Aaron Ward (DM 34) - Naval Cruise Book

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, s So now it was back to San Pedro again for the final touches, and then we'd be off. This stay saw the Ship's Dance in Long Beach become a foamy reality, and a party which will always be remembered as a good one. lt was also in San Pedro that Chief McClure was transferred to shore duty-along with his s-ide- kick, Sweetpea Parrent. We hated to see Mac go, and Sweetpea' had a brand of humor all his own. From San Pedro we went to Pearl Harbor where we went through mining exercises, giving the Minemen a chance to do their stuff. lt was also in Pearl Harbor that Gunner Siler and Mineman, Second Class, Follet came aboard. Pearl didn't seem like such good liberty after the States, although on the way back it did look a lot better, didn't it? From Pearl l-larbor we made the long jump over to Ulithi, lt was warm all the way. lt was during this time that Van Paris, Knoss, and Williams joined the Gunner's gang as strikers. Then, when we left Ulithi, l guess none will forget that long line of destroyers and small craft, and the way they looked through the slanting rain and choppy seas-we were told we were on our way to Okinawa for the big show. Remember the way we started firing as soon as we got to Okinawa in March? We fired nearly every night from then until May 3rd, and we never had a single major casualty on any piece of ordnance and fire control gear aboard. That's a little something we can be proud of, too. ' lt was also during these days that we all got to know each other a little better than before, I guess. The long hours on watch were spent talking future hopes and past events-and about the girl at home, and most of all, about home itself. A pot of joe and a couple of men-this meant a good bull session was on the way-a good way to pass the time. lt's no use putting down my impression of the night of May 3rd, and our fight-l guess we all had pretty much the same idea-lt was terrible. Most of us witnessed acts of courage and bravery and sacrifice which we shall never forget-nor the men who perpetrated them. lt was at dawn on May 4th when we realized that we'd have to say so long forever to Long, Turner, Hendrickson, Olmeda, Good, Armand, Folett, and Zaloga. They'd shoved off on the long cruise. Although they may destroy this ship, the will never destroy the memories we hold in our minds of the ship and the men who manned her. So in the years to come-when our thoughts drift backto this year and the night of May 3rd-let's drink a silent toast to those we left on Zamami Shima in Kerama Retto. A long time ago another American sailor said, The price of liberty is paid in brave men's blood! lt's still true. Edmond Hall. GM3fc THE C6R GANG This little essay is being written with the idea in mind that in all the morrows it may be referred to as evidence 'for the unity of mankind. One early morning, at Treasure Island, a group of some 300 men, the crew of the U.S.S. Aaron Ward, were congregated, Most of these men knew very little about the Navy, but felt sure that eventually they would be able to do their bit. That same morning these men came into contact with a man that will always be remembered and respected. lt was soon learned that this man was Lt. Oomdr. Nuepert, the Executive Officer of the Aaron Ward. l know l couldn't say too much in expressing every man's good feelings towards Mr. 'Nuepert lwon't say any more on this subject, because l'm sure that there will be space set aside to inform you of this man. Time marches on! So the crew of the Aaron Ward was formed. At present all hands are in a mill, wondering and attempting to predict the outcome. So far, sfo good. At this point l'd like to mention Ransom, Oden, and Shores-all good friends of mine, yes-but still well-liked by every one in the deck force, Take Ransom. l-le's one man that will always be remembered for his triple personality-a great pointer, a specialist in the art of Hboatswaining , and a terrific man on the beach. l-le's just one fine example of the type of man that makes up the Deck Force. Yesterday the Aaron Ward was commissioned. A very proud and memorable day for all of us, l'm sure. This was a day that will remain in all hands' minds forever. Their feelings can be eXD1'eSSed bY visualizing an explorer discovering a gold mine. By now every man had contacted his shvrpmates and was pleased with the results. -I 27 1-

