Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

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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

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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

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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