Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

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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

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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

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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