, while we do ha e accidents occasionally, they do not necessarily result in death or serious injury. Quite some time after S Day we were given orders to leave the Lingayen area, un- doubtedly because the Army had the situation well in hand and ntjw had sullu itiil landbascci air ( () cr lo relea.se us. l ' njm here on out, the jmplctc con(|uest of I-uzon and, ullimalely, llie i ' liilipjiincs, seemed to be nothing more ilian a nicllKjdieal rccUu lion oi the Jap forces by our .Army. It had been an interesting and exciling o[XTation, but we were glad to be lca ing, iK-eause we were cry tired from run- ning lo CJeneral Quarters at all hours of the day and night and attending ttj the other arduous duties pertinent lo our part in the Lingayen operatitjii. The idea of a little rest and recre- ation in Uliihi was a happy and welcome pros- pect lo us all. We were al.so quite anxious to get to calmer seas, becau.se that South China Sea had really been rough since we had been ihere, and it was a real credit to the ability of our entire Air Department, and to our LSO in particular, that our plane handling on the flight deck had been so successful during the operation. How they brought those planes safely down on that flight deck in .such heavy .seas will always be a mystery to many of us. Then, loo, we were most anxious to get our Senior Medical Officer back to waters that more closely resembled the flat prairies of Kan.sas. All in all, no one was sad when we set our course southward. En route to Ulithi we could .see further evi- dence of the success of our operations at Linga- yen Gulf, because we were constantly sighting our own transport planes flying north to Luzon, unmolested, o er routes that just a few weeks before would have been extremely hazardous to say the least. That was all the proof we needed to convince us that we now had com- plete control of the air over the Philippines. Lt. ( jgi Rcilly ' s flight deck crash. 72 kes one c ver the bow, South China Lunga Point n OSes into a ground s well as she tur Sea. preparatory to re overing planes Tuesday, 23 January 1945: 04-08 Steaming as before. 0510 Sighted light on Ulithi Atoll, bearing 045°T, distance 15 miles. 0726 Stationed all the anchor detail. 08-1 2 Steaming as before. 0904 U.S..S. Sham- rock Bay (CV ' E 84) anchored. 0923 Anchored in Berth 261, Ulithi. Western Caroline Is- lands. Arriving in Ulithi, as is usual, the first job at hand was the taking on of stores, fuel and mu- nitions. This done, we were all ready for a little rest and recreation and the four bottles of Four C ' E Skippers ai ■•happ ' hours ' at Ulithi, 73 Ix ' cr iliiil HI) will) it. Dill- to the lartjc iiimilxr of . a iil vessels in port, liowcvcr, it was iniitc a pr()l)l(in for the local Service- Sc|iiaclroii to furnish each shi[) siillici -nt boats to haiiclle its liherty parties. Our problem was somewhat soKcd, thouifh. lhrouy;h the kindness of the AK- ' -). wliii li lo.iiK ' d us two boats and crews; thus, we were able to send a Section ashore each day. We were in the Southern Anchorage, however, and it was too long a boat trip to attempt to take our liberty parties to Mog Mog Island where there were organized recre- ational facilities as at Pityilu. Consequently. we and all the other ships in the Southern An- chorage decided to use Feitabul Island, which was uninhabited and just about 6000 yards from our berth. WTiiie there were absolutely no recreational facilities on this mile long island, we managed to get our per capita allotment of beer each day, and it was really a treat to go to Feitabul, because it was the one island we had seen that had been absolutely untouched by the ravages of war. With its many beauti- ful coconut palms and its very dense under- growth, it was everything we had expected to find in a typical South Pacific island. Tropi- cal flowers were numerous, and you couldn ' t step on a spot in the jungle without stepping on coconuts, the ground being literally covered with them. There was a beautiful white beach on the lagoon side, and the ocean side presented a very pretty sight, with the clear, blue-green waters breaking over the coral reefs 1000 yards oil shore. .Since so many ships were in the same fix we were in, there was al- ways a crowd on the island. Many parties brought rations along and cooked supjx-r over open lires in the .shade of the palms. In one sen.se it was like Main Street back home, |j -- cau.se one was constantly running into f ld friends there from other ships present. Even when in port, however, it ' s not all play with us by a long shot. We arc all kept very busy attending to our part in the preparations for the next operation. Ihen, too, there is no little cleaning of bright work, and there is, of course, the ever present painting to Ik- dc ne. We don ' t believe there is ever a minute in the day that somebody on board isn ' t painting somewhere, trying to keep one jump ahead of the rust and corrosion caused by the salt air. We do, as often as possible, have Happy Hours, which are put on by officer and enlisted personnel from the ship and squadron, and we had one of our best while at Ulithi on this visit. It was highlighted by a boxing match with the team from the Bismarck Sea (C ' E 95), though we are forced to admit that they licked us in that department, but not without our men put- ting up a good scrap. As a matter of fact, it was a great fight, and we lost by only one bout. Our spirits were undaunted, though, and we pro- ceeded to put on a good show for them, any- way, w ith our orchestra, our string quartet, our soloist s and our piano-accordionist. W ' e had many guests from the Bismarck Sea as well as other ships, not the least of whom constituted the biggest cargo of gold braid we ' ve ever had aboard at any one time before. The ship was literally listing to port under the weight of the head gear worn by the Old Man ' s dinner guests. Captain Whaley of the Makiii Island (CV ' E 93), Captain Pratt of the Bismarck Sea (CV ' E 95), and Captain Frank T. Ward, Jr. of the Shamrock Bay (CVE 84). -After nearly three weeks of work and play, mostly work, and guessing when we were get- ting underway and where we w ' ere going, we had every reason to feel that we had success- fully completed another leg in the travels of the Lunga Poiiil and were about to embark on another. 74 AIR SUPPORT yVO JIMA ACT ON RtPOR US6 LVUCA POfN iOFiBRUARV lp4 11 MARCH 1945 PAR r IV IWO JIMA 1 hfit camr llif Imrdisl fi)iii; il hallli- nf llum alt: Iit ' o Jiiiia jusi (Itdti ' t want to fall. But our ij liling Marines had a diffirint idea. Tliev km-tf the l.uiiga Point ' s fdanes itrre near; So they forged ahead with grim determination To win another i ictory o ' er the Jafyanese . ation. Saturday, lo February 1945: 12-16 Anchored as before. 1239 Underway on various courses and speeds from Ulithi Atoll. Western Caroline Islands. Captain at the conn. E. eeuti e Ollicer and . ' a i ;ator on the bridge. In one of his customary fireside chats that night, the .skipjx-r told us over the general announrint; system that u ' - were underway for the in asion of Iwo Jima. We already knew that Iwo Jima was way up in the ' olcano Islands, and right in the Jap ' s front yard. The Captain didn ' t mince any words in telling us that it was destined to Ix- a tough scrap, becau.se the Japs W(juld undoubtedly light to the last man in attempting to hold this air base so near their front door. He l(jld us. however, that he knew we had what it took to carry out our part of the invasion successfully. The importance of Iwo Jima as an air base in our Pacific strategy could easily be .seen by the mighty force of warships of all cla.sses that were sent to insure the success of the ofx-ration, and it was really an inspiration to be a part of the powerful Ta.sk Force that set its course for Iwo Jima. J southwest beach at Iwo Jima ju t before H hour (0830) on D day ( 19 February) Smoke and aerial bombardment almost obscures the island. Mt. Suribachl is seen at upper left. 76 En route, we stopped for a day at Saipan and passed by Guam, arriving off Ivvo Jima several days prior to D Day, which was to be 19 February. While it was in the cards that we would have a ' hot time militarily speaking, it was quite a relief to find ourselves far enough north to enjoy the first really cool weather we had had since leaving the States. As a matter of fact, most of us broke out our blankets and they really felt good. Immediately on arrival, our planes took to the air and began their bombing and strafing of Iwo Jima ' s military installations co-incident with the withering gunfire of the many battle- ships, cruisers and destroyers lying close in- shore. This was to be a 100 per cent Marine invasion by the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Divi- sions. Many of us had close friends and rel- atives among those Marines, just as we did among the Army Divisions at Luzon, which made us want to try even harder to do our job while those brave Marines went through that living Hell on earth just a few miles from where we cruised up and down, waiting for our planes to come back from their mission of paving the way for the Marines. Tho.sc men, of whom we are so proud, hit the Iwo Jima beaches right on schedule at 0830 on D Day and brought glory to their Corps and to our Nation, but not without days of bitter fighting and heavy casualties. It is our guess that, as a result of this battle, there will be another erse added to The Halls of Monte- zuma, and somewhere in that verse will be the words, To the Shores of Iwo Jima. While not as gigantic an operation as Luzon, Iwo Jima did prove to be the more spectacular, and by far the most terrific operation in which we have participated, if not, for its size, the most terrific of the War in the Pacific. Not only was the taking of Iwo Jima the most costly of the Marine invasions — a combination of Saipan and Tarawa — but it also provided us with our toughest fight and most narrow es- cape. The Japs, even though foreseeing de- feat, literally dug into the rugged cliffs and the volcanic lava and held on with the tenacity of fanatics, preferring annihilation to surrender. The whole island was virtually honey-combed with pill boxes and caves, from which could be seen only the muzzles of their guns. The only way we e er got them out was by constant Marine artillery and mortar fire, flame throw- ing, Naval bombardment from the sea, and bombs, rockets and strafing from our planes in the air. Some, of course, would finally venture out in search of water, but they never went back. From our station off shore, we could see the Naval bombardment of the island and it went ' round the clock, the night sky being brilliantly illuminated by star shells, so that accuracy could be a.ssured in night firing. When those fighting Marines and Sons of Heaven slept, we just don ' t know. The Ma- rines came through as usual, though, and not long after D Day, the Star Spangled Banner was flying serenely abo ' e olcanic Mount Suribachi, meaning that we had one more U.S. J.O.O.D. and helmsman on watch in pilot house. 77 air base in the front yard of tlu- Japanese Em- pire. Here, also, the Lunga Point was distinguished; Three Jap planes out of four she extinguished. As, all at once, they dropped their torped oes; They came so close they gare us the jitters. But, nevertheless, our Ensign does fly O ' er In ' o Jima so bright in the sky. Our narrowest escape of the war — a real scrap and a tough one— took place during this operation. Knowing that Jap planes were nearby at the time, we were, of course, at Gen- eral Quarters, waiting. All hands seemed to ha e a premonition that we were about to undergo a severe attack, because there was a tenseness throughout the ship that kept every- one on the extreme alert. Every man was de- termined to do his job the best he knew how, contributing all he had to the success of our battle, whether he was in the Engine Rooms or standing by in the Wardroom. Yes, the Steward ' s Mates, the Cooks and Bakers, the Radiomen, the Pharmacist ' s Mates and the Mess Cooks all had their jobs to do just as much as the men on the guns. Even though the men below decks might have been expecting a tor- pedo to come bursting through the skin of the ship at any moment, they never wavered in their duties. The Repair Parties down there were also tense with alertness as they stood by, ready to effect quick repairs. We will never know the emotions of those men at the time, or the thoughts going through their heads. All we will e er really know about them, in that re- spect, we knew already. They were prepared to meet any eventuality in- their determination to sail the Lunga Point victoriously back to the .States. The certain knowledge of this backing was more than a help to the men on the gun.s and on the bridge. It was all they meded to keep th in lighting with all ihcy had. IHREE MORE JAP FLAGS Just at dusk wc were subjected to a night aerial torpedo attack by Kamikaze BomlxTs, and the planes could not even be seen until just within range of our guns. Four torpedo planes. Hying at flight deck level, came at us from abeam to starboard. We shot the (irst one down, and he fell in (lames on our star- board ciuarter, about 200 feet from the ship. He is now enjoying his bowl of rice with his Honcjrable . ncestors, but we dare say he has an acute attack of indigestion. The second plane, undoubtedly hit by our withering gun fire, turned and Hew low over our stern and out of sight, and we have serious doubts that he ever returned to the Empire. Wc had hardly had time to re-load our guns when the third and fourth planes came at us. We .shot them both down in llames, one landing in the water about 300 feet from the ship, and the other boundin g across our flight deck, after shearing off his starboard wing and landing wheel as he hit the after part of the bridge and leaving them in the Flag Bag Sponson. He sprayed gasoline all about, set fire to the fiight deck, and bounded into the sea and exploded on our port beam, but not without burning several men on our port gun batteries. The fire on our flight deck was quickly extinguished by our Fire Parties without doing any appreciable damage. Meanwhile, the Japs had dropped three ■fish, ' all of which missed us by inches, they having Third Kamikaze, after being shot down by our AA guns, bursts into flames just before flitting after part of island structure. . fter leaving starboard wing and wheel behind, third Ka bounds blazing over port rail into the sea. apparently misjudged our speed. We on the guns felt mighty lonely for a while as we stood by, contemplating what a narrow escape we had had, but that loneliness was soon dispelled by the voice of the Old Man speaking to all hands over the Bull Horn, telling them to keep up the good work. We were no longer alone; we were again reminded that we had support from the bridge to the engine rooms. ' Ws, throughout the ship, e ' ery man was on his toes and doing the job assigned him in the man- ner in which he was supposed to. While all this was going on, a sad sight came to our eyes. The Bismarck Sea (C VE qj), one of our Sister ships, was hit by a Kamikaze, just 2000 yards on our starboard quarter and she was burning rapidly. We soon learned that Captain Pratt had wisely given the order to abandon ship, but, seeing that blazing inferno and the explosions that followed, we knew that, though total casualties might be comparatively light, some of us would almost undoubtedly lose a friend on board her. We had started out together and had been together so much that we dare say there is not a man on board the Lunga Point who didn ' t have at least one close friend on that fine ship that was gradually settling beneath the surface of the Pacific. It was a strange feeling, but it made us want to fight all the harder to avenge the loss of the men in the Bismarck Sea. Jap planes were still attacking other ships in our Task Force, and the sky was so full of shell bursts that it looked like a mammoth Fourth of July celebration. We had gone to General Quarters at i 708, and it was well after 2 1 00 Our flight deck was ablaze that night, but ■ fire parties quickly extinguished the fires. Explo BiMtiarck Sra following Kamikaze hit. when we secured, and it was a tired and vvear -, yet grateful group of men that crawled in their bunks that night. We had hardly crawled in. however, when the Captain talked to us over the general announcing system, at which time he highly commended all hands for their con- duct during the terrific attack. He went on to say that he was proud to feel that every man on the ship had done his job well, thereby contrib- uting just that much more to our success. He expressed the sentiments of all hands, in re- ferring to the gun crews, when he simply said. They were magnificent. Once again, we had met the test; we had come through another crisis with colors flying. Once again, too, we were thankful that we had been put through such a rigid period of training in prep- aration for just such emergencies as this. It was nut. however, with a feeling f f cockiness that we stood around tlic loud-speak Ts listen- ing to the (Captain. True, we had suflicient conlidence in ourselves to meet any emergency, but it was. rather, with a feeling of profoimd humility and gratitude U .Mmighty (Jod that we had been spared to fighi on to rotnplelc and l(jtal victory. Heroism Off Iwd Jima li was during this operation that one of the most exciting, one of the most thrilling, and one of the most heroic incidences of our first year occurred. Lt. Bud Foster had accompanied other planes on a direct support hop o er Iwo Jima in his Wildcat fighter, and a part of his mission was to drop a Xapalm (fire) bomb on his tar- get. When he go t over his target, however, it develojjed that the bomb relea.sc was faulty and he could not relea.sc his bomb. . fter completing the remainder of his mis- sion he returned to our operating area and called the C aptain and told him of his plight, requesting instructions as to whether to bail out or attempt a landing on the ship. The Skipper had Lt. (jg) Max Palcna. our avia- tion ordnance officer, report to the bridge where the ' went into a detailed discussion of Captain and .A.CJ.I. officer inspect wing section of Kamikaze k on our flight deck after hitting after part of island structure. Wing and wheel of Jap pla e that hit after part of island siructur 2 1 Februan-. the release system of the bomb racks. After considerable discussion, it was decided to as- sist Lt. Foster in further attempting to release the bomb, and, in doing so, they put him through most every maneu er conceivable, in- cluding Hying on his back, but even fifteen minutes of this failed to shake off the bomb. The Claptain then called Admiral Durgin over the TBS (transmission between ships), and requested advice as to whether he should order Lt. Foster to bail out or attempt to bring him aboard. It was a tough decision to make. If Lt. Foster were to bail out, he would, in all probability, be picked up unharmed, but we would have been short a fighter plane. On the other hand, if we attempted to bring him aboard and things didn ' t work out perfectly, there was a distinct possibility that many lives would be lost, including that of Lt. Foster, not to mention the possibility of losing our ship and planes. The decision was left entirely up to our Skipper when Admiral Durgin said, Do what you think best. Good luck, Gat! ' On receiving these instructions from the-Ad- miral, the Captain and Lt. (jg) Palena went into another discussion on the possibility of the bomb ' s fuse being armed and the possibility of the bomb being released by the impact if a landing were attempted. To ascertain The Old Man ■ bridge on 22 Februan ' 1945. ■wlictlicr i)r 111)1 the hoinl) ;i.s armed, tlir ( ' .a|)- Ftain had oix- of our torpedo l)oml)er pilots lly viii[;-()ii oil I.t. Foster, as close as possible, to see if the- annint; wire was still secured to the fuse and that the honih was secured to the rack. ' [ lie torpedo Ijoinher pilot ' s reply was, Aflirm- ative. The (:a|)lain tiu-u asked I, I. I ' oster if he wanted to attempt a laudinir al)oard, and his reply was, If you think it advisable, 1 will land aboard, dantain. Lt. Foster well knew that his life was at stake; yet he made his reply in keeping with the finest traditions of the Naval service. After another ti ' ii minutes of maneu- vering, trying again to .shake of] the bomb, Lt. Foster came into the landing circle. All planes were taken below to the hangar deck except two which were spotted forward on the flight deck, and for w hich there was no room on the hangar deck. All Fire Parties manned their stations and everyone was on their toes. Lt. Foster first made a pass at the ship, flying (lose to the bridge, so that the Claptain and Lt. (jg) I ' alena could ascertain that the Iwjmb was secure. Facing assured that the JKjmb wa.s se- cure, the Captain ordered Lt. Foster in. C;ommander Eastwold and Lt. (jg) I ' alena were the only ones on the flight de k when Lt. Foster came in on a very good landing. For a fleeting moment th e bomb remained intact on the plane, but the impact of the arresting gear loosened it, and it slid bounding down the deck in the direction of the parked planes and where impact with the planes might detonate the bomb, throwing liquid Are all tjvcr the ship, and possibly causing the loss of the ship and many of our personnel. Lt. (jg) Palena was standing near the island, and, as the bomb slid beneath the third barrier, he took out after it and caught it between the barrier and one of the planes spotted forward to starboard. He straddled the bomb and yelled, Damn it! •Somebody give me a wrench ! A big pipe wrench appeared out of nowhere, but it was Fighter returns safely from Iwo Jima with wing section damaged by enemy flak. too large. Seconds later, Olup, AOM2C, one of Lt. (jg) Palena ' s ordnance men, ran across the flight deck with a small wrench for him to use in removing the fuse. Seconds meant the difference between life and death for many of of us. While Lt. (jg) Palena was working on the fuse, the Exec was standing by as well as the Fire Parties who had their hoses trained on the bomb. All of this time there was a decided possibility that the bomb might explode and throw liquid fire in all directions. The rest of the story is short, while all that had gone before seemed like an eternity to those involved. The fuse was remo ed in seconds and the bomb was thrown over the side, with no one the worse for this hair-raising experience. Lt. (jg) Palena ' s conduct throughout this try- ing ordeal was an example of extraordinary heroism, and we are not only proud of and grateful to him, but we are glad to have him as a shipmate. The Old Man, too, was proud, because the Admiral had left him with a hot potato, which Lt. (jg) Palena cooled off, and he immediately called Lt. (jg) Palena to the bridge and gave him the traditional Navy Well Done! There is nothing that gives a man more gen- uine satisfaction than to know that his work is appreciated. It was, therefore, with a feeling of pride in the part we had played that we re- ceived, on 22 February, the dispatch from CinCPac, which we quote as follows: THE OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE FIRST CARRIER TASK FORCE OF THE PAC:iFIC FLEET HAVE DEALT THE EN- EMY A CRUSHING BLOW WHICIH WILL LONG BE REMEMBERED X THE SAME COURAGE, SKILL AND TEAMWORK WHICH ENABLED OUR CARRIER PI- LOTS TO DESTROY THE ENEMY IN BAD WEATHER OVER TOKYO ARE NOW BEING DISPLAYED BY THE F0RC;ES WHICH ARE TAKING IWO IS- Ugh weather off Iwo Jima. 83 I.ANF) () l. .i„, Mll.I.S IROM lOKVO X Tim ' Wll.l. ALSO HRI. {; SUCCKSS WHEN OLK IKOOI ' S I.AM) IN )AI ' A. rrsKLF (:() KRi:i) and slim ' or i kd in llir, lAKR INCRKASIXC I ' OWKR OI OL ' R AIR I ' ORCKS AM) IIIK CINS OI IIII. III. 1. 1 X K) inoSK HRA K MI.N WHO IIA l BKHX AXI) ARK IX COM- BAT AM) ALSO TO UK )Si: VllOSi:sL- 1 ' - Wicc k (l )a[) |jla Iwo Ji, Destroyed fap pla Tiqlitini .lima. an pla PORT AND ASSISTAXCE IN REAR AREAS ARE ESSENTIAL TO THEIR SUC- CESS -WELL DONE- X We feel it only appropriate to say that every man on board was loud in his praise of our Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Forrestal, when we learned that he had been ashore on Iwo Jima shortly alter the first waves of Marines hit the beach in order to see first-hand just what his Department was up against on that small island. His gesture was unusual to .say the least, and it undoubtedly bolstered the morale of tiiose fighting Marines more than we will ever know. It was, therefore, with peculiar pride that we received from Mr. Forrestal, on 25 February, the following dispatch: ALL HANDS ON THE CVE ' S ARE TO BE C;OXGRATUL. TED ON THE CON- TINUOUS AND PRECISE SUPPORT GI ' EN THE GROUND TROOPS BY THE NA ' AL AIR ARM DURING THIS OPERATION X , night-fiffhti IwoJ,, shortly after D day. One of Qiir faithful little escorts. Naturally, we are always proud to receive vords of praise on our operations, but, occa- 84 sionally, it is driven home to us that we have to pay a price for our achievements, and on I March we paid a big price in tiie loss of three of our shipmates. Lt. (jg) Delbert M. Gerlach and two air crewmen, Randall VV. Brooks, ARMic, and Kenneth P. Josias, AMM2C, were flying over Iwo Jima, observing Marine artillery fire, when they were shot down by enemy anti-aircraft fire. Lt. (jg) Gerlach and Brooks were buried in the 3rd Marine Geme- tary on Iwo Jima on 5 Marcii, and Josias was buried in the same Gemetary on 6 March, all with full Military Honors. Then, the very next day, we had the mis- fortune of losing by death our first and only shipmate from the ship ' s company during appla Mt. Suribachi in backgn our first year in commission. On that par- ticular afternoon, Friday, 2 March, Paul Mat- thew Hunt, Sic, came up a ladder from the catwalk to the flight deck and, apparently, had not noticed that they were warming up the engines on several torpedo bombers. He ducked under the wing of one of the Avengers and walked alongside the fuselage to cross the flight deck, walking right into a whirling pro- pellor. He, of course, was killed instantly, never knowing what had hit him. We buried him just before sunset that afternoon with full Military Honors, with eight of his buddies acting as pallbearers. The Marines having the situation well in hand on Iwo Jima, and having completed our mission in the operations, we again turned south with the satisfaction of a job well done, and looked forward with much pleasure to getting on the beach again for a change. Sunday, 11 March 1945: 16-20 Steaming as before. 1602 Anchored in Berth 150, Ulithi Atoll, Western Garoline Islands. We again found ourselves at Ulithi, but this time it was destined to be a pleasanter though shorter stay than the last. In the first place, we were fortunate enough to ge t a berth in the northern anchorage, not too far from Mog Mog where there were very good recreational facilities. In addition to this, we had a little better boat service than during our last visit. While our visit to Ulithi this time, on the whole, was pleasant, it didn ' t start off so pleas- antly. In fact, our welcome was anything but a cordial one, because we went to General Quarters three times during the first twenty- four hours, and it ' s no fun going to General Quarters either in the dark or at anchor, and we had a combination of both, just sitting there like a bunch of decoys. Things finally quieted down, though, and by the end of our first day there we settled down to our normal routine, and looked forward to a little rest after the trying Iwo Jima operation. Gon.sequently, after getting fuel, supplies and other gear aboard, all hands were more than ready for a little rest and recreation. We all enjoyed several visits to Mog Mog Island, which held one treat for us in particular. Throughout our entire travels in the Pacific we had never seen a native village, but the author- ities at Ulithi, when they moved the natives from Mog Mog, retained their entire village in- tact, and it was used as a recreation area for the officer and enlisted personnel of the Fleet. What must have been the Chief ' s hut is now being used as a Glub for Flag Officers and Gaptains, and it is a tremendous thatched roof affair and very spacious as compared to the smaller huts that dot the recreation area. All the huts have one thing in common, and that ' s a southwest exposure, because none of them have sides extending nearer than three feet from the ground. Despite the intense daytime hea t, they are, apparently, very com- fortable at night. One thing in particular that impressed us on Mog Mog was the fact that there were .several burial grounds there, and all of them Christian. They had tombs built of large coral slabs above the ground, and, without exception, they had crosses at their heads but with Japanese characters on them. It was at Ulithi that Lt. (jg) Al Weintraub proved his adroitness at aircraft recognition. He and Lt. (jg) Miive Owings were Sicy- iarking on the forecastle, discussing the pnjb- al)ihty of a. Jap attack when, ail of a sudden, an OSjL ' from one of our cruisers came Hying overhead. Immediately, Lt. (jg) Weintraul) yelled, jap Zekc with floats. Aside from recreation, and even more im- portant, wc always look forward to going to Ulithi to get mail. The Fleet Post Ollice there gives us excellent service; therefore, what spare time we had on board was largely used in an- .swering those many welcome lrii -rs that were awaiting us on our arrival. .Mllujugh, Ijy this tim ' . we were .ill l) -nin- ning to wonder when we would be n-iurning to the .States, we knew that that was only wish- ful thinking for the present, anyway. Every indication pointed to the fact that we were slated for at least one or two more op -rations before being privileged t(j return to the .States for availability and leave. While we, quite naturally, were anxious to get back and .sec our families, we were also ready to undertake any mission assigned us. ta « zr .- Our own picture of Old Glory flying atop Mt. Suribaclu. w m mr  ff mm i t PART V OKINAWA GUXTO Okinawa was next in our plan. As we lunged forward to Japan. It was a long and bloody campaign, O ' er rough and well defended terrain, But when the firing did finally subside. Victory, again, ivas on our side. Wednesday, 21 March 1945: 04-08 Anchored as before. 0639 Underway from Berth 27-28, Ulithi Atoll, on various courses and speeds conforming to the channel. That night, the Old Man pulled THAT CHAIR up to the fireside, broke out his mike, and told us all about the coming operation. He told us that this particular operation was to be more of a campaign than a battle, because it would last a long time, and would involve the occupying of several smaller Jimas, .Shimas and Rettos before and after the actual invasion of Okinawa Shima, our major objective in the battle of Okinawa Gunto. He told us by name the many large naval vessels that would be in- volved in the operation, and it sounded like a roll call of every capital ship in the Fleet. It seemed, also, that there was to be a tremendous number of destroyers, destroyer escorts, mine- sweepers, transports and supply ships. In fact, it sounded like the entire Pacific Fleet was being thrown into the operation to guarantee its success. The Captain went on to say, also. Some of the Jap hulks that littered the Okinawa beaches on •Love ' — 3, as pre-invasion strikes took toll of enemy shipping. 89 Landing crafi irbi(ini, ' Iransporls otF Okinawa on L l_ a ' . that it would be the longest operation of its kind in Naval history. Having gotten the word from the Claptain, we crawled in our bunks that night, knowing full well that we would in all probability ha e some tough going ahead of us. The Captain had already told us that L •Day (Love Day — the Okinawa invasion day) was to be i April, Easter .Sunday, and. as usual, the carrier and battle forces arrived ofi Oki- nawa Gunto .several days ahead. We immedi- ately began our softening up attack on Oki- nawa .Shima. Kcrama Retto and other islands scheduled for invasion. Kcrama Retto is a small group of islands just southwest of Okinawa .Shima, and our forces took the Retto a couple of days before L Day, without too much opposition. .Since Easter .Sunday marked the invasion of Okinawa .Shima, we would be occupied with our attack, and would, therefore, be unable to have our usual Easter Divine .Services. Con- sequently, the Captain had the Chaplain read the Easter .Story and say appropriate prayers over die general announcing system on Easter Eve. The next day, however, we did Wel- come Happy Morning in our own hearts, be- cause, after all, we were giving everything we had toward trying to make this a better world in which to live; a world which would truly be governed by the Golden Rule. The in asion on Easter Morn was a com- bined Army and Marine operation, and our forces went ashore without too much opposi- tion and with small casualties. They were destined, howex er, to mo ' e slowly, because the Japs had dug in, and were defending this sixty mile long island of Okinawa .Shima from ;ncs, large concrelc pill boxes, block Ixiiises and burial aulls. and otherwise availing them- selves ( the natural to|)ogra[)hy of the island, which lent itself well lo defensive ofx-rations. Apparently, th - Japs had long since realized that th -y could nrjt present our forces from landing on their islands, and they had adopted the strategy of lighting a delaying action, ir ing to make our conciuest as costly as possible after (he landings had been made, Ix-cause here, as at Iwo Jima, they seemed determined to fight to the last man. Our forces moved ahead according to plan, however, and had complete- ly occupied the main air strip, ' S ' on Tan, a couple of days after L Day, and, within a week, our Army, a ' y and Marine pilots were using the air strip. The island was virtually ours after the tenth day of operations; however, as in all similar invasions, despite tremendous losses intlicted on the enemy, it developed into a .systematic extermination of the fiendish fanatics otherwise known as Japanese. Another Jap Fl.jig For Our Sqi adron On Love Day, our .Squadron contributed another Jap flag to the decoration of our bridge when Ensign Houk and Lt. (jg) Couch jointly splashed a Jap Tony over Okinawa Shima Landing craft ering off Okinawa beaches on ' Love ' Day ' C 85 fighter overhead. and thus sent another Son of Nippon on his wav to visit his ancestors. This was just a part of the outstanding work of our Squadron as they supported the slow, but steady advance of our forces on the island. Ker.am.a Retto Monday, 2 April 1945: 08- 1 2 Steaming as before. 0803 on various courses and speeds conforming to channel into Kerama Retto anchorage. 0810 Anchored in Berth K-gg in 2g fathoms of water with 75 fathoms of chain out to the port anchor. 0815 Set Condition Baker. 0833 Unidentified air- craft reported bearing i62°T, distance 15 miles. 0837 Set Condition of Readiness III. 0840 Two enemy aircraft reported south of anchorage. Ship went to General Quarters. 0856 One Japanese aircraft, type ' Tony, ' shot down by this ship; crashed 1250 yards astern on port side of LST 735. ogi2 Secured from General Quarters. Set Condition of Readi- ness III, Material Condition Baker. og2 7 Went to General Quarters. Unidentified air- craft reported bearing ooo°T, distance 8 miles. 