Wasatch (AGC 9) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 35 text:

C S DIVISION BY M. KoRsoN, sKD sc The history of the Supply Division goes all the way back to February, lqhb, when Bob Severson, George Carlisle and Ted Wojtowicz, three of our well-known storekeepers reported for duty at Norfolk, they were the first to report to Captain Granum, the PCO. There wasn't much to do at that time, nothing except inventory a whole warehouse full of Maritime supplies, transfer it to another warehouse, then back to the first one again. Then came the nightmare of outfitting the Wasatch, one of our biggest jobs, and, we think, a job well done. ' On Commissioning Day, our cooks and bakers under the supervision of Chief Morin fur- nished a delightful buffet luncheon for our guests and friends despite the fact that the freight car with all the chow was ordered off the dock and returned to us via Richmond a few minutes before serving. Immediately after the festivities came the first of the now famous calls: -- W2 men from the lst, 2 men from the 2nd,n and on down the line for the stores working parties. Day and night we loaded: Where it all went we'll never know. Then came the famous day of 27 June. The Wasatch weighed anchor, bound for Panama. That was a short run and as soon as the first lines went over the side, then came that familiar sound over the P. A.,' -- W3 men from the lst, 3 men from the 2nd,W etc., here we go again. This time we grabbed all the delicacies we could find. The last thing load- ed as we were pulling out was ice cream. The Supply Depot at Balboa is still looking for the empty ice cream cans. ' The 28 days from Panama to Milne Bay gave us a chance to square away the hundreds of tons of supplies. That job, combined with our gun watches and emergency drills, taught us about the Navy's eight day week, thirty-six hours to the day. Once the hook was down at Milne, the P. A. sounded that familiar howl: WL men from the lst, L men from the 2ndN, etc We were off on another stores working party. This was the first of our all night ones and was made even more enjoyable by buckets of almost cleaned us of our chow, and that is stores came aboard, we were underway again of the Seventh Fleet. The first night out of Milne Bay came stopped and so did the Wasatch. The Supply Department came to the rescue. After plowing through an unholy mess of spare parts we managed to fish out the right gizmo, and off we went on our merry way. Once at Hollandia, from the drop of the hook till we weighed anchor to go on our first invasion, it was one working party after another, - H6 men from the lst 6 men from the 2nd...n Here we learned what war in the South Pacific was about. This is when our shipmates started to call us the racket division, and we don't deny it. But it wasn't an easy racket by any means, -- feeding the ship, clothing it, mending the clothes, cobbling the shoes, giving the haircuts, washing the mountains of laundry, checking all the stores, and keeping you supplied with cash for the pogey bait... Oh yes, let's not forget the gun watches. All in all, a pretty full day's work, or racket, if you prefer. During invasions, our commissary boys kept up their good reputation by serving chow at battle stations and in the mess hall during trying and tiresome days filled with calls to general quarters. Japs or no Japs, the Supply Department had to function, - feeding, barbering, tailoring, laundrying, and all the rest of it, in between manning our gun stations. During the anxious days at Leyte Gulf when we of the Wasatch were luckier than our brothers-in-arms who were survivors, the Supply Department was on the go again, outfitting the survivors with emergency clothing, toilet articles, and cigarettes. .It was also at Leyte that we started our career as the nGreat White Fatherv acting as supply ship for every small craft in the fleet who came to us with a sad tale. We're not sure of it, but we think the reason the ship stayed so long at Tolosa was so we could do the laundry for the Seventh Fleet and Philippine S08 F1'0Htie1' Staffs While we're on the pleasure cruise from a lot of other d t , iizigczi m?2aS3iteoof the fact that you've smoked b0,000 packages of cigarettes a month and f d th we know how to count we haven't run out of many things that Ziallypggtteggg girigg ouralong cruise in the Pacific. We're proud of our record and we'll matgh our Outfit with any Supply Department in the Fleet rain and knee-deep mud, but the long trip had a serious situation. As the last net load of headed for Hollandia, New Guinea, the playground a bit of unexpected trouble, the generators the subject, we shouldn't overlook that grandad of all working parties, to Samar. It was N20 men from the first, 20 from the 2nd', and 20 divisions before we finished that thirty-six hour rat-race, but once fill the ship to nearly overflowing capacity. We've been lucky in that 9

Page 34 text:

