St Thomas More High School - Utopian Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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Sir? Yes, 'Pops'? How much time do we get to finish? Boat will wait no longer than 0915. If anyone or anything slips up, remember, you're only a team when you set those charges. Each man for himself to get to that boat. You'll be carrying two fifty-pound sacks of TNT. Four froggies went in two days ago to see what type of charge you'll need. Concrete blocks need to be blasted. How many came back, sir? One, 'lrish.' The ship sped up till she was doing twenty- eight knots. Over the horizon small columns of smoke could be seen. The Stedman headed in IZ f I 4 , ! ' 7' Z' f . Y gt ' 1 i Km. a a as-f s ., A - .-- wif' tiff- 3, -' --'sir ,:1f'::f.. A .Ae Ai 4, in 9 QAIV, ,- a-, ..f-4-'-' -.---- - 'Q Lf: g, .:- ly, -. --i:'f'---- lx '6 ii- ....': -Jai 'tg' shi' :SEZ ? 5 1 5 ' f r -! V- Wim ug- all ill!!- 1 , ' ' 1! E 'fa , . 1 : 'r -,,,--1 'JL - Q 3 -'E' in --.v . 4 f ..- -iii . -- lr: --.- ,,..I I 1 VW A - l T - fs' i I Tse EJ .5 ,sl - pl , , 1--,ff 1' 'gg OI -25.- .I 42 .5 ,fv- .fl in ' B , If f 3 7,11 in Lf- --'- f' filf T-T: X I' , ' n I -'-'-,,, '..: 1E.,s: X A a --... ' A 'LII .-.. E r .N X o 1, ,ply - - A a A fa ! s and K .... ' ' V O' Q I i:..1 - . .-ff-: 3'- , we- .- W -W -'- I ... - 'W' JFS'-'Q I W.. 1 - N x B7-Nix - 1-.--.-.4 .-s- is their direction. The smoke grew larger until it seemed to become attached to smoke-stacks. These in turn, grew into superstructures, and, finally, they emerged into ships - American ships. The Stedman came into the rear of the convoy and began signalling to the flagship. At 0723 she pulled away to the southeast. At ap- proximately the same moment the P. A. system blared out. Will the U. D. T. Commander and his executive officer report to the Captain's quarters? In a moment they were seated in a com- fortable lounge. What gives, Cap?,' inquired Bill. You boys ready to jump of? Sure, any time, replied the Commander. You'd better be. .lust got a message from the Flag. One-half of the set charges on Namur went oif. Three-fourths of the guys got it. The top brass just decided to make the big landing at Kwajalein Atoll, your spot. Your men have to make it good, sir. Not only does the success of the mission depend on it but also whether or not the Underwater Demolition Corps remains as a branch of the Navy. It's a big order, I know, but at least five of your teams have to get through to make the mission a success. Think you can do it? The other guys got it, eh? Okay, Captain, we'll pull through. With my men it's strictly businessf' Of all the bad breaks . . . Knock it off, Bill. Get the boys together. .lump off at 0750. Tell them the situation, and make them get dressed. Shove off. Yes, sir. The sun was fairly high now. It glowed on the metal parts of the ship, and made them warm. Soon they would be red-hot. Men hur- ried about on the deck performing tasks and obeying orders. Some just loafed. On the port side men were preparing to lower a motor launch. This boat was to take the Blue Bell team close to the beach. The Green Gong team, under Lieutenant Waterman, was to leave by a second boat being prepared on the starboard side. Lower away. A chief petty oHicer's voice broke the shrill noise of the deck chaos, and the ..67

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on the paper became so tight that he wrinkled the report sheets. It was an incident he would never tolerate from a subordinate under normal circumstances. He released his grip on the paper and picked up the remaining sheets. He thumbed through them to be sure they were all there and looked to the Staff. The laughter had slowly died away. Colonel Radstaff, the situation is not hu- morous, not with four thousand lives at stake. I have here, though, something which I think will remedy the cause. We have heen experi- menting for almost two years now on a team of men who will be able to go right up to the beaches and destroy those obstacles. These men will swim to the beach and will carry special watertight cases of dynamite. Their one job will be to remove those obstacles. They can also return with samples of soil, which we can analyze to determine what type of armor the island can support. Our experiments in the Mediterranean have been very successful. In three months we'll be able once again to attack, and this time there shall be no impediments. I present these papers for your inspection now. Our new weapon, nicknamed the Frogmen, is the Underwater Demolition Corps. l 'I' I The sun rose cautiously, touching parts of the U.S.S. Stedman as one slowly points a flash- light about a dark room. Her speed was slow, her destination, secret. The sea was a dark blue with slight rises in the form of waves lapping at the sides of the small destroyer escort. The watches on deck constantly scanned the sky while the small radar antenna made revolution after revolution. Below decks in a small room, six men talked in whispers. Spread before them on a table was a map of the Marshall Islandsg circled in red pencil was Kwajalein Atoll. The leader of the group was a lieutenant- commander. His men included the Navy's finest. There were his executive officer, Lieutenant Bill Waterman, Ensign Dutch Swartz, Ensign Her- man Sott, Ensign Thomas Irish 0'Larey, and Chief Petty Officer Ronald Pops Somerton. The Commander was speaking to them. Now, here is Kwajalein