1028 Secured from General Quarters except for AA Batteries. Set Condition of Readiness III, Material Condition Baker. Another J. p Fl.ag Our greatest excitement of the Okinawa Gunto operations, and our most trying day, was on Easter Monday, 2 April. Early that morning we anchored in Kerama Retto an- chorage, which, just a few days previous, had been occupied by vessels of the Imperial Japan- ese Fleet, or, rather, what was left of their Fleet. We had just turned to on the business of our visit, and were riding peacefully at an- chor, when that gong began to ring, and we went quickly to General Quarters. At 0852 Jap plane crashes 50 ft. from LST 735, 1,250 yards astern of us, after being shot down by our A. batteries at Ke iwo |a|j planes were si litcd llyinj liit(li (jvr-r- li a(i. l)arcly within sii lu, and, as we wal( li -d, one of them Ijcgan a steep dive at us from about - )oo feet, Init his aim was ptjor. He passed overhead through the lire of our guns and pulled up al about 1800 feet, evidently realizing he was going to miss us. He turned from port to starboard, gaining altitude all the while. When he returned to our starlxjard side he presented a better target for our guns, and, as he apparently Ix-gan a dive on the U..S.S. Saginaiv Bay (CIV ' E 82), anchored on our starboard quarter, we hit him fatally and he crashed, out of control, alxjut jo feet from the L.ST 735, which was anclujred i2-,o yards astern of us. We can only imagine how the ( n-u of that L.ST felt after their narrow escape. Where the other Jap went, we don ' t know, but we do know that there was another Jap (lag painted on our bridge that morning. Bogies were reported around all during the day. Con.sequcntly, wc remained at Gen- eral Quarters, insofar as the anti-aircraft bat- teries were concerned, for the remainder of our stay at Kerama Retto. While no more Ban- dits came at us during the rest of our stay, the thrill and excitement of that Easter Monday was by no means over, taccause 1 6- 1 8 Anchored as before. Continuing to load ammunition. 1641 Stationed all the anchor detail. 1727 Received last load of ro ; Hospital ship off Ok angels of iwa. Wherever our troops go these y follow in their footsteps; cenUr: A lot of Japs if rice with their ancestors aboard this warship the bottom off Okinawa on L — i; below: Sea to Okinawa beaches keep tides from flooding Top: Crazy-quilt patterns of Okinawa countryside broken trenches and gun emplacements; cenlrr: We pull away froi tanker upon completion of fueling operation off Okinawa: W «i remains of city ol Naha. Okinawa, and waterfront c ammunition from LCM. 1735 Underway from Kcnnna Redo am lioraKc Claptain al tin- (onn. Kxcciitivi- OliiciT and Navigator on the bridge, a e ahead 2 3. 1737 Ship went to General Quarters. 1 740 Clame to course 2i5°T and p.g.c., 218° p.s.c. 1754 Passed through anti-submarine nets. Kerama Retio had been a hot place in more ways than one, and no one was exactly sorry to be leaxing; howexcr, our really hot time was yet to come, when in diving attack on starboard bow. All guns brought to bear and plane (jn port bow turned away at i.otx) yards; jjclievcd to ha c xrn hit and crashed. Planes on starboard bow turned left at 1200 yards and dtne on U..S..S. Mikhrll, dropping two small Ixjmbs. The plane then crash-dived on an APD. 1858 c c to 240°T and p.g.c. Fires observed on APD. 1916 Ob- .ser ed gunfire by convoy Ijcaring 255° ' r, dis- tance 10 miles. Two enemy planes seen to be shot down in flames. 1942 .Secured from (Gen- eral Quarters. Set Condition of Readiness III, Material Condition Baker. 1958 c c to 27o°T and p.g.c. c s to 14 knots. Bogies having been reported closing on us from both the north and southwest, wc were, of course at General Quarters waiting to open fire just the minute they dared come within range of our guns. At 1843 two enemy planes were seen approaching our starboard quarter and the starboard guns opened fire just before they got within range, throwing up a terrific barrage. One of the planes dared to come in to within 1500 yards, but, apparently, he couldn ' t take it, and turned and dis- appeared. The .second plane, taken under fire by this ship, the Mitchell and the Pallerson, finallv turned to his starboard, low on the 18-20 Steaming as before. i8og Secured from General Quarters. Set Condition of Readiness III, Material Condition Baker. 1823 c c to io4°T and p.g.c, 099° p.s.c. Five destroyers of MinDiv 60 sighted on port bow 2 miles. 1833 Ship went to General Quarters. ' Bogies ' reported approaching from north- erly and southwesterly directions. Transport Group, 6 miles distant on starboard quarter, seen under attack. 1842 c s to flank. 1843 Two enemy planes approaching our starboard quarter. All guns opened fire. U.S.S. Mitchell and U.S.S. Patterson also opened fire. One plane hit and believed crashed. The other plane turned away at 1500 yards. 1844 Two enemy planes approa ching on port beam. The U.S..S. Xawman, MinDiv 60 and this ship all took these planes under fire. Both planes shot down. 1845 c to i50°T and p.g.c. Unidentified plane approaching on port bow in low glide. An enemy ' Nick ' approaching water, and crashed some distance from us. Just about that time, two more enemy fighters approached low on the water to port and were taken under fire by the Xawman and probably MinDiv 60. One of them exploded in the air 94 THE SMOKING LAMP IS LIGHTED! 95 U.S.S. Dicirrson ablaze following Kamika r liil ulf Kcrama Rcllo. and the other crashed in llamcs. At 184-) an unidentified plane started a dive on our port Ix-am and all our port guns opened up. and he, too. couldn ' t take our barrage and he turned away at 1000 yards. VVc .saw this plane no more, and. after the gunfire he went through, it is only logical to assume that he is now en- joying a bowl of rice with his ancestors. While this plane was diving on our port bow. another plane, believed to be a Nick. was diving on our starboard bow. but he also turned at 1 200 yards and attacked the Mitchell, dropping two small bombs which fell close astern of her. then heading again for us. Apparently hit by either us or die Mitchell, he turned away smoking, and .-Xdmiral Durgio (ComEsCarForPac) honors us with a isi ofT Okinawa Gunto. ( rash-cli ed into an APD, which we tfxjk lo be the Dickffson, Ix-causc the ship where the Dick- iruDi had last tx-cn seen was suddenly a blazing inferno. While th(jse last two planes were diving at us simultaneously, from Ixjth port and starboard, ev ry gun on the ship had them un- der lire. In the semi-darkness, as all guns belched forth (lames from their smoking muz- zles, our ship resembled a picture of the Gates of Hell being suddenly thrown open on a dark night. The attacks we had repulsed during that day proved to be by far the most extended period we had remained under attack, and, actually, there had been no time during our combat Banta, Sic, is returned aboard after jumping over the side lo avoid failing plane. career that we had been more vulnerable. That morning, we had been attacked while at anchor in a coral atoll unable to maneuver. Even had the Old Man decided to get under- way, it would have been slow going for us, maneu ering our way out through the hazard- ous coral reefs that .surrounded the anchorage. ■So we just had to sit there like a Clay Pigeon and fight the best we could from our sit- ting-position. That, howe ' er, proved good enough. Then, in the attack that evening, we didn t have our usual number of aircraft car- riers and as large a screen with us as we had previously had when under attack. There we were, the main target, with only our three de- stroyers comprising the Task Force to fight off all those planes. Even then, maneuvering was none too easy, because we hadn ' t gotten into the open sea when the attack started, and were bounded bv coral reefs not too far distant both to port and starboard. There is no doubt in our minds but that the planes that came at us that night were all Kamikazes, and all de- termined to get the Lunga Point, but that hail of gimfire that we threw at them at every turn apparently proved to them that their efforts would be in vain, which undoubtedly accounts for one of them doing as much damage as he could by jumping on the APD, a much smaller ship. Finally, at 1942, we secured from Gen- eral Quarters, with the satisfaction that our team had turned the trick again, leaving no doubt in our own minds that we had finally be- come a tried and tested fighting unit of tiic Fleet. W ' e arrived at our operating area olf Oki- nawa Gunto the ne.xt day and. again, set about our mission of bombing and strafing the Japs in the face of our advancing troops on Okinawa Shima, and that day, 3 April, proved to be an eventful day in the life of the Lunga Point. M.AX OVERBO.ARD ! At 1045 that day. while we were making a sharp turn to port in a rather heavy sea, one of our fighter planes on the starboard quarter of the flight deck was torn loose from its mooring, and fell into the drink. Banta, J. P., Sic, was standing watch as Surface Lookout No. 3, and he was right in the path of the plane as she began tearing herself loose. Banta had no idea of letting that plane land on him; so he just jumped ■■o er the side into the waters of the Pacific. It is said that, even as he was in mid-air on his 40 foot jump into the sea, he took off his phones, saying. Control: Lookout 3 going off the line. Fortunately, he had his kapok life jacket on, and he jumped far enough for the falling plane to miss him. After float- ing about in the heavy sea for a few minutes, the U.S.S. Patterson, one of our faithful escorts that had been with us since October, picked him up and he was retvirned to the ship via the Naha Domar following dii rpla breeches buoy none the worse for his experi- ence. Our Admir. l P. vs Us A Visit The highlight, however, not only of Tuesday, 3 April, but of our entire first year in com- mission occurred at 1141 that day, when a visiting plane came to rest on our flight deck, and out jumped ComEsC ' arForPac, Admiral C. T. Cal Durgin himself. Not one soul, e en our Skipper, knew the Admiral was com- ing over to see us. In fact, it was so unprec- Luuga Point fro rtlcnlcd for ;in Aclmii;il tii Icjivr his Flag Ship ill thi- jutivc coinhiit one iiiui lly over to an- otlur (airier ihat ihc Old Man (diild hardly Ix ' lifvc iiis fVfs when he saw our distinniiishcd giirst i ct out of the plane. As soon as the ( ' aptain i ol clown to llv llii;ht deck to tercet the Admiral, he immediate- ly told the Skipper that, after hearini of what we had Ix-rn throuijh at Kerama Retto tlie day In-fore, he jusl had to (ome over to see us. He .Jai I :,:,jI, cli-stio ed on Okinawa. also told the Old Man that he wanted to talk to our .Ship ' s Company over the general an- nouncing system. The Captain was only too glad to comply; so, after he had lunched with the .SkipfK-r, he talked to us for a few minutes, and he could have talked to us from now on without pleasing us more than when he .said. After hearing what you men went through at Kerama Retto yesterday, I just had to come o er here and personally sec what it is that makes the Lwiga Point click. His entire talk was most complimentary and was appreciated b - us far more than he will ever know. Ad- miral Durgin is a very busy man. and he had to make his visit a brief one; so at 1334 he flew away from our decks and back to his Flag Ship, leaving us all with the definite feeling that we had reached the climax in our first year ' s operations. And, with humble grati- tude for this gesture on the part of the Admiral. we re-affirmed our determination to continue to justify our Admiral ' s confidence in us. The Admiral ' s visit was about all you heard anyone aboard talking about for sometime thereafter. We were, howe er, also pleased and grateful to recei e from Admiral Blandy, Commander .Amphibious Forces, on .} . [)ril, th - following dis|}al( h: Tin-: a(;(;ri:ssi I. simrii miow.n . . I)R :sl ' I; sAcco. ll ' l.isHl.l)B Ai.i, OF ' OL ' DLRI.XC IHF I ' .VS I W I.IK ii.w K .M. i)K 11 . i ' ri im.(;k for . n, TO BF . . 1IMBI:R 01 1 III, I F. . I X A (JR.VND .Si, AM Ff)K () R Sqi .MJRO.N Fn all fairness to ail pilots everywhere it should Ix- explained that the number of planes shot down by a particular .Sfjuadron is, to a certain extent, luck. In tjther words, the .Squadron that happens to ha e the TC.AP (Target Combat Air Patrol) duty when and where the enemy comes in is, naturally, going to splash more planes than the .Squadron simply flying FCAP (Local Combat Air Patrol) over vessels off shore. It .so happened that, up until this point, our fighters hadn ' t had much of an opportunity to show their stufi. On Friday, 6 .April, our .Squadron finally got the break they had been waiting for. We happened to have the TCAP over Okinawa Gunto that day when the .Sons of Nippon came down, and they made a Field Day of it, shooting down eight enemy planes late that afternoon. Our pilots who were resfxjnsible Destruction of large building 7 miles N E of Naha, Okinawa for Splashing those eight planes were Lt. Pettitt, Lt. (jg) Pleat, Lt. (jg) Ingram, Lt. (jg) Homyak, Lt. (jg) Bazzell, Ens. Swanson, Ens. Prindle and Ens. Turner, with Lt. (jg) Ingram accounting for two planes alone; one Zeke and one Val. These fine pilots had shown they could dish it out, and the eight additional Jap Hags painted on our bridge the next day was their visible tribute to our Shipmate, Lt. ( jg) Bazzell, who took his last long flight that day after personnallv accounting for a Jap Zeke. It was also during the Okinawa operations - Sunday, 8 April — that Lt. (jg) Cron and his air crewmen had an experience that was hair- raising to say the least. They were shot down behind the enemy lines, and the thrilling story of their experience will be found in the back of the book. Four Thousandth L. nding Vc celebrated another event on 1 1 April when the four thousandth landing was made on our flight deck by Lt. Pettitt. That ' s an indication of a lot of flying, and is further evi- dence that we have come a long way since 14 May 1944. Avenger Turns Fighter On 1 2 April, Lt. (jg) Rcilly performed the unusual feat of splashing a Jap Val over Okinawa Gunto while flying his Avenger Torpedo Bomber on a photographic mission. These powerful planes are not built to be used in a dog fight. On this particular day, Lt. ( jg) Reilly was flying along the beach of Okina- wa Shima taking pictures of Jap installations when he suddenly spotted a Val crossing his path dead ahead. He couldn ' t let the oppor- tunity pass; .so, imagining hiinself in one of our lighter planes, he lit out after him, and the last he saw of the rascal was in a funeral pyre on the beach. Lt. (jg) Reilly had brought the Ban- dit down with his fixed guns, but, as he flew low over the target, his Turret Gunner made the kill certain by strafing the Val with a stream of lead that left no doubt about that Jap being out of combat forever. Fr. nklin Delano Roosevelt The Okinawa operations were destined to be momentous in many ways, and it was with gen- uine sorrow and regret on the part of all hands that, on 13 April, we received a dispatch from Secretary Forrestal reading as follows: I HAVE THE SAD DUT ' OF ANNOUNC- ING TO THE NAVAL SERVICE THE DEATH OF FRANKLIN DELANO ROOS- EVELT, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, WHK;H 0C:CURRED ON 12 APRIL X THE WORLD HAS LOST A c:hampion of democ:racy who ' Val burning in Okinawa ravine after being shot down by Lt. (jg) Rcilty while on photo mission in TBM on 12 April. CAN ILL BE spared BY OUR C:OUNTRY AND THE ALLIED CAUSE X THE NAVY WHIC;H HE SO DEARLY LOVED CAN PAY NO BETTER TRIBUTE TO HIS MEM- ORY THAN TO C;ARRY ON IN THE TRA- DiriON OF WHICH HE WAS SO PROUD X COLORS SHALL BE DISPLAYED AT HALF MAST FOR 30 DAYS BEGINNING 0800 13 APRIL WEST LONGITUDE DATE IN SO FAR AS WAR OPERATIONS PER- MIT X MEMORIAL SERMCE SHALL BE HELD ON THE DAY OF THE FUNERAL TO BE ANNOUNCED LATER AT ALL ' ARDS AND STATIONS AND ON BOARD ALL VESSELS OF THE NAVY, WAR OP- ERATIONS PERMITTING X WEARING OF MOURNING BADGES AND FIRING OF SALUTES WILL BE DISPENSED WITH IN MEW OF WAR ClONDITIONS X Regardless of indi idual political sympathies, this message came as a distinct shock to all of us. We had lost a President w ho had been a real leader throughout the course of the war, and one who, no one can deny, had thoroughly sold himself to our Allied Leaders and had gained such harmonious relations with them 99 tliiit llic Diplomatir V;ir, as well as tlic War of (l()inl)at, against our enemies was definiiely nearinn a successful conclusion. He had made j reat strides toward the achievement of World Peace: the San Francisco World IVace Con- ference, in session at this writing, was just one of his achievements. Despite his un- cjuestioned ability, however, no one man in the L ' nited States is indi.spensihie to the welfare of (jur Nation; therefore, the very minute that ' iee President iVuman was sworn in as Presi- dent, all Americans everywhere silently assured him of their whole-hearted support and co- operation in the pro.sccution of the war along the lines already laid out by his prcdcces.sor. And it was with great admiration that we, on the Liinoa Point, recognized his deep sense of humility as President Truman took up the burden of his high oilicc. At the time of President Roosevelt ' s death, momentous events were taking place all o er the world. Our Russian Allies were rolling int(j Berlin from the east, and (jur own Armed I ' orces, under the brilliant leadership of (ien- eral Eisenhower, were forging steadily ahead from the west. Berlin had, by this time, Ix-cn completely occupied by Ru.ssian Troops, and e (ry town of any con.setjuence throughout (iermany had been taken by one or the other of the Alli d Armies. We received word that Hitler was dead: unv report having it that he had died a hero, and another that he had died the ignominious death of a suicide. We cho.se to accept the latter cowardly cause of his death. Yes, Ciermany, the homeland of the Super Race was truly on the verge of surrender. Then, on our side of the world, British, Indian and . merican forces were routing the Japs out of Burma, and Rangoon, the Capital, had already been re-taken. That great soldier. Diplomat and Statesman. General Chiang Kai- Shek, was giving the Japs many a tough scrap in his vast land of C:hina. And last, but not least, we had the Japs thrown Ijack on their Underground Jap hangars on Okinawa. Camouflaged airstrip just_beyond_ highway. 100 haiinrhcs, licking ihcir wounds, right in their own front yard. The American Army, Na y, Marines and C oast Guard were giving him more than he could take, and, despite his fanatical resistance, his fiendish tactics, his in- human tendencies, it seemed to us who were knocking at his door that he would soon rue the day that he had perpetrated that sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. Yes, we do remember Pearl Harljor, but no one will remember it as long as the Japanese Nation, because they are now paying a heavy price for any sense of guilty satisfaction they might have derived from their villainous act of 7 December 1941. And, with all the suffering the Japs were now undergoing, we were glad that the Lunga Point had been, and would continue to be, the cause of no little of their misery. But, the war is not over yet; even the Battle of Okinawa continues as we near the end of our first year in commission, and we, ourselves, have been in on it from the start — an operation that has lasted longer than any individual carrier operation in history. When the pov ers that be consider that our job has been com- pleted, and wc are ordered to some port for rest, we will have been constantly underway without let-up for a long, long time. The only thing that we have had to console us during this arduous campaign has been the fact that we t: entered Kerama Rctto on 2 . pril. have had mail brought to us three or four times by destroyer. That, naturally, is in addition to the satisfaction of a job well done. Our fresh egetables are gone. We are living on dehydrated spuds, dehydrated carrots, de- hydrated onions, frozen pork chops, synthetic lemon juice, frozen pork chops, powdered milk, frozen pork chops and frozen pork chops. We are tired: very tired. The average man aboard has considered him.self fortunate if he has gotten six hours of sound sleep a day, and a good part of the sleep he has gotten has been in In many instances supplies were dropped by parachute to our forces on Okinawa. 101 Jap radi lili-s N ' E of Naha. Okii hy our squadron. , bring boml f i cat naps as he lay exhausted on his flash- proof mattress cover on his buni , with his clothes on, and with one ear cocked for the sound of the General Alarm. Some of us have stood many a topside watch in the heaviest rain one can imagine, for hours at a time, getting drenched from head to foot. Some of us have had just the opposite privilege of stand- ing engine room watches in the almost un- bearable heat. It has been hard on all of us, but no harder on any one man aboard than on any other. But our spirits are not down- hearted, because the hardships we have en- dured have been recognized in so many ways by those under whom we fight. On 14 April, we received a di.spatch from Admiral Spruance, Commander Fifth Fleet, reading as follows: ■FOR THE CONTINUED FINE PER- FORMANCE OF OUR PILOTS AND AIR- CREWS IN 0 ER VHELMING ENEMVS HEAMEST AIR EFFORTS AND FOR FORTITUDE AND EFFECTI ENESS OF OUR SURFACE UNITS PARTIC:ULARL ' ON OUTLYING STATIONS IN COMBAT- IING THE SMALL PERCENTAGE OF ENEMY AIRCRAFT THAT C:OULD GET THROUGH OUR AIR DEFENSE I CAN- NOT EXPRESS TOO HIGHLY MY .AD- MIRATION X THIS WILL NOT BUILD UP THE ENEMYS AIR FORC:E NOR HELP HIS MORALE X And, sfjeaking of recognition of good work, we are all mighty proud of those Departments responsible for fueling at sea — Gunnery, Engi- neering and C. R. — because the results of their training in this particular job were well proven on 1 ) . pril. when we received a dis- |)ai h from Admiral Duri in. following a fueling o|) -rati()n. rcadint; as follows: ■WIl.M Is ■( l R 1LI.LI. (, I ' ROCE- !)L RE I 11. VI . 1. KES n POSSIBLE FOR YOU K) ilNISH SO olickly: We were further •energized on the same date when we received a pat on the back by being specifically mentioned in Admiral Blandy ' s dispatch reading as follows: WE C:ANNO ' r TELL YOU HOW HI(;HIA ' WE REGARD IHE PERICJR.MANCE OF THE C ES .AND THEIR PILOIS IN THIS AS WELL AS PREVIOUS OPER.ATIONS X YOU NOT ONLY DO YOUR USUAL DIFFIClULl SUPPORT TASKS WITH- OUT C:OMPLAINT BUT ALSO TAKE ON IMPORIANI OFFENSIVE MISSIONS WITH EAGERNESS AND SUCC:ESS X WELL DONE X Then, on 22 April, we received the following dispatch from Headquarters 77th Infantry Division: ' THE AIR C:0 ER FURNLSHED THE 77TH DIXISION IN THE KERAMA RET- TO OPERATION 2b MARCH TO 31 MARCH 1945 INC:LUSI E WAS SUC:H THAT NOt A MEMBER OF THE DI I- SION WAS LO.ST OR INJURED BY EN- EMY AIR ACTION X THE AIR SUPPORT FURNISHED ON L.ANDING BEACHES .ANT) UPON SUBSEQUENTLY LIMITED TARGETS IN THE ISLAND WAS OUT- STANDING BOTH IN P ROMPTNESS .AND EFFECTI ' ENESS OF MISSIONS C:ONDUCTED X SUC:H SPLENT)ID CO- OPERATION BETWEEN ARMS C:.AN ON- LY RESULT IN FURTHERING THE C:OMPLETE DESTRUCTION OF THE ENEMY RAPIDLY .ANT) WITH MINI MUM LOSS TO OUR OWN FORCES X ' When the end of the Okinawa operations was in sight, the powers that be undoubtedly knew that we were tired and needed a change of scenery, so they sent us off on a special mis- sion where we would be less likely to encounter any Jap aircraft. The night before we took departure from the operating area off Okinawa the Captain talked to us over the general an- 102 nouncing system, telling us where we were go- ing and what we had to do. At the same time, he told us that, comparatively speaking, it would not be a strenuous operation, that all hands had done a good job thus far and needed a rest, and that he hoped we would be able to relax in the new area and get some much needed rest. W ' e arrived in our new operating area on 26 April, with all hands looking forward to that relaxation the Captain had promised us. We had hardly gotten there, though, when the Exec left the Old Man out on the short end of a limb. The Executive Officer is second in command and is well protected by Navy Regu- lations, which go on to say that all orders of the Executive Officer shall be considered as emanating from the Commanding Officer. We had hardly taken station in our relax- ation area when we picked up the Plan-of-the- Day, covering our work for the first day there, and what to our weary and sleepy eyes should appear but the following note: Field Day all day throughout the ship! The words Field Day have a number of meanings. To our pilots, it can be a Grand Slam against enemy aircraft: to some of us, it is a day set aside in Prep School and College for a full day of intra-mural track and field events. But to the men of the Litnga Point, it has a more ominous and dreadful interpretation. It sim- ply means to them that all day throughout the ship they will be scrubbing the decks and bulkheads with soap and water, polishing bright work, chipping paint, sweeping down, painting the decks and bulkheads, scraping the ladders with wire brushes, and otherwise relaxing as they carry on their work under the ugly stares of a Petty Officer, in preparation for the flashlight inspection of the First 1 forecastle while dropping hook at Gu 103 Top: Just before flooding the dry-d dock. bfloif: In dry- lop: Enterine di Lieutenant. The Skipper had told us to relax; so that night, all hands turned in their bunks, relaxed from utter exhaustion. And, though we had soon been in the relaxation area for some days, the Field Day went on and on. Little wonder we were all anxious to get orders to a port where we could really relax, and those orders couldn ' t be coming through too soon for us, because it had been rumored that we would soon be getting underway for our first visit to Guam Nhere we would probably be for ten days or two weeks. Victory L Europe Sure enough, we got those orders on 6 May, and immediately got underway from our op- erating area. Nothing of importance occurred en route to port until we got word of the uncon- ditional surrender of Germany. While we had been more or less expecting Germany ' s com- plete collapse momentarily, it was with a great deal of pleasure and .satisfaction that we re- ceived word that Germany had ollicially gone down in ignominious defeat. Aside from the satisfaction derived from any Allied victory, we knew that Germany ' s surrender meant a quicker termination of the War in the Pacific. We knew that increasing help would soon be coming our way, and that we would all soon be celebrating a real -ictory — a victor - and un- conditional surrender over the most despicable race that ever walked on the face of the earth. With that certain knowledge to console us for all we had been through, we turned again to the business at hand, and on ' Friday, ii May 1945: 12-16 Steaming as before. 1205 passed Orote Point and Buoy No. i abeam to starboard. 1207 All engines stopped. 1208 Pa.ssed Buoy No. 2 abeam to starboard. 12 13 Pa.ssed through anti-submarine nets. 1 2 1 5 Starboard 104 Top: -Over the side all side cleaners ; below: A yeoman gels his hands dirty in the all hands evolution of scraping and paintin? ship ' s bo torn in dry-dock at Guam. 105 cnuinc .ilicad i i . 2 H Port engine ahciicl J ■ . a (• stojipccl. IJ. 3 Mancinciint; lo lake station in Brrth -,()■_ . U ' i Am hoicd in Rcrtli -,( -• Apia Harbor, (Juam. in i() fatlioins of water. 7;, I ' atlioins of ( liain out to tlic star- hoard anchor, on tin- Ibllowins bearings: Rani-e 1 1 - ° T. Beacon A iHH°l ' , Beacon B i4J.H°r, Beacon D ioo°r. Beacon G (K)C)° ' I ' . I ' -•4 ' 5 Sei iiicd lUiiin engines. ( il AM I ' ew uieii on board had e er been to (iiiam berore, and it was, therefore Cjuite a treat to us to liave the opportunity of visiting this impor- tant outpost of the United .States. As a matter of fact, we would have appreciated an oppor- tunity to set foot on land almost anywhere at that time, because everyone on board was ut- terly exhausted from ha ing been underway on the Okinawa operation for Hfty-onc days without stop. In this connection, with the exception of ten days in Ulithi between the Iwt) jima and Okinawa operations, we had. by this time, been underway on combat operations for exactly ninety days, and that ' s a long time in anybody ' s language. Small wonder, then, that we were ready for a rest at this port that was bustling with the business of winning the war. Although, our forces had re-taken Guam from the Japs only about nine months before we got there, from the looks of things, you could well imagine that the japs had ne er been there, because there was little outward e idence of their long oc- cupation of this beautiful, mountainous island. The . rmy. Navy and Marine activities there were doing a man-sized job in logistics and otherwise preparing our forces for the advance to the Empire. Our installations were tremen- dous and far-flung. Even Admiral Nimitz had already established his Advance Headquarters there, so that he would be just that much nearer the fighting front. We found that they already had just about every facility necessary for ser- icing the Fleet, and we found the authorities most cooperative in every respect. The Old Man and the Exec, realizing that we were tired, gave us all the liberty they could. As a matter of fact, during the time we were in dry dock there, when all hands are normally supposed to be over the side, cleaning, scraping and painting the ship ' s bottom, they let our liberty parties go ashore on schedule just as if we weren ' t in dry dock. To show their appreci- ation for this uninterrupted liberty, our men turned to on our liiill so eagerly (hat they had scraped, cleaned and painted (jur bottom in lli - record time (jf thirty-two hours. I ' he real treat of our stay in (iuani (jcrurrcd. however, when a representative of C!om. irl ' af came aboard and ollered to let groups of lifty men and ll c oliicers at a time spend a 48 hour liberty at a rest camp over in the hills. The rest camp was one that they maintain for the rehabilitation of .Squadrons just returning from combat, and you can bet your life we were (|uick to accept their most gracious invitation. Gon,sec|uently, a large number of the .Ship ' s Gompany were able to enjoy the facilities of the rest camp, where they could sleep as late as they wanted and not have to lift their hands, because everything was done for them. Except for the ones who were fortunate enough to go to the rest camp, the rest of us didn ' t get to see much of Guam. Our liberty parties went to the Gab Gab Kir n-nion .Area £ !lK lop: Ex bids squadron farewell; below: Squadrc responds to Exec. 106 everyday, where the highlight of their Hberty was the privilege of actually talking to real, live and attractive American girls who were on duty there with the Red Cross. Then, too, ihcy got their usual ration of two cans of beer j)cr man, which added lots to the singing as tiuy gathered around the piano while one of the Red Cxoss girls or Talavera, Sic, played. lliere was also an Otticer ' s Club and a C:hicf Petty Officer ' s Club there, and the Officers and Chiefs had two barbecues at the Chief ' s Club during our stay, v hich were most enjoyable as they always are. Inasmuch as all the villages of Guam were out of bounds to military personnel, we saw ery little outside of our own military installa- tions and the recreation areas. We did have to go up to CinCPac ' s Headquarters one day, which, incidentally, is beautifully located up in the mountains. On this trip, we also passed through what used to he the village of Agana. Now, it is nothing but niins. and we understand that it was demoli.shed by our own Naval gun- Kri- during the invasion, retaking the island. As we rode along the coastal highway we would, occasionally, see a demolished Jap tank out in a field or a stranded American Alli- gator out on the coral reefs. While v e rode 7 jp: C-85 prepares tu dcparl sliip, betuut: C-b departs ship i orders to return to the States for leave and reassignment. at Guam: center: Fwankie Sinatra ' Josephine Gisch, Sac, dances. niber of Apollu Oracles sings; beiow: Wave 107 Aflcr vt-ais ul loyal service Chief Gunner ' s Male Wagner is piped over the side t„ a well earned res along the highway, there was always the possi- bility that a Jap might be peeping at us from behind a tree, beeause they still bring in Jap prisoners almost daily, although, comparati cly speaking, there are few left there now. That, of eourse, is another reason we were so re- stricted as to where we were allowed to go. Our Squ. dron Leaves Us It was as if we had lost an integral part of our ship when, on 1 1 May, the day of our arrival in Guam, our Squadron left us on orders to return to the States for further assignment. They had reported aboard for duty on i6 Au- gust 1944, and had b een a part of us ever since. They came aboard as strangers and they left us as friends. They came aboard as inex- p)crienced in actual combat as were most of us, but they left us as seasoned veterans of many an offensive strike against the enemy. They came aboard with a youthful outlook and in high spirits, but they left us as more mature men; men n ho had, for the first time, in many cases. faced the stark realities of life. They left w ' ith the same high spirits with which they came, but they were definitely more .sober in thought and manner. They had proven that, as a cross-.section of .American vouth. thev could Finale of ' .XpoUo Oracles. ' rise to any occasion in the fight for those liber- ties we hold so dear. VV ' c had all undergone frightful experiences we shall not soon forget, and, having undergone them together, our bonds of friendship are even further strength- ened. Wc shall miss our Squadron far more than they will ever know, but we are happy to see them return to the States for that happy re-union with their loved ones for which they have worked so hard. They have done a grand job; we are proud to have called them ■ .Shipmates, and we shall ever be interested in their welfare, because, after all, to us, they shall always be a living and breathing part of the Lunga Paint. ' Tw. s A Ye. r Ago Tod.w VV e arrived in Guam just in time to celebrate our first anniversary. It was on 14 May 1944 that we were commissioned way back in As- toria, Oregon, and, now, on 14 May 1945, we found ourselves a long ways from home. Re- gardless of where we were, we had c ' ery reason to celebrate, because we knew in our own hearts that we had done a good job. So that night, our Anniversary party took place on the hangar deck. The program started with the officer in charge of arrangements introducing the Executive Officer, who, in turn, introduced the Old Man. The Captain made us a very appropriate talk, briefly reviewing our pro- gress during our first year, and sincerely thank- ing us for the backing we had given him. Nat- urally, we had e ery reason to be proud of his recognition. Likewise, the applause he got at the end of his talk was bound to have given him much personal satisfaction. Following the .Skipper ' s talk, we had a program of enter- tainment put on entirely by our enlisted per- sonnel. Our old standby, Talavera, .Sic, played his guitar and sang several of his ever popular Mexican songs. Johnson, Y3C, ac- companied by Merryman, RM3C, was again well received with his Irish songs. Then, the LuNG. Point Four, composed of Clark, Smalls, Hale and McLaughlin, all StMic, with Dale, .Std3c, as Manager. ga ' e us several se- . ' ' first . nnivcrsary the Skipper and Exec seem satisfied but apprehensive. 