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USS
SUMTER APA - 52
OUR MATES -
QUESTIONNAIRES
Many of the crew filled these forms out for the book that I made up for the Las
Vegas Reunion in 1996. If a shipmate would like to fill one of these out
at any time, please do so. If you have a great story from those long ago
days, please take some time and forward it to me. Any stories or questionnaires
will be included with the
existing ones on file.
|
NAME: |
George A.
Abernathy |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER : |
553-24-45 |
|
RATE: |
Motor Mach.
1/C |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
9/20/43 to
3/19/46 - Small craft |
|
NAME: |
Albert Allen |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE |
405-01-03
-- On as 1/C EM, made CEM 3/15/45 |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
7/15/43 till
9/4/45 -- Electrician |
|
NAME: |
Don K.
Anable |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
386-51-76
-- MOMH 2 |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
9/20/43
-- Taking care of landing craft |
|
NAME: |
Alfred
Antonio |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
807-20-44
-- MM 1/C |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
Engine Room
- Throttle man & charge of my watch |
|
MOST
MEMORABLE OR HUMOROUS EXPERIENCE WHILE ABOARD THE SUMTER |
One hot night near the equator, we had high swells.
I got off my mid. 12 to 4 a.m. watch, went to the bow of the ship
to catch a little breeze when I noticed the water coming closer &
closer, I ducked & I think half the ocean went over my head.
I high tailed it down to my bunk.
How easily I could have been washed overboard.
I also remember when we hit a tidal wave while watching a movie in
the mess hall. Cameras &
crew were thrown against one bulkhead then the other.
Being throttleman on the ship, I remember once when the throttle
was stuck at a certain speed. It
was touch & go for a while (because we were in a convoy), before we
found the problem.
My watch was on duty, getting ready to get underway & I was
warming up the steam chest. One
of the steam valves was faulty & leaked steam & I burnt up the
jacking gear accidentally.
|
|
NAME: |
Carmen R.
Battavio |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
245-13-66
-- MM 2 |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
Throttle
& many others |
|
NAME: |
Donald J.
Beausoleil |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
952-34-92
-- Y 3/C |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
July 25,
1944, Seaman 1st Div. & Yeoman 3rd class to officer First Lt. Glenn |
|
NAME: |
Ronald H.
Bobo |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
570-34-26
-- MOMM 2/C |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
June 24,
1944 to March 1, 1946 -- Motor Mach. on L.C.V.P. -
"A" Division |
|
MOST
MEMORABLE OR HUMOROUS EXPERIENCE WHILE ABOARD THE SUMTER |
I guess my most memorable experience was either when we crossed the
international date line on August 21, 1944, or when the Jap kamikaze plane
crashed into the “Callaway”, directly in front of us in the convoy, on
Jan. 8, 1945. The Kamikaze
had dropped a couple bombs off our port bow just before he dived into the
starboard part of “Callaways” bridge.
My general quarters position was 1st powderman on the forward 5”
gun, so I had fairly good view of it.
R.H. Bobo |
|
NAME: |
Buster Ralph
Bradshaw |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
880-53-96
-- S 1/C |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
7/21/44 to
1/7/46 -- Deck/Carpenter/Beach Party |
|
MOST
MEMORABLE OR HUMOROUS EXPERIENCE WHILE ABOARD THE SUMTER |
Memorable
11-18-44 - Received Purple Heart Medal for wound
received on Anguar operation 9/18/44.
Humorous - date?
- After Liberty, found
Ned Killworth on fantail shining lantern over the side.
Asked him what are you doing?
He said, “I lost my
teeth and am trying to find them!”
Too many beers for Ned! Brad
Bradshaw 10-21-96
|
|
NAME: |
Frank Brown |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
246-12-03
- MM 2/C |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
Sept. 1st,
1943 - Refrigeration & making water |
|
NAME: |
Melvin L.