Atoll. Big brass want us to clear the southern portion of it. The pick-up boats will each take three teams of five men. Dutch's and Pop's teams will come 66 . with me. The beach is divided into two sections, Blue Bell and Green Gong. My team's on Blue Bell. Our name is Mermaid. I'm Mermaid Oneg Dutch is Two, and so on. What you don't know, however, is that five other groups of frogmen will jump oif two hours ahead of us. We go at 0800. They're clearing Roi and Namur. Any questions? Yeah, spoke up Bill. How are the laps' chances on picking us up? Our job will be twice as hard if they see the other groups. They'll be on the look-out. Otherwise, we'll have to watch out for shore patrols, mines, booby traps, and machine-gun emplacementsf' A cinch. f 2' ff. -- f z A 4 g 1 Z F l A g M -it .1 X- YA' x lg v ,- Z' ',..'f fy .-f- ... 5' A Av M 1' -W -E23 X 'Q-P v'i?-, 4 :W-? 5 S' 'W Q - 4:3-:,,A::.s?,'-Q-.LJ gp-, -6- .. .. y ...As-as - A ' r' f. .... : -Z -'i-'- f 2.-2- ' r I -ff?- ' ': ' ' 2 5 ': - I 4.- :f 1, .41 - W-1 'I :gl -'-.:'-33 t :I 'Z - . Iuka if . . . ' - 0 V, ' i Q 'S' W AX f .. -ff '- asf' . ' Q-ff wdyg i X - ' XS kv L , in I I Q is ..' - -.. E. .ff-ffm, I 5, IJ' ' I X - :' Pg' 1 g -1.5.1.1 ' ,,,..fm' .pi -ij' f- Z- F' 1-1' .L x '5 !,f' ,. A -n -n L' 1 4, -' 4 f ' ! I i M -, ' I H 'dun o 0 5.2 f' as ' 'Ls ,.,: .s --' 5' . .--' -no We , '-R'-.

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launch went down the side, hitting the bright blue water with an audible thud. The frogmen then appeared on the deck garbed only in a pair of swimming trunks, a face plate, an oxygen mask, oxygen tanks, which were strapped on their backs, and a dagger. The sacks of dynamite were being carefully lowered into the boat. The Commander appeared on deck with Waterman. The Captain wished them good luck and returned to his bridge. Got it, Bill? You leave in five minutes at 0755. Take your boat through Green Gong. It'll be back at 0915. That'll give you twenty- five minutes for swimming to and from shore and forty-five minutes to set the stuff. Take it easy and good luck. The Commander climbed down the rope ladder into his boat. The lines were cast off and the boat sped away. Spray spread over the sides, and stung the skin of the men so severely that they were forced to crouch. A strip of land came into view at the horizon. It loomed larger as the small craft hurried toward it. They could see explosions on the island now as the big ships unleashed their fury. They were only five hundred yards from shore when Japanese shore batteries began to fire upon them. The Com- mander stuck his head up to see where Water- man's launch was, but a nearby burst sent him into his crouching position once more. Want a Chiclet? The Commander couldn't see in the crowded boat who offered it to him, but he took one anyhow. They were only three hundred yards from the beach when the motor launch swerved suddenly making her course parallel to the beach. The Commander sat up and prodded some men. Mermaid Two Team, check out! Dutch's team stood on the side of the boat as the men, one by one, slid on to a rubber raft, which had previously been lowered and strap- ped to the side of the launch. From there, they rolled over into the swiftly passing water. A'Mermaid Three, check out! The same procedure followed as Pop's team left. Mermaid One Team, let's go! The Commander's body felt as though he had fallen from a fast freight onto a gravel road. The water swirled about his head, and his eyes 68.. saw only a mixture of bluish-green water with passing air bubbles. His lungs gasped for air. He fought his way to the surface. After what seemed an eternity, his head broke water, and he drew in deep breaths of air. He watched the other men just passing over the side. There were Doubleday, Dial, Gardner . . . An explosion sent the Commander back beneath the waves. When he arose, he immedi- ately looked for the boat. Oh no! No! What once had been an elusive motor launch was nothing more than a rubble of wood, metal, and flesh. There were still some packs of TNT on board before the explosion. He swam over to the wreckage, and saw two heads swim- ming toward him. There. Who are you? Two frightened young sailors swam to the Commander. They were breathing fast. One had blood dripping from his forehead. Doubleday - and Dial - sir. 4'See anybody else? I-saw-Gardner go-under. I-couldn't -get to him-in time. Okay, Dial, let's head for the beach. We got work to do. 6'Sir, we won't have time to set charges and to set fuses, too. The Commander stared at Doubleday. He was right. Three men were to set the charges, and two were to set the fuses. They needed more men if they were to set time fuses. But the time fuses were with Craver, who was killed on the boat. Yet the area had to be cleared because the Marines' main force was to land at Blue Bell. He had to explode the charges somehow. He looked at the two men and spoke softly, Take care of the charges. P11 set the fuses. Let's gof' They put on their masks, and began to breathe the oxygen from the tanks on their backs. They swam for the beach. Soon they came upon a group of concrete blocks, which were only a few inches beneath the surface of the water. Doubleday and Dial set the charges while the Commander tended to the fuses. The mo- ments dragged. When they had finished almost all of their sector, the Commander gave them the signal to surface fContinued on page 731 . . THE CHELSEA REVIEW