109 GASSINC; PLANES! lections of old time spirituals, which were very much enjoyed by all present. Last, but not least, our old favorite, Sieradzinski, Mic, en- tertained us with several snappy numbers on his piano accordian. At the conclusion of this part of the program wc saw an unusually enter- taining movie, Arsenic and Old Lace, fol- lowing which all hands were served ice cream and cookies. Then, all hands turned in their bunks ready to start out on our second leg. Unknown to us, however, there was another party going on that night, also celebrating the first anni ersary of the Lunga Point, but it was a long ways from us; way back in San Diego, C alifornia, Uncle Sugar. Mrs. Eastwold had gotten a group of our Officer ' s wives together at her home, and they chatted away a whole evening in celebration of the great event. It was most thoughtful of them, and, while wc don ' t know too much about the details of the party, we do know who was there, there being, in addition to Mrs. Eastwold, the hostess, Mrs. J.H. Garrett, Mrs. H.C. Howard, Mrs. N.C. Walton, Mrs. James DeAngelis, Mrs. E.G. Osborn, Mrs. VV.A. James, Mrs. LE. Mc- Dougal, Mrs. LL Smith, and Mrs. J.E. DuflS ' alo. It must have been a nice party, the only thing wrong with it being that we couldn ' t be there, too. Now, as we ride at anchor here in Guam, we pause to reflect on all that has transpired during the past twehe months. We ha e come a long ways — 74,746 nautical miles to be e.xact, but mileage is not all we are thinking of in retro- spect. We are thinking more of the things we ha e done; what has happened to us, individ- ually and collectively; the contribution we have made to the war effort. We are thinking of the many exciting experiences, the narrow es- capes we have had in our ship, and how every man has fought her with all his might and main. We are thinking of those friendships we have made on board; friendships which we hope to preserve and maintain down through the years to come. We are thinking of our- selves and the progress we ha e made. Some ha e progressed rapidly and some not so rap- idly, but all hands have progre.s.sed in relation to the best they have in them, because all hands have given their best. There is not a man on hoard who is not a little more sure of himself than a year ago. Therefore, the Lunga Pomt is a better ship, and we are better men as a re- sult of having just been together during the past twehe months. We seem to recall that, during his talk to the Ship ' s Company on the afternoon of 14 May 1944, the Claptain told us that he was determined that the Lungo Point should be the best Clombat CA ' E in the Fleet. With pardonable pride, we believe we have the best Combat CVE in the Fleet. It is no wonder, then, that we are proud to have served in the Lunga Point. Yes, we have had an outstanding record, so our superiors tell us. Be that as it may, no one man is entirely responsible for that record. It is the result of the combined efforts of every man on board, from the Skipper on down. There has been an excellent spirit of .coopera- tion throughout every Division and every De- partment since the day we went in commission, and the results speak for themselves. In every Naval Vessel, however, there has to be leader- ship; there has to be an established policy. If there is any one man who is directly respon- sible for carrying us safely and successfully through our first year, it is our Commanding Officer. There is not a man on board who ques- tions his ability as an aviator or a Mariner. He has been a stern disciplinarian. He bawls us out when we err, but he is equally as quick to recognize merit. He plays no favorites; yet he is fair to all. He is somewhat a perfec- tionist ; he stri es for 4.0, but, in so doing, he is constantly bearing in mind his responsibility for the lives of a thousand men and the job that lies ahead. He has never been known to turn down a rea.sonablc recjuest that would add to the comfort, happiness and welfare of his men. He sweats our planes on and off the flight deck as if each pilot were his own son. In short, he is a man in whom we have implicit confi- dence, and, for getting us safely and success- fully through this first year, to him, our Cap- tain, we give our humble thanks. As for the policy of a ship, the Captain estab- lishes it, and the Executive Officer sees that it is carried out. The mere fact that we have come through this first year successfully is suf- ficient proof unto itself that the Exec has done a good job. While we may not always agree w ith him, or he with us, he ne ' er fails to talk to us straight from the shoulder, and he gets re- sidts. He has always shown a keen interest in the welfare of our officers and men, and thereby he has accomplished the execution of the Cap- tain ' s policy in a manner that, we believe, has been satisfying to the Captain. He has kept himself unusually well posted on conditions existing in the various Departments of the ship, and that alonr has been a ii;rfat hrlp to liim and to us in satisfartorily discharnin our chilics. He, too. has Ix-i-n fair with us, and. alxnc all elsi ' . that is the first trait vc look for in an ollifcr. To our Rxcc. also, wc say, Many thanks! . ncl, now. as wo comr to this last pai c in our rovifw of the past yoar, vvc find more and more of our ollucrs and men u;rttinti; their orders to other duty. Soon, we will all be gettini? our orders, and there will not be a Plank Owner left on board. To you who will man our ship in the future, a word of admonition. Before reporting to the lM ii;a Point and since, we have often heard the Kaiser- Vaneou er CA ' E ' s re- ferred to as Kai.ser ' s C offins. We are all well aware that they arc expendable, but so arc other ships. We know that she was thrown together in the haste necessitated by the exi- gencies of war. No one knows belter than we that she is not a pleasure cruis T. But wc do know this; if you serve her well, she will s tvc you well. Her engines have now chugged along for thousands of miles and there arc thousands of miles left in her. .She fights just as well as her big sisters. Her rerord speaks for itself. Take care of her, for she has served us well. I ' ight her victoriously; so that she will .so(jn be able t(j return to the .Stales for a well earned rest in that Peace for which she has strived so hard. Many happy cruises, and GrxJ Bless you all in the L ' ..S..S. I.un ' a I ' oinl. And. nmv that we are in the Ja ) ' . front yard, 1 1 V xhall keep on going, though the going he hard. Because ive know ive ve got the finest carrier; . othing . o, nothing shall create a barrier To making Hirohito himself anoint The fighting men of the Lunga Point. ' ' ' ' 112 PART VI THE MEN WHO FOUGHT HER (Ranks and rates shown are as of 14 May, 1 945) ' Plank Owners. OFFICERS Captain George A. T. Washburn, USN, 12352 Sand Point Way, Seattle 55, Wash., or Navy De- partment, Washington, D. C. Commander E. R. Eastwold, USN, LeRoy, Minn., or Navy Department, Washington, D. C:. Commander E. G. Osl orn, USN, II 02 El Ceniro Ave, Napa, Cahf. Lieut, Comdr. Ivan I. Smith, USNR, Ejido No. 7, Mexico City, Mexico. Lieut. Comdr. W. E. Bertram. USN, c o C. S. Aikins, 251 1 Limvood Blvd., Kansas City 3, Mo. Lieut. Comdr. W. H. Sands, USNR, Gambrills, Md. Lieut. Comdr. Leonard W. Hag- strom, USNR, 4362 Everett .Ave., Oakland, Calif. Lieut. S. Linton Smith, USNR, 2205 Beechridge Rd., Raleigh, N. C. Lieut. Potter Palmer III, USNR, 1301 Astor St., Chicago, 111. Lieut. J. H. Garrett, USN, 4534 Alabama St., San Diego, Calif. Lieut. Robert Homans, USNR. 5 Brimmer St., Boston, Mass. Lieut. Valter W. Kalteyer, Jr., USNR, 2056 Addison Rd., Hous- ton 5, Texas Lieut. James De . ngelis, L ' SNR, 1 03 1 Forest Rd., New Haxen, Conn. Lieut. James R. Tippett. Jr., USNR, 1735 Park Ave., Balti- more, Md. Lieut. Frederick L. Mar il, Jr., USNR, 1 301 New Road, Els- mere, Wilmington, Del. Lieut. R. L. Corkran, Jr., USNR 724 Raleigh Ave., Norfolk 7, ' a. Lieut. C. V. H. King, USNR, 818 Levering Ave., Los . ' ngeles 24, Calif. Lieut. Ivan E. McDougal, US.NR, 4533 3°th St., San Diego, Calif. Lieut. B. B. Upchurch, USNR, 862 Park St., Atlanta, Ga. Lieut. A. H. Berndt, USNR, 494 ' , N. Christiana Ave., Chicago, 111. ' Lieut. Merle Grant, USN, 26227 . ' lta N ' ista, Lomita, Calif. Lieut. Kenneth B. Little, USNR, Box 58, Wasco, Calif. Lieut. H. C;. Howard, USN, 3806 46th St., San Diego, Calif. Lieut. Robert W. Sutton, USNR, 1 1 18 O.xford St., Berkeley 7, Calif. Lieut. Charles B. White, USNR, 1306 Sherman St., .Alameda, Calif. Lieut. Henry A. Harrison, USNR, Box 874, Baker, Oreg. Lieut. Arthur W. Gilmore, USNR, 141 15 Greenleaf .St., ' an Nuys, Calif. Lieut. Wayne L. Black, USNR, 1436 Laird Ave., Salt Lake City 5, Utah Lieut, (jg) R. Denny, USNR, 800 Rivercrest Road, Fort Worth, Texas. Lieut, (jg) Albert C. Nolte, Jr., USNR, 38 Willets Ct., Manhasset, N. Y. Lieut, (jg) C. E. Stimson, Jr.,USNR, 610 Woodland Rd., Pasadena 5, Calif. -Navigation dcpaiuni-nt otiu 113 I « 1 r Lieut, (iff) G. R. Siiro, USXR, c o Breitkreutz, Talcott Notch Rd., Farmington, Conn. Lieut, (jg) R. E. Davenport, Jr., USNR, 1120 Bedford Ave.. Nor- folk 8, a. Lieut, (jg) R. W. Sebastian. U.SNR, 1415 Estcs . ve., Chicago. 111. Lieut, (jg) H. D. Hatcher. U.S.XR. Auxvasse, Mo. Lieut, (jg) NL J. Palena, US.XR, 1933 S. 2 1 St Street, Philadelphia. Pa. Lieut, (jg) Nelson C. Walton, USN 5310 Swiss Ave., Dallas, Texas Lieut, (jg) Wendell L. Phillips, USNR, c o Walter I. Phillips, 149 Elmwood . ' Xve., Wollaston, Mass. Lieut, (jg) Paul S. Smith, USNR, 1225 S. .Atlanta . ve., Tulsa, Okla. Lieut, (jg) H. T. Haacke, Jr., USNR, 892 River ievv A e., Day- ton, Ohio Lieut. (jg)Karl W. Reber, USNR, 9981 Grandmont Rd., Detroit, Mich. Lieut, (jg) William F. Nevins, Plank Owners. Communication Department officers. USXR, 22-, W. 71st St., New York, N. V. Lieut, (jg) John H. Whitehouse, USNR, 24 Prospect Park West, Brooklyn, N. ' ' . Lieut, (jg) L. J. Cardinale, USN, 441 Ellis St., San Francisco, Calif. Lieut, (jg) A. E. Owings, USN, 2838 Kcrckhoff Ave., San Pedro, Calif. Ensign F. W. Stuve, USNR, 120 Ward Ave., San Antonio, Texas Ensign A. P. Czerwenka, U.SN, 405 Norwich Drive, Los Angeles, Calif. Ensign Walter R. Peterson, USNR, 1096 Keith . ve., Berkeley 8. Calif. Ensign Paul S. Pierson. L ' SNR, 1 1018 Ayras .-Xve.. Los . Xngeles 34, Calif. Ensign Edward J. Behn, USNR, c o Col. S. Behn, Int. Tel. and Tel. Corp., 67 Broad St., New York, N. Y. Ensign W. A. Mortonson, USNR, 5885 N. Harlem Ave., Chicago, 111. 114 Ensign J. J. O ' Connor, U.SNR, 2520 N. Maryland -Ave.. Milwau- kee, Wis. Ensign L. J. Winter, USXR, 31 Longfellow A e.. Newark 6, N.J. Ensign S. Riegelmen, L ' .SNR, 1134 W. State St., Milwaukee, Wis. Ensign Hillman D. Cumniihgs, USN, 241 1 Niinitz St., San Diego 2, Calif. Commander C. M. Tirrell, (.MC), USNR, c o Holbert, Box 88, ' entura County, Soniis, Calif. Lieut. Comdr. Paul C. Piatt, (MC), USNR, 6319 Marty .Ave., Over- land Park, Kans. Lieut. William L. Ray. (DC), U.SNR, 3530 S. E. Clinton St., Portland, Oreg. Chief Pharmacist .Samuel J. Gal- lagher. (MC). USN, 4183 30th St. .San Diego 4, Calif. Lieut. Comdr. F. P. Moore, Jr., (SC), USNR, State Hospital, East Gardner. Mass. Lieut, (jg) H. D. Riley. (SC), USXR, 316 Park Ave., Manhas- set, N. Y. Lieut, (jg) Villiam M. Dolan, (SC), USNR, 600 Baker Bldg., Minneapolis 2, Minn. Ensisn P. V. Harty, (SC). USNR, 1940 Leslie, Detroit, Mich. Chief Pay Clerk C. M. Copeland, (SC), USNR, Concord Turnpike, Concord, Mass. Lieut. John D. Lee, Jr.. (ChC), USNR , 299 Banks St., Graham, N. C. Lieut, (jg) James M. Amundson, (ChC), USNR, R.F.D. No. 4, Decorah, Iowa Chief Radio Electrician H. S. Black- burn, L ' SNR, American Falls, Idaho Chief Boatswain E. B. Luck, USN, 47 Des Moines Rd., Quincy, Mass. Chief Gunner R. S. Marshall. LISN, 3935 Greenwood St., San Diego, Calif. Chief Carpenter John S. Weitzner, USNR, 48 Elm Hill Ave., Ro.x- bury, Mass. Ship ' s Clerk Harold C. Devol, USN, RR 5. Parkersburg, W. ' a. Electrician Joseph L. Gilles, USNR, 703 N. 7th St., Kcl.so, Wash. Machinist Walter J. Mitchell, USN, Crofton, K.V. CHIEF PETTY OFFICERS . ' ltizer, Joseph C, ACMM, iSogJ 13th St., Huntington, W. ' a. . Atkinson, Melvin H., CSM, 202 W. Pitt, Pasadena, Texas Bailey, George P., Jr., CEM, Bath Road, Bristol, Pa. Baker, Richard S., ACM, 3444 Lo- gan Ave., San Diego a, Calif. Barry, Delbert J., CY, 780 Bank Lane, Lake Forest, III. Belch, Joseph J., CMM, 387 Clhurch St., Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Butler, Earl L., CWT, Greensboro, Ga. Dougherty, Walter G., CSM, 1 130 Eastlake Ave., Seattle 9, Wash. Ewing, LeRoy E., CSK, 611 S. Brand Blvd., .San Fernando, Calif. Fclber, Joseph J., CEM, RR 3, Box 982 B, San Diego 2, Calif. Feurcr, Woodrow W . A., CRM, New Athens, 111. Garrett, John L. CMM, 4072 49th St., San Diego 5, Calif. Hamilton, Robert F., ACOM, 416 II Ave Juniata, Altoona, Pa. Hanson, Conrad J., CBM, 214 K St., S. E., Auburn, Wash. Johnson, Raymond, ACM, 46 Elizabeth St., Whitehall, N. Y. Kramer, Frank J., CPhM, 2458 N. 3rd St., Milwaukee, Wis. Larsen, Phillip C, CMM, 602 N. Clementine St., Oceanside, Calif. Leath, Howard G., CWT, 922 8oth St., Brooklyn, N. Y. Marks, John G., ACMM, Glad- stone, Va. McCormick, Roy O., CSF, 604 .Schmitz St., Denton, Texas Miller, Frederick J., CCS, 2429 Senn St., San Diego 2, Calif. Oberg, John C, ACMM, RR i, Fremont, Nebr. Oliver, Joe B , C:BM, G12 W. Las Olas Blvd., Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Pattie, Eugene W., ACMM, RR i, Wakenda, Mo. Petyo, George, Jr., CQM, 591 Blackman St., Wilkes Barre, Pa. Smallcn, William R., ACRT, Cross- ville, Tenn. Tallon, Robert J., ACMM, 349A Helmick, Benmoreel, Norfolk, Va. Wagner, Charles B., CGM, c o Miss Jean Larson, Apt. 3, 351 Grove St., San Francisco 2, Calif. Zankiewicz, Edward A., CT-MV, 50 Howland Ave., Adams, Mass. C R E W Aberg, John E., AMMic, 27 Henches Place, Little Ferry, N. J. Abrams, Wendel J., AOM3C, Stable- ton, Nebr. Air Department officers. 115 Box PhM3c, Abshirc, Robert C. AMMic. II02 S. Polk St.. Dallas 8, Texas ' Adamson, Charles F., Sic, Sidney, Mont. Adkins, George VV., Sac, RR i, Bradish Road, Kansas City, Kans. Alton, W ' illiam J., Fic, 69 E. Thom- as Road, Phoenix, Ariz. Akers, Trucman L.. Sic. Jasper. Oreg. Alexander, Robert E.. 265. Pontotoc. Miss. AUigood. Marion P., RR 2, Cochran, Ga. Alyea, Charles E.. VT3c. 2124 Sawtell BKd.. West Los Angeles, Calif. Ames, AK in L., S2C, Thornton, Idaho Araundson, Ardcn O., V3C, Hanska, Minn. Andersen, . rthur O.. S2C. 409 31st Ave. X.. Seattle 2, Wash. ' Anderson, George W.. Jr.. Sic, St. Paul, Xebr. Anderson, Tony E., S2c. 42c Water St., Tacoma, Wash. Andrix, Edwin O., TM ' 2C, Oconto Ave., Chicago, 111. • Plank Owners. X. 3315 . ntee, Calvin C., .S2c. Box 41. Wink, Texas Antonsen, Farley L., Pho.Mjc. 720 W. 3rd St., Aberdeen, Wash. Apodaca, Jose H., Fic, 226 X. Mesquete St., Las Cruces, N. Mex. Apostol, Peter T., Fic, 2245 S. Kedzie . ' ve., Chicago, III. .Arellano, Eugene C, Sic, Box 648. Miani, .Ariz. . revalo, Oscar C, Sic, 646 Raven St., San Diego 2, Calif. Arias, Eugene, Sic. 820 X. 3rd . ve., Tucson, Ariz. Babb, Harry T.. Sic. RR i. Box 76, Tulare, Calif Baca. Richard. S2c. 112 E. Frank- lin . ve., -Albuquerque, X. Mex. Bade, Robert H., Sic, Box 2, Frontenac, Minn. Bahls. Robert R., Sic. loi Ohio st. Danville, 111. Bailey, Bobby G., GM2C, 307 W. 3rd .St., Cisco, Te.xas Bailey, Harry S., Sic, 335 Caval Ave., Downey, Calif. Bailey, Robert E., Sic, Box 365, Folsom, Calif. 116 Bainia. .Alfred J., .Sic. 903 Minn. St., .San Francisco, Calif Baker, Francis L., Sic, 608 W. 6th, Hasting, Nebr. Baker, Lewis C, Sic, Washington, Iowa Baker. William Jay. Sic. 1005 .Stan- ton -Ave., San Pablo, Calif. Balog, Frank X., AMM2C, 124 Chestnut .St., Johnstown, Pa. Banegas. Cecil C, .S2c, log E. 3rd St., Hanford, Calif. Banta, Jack R., Sic. Box 508. Sidney, Mont. Barker, Jay R., Sic. RR 2. WiUa- mina. Oreg. Barkuloo, Eriand . I., Sic, East 4024 30th Ave., Spokane, Wash. Barney, Oral A., Cox, 2503 Cleve- land Blvd., Caldwell. Idaho Barry, Louis F., MM2C. 5914 W. Madison .St., Chicago, 111. Bartolomei, Robert J., Sic, 1271 Chestnut .St., Martiniz, Calif. Barton, EKvan L., SM3C, RR i. Box 782, Auburn, Wash. Barton, Harold H., Fic, Box 389, ToUeson, Ariz. Batt, Charles H., Jr., Bkr3C, 607 N. Russell, Pampa, Texas Beall, Jim H., Yic, 1053 Oxford St., Berkeley, Calif. Bearden, Charles R., Cox, Box 666, 210 Oak St., Benld, III. Beasley, Richard T., Sic, 145 Follett St., Richmond, Calif. Beasley, Ruel O., Ptr ' ic, 4069 Winona Ave., San Diego, Calif. Beaton, Perry VV ' ., Sic, i4i34Balc- rio St., Van Nuys, Calif. Beattie, Roy, Jr., Sic, 434 V. Fifth St., Downey, Calif. Becker, Edwin J., .S2C. 1515 N. 35th St., Seattle, Vash. Bedont, Jack J., Sic, 203 E. 56 South, Murray, Utah Bell, Graham E., EM3C, 2204 G St.. Bellingham, Wash. Bens;ford, John A., .S2c. Box 2 ' ,. Odebolt, Iowa Beniston. Curtice, AM2C. Box 693, Newport, Oreg. Bennett, Carl F , Sic, 506 Ray- mond St., Marshall, Mich. Berger, Bernard L., AOM3C. 3735 27th Ave. .So., Minneapolis, Minn. Berrv. Curtis H., .S2C. RR i, Camp Hill, ' Ala. Best, Harold D., EM2C. c o Mrs. Clyde M. Best, City Hospital, t:olumljus, Kans. Bestervelt, Peter A., Bkr3C, 664 W. Mighigan Ave., Battle Creek, Mich. Bichl, Henry M., WT2C, 711 Logan Ave., Belleville, III. Biezynski, Robert B., Fic, 2614 Holmes, Hamtramck 12, Mich. Bill, Vernon C, Jr., Fic, P. O. Box 214, Healdsburg, Calif. Billings, William P., Sic, P.O. Box 25, Guthrie, Okla. Birkhead, Norman C, RdM3c, c o Mrs. .Audrey F. Coslett, 2618 Lid- stone, Houston 3, Texas Bispo, Edward F., MMR3C, 740 Cypress .St., Monterey, Calif. Blackburn, Harlan D., Sic, 808 Lydia Ave., Kansas City 6, Mo. Blackwell, Paul E., MM3C, 315 X ' alley St., Poplar Blufl ' , Mo. Bobier, Edward M., .SC2c, Osage Beach, Mo. Bolek, Theodore C, TM ' 2c, 2239 VV. 2ist St., Chicago, 111. Bolonkin. Samuel, Ptr ' 2c, igo6 S. 6th St., Philadelphia, Pa. Boni, -Mitchell. Sic. 235 .Academy .St.. Opelousas, La. Boswell, Bruce, SKV3C, c o George Childs, RR G, Canton, Iowa Boteler, Otis W., Sic, 5120 Calmont Court, Fort Worth, Texas Botnen, Dan J , BMic, 521 13th St., S.E., Puyallup, Wash. Bounds, Travis D., RM3C, Du- mont Rt., Delwin, Texas Bourlier, Lyle U., .Sic, 1003 18th St., Auburn, Ncbr. Bourne, Frederick M.. Sic, 20 Salliotte, Ecorse, Mich. Bowman, Jimmie J , S2c, RR i, Artesia, N. Mex. Bowman, William G., RM3C, 6705 S. D St., Tacoma, Wash. Bovle. James P., .Sic, Neligh, .Xebr. Bozzone, Bernard, .SK3C, 4152 Ed- son, Bronx 66, N. Y. Braatz, George E., MM2c, Holley, Oreg. Brocklehurst, Loren C, S2C, For- syth, Mont. Brooks, AWin E., S2C, P.O. Box 45, Tekoa, W ' ash. Brooks, James M.. Sic, 5923 Peach St., Erie, Pa. Brown, Elvin F., AOMT3C. P.O. Box 794, Holtville, Calif. .Supply Department officers. 117 EngineerinET Departi Brown, Jimmy L., Sac, Box 252, Denver City, Texas Browne, Peter J., Sic, 510 S. 58th Tacoma, Wash. Brownley. Leo G., Sic, Box 764 Newport, Oreg. Bryan, Clyde A., AO. f2c, Box 172, Akron, Iowa Bryson, John R., Sic, Box 205, Basin, Wyo. Bullen, William B., MM2C. 75 Hinckley St., Somer%i]le, Mass. Burch, Richard J., Sic, 327 Nepess- ing, Lapeer, Mich. Burdick, Donald L., Sic, 148 Rail- road St., Gilroy, Calif. Burgess, James D., Fic, 1028 Maine St., Barboursville, W. Va. Burke, Gordon D,, Sic, 583 Cop- perfield, Bingham Canyon, L ' tah Burke, John A., Fic, 328 Lucas St. Sycamore, 111. Burton, William H., Fic, Moravia, Iowa Plank Owners. Bussard, Boyd R., S2c, 677 .San Juan Ave., Venice, Calif. Butler, Heral, Sic, Box 265, Oak- ley, Idaho. Butterworth, Murwin I., SSMT3C, Star Route, Menan, Idaho Byrd, John A., Sic, 203 Riverside Drive, Elizabethton, Tenn. Byron, Maurice B., .Sic, Box 414, New Rockford, N. Dak. Caffrey, Francis G., Sic, 127 Lake Ave., Storm Lake, Iowa Caldwell, Burton E., . ' OM3c, 1502 Hunter .-Vve., Columbus, Ohio Calhoun, Charles L., TM ' 3C, g Talbot St., Ocean City, Md. Callahan, James J., Sac, 5830 Cote Brilliant, St. Louis, Mo. Callicoatte, Welby W., Ph.Mic, 1029 Symonds Place, Stamford, Texas Campbell, Donald E., Cox, S. Main St.. Cheriton, Iowa 118 Campbell, Richard O., .Sic, 622 Tisdale Ave., Lansing, Mich. Carlock, Lewis R., Sp(A)ic, 578 Green Ave., San Bruno, Calif. Carney, Lora, Sic, 2821 E. a th St., Granite City, 111. Carr, Clarence E., WT3C, RFD i, Surgionsville, Tenn. Carr, Wallace W., Sic, 2415 Mary, St. Joseph, Mo. Carreon, Lainberto R., .Sic, 421 Hammett Blvd., El Paso, Texas Carter, Oscar P., F2C, RR 2, Brown- field, Texas Caruso, Frank P., G.Mjc, Reads- boro, ' t. Casey, Joseph T., Jr. ' , EMjc, 421 1 Carroll Ave., Chicago, 111. Cayou, .Alvin A.. .SK ' 2C, 3446 S. Federal, Denver, Colo. C.DeBaca, Alfred T., Sac, RR 2, Box 2o6. , Montrose, Colo. Chaney, Jack, PR2, c o Edith Osborne, X. Terre Haute, Ind. Chanyi, Ernest, Sic, RR 2, Pinrk- ncy, Mich. Chapman, Jack F., Sic, 8 Ehii St., Portcrdale, Ga. Chapman, Jean V., GMic, 217 Ninth Ave., N. E., Rochester, Minn. Charley, Clayton E., Sic, Browns- boro, Oreg. Chelemedos, Fred A.. Yjc, gig Kev Route Blvd., Albany 6, Calif. C ' herrier, Edker H., .SM3C, Box 245, Hinckley, Minn. Childers, Joe E., Cox, Box 5205, Harrisburg Station, Houston, Texas ♦Christian, Gerald D., Sic, Box 304, Cameron, Mo. Christner, Arthur L., Sic, Eld- ridge, Mo. Chojnacki, Frank E., S2C, 2gi7 S. Lyman St., Chicago, 111. Church, Randall D„ Sic, Elkville, 111. Clark, Clifford H., S2C, Bas trop, Texas Clark, Marcellas, StMic, 2064 7th Ave., New ' ork, N. Y. Clarke, Byron C, S2C, Losarboles Rd., . ' lbuquerque, N. Mex. Clarke, Edward H., VT3c, 1403 Arlington St., Shreveport, La. Classen, Lambert P., Jr., Fic. RR 3, Meadow Grove, Nebr. Clements, Bobby L., .Sic. 213 N. Joplin .St., Joplin, Mo. Clunk, Robert W., Yac, 715 Suismon St., Pittsburgh, 2, Pa. Coburn, Billy E., EM3C, 61 1 Bell- view, Shelton, Wash. Cochran, Clifton L., BM2c, P.O. Box 335, Wishrain, Wash. Cohoon, .-XndrewJ., Sic, 4224 F St., Omaha, Nebr. Cole, Mervyn R., Sic, 4813 Hillside Ave., Sacramento, Calif. Coleman, William G., Jr., Sic, 4143 Terrace, Kansas City 2, Mo. Collier, Dan, RdM3c, Box 83, Union, Miss. Comparin, Angel, . ' MM3c, Frio City Texas log Rd., San Antonio, Conrad, Niron C, Sic, 353 Supe- rior Blvd., Wyandotte, Mich. tlonstant, Henton L., Sic, Box 25, Elgin, Okla. C:ook, Freddie E., Sic, RR 2, Box 223, Winlock, W ' ash. Cooper, Enos E., StMic, 1428 S. Johnson .St., New Orleans, La. Cooper, Max E., RTic, go3 17th St., Douglas, .- riz. Cooper, William R., .S2C, 716 W. 7th St., Des Moines, Iowa Costner, Ivan E., GM3C, 812 Bald- win Dri e, Bakersfield, Calif. Covarrubias, Ernest G., Sic, 1008 W. Nueces St., Victoria, Texas Cowan, Carl G., Sic, 3610 Krutz St., San Diego, Calif. Cox, Charlie R., StMic, 505 E. Depot St., La Grange, Ga. Cox, Henry M., Jr., AOM2C, Gen- eral Delivery, Rich Hill, Mo, Cox, Marshall B., Sic, RR 3, Hamil- ton, Ala. Coyne, Marvin L., RM2C, 3013 Logan Blvd., Chicago 47, 111. Mrdi.al D.pa Crakcr, Lowell E.. Sic, 313 Lin- coln St., Monett, Mo. Crane, ' Henry H., Sic, RR i. Chapel Hill, Tenn. Crawford, Richard. MME3C, P.O. Box 56, Ware Shoals. S. C. Creekinore, Robert F., Sic, 27 E. 42nd St.. Covington. Ky. Croley. Joe V.. Sic. RR 4. .Athens, .Ma. Cronin, William J,, Sic, lone, Calif. Crook, Joseph R., Sic, Santaquin. Utah Crosby, .Amos, StMic, 108 4th e., . S.W., Birmingham, Ala. Grossman, Norman W., .Sic. 1 104 S. Cypress, Ontario, Calif. Crowder, Jack, SC3C, RR i. Man- zahola, Colo. Crowder, Orville E., WT3C, Shouns, Tenn. Culver, Guy R., Jr., . MM3c, 1265 Irving Ave., Glendale i, Calif. Plank Owners. Cummings, George T.. M0MM2C, 2658 N. Harding . ve., Chicago. 111. Cuney, Carl J., Sic, Box Bli, Cheyenne Agency, S. Dak. Curtis, Myron C, AMMC2C, 2371 Wyandotte Ave., Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio Cutlip, Daryl R., Sic, 125 S.W. 3rd Ave., Forest Grove, Oreg. Dahl, Elmer R., Sic, Box 231, Watkins. Minn. Dale, Grady, Std3C, 63 O St., S.W., Washington, D. C. Davies, Kenneth M., Sic .Star Rt., Box 3, Yacolt, Wash. Davis, P L , Sic, 1605 Main St., N. Little Rock, Ark. Davis, ' erner A., Sic, 1519 S. 17th St., Terre Haute, Ind. Deeds, Floyd A., Jr., Sic, General Delivery, ictorville, Calif. Degncr, .Alvin N., .Sic, Box 771, Tenino, Wash. Delay, J ■L . . ' O.M2c, 2707 E. 47th .St., Chatanooga, Tenn. Delucia, Joseph, BM2C, El .Serene, Calif. De Martis. Felix J.. AMM2C, 102-34 48th .Ave.. Corona, N. V. Des Jardins. Harold G., Sic, 15724 Grayfield, Detroit, Mich. Devine, Ernest A., SKic, 2831 33rd. Ave. South., Seattle, Wash. Didio. Alfred C. AMM3C, Ross, . . Dak. Dieringer, Robert E., .ARTic, 3236 S.E. Kelley St., Portland, Oreg. Dilbeck, Leon, Sic, 210K E- 2nd St., Muscatine, Iowa. Dillinger, Nelson W., S2c, Knox City, Mo. Dillman, Edward C, S2c, RED i, Carnation, Wash. Docly, Homy M., Jr.. :]c. Rapolje, Mont. Doolan. John VV.. .Sic. 975 B. Park Circle, Long Beach, Calif. Doyle, Bernard E., AMic, Benton, Wis. Drake. George W ' ., PhMac, 208 New Litchfield St., Torrington, Conn. Driscoll, Robert C., Sic, 14544 Patton, Detroit 23, Mich. Duke, James V., .S2C, Bo.x 614, Biownfield, Texas Dunbar, Glen, Sic, 418 W. Tishe- nor, Coiiipton, Calif. Duncan, James E., AMM3C, 7937 Loarin Ave., Cleveland, Ohio Dunn. .Stanley R., S2C. Pigeon. Mich. Dyer, William F., Sic, 219 S. 22nd St., Kansas City, Kan. Dykrnan, Jay S., S2C. 2130 S. 3rd East., Salt Lake City, L ' tah Dykstra, Richard L.. RdM3C, 2247 Garfield, Kansas City, Kans. Eagcn, Phillip R.. TM3C.776 .Scott Rd., Smith Creek, Mich. Earnest, Dorris P.. AMM2C, Star Route, Ligonier, Pa. Eaton, Clharles £., PhM3C, 3609 Livingston St., Chevy Chase, Washington D. C. Eberius. Jo.seph E., SK3C, 163 Northern Parkway, East Hemp- stead, Long Island, N. Y. Eckert, Robert L., AMM3C. RR 2. Benton Harbor, Mich. Ekholm, N ' ilho, S2C. Deer River, Minn. Ekstrum, Willard L., Sic, 123 E. Santa Rosa St., ictoria, Te.xas Elandt, Edward H., S2c, RED 4. Bad A.xe, Mich. Elgas, Lloyd T., Sic, 114 loth St., N.W., Cedar Rapids, Iowa Erke, .Arthur R.. Jr., Sic, 2327 Jackson St.. . .E.. Minneapolis, Minn. Ervin, Donald P., Sic, Box 734, Lampasas, Texas Essary, Paul H., Sic, Box 1021, Ros- well, N. Mex. Evenson. Roger -A.. Sic, c o Mr. .Arthur Evenson, New Richland, Minn. Everett, Forrest G., Sic, 1228 North 8th. Albuquerque, N. Mex. Eyring, .Adolf ., EMic, 715 S. Conkling St., Baltimore, Md. Falkner, Clyde J., Sic, Box 114, Meadow, Texas Farrell, John B, Sic, 1806 N. Mutter St., Philadelphia, Pa. Fegan, Henry T., SCB2C, 1502 Dayton St., Muskogee, Okla. Fegley, William A., .AMM2C, 1410 N. Marshall St., Philadelphia, Pa. Felix, David S., SKic, 449 Ashley Rd., .Santa Barbara, Calif. Ferguson, Paul E., S2C, RR 5, Trenton, Mo. Fernandez, Manuel, AMM2C, 2710 23rd Ave., Long Island, N. Y. Field, Clarence C, S2C, 3234 S.E. Alder Ct.. Portland, Oreg. Fisher, Franklin K., AMM2C, 805 E. Fair iew Ave., South Bend, Ind. Flanagan, Francis W., PhM2c, 78 Nash St., New Haven, Conn. Flansburg, Edward H , Fic, 85 Newman St., Gloversville, N. Y. Fleetwood, Chycobia, StMic. RR i. Box 75, Woodland. N. C. 121 Fleming, Thomas A., ARMic. .in- dalc, Texas Floyd, Emmett A., Sac, RR i, Selah, Wash. FoUebout, Maurice A., Sic, 5529 Manisiique, Detroit, Mich. Fontenot, Robert, S2c, Slidell, La. Forrester, Herman A., .SK ' ac, 1031 Fugate St., Houston, Texas Foster, Jack .. VT2c. Rock Springs, Wyo. Foxx, James M., Jr., .Sic, P.O. Box 504, Lockhart, Texas Freeman, Dan P., AMM3C, 591 Prescott .St., Memphis, Tenn. Fresquez, Ernesto A., Fic, P.O.Box 321, Deming, N. Mex. Frizzell, Carl G., VTic, 600 D. West i6ist St., Gardena, Calif. Frizzell, Robert ' ., Jr., Ptric. 76 Henry St., Quincy, Mass. Gage, Julius W.. .Sic, RR 4, Tahoka, Texas Galloway, Milborn E., SC3C. RR 2, Sulphur Springs, Texas Galyan, Kenneth L., Sic, 1327 Eureka St., Bakersfield, Calif. Galyon, T J , S2c, 3809 .San Jancinto, Dallas, Texas Gann, John C, Jr., FC3C, 920 Church St., New Castle, Ind. Plank Owners. Garcia, Gilbert L., Sic, 1506 Elysian .St., Houston, Texas Cast, Edward H., . MM3c, 3755 Stella Blvd., Steger, III. Gauinont, Richard J., Sic, 1906 S. Bentley . ve., West Los .Angeles 25, Calif. Gauthier, Royal D., . ' OM3c, 1806 N. Saginaw St., Flint 5, Mich. Gdoskv, Edward R., AMM3C, P.O. Box 53, Melcroft, Pa. Geddcs, William A., PhMic, 1018 Fillmore St., Denver, Colo. Geffert, Herbert J. G., SC3C, 534 W. Goth St., Los Angeles 44, Calif. Gerhart, Ralph L., AM. l3c, 316 S. Columbus St., Galion. Ohio Ghighi, Natole J., AMM3C, 415 Morris St., Oglesby, III. Gillespie, William G.. AOM3C. Rock Ri er, Wyo. Glover. John J.. Jr., RMac. iioi . . Temple .Ave.. Indianapolis, Ind. Glover, MilesJ., .AMM3C, 4134 Mel- rose, Chicago, 111. Godsey, Wesley L., SFic, Crab Orchard, Tenn. Golin, Isaac, TM ' 3c, 386 S. 2nd St., Brooklyn. . . V. 122 Gomes, James, ARTic, 51 Pacific St., Newark, N. J. Gomez, Henry, S2c, 2109 Corona St., El Paso, Texas Gooding, Paul J.. .• .MM3c. Crom- well, Okla. Gordon, Kenneth E., .Sic, 4017 W. 28th St., Los Angeles 16, Calif. Granados, Jesus, Sic, 4505 Man- zana St., El Paso, Texas Grantz, Walter K., . M. I2c, 230 N. 3rd Ave., Villa Park, 111. Graves, Harry L., . MM2c, 5550 Rambo Lane, Toledo 12, Ohio Green, George C, Cox, Box 812, . lamogordo, N. Mex. Griffin, Daryl J.. RM2C, Box 225, Sauk City, Wis. Griffith, Tom C, SFjc, c o Mrs. J. T. Livingston, Bellville, -Ala. Grigoracos, James. WT2c, 49 New York St., Dover, N. H. Grimes, John B., Sic, 906 N. Harrison, .Xmarillo, Texas Griswold, Jay S., Jr., RM3C, RR 2, Camp Point, 111. Groves, George W., AM3C, c o Mrs. H. . . Ressler, 224 W. Liberty St., Lancaster, Pa. Grubic, Walter B., Sic, 1309 8th St., N.W., Cedar Rapids, Iowa -2 Dh Grumbling. Paul J., Sic, 623 S. Broadway. Redondo Beach, Calif. Gvozdich. Miller W., Sic, RR i, .Smiths Ferry, Pa. li.ickney. John H., Jr., Sic, P.O. Box Rio-,. .Seal Beach, Calif. Hager, William E., EM3C, 5012 Old Spanish Trail, Houston 12, Texas Hairston, Benjamin H., Std2c. 150 Bonair Ave., New Rochelle, N. V. Hairston, Henry J., SlMic, Box 301, .Martinsville. a. Hale. CJrady. StMic. RR i. Box 99, .Alexander. .Ala. Hall, Ralph L.. Sic, 953 Faile St., Bronx, N. V. Halliday. James D., .AMMic, Lake Park, Minn. Hal.sey. Edward L., Yac, 876 Rose- mount Road, Oakland 10, Calif. Hamilton, Paul, Sic, RR i. Box 213, Yuma, Ariz. Hamm, Frank B.. .Sic, Post Garage. Air Base, Yuma. .Ariz. Hammcl, Harold L.. Sic, 6243 Riverside Dr., Bell, Clalif. Handy, Walter C. Jr., StMic, 23a S. Humboldt St., San Mateo, Calif. Hai ' der, Ralph G., EMic, 529 E Brandies .St., Louisville, Ky. Harman, George .A , RM3C, 248 N. jth St., ' Hiilsboro, Oreg. Harris, Archie L., StMic, 80 Viley St., Macon, Ga. Harris, Henry B., Fic, 1816 Lucile, Wichita Falls, Texas %■-;: Dii Harris, William A.. AOMic, 223 N.E. 4lh, Oklahoma C:ity 4. Okla. Haugdahl, Carl A.. EM2C, 629 Elfelt St., St. Paul, Minn. Hcgdahl, Herbert E.. . I0MM2c, 2089 Monroe St., North Bend, Oreg. Henderson, Dewitt C. Sic, 629 V. Cloda St., Santa Barbara, Calif. Henderson, George W ., RdMjc, 3941 Chase St., Denver 14, Colo. Henderson, Harry J., VVTjc, c o Mrs. Margaret Lafayette, 213 Linton St., .Saginaw, Mich. Henne, Glenn P., Sic, 527 S. Fifth St., Hamburg, Pa. Henningsgard, Lawrence S , SS. IL3C, 2618 27th Ave. South, Minneapolis, Minn. Herod, James C:.. Sic. c o Mrs. Blanche Walker, Hot .Sulphur Springs, Colo. Herring. Billy B., S2C, Butler, Okla. Hewitt, Wilbur L., Sic, 1762 X. Taylor Rd., E. Cleveland 1 2, Ohio Higgins, Richard H. J., GM3C, 2 School St.. Milton 87, .Mass. Hilseth. Gordon P., S. l3C, c o Pete C. Hilseth, Peninsula Hotel, Gig Harbor. Wash. Hinds. Edward, Sac, Brackettville, Texas V-i Di port watch. Hoelter, Alvin F., EMic, 2220 Lee Ave., Granite City, 111. Hoffman, LeRoy W., Sic, 1424 W. 3rd St., Davenport, Iowa Hoffpauir, Warren J., S2c, Bo. 225, RR I, Rayne, La. Hollinger, X ' ernon K., RM3C, 2580 Story .St., .San Luis Obispo, Cialif. Holmquist, Nelson D., PhM3c, 674 Farmington Ave., Bristol, Conn. Holt, Ira C, AOMic, 321 New St., Macon, Ga. Hood, Alex F., Sic, Bo.x 148, Sureeny, Te.xas Hooper, Wallace R., SMic, 1910 Granville, West Los Angeles, Calif. Houle, Roy A., AMM2C, Beaver Bay, Minn. Howard, David, .Sic, 299 E. Glenn Ave., Auburn, Ala. Hudson, William D., AEM2C, 223 S. First St., Jacksonville Beach, Fla. Hughes, David A., AerM2c, 28 W. Middle St., Gettysburg, Pa. Hunt. Paul M., Sic, c o Mr. E. A. Hunt, 1209 Leigh Court, Long Beach, Calif. Hunter, Henry C, Jr., Ptr2c, 521 Laguna St., San Francisco, Calif. Hunter, John Douglas, StMic, 302 Lexington Ave., Columbus, Ohio Hupe, Wesscl L., EM3C, c o Mrs. W. H. Hupe, Montgomery City, Mo. Hutchison, Harley C, Jr., AOM2C, 1019 W. B St., Joplin, Mo. Hydock, George E., Fic, 131 . ' enue F., Bayonnc, N. J. 125 E ' Division. Irick, Dolly C. Sic. Box 476, St. Stephen, S. C. Jacobsen, Allen O., Sac, Apt. 3, 277 E. 6th S., Salt Lake City, Utah. James. Richard A.. BMic. 517 Marllx)rough, Inslewood, Calif. Jarrett, Willard E.. VT3c, 98 15th St., Wheeling. V. a. Jasinski. Bernard P., Fic, 6155 Pierson Rd., Flushing, Mich. Jeffery, Stephen L., Sic, 961 E. Main St., Batesville, Ark. Jenco, John J., . ' XMMic, 356 Muir Ave., Hazleton, Pa. Jesus, Manuel J., Jr.. AMMjc, 52 Clifford St., New Bedford, Mass. Jobst. Charles V.. AOMT2C, 401 Polk St., Pontiac, 111. Johanson, Allen X.. Sic, Bo.x 11, Cain Cit ' , Texas Johns, John L., EMac, 405 Main St. Ita sca, Texas Johnson, Harold F., Y3C, 1015 N. Long. Chicago 51, 111. Johnson, Kenneth M., AMM3C, RR I, Box 129, Rapid City, S. bak. Johnson, Robert, . M3c, RED i, NedroNv, N. Y. Jones, D s-ight H., RTic, 508 S. Washington, ' an Wert, Ohio Plank Owners. Jordan, James D , Fic, Box 1063, Wichita Falls, Texas Jubb, W ' illiam P., Sic, 7279 Hola- bird Ave., Dundalk 22, Md. Jury, George W.. . ' MM3c, 166 Wright St.. Oshkosh, Wis. Kadlec. Joseph. MMic. 1473 Fulton .Ave.. Bronx 56, . V. Kalinowski, Edward A., Fic, 4521 S. Mozart St., Chicago, III. Kallem, William, Fic, 148 E. i8th St.. New York, X. Y. Katz, Phillip W., . OM3c, 3613 Dennlyn Rd., Baltimore, Md. Keithley, Billy J., S2C, 11 05 15th Ave., S.W., Cedar Rapids, Iowa Kelley, Woodrow E., BgMstr3C, Head of the Tide, RED 3, Belfast, Maine Kelly, Clarence, Jr.. .AMMac, laa Ironwood Drive, Mishawaka, Ind. Kempfe, Edward B., WT3C, 716 Warren .St., Harrison, N. J. Kendechy, Joseph A.. MMic, 2797 E. 125th St., Cleveland, Ohio Kennada, Glen W , BM2C, 308 Hogan, Houston, Texas Kent, Don R., S2C, 1622 Hayden St., Amarillo, Texas Kielar, John J., Fic, 748 S. Ken- neth Ave., Chicago, 111. 126 Kingsbury, Ralph H., SSMB3C, Longbranch, Wash. Kirsh, James T., Sic, 202 Walnut St., Beaver Dam, Wis. Knadler, Denman E., Cox, 1920 Nolan St., San Bernardino, Calif. Knauss, Lonnie F., Fic, 1612 4th Ave., Council Bluff, Iowa Kobernusz, Loyal C, Sic, Third Chestnut, Osage, Iowa. Kozakiewicz, Frank J., MM3C, 211 Curtis .St., New Britain, Conn. Kudrna, Joseph, Jr., Sac, 1637 S. Throop St., Chicago, 111. Kudzius, Arnold S., BMic, 15900 Dexter, Detroit 21, Mich. Lackey, Jack W., Sic, Box 1026, Brady, Texas Lake, Arthur S., Fic, loi .Sunset St., Rochester 6, N. Y. Lambert, Elvin H., Sic, 839 W. Walnut, Monrovia, Calif. Lambert, Robert R., Sac. RR i, Fullerton, Neb. Larson, Earl C, AM.M 5c, Box 217, Moclips, Wash. Lassiter, Thurman B.. StMic, RR I. Box I a, .Scotland Neck, N. C. Lathan, Perry R.. Co.x, 715 5th St., Independence, Oreg. i ' .JivV i i I t.a. f-: i Lauson, Elijah J., StMic, 2534 Washington, Columl ia, S. C. Layton, Royce ' ., SKDic, c o Grand Paint and Paper Co., Inc., T16 W. Grand Ave., Oklahoma City, Okla. Lebelle, Donald J., Bkr2c, 75 Fulton .St., Oshkosh, Wis. Leonard, William H., .Sic, Gravette Ark. Lester, Hubert L, Sic, Box 322 E. Breuton Post Office, Brewton. Ala. Lewis. Charles H.. StMic, 2243 Pembcrton St., Philadelphia, Pa. Lightner. Walter E., VT3c, 320 Charles St., Apt. i, Middletown, Ohio Lindenberger, Thomas D., .Sic, 1426 W. Second St., Wichita, Kan. Lindsey, I J , Sic, RR i, Be.xar, Ala. Lindsey, John, StMic, Box 18, Whitakers, N. C. Linemveber, William .S., SC3C, 8612 Halls Ferry Rd., St. Louis, Mo. Little, Carl l.. Cox, General De- livery, .Shiner, Texas Logan, Daniel P., StMic, 602 Walnut St.. Belpre, Ohio . Division, starboard watch. 127 •- f riviMon, port watch. •M Di ision, starboard waich. 128 Long, Richard P., AMMic, lo Ja- maica Way, Boston, Mass. Longoria, Santiago, Fic, Santa Fe Ranch, Box 97, Encino, Texas Lopez, Refugio R., Sic, loio Mary St., Houston, Texas Lowery, Raymond E ' , AMMic. RR I, Dyersburg, Tenn. Ludwig, Harold ' ., Y3C. 3280 Fordham, San Diego 10. Cahf. Lul aszyk, Feliks, Sic, 1330 Suness Ave., Utica, N. Y. Lunceford, Bennie L., StMic. 714 5. Grace St., Rocky Mt., N. C. Lyles, David J., StMic, RR i. Box 44, Pauline, S. C. Lyles, Lloyd J., Fic, 1439 Perkins Rd., Baton Rouge, La. Lynch. Eugene C, QM3C, 135 Glenada Court, Freeport, Long Island, N. Y. Lynch, Jack D., AMMic, 709 Johnson St., Albany, Calif. Lvon, Edgar R., Cox, 2511 Club Blvd., Durham. X. C. Macejak, Milan L., Holzhaver Rd., Macedonia, Ohio MacGibbon. Raymond E.. Fic. Wahon, X. Y. Mack, Paul E., Fic, E. 1742 Sanson .A c., .Spokane, Wash. Maholchic, Eugene F., Sic. 341 Main St., Chiids, Pa. Makil. .Simon, Sic, Box 264, Scotts- dale, Ariz. Malcolm, William F., SK3C, 227 N. 15th St., Kansas City, Kans. Marbury, James, Jr., Ck3C, 27 J St., X., .