Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 89 text:

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

Page 88 text:

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

Page 90 text:

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.