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among the boys was the wonderful example of perfect sound watch set by Vornbrock, the only man who could ping through four hours of day-dreaming. Also when quarters for muster was called and Holte, Thorpe, and Moxley didn't answer to muster much to the dismay of Mr. Wallace. Chief Winston would always send Michael down to route them out of their favorite haunt-namely their sack. 'Now for a few lines of seriousness, reverent and humble. On the night of the action of May 3rd there departed from our midst three truly great men. Henry W. Niwinski, Marvin I. McLaughlin, and Billy Ray Dial. It is hard to put into words the heartfelt loss of these great comrades only in their teens. But we of the Navigation Department will never forget the laughter and gaiefty that was so much a part of them and the radiance that they expressed while they served with us on this great minelayer. McLaughlin, Niwinski and Dial will leave a deep imprint in our memories always. And, though we know the greatest tribute on earth will not bring them back-we humbly pay them this tribute, of vowing never to forget their supreme sa-orifice. , - y 1 William R. McKanna. SoM3fc G STOOD Fon GUNNERY This erstwhile literary effort is being made with only one purpose in mind-to provide those whose names appear herein with a little memento, which, in the years to come, may serve to bring back fond memories of our year spent together-bot-h in battle and on the beach. When the crew finally' boarded ship in San Pedro, all hands in the Gunnery Department were pretty wellfacquainted, having previously met while at Treasure Island in San Francisco. The Department was made up of Gunner's Mates, Fire Conftrolmen, and Minemen-and it was a good outfit from the beginning. Our first muster read something like this: GUNNER S MATES: Chief McClure, Castanien, Busch- bacher, Ouimette, Iervais, Whelan, Putrzynski, Shea, Boles, Dial, Turner, Long, Hall, Abbott, Collins, Trites, Larson, McClendon, Padgett, Hammock, Gaworski, Hendrickson, Parrent, and Carson-all under the watch- ful fand sometimes exasperatedl eyes of Lieutenant Bubel, Lieutenant Lavrakas, and Ensign Ferguson. The Fire Control Gang had Foster, Kroll, Beckmann, Despin, Quinn, Longlois, Oueior, Roumfort, Good, Olmeda, 'Chmiel, Schmitt, Andrade, Husted, and Kutch. These men' were kept at the job by Ensign Kelly -an ex-enlisted man himself. T-he Minemen were under Lieutenant tjgl Mendelson, consisting of Offins, Armand, Brown, Zaloga, Hitchcock, Rawlins, Mogensen, Gross, Wimer, and Fields. Now, let's look back and remember a few things which happened during the year in which we became brothers in a common undertaking, and with a mutual interest in its successful conclusion. While in Frisco , the Shi-p's basketball team Candi its starting lineup held a good many O Division namesl won the DD Pool tournament-this was the AARON WARDAS first victory. When day's work was done and recreation was in order, many of the boys took the A train to Frisco or Oakland and could, shortly after their arrival in either city, be located in such pleasant haunts as El Patio, McCarthy's, The Dawn Clufb, The Lone Star, and The Breakers. ' ' By October 28, 19444, the journey from San Francisco to Los Angeles and San Pedro had been made, and on this date we commissioned the ship. Immediately we began to ready her for sea and the shake- down cruise. Of course, while in San Pedro it was necessary to investigate the recreational possibilities of the neighboring cities of Long Beachand Los Angeles. Said possibilities were found to be entirely adequate for our needs-'nuff said. It was while we were in San Pedro that our Gunnery Officer met the girl who was later to become his wife-Lieutenant and tMrs. Lavrakas it is now. Eddie's Pago-Pago, The Clipper Club, The Gay Inn, Melody Lane, and Park's were favorite spots with the liberty hounds. - Now, to borrow a phrase, the party was over and our preparation ,and training commenced in grim earnest. Each piece of gear had been minutely inspected, lubricated, and tested. We were pretty sure that we were ready for the shakedown, but we wouldn't really know until the first firing run was finished. We had the most modern gear in the Navy and one of the newest ships. We had plenty of contidence in the gear, our officers, and ourselves-we wanted to see what we could do. And we 'found out when, at the end of the shakedown cruise, we were notified that the ship had set a new gunnery record for the San Diego Command. That bit of news was worth all the work, inspections, and Worry we'd had-and then sorne. -I 26 I.. L. au- ',..., f-. ,,,,..,,... , ilk '- f --F' - 7 ggah-W pf