(Mexander City, .Ma. Marshall, Robert W., RdM3c, RR 6, Pittsburgh, Texas Marshall, ' irgil, MMic, . u.xier, Ky. Marthis, John NL, Jr.. SC2C, 1547 W. Rosewood Ave., San .Antonio, Texas Martin, Charlie, StMic, Bracuv, a. Martin, Francis J., . ' OM3c, 230 Hart .St., Xew Britain, Conn. Martin, Reuben J., Sic, P. O. Box 95, Lampasas, Texas Martinez, Albert J., Sic, 1221 N. 3rd .Ave., Albuquerque, N. Mex. Mason, Robert, StMic. RR 3, Box 84, Emporia, ' a. Masterson. Russell J., Sic, 1782, W. 44th St., Cleveland, Ohio Mathews, Billy A., Sic, 2837 Colum- bia St., Flint Hills Manor, Bur- lington, Iowa Matthews, Edward W., Sic, 3984 Texas St., San Diego, Calif. McBee. George O.. Bkrsc, Box 61, Bache, Okla. McCormack, Francis J., Sic, 949 S. Xormandie, Los .Angeles, Calif. McDonald, Amos L., S2C. 1306 Cococpah St., Phoenix, Ariz. McDonald, Robert M., AM2c, 1504 E. Fourth St., Alton, 111. McDougall, Donald L., Sic, 13 4th St., Lowell, Mass. McElroy, Theodore, Cox, io6og Westfield Rd.. Houston, Texas McFadin. Billie A., HAic, 221 Commerce St., Fairfield, Texas Mcintosh, John, HAic, 416 W. 48th St.. Los Angeles 37, Calif. McKee. Rex Earl, EM2c, Mem- phis, Mo. McLauchlin, Xathaniel W., StMic, P. O. Box 51, Wagram. X. C. McLcod, Gilbert, MMic, 3978 S. ' ermont Ave.. Los Angeles 37, Calif. McMahon, Bernard P., AOMic. 992 St. Marks Ave.. Brooklyn, X. Y. McNally, Walter W., SSMB2C, Garden, Mich. McSpadden, Howard L., Sic, RR i. West Bloctonn, Ala. Mcimer, John. Jr., SK ' ic. 706 Green St., S. W., Massillon, Ohio Mejia, .Alfredo S., .Sic, Bo.x 655, Lordsburg, N. Mex. Mendoza, Manuel, MME3C, 2431 E. Washington Blvd., Los .Ange les, Calif. Mentrup. Felix E., SSML3C, 610 Hawthorne -Ave., Price Hill, Cin- cinnati 5, Ohio Merryman, Gerald G., RM3C, 216 Cherry .St., Silverton, Oreg. Merryhew, Elton K., Sic, RR i, Fruita, Colo. Metz, Richard, Sic, 1319 McCausland .Ave., St. Louis 17, Mo. Meiirer, Wilton L., .Sic, Byrd Island, Minn. Miller, Glenn W., Jr., SSML3C, P. O. Box 171, Livingston, Calif. Miller, Roy E., .SF2c, 1 14 Portage St., Kent, Ohio Miller, William I., SF2C, 3964 S. Budlong St., Los .Angeles 37, Calif. Miscichoski, Alexander, AMM2C, 2327 S. 26th St., Milwaukee, Wis. .Mitchell. Walter, StM2c. 502 Park- way, Westfield, Ala. Mitzcl. Joseph J., .S2c, Box 510, Oakes, X. Dak. ' Momot, Edward J.. EM2C, 1313 W. Fifth St., Aberdeen, Wash. Monroe, Xathan E., PhM3c, Gar- rison ille, Va. Monsey, Vollie ' ., Sic, Box 791, Cross P lains, Texas Montgomery, Karl R., S2C, RR 2, Box 2 1 7, Blytheville, .Ark. Moody, Joseph P., RdM3c, 1039 S. .A St., Rogers. Ark. Mooney, Wallace H., EM2C, 395 Benefit St., Providence, R. I. Moore, William J., Jr., S2C, Veteran ' s .Adminfstration Facility, Marion, Ind. Moo.sman, Dee S., SM3C, Boulder, Utah. Morris, Monte D., .AerMic, 2108 .S. Fairmont, Fort Worth, Texas Mueller, Oscar L., AEMac, 610 S. 7th .Ave., Wausau, Wis. Muenster, John .A., PhoMic, 11 14 X. Durbee .St., .Appleton, Wis. Mularz. Leo J., Fic, 314 Franklin St., Elizabeth, . . J. Mullen, Samuel F., Ckic, 304 Dison .Ave., Memphis, Tenn. Muller, Carl O., Bug2c. 255 W. Marquette Rd., Chicago 21, 111. Mullin. Roscoe D., Ck2c, RR 4, Box i6g, Grenada, Miss. Mulville, Thomas F., Sic. 140 Walnut .St., Waterbury, Conn. Munk, Mark C, Sic, 204 E. 2nd South, Manti, Utah Murphv, Luther, Sic. Palmdale, Calif. ' Murphy, Martin F., Cox. 4343 Brunner Ave., Bronx, X. Y. Myler, Marvin F., F2c, 2219 Sims Ave., Overland, Mo. Xeal. Jack D.. AMM2C, 3070 W. Lafayette, Detroit, Mich. Xeal, James R., Sic, RR i, .Springdale, .Ark. Xelson, Francis ' ., .AM2C, 188 Justin Ave., Bay Terrace, Staten Island, X. Y. Xelson, Oscar C, .Sic, Box 261, Crosby, Texas Xewlands, Douglas D., S2C, 6oi6 Barton Ave., Hollywood, Calif. Xewman, Willie C, AOM2C, RR 4, Bedford, a. Xewton, Quinton E.. .Sic; 1515 W. 6th St., Santa .Ana, Calif. 129 B Division, pori watch. B Di ision, starboard watch. 130 Nichols, Sherman ' ., Sic, 1303 Fowler St., RR 3, Sweetwater, Texas Nihem, Jacob L., QM3C, 4703 Lawnview, Jacksonville, Fla. Noble, Charles R., Sic, 304 E. Grand Ave., Fowler, Colo. Noe, Gerald B., RdM3C, Bo.x 88, Eddyville, Iowa Noe, James E., Jr., Co.x, Menfro, Mo. Noonan, Raymond J., QM3C, 3640 Folsom Ave., St. Louis 10, Mo. Norton, Harold L., S2C, 517 E. 5th St., Lajunta, Colo. Noson, Frank L., BMic, 2715 Bel- vedere, Seattle 6, Wash. Nutt, Lawrence R., Sic, Star Route, Seminole, Texas O ' Connor, John ' ., Jr., Sic, RR 2, Box 1760, Roseville, Calif. Ogle, General, F2c, RR i, Gat- linburg, Tenn. Oldakoski, Edward B., Cox, 35 Lafayette St., Carteret, N. J. Oleson, Robert L, S2c, 720 W. 40th .St., Minneapolis, Minn. Oliver, John L, AM3C, Apart- ment 7196, 10518 N. Force Ave., Portland 1 7, Oreg. Olsen, Raymond M., Bkr2c, 14th St., Columbus, Nebr. Olson, Carl E., Sic, 3807 Seward St., Omaha, Nebr. Olson, Leonard C. NL, EM3C, 315 19th St., S.E., Mason City, Iowa Olson, Orrin R., AMMic, Audu- bon, Minn. Olup, Stanley E., AOM2C, 53 Greeley St., South Side, Pitts- burgh, Pa. Oreck, Jack H., RM3C, 1914 E. 6th St., Duluth, Minn. Orinski, Elmer E., RM2C, 318 Gar- field St., Newton Falls, Ohio Oswalt, Milo C, Sic, RR 8, Kansas City 16, Mo. Overy, Edward D., F2C, 910 Lay- fett St., Florissant, Mo. Paape, Norman P., Sic, 315 S. Maple Ave., Green Bay, Wis. Paden, Ralph C, Ti l2c, 809 Grant Ave., Waterloo, Iowa Page, Earl W., AM3C, RR 3, Merid- ian, Texas Pahutka, Edward L., RMic, 240 Main St., Ranshaw, Pa. Paine, Ernest L., CM2c, 1720 N. 26th St., Boise, Idaho Paliani, Alvin E., MM3C, 810 Frank- lin Ave., Aliquippa, Pa. Palmer, Jackson H., Sic, 60 West- minster Drive, Oakland 11, Calif. Pancoast, Theodore D., RMic, 706 Grandee St., Compton, Calif. Pannier, Robert G., Fic, 1107 E. I St., Fremont, Nebr. Park, Jack H., RMic, RFD 2, Twin Falls, Idaho Parkhill, Olan D., Fic, RR 3, Wichita Falls, Texas Parr, Harold L., EM3C, Medicine Lodge, Kans. Partin, Woodrow W., Vic, Wil- mington, Calif. Parton, Nathan, RdM3c, RR 4, Cleveland, Tenn. Patterson, Arthur J., Sic, 5409 E. 1 2th St., Kansas City, Mo. Paul, Arthur F., Sic, no Clifford St., Knoxville, Tenn. Paul, Thomas B., .Sic, Beach Ave., Manahawkin, N.J. Paulton, George W., Fic, Ridge Rd., Thornton, 111. Pearson, Francis L., Sic, Reids- ville, Ga. Pearson, Sammie L., StMic, Box 123, Nittyuma, Miss. Peck, Alph G., Sac, Goodland, Minn. Peckham, Theodore L., Sic, Wil- liams, Oreg. Pederson, Lester H., Sic, 1 123 La Bree . ve. North, Thief River Falls, Minn. Peel, John H., WTic, c o General Delivery, Wilmington, Calif. Peelen, Theodore L., QM2c, 787 Hillcrest Drive, Redwood City, Calif. Pehan, James J., Sic, Glentana, Mont. Pelham, John P., MM3C, Box 95, Cocoa, Fla. Pelzer, Sylvester F., Sic, RR i, Kimball, Minn. Pena, Ramiro, Sic, 403 S. Navarro St., Victoria, Texas Pentecost, Joseph O., PhoMic, 1352 Lake Point Ave., Gros.se Point Park, Mich. Perkins, Joe W., StMic, RR i, Box 45, Greensboro, Ala. Perrot, John Joseph, PR3C, 181 8 Spain St., New Orleans 17, La. Peters, August P., Sic, General De- livery, El Campo, Texas Peters, Charles J , .4EM3C, RR i, Milan, Ind. Peters, Marlin, Sic, RR 2, Box 102, Kirbyville, Texas Peterson, Calvin K., SF3C, Box 35, Kempton, N. Dak. Peterson, Henry T., AOM2C, lone, Oreg. Peterson, Marvin A., Fic, 1018 S. Alder, Tacoma, Wash. Peterson, Sidney C, WT2C, Ford- viUe, N. Dak. Pettit, Sheldon M., GM3C, RR i, Lancaster, Ohio Phillips, Arthur H., Sic, Box 74, Tulia, Texas Phillips, Milton T., Sic, c o Shop Maintenance, Vuina . ' rmy . ' ir Base, Vuma, Ariz. Phillips, Roy J., Sic, Box 465, Pioneer, Texas Pilfold, Harold M., GM2C, c o Mrs. Gayle Walters, RR i, Ceresco, Nebr. Pinkston, William H., Stdic, 48 Moreland St., Roxbury, Mass. Pitre, Mark M., SK2C, 333 Fifth St., Westwego, La. Pixley, Earl R., Sic, 1438 7th Ave., South, Fargo, N. Dak. Poplett, Ralph E., S2C, RR 3, Box 22 A, Alton, Mo. Posey, Weldon R., Sic, T. C. Ranch, ' an Horn, Texas Prado, Daniel. .AMM2C, P. O. Box 53a, El Monte, Calif. Preston, Clark M., . ' OM3c, Oswego, N. V. Priest, Charles W., Fic, 249 Mt. Pleasant Ave., Ambler, Pa. Priest, Harley W., S2C, 201 7 Hoyt, Everett, Wash. Quick, William M., Sic, 1008 Acklen Ave., Nashville 4, Tenn. Quinn, Richard G., Fic, 7 Pappert Place, Rochester, N. Y. Racette, Leo W., GM3C, 30 Sprague St., West Springfield, Mass. Ramirez, Gil V., Sic P. O. Box 127, Cucamonga, Calif. Ramsey, Gayle, RM2c, 103 N. Camden, Breckenridge, Texas Ramsey, Neal C, . ' MM3c, 818 W. Belmont, Okmulgee, Okla. Randazzo, Louis J., Fic, 583 N. 17th St., San Jose, Calif. Rasmussen, Nels P., MM2C, Bur- wood . ve., Los Angeles 42, Calif. 131 Ralcliff. Sherman L.. Ckjc. igo8 Grant, Pittsburgh 2i, Penn. Redlak. Joseph L., Sic, 4967 28th St., Detroit 10, Mich. Redmayne, John V., .Sic. 922 Blaine St., Los Angeles, Calif. Reed, Cecil E.. Fic, 405 S. Wash- ington -Ave.. Whittier. Calif. Reed. Francis E., C ' u Montevideo, Minn. RR 2. Reed, Leo, BM2c. RR i. Box 139, Sand Springs, Okla. Reeder, Robert C... Co. , 141 3 Missouri Ave., East St. Louis, 111. Regner, Robert D., RM3C, . pt. 6, 3435 X. E. 58th. Portland, Oreg. Reile. Paul K.. MM jc. i()634 Park- side, Detroit, Mich. Reininger, Leroy Paul, .Sic. RR i, Box 104, Seguin, Texas Reisner, Herbert H., AMic. 1216 4th Ave. .South, Fort Dodge, Iowa Reiswig, Floyd R., Sic, 532 Tokay St.. Lodi. Calif. ' Plank Ou-ners. 2nd DiWsion, starboard watch. 132 Rembis, Joseph, AMM3C. 36 Pu- laski St., Wallington. X. J. Rhame, Glenevar K.. RdM3c, Long Leaf, La. Rhoads, John R., Ptr2c, 545 X. Market St., .Shamokin, Pa. Rhoden. Dallas C, .SCic, 702 X. Quaker, Tulsa, Okla. Richardson, Arlis D., Sic. Mule Shoe. Te.xas Ritchey, William J., .SSML3C, 2416 Copelan St., Cincinnati 6, Ohio Roljbs, Lynn D.. A l3c. Hereford. Texas Roberts. John M.. WTic. c o R.S. .Smith. Hemlock Station. C:hester, S. C. Robertson, Murlin ., MM2C, 206 Indiana St., Baytown, Texas Robertson, Richard R., Sic, 259 W. Aliso St., Pomona, Calif. Robey. Ralph J , PhoM3C, 2015 Parker St.. Berkeley, Calif. Robinson. Robert V., Jr., Sic, lo: Lynn St.. RR g. Dallas 10, Texas Rocha. ' alentine X., Box 14. Fern- dale, Calif. Rochester. Dean E.. .Sic, 320 Kemper St.. Butte, Mont. Rodgers, Julius, Sic, Box 365, .Steele ' s Store. Texas Roe. Cyrus O., VT2c, 8615 Meridian St., Seattle, Wash. Roe, Ervin C, .■ OM2c, 2205 North Boulevard, Houston 6, Texas RogofiT, Arthur B., SKD2C, 6507 X. Bosworth . ve., Chicago, 111. Roman, Pablo, Sic, Box 486, Sum- merville, Texas Ross, Eugene E., Fic, 1129 5th .St., Lorain, Ohio Ross. John T.. Sic, RR i , Box 209, Philipsburg, Pa. ' K Division, starboard watch. Rowlette, William L.. RdMjc. 447 E. Lytle St., Murfreesboro, Tenn. Roy, Russell, Sic, Box 502, Kalis- pell, Mont. Roybal, Benjamin, Sac. 219 Bel- view, Lajunta, Colo. Ruland, Douglas H., Sic, 2620 Cornelia St., New York, N. Y. Runnells, Robert F., Sic, 81 g E. Fifth St., Santa Ana, Calif. Runyon, Lawrence ., CMic, 74 Greenbush .St.. Manistee. Mich. Rusnak, Frank L., Sic, c ' o Crafts- man Press, 2030 Westlake .Ave., Seattle. Wash. Russell. William D.. Bic, 558 Long ' icw Place, Decatur, 111. Ruth, Richard, Sic, RR i. Rich- wood, Ohio Ryder, Marion J., Fic. 255 Strand, Ocean Park, Calif. Sabins, Frank L., Fic. 127 Bierce Ave., Dayton 3, Ohio Sager, William L., Sac, Edmund, Kans. Sagraves, Maxwell E., Sic, 1225 S. Birch St., Santa Am, Calif. Sahli, Floyd E., Cox, RD 2, Gib- sonia. Pa. Salinas. Salvador R.. Y3C, Box 82, Lordsburg, N. Mex. Sandefur, James D.. .Sic. RR r, Stonewall, Okla. Sandoval, Joe, Fic. 1419 Dana St., Los Angeles, Calif. Sanford, Homer L., Sic, 2160 Ripple St., Los Angeles 26, Calif. Santana, Arturo S., MM3C, 2314 Santa Maria St., Austin, Texas .Sa.sal, Charles, Sic, 100052 Wayne Rd., Plymouth, Mich. Sawyer, Byron .S., .Sic. P.O. Box 293, Butler, Ga. Scarpa, Arthur A., PhMac, 43 Passaic St.. Garfield, N. J. Scarpi, Walter S., . MMH3c, c o John Cordor, Lorane, Oreg. Schaefer, Howard C, AOM3C, 20123 Monica . ve., Detroit 21. Mich. Scheid, Donald W., EM3C, 4831 Emerson X., Minneapolis, Minn. .Schell, Irvin J., Fic, 8601 .Shoss Ave., Lemay 23, Mo. Schleining, Lawrence, AMac, 9037 N. Woolsey Courts, Portland 3, Oreg. Schultz. Martin .-X., MMic, 2003 N. Newhall, Milwaukee, Wis. .Schumacher, Edward J., .SSMC3C, RR I, Box 269, St. Helens, Oreg. .Schurman, .Sylvester G., .Sic, Box 36, Melrose, .Minn. .Seaberg, Perle A., EM3C, 1300 Jefferson St., Burlington, Iowa Seber, James A., .Sic, 1030 Wake- field, Houston 8, Texas Self, Steven L., MM2C. Box 122, Tulia. Texas Sens. Robert F., RM3C, Box 687, Wells, Minn. .Sharp, John S., Sic. Box 397, Im- perial, Texas .Shaw. Benjamin E., SC3C, 1 1 River St., Warrensburg, N. Y. Shearer, Henry O., GMac, 2618 35th St., Sacramento, Calif Shelley, Kenneth D., Sic. Box 173, Kermit. Texas Shepard, Gary F., .S.ic, Box 533, Huntsville, Texas Shephard. Harry E.. Rd. l2c, 98-25 Jamaica . ve., Richmond Hill, X. Y. Sherrerd, W ' illiam R., AMM3C, 9 ' ail Ave., Middletow n, N. Y. 134 Shroyer. Willis V.. Sic. 915 Siekerski, Martin J., Fic, 70 Peck Warren Ave., Cheyenne. W ' yo. Shults, Jenson C. Fic. RR 2, Cosby, Tenn. Shumway, Richard C, Sic, 2034 N. 8th St., Phoenix, . ' Vriz. .Ave., West Haven, Conn. Sieradzinski. Stanley J., Mic, 20 Prospect .St., Springfield, Mass. .Simmons, Maurice D., Jr.. .Sic, 2884 N. W. Savior St., Portland, Oreg. Simnis. Xoblc L., StMic. Federels- burg, Md. .Simpson, Clayton, Cox, 954 Rem- ington Ave., Flint 3, Mich, R ' Division, starboard watch. 135 3rd Divii , porl waich. Simpson, Joseph R., BMic, 441 1 Redwood Ave, Richmond, Calif. Sinex, Warren F., Sic, 410 N. Ross- more Ave., Los Angeles, Calif. Sippola, Oliver H., Sic, Box 945, Red Lodge, Mont. Sires, James W., F2C, 543 Hagood St., Moberly, Mo. Sirvidio, Julio J., Cox, yg V. 34th St., (VVP) Patterson i, N.J. Sisneros, Jose B., Fic, Box 774, Taos, N. Mex. Sisson, Lewis H., Cox, 4906 W. Mountainview Drive. .San Diego, C:alif. .Skrip, Charles. . RTic. 6234 Gid- dings St., Chicago 30. 111. Slentz, William H., AMMic, 529 Upper Broadway, Corpus Christi, Texas Smalley, Kenneth W., Fic. 117 VVecker Ave., Buffalo, N. Y. Smalls, Herman, StMic, 59 Rad- cliff St., Charleston, ' S. C. Smit, ' illiam R., .Sic, 709 N. Wenas St., EUensburg, Wash. 3rd Division, starboard ' 136 Smith, Angus M.. Jr., AMM2C, 125 E. I i6th Place. Los Angeles 3, Calif. .Smith, Bud C, MM3C, 643 E. 105th St., Los Angeles 2, Calif. Smith, Cecil E., EM3C, RR 2, Augusta, Kans. Smith. Ernest C. SCB3C, RR 2. Box 453, Oroville, Calif. .Smith, George L.. WTic, 131 E. 56th .St., Savannah, Ga. Smith, Merrick J., Sic, 728 St. Roch St., New Orleans, La. .Smothermon, Tal.-nage A.. Sic, Tia Dallas Ave., Hunt.sville, .-Ma. S Division, port watch. Snyder. Warren V.. . MM2c, 928 40th .St., Brooklyn ig, X. Y. .Soeder, John J., Sic, 7012 Colfax Rd.. Cleveland, Ohio Sollock, John M., Sic, Box 88, Devine, Texas .Sonnenburg, Robert W., Fic, 2717 V. Fourth St., Duluth, Minn. Southern, Norman J., CM3C. 408 Bissell Ave., Richmond, Calif Spencer, Robert S.. RdM3c, Benton- ville, Ark. Spencer, Walter D., Cox, 161 2 Maybert Rd., Portsmouth, Ohio -Squier, Daryl L., .SC2c, Box 154, Wheeler, Oreg. Squiers, Frank B., SC3C, 404 Hall St., Tama, Iowa Stage, Frederick R., Y3C, 68 E. Henry St., River Rouge, Mich. Stahlman, George, Y2C, 2720 Woodhaven Drive. Hollywood, Calif Stallcup, Thomas E., Jr., Sic, 808 Austin .St., Wichita Falls, Texas .Stanek, Stanislaus J., S2C, 1809 W. 17th St., Chicago, 111. Starr, Roy J., QM2C. RR 2, Ar- lington, Wash. S Division, starboard watch, 137 Slci-1. Paul T., Jr., AOMir, ff.47 S. afilh St., Phi ' liulclpliia. Pa. StrRiT, lacol) I ' ., (;M..c, H(ix joj, Ni-nRa lll. Su-phcnson, William A., .Sjr, fliii Killian St., El Monic Clalif. Stcvfns, Hal O,, FCac. 404 N. W. 8tli Si., Mineral Wells, Texas ♦Stevens, Wilbur O.. RdMjc, Plainfielcl, Iowa .Stevenson, F.lnier P., I ' lc. j 50 F.. Tripp .Ave., Peoria. III. Stockton, F.iidiih E., Sic. Box 21 i, Hayti, Mo. Stohry. Karl W., WTjc. KR (1. .Shclbyville. Incl. Stone, Dale H.. I.Mic. Box .(H. .Sharon, W. a. Stresemann, Carl E.. Sir. [74(1 College Ave, Huntington. Incl. Stringer, George, StMic. RR , Box ■244 2, Monroe, La. Sullivan, Robert K., Sic, 1037 Butte St., Redding, Calif. Sutherland, James H., Sic. RR 4, Box - 5, Sherman, Texa,s Svoboda, Roy V., Sic, 1306 S. Home Ave., Berwin, III. Swimmer, Arthur M., Sic, 4851 N. Albany Ave., Chicago 25, III. Talavera, Angel V., Sic, Box 533, Lordsburg, N. Mex. Tango, .Albert L., PhoMac, 104 Chelsea St., East Boston, Mass. Tapp, Donald E., Sic, 3905 W. Victory Blvd., Burbank, Calif. Taylor. David S., MMac, 1 1 12 S. Harvard, Los Angeles, Calif. Taylor, John T., Fic, 2821 N. .Stone Ave., Tucson, Ariz. Taylor, John V., SKac, 301 Columbia St., Cambridge, Mass. Taylor, Robert C, Sic, Box 144, Duck Town, Tenn. Tejeda, Edward, Sic, 1041 Holden Ave., Inglewood, Calif. Templain, Oren C, Fic, Reserve, La. Temple, John K., Jr., VT3c, 1 1 gth Ave., Greenville, S. C. Terrell, Jesse P., S2c, Otis, La. Terry, Rufus E., Sic, Moundville, Ala. Thomas, Glen R., EM3C, Cosmos, Minn. Thomas, Roger C, SF3C, 106 Cottage Lane, Olive View, Calif. Thomas, William, Sic. RR 2. Louis- ville, Ala. Plank Owners. Thoinason, Clharles C., Sic, Apt. 41-,. 44t) Peterboro, Detroit, Mich. Thoni.sen, Arnold 1.., Sjc, Center Junction, Iowa •Thorn, Donald L., Y3C, RFD i, St. Peter, Minn. Threet, C:harles E., EM3C, 123 2-,lh St., Newport Beach, Calif Tighe, Jack L., GMic, 1324 X. L ' nion Blvd., St. Louis, Mo. Toozc, Don F., GM3C, 6625 S. W. C:anyon Lane, Portland, Greg. Tranberg, Ck-cil C:., RT3C, 1209 (ith .Avenue West, Kalispcll, Mont. Trevathan. Doyle, AOMic, Cen- Iralia, Texas TiKkcr. Kiiincih -v. BM2r. Ina- alc. . -Im. Turner, Howard E., AMMic, 5612 The Paseo, Kansas City, Mo. Upton, Doyn W ' , Sic, Isabella, Mo. N ' andenbos, Henry, Q.Mic, Fran- zen St., RR i, Benscnville, 111. Van Fleet, Clarence R., Sic, Box I 76, Hondo, Texas ' an Winkle, irgil R., S2C, Elba, C:olo. Vaughn, Joe ' ., MM2C, 121 S. Main, Dexter, Mo. Velasquez, Nick F., Jr., .AcrMic, Box 36, Antonito, Colo. N ' icente, Pedro, Ckic, 21 18 Kearney St., San Diego, Calif. ' illhauer, Leo E., WT2C, 630 S. Johnson St., Iowa City, Iowa Vincent, Elzo D., Jr., Sic, McCoy, Oreg. ' oigt, Calvin W., GM2C, 1 91 5 Butler .Ave.. South St. Paul, Minn. Wadsworth. Kenneth J., Sic, Box 432, Maricoba, Ariz. Waer, James M., Sic, 243 S. Newlin Ave., Whittier, Calif Walker, King P., Sic, Box 437, Inverness, Fla. Wallace, Gail R., AMM3C, RR 5, Lisbon, Ohio Wallen, Eddie R., .Sic, 6127 Lorelei A e., Bell Flower, Calif. Walterich, James F., FC3C, 42 Meriden St., Buffalo, N. V. Waterson, Charles R., Sic, 2437 N.W. 14th St., Oklahoma Citv. Okla. Webb, Leonard H., EM3C, P.O. Box 1 01 6, Oakley, Calif. Webber, Richard W., S2C, RFD 2, Leslie, Mich. Welch, Jerry B., SMjc, 6616 Newell Si. Hunlliiglon Park, Calif. WeMphal, Calvin R., QMjC, 620 2nd St., East, Willinar, .Minn. Wesiphal, Waller C;., Sic, 1605 Milvia St., Berkeley, Clalif. White, Henry B., Sic. i 10 S. Sher- rii.JM, Denver, Colo. Whilefield, Russell C:., MM3C, 1810 Main St., Humlioldl, Tenn. Whorion, Billy B., RdM3c, Box 276, Lorenzo, Texas Wild, Warren E., RTic, RR 3, Box j2, Olympia, Wash. Wilkerson, Roland L., Sic, RR i, Oakwood, Okla. Wilkie, Wayne G., Sic, 2206 .Aldrich .A e., . .. Minneapolis 11, Minn. Wilks. George .A.. AO.NLjc. 630 and St. West, Kalispell, .Mont. Williams, DuWayne, .AM.M2C, Box 426, Milford, Utah Williams, Herbert, T. I ic, RR 2, Benton, Ky. Williford, Fred A., Jr., SF3C, Box 526, Bloomfield, . ebr. Wilson, Morris. RdM3C, 6039 Hartford, St. Louis 9, Mo. Winkle, Floyd A., Fic, 733 Tren- ton St., Seattle, Wash. Wirtanen, Toivo O.. WT3C, Box 491, Hancock, Mich. Wise, Lawrence E., .S2C, RR i, Woodburn, Oreg. Wiseman, Robert E., .Sic, 427 Cler- mont .St., Dallas, Texas Wi.sler, Harry E., Cox, 390 W. San Carlos .St., San Jose, Calif Wooldridge, Oscar J. .Jr., Sic, RR i, Kilgore, Texas W ' ragg, Charles L., Stic, Box 271, Ackerman, Miss. Wright. Durward M., Sic, .Ara, Ala. Wright, Wesley J.. AMMic, Red Creek, N. V. Yeoman, Isaac R., .Sic, Box 45, Longwood, Fla. York, Robert .A., RT2C, Carey, Idaho Young, Haskell Ray, Sic, RR 8, Box 15, Houston, Texas Young. John, Jr., Sic. RR 3, De- port, Texas Zappi, Dominic W., Sic, 43 L ' nion .Ave., Maplewood, N. J. Zeadow, George R., Sic, 108 Huber .St., .Anomosa, Iowa ' -3 Division, port watcii. Zellnian, Prosper A., Sic, Carver. Minn. Ziegler, Robert L.. .Sic, St. Zintak, LeRoy C, AMMP c, 3642 Charles, Mich. S. Honore St., Chicago, 111. ' -3 Division, starboard watch. 139 PiVRT VII THE MI.X WHO M.I.W I Rf)M HKR Di:C:K.S COMKJSUE SQL ' AURO.N KKill I ' -IT ■E oi 1 ICKRS Commanding Offierr 1,1. Vx r. Fred C. Hcrriiuan. L SN, jnt) ' Ihiril St.. Moncll. Mo. Exeiiilivr Offiirr U. .MIx-rt D. Foster, ISNTi, 62 Clark Lane, Walthain, Mas.s. Lt. Cdr. James D. Luce, l.S.N ' R, 104 Richard ' s St., Dcdham, Mass. Lt. E. R. Beckwith, U.SNR, 5362 Wcntworth Ave., Oakland, Calif. Li. David A. Block, USNR, 3275 Ocean Drive, Corpus Christi, Texas Lt. William A.James USNR, 319 N. Fifth St., Grand Forks. N. Dak. Lt. William H. Kearns, USNR, 630 Fifth . c.. New York 20, N. Y. Lt. Joseph A. Kush. USNR. 3880 Ortega Blvd.. Jacksonville 5, Fla. Lt. Robert F. Pettitt. U.SNR. 320 igih St.. Manhattan Beach. Calif. Lt. Joseph E. Sheehan, USN, 27 Parker Hill . ive., Boston, Mass. Lt. Kenneth C. Stowell, USNR, 131 Davis Ave., White Plains, N. Y. Lt. John L. Thompson, L ' SNR, 181 1 13th .-Xve., S., Minneapolis 4, Minn. Lt. (jg) George H. Armsby, USNR, 914 Louisa St., Williamsport. Pa. Lt. (jg) Adrian S. Bazzell. USNR, 609 Planter St.. Bainbridge, Ga. Lt. (jg) Robert N. Brown. USNR, 398 E. Second Ave., Chico. Calif. Lt. (jg) WiUiam G. Couch, U.SNR, 1 51 9 Monter St., Dallas, Texas Lt. (jg) Robert H. Cron. USNR, 64 Clover St., Worcester, Mass. Lt. (jg) Deltert L Gerlach, USNR, 52034 South St., Rapid City, S. Dak. Lt. (jg) Gordon A. GilfiUan, USNR, Box 355, Canby, Oreg. Lt. (jg) Arthur W. Gilkey. USNR, 35 .S. Stewart St., Winchester, a. Lt. (jg) David P. Hefner. U.SNR. 8 Fairfax Terrace. Little Rock, . rk. Lt. (jg) James A. Homyak, USNR, 6431 Marconi St., Huntington Park. Calif. Lt. (jg) Jame.s D. Ingram. L ' S.NR. Pulaski 5, Tcnn. Lt. (jg) G. D. Kerlin, USNR, 3921 Pasco St., Kansas City, Mo. Lt. (jg) ArmandJ. La.Marre, USNR, 52-, Lockwood .St., Alpena, Mich. Lt. (jg) Seymour .Marshall, USNR, 4707 .N. Drake .Xvc., Chicago, III. Lt. (jg) Williain J. Murray, USNR, 28 A Hancock .Ave., .Medford, Ma.ss. Lt. (jg) LeRoy Peebles. LSNR, 2232 Konnoak Drive. Winston- .Saicm, N. C:. Lt. (jg) George B. Pleat, U.SNR, 1053 Central Ave., Albany, N. Y. Lt. (jg) Robert W. Ramey. USNR, Box 24, Trinity, Texas Lt. (jg) Robert C. Reilly. USNR, 1 1 34 E. Lexington, Glendale, Calif. Lt. (jg) Alfred F. Steinhauer. USNR. 902 Duluth Ave., North, Thief River Falls, Minn. Lt. (jg) Nimrod H. Tucker, USNR, Hurtslxjro, . la. Lt. (jg) Allan Weintraub. USNR, 69 Melrose Dri e. New Rochelle, N. Y. Ens. Wilbur F. Berauer, USNR, Box I 75, AS ' aldron, Ind. Ens. Donald E. Butcher. USNR, Weldon, Iowa Ens. William A. Denkler. USNR, 67 N. Cox St., Memphis, Tenn. Ens. Frank J. Dolinich, USNR, 25 Fitch St., Carteret, N. J. Ens. Hubert E. Dybdahl. USNR. R.F.D., Centerville. Iowa Ens. Henry R. Hitpas. LSNR. 306 Thrush A e., Peoria, 111. Ens. John C. Houk, USNR, 211 W. Berkeley .Ave., Muncie, Ind. Ens. Earl R. Krueger, USNR, 5918 .■ lpha. St. Louis. Mo. Ens. John J. Kurowski. U.SNR, 41 E. From St.. Dunkirk, N. Y. Ens. Edward J. Logel. USNR, 94 Beaumont Place, Newark, N. J. Ens. Philip Misner. L ' SNR, Inter- national Falls. Minn. Ens. Sidney R. ONeil. USNR. 4540 Lindell Blvd.. St. Louis. Mo. Ens. Richard S. Phipps. USNR, 407 Slolp Ave., Syracuse, . . V. Ens. Dayo D. Prindic, U.SNR. 417 W. Sixth St., C:haniite, Kans. Ens. William A. Read. LSNR, 2510 C alifornia St., Denver, Colo. Ens. Frederick N. Rimkel, Jr., L ' S.NR, 1221 .Avenue S . Brook- lyn, N. . Ens. ClIifTord E. .Sccinan. USNR, 710 Third St., . .W., Canton, Ohio Ens. Melvin L. Shaw, USNR, Gove, Kans. Ens. Frank W. Smith, USNR, Route I, Burlington, Wash. Ens. Frank J. Stevenson, U.S.N ' R, 2870 Ca.sto Lane. Murray 7, Utah Ens. Albert R. Swanson, USNR, Monticello, Minn. Ens. George N. Turner. Jr., US.NR, 2608 Stewart St., C:hattanooga, Tenn. Lt. John A. Duffalo, Jr., (MC), Li.SN, 155 N. Encinitas .Ave., Monrovia, Calif. CHIEF PETTY OFFICERS Crockett, Ernest S., .ACOM, USN, Box 307, Hot Springs, N. Mex. Lenzner, LouU O., AC.MM, USN, 1206 N. Geyer Road, Kirkwood, Mo. CREW .Andre, Herman F., AMMac, USNR, 4327 Gibson Ave., St. Louis 10. Mo. Bare. Oral C, ARMac, USN, 139 S.W. 36th St.. Oklahoma City, Okla. Beam, Francis M.. ARM3C, USN, Mankato. Kans. Berry. Kenneth W.. ARMic. USN, I 22 E. .South St., Harrisburg, 111. Blahm, Elmer L., ARM3C, USNR, Route I, Hormiston, Oreg. Blakemore. William T., AOM3C, U.SN, 612 Spring St., Reading, Pa. Boisvert, Claude V., AMM3C, USNR. 65 Princeton Ave., Dover, N.J. 140 C-85, our squadron. Borkgren, Raymond I., AEMic, USNR, 624 East Main St., Gen- eseo, 111. Briggs, Wesley J.. . RM2c, USX. 1 16 North Elk, Casper, yo. Bristow, William L., AOMiJc, L ' SXR, 141 Fairmount St., San Francisco, Calif. Brooks, Randall W., . RMic, USNR, 5391 Ocean Blvd.. Long Beach, Calif. Gates, Joseph R.. .ARMac. USNR, 2 1 45 N. Everest, Oklahoma City 5, Okla. Church, Charles E., . OM2c, USNR, 710 Boone St., Kingsport, Tenn. Conte, Rocco J., AMM3C, USNR, 10 Langdon St., Everett, Mass. Greveling, Jack, AMic, USN, 100 Pittenhouse, Des Moines, Iowa Druschel, Francis V., . MM2c. USN, 1035 Pearl St.. Aurora. 111. Easter. Edgar B.. AMMac, USN. Box 322, Mason, Ohio Flannery, John F.. . OMic, USN, 239 N. 1 6th St., Philadelphia, Pa. Fort, Emmett D., Jr., ARMac, USNR. 922 gth Ave., Bessemer, Ala. Glizczinski, Eugene E.. .■ MM2c. USNR, 320 E. Central Ave., Toledo 8, Ohio Goldberg, Louis M., AOM3C. USN, 4146 Menlo Ave., San Diego 5, Calif. Gourley, David G., Jr., ARMic, USNR, 161 3 S. 49th Court, Cicero, III. Greene, Gordon M., AMM3C, USNR, 17385 Kentucky Ave., Detroit 21. Mich. Hegre. Kenneth G.. AOM3C, USNR Route 2, Fertile, Minn. Hemus, Paul A., ARM3C, USNR, 646 Raven St., San Diego, Calif. Hill, Harold L., AOM3C, USN, R.F.D. 3, Bueyrus, Ohio Hylbert, Edyar V.. Jr., AMM2C, USNR. 50-, Tompkins . ve., Ak- ron 5, Ohio Jones, Bert L.. AMMic. USNR, Dallas, Iowa Jones, Kenneth . ., . MM3C, USNR, 29 Rosegarden St., Providence, R. I. Josias, Kenneth P., AMM2C, USNR, 3137 Louisiana Ave., St. Louis 18, Mo. 141 Kiikp.ilriik, Kon.ikl V., AKM.sc li.SNR, Box r j4, W.ishmiRal, Wi.sh. Kojlfk, Allied r., AOM- ' c, I ' SN, -:55 ■Swflland St., niiryoa, I ' a. Koslcr, r.dward J., AMMic. I ' SN, mil N. I ' raiuisco St., (Uiicai;o, III. I.aismi, Harold (;., Vic, L ' SNR, I 713 Goth St., Kenosha, Wis. Lay, Kenneth M., ARMic, USN, Box 41 6, Lkiah, Calif. Lisnian, Joseph, AOMic, USN, 1034 S. 21st St., Manitowoc, Wis. Martell, Fred J., AOMjc, L ' SNR, Box 204, L ' Anse, Mich. McGraw, Eldrcd W., . MMjc, L ' SNR, 3635 Botanical A -.. St. Louis 10, Mo. Melton, Rual W., ARMic, LSNR, 1 1 28 Coplin Ave., Detroit 15, Mich. Moirdich. C:ailG., ARMic, LSNR. 471 1 John.son Ave., Hammond, Ind. Ore lit I, Kenneth C, AONtac, L ' SNR, 9 W. Klizaheth St., Water- loo, N. Y. (. Iis.sinn in action) Paddock, C:harles J., ARMjc, LSNR, 24-, .Maman St., ()l,eilin, Ohio Powell, Cecil P., Jr., ARM.jc, LSNR, 40H W. Morton St., Denison, Te.xas Rathbun, Philip I)., PRic, USNR, 105 South Willow, Kansas City, Mo. Sandsiiom. Rohert A.. AMM. ' c, rs. , I il, .Nebra.ska Ave., (iilhert, .Minn. Smith, Lowell I ' ., AMM ;c. ISXR, Pierre, S. Dak. .Stambaus h, Elmer D., . RMjc, USNR, Chamberlain, S. Dak. Steele, Paul E., ARM;5c, USNR, 121 N. Howland A e., Elkhart, Ind. Sullivan, James E., AOM.jc, USNR, 5349 Broad St., Pittsburgh, Pa. Thomas. Richard P., AO.Mjc, USNR, 4 ' -,lG Burlint;l(.n Roa-I, Hyatt.sville, .Md. Tozer, Aiden V., Jr., AR.Mjc, LJSN, io73f, S. Prospect Ave., Chicayo, III. Tulley, John R., ARNLjc, USNR, Route I, Box 22K, .Melrose Park, III. Ward, Chris, Jr., Pho.Mic, LSNR, 507 Earl St., Santa Rosa, Calif. Weyant, Stephen C, AM.Mic, USN, 128 Overlook .Ave., Beacon, . . Y. Wilbur, Billy ' ., ARM3C, USNR, 4108 .Airport Way, Seattle, Wash. Willcmscn, Francis, ARM2C, L ' S.NR, 19 Sullivan Ave., Farminndalc, N. Y. Williams, Travis B., ARM2C, USNR, Route 3, Deport, Texas Wiser, Jack R., AOM3C, USNR, 403 N. Aiken Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa. Wittich, Harold M.. AR.NLjc, USN, 2446 Beverly Road, .St. Paul 4, Minn. Wuich. Louis R., ARM2C, U.SNR, 426 N. Harding Ave, Chicago, III. 142 PART VIII A Little o ' this and a Little o ' that 143 A BR I I.I ' SIOK ' OF ' C; «-, (By l.t. Willi.im II. K..irns. L ' S.NR. Sqiiaclron Air Coinbat Intclliuicncc Ollitcr.) Clold and gray, tiic dawn of 12 January i )44 fuiind a light rain shroudini; the buildings and runways of the Naval Air Station, Sj-attlc. NfitlitT iho chill nor the falling rain were un- usual; yet on that morning, a group of men arose who were to Ix- joined by a common cause into a common body and they alone, perhaps, felt the presence of the hour. Clad in blues, with gray glo es. they drifted to Hangar No. 32 in groups, talking of the future and of the sea. The commi.ssioning ceremony was brief. . bundled up Lieutenant Commander read the .Sciuadron orders. Xobody heard him, any- way; his voice was lost in the roar of a TBF turning up on the apron. It didn ' t matter. They were formed, united; they were now members of Composite .Squadron 85, instead of nameless souls lost in a flight pool. From that day on the work In-gan. .Seattle, with its luxurious C|uarters and easy life, served only to furnish the planes and ef|ui[)ment. Then, on f) January, it was left Ix-hind as the ' I ' BF ' s and F ' 4l ' s roared away in formation; destination Pasco. Washington. Barren, wind- swept Fasco could well h- regarded as the base that did the most for the .S(|uadron. As the days rumbled past. c(jordinati(jn matured with every Might; unity and precision came to be the rule instead of the exception. ' Fhe old F4F ' s took off day by day to practice gunnery. .At first, the slcc es came back with scarcely a bullet hole to indicate that they had been under tire. but. as the weeks lengthened into months, accuracy jumped and sleeves became riddled and torn to the delight of the fighter pilots. Meanwhile, the torpedo planes had not been idle. Methodically, they were loaded with water-tilled bombs and set out to practice glide bombing. The pilots made simulated i - r plane noses over in barrier crash; below: Landinsr circle stands by waiting for fouled deck to be cleared; taken from escort astern of us. a wave-off; bflou.: . iation mechs pull routin check on . venger on flight deck. torpedo attacks on windmills, swooping down over the rolling prairie, and sweated out nav- igation problems to Grand C oiilec and Spo- kane. .Spring verged on Summer when the Squad- ron began to pack away the endless gear and prepared to move again. On 30 May the ma- jority of officers and men piled aboard a train and settled themselves for the long ride south to the Naval Au.xiliary Air Station, Holt ille, Calif. Twenty-one of the pilots manned the planes and lifted away in the still morning air, Iea ing Pasco behind, a memory, pleasant and fresh. Through the Columbia Gorge; then south past the mountains and marshlands of Oregon into California. Down the flat valley past Sacramento they swept, dipped low like so many pigeons and alighted at Alameda, across the bay from San Francisco. The next morning they were off again. A gassing stop at .San Diego; then inland over the coastal mountains where Holt ille greeted them with a blast of heat. Elsewhere in the world night is meant for sleep. Not at Holtville. When dusk cast long shadows over the desert, men began to stir and engines roared. Night tactics, night bombing, night gunnery, until every pilot felt at home in the black loneliness that comes high above the earth after dark. They wore shorts and baseball caps and acquired deep tans from the burning sun. The torpedo pilots moved over to Salton Sea for five days and learned to hit with rockets while the fighters took a brief rest. The landing signal officers appeared and lost no time in making themselves known. Day after day they stood in the run- ways and moved the bright little paddles until their arms were leaden and their eyes ached. But the efforts told as approaches became surer and more precise. It was not in the .Squad- ron ' s blood to stay in one place too long, and itchy feet soon found solace when on 14 Julv Holt ' ille was evacuated and the trek made to Brown Field, perched high atop Otay Mesa overlooking .San Diego. Brown Field was regarded as a final buffing plant for Squadrons about to go aboard a carrier for combat duty, and excitement ran high, for few in ' C 85 had ever served aboard ship. Training was devoted to carrier tactics, breakups, and landings. Frequently ' C 85 teamed up with her sister squadrons in group gropes, and attacked coastal areas in sim- ulated beach assaults or flew out for the fre- quent invasions of San Clemcnte Island, sixty miles westward from North Island. The fighter pilots mo ed en masse to the craggy field on that island for a final week of gunnery drill; but, beset by a low and persistent blanket of fog, they had to conte nt themselves with lixely games of baseball on the taxi strip. Top: Flieht deck being res[X)tted with aid of tractors: ctnler: The Old Man briefs squadroti in ready room; bflow: Avenger engine being given check on flight deck. 145 August was barely a week old when the order came to embark on the U.S.S. Makassar Sirails (CV ' E 91) for carrier qualifications. With pounding hearts the officers and men thumped up the gangway and watched the planes hoisted aboard, one by one. This was it! For the next eight days the ship chased weather and qualifications were run off when the ceiling lifted. Learning the ways of a ship, the men began to talk like veterans and spoke casually of the beach, although that word had never before been associated with shore life. Once back at Brown Field they walked with a new lift a nd looked haughtily at green pilots who had yet to qualify. The Squadron then left Brown Field and settled at the Naval Air .Station, San Diego, on North Island. For nine days the pilots en- gaged in maneuvers and practiced bounce drill. On the tenth day they climbed into the planes and taxied in a long, winding queue to Pier Fo.x to join forces with the U..S.S. Lutiga Point (C ' E 94), their ship and their new home. It was an auspicious occasion that night when Captain Washburn strode into the ready room and welcomed them aboard. If there was ever a feeling of strangeness it was dissipated then. They belonged. That cruise lasted ten days. It was followed by two others as the ship and the Squadron practiced teamwork, strove for precision. Be- t een disembarking and embarking, the men made the most of their waning moments in the States. The Squadron received new planes, shiny with paint and throbbing with power. Good-byes were said and re-said until finally the word came to shove off for duty with the Pacific Fleet. 1 1 was a warm autumn afternoon when the sliips left San Diego. Th - .Scjuaflron gathered on the Might deck. s(|uinting into the sun a.s the little tugs backed the ship into the channel and she slipfK ' d into jjosilion astern of the Flag Ship. Officers and men stofxl there, silent, until the settling mist had (ut the Oalifornia ( oast line to a memory. ' I ' hen. as if jarred from their reveries by the same hand, the pilots clattc-rcd down to the ready room, laughing and oking with a sudden exhilaratifjn. The stern p(jintcd toward .San Diego, but the t)ovv was ( utting the water towards Pearl Hart)or. The training was over. They were out for blcKxl. Months later, combat wise and with a not unenviable reputation, they svere wont to ad- mit that the first six weeks afloat had been the Top: Spotting forward before recovering planes: center: Avenger airborne after being catapulted; below: Avenger being readied for catapulting. 