RECOLLECTION

E.L. Robertson 1987

“The Story of Warhead Williams.”

As I recall it, Warhead Williams came aboard Swanson which I commanded , a month or so before we set sail from New York in December 1943 for New Guinea. Of course his first name wasn’t really Warhead, but the crew quickly and appropriately gave him that name because base of his neck was wide on his shoulders and tapered upward. His head continued this trend , so that his appearance was as close to that of a torpedo warhead as you could imagine. He was black, muscular and came from the swamps of South Carolina straight into boot camp and from there the Swanson , as an apprentice steward. We soon found that he was willing, but totally untrained. One day in the late afternoon I happened to be in the wardroom, where Warhead was on duty. I had had a little occasion to speak to him, let alone engage in conversation. “What time is dinner, Williams?” I asked.

“About sundown, Cap’n”

“What time is sundown ?”

“About an hour from now,suh.”

“Williams, look at the wardroom clock. What time does it say? “

“I doan’ rightly know, suh.”

It was thus I discovered that Warhead couldn’t read time for a clock. It later developed that he couldn’t read much at all, and could only sign his name.

From this you might infer that Warhead was a total loss to the ship, but this was simply not true. He learned his duties quickly, and performed them cheerfully. It dawned on us slowly that Warhead might be uneducated, but he was far from being stupid.

Then came the day in early April of 1944 when Admiral Dan Barbey, Commander Amphibious Force Seventh Fleet and Lieut. General R.L. Eichelberger, Commander 3^rdU.S.Army, together with their staffs, embarked in Swanson now flagship of Task Force 77,which consisted of about 100 ships carrying nearly 80,000 men including 3 full U.S. Army Divisions as the Hollandia assault force. The number of officers aboard our little destroyer jumped from the normal 25 to about twice that number. Extra bunks were installed in wardroom and officer’s cabins, and the wardroom mess table was enlarged. Of course all this made extra work for the wardroom stewards, especially since Admiral Barbey had not brought any of his own stewards with him. I had vacated my cabin, in which the Admiral was now installed , and had retired for the duration of the assault to my sea cabin. It seemed to me fitting that the Admiral should have a steward assigned to himself alone, and with some trepidation I decided to designate Warhead for the job.

“How should I start, Captain ?” Warhead asked me.

“Just knock on his door and say that I have assigned you to him as his steward, and

then asked him what you can do to help him.” I replied.

Accordingly, a few minutes later Warhead approached the Admiral’s door and knocked. I was not present to witness what happened next , but from others who were nearby I learned that the conversation went something like this after Warhead knocked on the Admiral’s door:

Admiral: “Who’s there ?”

Warhead: “Warhead Williams, suh.”

Admiral: “Wha—AT ?”

Warhead: (Louder) “WARHEAD WILLIAMS, SUH !”

Admiral : (Looking Warhead over carefully) “What can I do for you Warhead ?”

Warhead: “Cap’n he sent me to work for you.”

Admiral: “Come in.”

The Admiral later told me he sensed right away that the name “Warhead” must be a nickname, and that it was a most appropriate one . Throughout their relationship he continued to address his Steward as “Warhead”. Before he left the ship told me how much he appreciated his services.

The assault on Hollandia was a total success, but it kept me on the bridge for forty hours straight before Swanson was finally anchored in the harbor and I was able to get some shut-eye. Some most unusual events took place while I was asleep. First General Douglas MacArthur returning to the USS Nashville after visiting the beach came alongside the Swanson to deliver Admiral Barbey and General Eichelberger back to the Swanson. Next, an impressive looking native canoe with six large fierce – looking New Guinea warrior chiefs aboard, came alongside and asked to see Admiral Barbey. Our officer of the Deck took a note from their leader to the Admiral, which resulted in the leader being led to the Admiral’s cabin after surrendering his arms. Meanwhile the large canoe was put at the boat boom, with a petty officer to watch out for it.

A few minutes later Warhead Williams came by and asked the Petty Officer watching the canoe who those strangers were. The Petty Officer , who was something of a character in his own right, told Warhead that the natives in the canoe had come to ask for food.

“What kind of food ?” Warhead asked.

“Meat”, replied the Petty Officer.

“What kind of meat ?”

“Dark meat. They eat Negro’s.”

With that, Warhead left the scene, white as a sheet, the Petty Officer reported later and in great haste. I was awakened by hearing the loudspeaker system passing the word: “Now hear this; Williams Stewards Mate , report to the Admiral’s cabin.” This word was passes several times which indicated to me that Warhead must be somewhere he couldn’t hear the loudspeaker. I rolled over and went back to sleep. They would have to find Warhead without my help.

The next day the joke on Warhead was common gossip about the ship.

When Warhead had heard that the natives had come asking for food, that they wanted dark meat and they already had access to Admiral Barbey, it was too much for him. He went and hid in the chain locker, and didn’t come out until morning.

I don’t know where Warhead is today, but I will guess that he has done well in life, and I certainly hope so. He may have been uneducated and naïve when he was our shipmate, but he was a good shipmate and an intelligent one.