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17 ln a short time we were organized as a fighrting machine. Then on to San Diego for shakedown cruise. Every man proved to be capable under fire and in his special duties. And then, underway. No one knew where. Yes, Pearl l-larbor was a good guess, but our exact destination was not known. Combat with the enemy we knew would be ours in a short while. With the men venfturing out to sea for the first time, many heads were wondering about the outcome. Some began to think of yesterday, today, and tomorrow, their loved ones at home, and the thousand odd thoughts that flood a sailor's mind. Before we knew what had hit us, we had traversed the blue waters of the Pacific, via Pearl and Ulithi, and were camping on the doorste-p of Okinawa, aplace that changed the shape of our destiny. To most of the crew, the ports we'd visited were new and fascinating. From time to time we can-gre-gated after working hours to hold an old-fashioned bull session. There all events, new and old, were discussed: good times on the beach, and hangouts such as the Porthole , Tuxedo Club , and number of exciting places. The bunch that l speak of was made up of PO's and men of the lst and 2nd Divisions, and the R gang. ln this latter outfit, Iames and Schafer were big cogs. Though not participants in our sessions, our top men were always popular topics. Mr. Beismeyer, Mr, Cathcart, and their leading PO's, Slhelley and Oden, paved the way towards making - CSR the best outfit aboard ship. To Mr. Beismeyer, who has done so much for us all, l extend the heartfelt gratitude of his men. And to our men who. gave their lives fighting the lap, l can only say We'll never forget . The only way l know how to express the true, deep feeling to these buddies of ours is to quote a tribute that should be always revered in every grateful heart- Never, have so many, owed so much, to so few . ' David Iones, BM1fc A NOISE FRGM BELOW Iust t'he Ward itself brings to min-d the men who sweat it out below decks in the hot engine and fire rooms with the uncertainties of what is happening topside. On the other hand, the heat isn't so bad when there is ice on t'he deck and waves are coming, over the bow. . The Engine-ers were brought together for the first time at San Pedro shortly before the commissioning of t'he ship. During that short period most of us were pretty busy getting acquainted with the ship and each other, because a. few minutes after the ceremony, we knew that we would be underway for the first time. Well, we were underway at last, a new crew on a brand new ship. That first short period of steaming ffor we only shifted berths from the building yard to the outfitting dockl could be considered the last leg of a long trip and the first part of an even longer one. A lt started several months ago in the Destroyer Pool in Norfalk when the nucleus crew of the engineers were first assigned t-o the Aaron Ward. This group consisted of a few rated men with previous en.gineering experience such as Smith, Ward, MaCaugthy, Mann, Salisfoury, Garcyzca, Anastasio, Antell, Coltra, Carrol, Haulbridk, Porrey, St. Clair, Carpenter, and other machinist mates, watertenders, and electricians. After a couple of months in Norfolk, half this group went directly to the ship, while the rest went to Treasure lsland for more train-ing and to help instruct the large numb er of 'lb'oots . assigned to the ship to fill our engineering complement. This included such names as Friese, Macukas, Duravig, Pepoon, Stefani, Mecca, Dyhkopp, Piatt, Cezus, Ceckowski, Mattei, and many others. After Treasure lsland there was a train ride to San Pedro, 'and whether we were ready or not, the ship was t-o be commissioned. ' ln the period following the commissioning we found there was plenty of work to do, learning our new duties, cleaning up, painting, and making minor changes. With the new fellows eager t-o learn and the experien-ced men as patient teachers, we soon formed what We thought was a pretty good Engineering Department. Our arrival in San Diego for shakedown was the beginning of several weeks of hard drilling and training, but by the final inspection we knew we were the best black gan-g -on the best ship of the 'Navy, even iff some of us were a little more salty on the beach than at sea. After a short period for repairs we set out to sea with our daily routine of drills, watches, etc. At night we would sometimes sit on the mine tracks and exchange our latest scuttlebutt or maybe sing a little and listen to Bull Weyrauch with his harmonica the wouldnt hesitate to tell any bystander that he was called Bull because he was so strongl. -I 281- H WWW' -'P Y NEWLY L' 'Wi' 'W '-flllllgf. Q. ',j 'l ':a- ' ' ' D44 Y ,A , -1 HY,