f-goalie L 1. sf? '?.. f ml 4,' gn rw .W N N-EI un: L l l 1 1V y Y , 1 V1 w M 1 W mi' ,M vi '4 . 1:1 N wl 4, ,. li 1. wi' :I Q N W H M N N W N 'L 1 5' 41' I A U ,Q X 1 Tj U Qs ' f- . 1 5 1' 615 U Q5 1 5, ff! ' I 2:55 , 1 H: A ,W M VY I H W M Thy? ,W WM M Mi Vx xi M Q11 Y ,121 M ,ik 1452 it Qgki 91' M tl.- rm' UH ffliilf' S T O R E E P E R S Kmbwm-ZZO0 From left to right first row Severson, Korson, CSK Wojtowicz, Ens. Morris, Lt. Gmdr. Belliveau, Lt. Loewenstein, CPC Schirmer, CSK Carlisle, VanTasse1, and Harrison. Second row Halberstadt, Palmer, Gay, Kearney, Seigel, Yentsch, Rnlon, Bofinger, and Holthaus. Not in picture Heggen, Betters, Evans, and Aylard o -u-:pm -43mm nm From left to right first row Kostelancik, Inzana, Catroppa, Lt. Cmdr. Belliveau, Lt. Loewenstein, Belmont, Wysocki, and Miner. Second row Neilson, Luonge, Radford, Poindexter, J. Padgett, Jaquith, and Romig. Third row Salerno, McCarthy, Binaco, Whitford, Padgett, Neil, and O'Brien. Not in picture Koreltz, Hachenholz, Marciano, Passori. and Cole. 1 'W 'Y W P 4 From left to right first row Bortnichak, Thomas, Meherg, CCS Morin, Lt. Cmdr. Belliveau, Lt. Loewenstein, Wolfe, Brantley, and Pouliot. Second row Bridges, F. Ryan, Kintner, Moore, Krow, Good, Noland, and Weil. Third row Parker, Davis, R. Ryan, Albertrani, Brown, Andriacchio, Markle, Montgomery, and Maria. Not in picture CCS Coffee, Ziegler, Wright, Arva, Englebough, Diehl, Hendrickson, and Magee. mmm Wllwl -l l ll

Page 36 text:

A ,, Z vw, S CJFFICERS I N From left to right first row Lt. cmor. J.w. ALFORD, Newark, Ohio, Lt. Cmdr- H-C- HESSE. St. Petersburg, Florida, Lt. Cmdr. J.S. DUNN, salem, New Jersey, Lt. Cmdr. W.O. LEE. Riverside, Rhode Island, Rear Admiral A.G. NOBLE CCom Phib Gr. 81, Washington, D-C-3 Captain K.D. RINGLE CCommanding Officerj, Palas Verdes Estates, California, Comdr. W.F. EGLIT CExecutive Officerj, Springfield Gardens, New York,A Comdr. J.E. NORMENT, Clinton, Iowa, Lt. Cmdr. R.L. BELLIVEAU, Boston, Massachusetts, Lieut. R.B. HINSON, Monroe, North Carolina, and Lt.fjgD H.E. SOMMERS, Port Angeles, Washington. Second row Lleut. H.S. EDWARDS, Fort Worth, Texas, Ch. Elec. A.J. MARRON, Santa Anna, California, Lt.CjgJ E.T. HANSON, Los Angeles, California, Lieut. K.F. SANDS, Boston, Massachusetts, Ch. Bos'n D.J. BATES: Atlanta, Georgia, Ensign T.E. LANGSTON, Greensboro, North Carolina, Ensign J.M. ROBINSON, Hornell, New-York, Ch. Rad. Elec. J. ZAMBA, Yonkers, New York, Lt.CjgJ H.N. DUDA, Mansfield, Ohio, Lieut. S. LOWENSTEIN, Charleston, West Virginia, and Lt.fjgl J.S. GASCOVITCH, Roxbury, Massachusetts. Third row Lt.CjgD L.L. GIFFEN, I Knoxville, Tennessee, Ensign J.W. MORRIS, Battleboro, North Carolina, Chaplain E.P. KENDALL, Decatur, Georgia, Lieut. F.E. CASSIDY, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Lt.CjgD D.H. STAPLETON, Ch. Rad. Elec. A.L. EHRAMJIAN, Brooklyn, New York, Lt.CjgD R.H. ELIOT, Fox? boro, Massachusetts, Ensign W. NEPOTE, Portland, Oregon, Capt. C.E. ROBERTSON, New York, New York, Ensign R.L. PEASE, Hamilton, Ohio, and Lt.CjgJ M.G. FORSTER, Murray, 'Kentucky. Fourth row Lieut. A. FREDERICK Portland, Oregon, Ch. Pay Clerk A.A. SCHIRMER, San Lorenzo, California, Lt.CjgSW.H. AMIDON, Dedham, Massachusetts, Lieut. W.H. WALLACE, Denver, Colorado, Lt.Cjgl D.L. SMITH, New York, Ch. Carp. E.C. HANSEN, Union Grove, Wisconsin, 5hip's Clerk N.L. McKENZIE, San Francisco, California, Lt.fjgD R.C. ROBERSON, San Diego, California, Lt.fjgJ J.H. BOGER, Fronk Royal, Virginia, ' Lt.fjgD J.E. SMITH, Maplewood, New Jersey, Lt.Cjgl J.C. WELSH, Lansdowne,Pennsylvania, and Ensign E.C. TUCKER, Seattle, Washington. Not in picture Lt. Cmdr. C.E. LOVEMAN, Baltimore, Maryland, Lieut. A. DEL BIANCO, Concord, New Hampshire, Lt fjgl W J RUTH Chicago, Illinois, Ensign w.D. v1NsoN, Richmond, virginia, Ensign c E' HAWKINS.III , Bowling Green, Kentucky, and Mach. W. ECKERT, Baltimore, Maryland. . . , fsar...r ,X IV T' ': A' ff .. fE,,,3,:,gg...f, :f 3 4 . - - - '