146 longest, the most monotonous. But at that lime, the horizon was rosy. It was seven days to Pearl. Se en days of simulated attacks and grand weather. The islands broke from tiie horizon the morning of 23 October, green and wreathed in clouds. It was nearly every- iiody ' s first icw of Hawaii, and it made a strong impression. The ship slid into the harbor and tied up. There followed two days of liberty, during which souvenirs were bought and sent homeward. Then CarDiv 29 cast ofi again and set course for the vast reaches to the west. Eniwetok pro ided the initial iew of a l)attlc field with its denuded palm trees, It was a short look and was c|uickly replaced by the end- less horizon of the .sea as the ship and her im- patient crew sped on. Ulithi, but a few weeks an American base, provided the next anchor- age. Here the Squadron first realized the grimness of war, as mines, torn from their moorings by heavy weather, began exploding on protecting reefs and were found drifting be- tween the ships, necessitating a machine gun and .searchlight watch. Kossol Passage in the Palau Islands was where the ship and VC. 85 were given their first assignment, providing air coverage for convoys approaching and depart- ing Leyte Gulf. In the light of later develop- ments this was a tame job, but it looked big then. The con -oys were guarded with the Fighter races down deck on lly-away. zeal of a hen protecting her young. On the rare occasions when one of the patrols caught a glimp.se of Jap-held Mindanao, it was re-told in the ready room as a major occurrence. These days, though they were dull and un- eventful, broke the Squadron in gradually to the complications of combat Hying and sharp- ened carrier operations to the point where few faults could be found. The days crept slowly past and on 23 November CarDiv 29 was re- lieved and set course for the Admiralty Islands. What happened next is a chapter many would prefer to forget. It was painful. Be- . venger ready for catapulting inti 147 iwccn lli - I ' liilippiiKs ;uk1 the Adiiiiniltics lay iiii liypothilifiil line. It ;is, to l)c sure, a mt-rr technicality, yet it could not be avoiclcci. It was the Eciuator. Nor were minds assiiai cd by the sitjlit of canvas billies that all Shellbacks were industriously fashioning. Still, the Sciuad- ron reasoned, Vliat price surrender? So they talked it over and evolved a plan of action. The basic theme of this operational routine was this: If one member became overwhelmed he had but to yell ' HRV RUBE and help would be forthcoming. To further confuse the Shellbacks two of the more slippery pilots filched King Neptune ' s beard and crown at the eleventh hour. This put a definite crimp in the scheduled arri al of the Ruler of the Deep, and by way of punishment all Pollywogs were made to run around the (light deck until such time as tlie sacred vestments were returned. It was during this Marathon that a billy fell too heavily and the cry of HEV RUBE was heard. It was a signal for organized chaos as the .Sc|uadron broke free and made overwhelm- ing gains against weak defens -s. While the .Sc|uadron was prone to ( lassify this as a major up.set. the k-ading .Shellbacks tf«jk a dim view and ordered the initiation to prcxeed in a more military manner, ivhicli il did. The hapless oHicers and men were led one by one to the hangar deck and there taught their lesson of never trying to revolt against the I-oyal .Shell- backs. Like jackrabbits, they pelted down between the- double line of waiting .Shellbacks only to be urged to greater eflbrt.s en route. Once on the fantail the Pollywogs were made to pay olx ' isance to the Royal Court. After losing the greater part of their hair and Ix-ing dunked, they, too, became Shellbacks, although it scarcely smacked of being an honor then. With the pounding still smarting, the .Squad- ron was launched the morning of 27 November for landing at the small island of Ponam in the Admiralty group. As they circled the tiny bit of coral and sand awaiting their turn to land, The Sight deck is always a busy pla 143 they marveled at the brilHant colors of the reefs and jungles of Manus. close by. Island life proved pleasant, what with the ofiicer ' s t:lub and the lazy days. The afternoons found pilots and men swimming in the lagoon or paddling rubber boats under the warm Equatorial sun. It was a rest and a welcome one. Two weeks sped past swiftly and then the word came to prepare to embark. Planes were checked, equipment exchanged and replaced, and on 14 December the Squadron returned aboard ready to fight. This time a more am- bitious objective was in store as the pilots learned when they were briefed. South the ship sped to New Guinea, where for two days they helped cover a mock in asion, a prelude to the real thing soon to come. Christmas was spent aboard ship as she lay rocking gently in Seeadler Harbor, Manus. The New Year w as rung in to the beat of the screws of the ship, and her crew pushed back from whence she had come. Back to the Phil- ippines, but this time there was to be no convoy herding. Instead, VC 85 was to cover the in- bounces IukIi alter c ay:in arresting gear vi below: .Avenger on fly-away into the sunrise. .- .. .■nl; ■|- cm,-, in t..,, hisli and takes a wavc-ull. ,uu,Jj,um lop: .Avenger takes cut from L.S.O.: third from lop: .Arresting gear wire brings .Avenger to a sudden slop; hollom: With tail hook disengaged from arresting gear wire, .Avenger drops wings and taxles forward. 149 Avialion mechs tunt- up TBM on hangar Hrck. vasion of Lingaycii (nilf. 1 hey did it, too, handling the many duties witli skill and tincssc. They bombed and strafed; they carried ar- tillery observers and spotters; they photo- graphed the enemy far behind his lines, and ran long searches and submarine patrols. Tired, often with their planes torn with bullet and shell holes, they returned to their carrier after every hop as if drawn by a magnet and set the planes down on the heaving deck with surprisingly few accidents. .After tw ' lve days the carriers pulled out and returned to Ulithi for rest and replenishment. The lazy p( rt routine was pleasant. .Morn- ings were s[X-nt reading or writing a letter or two. In the afternoons there was always plenty of sun to ba.sk in or a basket-ball or ()lley-ball game on the hangar deck. At night one could see the picture show. Liljcrty came frequently enough to Ix- suflicicnt. One day a group of high ranking .Naval and Marine officers came aboard and all pilots were called to the wardroom. It was the briefing session for Iwo Jima. The vi.siting officers made it clear that Iwo Jima was ex- pected to be a tough nut to crack; no alter- native was left except for a frontal attack. The Marines were banking on the escort car- riers for air support. There was silence in the wardroom except for the crisp tones of the briefing officers as they sketched the plan of attack and outlined the duties of the pilots. They all felt the weight of responsibility that comes when men ' s lives are at stake. It was not long after that that the anchor was weighed and the Division of carriers steamed out of Ulithi for the next show. Iwo Jima turned out to be tough, but not too tough for the Squadron. For the first time they ran into an enemy that shot back in force. The island itself was a hell on earth, covered with smoke and constantly torn by explosions. Our plane iiard returns one of our pilots after emergency landing in the drink. 150 To this the Squadron added its bit by daily un- loading tons of bombs and scores of rockets on the enemy strongholds. Where the Marines called for bombs, VC 85 put them. The fighters fanned out to Chichi Jima to the north and spread destruction there. Photographic planes from the Scjuadron handled all the photographic duties rcc|uired at the objective. Under extreme weather conditions rocket and bombing attacks were executed with gratifying results. When the island was secured and land-based aircraft undertook the protection of the ground forces, the ships turned toward Ulithi again, with the satisfaction of knowing they had left behind a job well done. Wars are necessarily run on schedule and schedules cannot always take ships and pilots into consideration. So it was that, instead of a lengthy recuperative period following the Iwo Jima operation, the ship loaded day and night for nine days, readying itself for the next mo e. The .Squadron made the most of those nine days, short as they were, and felt ready to go when the order came. There had been no leaks of information prior to this sailing and scuttlebutt ran high as to the next objective. The air crewmen ' s ready room, spawning bed of scuttlebutt, proved especially fecund and produced at least one good story per day. But the truth was not long hidden. The night of departure from Ulithi all pilots were called to the ready room and there on the bulkheads they saw the map of a long, twisting island — Okinawa. It was generally agreed later that Okinawa was the hardest operation engaged in by the Scjuadron. Certainly the Hak was heaviest. At Iwo Jima the planes drew small caliber fire which was not readily seen. But here the strike groups ran afoul of the ugly black puffs that blossomed so menacingly out of thin air. They returned day after day, anti-aircraft fire or not, and carried out attacks in the face of it. The list of destruction at Okinawa makes a formidable box score on paper. It looked even better from the air as the huge columns of smoke arose from blasted ruins. Ten enemy aircraft were bagged by the Squadron planes during the operation, proving that all they had to do was see ' em. In these encounters, not one X; 85 plane was damaged by a Jap aerial gun. Routine anti-submarine patrols and combat air patrols were launched whenever called, and photographic and propaganda planes performed all missions creditably. Word had been passed that relief was due around 20 April, but that date came and went and the operation continued. At the end of April the ship was ordered to a fueling area to provide air cover for the tankers. This served as a welcome respite for the weary pilots; they flew shortened patrols, not too frequently. At last the long awaited dispatch came ordering the ship to Guam to pick up a new group. It meant that the cruise was over, finished. It meant a great adventure had reached its con- clusion. There is little that need be said about a group of men who, thrown together by chance, have organized themselves and perfected their skills into a smoothly working team. Their record stands and speaks for itself. If you were to ask one of the pilots vshat factor pushed VC 85 above the average, he would probably say, We were lucky — we drew a good ship. Yes, she is a good ship. The Squadron hadn ' t been long aboard when that became evident to all its members. And the Squadron Officers and men are proud to call the officers and men of the Lunga Point Shipmates. Fast friendships were formed that will continue long after the shooting stops and many of the reserves go back to civilian life. To the officers and men of the ship, the Squadron says, So long, good hunting, and God bless vou ! S ' lATISIIC ' S 14 May 1944 14 May 194J Liiriga Puiiil Xaulical engine miles steamed 74 746 Statute miles steamed 86,075 Gallons fuel oil consumed 5 o94 945 Gallons Diesel oil consumed (Galley only) 8,203 Gallons Fresh water used (Grew and Laundry) 8,191,366 Pounds provisions consumed i ,572,699 Number items carried in GSK 4 772 Ship ' s store sales 896,094.07 Clothing and small store sales $31,827.01 Rounds of ammunition exf)endcd 166,891 Jap planes shot down 5 Sqi ADRON Sorties flown 4)875 Gallons aviation gasoline consumed 635,000 Pounds irf bombs dropped 31 9,250 Pounds of rockets fired i 307,270 Roundsof. ammunition expended 41 7,965 Nunlber of landings on ship 4)672 Number of catapult launchings from ship 3)249 Number of fly-ofi launchings from ship 1,626 Jap planes shot down 11 Jap destroyers sunk i Barges and small craft sunk 23 Barges and small craft damaged 49 Buildings destroyed 71 Buildings damaged 43 Military trucks destroyed 53 Militar)- trucks damaged 38 Gun emplacements destroyed 22 Gun emplacements damaged 21 Ammunition dumps destroyed ' 7 Fuel dumps destroyed 5 Tanks destroyed 6 Supply dumps destroyed 8 Bridges destroyed 2 Enemy planes destroyed on ground 3 152 Inu,. j dU Ic j ' U . Admiral Durgin. 154 To you ■Boots listed below, we express the hope that, in years to come, when you are able to read your names herein, it will be with a feeling of pride and deep satisfaction in this evidence that our Father ser ed in the Lunga Point during what may well turn out to be one of the most momen- tous years in the history of this world into which you have so recently come. Furthermore, it is our sincere hope that, by that time, civilization and Christianity will have progressed to such an extent that it will never be necessary for you to undergo what your Father has during the period which this book chronicles. Bluejackets Lance Ira Ray 15 May 1944 William Robert .Smit, Jr 8 June 1944 Walker Dayton Martin 29 June 1944 Frank John Kramer, Jr 13 July 1944 Jose Pablo .Sisneros 29 July 1 944 Daniel Lee Rocha 25 August 1944 .Sidney Jerry Starr 9 .September 1 944 Kenneth Robert Grantz. . .25 .September 1944 Richard Joseph LeBelle . .27 .September 1944 Roger Harrison 17 October 1 944 Daniel Eugene Wilkie 19 October 1944 .Santiago Guadalupe Longoria . . 30 Oct. 1 944 Kenneth Ray Tucker 23 November 1944 Robert Allen Block 26 November 1 944 Howard Joseph Leath 5 December 1 944 Frank ' ickery .Sutton 6 December 1944 William Gerald Ballard, Jr 19 Dec. 1944 Wayne Lewellyn Kingsbury. . 13 January 1945 Billy Raymond Wilbur 30 January 1945 Alexander Miscichoski 6 March 1945 Lynn Dean Robbs. Jr 7 March 1945 Norman Lawrence Runyon ... 20 March 1 945 Raymond Russell Lynch 30 March 1 945 Waves Judith Ann Dolan 27 June 1 944 Barbara Palmer 30 June 1 944 Karlee Karen Reber 8 August 1 944 Linda Field .Stowell 15 August 1944 Elvita Soliz Mejia 19 August 1944 Beverly Kaye McBee 6 September 1 944 Mary Nell Callicoatte 9 September 1 944 Sharon Diane Botnen 22 September 1944 Jo Lee Black 25 October 1 944 Maria Theresa Baca 24 November 1 944 Connie Lou Eckert 24 November 1 944 Mary Alice Herriman 31 December 1 944 Sharon Ann Harris 6 February 1 945 Pamela Sue Stevens 16 February 1945 Carol Ann Kush 22 Februaiy 1945 Vickie Murray Linenweber .... 6 March 1 945 Dianne Elise Lar.sen 7 April 1 945 Mary Louise Petdtt 4 May 1945 Jeanne Margaret Dolan 13 May 1 945 P. A. L. Charles Babbitt White, Jr 15 May 1945 Offense : Over leave 24 hours. GUKKII.I.AS AKl. (iOOl) (;UVS Writt.n by Lt. (JK) Arthur V. (Hlkcy. L ' SNR, in (olhiljoration with Lt. William H. Ki-arns, USNR. Sciuaclron Air Comhal Intrllit, ' cnce OHicir. (Atilfior ' s ole. This is wrilten as a Irlhule to those bands oj fearless fighters, the Philifipiiie guerillas, who have contributed so much to the spectacular advance of our ground forces in the the recent invasion oJ Luzon. I ' n-sung, ill-clad, and ill-armed, these stout-hearted champions of freedom have fought, harrassed and killed the Jap conqueror behind his lirws since December 1 41. To their courage and friendship, scores of American airmen, like myself and my crew, otve their lives.) The South China Sea, spurred on by a 35 knot wind, was kicking up quite a fuss that afternoon of 1 1 January as we took off from our carrier, the Lunging Lunga (U.S.S. Lunga Point), and headed toward Lingayen Gulf where two days before the Army had gone ashore as a prelude to the capture of Luzon and the prize plum of the Philippines — Manila. Our mission was to observe enemy activity ahead of the American lines along the broad, verdant plain stretching between Lingayen and Manila, . board my Grumman A enger as a special observer was 2nd Lt. Charles A. Thai- man, 40th Infantry Division, U.S.A., of Floral City, Fla.; also my regular air crewmen: turret gunner Eugene E. Glizczinski, aviation ma- chinist ' s mate 2nd class, of Toledo. Ohio, and radioman Ronald V. Kirkpatrick, aviation radioman 3rd class, of VVashougal, Washington. Our ship, in company with other support carriers like her under the command of Rear Admiral Calvin T. Durgin, USN. had spear- headed a spectacular advance through the heart of the Philippines under the ver%- noses of the Japs and had arrived off Lingayen Gulf several days in advance of the Gargantuan con- voys bearing the main invasion forces. We pilots had been bombing and strafing Jap shore installations, small craft, ammunition and fuel dumps, bridges, trucks, gun emplace- ments, troop concentrations and other targets of opportunity. We had flown through our own and enemy ack-ack, making low glide- bombing and strafing runs, so this particular observation hop looked like it would be a pleasure jaunt by contrast. We would simply fly over roads, towns and hills where enemy activity was suspected and report by radio anything we saw that looked sigiiilicanl. We had n(j bombs or rockets aboard as thi.s wa.s not to be a ' strike mission. Of course wc had our gun.s loaded with .- j calilj -r ammunition (not to mention the .30 calilx-r jx-a sho jter in the bilge which was Kirkpalrick ' s pride and joy) and if we .saw any Japs well at least wc could shoot up a few just to keep in practice. It was 1445 Philippine time when I ta.xied onto the catapult of the carrier, revved up the engine to full power, gave the instruments a final check and signalled the catapult officer that I was ready. Almost instantly we were airborne — gliding out over the turbulent sea and climbing gradually. I glanced back at the Lunga Point, her diminutive flight deck pitching and tossing. Thank God I ' m oH her for a while and up here where it ' s smooth, I said to myself. But had I known then that twenty days would pass before I could see the good old Lunga Point — and many times during those days I thought I would never see her — I would have eaten those words. Wc reported on station as per schedule and were ordered to search the roads and mountain areas in the vicinity of Mangatarem, a village about fifteen miles .south of the Lingayen beach. Results of this search were negative and were so reported to Commander .Support .Aircraft who controlled these flights. The Japs were down there all right, but were wisely keeping off the roads and out of sight of our airmen. We were then told to search the main highway south to Tarlac, an important road junction and Jap strong point approximately thirty miles south east of Mangatarem and forty miles ahead of our own front lines. Sighting nothing significant we continued on south of Tarlac and soon sighted three camouflaged tanks, two trucks and an automobile. I promptly re- ported this to the headquarters ship. C:alling my crew and Lt. Thalman on the intercom, I told them to prepare for a strafing attack. Although our fliers had shot up plenty of Jap trucks, tanks had been as scarce as hen ' s teeth and I didn t propose to let these remain operational very long. I made a low-level run and squirted them with my .50 caliber wing guns. After passing over them, I pulled the nose up so my turret gunner and radioman could get the target well in their sights. They didn ' t let the opportunity go by. The Nips ran for cover like a bunch of scared monkeys, which they undoubtedly were. Quite a few of them didn ' t make it. but I don ' t know how- many we killed and wounded. Turning to get into position for a second run, I saw that the tanks, trucks and the automobile were burning merrily. Just to make sure. I made two more runs. After completing the hnal attack, and knowing that the Japs would nexer be able to use those vehicles again, I pulled up toward some o y foothills that fringed the otherwise flat plain. Here I saw what must have been several thousand Japs scurrying into fox-holes and fortified caves, the latter rein- forced and protected by thick concrete. If I had had rockets and a few bombs I could have made mincemeat out of quite a few of those emplacements and their occupants. Howe er. we still had plenty of ammunition for the guns .so we went in and strafed the troops and .set fire to a building which might have been a regimental headquarters. By this time the turret gun was out of ammu- nition: so Gliszcinski called and requested that I fly straight and level for a few moments so he coidd re-load. Accordingly, I levelled off at about 1500 feet. Suddenly I had a vague feeling that something was wrong with my engine. Checking the instruments hastily, I noticed that the oil pressure had dropped to zero. . lso, the prop governor was not func- tioning. We had seen some anti-aircraft shells burst behind us on one of our strafing runs, but I had not noticed any tracers from machine gun fire. However, it was certain that some Nip had put a lucky shot or two into our plane, .severing the oil line. We were in for it, no doubt about that. These engines are rugged and will take a beat- ing, but they won ' t run long without oil. I called my crew and passenger to stand by for an emergency landing and looked around for a likely place to set the 1 5,000 pound plane down. There were plenty of relatively flat fields below; so it was simply a case of picking the best one. Lt. Thalman called Commander Support Air- craft and reported the situation, gave our lo- cation and stated we were about to make an emergency landing. He received no acknowl- cdgement of the transmission due to the fact that his earphones had become disconnected. Meanwhile. I was concentrating on getting the plane down as intact as possible, heading in a long glide toward the field I had selected. We glided right over a Jap airfield, around the perimeter of which could be seen several single and t in-engine Jap planes nestling in the pro- tection of revetments. However, we didn ' t see any personnel or activity on the field itself. C:autioning the crew and observer to brace themselves, I brought the plane down in a wheels-up landing on a rice field. The rainy .season had long since passed and the field was dry. hard and rough. The Avenger skidded along on her oyster-white belly and came to a stop none the worse for her experience except for a bent propellor. As soon as the plane ceased its forward motion I radioed a message to the command ship and received a Roger. Well, at least somebody knew where we were and what had happened to us. Help would soon be on the way, we thought. My immediate concern was for the condition of my passengers, particularly for Lt. Thalman who had been riding in the second cockpit without benefit of a safety belt. Much to my relief, all hands reported Okay. Not one of us had been so much as scratched. Upon clambering out of the plane we sud- denly saw a sight that sent a momentary chill along our spines. Out of some distant weeds and brush came running toward us some twenty or thirty men. Our first thought was that they were Japs who had seen us go down and were bent on capturing us and our plane. We drew our revolvers, took shelter behind the fuselage of the aircraft and resolved to sell our li es as dearly as possible. As the men came closer, however, we saw to our relief that they were Filipinos — mostly boys in their late teens or early twenties. Suddenly w-e were sur- rounded and bombarded with cries of How. ya. Joe! .America no! and other equally heartening ejaculations. In surprisingly good English, they told us to come with them, that they would take us to the guerilla leader where we would be safe from the Japs. They also indicated that the Sons of Heaven were in the immediate icinity and that speed was of the essence. I told them that we would be happy to accompany them but that first it was necessary that we burn our maps and other confidential papers, and also destroy the plane. We immediately set about burning the papers. However, the Filipinos told us not to burn the plane as they would take care of that after stripping it of its precious guns and ammunition which were urgently needed by the guerillas. So we started off with the beaming and gesticulating youths, a small number of whom stayed behind to remove the guns and destroy the aircraft. Before we had 157 Ronc scarcely a mile, I looked hack and saw a Rreat billow of smoke whii ii mark d ihe final resting place of our gallant Avenger. We were taken to a village or Barrio, about a mile and a half from where we landed. This would be al)out twelve miles south of Tarlac, and near the villau;e of Concepcion. The countryside throuijh which we passed was in the heart of an agricultural district cut up into small rectaiii;ular fields and farms. There were few dwellinp;s in evidence, but along the way men, women and children would suddenly appear ofTerinc; us fresh eggs, little cakes of sugar and other edibles. We had so many eggs that wc could not carry them all, but we ate all wc could raw and took the rest with us. Every- where wc were greeted with Americano, after which the people would stare at us as though we were strange creatures newly arrived from another planet. Soon we reached the barrio. Here vcrc grouped several houses of the thatched roof variety and which in .■ merica we would call huts. As we walked into the barrio and through the dusty main street, the whole pop- ulation turned out to welcome us. Their smiles and laughter would suddenly subside into stares. I have never been so stared at in my life and I guess we did our share of staring in return. For we had never seen at first hand the look an oppressed people bestows upon those who bring them promise of freedom after years of torture and misery. There is a look in the eye; an expression of face that tells what words cannot articulate. We four . mericans, in our funny Hying suits, toting our parachutes, first-aid kits, life jackets and other impedimenta of our kind, were symbols of imminent release from suffering and heartbreak for which these simple folk had prayed to Almighty God. .Since December 1 94 1 — three long years and more — these spiritually stalwart people had seen their land over-run, their crops and live- stock stolen, their sons and husbands tortured and killed, and their wives and daughters de- filed at the point of gun and bayonet by a God- less army of barbarians. The guerillas told me later that Red Cross shipments of medicines and supplies of mercy intended for our Ameri- can prisoners of war had been confiscated by Japanese authorities, diverted to their own greedy use, or sold to Filipinos at prices which only a handful could possibly pay. For ex- ample, a Filipino, ridden with malarial fever, could obtain a single capsule of quinine only by paying 1,000 Jap pesrjs the equivalent of about Si i.ck) in American money. They told me also of many unspeakable atrm ities inflicted on our prisoners, too horrible to relate here. In the barrio we were taken to a house and then- introduced to the leader of the guerilla forces in the immediate vicinity. He staled that he was in command of the 2nd Battalion of Hukbelahops, a unit of the Philippine .Xational .Xrmy. Hukbelahops, my ho.st informed me, meant Fighting the Japs. Later on we were to hear cjf many of the ex- ploits of this people ' s army as exciting and hair-raising a series of ad entures as ever were featured in the celluloid palaces of my home town, Front Royal, Virginia. The guerilla leader was young and said that his men were from 15 to 25 years of age, armed for the most part with old-style U.S. Army rifles and .45 caliber automatic pistols. They also had ac- cumulated an assortment of .-,0 and .30 caliber machine guns and numerous weapons taken from the Japs they had killed. Their ammu- nition was of various kinds and vintages and there was always need for more. From the tone of the leader ' s voice and the glint in his eye, I am sure that little ammunition was wasted. A Jap for every bullet was their motto. The leader informed us that clothing for his men was a real problem as the country was de- pendent on imports for its cotton and wool — imports which had been non-existent for three years. Many of the guerillas wore shirts and trousers fashioned from burlap bags and not a few wore parts of Jap army uniforms obtained by the simple expedient of killing the former owners. However, it seemed that nothing was too good for the Americano. .Several days later, when my fiying suit began to give off something of an aroma, one of my benefactors produced a pair of white cotton trousers, a dazzling blue sport shirt and a straw hat which he insisted that I accept. Not to have done so would have constituted an insult of the crudest kind. .So I donned the attire and spent the remaining days dodging Japs in an outfit that would have done credit to a country club sport. Prior to beginning our flights over Philippine territory, our Air Combat Intelligence officer had issued to each airman a packet containing 100 Philippine pesos, worth approximately S50.00 in -American money. This currency was to be used in the event any of us were forced down and presumably would purchase for us the bare necessities of life until we could make our way to our own forces. We found, however, that this money was valueless to us, since the Filipinos would not accept payment for food or other articles of supplies with which they were so generous. So we passed the money out to them as souvenirs and they re- ceived it with great elation. All of them carried invasion money issued by the Japanese military government but this they would throw on the ground and stomp on, crying Damn Jap Pesos — no good ! American pesos — they good! One of our pesos was the equivalent of about 40 Jap pesos in purchasing power. The Filipinos gave us .American and Jap- anese cigarettes. A Spaniard who owned a sugar mill and was the leading citizen of one of the barrios because of his affluence, gave us — of all things — a bottle of Golden Wedding whis- key! He had been hoarding this since before the days of the Jap invasion and had reserved it for a very special occasion. Many of the Filipinos offered us native gin, distilled from sugar cane. It tasted like American gin, but packed a much more formidable wallop. The food we were given was abundant but monotonous. It consisted of boiled rice, meat from the ubiquitous carabao, chicken, eggs, bananas, and fresh tomatoes which were us- ually on the green side. The carabao meat was tough but quite tasty and all the food was well seasoned. We considered this fare sur- prisingly good for a country .Nhose farms had been picked again and again by the Jap vul- tures. We knew, howe er, that our food came from carefully hidden supplies and that many were going without so that we could eat. The health of the people seemed fairly good in spite of the acute shortage of medicines and medical care. There was much evidence of malaria and of nutritional deficiency diseases. And many of the guerillas had nasty looking leg sores. I noticed one lad in particular who had an unusually ugly sore on his leg. It was open and exuding pus, and extended for six inches across the front of his leg. I told him to go out of the house and he soon returned with no fewer than fifty of his companions similarly afflicted. So we set up a regular hospital ward, applying sulfa powder and bandages from our first-aid kits as long as the supply lasted. To say that our patients were grateful is something of an understatement. We spent our first night. 1 1-12 January, as guests of the guerilla leader in a one-room, thatched-roof house with woven mats for beds. Several guerillas of subordinate rank also shared our room. At bedtime, I removed my Mae West, the bright yellow inflatable life jacket that all carrier pilots and air crewmen wear, my jungle knife and my revolver and holster. The latter I placed several feet from my pallet, whereupon one of the guerillas cautioned me to keep it within arm ' s reach as I might need it before the night was o er. Japs near — may come, he said. But the night and the next day were uncvent- fiil and Lt. Thalman, Glizczinski, Kirkpatrick and I were given an opportunity to get better acquainted with our new found friends. We discovered, for example, that the guerillas are strictly a military organization spending hours each day in close-order drill and maneuvers. The lads took great pride in their skill with the rifle. One youngster — he couldn ' t have been more than 1 5 — performed the manual of arms for a solid hour, .solely for my edification. Even the toughest Marine sergeant would have admitted that the kid was terrific. He doesn ' t remember how many Jap soldiers he has killed. During the early morning ve would see Jap planes flying low overhead. Then by mid- morning they would disappear and our own planes would come over. The latter we frantically signalled with the few flares we had salvaged from our plane and with our signal mirror, but to no avail. It gave us a helpless feeling. Just before dusk, the Jap planes would again put in an appearance. Although we had blasted many of them out of the sky and had destroyed many more on the ground, they still managed to get more into the air. We consoled ourselves with the thought that soon our forces would overrun the well hidden Jap fields and capture the planes our pilots couldn ' t find. I had been curious to know how the Filipinos felt about the damage inflicted on their homes and villages by our bombers. Many civilians had doubtless been killed and wounded by our air attacks, since the Japs had established fuel and supply dumps and many other kinds of ground installations throughout the island. These could not be destroyed from the air with- out cost to the Filipinos. Standing in the en- trance of our house one night I expressed my curiosity to the guerilla leader. He shrugged. The Filipinos are ery grateful to the .Ameri- canos. We kno - that some must die so that ;ill iiiiiy !) ■ Iiii-. It is worili iinylliiiii; lo l«- rid of lite ).i|)s. Diiriiit; llic (Aciiini; ol the second lull chiy with the mu-rillas tlic leader told lis to t;el ready to move as llie battalion was about to head north. He hoped that before many days we could ellerl contact with the American forces advancing south from the Lingayen area. Wc were delighted as we had become im- patient to get under way. Vc lived in dread that our commanding ofticer had already sent oHicial dispatches to our wives and parents, ■ ' The Navy Department deeply regrets to in- form you that your husband (or .son) is missing in action. VV ' e must spare our loved ones that grief and anxiety at all costs, and we well knew that every day, every hour hastened that inescapable event. VVc started just before dusk. We marched in single file across fields and streams. The guerillas would not let us walk through the streams ourselves but insisted on carrying us on their backs. We a oided the main roads and the areas where the Japs were known to be concentrated. In about six hours we reached a barrio which was an almost exact duplicate of the first. Here wt were assigned a thatched hut and a straw mat and were soon sleeping like exhausted children. The next day, the leader told us that wc had met up with the ist Battalion of Hukbelahops and that we would split up. two of us going with each of the battal- ions. Thus, in case one of the groups ran into trouble, at least two of us Americans would stand a good chance of getting back to our own forces. He also said that it was known that the Japs were combing the countryside for us. The roads were alive with Nip patrols. Ac- cordingly, we split up: Kirkpatrick and I went with the new group (ist Battalion) and Lt. Thalman and Gliszcinski remained with the original outfit. We were introduced to the commander of the ist Battalion, a Major and a veteran of numerous engagements with the Japs. In the early part of the war he had been captured, subsequently escaping to become an important cog in the vast guerilla organization. Ob- iously well educated, he was perhaps 25 years old, of slim stature and wore glasses. He was constantly attended by no fewer than six order- lies. He wore civilian clothes with an air of a well trained military man and he had been fighting the Japs since the day they first landed on tli - same Lingayen beaches which our forces had so recently s -cured. I ' or the next seven nights we travelled from barrio to barrio. C)ne night we halted about midnight tcj get some much needed rest. I was sotjn sound asleep. At about 0200 I was awakened by someone shaking my shoulder. ■ ' Oome quick, said a voice, Japs! We were instantly awake. The Major then in- formed us that one of his sentries had dis- covered a large Jap patrol moving down a road toward us, not 200 yards away. One platoon of guerillas had crossed a small stream and had stealthily established a defense line Ix-tween us and the Japs. In front of this line was a fork in the road, one prong leading to our position and the other away from us. If the Japs con- tinued clown the road and took our fork, there would be a skirmish. If they took the other fork, they would pass by withr ut discovering us. We waited tensely. In a few minutes a courier appeared out of the night and reported that the Japs had passed by. We breathed considerably easier. During the day we would hide in a barrio, keeping out of sight as much as possible. Once from our hut we saw a Jap raiding party ap- proaching the barrio bent on stealing food supplies. Quickly wc made our way to the opposite side of the village and waited until the Japs had departed. Had we Americans not been with them, the guerillas would have taken care of this raiding party with ease. However, the Major would not risk a skirmish for fear that our security would be endangered. During our nocturnal travels the Major said that we were headed north. However, we soon discovered that our route was far from a straight one. In fact, after having passed the same sugar mill several times, first on one side of us and then on the other, it dawned on me that we had been travelling in circles. I asked the Major the reason for this and he replied that the Japs had us blocked on the north and he could not risk a skirmish with their patrols until we had been delivered to our forces. ■Since it was dangerous for us to remain in one spot, it was best that we keep moving, even though we were getting nowhere. On Saturday, 20 January, we met up with a unit of the Alamo Scouts, a specially picked and trained group of two American officers and ten enlisted men. It was the mission of these intrepid explorers to range far ahead of our advanced lines and report on enemy loca- 160 lions and aclnilN- l)y iiicans cjI portable radio gear which they carried. They travelled in a carabao drawn cart loaned to them by Fili- pinos. They obtained a fresh cart and animal at each barrio through which they pas.sed, sending the previous one back to its owner. The Scouts gave us the heartening news that tile following day our patrols would have reached the town of Tarlac, .so wc proceeded cautiously in that direction. On the next day — .Sunday, 21 January— wc made contact with the .American forces at a barrio four miles south of our expected rendezvous point. Here also we found the 2nd Battalion of guerillas with Lt. Thalman and Glizczinski. They had been following a course parallel to ours. It was a joyful re-union. The unit with which we had made contact was a large patrol of the 40th Infantry, Lt. Thalman ' s own out- lit. The Army was in the process of setting up a temporary headquarters in the town and the oflicials had turned out for a celebration. It was a gay affair with many speeches of welcome. .Several of our hosts were graduates of American schools and colleges and spoke perfect Engl ish. After the speeches the ladies of the town .served food and drinks to all. It reminded me for all the world like a Fourth of July celebration in Front Royal. Hcie we took leave of our friends and bene- factors. I thanked the Major and many of his men, but I am sure my words did not express the gratitude we all felt. Those fearless war- riors in the cause of freedom had saved our lives and tho.se of many other American airmen, . ' nd someday, when the medals are passed out, they will have to design a very special one of platinum and diamonds for them. Yes, Guer- rillas are Good Guys ! ol!ey ball on forward cic Assistant naviKator and quail Basketball on hangar deck. Painless ' Ray at work on a gullible shipn Lunga Point! Lunga Point! Squadron Coiiiniaiidcr gets a haii O.O.D., Quartermaster and Boatswain ' s Matc-of-thc-Walch quarterdeck in port. Touch football on flight deck. Gcttin. thdi G.i; Mail Cail in 2nd Division coinparlni ' iit. Ship ' s cobbler. His name is Schumacher, too. Captains-of-lhe-Head polishing brass. ' - — KA— ji ' ' ' lup: Signals ; bduw: Mail Gall in after crew mess. Top: Every day is wash day in the laundry; below: Pay Day. Cloffee, Gin Rummy and cigarctles. Yes, this is the Wardroom (Joe Gilles in background) l.rii.T writin-j in (MVO. qtiartr At work in o.ir n.a. I.inr shop. .M iplutt ' ji rfi wuik in shipfitler ' s siiop. C:arpcntL ' r s Mates at work In carpenter shop. Our tailors at work. Boxing match — C ' E 94 vs. C ' E 95. - i _J_- ■ - % i- i ' ? Minn r)r)ldrid£;r, Sic, Irads sin£;in£; at Bible study group meeting. ' E Division Officer, Chief and . prrat..r at K: s itchbuard. After starboard batteries at anti-aircralt practice. 