Burks |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
225
633 -- Ensign to Lt. |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
Sept. 43 to
Dec. 45 |
|
NAME: |
John M.
Carroll Jr. |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
102
924 -- Lt. Comdr. |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
1942 -
1945, Navigator, then Executive Officer |
|
NAME: |
James J.
Claxton Sr. |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
826-20-66
-- MM 2/C |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
9/6/43 --
Engine Room |
|
NAME: |
William L.
Cochennet |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
343-04-93
-- EM 3/C |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
2/20/45 to
4/1946 Electricians mate (change light bulbs) |
|
MOST
MEMORABLE OR HUMOROUS EXPERIENCE WHILE ABOARD THE SUMTER 1943/46 |
(These
experiences are related from a letter that I sent to George Gibb in 1986
concerning my Sumter experience.)
Dear George.........My typing is poor........my composition is
worse.........my spelling has a great deal to be desired..........Lately I
have been reading James Kilpatricks book The Writers Art which has
done nothing but reinforce all of the above.
I am almost afraid to send my kids a letter anymore for fear that
they will grade it with a red pencil and send it back!
However, you seem like a nice sort and want to hear a couple of
stories so here goes:
Story
one.....This all has to be as I remember it.....The occupation troops hit
the beach early in the morning. I
was told that the local guard unit which was composed of old men and kids
dressed like Knights Templer on parade charged down the beach to meet the
LCVP’s and all of them had their swords ready to chop up a few G.I.’s
and just as soon as the ramps were dropped, they turned around and ran
back up the beach. I think someone said that it was just a symbolic defense of
the homeland.
The ships crew was divided into four groups, I think.
I was in the first group and we either got four hours liberty the
first day after the landing or the second day. We were to get from 8 to 12 noon and after we were dumped
out, we proceeded up the beach to the village.
Everything was locked up and the curtains were drawn.
We walked through the town and it was weird.
At some point though, some venturesome Jap opened up and stuck his
head out and since it was not chopped off, it was but a few minutes until
they were all out on the streets selling everything they owned.
I do not remember if they started selling their bodies the first
morning or not as I did not partake in it if they did, but that probably
did not happen until the next day. We
had US occupation money, I will enclose a sample, and it was all we were
to use. We bought so damn
much junk that the groups that followed probably did not have very much to
pick from. After our four
hours of liberty in Japan, we went back to the ship.
In the histories it says that two different groups of troops were
landed in two different places, but I only remember one landing and one
liberty. Today, I cannot tell
the difference in the souvenirs that I bought on the beach in Japan from
the ones E.C. Naylor brought back from the initial landing at Okinawa. (My only engagement) (I
was assigned to the Sumter 2-20-45)
Story
number 2......My most vivid memories of life on the Sumter revolve
around the food. Australian
mutton and butter, neither of which could be eaten.
When this was all we
had to eat, my memory is of starvation or almost.
But since I was an electrician, I had access to the whole ship and
down in about the middle of the ship, on one of the lower decks, was a
very large storeroom. It
extended the width of the ship but that is not the story.
In the middle of this store-room was a small storeroom with one
door. It had a padlock on it
and one night when I and the rest of us were desperate, I tried every key
I had in the store-room padlocks and low and behold, I had a key that
worked in this small room.
At that time, I became a felon.
The crime was grand theft, groceries, and it went on for the
remainder of the time that I was on the Sumter.
I always assumed that it was the Captains private store, or someone
else with stroke because it was segregated from the other large room.
(Perhaps you can tell me whose grocery sack I stuck my sticky
fingers into?????, George.) But,
I was very discrete. Never
did I take more than two cans at a time.
There was always canned turkey and salmon and lots of cans of
fruit. I would take one can of turkey and one of peaches and then
not go back for a few days. The
shelves were always replenished when I went back and as far as I know, no
one was ever aware of this leak in inventory.
