Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

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tl r 1 Q I l l ll i ll H, l l- zns - Jap radio station, 7 miles NfE of Naha, Okinawa, being bombed by our squadron. 'feat naps as he lay exhausted on his Hash- proof mattress cover on his bunk, 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 reeognized' in so many ways by those under whom we fight. On I4 April, we received a dispatch from Admiral Spruance, Commander Fifth Fleet, reading as follows: WFOR THE CONTINUED FINE PER- FORMANCE OF OUR PILOTS AND AIR- CREWS IN OVERWHELMING ENEMY'S HEAVIEST AIR EFFORTS AND FOR FORTITUDE AND EFFECTIVENESS OF OUR SURFACE UNITS PARTICULARLY ON OUTLYING STATIONS IN COMBAT- TING THE SMALL PERCENTAGE OF ENEMY AIRCRAFT THAT COULD GET THROUGH OUR AIR DEFENSE I CAN- NOT EXPRESS TOO HIGHLY MY AD- MIRATION X THIS WILL NOT BUILD UP THE ENEMY,S AIR FORCE NOR HELP HIS MORALE Xi' And, speaking of recognition of good work, we are all mighty proud of those Departments responsible for fueling at sea-Gunnery, Engi- neering and C. 8L R.--because the results of their training in this particular job were well proven on 16 April, when we received a dis operation, reading as follows HWHAT IS YOUR FUELING PROCE- DURE THAT MAKES IT POSSIBLE FOR YOU TO FINISH SO QUICKLYPE patch from Admiral Durgin, following a fueling We were further Henergizedn on the same date when we received a pat on the back by being specifically mentioned in Admiral Blandyis dispatch reading as follows: SWE CANNOT TELL YOU HOW HIGHLY WE REGARD THE PERFORMANCE OF THE CVE'S AND THEIR PILOTS IN THIS AS WELL AS PREVIOUS OPERATIONS X YOU NOT ONLY DO YOUR USUAL DIFFICULT SUPPORT TASKS WITH- OUT COMPLAINT BUT ALSO TAKE ON IMPORTANT OFFENSIVE MISSIONS WITH EAGERNESS AND SUCCESS X WELL DONE XR Then, on 22 April, we received the following dispatch from Headquarters 77th Infantry Division: HTHE AIR COVER FURNISHED THE 77TH DIVISION IN THE KERAMA RET- TO OPERATION 26 MARCH TO 31 MARCH IQ45 INCLUSIVE WAS SUCH THAT NOT A MEMBER OF THE DIVI- SION WAS LOST OR INJURED BY EN- EMY AIR ACTION X THE AIR SUPPORT FURNISHED ON LANDING BEACHES AND UPON SUBSEQUENTLY LIMITED TARGETS IN THE ISLAND WAS OUT- STANDING BOTH IN PROMPTNESS AND EFFECTIVENESS OF MISSIONS CONDUCTED X SUCH SPLENDID CO- OPERATION BETWEEN ARMS CAN ON- LY RESULT IN FURTHERING THE COMPLETE DESTRUCTION OF THE ENEMY RAPIDLY AND WITH MINI MUM LOSS TO OUR OWN FORCES X' When the end of the Okinawa operatiJI1S was in sight, the powers that be undoubtedll' knew that we were tired and needed a change of scenery, so they sent us off on a special mls- sion where we would be less likely to encounter any Jap aircraft. The night before we tOCik departure from the operating area off Okinawa the Captain talked to us over the general

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haunches, licking their wounds, right in their own front yard. The American Army, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard were giving him more than hc could take, and, despite his fanatical resistance, his fienclish tactics, his in- human tendencies, it seemed to us who were knocking at his door that he would soon ruc the day that he had perpetrated that sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. Yes, we do remember Pearl Harbor, 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 laps were now undergoing, we were glad that the Lwzga 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. Wlien the powers that be consider that our job has been com- pleted, and we 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 As we entered Kerama Retto on 2 April. 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 vegetables are gone. We are living on dehydrated Hspudsf, dehydrated carrots, de- hydrated onions, frozen pork chops, synthetic lemonjuice, frozen pork chops, powdered milk, frozen pork chops and frozen pork chops. We are tired, very tired. The average man aboard has considered himself 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 l mi In many instances supplies were dropped by parachulc to our forces on Okinawa.

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nouneing 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. VVe arrived in our new operating area on 26 April, with all hands looking forward to that 'frelaxationi' 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 Nall orders of the Executive Oflicer shall be considered as emanating from the Commanding Qflicerf We had hardly taken station in our Urelax- ationi' 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: UField Day all day throughout the shipli' The words 4'Field Dayj' 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 3 fam., . - , Apra Harbor, Cuarn. to the men of the Lunga Point, it has a more ominous and dreadful interpretation. It sim- ply means to them that all day throughout the shipw 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 Hrelaxinga' as tney carry on their work under the ugly stares of a Petty Cfficer, in preparation for the Uflashfight inspectionw of the First gash if M Kibitzers on forecastle while dropping hook at Guami