1 C I ' O. (luailf . i vv Clii.f rats first mial in the O.I ' .O mi-ss out ,l pii; lrr,uch Pork chops again, darn it! Followed by the mid-watch. There ' s always time for Gin Rummy in this stateroom. Second Uivision stand by on the fantail to receive destroyer alongside with mail. ' ' PRESS RELEASE 1 6 April 1945 By Lt. William H. Kcarns, USNR (Aboard a combat support aircraft carrier in the western Pacific.) 15 April 1945 (Delayed). How it feels to be shot down by anti-air- craft fire behind the Japanese lines on the en- emy-held bastion of Okinawa .scarcely more than 300 miles from the Jap mainland, to then be chased by Jap soldiers who shot at them with rifles, and to subsec(iiently make good their escape and return to their own aircraft carrier was related today by two of this ship ' s airmen, Lt. (jg) Robert H. Ch-on, USNR, of Worcester, Mass., pilot of an Avenger torpedo bomber, and Rual W. Melton, aviation radio- man, second class, of Detroit, Michigan. As one of the formation of carrier-based fighter and bomber planes attacking gun po- sitions and other enemy targets on Okinawa, Lt. (jg) Cron ' s plane was hit by Jap anti-air- craft fire as he was pulling out of his first dive. He had just launched a salvo of rockets on a group of enemy guns when he saw his engine begin to smoke profusely, apparently due to a severed oil line. His vision obscured by oil which covered the windshield, he leaned out of the cockpit to get a view of the terrain below. He had only 900 feet altitude at the time his engine was hit and he was now losing altitude at an alarming rate. Knowing that he could not remain airborne more than a few minutes, he headed the plane toward a small bay which jutted inland from the coast, intending to make a water landing. But the sea was too far away and it became obvious that he couldn ' t stretch his glide that far. Turning north, the pilot determined to land as near to the American lines as his waning power would allow. But the friendly lines were still about three miles away and there was now no alternative but to put the plane down in Jap territory. Skilfully avoiding crashing into a small vil- lage, Lt. (jg) Cron made a perfect landing in a level field. The plane skidded along for a short distance, then slewed into a mound of earth and stopped abruptly. Lt. (jg) Cron relea.sed his safety belt and shoulder straps, climbed out of the cockpit and made a quick check on his crew; the turret gun- ner and Melton. The radioman, reported All safe. The plane was now enveloped with smoke and the engine was on fire. The flames licked their way aft along the fuselage. Speed was now of the essence, for in the Aven- ger ' s belly were ten live bombs. At any .second the mounting heat would detonate them. Lt. (jg) Cron and his crewmen unstrapped the leg straps of their parachute harness and the three airmen ran like rabbits for the safety of a drain- age ditch 150 yards away. They had .scarcely dived into this shelter when the bombs went off. The torpedo bomber literally disappeared in the cataclysmic blast, which tore a crater in the ground 100 feet in diameter and rained debris on the countryside for hundreds of yards in all directions. The detonation occurred one minute after the plane came to a stop on the ground. A close call. But they were to have other close calls that day. Lt. (jg) Cron and his comrades now took stock of the situation. They knew that an un- reckoned number of almond-eyed Nips had watched the descent of their crippled plane; many more had doubtless .seen and heard the explosion. They prayed that the Japs would believe that the pilot and crew had been des- troyed in the blast; otherwise, armed patrols would even now be scouring the vicinity for them. And they knew that the cornered, desperate Japs on Okinawa were taking no prisoners. Melton fished a battered map from his flying suit. Lt. (jg) Cron pointed to a spot on the eastern side of the southern part of the island, indicating their present position. They were about 3 4 of a mile from Yonabaru Wan, the bay the pilot had tried to reach before going down. About 2 ' miles to the north were the nearest American lines. Obviously, their best chance lay in making the beach and then push- ing north to friendly territory. Between them and this friendly haven, however, lay a sizable unit of the Jap army. About 100 feet to the north they could see several native huts, exidently the beginning of a small village. So the trio headed east toward the coast, skirting the village. Walking through fields and vegetable gardens, they took ad- antage of what scant cover was available, re- alizing that their bright yellow Mae West life jackets would be easy to spot from a dis- tance. After progressing eastward fcjr about 500 yards, the escapers turned north and about this time Ann-riran .irtillcry shells Ix-nan fallinn nearby. Fur clays now tiie army had Ix-eii shelling Nip min positions whit li were du into the sides of many hills and cleverly camou- flaged. As the shells bei an to hurst closer and closer, the three airmen freciuently llopixd on their stomachs to avoid the blasts. Soon the barrage receded behind them and their prog- ress ceased to Ix- thus impi-ded. Continuing north, Lt. ( jg) Cron and his crewmen saw a camoullaged Jap tank standing at the side of a narrow road. They ducked be- hind some brush and watched it for a few moments. No crew was in evidence, but not wishing to take a chance the trio turned cast again. Some distance ahead they could make out the beach, but between them and it were several hou.scs with thatched roofs. Finding a cleared area between two small villages, the three half walked, half ran through this field and came to a stone and concrete sea wall which skirted the beach. They .scrambled over the wall, then headed north-east following the curve of Yonabaru Wan. . mcrican ar- tillery shells began falling closer now, the gun- ner ' s point of aim being the small villages the airmen had just avoided. They could hear the whine of the big shells passing close above them, then the earth shaking carr — um — ph as the shells burst. Hearing the whine, the airmen would flatten themselves against the sea wall, then scramble ahead until the next close one came over. Soon the firing ceased and the trio continued north-east at a fast walk. .Suddenly the turret gunner, ho had been looking behind every few moments, gave a warning cry. Glancing backward, the other tw ' O saw a terrifying sight. Two Jap soldiers, about lOO yards behind, were running toward them. Their rifles with naked bayonets gleamf d in the sunlight. The three . mericans broke into a run, their .38 caliber revolvers be- ing no match for the Jap rifles. As they started to run the Japs gave a yell and com- menced firing at the fleeing aviators. Bullets whined close but luckily none found its mark. Sighting a break in the sea wall ahead. Lt. (jg) Cron made for it and scrambled through to the land side, followed by the other two. For a few seconds, at least, the Japs could not fire on them until they, too. crossed the wall. If the .Americans thought they could find better cover on the other side, howexer. they were disappointed. Soon the Japs came in sight again and again began filing. Lt. (jg) Cron knew that it would Im- only a matter of time )c- fore a Jap bullet, (jr several bullets, found their marks. If they could only get into the s -a and swim out far en(jugh to Ik- out of range of the Jap rifles, they might Ik- safe, temporarily at least. It Ifjoked like their only chance, .so Lt. (jg) Cron motioned his companions to go over the wall again. Once on the other side, Lt. (jg) C!ron dashed to the water ' s edge and into the shallow water. (Jlancing around he saw that only the radioman, Melton, was with him. The turret gunner apparently winged by a Nip bullet, had failed to get over the wall. Either that, or he had elected to turn landward in the hope of finding cover and escaping his relent- less pursuers. But there was no (jpportunity for the other two to go back to look for the gun- ner. The Japs were standing on the sea wall and firing. Bullets pinked the water on all sides of the two exhausted fliers, sending up little bursts of spray. The water was just abo e their knees, and the two sur ivors plunged into the gentle .surf, rolled over on their backs and pushed themselves along with their feet. Miraculously, they were not hit by the Jap.s ' fire, and now with only their heads showing they made progressivly poor targets as they slowly inched their way out of range. The Japs made no efTort to pursue them into the water but stood on the sea wall watching, like vultures waiting for their prey to fall before swooping in for the kill. Now 200 yards offshore and just out of range of the Jap ' s rifles, the pair found a coral ledge which allowed them to stand and rest, the water up to their arm pits. Regaining their breath and some semblance of strength, they made their way slowly along the ledge in a northerly direction. But it is tiring business trying to walk in water of that depth and Lt. (jg) Clron decided to move landward toward shallow er water where they could make better time. The Japs, meanwhile, had been follow- ing their course from the beach; as the pair mo ed in closer, the soldiers let out a whoop and began firing again. The fugitives were forced to swim to deejjer water as the bullets began splashing close. Again they found a coral ledge where they could stand. Farther out, the waxes were breaking over a coral reef which jutted above the surface of the sea at low tide. During these breathless minutes, the fliers had seen friendly carrier planes winging over- head and when one would come in close, they put out some dye marker from the small pack- ages attached to their Mae Wests. But none saw the signal and as time went on the airmen became discouraged and cursed their fellow fliers at the tops of their lungs. Melton began to develop cramps in his legs. The water was cold and the leg muscles, tired by the strenuous exertions of the past few minutes, began to knot. Also, Melton ' s life jacket only partially inflated and was not suf- ficiently buoyant to support his full weight. I.t. ( jg) Cron gave Melton his life jacket, and thus supported, he was able to take much of the strain off his legs. At this point it was about 1015 hours (10:15 AM). Friendly planes were frequently sighted, but none saw the marooned men. Finally came the break for which they had been wait- ing. An artillery ob.scrvation plane, flying low and slow, came close and the pilot saw the bright yellow Mae Wests and the frantically gesticulating fliers. He swooped low over their heads, circled several times and waved. Then he tossed o crboard an inflated rubber raft, w hich. unfortunately hit the water between the stranded men and the shore: too close to the beach to permit its recovery without bringing the rctrie er within range of the Jap rifles. Making another low pass, the pilot of the plane cut his engine completely, shouted something unintelligible to the men below, then gunned his engine and sped away. He ' ll send help, the airmen agreed. Sure enough, in about ten minutes a carrier-ba.sed torpedo bomber approached and began circling their position. Fifteen minutes later, two fighter planes relieved the Avenger and main- tained a close vigil. No longer were the men in the water afraid of being pursued by Japs from the beach, for the fighter planes could easily hold off any such threat with their power- ful Nving guns. At 1300 hours (1:00 PM) two seaplanes approached, made perfect landings on the calm sea and taxied up to the wet, tired men. Lt. (jg) Cron clambered aboard one, and Melton the other. Then the planes took off and a few minutes later the .survivors were taken aboard a seaplane tender. One week later, on 15 April, the two airmen were returned to their carrier and were wel- comed aboard by the Commanding Officer, C:aptain G. A. T. Washburn, U. S. Navy, of .Seattle, Washington. We ' re glad to have you two back aboard, said Captain Washburn. We ' re glad to be back, .Sir, replied Lt. (jg) Cron. And he wasn ' t kidding. luucli luolljiill oii lliglil deck. 171 anyrs no u, thr (. P. Squadron personnel relaxing under TBM. Orchestra rehearsal. Frying eggs is a side line. Barbecuing a pig is his specialty. In the ' -2 enlisted mens conipaiiment after a hard day. C:aptain ' s •ho.isrhold. A -2 noon-hour pastime. Some answering sugar rcporis, some reading, and some just doping off. Our ' baby at . A practice. A little relaxation when day is done, and there are no Japs around. CHANG He was just a six weeks old Boot when he re- ported aboard for duty on 14 May 1944. but he rapidly ad anced himself in rate to the point that he was rated Kg 3c before we got under- way from Astoria on 5 June 1944. In spite of tiie fact that he was one fourth German Police and three fourths Chow, he carried himself with the pride and dignity that would do justice to the snootiest canine in the American Kennel CHub registry. C:hang was a sailor from the start. He rapidly mastered the technique of climbing the many ladders around the ship; was the first one to get to the flight deck when General Quarters was sounded, and the first at the head of the chow line when chow was piped down. Furthermore, the roll of the ship never bothered Chang, even on that long Shakedown Cruise. When in port, Chang never left the vicinity of the after gangway, which was his Sentry Post; that is, he didn ' t at first. Finally, as he grew rapidly, and the call of the wild beck- oned to him. he juinpcd ship at North Island one day in August 1 944, but when we returned from a ten dav cruise. Clhang was waiting for us at the dock from which we had departed. He went to C:aptain ' s Mast, and was given ten days in the brig on cake and wine, and the punishment, at first, seemed to ha e the proper cfi ' ect. Howe er. about two weeks before we de- parted on our business trip, he jumped ship again at North Island. Undoubtedly, he had a girl friend near there, becau.se he hid himself so well that the results of six different searching parties from the ship, looking high and low aroimd Dago, Coronado, and North Island, were to no avail. It was, therefore, with a genuine feeling of sorro v throughout the ship that we had to give up the search for our first mascot, Chang, a Plank Owner, and a Shell- back. Chang had gone completely A.W.O.L. We have a feeling, however, that Chang re- grets his action, now, because a number of the crew have received letters with the information that Chang is still at North Island, waiting for the Lunga Point to return. When he does re- turn, he will get more cake and wine, but we will all welcome him back, because he is still our Mascot. SC.OTTV Having given up our search for Chang, and knowing that it is very bad kick to go to sea without a dog for a mascot, we set about to get another Ship ' s Dog. We visited the dog pounds in Dago, Coronado, and National City, as well as the S.P.C.A. kennels in those places, but could not find a dog suitable for the Liinga Poinl. Finally, a Sergeant of the Coronado Police, whom we had enlisted in our futile search for Chang, felt so sorry for us that he gave us his own dog, a pedigreed Scotty, whom we ac- cepted so readily that we even forgot to ask his name. What we wanted was a dog, and we wanted him now, ' because wc were getting underway that afternoon on our business trip. Just thirty minutes before we got underway, Scotty reported aboard for duty, promptly making love to one of Bos n Luck ' s beauti- fully decorated posts on the Quarter Deck, and eyeing his new surroundings with doubtful misgivings. Such a sudden change of sur- roundings in the life of a gentleman dog ! Scotty was not the sailor that Chang was, because, for the first two weeks, he could not take food or water. How he li ed we do not know. He was without doubt the most un- happy looking creature we have ever seen on four legs. He simply could not comprehend all the strange noises on the ship, nor could he understand or appreciate the constant roll of the Lunga Point. He soon accjuired the nick- name Sad-.Sack, bccau.se it fitted him per- fectly. Every time he saw the officer who brought him aboard, he would look at him as if to say, There ' s that man that did that thing to me. Gradually, however, he became accustomed to his new life and began to eat and drink oc- casionally. The most succes.sful person in making him eat was Chief Hamilton; so Scotty joined the C.P.O. Mess, where he knew he would get the best chow on board, and Chief Hamilton, thereafter, became his master. •Scotty immediately perked up, and has seemed fairly content ever since. As a matter of fact, he has only left the ship twice since i6 October •Scotty is making us a good mascot, though. Up to this writing, however, he has never learned to climb the ladders about the ship. He just waits at the ladder for someone to take him up or down, because his short legs weren ' t built for our ladders. He has a G.Q,. .Station somewhere, but no one knows where. Ever ' time that gong rings .Scottv ' disappears and is not seen until well after we have secured from General Quarters. While he seems reason- ably happy, we do feel that he spends a good part of his time dreaming of the cool shade under the trees beside the Police .Station in Coronado. California. ' PORTHOLE No one seems to know too much about Port- hole, the Captain ' s cat. About all we do know is that Mrs. Washburn brought her aboard the day we sailed from the States on this cruise. Knowing that the Captain must keep pretty well to himself aboard ship, even ha ' ing to dine alone while at sea. Mrs. Washburn un- doubtedly felt that he would be very lonely at times; so she decided to get him a pet for com- pany. Porthole was just a tiny kitten when she first rt ported aboard, but she has grown on through the Debutante stage, and is now a dignified and sedate Spinster. She is the only one. besides the Captain, that has complete freedom in the Captain ' s cabin, and our opinion is that she just about rules the roost in there. We do know that she occupies the Captain ' s comfort- able upholstered leather chair as if it were brought aboard solely for her use. W ' e dare say, too, that, while underway, she coils up and sleeps on the Captain ' s comfortable Beau- tyrest Mattress, while he tries to get in his cat nap ' in his Sea Cabin up in the island structure. While Porthole is the Captain ' s pet, she has meant much to the entire Ship ' s Company in that she has added an atmosphere of home to the ship, and all hands enjoy seeing .Scotty and Porthole romping up and down the Captain ' s passageway, with Scotty usually running from those vicious slaps that Porthole gives him. Then, too, for those on watch topside during the mid-watch, Porthole has put on many a show as she chases a piece of paper or cotton up and down the flight deck during the wee small hoiu ' s of the morning, and otherwise ca orts to her heart ' s delight while Scotty snores away down in the C.P.O. quarters. All things considered, Porthole has been a good shipmate to us all, as well as to the Cap- tain, 177 ' •Kiel I I HI.I.I.S l;iiul .ill is Weill Lyrics l)v 1,1. jii( k 11. (i;m(lt. L ' . .S. .Navy, (( hirf I ' ,ni;inccr, L ' ..S..S. l.uni a ' oiiil), and l ' ,(luin |. Hill. Music l)y Don (icori c and Joliniiy . ()l lc. 11 V li.ilni Id llic htlls lluit ring at rarille As l iiy announce Ihr timr of day: MV symbol i-f the sound into a melody, And this is what they seem to say. ' •Eight Bells ' ' and all is well With our Savy personnel. ' ' ' Eight Bells ' ' there ' s no pretense, ]lVrc the first line of defense. Eight Bells for freedom ring To our memories will cling. While our ships fiatrol the seas To fnotect our liberties. -Eight Bells and all m uyII. li ' hen time arrives to fight We trill fight ivith all our might To keep our sea lanes clear .And defend this hemisphere. ' ' Eight Bells and all is well For our ships and personnel. To command our liberties .And the freedom of the . ;eas, Eight Bells and all is well. SIIJI ' MAII. or MINI- can still ur you there. Bombs bursting in air. You were fighting with one thought in view. To keep Old Hlory flying, : nd there ' s no denying, } ' ou gave all for the lied. While and Blue. Shifimate Of .Mine, You have sailed beyond the seas; .Shifimate Of .Mine, You are in my memories. HV sailed the seas together. With f ride in . avy Blue. There ' ll never be another, Never a Pal like you. Shipmate Of Aline Tou did not fight in vain, Because you were fighting For democracy to reign. Hoiv you loved the . avy, too, ril alicays bear in mind. And carry on for you, ' ■Shifmiatf Of Mine. The above poem is dedicated to the .American Blue Jacket, and was written by Lt. J. H. Garrett, U.SN, Chief EnRineer of the U.S.S. Lunga Polnl, as a memorial to Chief Boatswain Edwin (. Hill, USN, who was killed in action at the Battle of Pearl Harbor. 7 December 1941. and was- posthumously awarded the Ojn es- sional Medal of Honor for his heroic action, when, having been blown overboard by the explosion of a Jap bomb, he swam back to his battleship and personally supervised unmooring his ship, thereby .saving her from a disastrous fate, but losing his own life. Copyright, 1942. Miller Music Corporation, New York, N. ' . Lunga Point from air at sunset. 178 Dear Folks: Oh — hum ! Egad ! Reveille so soon? I ' ll be glad when I am Home again; rii sleep elear tiirough to noon. This 0330 reveille Was not designed for me; If Vd only known it soon enough I ' d never put to sea. Four o ' clock, Flight Quarters; All stations must be manned; Planes fueled, armed and chocked. Boy, this Navy life is grand. Four-thirty comes and brings G.Q. Such a rush you ' ll never see; As sailors manning Battle Stations In enemy sections of the sea. Five-thirty finally rolls around; The sun begins to climb. Two hours now have I been up; Two hours of should be slumber time. Six-thirty — Mess Gear; .Seven o ' clock, we eat. It seems the day must soon be o ' er; .So I can go back to sleep. Right o ' clock, sweep down, The day has just begun; The second flight ' s about to leave, And things begin to hum. Degassing crews and gassing crews Are busy at their tasks; Aviation ordnancemen Are always running past. Bombs and rockets fit in place With a precision how-do-you-do; All hands run the obstacle course Set up by the handling crew. Eleven o ' clock, Mess Gear ! How can we ever win? I know right after chow, We ' ll do it all over again. When evening finally rolls around All hands will darken ship: Fhen it will be too dark to tly. And I can take that slumber trip. Just at the final re -spot, ' ou feel about to relax, When you hear that familiar Cllang-c Here come those ! ! !XXX ! ! Japs ! I ' ll never make a Navy man, The above I do repeat; The Navy ' s not within my line; I like too well to sleep. Lotsa love. Your son, W. F. SiNEX, Sic, V-2 Division. ing! Top: 40 MM battery at AA practice; hdou : jm M 1 doing the same thing. 179 Whrn r.l. I ' illmrr, iKiii|ivillK llir l ' ,lli rliilir in ttir w.iKlriKiln and IinlilinK nnpliin rinn iNii. i ' , wa rrirnlly iiMiunid niipkin rinK Nil. a;i anil ICnuiKn LiciHrll auiiinctl No. i ' ,. wiih Paimrr Mill irlaininit hair No. if,. Itic-n- wrrr «onir fiw wliii did mil ciiiilr iinilrrnlanil llic new •ymnn riiipliiyrd liy llir Wanlrtmrn NIcm ' frcamirrr. 1.1. C:dr. JlaKitroin, wilh liifi krrn. analytiral rnind. ijnl ciiit Un slidr mil- and liiitarilhm IkkiIi and wrnl in work. r iiolrd lirliiu i% lii vrry  iin| lr explanation as lakrn rriini the WardiiKiin llnlltlin Hoard: .NOriCK Explanaliim of the . ii ikin Ring As.ugnmnils: .Some ronfiision has n-siiltod from the recent revision of napkin rinif assignments. I ' o clear this up and iron out any misunderstandings, the present system is outlined ix ' low: 1. First of all, napkin ring numbers are a.s- signed by rank, the highest ranking oflicer holding No. i and so on. Thus, if you are the 25th ranking oflicer aboard, your number should be 25. 2. However, due to the fact that several officers have designed their own rings and their rings, therefore, re-assigned, this is not en- tirely true. To overcome this difficulty, Nos. II. 33, and 76 arc assigned alphabetically. That is, if you are a lieutenant and your name is Throckmorton and your date of rank is I 7 .September 1942, you would ordinarily have napkin ring No. 18 under the rank system, but if you .sat in the chair facing the galley at the inlK ard forward table, you could po.ssibly hold eilh T No. II, No. 33. or No. 7O. Again, if your ring were none of these three numlxrs, it may be the result (jf an adjustment made on 12 November Ifj44. when all rings were ex- changed by each ofiicer with the man (jn his right. This was to make room for ring No. 7-. ' as courtesy to a visiting I-t. CloUmel. who was a passenger for several days. Unfortu- nately, when No. 7-. was removed and the shift made to the left, the seating arrangement was not identical with that on the day No. 7-A was inserted. 3. To clear up the napkin ring unpleasant- ness resulting from the foregoing, and to permit officers to exercise a rea.sonable choice in the selection of numbers, the rings will be rc-num- bered as desired, and, where duplications re- sult, as in a heavy preference for No. 7 and No. II as against No. 2, No. 3 and No. 12, in- dividual ownership may be determined by ex- amining the napkin itself. By placing your finger in an egg and gently pressing your print on a corner near the hem, that will serve to identify the napkin. 4. Odd numbered rings will be collected for re-numbering on e en days for the first half of the alphabet for all officers of the rank of lieutenant (jg) and above, while the last half of the alphabet will be re-numbered for even rings on odd days for all officers below the rank of lieutenant (jg). excluding warrants. Both odd and even rings for warrants will be re- numbered if received by 1600. 5. .Suggestions and criticisms are welcomed. Pharmacist Mates i 180 U.S.S. LIWCA POI.XT (CVE 94) Restricted PLAN OF THE DAY FOR THURSDAY ' , 21 SEPTEMBER 1944. (SAN DIEGO) Port Routine. 0600 Reveille. 0635 Sunrise. 0645 All officers and men attending gunnery school muster on quarter deck. 0700 All officers and men attending Fire Fighter ' s School muster on the quarter deck. 0730 Liberty expires on board. 0855 Quarters for muster, uniform — dress blues — officers blue service. 09 1 5 Chaplain ' s inspection of crew followed by inspection of living spaces and food preparation and serving spaces. 1300 Working material inspection of ship by Commanding Officer. 1500 -Ml divisions draw cleaning gear. 1530 Liberty for Port watch to expire 0730 Friday, on board. 1849 Sunset. E. R. E. ' iiSTVVOLD, Commander, U. S. . ' avy, Executive Officer. The Lunga Point version of Loew ' s .Sta 131 U.S.S. l.l (,. ■ )f I ifA ' F, r,4) Rrstriclccl PLAN ()!■ nil, ). lOR M(J. nA ■. H) llJiRL AR ' i(,4-,. (D- A IWO JIMA) 044 , Rc cillc lor Air Dcpariinciil. o ,oo Brrakfast for Air Di-pariniciu. 0530 Flit lit cjiiartcrs. 0545 RiAcilU-. o(Jio (icncral qiiarti-rs. 0630 C oininrncc Hight opKTations. 0710 Sunrisi ' . zone -10. 0715 Breakfast. 0800 Turn to. Muster on stations. .Submit reports to the E.xeeutive Officer ' s office. 1834 Sunset, zone - 10. Notes: i . All marks for the completion of training courses must be turned in to the educational olficer before 1 March 1945. 2. Be prepared to fuel destroyer along side at 0700, and again at 0815. 3. The Japs should be recoxering from the fast carrier strike, so don ' t relax theyll probably start planes down from the Empire soon. E. R. E. ST OLD, Commander, i ' . S. Xav}; Executive Officer. Ourown-L.S.O. ' u.s.s. i.r.xnA po .vt (Cve 94) Restricted PLAN OF THE DAY FOR WEDNESDAY. 14 MARCH 1945. (ULITHI) 0630 Re eille. 0648 Sunrise, zone -10. 0700 Breakfast. 0800 Muster on stations, submit reports to the E.xecutive Officer ' s office. Muster liberty party on quarterdeck; use both whale boats to load LClL Makin Island mav send an LCVP to help. 1 85 1 Sunset, zone -10. Notes. ' i . Division officers will submit liberty lists for tomorrow, from the Port Watch, to the E.xecutive Officer ' s office prior to 1400 today. ■2. Personnel who recently made changes in their insurance vill sign the forms in the Executive Officer ' s office today without fail. 3. 0600 — Boat from Makin Island will stop by enroute to Prairie in Southern anchorage. 4. 0800 — Boat from Makin Island for mail, movies, guard mail and business. 5. Permission is granted to write of the ports we have been in prior to our participation in the Luzon campaign. Nothing can be said of where we are now. Souvenirs typical of those places may be mailed al.so. E. R. E. STW ' OLD, Commander, U. S. .Xavy, Executive Officer. Super salesmanship at ship ' s lii K Sineini; hymns al Bible study i;ioii[) nuriint;; Actor.