This kept several of us from death by starvation though, so perhaps
forgiveness might be in order. God
knows how everyone survived during the lean periods, but I assume that
almost everybody had something going.
Incidentally, I still have that key among my junk in a trunk in the
basement. These are the only
two stories I have to offer.
|
|
NAME: |
Andrew H.
D'Amato |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
642-85-21
-- HM 3/C |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
Hospital
Corpsman / 5th Beach Battalion |
|
MOST
MEMORABLE OR HUMOROUS EXPERIENCE WHILE ABOARD THE SUMTER 1943/46 |
Crossing the Equator and the International Date Line. |
|
NAME: |
Joe
Diello |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
897
76 24 -- Rdm 3/c |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
April
1945 - April 1946 |
|
MOST
MEMORABLE OR HUMOROUS EXPERIENCE WHILE ABOARD THE SUMTER 1943/46 |
Most Humorous Experiences:
1.A beer party on a Mindanao beach in
the Philippines. After a couple of beers, my friend and I,
Phil Flanagan, decided to venture in-land about 3 miles to a town
called Davao. There to welcome us was a lovely young gal selling
Saki (rice whiskey) in gingerale bottles. We bought 2 bottles
and consumed one too quickly. We noticed it was getting late so
we headed back to the beach party which had since left. Panic
set in but fortunately a local in a leaky dugout offered to take us to
our ship. We were bailing furiously to stay afloat. The 1st ship
we reached said that our ship had moved anchor about 2 miles across
the bay. We tried to get more reliable transportation but the OD
refused. Off we went to our ship in our dugout. The OD
greeted us and requested we give up our last bottle of Saki. My
friend Phil managed to let it slip to the deck between the OD's feet.
We were released from the brig 2 days later with a terrible case of
prickly heat.
2. I was dating a lovely lass in Seattle who
coaxed me into a date on my duty night. I got someone to standby
and I departed ship by sliding down the fan tail dock line. We
partied with shipmates at a place called the Roll-In. Another
ship's crew (I think the USS Hornet) was also there in some numbers.
A fight started between ship's crews ending in a brawl costing
$5000.00 in damages and a number of injured sailor's ending up in jail
and in the hospital. I managed to escape through the kitchen
with my lady friend and managed back aboard ship the same way I left. (Whew!)
The next morning the police arrived with the owner to try and collect
some money. The skipper sent them packing with no money.We had a few
changing of commands around then so I don't recall who
our skipper wasat that time.
3. A liberty in Panama (Cristobul) landed me in
jail for breaking a window in a cab. A member of the U.S.
Consulate accompanied me before a judge at 2:00 am. I was asked
to pay $28.00 for damages. With no money, I was sent back to
jail. A Sumter shore patrol guy recognized me and got word back
to our ship for a loan of $28.00 from my shipmates. Luckily for
me, the ship pulled out at 7:00 am that same day. I would sure
like to personally thank that shore patrol guy whoever he was, for
saving me from jumping ship.
4. I was standing at radar watch in a convoy when
we received a transmission from our command ship to identify the
signal flags we were flying. The old man scampered up to the
signal bridge and asked my friend Phil Flanagan what the hell was that
flag he was flying. He replied that's no flag sir, that's my
shirt drying in the wind. The rest is unprintable!!!
5. Do any of you reading this remember the call
signs between ships. (i.e.: Pom-Pom, this is lak-a-nookie,
lak-a-nookie, over, etc.)
We in CIC were one of the guilty parties. The
command ship screamed for silence and I remember Commander Carroll
come running into CIC from the bridge and asking were we on our TBS
system. Of course I said, no sir! [ Incidentally our ships
call sign was ALLEYCAT ]
6. Do any of you remember our ship getting
beached trying to enter a canal in New Orleans? It wasn't our
skipper, it was a pilot we picked up at the mouth of the
Ole Mississippi River. It took two days of tugging by tugs and
being pushed by a large bull dozer to get us off the beach
(March 1945).
|
|
NAME: |
Raymond L.
