Any war is 90% boredom and 10% sheer terror. Although war, in itself, is the worst obscenity known to mankind, this war had to be fought simply because no one had the courage or the foresight to stop Hitler at the very beginning...the most poignant comment I remember is in Herman Wouk's War and Remembrance, where Victor Henry says, "Either war is finished or we are."

 

I was given a direct commission as an Ensign, USNR, as I was termed an ordnance Specialist. After a six weeks course at Notre Dame, I was assigned to the Inspector of Naval Material, Los Angeles. My work there involved 20 mm. ammunition production and we lived a fairly normal life for a year. When the production contract was in its final stages, I applied for sea duty, was accepted and ordered to Ft. Schuyler in New York for advanced sea duty school. I felt the war was passing me by and I should play a more active and direct part. At the completion of the school, in February 1943, I was sent to Camp Bradford at Little Creek, VA, for amphibious training. There we were assembled into ships' companies and on the Ambridge, PA, to pick up USS LST 662 which had just been built at Dravo Shipyards. They were building LST's and destroyer escorts on the river there. I was assigned as Gunnery Officer. My ship was partially commissioned and we took off down the Ohio and the Mississippi with a ferry crew for New Orleans and final outfitting. The ship was then commissioned and our officers and crew took her into the Gulf and over to Ft. Walton, FL, for sea trials and shakedown. Following this, we assembled into a flotilla and sailed for San Pedro, CA, via the Panama Canal. After loading in San Pedro, we sailed for Pearl Harbor and the war.

 

Our first blooding and engagement was the invasion of the Palaus, Arguar and Pelelieu. We carried aviation engineers, troops and equipment on this invasion. Our first night on the beach at Anguar, we captured what I believe was the first prisoner taken in that invasion. I guess I can take partial credit for this, as we were unloading onto a barge ramp on the beach, and this Jap was spotted on the side of the barge. After firing weapons at him with no results, they woke me, and, since I was the Gunnery Officer, it fell to me to go out on the barge with my 45 and bring him in. He was hanging on the side and I made him understand he was to get up and come with me. I made him strip, using gestures, on the barge, and took him back to the ship. Probably he was shell-shocked, but he offered no resistance. We turned him over to the Marine MPs the next morning, and my last sight of him was going down the beach with the two MP's...I hope they got some good information from him.

 

Our second invasion was Leyte in the Phillipines and we made a third invasion north of Manila near Clark Field to trap the Japanese forces retreating out of Manila. Our fourth invasion was the big one at Okinawa and LST 662 was the first LST on the beach that Easter Sunday.

 

We were under enemy air attach that evening about dusk, shot down one Japanese fighter plane and was credited with an assist on a second. A quite scarey night. We were assigned for several nights on the picket line to serve, with other lighter ships, as decoys for the suicide planes so they would strike at us rather than the capital ships and transports. That, together with the Japanese suicide boats at our usual anchorage spot at night (one of which we shot up) made for a terrifying time. Our final invasion was at Ie Shima, north of Okinawa, and this was the stickiest. We were beached and fighting was going on about 100 yards beyond the beach with Jap mortar fire coming in our vicinity. Interestingly enough, the famous war correspondent, Ernie Pyle, was killed here that day...

 

Following this we were enroute to Pearl Harbor to load for the invasion of Japan when we received word that the war had ended. It was quite a feeling to know that we had survived, had won and eventually would go home. I was Executive Officer at that time and took over command in time to bring the ship back to the States. We almost did not get to go back, for the Navy had us scheduled to load troops and go to Japan for the occupation. I can recall going to Fleet Headquarters and finding the proper officer in charge of sailing orders. The poor guy was being harassed by everyone wanting to sail for home. I got his ear, told him my ship was damaged (the keep had been twisted on a coral head at Angauer) and could not safely make the trip to Japan. I can recall him saying, "Can you make a 3000-mile trip?" My reply was, "Only in the direction of the United States." He laughed and changed the orders.

 

Libby Letterly

 

"...in January [1944], my stepfather Jim left for the Merchant Marine and Mother and I took an apartment together. She worked and I kept house. The war ended in August and Bill's cable came early in October that he would arrive in San Diego on the 14th. So, Mother decided to drive us out to California and then she would drive up to Bremerton, Washington, to see [my brother] Warner. His ship took a suicide plane at Okinawa and was in dry dock there.

 

When we arrived in the Los Angeles area, I went to Paul and Timmies. Bill and I had made a list of hotels in different cities along the west coast where we would meet when he came home. So, I left little Bill [their first son] with Timmie and Paul and went to San Diego on the bus. I had a telegram from the U.S. Grant Hotel confirming my reservation with me, but, since it was a Saturday night, the room clerk said I couldn't have the room I had reserved, as "One person couldn't have a double room on Saturday." I was sitting in the lobby in tears when a Marine officer who had heard the conversation with the room clerk came over to me and offered to register with me, but I said, "No." Then he suggested I pay money down on the room (another line at the registration windows and the lobby was milling with people). I did this, and the lady at the desk said to go to the woman room clerk...[who] just put Lt. in front of my name and I got the room. I ate dinner in the coffee shop and the Navy man beside me started a conversation. When he heard my story about Bill arriving the next day, he gave me the unlisted number and who to talk with at the Navy office that had information on ship arrivals and docking. This was a great break as there were literally hundreds of wives, girlfriends, etc. in San Diego to meet their returning husbands, boyfriends and relatives. They had no idea when or where they would come in, so they would be at the docks and meet each ship coming in hoping "he" would be on it.

 

I knew [from Bill's letter] it was B Street pier and the approximate arrival time. The next morning, Sunday, I called the number and found out that LST 662 was arriving at 2 PM. I met the ship and a Navy band was playing and there were around 200 people at the pier. Bill was captain of his ship and senior officer of the two LST's that came home together. Each ship was carrying 400 Marines plus the crews. So there were lots of people. I told the guard who Bill was. The men on his ship had recognized me from his picture. They were shouting, "There's the skipper's wife!" Bill was on the conning tower with the pilot when the gangplank was put in place. The guard picked me up over the rope barrier and on to the gangplank. Bill came racing down, swung me up, gave me a big kiss, and everyone cheered.

 

That night we were dancing at the U.S. Grant and the Marine Office who had met me the night  before in the lobby [offering to register with her], came up to us and told Bill he hadn't meant anything but was trying to be helpful.