- Ship ' s ch ship ' s urclii-stia Our Library is a popular pla ASSOCIATED PRESS NEWS RELEASE SUPPORT C:ARRIERS pass BATTLE TEST LUZON (Undated) — America ' s newest of- fensive weapon in the Pacific has passed its tinal test. The weapon is the commonplace, comparatively cheap, tiiiickh ' bLiilt little escort or support carrier. There is a whole tleet of them in combat - not just convoying — in the Pacific under Rear .Admiral Calvin T. Durgin of Palmyra, N. ). e er designed for anything but convoying ships and ferrying planes, the CVE ' s have come (jf age. They plunged hotly and successfully into the Luzon assault after having fought oH vicious Japanese air attacks on our huge con- oys en route. Although they are slower and much more ' ulnerable than big Essex class carriers, almost all of them were able to continue on the job, protecting our ships and striking hard at the enemy in the air and ashore. Most of their 4,478 sorties in the twelve-day action were con- oy protection. Yet, despite the big task of covering hundreds of ships, their planes also destroyed fourteen ammunition dumps and damaged one, destroyed thirty-one fuel dumps, destroyed one supply dump and damaged five, destroyed 107 buildings and damaged se enty- one, destroyed 237 military trucks and dam- aged ninety-eight, destroyed or damaged tweKe tanks, destroyed six bridges and damaged eight, destroyed seven armored cars and a half dozen railroad cars, destroyed pillbo.xes and straled and bombed enemy troop concentra- tions and artillery positions. In Lingayen Gulf, where the Americans landed on Luzon, the support carriers sank eighty small craft and probably thirty-one others, and damaged tifty-five. In the air and aground more than 100 Japanese planes were destroyed. The carriers plane been only eighteen. ha e Many carriers are still busy ferrying and con- oying. Yet an increasing number — several groups to date — are being used for combat under Admiral Durgin, who commands all combatant C:VE activities in the Pacific. Thus the big class carrier force in the Third and Fifth Heet now has a counterpart in the new support carrier. Like big carriers, the support carriers can operate separately or united in one big striking force. They pro ed their .seaworthiness in the . tlantic and in the stormy South China Sea, where iron sides buckled and boomed under the impact of forty-foot waves. Flight decks roll and pitch, but surprisingl y few landing accidents occur. Several ships have come through typhoons, although sometimes even ordinary storms inflict minor damage. One of the Baby Flat Tops principal values is to permit a dispersing offerees so that no one attack can wipe out all. If one bomb strikes an Essex class flight deck, scores of planes are rendered immo able until the damage is re- paired. If the same bomb hits a support carrier less than half as many planes are made idle. .Also, as the admiral pointed out, tw-o support carriers can launch planes twice as quickly as one big flight deck in emergencies. Planes ha e to take off one at a time no matter how big the deck. The admiral and his staff are under no il- lusions about the support force, however. They realize the ulnerability inherent in every small ship. Although caution took a back seat for the Luzon assault, the admiral acknowledges that caution must always be a greater factor in planning a CVE strike than in using big carriers. DOL ' f; M ( Ak IIIUR ' S NA V Oh, ice ' ri the hoys on the C ' E A hull- bit shaky in ihi: knees. Our engines knock and cough and wheeze In Doug Mac Arthur ' s .Navy. ] ' e o ierale where il ' s hoi as hell More in close to ring the bell. Prime targets for a eke or .Yell In Doug .Mac. Arthurs . avy. While Jeeps are not dependable Their actions are commendable. But gosh, they are expendable In Doug Mac.Arthur ' s .Xavy. They sent us out to the Philippitu ' s Shujfled supplies behind the scenes, .And all that was left for us iras beans In Doug .Mac.Arthufs Navy. To make the Leyte show complete They let us tackle the whole Jap fleet. While the Big Shots sat in a Grandstand seal In Doug .Mac. Arthur ' s .Xavy. Next they sent us to the inland seas Screened by cruisers and old BB ' s Ciiririg cover by CAP ' s In Doug AtacArthur ' s A ' avy. For the biggest show of the whole camfiaign We entered the Sulu Sea again. .And the Jap attacks were thick as rain In Doug MacArlhur ' s Navy. U ' e survived the trip intact (.Almost) . ' ear Lingaycn look up our fiost, Our fannies ex iosed to the China coast In Doug .Mac. Arthur ' s . avy. Said Halsey to his big CVs This time we ' ll trap the Jafmnese, We ' ll bait the trap with CVKs In Doug .Mac.Arthur ' s .Xavy. Oh, we ' ll bait the trap loith CVE ' s Those ships that look like a lot of cheese, .And all that we could say was feez In Doug .Mac.Arthur ' s .Xavy. ] ' hen the war is over I ' ll tell it true ] ' e took ivhatever the enemy threw, Weathered it . . . Mac Arthur too In Doug Mac.Arthur ' s Navy. Anon. Dear Mama and Papa: I thccnk thces Navy she a funny wan. Von know they alatime say we go home next week or maybe thee week after that, but do we go? No we do not go. Now thees here ees what shes call scuttlebutt. And the drinking foun- tain -shes also thee scuttlebutt. Whcech you want CSS whether you weesh to drink or listen. Now when you weesh to go to thee front porch cets not thee front porch, ccts the fore- castle, but they call heem folk-sil. Now Im ask you ees thees right? Anyhow you can ' t go anyway as thees ees wat you call Officair ' s country, wheech means shes for thee Officairs only. Likewise thee back porch shes call a fan tail, but shes don look like a fan or a tail. Thees ess for thee crew only, but thees don stop tho.se Officairs. Now thees canteen usually ees something wheech ees drink out of, but here eet ees thee store where everybody wait in line, except the Officairs. When they say quarters, they don mean twenty-five cents, they mean everybody rush lak h so you can stand longer. Thees ees wan time when they are to be dressed up except I theenk the Officairs. I theenk I be wan of those Officairs ! I gccvc you some words and see do you make some sense from them. Thee wall shes a bulk- head and thee floor ees a deck. Thee ceiling Im told ees an overhead and a mop ees a swab. . lso a man sheech nobody like ees a swab too. They have a jail, but shes a brig. You don go to the front or to thee rear. Eet is either for- sard or aft. Likewise thee left side ees not thee left side, eet ees port. I always before theenk thees ees wine. Thee right side ees star board. Im so ball up by now Im don know eef I perspire or sweat. Im theenking Im going to bed — no I cant do thees. Ive got no bed. Eet is thee sack Ivc got. Eef I stay een heem too long I am thee hound. But thees ees not thee same kind of dog wheech holds thee door. O wat ever I do to geet so twist up? Im don know wheech way Im turn. Hello Im mean goodbye. Your son, N. J. .Southern, CM3C, ■R Division. SiKK I r % RrsiNESS Bv PiRRV Hi ATON, Sic:, •S DIN ' ISION The office i. agog these days. With rV.Q. a the lime. And that ' s the reason why our work Is always far behind. Why the hell is r, ' .a . and why the hell Are we? ril never be anyone else. Guess ril hare to he me. . fr. Moore and all the storekeepers In our hunch. By the time we eat our dinner. It is almost lime for lunch. Running here and running there ]Vhen they sound the General Alarm, And Bozzone sleeping by his gun To be sure he ' ll come to no harm. It just ain ' t right for a normal man. To be living like we do. Pd like to go and tell those Japs .A hundred things or two. So take my word, when the war is iron .And things arc going right. ] ' hen ' T ' .Q. is forgotten And you sleep all day and night Without a care or worry And fear is out of sight When things are hack to mirmal We ' ll really he all right. But until that day does come. Guess I ' ll have to fight. . ' ine months in the Pacijic Is quite enough for me Give us wine, ivomcn and II (). 1E. And the love of liberty. Rut doing their jobs in a great big iray, giving the Japs a scrappy. Aow JOE KE.SDECIIY ha ' , a natch that he keeps on the beam. With Bl R I (). fiiirn inii; (imdenwile. he never lo e! steam. . fE. ' l)() A does the oilmg and PAII.T(). icrites the log; So when they work together, they sure put on the dog. They ' re vital to our engine room and Joe ' s the Senior P. 0.; So, irilh his careful guidance, the plant (t sure to go. ROBERTSON ' S known to all as ROBIE, and he ' s the hardest worker: He is ahrays alert and on his watch, for he is not a shirker, ' Cause MLS RASMUSSE.X oils and oils ' til all machinery purrs. With Bl ' RKE ' S and LAKE ' S assistance, the natch just fairly uhirrs. LAKE is known as SPEED) ' BO) ' : he really takes the cake. And J. A. BURKE. Ihr .MI ' SCLE . I.A. . is al- ways wide awake. They make a rare combination that i vital to our .Ship, And with these four at Ihr engine, through the water we do slip. Then there ' s SELL in charge of Imn to. with FLA.XSBl RG right hand man: They change the filters, renovator and do if hat else they can. ] ' hen something breaks, they get a call, in day or late at night; So give these boys some credit, too: they ' re helping in this fight. MAIN ENGINE C;ONTROL By Self, S. L.. MM2c, M DIVISION Xoir .MAR.SHALL ' S watch. Mmhiuist First. is full of vim and vigor. EsfH ' cially when H. BARTO.VS oilin . he works just like a nigger. And BARRY writes the log up in a style you ' ve never seen. While CECIL REED, he condensates, and keeps his station clean. These boys are all 4.0 with us; just a little bit slap happy, H.ARRIS is another boy down here in this BL.ACK G.A.XG. He hails from good ol ' Texas and lie runs things with a bang. Then there ' s our PETER CIASSE. who ' s a fnetty savvy Joe; There ' s very little to this plant that PETER doesn ' t know. We have FERGi ' SO. from Missouri, who longs or home and arm. But he knows ire have a job to do, to guard our land from harm. Then there ' s FRAXK EDWARD CHOJNACKI from out Chicago way, J ' w dreams of home and beautiful girls with whom he ' d like to play. Bill he turns to ivith the rest of us when Japs are on the screen: He fights his very heart out, so his conscience is always clean. We have guys in this Division from every tvalk of life; Boys from Maine to good oV Texas, who are helping in the strife; Some from the hills of ol ' Missouri; some are College Exes, too: So it ' s quite a combination fighting for the Red, M ' hite, and Blue. rioiii il.c ■Ll NCA I ' OlNir.R : Lyon, L ) . isl Division, wjilkinj; into the Re- cruiting Station in Raleiuli and saying, (;imme lliat oF sal -s tail: attain. I ' m gettin ' cliseourai ecl. C:orhran. BMjc, MAA l ' (jrce How about a transfer to the States? I have romijat fatigue, Sir. Ollicer What gave you that?? C ' .ochran The Foist Looey tenant. One of our Steward ' s Mates, C ox. StMic. he- came very .sea sick after leaving a port in which we had been for a few days. One of his bud- dies was kidding him Ijv saying, You is just a iandlui)ber. Dcy is no argument dere, replied C ' ox. . h s jisl linding out how much Ah hibs it. Toward the end of one of the basketball games between ' C-85 pilots and aircrewmen, the play became rougher than u.sual. Finally, the referee, an enlisted man, blew his whistle, fared one of the players and harked, Just try one more trick like that, and I ' m going to throw you right out of the game — Sir! Chief Boatswain ' s Mate J. B. Oliver is always commenting on the General Mess food and the CPO food. He ought to he able to discuss it intelligently; he cats at both places. Baker, ACM — How can I save this half of my fingernail? Kramer, CPhM — Pull it out and mount it. ' Bailey, CEM — Do you know that whiskey has killed more men than bullets? Gilles. Elec. - Quite true, hut we ' d rather be full of whiskey any day, wouldn ' t we? Callicoatte, PhMic — Wash your hands. Creekmore, Sic — Both of them? Callicoatte — No, just one of them; I want to see how you do it. Jury, ABM2C, picked up a handkerchief dropped by a Va e Lieutenant at North Island and said, You dropped this, I believe. Toots, Sir. Southern, CM3C, was running the obstacle course in a Navy Boot Camp, and. after run- ning as long as he could, he stumbled and fell down. The instructor immediately harked, Hey; get up; what ' s wrong with you? Southern groaned, Afraid I can ' t run any more. Sir. Instructor Well, dr n ' t waste lim - lying ihcrc. Start doing jjush ups. Barry, CV It was all very unusual. I quit my job, sold my car, moved my wif - and kids to a small apartment, woimd up my affairs and was given farewell parties. Then the Navy accepted me. First Lieutenant — How Itjng have you Ix-en working in this Compartment? Pehan. .Sic Ever since I saw you coming dow n the ladder. Sir. wu.y SAY US irle iH.vr Flanagan. PhM2c, went to call on a young lady in .Seattle last June, and, when he arrived at her apartment house, he found it had a self- operating elevator. He rang the hell, and the elevator stopp)ed at the ground lloor level and the door ofjened automatically. Flanagan, always polite, waited for the oc- cupant to leave the elevator until he suddenly realized that the occupant was his own reflec- tion in the mirror in the elexator. Flanagan swears this actually happened, and only on two beers! Pitrc. SK2C, and Peckham, Sic, are first and second loaders on 20 MM gun No. 35. During the attack on us of 2 1 February, oflf Iwo Jima. they loaded and re-loaded time and again; yet they insist they do not recall loading even once during the attack. Funny what a little thing like a Kamikaze attack will do to people. Rhoden, SCic, and McBee. Bkr3c, nearly broke their legs getting under the galley tables during the evening attack on us at Kerama Retto. The concussion of his five 20 MM guns gives the Battery Officer of Battery III, Lt. S. L. .Smith, a fit during anti-aircraft practice, but, during none of our attacks, has he even heard the firing of his guns, let alone felt the con- cussion on his ears. In the British Na y, instead of reveille, 192 sailors are still awakened by the immemorial invitation to arise as follows: All hands ! All hands ! Heave ho ! Heave ho ! Heave ho! Lash up and stow; lash up and stow. Wakey, wakey, rise and shine; the morning ' s fine: you ' e had your time and V c had mine. The sun ' s scorching yer bleedin ' eyes out. Beautiful dreamer lash up and stow. The cooks to the galley has gone long ago. .Show a leg! .Show a leg! Make a move! Lt. Homans r w own a pair of trousers that come clown to his ankles. jis -■?■ ■usvjy :!--. 193 Do You R cnicnihcri Lt. Danii ' l Rotinc Block censoring mail. ' Bare. . RM2c, and iiis iiot trumpet? Ensign Butcher, the Ouihcrtson of poker, giving Lt. Cldr. Moore lessons for a nominal foe? Lt. C;dr. Hagstrom, our surreptitious ' Poet Laureate? Dallas Rhodcn, SCic. dishing it out Walgreen style? C ' .hief Boatswain ' s Mate Olixer talking about buying a C. ' E after the war, and anchoring it oflFort Laiidcrdale. and using it for a gambling ship? Chief Zankicwicz starting ofT a letter with Now that I ha c a few moments to spare ? Tango. PhoM2e. on CHiristmas E e night, telling about Christmas in East Boston? Botncn. BMic, getting his left leg tangled in his Gay Nineties moustache as he hurled the sledge hammer at the chair stoppers when dropping the hook at Guam? Hip Hop Childers. Cox, in his rack? Bourne, Sic, the CO2 Kid of the ist Dixision? Bullcn. MM2C, at Mast, telling the Exec. Yes. .Sir! I found a ca.se of beer, but .someone stole it from me ? Hood. A. F.. Sic. and Wilkcrson. R. L.. Sic mothering ' the plane captains? Grandpa Wright. . MMic. and his fur coat? Red Crane. .Sic. and his lo e letters? Whether Xoonan, QM3C, ever met the love- ly lady from Palmyra? Merryman. RM3C, and his organ playing? Peel, WTic. the hardest working and the richest man in B ' Division? Davis, P ' L . Cox, trying to grow a moustache? Lt. Bill Kearns climbing the ladder to the bridge with his arms full cf intelligence reports. Lt. (jg) Bob Reilly discussing carburetors with the occupant of the upper bunk in State- room oioq until mid-night every night? Commander Eastwold having a serious con- versation with Lt. (jg) Sebastian, at Eniwetok? .Subject — Electronics, or was it? Lt. Freddie Marvil of the Eastern .Shore telling us that he voted before he wore shoes? Lt. .McDougal drawing [jlans (or his postwar home? Lt. Wayne Black standing continuous watches in the C om Office. Ensign Ed Behn buying .Xiguiliette.s? Chief Radio Electrician Blackie Blackburn talking about Idaho? Ever hearing Pixley, .Sic. giving (jut the straight dope on our next operation? C:hief Baker hurdling the elevator pit and getting halfway down the hangar deck before linding out they were lesling the General . larm? C hief {iunner s Mate Wagner di.scu.ssing his inxestments? Flutter alve Johnson? Chief Hamilton bathing .Scotty ? Murphy and Oldakoski. C o.xswains. making the bulkheads of the ist Divisirjn Gear Locker vibrate with their never-ending arguments? Zappi? Dunn, Sic, talking about Pigeon, Michigan? (It ' s a town.) Myler, F2c. sitting in a poker game and say- ing, I don t know much about the game, but ril call and raise five blues ? Paliani, MM3C, saying, Tell ' em. Mac; tell em ? ■ Big Deal Schleining, . M2C, the gadget maker? Dangerous Dan Prado, . MM2c? Whether Kelley, BgMstr3c, and W ' estphal, QM3C, ever settled their argument? Pahutka, RMic, silent editor of the Radio Press? Xewlands. Sic. Lt. (jg) Haacke ' s Ace messenger? Smith. WTic. Russell. Bic. Roe. WT2C, and Grigoracos. WT2c, putting eggs in Ensign C:ummings ' helmet once, just before morning G.Q. ? Ever seeing .Servidio. Cox. when Bearden, Ciox, wasn ' t around? Lt. Joe Kush reading Forever Amber ? Lt. Thompson talking about the moon-light on WTiite Lake? 194 Lt. (jg) Bill Couch gathering sea shells Isy the seashore? Doely, V3C, explaining Rapelje? Lt. Bcrndt thinking very hard ? Dr. Ray taking the gold right out of your teeth? Lt. (jg) Peter Sugar .Smith on the Signal Bridge? Ensign Winter in his dungarees? C hief Butler barbecuing a pig on Guam and looking like a Sheik? junior Flags Dougherty telling off the .Signalmen on the .Signal Bridge? Senior Flags Atkin.son telling oil Junior Flags Dougherty? Chief Ewing sweating a transfer? The time a pair of lady ' s panties were found on the bunk of the ist Division Pin up Girl. Recder, Co.x? Muscles Mularz, Fic, the kid from Jersey, asking, Who is this bum Hague? Chief Larson telling Chojnacki to take a bight in a line while securing a piston to the hangar deck, and Chojnacki taking the line firmly between his teeth as ordered? Carter, Fac, the Texas Cowboy, telling of his love for beautiful women and lovely cattle? Williams, AMM2C, ever talking in a whis- per? Ever seeing .Speedy Oleson, S2C. carrying on a conversation? Lt. (jg) Marshall telling all about it? Lt. (jg) Peebles ' pleasure at being returned to the Liinga Point after V ' C 85 was detached? Lt. Jack Garrett singing Eight Bells at 0300? Lt. Walt Kalteyer and Lt. Art Gilmore trading with the Filipinos? Lt. .Sugar Love .Smith playing crack the whip at the John Q. Public ' s night club in .Seattle? Ever seeing Buttcrworth. SSMT c. with Kingsbury, SSMB3C? E er seeing Peterson. . OM2c, at the Ge- dunk stand? Hearing about Chief Pattie ' s postwar plans? Ever seeing Chief Atkinson playing the phonograph in the C.P.O. Mess by the hour? Ever seeing Chief Altizer stoop-sho uldered? Chief Johnny Oberg telling the Air De- partment C hiefs about his sea duty? Chief Petyo explaining Wilkes-Barre and its baseball team? Ever seeing Lyon, Cox, move fast enough to be considered slow? Cuncy, Sic, and his eagle eye, spotting planes before anyone else? Berry, C. H. Sic, explaining Camp Hill. Alabama? Sleepy Quinn, Fic, saying, Okay, .Scram ! Fm awoke ! ? The Captain telling Holt. AOMic. to sleep on the port side of the Ship? Corsair Xeal, . MM2c, and his passion for anything mechanical? Seeing .Sam Bolonkin. Ptr ' 2r. f(jr to- morrow ' s dope today ? .Sam Ekstrum. .Sic, and his rheumatism? Zoot ' Lynch. QM3C. the boy hep to the ji e from Noo Yawk? How Black Jack Nihem, QM3C, used to ra e about Detroit and Philly? Orinski, RM2c, and his watch repair shop? .Stage, V3C, and his Editorial problems? Barton, SM2C, bringing candy to the .Signal Brid ge? Crowder, WT3C, and his yapping ? Ensign Denkler singing Memphis Blues ? Ensign Prindle and his bull liddlc? Lt. C ' dr. Luce going on a diet in February and gaining thirty pounds by i May? Hearing Church, AOM2C, tell about the time the pilot of his TBM chased a horse down an Okinawa road at tree-top height while he was rear gunner? Kojtek, AOM2C, explaining why he spells his name the way he does? Captain Washburn, answering an urgent call from the OOD on the 4-8, and da.shing up to the bridge in his underwear? Lt. Cyr. Sands explaining Anne . rundel County? Ever seeing Lt. DeAngelis at morning G.Q.? Lt. Potter Palmer tr ' ing to get a sun-tan to blend with his Marine underwear? Lt. Merle Grant making the poker game official by his presence? Pehan, John Joseph. Sic, yelling Turn off the search-lights. during the night attack at Ulithi? Alexander, Fic, en route to New Guinea saying, Oh, Lord; just give me a book and put me under a tree in good ol ' Mississippi ? The time se ' eral Steward ' s Mates were standing around the Wardroom when the First Lieutenant came in, and one of them said, Man your Battle Stations! Here comes the First Lieutenant! ? Preston, AOM3C, The X ' oice ' of the ord- nance gang? l ' J5 Succlc Ahcri;, AMMk. the kid IVoiii I iackciisiick.- ' I ' -;iiiicst, AMMji . and liis popiilai ' domIs: ' Fcglcy. AMM- ' ( , ihc -j I ' oci. Ever seeing CHiristian, Sic, with his hair mussed up? Starr, QMsc, when he Ix-camc a papa? Any port in Uncle Sugar where ' Romeo ( Tmpl)ell, Sic, fail ' cl to find a feminine in- terest? Lt. Cyr. Hagstrom continually incjuiring as to who is getting the asparagus « during this war? Rochester, Sic, listening attentively to Chief Dougherty? C ' .herricr, SM c. with his eye glued to tin- long glass? Pancoast, RMic, the power behind the TBS ? Lt. Ken Little picking out a tune on his Recorder? Lt. Charlie White getting shore duty in Alameda with pie a la mode every day? Lt. Bob .Sutton looking outside to verify his weather predictions? Lt. (jg) Nolte selling his Oldsmobile in Astoria for twice what he paid for it? Lt. (jg) Gil .Siiro holding recognition classes in the Wardroom? Waer, Sic, and the four good looking pic- urcs of his good looking girl friend? Barney, Cox, cabling his Congressman to lobby against the drafting of nur.ses? Lt. (jg) Karl Rebcr saying No thanks! I don ' t smoke or drink! Lt. (jg) Bill Nevins and his one meal a day? Lt. (jg) Charlie Stimson playing the Stock Market by remote control? Lt. (jg) Davenport looking for Granby Street in San Diego? Lt. (jg) Wendell Phillips and his big cigar? Chiefs Garrett, Felber, Larsen and Leath holding a meeting of the Pacific War Council to determine the best strategy to recommend to Admiral Nimitz? Chief Hanson playing .solitaire in the Bos ' n ' s Locker every night? Malcolm, SK3C. and his sunny disposi- tion? Partin, Yic, talking about the Old Ny ce ? Chief Foo Foo Feurer waiting for an ele- vator ride to the flight deck? ( :hi ' f Marks and his white nose? ( ;hicf McC ' ormifk telling about Denton L ' .S.A.? Chief Barry saying, What ' s (his now? ? Curtis, AiVL l2(. and his (Jeneral Store How, as the lighters used t(j come in, Tal avera. Sic, would run out on to the (light dccJ and grab the wing crank, swinging on to it Ilk ' a monkey? Ziegler, .Sic, longing for the farm back homi in Michigan? Biehl, W ' r2c, and Peel. WTic, the twd old men of the B Dixisicjn squaring ofT : Kempfe, VVT3C, and Wirtanen. WT c, th ' caretakers of the C ity Water Plant ? The time that Bailey. .Sic. was cleaning th( side so enthusiastically that he pushed the pun out from under himself and fell in the drink . Walker, Sic, playing the piano and makini the keys Hy all over the place? .Shepard. .Sic, telling about the lime he wa. ' on a mine-sweeper in the Aleutians, and th( ship listed 84° to port in a storm, took water ir the stacks and put the fires out? Ensign Ski Czcrvvcnka raving about hi: girl friend? Ensign Pete Peterson indulging in tha; well-known C. R. pastime -dodging the First Lieutenant? Ensign Paul Pierson applying for the Regu- lar Na y? En.sign O ' Connor incjuiring the way to tht bridge? Ensign Mortonson shooting a truck lighi for a star? Ensign Ricgclman explaining the best for- mula for treating .Athletes Foot? Ensign Cummings getting up a Gin Rummy Tournament? Dr. Piatt getting his sea legs ? Chief Fred Miller and his sunburn? The time, during the Lingayen operation when G. Q. was sounded at 0200, and Chiel Belch jumped out of his sack yelling, General Quarters ! General Quarters ! This is it I This i; it! All hands, man your Battle .Stations! ? Apostal, Fic, the B Division artist ? Kiclar, Fic, claiming to be a Rebel because he ' s from .South Chicago? Lt. (jg) Bill Dolan getting sea pay? Chief Pav C lerk Copeland ever paving any- body? Ever seeing Ship ' s Clerk Hal Devol going to the Captain ' s Cabin? 196 The time the Officers left the Exec at the Officer ' s Club at Manus sans boat ? Chief Gunner Marshall eating in the C:.P.O. Mess? Chief Carpenter Weitzner telling about the Invasion of Italy? Chief Boatswain Luck putting the side cleaners to work? Chief Pharmacist Sam Gallagher follow- ing Dr. Ray? Machinist Mitchell gassing planes and put- ting out the smoking lamp? Electrician Gilles imitating a one-man sub- marine at Manus? Ever seeing Daisy Lyon, Cox, resting his eyes ? Ever hearing Daisy Lyon, Cox, out the the smoking lamp? Ever seeing the Exec smoking a cigar? Pentecost, PhoMic, when he took his first photographic hop in the combat zone? How they had to ground Lt. C:dr. Herriman for two weeks after he recei ed word he was a papa? Dr. Dufifalo reading .Shore Lease ? Lt. Cousin Howard and his wood carving? Erke, Sic, and his shaved head? Waterson, Sic, and his Blue Birds? Bozzone, SK3C, and his bevy of beautiful girls ? Lawson, StMic, ' Manager of the Ward- room Cigar Mess, doing a land office business after each meal, and wishing he was on a com- mission basis? Ever hearing a Texan bragging about Texas? Ensign Pete Peterson, one of the most pop- ular J. O. ' s on the Ship? Wragg, Stdic, telling about his Florist Shop in Philadelphia? Lt. (jg) Nelson Walton, so anxious to be- come a Deck Officer that he wanted to stand 0.0. D. Watches under instruction in addi- tion to his Engine Room Watches? How Fleetwood ' s, StMic, speed accelerated from I 2 knot to i knot when he learned he was being sent back to the States? Waer, Sic, delivering the Plan-of-the-Day each night and always smiling whether it was 1 900 or o 1 00? Doely, Y3C, and his e.xpert coffee making? Robey, PhoM3c, always on hand when something happens, just in case the Old Man wants a picture of it? Lt. Joe .Sheehan explaining in minute de- tail how to make Boston Baked Beans? The expression on Ensign Swanson ' s face as he brought his fighter in for a landing? Ensign Turner longing for a moon-light night on Lookout Mountain, a car, and a beautiful girl? Clhief Lenzner giving Ensign Stuve the word when catapulting planes? Chief Crockett raving about sunset on the Prairies of New Mexico? Lassiter, StMic, explaining how Scotland Neck got its name? Masterson, Sic, asking for the latest Scuttle- butt? Elgas, Sic, the Exec ' s orderly? Bedont, Sic, also the Exec ' s orderly, striking for Electrician ' s Mate outside the E.xec ' s Cabin? Eyring, EMic, the hardest working man in the E Division? Godsey, SFic, and his nightly bridge parties in the Shipfitter ' s Shop? Boni, Sic, the Captain ' s orderly, telling that tall storv of the Bavous of Louisiana? DO YOU REMEMBER? DO YOU? WE HOPE YOU DO! 197 198 -. VlHftCri?. - i-.em f- 1 fr V s fe JamlS ' r: s r :b r .{ i £ 140|0 r V 21 ;i L LRtf Oy f f ft f -L,-.7 ? - i. ■ P ■T(i r« I n; it t «ntj- thcuB n - flat on my b«.-; L ' V ' MtHE CO ' shirking duty ' VtH- Jhf katU hasTi If ScrtpeJ hefcre ' lL Take Her o T aaa:n . oooofMiONiewT J X = Captain Washburn: Oh, Tecumsch, throughout all the victorious battles I have been, you have failed to give me immortal words. Tecumsch: What the Hell, Gat; I gave you 2.5 many years ago — twenty-five to be exact. However, if you must have immortal words, why not Aframa Rt-tto? But, if you ' re not satisfied, pick up your damn pennies. u rii rrr Regular: Vuu should ha ' t: been in the old N vee. Rcsfrve: Oh. vou mean the fiKhtini; Nvvee: fighting the Battle ofGua 203 DififiHRrrEia OUCS.y Fo( aOT THE OIL t Bir-iM 204 66C RJl no U lk=0 Pni «rLOd [R 205 206 Did you ever hear the Bos ' n Mate pl})ing: On dock the 8 o ' clock reports ! All the bomb handling crews lay aft to the After Mess Hall ! Mess Gear ! ' J ' urn to! Turn to! All hands darken ship; the smoking lamp is out in all exposed locations ! All hands light ship. All hands to Quarters for Muster on the liiglit deck. All Divisions muster on station and submit your reports to the E.xecutivc Officer ' s Office. Sweepers, Man your brooms ! C ' lean sweep down fore and aft ! All hands man your Flight Quarters stations! Knock off all card playing; keep silence about the decks; the smoking lamp is out during Divine Services! The movie for tonight will be, The Birth of a Nation by D. W. Griffith. All hands, knock off work ! Sick call ! The Duty P. O. of the ist Division lay up to the Quarterdeck. All hands not actually on watch lay aft to the fantail to load ammunition ! Taxi Pilots, man your planes ! Second Division lay aft to the fantail to receive destroyer alongside ! Lt. Smith, report to the fantail with twenty- five gallons of ice cream in two minutes ! Reveille ! Reveille ! ! All hands heave out and lash up ! .All Prisoners-at-large and restricted men lay up to the Quarterdeck fcjr muster ! All the extra dutv men lay up to the Lucky Bag! On deck the anchor watch to muster ! All hands, turn in your bunks; keep silence about the decks; the smoking lamp is out in all living spaces ! First Division, rig for movies ! Lunga Point ! Second Division, rig for Clhurch! Away No. i Motor Whale Boat! Away No. 2 Motor Whale Boat ! Lunga Point ! Lunga Point ! ! Relieve the watch, fourth section! The engineer of the No. i motor whale boat, man your boat ! Pipe down all aired bedding! Groups one and two, air bedding ! Pay day for the crew is now being held in the After Mess Hall ! Pay day for Officers is now being held in the Wardroom ! Pay day for Chief Petty Officers is now being held in the C:. P. O. Mess! All Department Heads report to the First Lieutenant ' s Office for Zone Inspection ! Lt. Cdr. Luce report to the Ready Room immediately ! Lt. C;dr. Hagstrom report to Fly Control ! White flag ! Red flag ! Re-spot ! General Quarters! General Quarters! All hands, man your Battle Stations! ! 207 EX CATHEDRA 14 MAY. 1944 (It does add up to 25 years, doesn ' t it?) 208 J THE SMOKING LAMP IS LIGHTED! 209 First of all. on behalf of all hands, vvc would like lo express our appreciation to Chaplain Washburn for his enthusiastic endorsement of this project, his sympathetic understanding of the obstacles that confronted us, and his gen- uine appreciation of our efforts. He was quick to appreciate what this book would mean to his men in years to come and unhesitatingly set aside suilicient funds lo insure a copy to all hands. His backing was an inspiration to us at all times and his attitude made our job just a little bit easier and a little bit plcasantcr. VVc cannot speak too highly of our Photo Gang. The quality of their work is displayed throughout this book, since all of the pictures herein were made by them with the exception of those taken at the Kai.scr Shipyards and those of San Francisco, Seattle, Long Beach, Honolulu and San Diego, the Chambers of Commerce of these cities having so kindly furnished us with their pictures as did the del C oronado Hotel, C oronado, Calif. Also, the picture of the Kamikaze exploding astern of us in the Sulu Sea was taken from our Flag .Ship, the U.S.S. Maklii Island (C ' E 93). This book clearly shows the volume of work done by our Photographer ' s Mates, and we can honestly say that they always did every job assigned them willingly and cheerfully. Their contri- bution to the success of this book cannot, there- fore, be over-emphasized. Our deepest ap- preciation to Pentecost, PhoMic, Muenster. PhoMic, Tango. PhoM c. Robcy. PhoM3c and Sinex, Sic. We feel that all hands will agree that the cartoons herein add much humor and interest to our book. While all of our cartoonists in- sist they are amateurs, we feel that they are anything but amateurish. An) vay, many thanks to James. B.Mic-, Lynch, AMMic, (ihighi. ABM2(. jury, ABM2C, Webb, EM c and Sandoval, Fic. This entire book was written while in the combat area, and it was a very slow and tedious process, what with the pitch and roll of the ship, an occasional typhoon, and also an occa- sional Devine Wind interrupting our hunt and peck system of typing. Therefore, when the time came to make .sufficient copies of the manuscript for submission to the publishers, we could not have gotten along with tnir hunt and peck system, and we relied solely on the Yeomen in the E. ecuti e Officer ' s Office to make the c opies. It was no easy ta.sk, but they went about their work cheerfully and with much greater speed and accuracy than vvc could have po.ssibly achieved. Our deepest appreciation, therefore, to Partin, Yic, Chcle- medos, Y2c, Doely, Y3C, and Waer, Y3C. We would also like to express our appre- ciation to our Advisory Committee for their many helpful suggestions and their constructive criticisms. Many thanks to the C ommittee, which is composed of Lieut. C omdr. .Sands, Lieut. C omdr. Hagstrom. Lieut, lippeti. Lieut. Corkran. Lieut. Garrett and Lieut. Homans. Last but not least, we want to thank the en- tire Ship ' s C ' ompany of the Lunga Point. Had we not sincerely felt that you were the finest crew in the L nited States Fleet we would never have volunteered to do this job for you. It has not been an easy job. but being .Shipmates with you has made it a pleasant and genuinely satis- fying one. Many thanks I .S. Linton Smith, Lieut., USNR. ADDENDA It is not intended that this addenda be a sequel to the pictorial log covering our first year in commission, but rather that it simply be a brief synopsis of events of interest that have transpired since our first anniversary, up to our return to the States. This has been deemed advisable in the interest of all hands in view of the sudden termination of the war and our most interesting operations in and around Japan and the desire of our present Command- ing Officer to make recent pictures available to all hands, it being felt that they would not justify the publication of another book, but would certainly justify an addition to the one that has gone before. S. Linton Smith, Lieut. Cmdr. USNR After cclchratini; our first anniversary in eominission at (iuam we remained tiiere lor several clays, and all hands enjoyed liherty at the recreation center over at ( al) (iali and at the OHieer ' s C:lul)s at Orote. Finally, on 23 May, Composite S(|iiadron Ninety-eight (VCl-gS), I.t. Cldr. R. Semmes, commanding and Lt. A. Fisani, Ivxeciiti ' e Ollicer, reported aboard for dnty to relie c VC-85, and on the same day we got underway for our new operating area. VC -gfi quickly sold themselves to us, not only as a line hunch of shipmates, t)ut also in their skill and accuracy in liring on towed spars with tlieir machine guns and rockets, they ha ing conducted prac- tice runs beginning the second day out. We were underway to join a large group of tankers south of Okinawa, where wc were to remain and pro ide air co er for them for a while, and we rendez oused with them on 26 May and pro ided them air co cr until 2 June, at which time it was intended that wc set our course west for attacks on enemy air strips on Saka- shima Ciunto, a group of Islands just north of Formosa. ' 1 ' PH()()N ! We set our course west all right. JDUt soon learned that one of those dreaded C hina .Sea typhoons was heading our way, so we, nat urally, changed (jur crjurse to avoid Ix ' ing (aught in the center of it. China .Sea typho(m.s, however, are pretty diliicult to determine the course of and, try as hard as w - could, wc (ouldn ' t avoid getting well on the edge of it. ihe blow started on the afternoon of 4 .June, increasing in intensity until dawn of the j-,th, when it began to subside, but it did not entire- ly subside until mid-afternoon that day. To say that the peaceful waters of tlie Pacific wa.s a u ' clcome sight to us all is putting it mildly, because few of us had slept at all the night before. One cannot imagine the eHects of a typhoon without having gone through one. Our ship was rolling and pitching as never before all through the night and. although all loose gear and our planes had been thoroughly secured, there was little sleep to be had on board that night, because there was just enough loo.se gear shifting about the .ship to keep us awake. In addition to the noise created by this shifting gear and the mountainous waves beating against the sides of the ship to keep us awake, it was practically an impossibility for us to stay in our bunks. C onsequently, most of us sp ent ' the night just walking up and down the pas- sageways or in the wardroom. Twenty and twenty-five degree rolls were more than fre- quent throughout the night, and, one time, about dawn, wc had a forty degree roll, which is just about the limit to which we could go without capsizing. Many times during the night the ship would list to port or starboard and seem to poise at its peak, undecided wheth- er to continue or to come back. The Old Man was, of course, on the bridge all night, and it is understood that quite a few times we rolled . slight roll during June typhoon. S ; . over so far that the ship poised at its peak long enough for everyone from the Skipper to the Quartermasters to say a fairly long prayer be- fore we rolled back. Waves were continually breaking over the bow, some even coming up over the flight deck, and it is a real tribute to all departments that they had the ship so well secured that nothing more than superficial damage ccnild be found when the storm was all over. June ih found us (jperating oil Sakashima Gunto, with our planes making strikes against enemy air strips and other installations. It was on this day that we had our first close con- tact with the enemy since leaving Guam. We had just secured from morning general quarters when, at 0636 to be exact, a Kamikaze dove into the forward end of the flight deck of the U.S. 8. Naloma Bay (C;VE 62), coming to rest on her forecastle. This was another case of a Bogey slipping in on us without detection, not a ship in our. formation having anything on their screen. The . atoma Bay was just about 1 .000 yards on our port beam at the time, and many of our personnel saw the plane go into its dive. Fortunately, however, the damage to the Xaluma Bay was not great, and they were able to continue operational with temporary repairs. Just after this, however, a Bogey was picked up on our screen and at 0637 we went to general quarters. Shortly after all hands had gotten to their battle stations another Kamikaze made a dive at the U.S.S. Hoggatt Bay (CVE 75), but missed, diving into the sea and exploding close aboard without doing any damage. The Hoggatt Bay was in the middle of our formation and the Kami- kazes were getting too close to us for comfort. Later on other Bogies were picked up ap- proaching our formation, but they just looked us over and left. Following this, we continued our operations against Sakashima Gunto for several days with our Squadron making quite a number of successful strikes. While we were still operating in the Saka- shima area Admiral Durgin came aboard on 15 June on an official visit, at which time all hands were called to quarters on the flight deck for the presentation of awards. . -.