Evans |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
577-74-71
-- S 1/C |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
June 1945 to
Mar. 19, 1946 |
|
MOST
MEMORABLE OR HUMOROUS EXPERIENCE WHILE ABOARD THE SUMTER 1943/46 |
Most Memorable - The Japanese surrender, with the Japanese subs,
and ships surrendering. (Along with the Japanese hospital ship, loaded
with troops, in the Philippines. The
two trips to Japan with occupational troops.
The typhoon on a return trip from Japan to Leyte, and the liberties
in Seattle, Wash. The
Panama canal, and the decommission of the U.S.S. Sumter. |
|
NAME: |
Elmer Grant
Griffith |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
841-36-01
-- Coxswain |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
Fall of 1943
to Jan. 1946, Boat coxswain -BM of the watch |
|
MOST
MEMORABLE OR HUMOROUS EXPERIENCE WHILE ABOARD THE SUMTER 1943/46 |
THE
LUCKY LAGER INCIDENT
The time was September of October, 1944, I think.
The Sumter anchored at either Manus or Hollandia.
I and my two crew members took Lt. Sid Cohen, two other officers
and the Sr. Medical Officer along with 3 cases of beer to the beach to
tour stilted abodes from the boat. After
consuming 1 case of beer, it was decided that the tour would end with a
visit to the Officer’s Club; and
my intentions were most honorable when Cohen entrusted me with one of the
2 remaining cases of beer. He
took the other. He graciously
told me and my 2 crew members to have 1 beer each as we passed the
breakwater enroute to the ship. He
would recover the remainder of the beer when we returned to the beach.
But........things happened. On
threat of court marshal my thirsty crew was well on their way to a
disgraceful state of insobriety. OH
THE SHAME OF IT ALL! Anyway, my boat was brought aboard ship and another
boat dispatched to retrieve the tour party.
I decided to retire to the troop quarters and read on that night
and on 2 occasions the P.A. system activated with “Griffith, coxswain
report to the quarter deck!.
Of course I was fingered the next morning at muster.
As I met the O.D. at the Quarter Deck, he expressed a desire to
have 3 of my precious cargo placed under his pillow in his stateroom.
Then I explained to him that some low-down, thieving skunk
had stolen the whole cargo. He obviously did not buy my story and assured me that Sid
would be unhappy. Sid, that
nice Gentleman, did not pursue the matter.
Ah! A Man’s Man!
Anyway, if Sid is here amongst us, I would be pleased to buy him a
beer. No, by golly, I’ll
buy him a Champagne-Cocktail! Of
course I myself have quit drinking some years ago.
I’ve had my share of booze!
Respectfully, Elmer
“Grif” Griffith -- Retired Coxswain
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|
NAME: |
Eugene Haley |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
677-09-78
-- Boatswains Mate 2/C |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
1943 til
Feb. 4, 1946 |
|
NAME: |
Jack Herrod |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
826-53-96
-- MOMM 3/C |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
1943 to
1946 -- Worked in boat shop |
|
MOST
MEMORABLE OR HUMOROUS EXPERIENCE WHILE ABOARD THE SUMTER 1943/46 |
(Humorous Experience)
One incident I remember from our time on the USS Sumter follows:
Keep in mind this was not an earth shattering moment and it
didn’t even change the course of the war.
I don’t remember a lot of the details but I will try to get down
some of the important ones.
It was one of those extra duty jobs where someone in authority
says, we need you, you, and you to pick up supplies from the beach.
We were using a borrowed L C M.
I don’t remember the name of the coxwain or the officer in
charge, however along in the afternoon we all decided that we needed an
auxiliary pump because we were taking on water faster than the bilge pump
could pump it out.
We went along side the ship and they were glad to get us a “handy
billy” which as most know, was a one cylinder emergency pump.
The officer in charge and the Coxwain tried to start the pump. They adjusted the choke and the gasoline and they pulled
and they pulled on the starting rope.
After about 15 minutes of adjusting and pulling and pulling and
adjusting the officer in charge said to me, “You’re the engineer, you
start this thing.”
I knew this was going to be the most embarrassing day of my life.
I did not know anything about one cylinder engines.
I had also quit smoking the day before and I was almost impossible
to live with. Even though I
was a MoMM 3/class, I would gladly have traded places with an apprentice
Seamen at that time.
I felt like I was stepping up to the the hang mans noose, but here
goes. I pulled that starting
rope with all my might and it started on the first pull.
I just walked away with a grin from ear to ear.
Jack Herrod
|
|
NAME: |
Fred
Herrlein |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
566-84-26
-- Seaman |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
June -
November 1945 |
| |
|
|
NAME: |
Kenneth H.
Hunt |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
329-53-86
-- RDM 3/C |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
Radarman |
|
NAME: |
Gust E.
Kanwischer |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
851-63-78
-- SM 2/C |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
43 to
46 -- Signalman-Aboard ship & small boat
landings |
|
MOST
MEMORABLE OR HUMOROUS EXPERIENCE WHILE ABOARD THE SUMTER 1943/46 |
(1) Crossing the
Equator
(2) Kamakazi(?)
Hitting the USS Callaway which was in front of USS Sumter in convoy
(3) After landing on
the beach. Brought back wood
skids. Tied one on the back
of the boat & was water sking in the Pacific Ocean.
|
|
NAME: |
Daniel T.
Kavanagh |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
646-80-00
-- B/M 2/C |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
Sept. 1943 |
|
NAME: |
Paul
Knivsland |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
757-91-98
-- S 1/C |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
April 44 -
De-commissioning 46 (deckhand-boat cox - 1st Div. |
|
MOST
MEMORABLE OR HUMOROUS EXPERIENCE WHILE ABOARD THE SUMTER 1943/46 |
Loosing the anchor. Watching old Haff's hat flying off
the bridge. |
|
NAME: |
Richard A.
Lamson |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
619-28-90
-- GM 3/C |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
4/44 to
De-commission (Gunners Mate 3/C) |
|
NAME: |
Al LeFever |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
566-90-37
-- EM 2/C |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
1944,
Deck 2nd Div. - E Div. - Boat Div. |
|
MOST
MEMORABLE OR HUMOROUS EXPERIENCE WHILE ABOARD THE SUMTER 1943/46 |
I was one of two who lowered the “Atomic Bomb” under water at
“Bikini”, operation “Cross Roads” operation, 1946, after leaving
our ship the U.S.S. Sumter. |
|
NAME: |
Ben Lima Jr. |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
379-59-01
-- S 1/C |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
6/45 to
3/46 -- Seaman 3rd Div., Ships office, Navigation
yeoman, Liberty yeoman |
|
NAME: |
Bruce Haden
Link |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
829-82-17
-- Coxswain |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
1943,
Landing Craft Cox -- Painter & scraper Pro |
|
MOST
MEMORABLE OR HUMOROUS EXPERIENCE WHILE ABOARD THE SUMTER 1943/46 |
Swiping bread for the 12 to 4 watch.
Gun crew 5” 50 fantail & 1.1 portside crew also.
These loafs of bread were fresh, hot and you removed the center
& put butter & sugar & then crushed it flat. A true sailors delight.
Nothing bartered better for favors.
Now that its safe - I used to sing church songs on the sound power phones till
Capt. Haft asked for my name. He
never knew my name and I never told him either.
CROSSING
THE EQUATOR -
From Polywog to Shellback
It
was passed over the P.A. system for all polywogs to report to the fantail.
Everybody who had not crossed the equator was put on trial by
Neptune Rex and his court. Neptune
Rex and his court wanted us all to be changed so they found us guilty and
sentenced us to having to run the gauntlet.