- nd dwelling n I ulubu, Club at It 213 VVi- continiicci to pick up Bothies near our formation, l)iit not nearly so often as ciiirin oiii earlier clays in the conihat area, and those that we did pick up did not seem to be Cjuite as anx- ious to die for dear old Nippon as others with whom we had come in contact. They seemed to he mostK ' snoopers ' just looking us omt. They did, however, continue to he the cause of our goinu, to general cjuarters at all hours of the day and night and, consequently, the cause of our losing lots of sleep and time from otiier .ship ' s work. On -2 I June f made anotiier isil to Kerania Relto to re-arm and replenish our stores, and. just to make us feel at home there, a Boge closed to within three miles of us while on tills visit. We speedily loaded our ammunition and stores aboard, though, and got underway earK in the afternoon, just in time it turned out. since a few hours after our departure two ships were badly damaged there by Kamikazes. On the 24th we .set our cour.se for Leyte, where we anchored in .San Pedro Harbor on the 27th. I,i: Tr: . llhough we had participatr-d in the Ix-yic operation in .N ' ovember K)44, this was our first isit to Leyte proper, since our part in the o|)eration had consisted of giving air cover to ()nv(jys in I- -yte Ciulf. C:(jn.se(|uently, we Inund much to int ' rest us on our cjne or two liberties while there. We found the native.s most happy to see us and outwardly grateful to the . mericans for their liiieration. We also 7 op: Residential section of Toloso; below: Business section. Lt. C:d. I nto breeches i)tioy lu found that the ravages of war had inflicted al- most irreparable damage on them which would take at least a generation to erase. It was quite evident that they would need the moral and economic backing of the United States for .some time to come; however, they seemed to ha e a spirit that would enable them to acquire and maintain independence as a Nation with grace and dignity among the Nations of the W ' orld. Leyte afforded us the first opportunity to buy sou enirs since we left Pearl Harbor and most every member of the ship ' s company returned from liberty with something in the way of a souvenir of our short visit to the Philippines. On I July we got underway from San Pedro Harbor for the East China Sea, the locale of our next operation. It so happened that Cap- tain WashbiH-n had received orders to be Com- manding Officer of the Naval Air Station, CUinton. Oklahoma, during the latter part of May, and, by this time, he had become some- what concerned over the arrival of his relief. He had felt quite certain that he would be re- lie ed in Leyte. But such was not the case, and he took the conn out of Leyte completely reconciled to another long operation before he 214 C:aptain Hullinssvvorth arrives aboard in AvxiiKU Exec, escorts new Skipper to the bridge. would be relieved. Meanwhile, his relief would be chasing us all over the Pacific. We had hardly gotten underway from Leyte, however, when a Grumman Goose (JRF) began circling our ship, and we soon learned that the Old Man ' s relief was in it. We told them to return to the Samar Air Field and we would send for him. Consequently, we dispatched two Avengers to Samar, and .shortly thereafter they landed aboard with Captain William Right HoUingsworth, USN, who was to relieve Captain Washburn. We continued on our way to our operating area in the East China Sea where a very large group of minesweepers were sweeping an area due West of Okinawa, mid-way between Okinawa and the China Coast, probably pre- paratory to a landing on the China Cloast, Ise- cause the area swept was approximately 50 by 40 miles— a very large mine field. Our mis- sion was to provide air cover for the mine- sweepers as they swept back and forth, day eiiii Captain Washburn, I rcli Claptain HoUingsworth reading his orders. after day until ili - IkIcI was clcarccl. While this was not a paitit iilariy interesting; opera- tion, it was not lai kini; in excitement, heeaiise mines were eonslantly l)einn sii litec! elose to us, and our esroris would explode (hem; howe cr, the knowledge of their presence was not too comfortini; at nitjhl. CIaptain CJat Leaves Us On 5 July, shortly after arriving in oui operating area, all hands were called to lop: Captain ' (,.it lilil laicw.ll lo Exrc: ifn ri; Claptam Gat is piped aboard his plane with Department Heads as side boys ; below: Captain HoUingsworth inspecting V ' C-98, C|iiarters on llie llighl de( k for the ceremony of relieving (he (ominand, and at 0824 Captain HoUingsworth relieved Claptain Washburn, and at oH;j() Captain (iAT flew away from the decks of the I.un a Point, which he had com- manded since commissioning, and was landed on Wjnl ' an air strip. Okinawa. I y one of our Avengers, from which point he was to liy t j (kiam and thence to the States. We continued to crjver the minesweepers un- til 1 5 July, during which time we went to gen- eral quarters many times due to Bogies in the area, most of which seemed to he snoopers; one of which a Dinah, vsas splashed at 28.000 feet on 6 July by the LCl.AP from one of our other carriers. None came w ithin range of our ships ' guns during this period; however, night fighters splashed cjuite a number in our area. The increasing number of surfaced mines did make it necessary for us to post extra lookouts. .Xevertheless. enemy resistance definitely ap- p-ared U be weakening. On I -; July we left the minesweepers to re- fuel at sea south of Okinawa, and on the 17th we anchored in Buckner Bay, Okinawa, for re- plenishment, at 0749. but suddenly got under- way at 1430 the same day to ride (jut a typhoon which was heading our way. Our sudden de- parture made it necessary for us to leave several (jfficers and men behind, but they were re- turned to us by a destroyer the next morning. While we encountered heavy seas and high w inds we did not hit the center of the typhoon, and we safely rode it out. returning to Buck- ner Bay on 2 1 July to continue with our loading of stores and ammunition. .- t 0128 on 22 July the U..S..S. Marathon (. P,- 200). on our port beam, had a mysterious underwater ex- plosion, following which we went to general quarters, but. although Bogies came within 8 miles of us, it never was definitely determined whether it was a mine, an aerial torpedo or a torpedo from a midget submarine that hit the Marathon. Later the same day we left for the mine- sweeping area, and on the 23rd, the LC.- P from one of the other carriers splashed a Dinah and a Judy before they could get in close enough to do any damage to our unit. . fter providing air cover for the mine- sweepers for se eral days we found ourselves in the East China Sea, 70 miles off the mouth of the Yangtse River, from which point our Squadron was providing air cover for a cruiser 216 group that was making night attacics on enemy shipping while the Squadron itself made the attacks during the day. Neither the cruisers nor our Squadron were able to locate any enemy shipping of consequence, however. While our Squadron sank or damaged a num- ber of very small Japanese craft in the Yangtse Ri er, there seemed to be absolutely no ship- ping getting through to the Empire. The blockade seemed to us to be just about lOo per cent cfiecti c. During this period we were either covering the minesweepers or the cruiser group or mak- ing direct attacks against enemy shipping, and on 31 July we again anchored in Buckner Bay for replenishment and left on 1 August for our operating area of! Shanghai, C ' hina, to con- tinue our attacks against enemy shipping. The day we left Okinawa we encountered another typhoon, with rolls up to 25°, but, de- spite the pitch and roll of the ship, flight opera- tions continued uninterrupted. ' C. 98 .Spi.. .shes a Jap Bogies continued to send us to general quarters, and on 4 August, the LCAP from the U.S.S. Cape Ghuceskr (CVE 109) splashed a Tabby, and on the 5th, the LCAP from the U.S.S. Makm Island (CVE 93) and the U.S.S. Cape Gloucester (CVE 109) each splashed a Francis. That afternoon Lt. Beckwith, as- sisted by Lt. (jg) Cox and Lt. (jg) Peebles of our Squadron splashed a Francis 13 miles from us, and another Jap flag was painted on our bridue. On 7 August we again anchored in Buckner Bay and that night we went to general quarters twice, but the Bogies failed to close in on us. It had been some time then since we had ac- tually been attacked by the enemy. Their offense seemed to have been reduced to the point of waging a war of nerves, because they .seemed to be content with simply sending us to general quarters at night, thereby causing us the loss of much-needed sleep. While the pur- pose of our visit was to take on stores and ammunition, we were honored on the 8th by a visit from Rear Admirals Durgin and Kendall - ■■M • ii ■ junk bccii bv t:-g8 pU ' ( ; . rrial view of minr.fwi-epfis swprpinR C:hina .Sc-i. being exploded in ri ht background; btlow: .Anoiher aerial view of mine sweepers in China Sea. 217 who came Mlio.ird for the pn-scnt.ition of awards. ) Ai ' s San ' L ' nci.i. On l ' ii(l.i . lo Aui ust, while ridiiit; at an- chor in BiK kntr Hay. wi- were overjoyed to re- reive word at alxnit ■jtr o that the Japs had all hut said, Unele, by sending word to the Allied Powers through neutral sources that ihiy would accept the terms of the Potsdam Ulti- matum pro ided they were permitted to retain their Kmperor. This, by no means, meant the end of the war, but it did very deliniteK mean that the Japs had just about reached the end of their rope and actual surrender could be ex- pected momentarily. That same night, while all hands were avidly picking up all the news they could through the radio .shack, that gong sounded at 2 122 sending us to general ciuarters. On reaching our battle stations topside a great pyrotechnic dis- play greeted our eyes: shore batteries were liring in all directions all around the bay. ' et (iun Oontrol told us there was not a Bogey on the .screen. Ve couldn ' t understand it. .SOP. must have had some reason to send us tcj general cjuarters. .Suddenly it dawned upon us that maybe the Army was prematurely cele- brating our X ' ictory. .Sure enough, that later turned out to be just w hat was happening, and the firing continued on the beach until -Ad- miral Oldendorffin the California assumed com- mand and ordered the firing to cease. It was quite a dangerous celebration, and it ' s a won- der there were no casualties on our ship. We learned the next day that several were killed and many wounded during this wild celebra- tion on Okinawa. We continued to maintain the same Con- dition of Readiness as in the past because we were all too familiar with Japanese treachery, and there was no telling what they ' were up to. On Sunday, 12 August, at 2045, we heard a dull thud, which turned out to be a torpedo or mine hitting the U.S.S. Pennsylvania which was anchored about 1000 yards from us. It has not yet been determined what hit the Pennsyl- vania; whether it was an aerial torpedo, a tor- pedo fired from a midget submarine or a float- ing mine. In any event, when we passed the Pennsylvania on our ay out of the harbor the next morning en route to .Saipan she was down by the stern, evidently ha ing been damaged well aft. Negotiations between the Japanese Govern- ment and the Allied Powers continued as we steamed toward Saipan. From what we had gathered from the radio then- was little doubt in our minds but that the Japs would meet our terms of imconditional surrender. Finally, on I -, .August, shortly after oMoo, Claptain Holl- ingsworth announced to us o ' er the general announcing system that President I ' ruman had announced the acceptance of unconditional surrender cjf the Japanese Ciovernment at 2300 GMT 14 August (0800 15 August our time), and that the Empn-ror was to order immediate cessaticjn of hcjstilities. .Several hundrc-d mem- bers of the ship ' s company were gathc-rc-d on the llight deck to hear the announcement, they ha ing known pretty well what the announce- ment was to be. It was quite- significant to us that, in contrast with the hilaricjus celebrations in the .States, the men of the Lunga Point ac- cepted the news without even a single shout. When the C aptain finished, they just walked quietly away and went about their business. They were happy enough, but it was a happi- ness based cjn a job well done and the knowl- edge that their chances of not getting home wc-re now ery remote as compared to what they had been a few weeks previously. Meanwhile, both our own and the Japanese Government ordered cessation of offensive hostilities pending actual signing of surrender terms. General MacArthur was designated .Supreme C ommander for Allied Powers, and he promptly announced that the surrender would take place aboard the U.S.S. Missouri in Ibkyo Bay at a time to be announced later. We were, therefore, operating in a state of armed truce so to speak, and, except for the danger of floating mines that continued to plague us, we could actually feel that the war was over. Saipan We arrived at Saipan for a few days avail- ability on 18 August at which time our engines were overhauled, our ship painted and minor general repairs were made. All hands were ery tired from our many months of combat duty and it was a great pleasure to us to find that Saipan had such nice recreational facili- ties. There were clubs there for officers, chief petty officers and enlisted personnel, and we made ample use of them. We had ne er had an opportunity for the officers of VC 98 and the ship ' s company to get together for a party since the Squadron had reported aboard in Guam in May: so we ar- ■it 7 A.Oncol,,u Company of: hrlow: Group o warning sign at squadron — Ship ' s Saipan Officer ' s Club; center and ranged for a VC 98 — CVE 94 Dance at the Saipan Officers ' Club on Sunday evening 26 August. A dance is not much fun without female partners; so we set to work to invite a number of Armv and Naw nurses and Red Top and center: Dance at Saipan Officers Club; below: Tango, PhoMic, goes tangoing at Red Cross dance at Saipan. Cross workers based on Saipan. While there were hundreds of them there, there are still about five hundred men to one of the fairer sex; so we sent a number of our younger officers on a round of the hospitals and Red Cross chaplain William Right HoLLLNGSWORTH. U.S. Xa V L ' ..S.. .. . C:ia.ss of 1926 ( :omma nd i ng Officer centers to extend the invitation. Tiie supply simply would not meet the demand, and the result was that our bufTet supper and dance was graced by the presence of only eight girls for the approximately 100 ofHccrs. They were a very attractive group, however, and they would have gotten a rush an -way. As it was, though, they were simply rushed off their feet. In any event, a good time was had by all, and when we weighed anchor on i .September for Okinawa, we did feel that we had at least had a taste of civilization. UNCONornoN.xL Sirrf.nder Our cruise up to Okinawa this time was momentous in that during this cruise, on 2 September, Japanese representatives came aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay, and signed our unconditional surrender terms in the presence of various representatives of the Allied Powers. Naturally, we were more than happy to know that the war was over and that we would all soon be seeing our loved ones after so man)- months at sea ; howe er, we were faced with the realization that we would not all be going home right away, because it was only reasonable to assume that there was work yet to be done in Japanese waters. There were POW ' s to evacuate; there were American military personnel to bring home and there was a certain amount of necessary- policing to do in this theatre to insure ourselves against any successful Jap treachery. We reached Buckner Bay this time on 5 .Sep- tember, but we did not stay long. On the 7th we received orders to disembark ' C-g8 to make more room for passengers, and on the gth we set our course for Wakanoura Wan, Honshu. Japan, sans X ' C ' -gS, to assist in the repatriation of . llied Prisoners-of-War. This trip was also momentous in that we sailed with our running lights for the first time since we had been in commission, and it was quite a treat to stroll up to the flight deck after dinner at night just to look at the beautiful lights on our ship as well 220 as those of our escorts. Even at this writing we get quite a thrill out of the sight of them. ]. p Pilot Comes Abo.ard On 1 1 September at 0805 a Japanese Pilot. S. Hosono, Master in the Japane.se Maritime Service, came aboard to help us through the mine fields as we entered VVakanoura Wan. It was only reasonable to expect that when Lieut. Comdr. Tippett met the pilot at the No. 3 Sponson to show him to the bridge there was a large crowd on hand to see him; howe er, they were somewhat surprised to find him a .slender little man, who, except for his charts under his arm, looked everything but a harbor pilot. The cruise from there on into VVakanoura was not without excitement, because we were going through waters that were literally in- fested with mines. The pilot knew where the Jap mines were, but. unfortunately, he and we had only to guess where the B-ag ' s had been dropping their mines. It was some comfort to us to know that we had a large group of mine- .sweepers sweeping a channel ahead of us. but even that does not always guarantee a safe pas- sage. In any event, we got through safely and dropped our hook in Wakanoura Wan at 1833 that day. It was too late for the Jap pilot to leave the ship; so we assigned him a room for the night, imder guard, of course, and he left us earK ' the next morning. Japan Most of us had never been to Japan before and w-ere, frankly, quite appreciative of the opportunity to visit the land of the Rising Sun, e en though it did delay our return home a little. All of us enjoyed the view of this moun- tainous coastal region from the ship; however, only officers and men in a duty status got ashore Jap pilot salutes as he reaches flight deck with his charts. Top: The man in the middle is our Jap pilot into Wakanoura Wan; centfr: Street car station — Wakanoura; btiow: Waka- noura police and Red Cross workers. 221 lap Red Cross assisls wilh P.O.W. lilirr cases. (Dr. Piatt and C:hi r ClalHcoattc to left in picture. on thi.s particular visit. Those of us who went a.shore at Wakanoura on official business were amonE; the first to occup)- this particular part of Honshu; however, we experienced no diffi- culties what.soe er. The Litnga Point had a prominent part in the evacuation of appro.xi- mately 3.000 POWs from this area, we having officers and men on duty in the Mampa Ro t group of allied P.O.W.s to reach S ' ak emergency first aid station. Wakano boats to Mampa Ro Hotel for processing. Rlghl, lop: P.O.W.s on beach at Mampa RoHc tela wailin g their lurn in lin ; next to lop: Fi rst P.O.W train arri es at VVaka vama: r fXl to bottom ■ Deva sta tion at Vaka ama (All of the damage at Wakayama is sa lid to tiavc been done by o le raic of inn B 2q s. and tfi s is just a mall pa t of it. ; hoti m: R cmai n of VVaka ma railroad station Lfft, top: Scene at Wakayama station; centft: Loading PO.W litter cases into ambulances at Wakayama station; brloiv: Main pa Ro Hotel. Hotel (hntrl n( ;i thousand waves), at thr dork ;m(l ;il the cincriiciK y first aid statir n where the I ' OW ' s were (irsl l)roiiy;ht from tlie train. While llie work at Wakanotira was prtjhably tlie most genuinely satisfyini? thing we had done diiriii ' T the entire war, it was not easy, going round the rlork. We were, however, amply repaid for our eHorts if for nothing more than the look of gratitude in the eyes of those POW ' s. Immediately on arriving, we eommandeercd all the trueks, taxis, business buildings and ho- tels that we would need in our work. It cer- tainly seemed tt) us that the Japs were mighty happy to ha e the war over, and they were, consequently, ery cociperatixe. Practically all of the ci ilians seemed to be very much undernourished, and they had probably been hungry for a long time. We were, howe er. never able to forget the treachery of the Jap- anese at Pearl Harbor and since. We set up headquarters in the Mampa Ro Hotel where all ambulatory POW ' s were brought for processing. There they were de- loused, decontaminated, fed, furnished with new ( lothing, physically examined and assigned l(j various ships for passage. On the whale they were in pretty go(xI shap ' , thanks to the B-2t) ' s having dropped fo od into the prison camps for the previous few weeks; however, the stories some of them told concerning their treatment would make one ' s hair stand on end. -Nagasaki , ll PO N ' s had been a.ssigned to other ships before it became necessary to u.se the Lunga Point; so on the afternoon of 15 .September we got underway for .Nagasaki Ko, Kyu.shu, to take on a load, and we arri ed early on the morning of the 17th. W ' e were all cjuite anx- ious to see Nagasaki, because that is the city where the second atomic bomb was dropf)ed. We were greeted there by a typhoon, though, that gave us a pretty rough time our Hrst night, with some gusts of wind up to 80 knots being felt. ■ff L- ' iili ,Hi.l K,iKs.-ll. Hi.. lalkinc to P.O.W. ' s at Waka- noura landing: brlozi: Lt. Marvil and Self, MM2c, talk to litter case while awaiting boat to hotel. Top: Lt. Cdr. ' nir: i _ : . i i ' u - -liips at Mampa Ro Hotel, with assistance ol Ensign Ricaclinan, Partin, Yic, Chel- cmedos, Vac, and Doely, Y3C; below. Remains of Wakayama bus station. Lunga Point men shoppini; in VVakanuura. 225 Lunga Point in heavy seas off Vakanoura. Japan. 226 Rhoden, SCic, stirs beef stew for P.O.W. ' s in Mampa Ro Hotel Dr. 1 .a.i galley. ci Only those on official business got ashore at Nagasaki, but we are thankful that our oflicial photographers were among that group. W ' e commenced taking on POW ' s as passengers on the 1 8th and finished on the i gth when we got underway in the afternoon with 760 of them sleeping on cots on our hangar deck. We took them straight to Okinawa where we disem- Limga Point in heavy seas off Wakanoura. VC-33. barked them for further transportation on the 2ISt. VC 33 Reports Aboard On 25 September, while in Buckncr Bay, Composite Squadron Thirty-three (VC 33) re- ported aboard for duty, and we got underway for Wakanoura Wan again on the 26th. where we anchored at 1 100 on the 28th. First Libfrt ' i ' In Japan On our first visit to Wakanoura no liberty was allowed, partly because it was too soon after the surrender and partly bccau.se of no medium of exchange for shopping. On our arrival this time, however, we found that lib- erty parties were allowed ashore in small groups and that we could trade with soap, cigarettes and candy. Therefore, those who were for- tunate enough to get ashore this time had no little fun trading a pack of cigarettes for a doll, two cigarettes for a fan. one cigarette for a saki cup and .so on. Inflation was such that a packages of cigarettes was worth approximately S2.50 in our money. Quite a lot of interesting souvenirs were brought aboard each day, and Remains ol Mitsubislu planl — Nagasaki. Uc aslation at .Na-iasaki. e -eryonc enjoyed this little glimpse of Japan. It might be explained that Wakanoura is ac- tually a beach resort suburb of VVakayama, a city of over 200.000 people. As compared to Wakayama, Wakanoura is just a small ' illage and the shops are almost primitive. Waka- yama is, or rather was, quite an industrial city, but now that it has been destroyed by bombing we were not allowed there by our own authori- ties, probably because there was nowhere to shop. Some of the officers and men did get to the railroad station in Wakayama in connection with evacuating POW ' s and can testify to the fact that one raid of 100 B-29S levelled the busi- ness and industrial area almost 100 per cent. We remained anchored in Wakanoura Wan until 2 October, giving all hands ample oppor- tunity to learn the Japanese sign language. Consequently, on that day we set sail for Tokyo for bigger game in the way of souvenirs. Tokyo? Many of us had predicted on 16 October 1944, that we were on our way to Toyko; so many of us, despite our desire to get home, had an intense feeling of satisfaction in the knowl- edge that we were about to cross the goal line Devasuiion at Nagasaki. as we steamed North with the Makin Island, the Tennessee and the California — Tokyo bound ! But were we? We were due in Tokyo Bay the morning of the 3rd and were almost at the en- trance to the Bay when we received orders to change our course for the area South of Waka- yama to conduct an air search for Rear Ad- miral W. D. Sample who had been reported lost in a routine PBM flight since morning. The Admiral simply had not been heard from ■ deck en route Okinawa from Nagasaki. ' ' ' L ' 1ii ' v.!-., ' ' .?7. ' i!fiBPf ' ' Dcvaitation at Nagasaki. Rig it, nfxt to bottom: These midget submarines were never completed; right, bottom: Ei I Shinto Shrine at Nagasaki Wz 230 Top: P.O.W.s . Nagasaki : m flight deck just bctoie getting underway from Inp: Outi.kiiii ot Ijuinljcii dua. . d l3akl. btluit: !_) ; below: First load of P.O.W. ' s reaches ship. Jap ferry boat sunk at Nagasaki two miles from point where atomic boml:) was dropped siiuc taking ofl from VV ' akanoiira Wan that morning, and our assignment was to make an iniciisivc search of the land and sea areas South of VVakanoura Wan. On arrivint; at the search area, h(jwever. we ran into heavy weather which made it necessary to disc(jntinue search operations while we d(xiged another typhoon. We resumed the search on the 5th, (itli ;in(l 7th. but finally went into VVakanoura Wan to wait for the had weather to pass over iiiasiiuK ' h as what liyint we had ix-en able to do was in vain due to poor visibility. On arrivinii at Wakanoura this time we were al)ic U) arrange for all hands t(j get (jii the tx-ach and we learned that we crjuld finally use Jap- anese currency, and that is when we learned about inflation. Where we had previously gi en a package of cigarettes or a bar of soap for an item we now paid 40 Yen, which is roughly S2.50. Nevertheless, we all had a good time and it was quite a sight to see our liberty parties returning aboard with a variety of souvenirs ranging all the way from a private Miinio Shrine, complete with termites, to a pair of miniature chop sticks. Top: Imperial Palace pounds, Tokyo, showing moat; n xt from top: Hirohito lives here; third from top: A Shinto Shrine near fleet landing. Tokyo: bottom: Undamaged part of Tokyo business section. Lunga Point i shopping I 2. 2 Another typhoon interrupted liberty on the gth, and we moved to the outer harbor to ride it out at anchor and spent an uncomfortable day and a half until the typhoon passed on the night of the loth. This was the typhoon that did all the damage to Okinawa. We again spent the i ith and r2th searching for Admiral Sample in company with the Makin Island, the Siboney, the Sanlee, the Suwanee, and returned to Wakanoura for engine aval party loading Jap ___ __ , __ian on board; ci-iiln: Samt- as abcve; hrluw: Jap battleship, S ' agalo, totally destroyed by fire and bombs rides at anchor in Tokyo Bay with American prize crew aboard. ibnty party boards LSM al i«f Ifnrf iirws: ' okohama bottom: Buddhist Temple in Tokyo. 233 cporu-d aboard : ,4 Ma ability on the 1 3th where wc remained until the 1 6th when we again resumed the search. ToK •o On the 1 7th the search for Admiral Sample was finally abandoned and wc set our course for Tokyo Bay where wc anchored at 1847 that day. VVe anchored nearer Yokosuka than Yoko- hama and Tokyo, Yokosuka being the site of one of the main Jap Naval bases. That base, incidentally, now Hies our Ensign. VV ' e were -Shopping on the Ginza. A Yokohama family in front of tht-ir home 234 who rcportfd aboard 14 May — (first group). aljoiit two hours from Tokyo; however, ar- rangements for liberty were well organized and we had an LSM call for our liberty party each morning and they were able to spend the better part of the day there, shopping along the Ginza (Tokyo ' s Fifth Avenue or Lincoln Road), sightseeing around the Imperial Palace, the Diet, the American Embassy, the Zoo and other points of interest. Tokyo turned out to be the modern city we had expected to find; however, we would have found more a year earlier. Yokohama, vhich fl5 t Enlisted men who reported aboard since 14 Ma — (second group). 235 adjoins Toyko, was fvcn more modern in its an liitcriurc than Tokyo; liowtvtT. Ixjili f itits arc about ()0 [X-r crnt destroyed in lh -ir bus- iness and indnstrial areas. Shoppini was niiK li better in bntli ol these cities, houcxci-. A rokvo cirbu tiian in W ' akanonra. because the stores that were left were modern and you could usually find someone in them who had lived or been educated in the States and who could speak very good English. In fact, some even spoke American. Actually, there were few blocks left in the business section of Tokyo with more than one building standing. C onsequently, the crowded streets were even more congested by make-shift shops set up along the edge of the sidewalks where buildings had been burned or bombed out. In any event, just visiting Tokyo as we did was well worth while. The most important thing that happened to us while in Tokyo Bay, though, was getting our orders transferring us from the 5th Fleet to Magic Carpet duty, meaning that thencefor- ward we were a transport CVE. Our orders further told us to start loading passengers and, when loaded, to proceed to Pearl Harbor and Uncle Sugar. It didn ' t take us long to start looking for passengers; however, for several days, it seemed like we weren ' t going to gel any, they came al)oard in such small numlK-rs. Meanwhile, we had si-cn in the Sims and Siri jfs that the Army was giving a Jap rifle and l)ayonel to every .soldier going back home on orders and we .saw n(j reason why our Blue- jackets shouldn ' t get .such a souvenir also. Cion.sequently, we sent a working party up to ' okohama and talked the 8th Army into giving us rifles and i ayonets. Therefore, (■ cry officer and man in the ship ' s company iiiui .Scjuadron has at least one good souvenir to take home from the wars. While we were waiting for sufficient passcn- i ers , ' dmiral Durgin again demonstrated his desire to show the men under him how much he appreciated their efforts, this time in the form of a letter, of which we are very proud, and which we fiuote as follows: To the Officers and Men of the U.S.S. Lunga Point : Prior to your departure for the States I want to tell you once more that I am most pleased with the excellent work done by the crew of the LUNGA POINT. We started out together a little over a year ago and have gone through Youngster eats his lunch amid ruins of Toky 2.36 Homeward bound pennant. Point Loma; our first view of U. S 237 Welcome Home sign, ; entered San Diego Harbor. many interesting and trying moments during the strenuous campaigns of Leyte, Luzon, Iwo, Okinawa and the East China Sea. We have learned from the Officers and men of your gallant ship that, when the need arises, there is no limit to the endurance, the will-to-do, the fighting spirit and the courage of our sailor men. I speak not only for my staff but for all the Escort Carriers when I say the LUNGA POINT is an outstanding ship and we are happy to have had the privilege of serving with it. All of you have every reason to take pride in the achievements of your ship and for your part, which was much more than most of you realize, in our overwhelming victory. I am proud to have been one of you and will miss the good old LUNGA — We all felt safer when she was by our side. Goodbye and good luck to you all. No other ship more deserves a Well Done. (S) C. T. Durgin Rear Admiral, U. S. Navy Commander Escort Carrier Force Finally, vc managed to get our passenger capacity aboard and we set sail for Pearl Harbor on 28 October at 0749, flying a Home- ward Bound pennant 604 feet long and with 38 stars: a foot for e er ' enlisted man and a star for e ery officer on board who has been away from the States a year or more. To say that we were happy to sec that pennant streaming out o ' cr our fantail assisted by the buoyancy of sexeral acrological balloons is not only putting it mildly b« i| absolutely superfluous. What would otherwise ha e been such a plea.sant cruise, however, was fraught with many things to make it almost unpleasant. We had rough weather all the way to Pearl Harbor; the longest stretch of rough weather c ha c had in our history .It was so rough that not too much sleep was gotten en route; it was almost impossible to stay in one ' s bunk at night. Add to that the matter of low ra- tions, most of them dehydrated, and then add a serious water shortage that made it necessary for us to institute water hours and the .sum total wasn ' t too pleasant. If it had not been 238 C9 5b fi: Qr f t ;: ' ;: ? ;i 1 : fp ;; : fe 15 ' ■ ' ■■ fflr T .1.. T fe ;; - l blES iP ' 239 for vh;il wjs at tlic other end nl ilic Liiiihow it would liiuc been a iiii litiiiarc. Ncvcrtliclcss. the rougli wcatlur niiK (U- layrd us (jiir clay, aiicl vr n-aclircl I ' cail on . o- vcuiIht the 71I1 where those of us wiio got ashore had our first glimpse of real ri i!izali()n ill over a year. We did n(jt slay in Pearl loui;. shovinir off the very next dav at noon for San Dicuo. The nip to I);ii;() ,is nolliiiii; like .i bad as ironi I dkyo to Pearl, alliiough the seas were ju l .ihout as hea y as West of Pearl. ' I ' he water situation improved, and, Ix-si of all, we were able to gel aboard some fresh provisions dmin); oin- short stay in Pearl anrl w - ale better than we had in months. . nd, now, it ' s the morning of 1 - ncml)er. . rc we happy? Well, who wouldn ' t Ik-? We are si.indini; on the (light deck of the Lunga Point, .111(1 (Mil of the ( ' (jrner of one eye we .see 1 7 Jap Hags on our bridge, and out of tlie corner of the other we .see old Point I.uni,! rising into the sky. and, i)y nightfall, well be at the other end of tiie rainbow. C:. PTAIN WILIJ.WI RlCiHT HOLLING.SWORIH. U. S. NA V It would not only be inappropriate, but it would also be ill-mannered and ungrateful to close the cover of this book without saying a word about our present Skipper. Captain Hollingsworth relieved the com- mand of the Lunga Point on 5 July, bringing with him a record of achic cmcnt of which he should be justly proud. While it is true that he assumed command toward the closing days of the war and, consequently, had little oppor- tunity to prove his ability as a leader in battle aboard our ship, he has demonstrated his lead- ership in so many other ways that there is no doubt in the minds of the ofHccrs and men of the Lunga Point that he can rise to any occasion. With great pride in having served under C aptain Hollingsworth we say to him, Good- bye, Good I uck and many happy crui.ses. 240