Up the port side, they had different things that you had to run
through. They’d belt you. They would feed you pogey bait, which turned out to be a
bar of soap. They would stick
it in your mouth and tell you to swallow it.
They had tar, garbage and other kinds of mess that they would make
you crawl or run through. If
you ran through it would make you slide.
They would also make you crawl on your back and hit you with the
fire hose as you went through. They
would flog you with anything they could hit you with.
By the time, you got around to the bow of the ship and headed back
down. You would have to go
through chutes and things and those guys had beat the holy crap out of
everybody. They would do
every thing possible to make you sick and miserable and in need of a bath.
Of course there was a water ration and you could only use salt
water on the grease and mess. There were a few who tried to cheat and got caught.
They regretted it, for sure. But
the one thing there is. Once
you got back to the fantail, you were a polywog when you started out, but
now you became a shellback. They
gave you a card that said you crossed the equator and you are a shellback
the rest of your life. I’m
sure that each Sumter sailor that has his shell back card would never give
it up. Very few people got to
go through that during world war II, but there was a few ships.
That Sumter, that sucker did it.
That was probably the, Oh I’d say the best fun that the guys who
had been over the equator before had.
They are the ones who’d initiate you and they had a lot of things
that they would do to you I would imagine that each individual had his own story
about it but I’ll tell you something.
That eating that soap was for the birds.
That made me sick as a skunk.
After we went through, then we went back the second time and
everybody on that ship, that second bunch that went over the equator they
really had it bad because all of us were shellbacks by then. We nailed them good. Yeh,
they had them shelayle paddles. They
hit everybody. Bruce Link
|
|
NAME: |
Ted Matthews |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
860-93-60
-- PHM 3/C |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
Nov. 1943 to
May 1945, Troop offices quarters during invasion. (Remove bullets in
the arms & legs) (Medical office & sick bay between invasions) |
|
NAME: |
Charles B.
McCall |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
829-82-22
-- BM 2/C |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
1943 -
1946, Boats |
|
NAME: |
William S.
McConnell |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
895-96-28
-- S 1/C |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
June 1944 -
March 1946, 1st Div. deck hand |
|
MOST
MEMORABLE OR HUMOROUS EXPERIENCE WHILE ABOARD THE SUMTER 1943/46 |
From boat to New Caledonia with boat repair unit - scraping
barnacles off boats, sailor in fatigues asked what I was doing.
I answered “What the hell does it look like”?
Then learned it was Bull Halsey. |
|
NAME: |
Ray W.
Padgett |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
551-96-23
-- MOMM 2/C |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
9/20/43 to
12/3/45, Boat Crew |
|
NAME: |
Edward B.
Reagan |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
609-66-09
-- S 1/C |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
June 1944 -
Dec. 1945, Boats |
|
NAME: |
Richard D.
Schmidt |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
726-95-54
-- EM 2/C |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
July 44 -
April 46, Electrical Repair |
|
MOST
MEMORABLE OR HUMOROUS EXPERIENCE WHILE ABOARD THE SUMTER 1943/46 |
It was Feb. or March, 1946 --- Larry
Babin, Steve Pavacick and
myself spent a night in the brig in New Orleans.
At 6:00 a.m. the next morning, the shore patrol escorted us back to
the Sumter and handed the officer of the deck a large envelope, listing
the charges against us, and demanded proper punishment be imposed.
As Larry and Steve went below deck to get some sleep I asked the
O.D., Ens. Brodsky, what he thought the Captain would do. _ _ _ _ He said
he didn’t know but as he leaned over the side the envelope slipped from
his hand and fell into the Mississippi River.
Dick Schmidt
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NAME: |
Jack G.
Schoby |
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SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
411-31-98
-- |
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DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
1943 - June
1944, Coxswain - Landing Craft (Boats) |
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MOST
MEMORABLE OR HUMOROUS EXPERIENCE WHILE ABOARD THE SUMTER 1943/46 |
Having to be removed and flown to Base 8 Hospital for an operation.
This resulted in my assigned to a different ship with no return to
the Sumter. |
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NAME: |
Bill Sessa |
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SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
810-57-41
-- BM 2/C |
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DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
Oct. 1943 -
Nov. 45, 2nd Div. 2nd Section BM 2/C |
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MOST
MEMORABLE OR HUMOROUS EXPERIENCE WHILE ABOARD THE SUMTER 1943/46 |
1. Humor:
Danny Kavanaugh & myself walking Shore Patrol in Japan -
Wakayama, Honshu, with a 12’ club, “no 45”.
Before that, guarding prisoner “Raitz” aboard ship
at sea with a 45 - no club.
“Oh Well”.
2. Memorable:
As stated in Sumter History -
On January 8, a kamikaze plane flying over our ship dropping 2
bombs and watching from gun station on flying bridge & seeing them
fall off our bow between us & the Callaway.
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|
NAME: |
Wayne
Monzelle Smith |
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SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
677-09-41 |
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DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
1943,
Boat Coxswain |
|
NAME: |
Don Stolfi
Sr. |
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SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
601-38-93
- QM 3/C |
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DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
9/43 to 6/45 |
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MOST
MEMORABLE OR HUMOROUS EXPERIENCE WHILE ABOARD THE SUMTER 1943/46 |
Ship crossed the Equator |
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NAME: |
Mitzie J.
Sypek |
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SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
825-15-61
-- Seaman |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
1943 to 1946 |
|
NAME: |
Herbert N.
Van Alphen |
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SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
807-70-95
-- RDM 3/C |
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DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
9/1/43,
Baker Striker, 1st Div. & N. Div. Radar |
|
NAME: |
David Warsaw |
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SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
812-23-26
-- SK 2/C |
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DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
1943 - 1946 |
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MOST
MEMORABLE OR HUMOROUS EXPERIENCE WHILE ABOARD THE SUMTER 1943/46 |
The invasion of Okinawa & the announcement of the death
of F.D.R. while aboard ship. |
|
NAME: |
Henry A.
White |
|
SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
AS, S 2/C,
COX, BM 2/C, BM 1/C |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
6/43,
Boatswains Mate |
|
NAME: |
William
Dickens Young Jr. |
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SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
834-84-00
-- Coxswain |
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DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
9/29/43 -
left 1/6/46, Boat Coxswain in first division. |
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MOST
MEMORABLE OR HUMOROUS EXPERIENCE WHILE ABOARD THE SUMTER 1943/46 |
In late 1945, when we ran out of food, the Australians gave us
mutton and goat cheese. The
odor was horrible. We ate
mutton and the cheese three times a day.
Really left an impression. Best
part was the cheese flavored butter.
Battle of Okinawa, when Kamakazi planes attacked and ship
up-anchored and headed out to sea, going over the anchor and chain of an
L.S.D. What a commotion.
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|
NAME: |
Robert H.
Young Jr. |
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SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
225-23-93
-- GM 2/C |
|
DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
9/20/43 to
4/45, Gunner on boat 13 |
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MOST
MEMORABLE OR HUMOROUS EXPERIENCE WHILE ABOARD THE SUMTER 1943/46 |
During invasions, I was gunner on boat 13, then another, I can’t
remember. After operation by
Doc. Chambers, I was at the control during invasions.
Ships duty’s- Gun Capt. on the 1.1 gun mount.
In charge of magazine temperature and maintenance.
In charge of ships armory. Asst.
to Dan Southerland in port office. In
my spare time, I smoked more cigarettes on 12/4 watch. |
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NAME: |
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SERIAL
NUMBER & RATE: |
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DATE ON
BOARD SUMTER & SPECIFIC JOB |
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MOST
MEMORABLE OR HUMOROUS EXPERIENCE WHILE ABOARD THE SUMTER 1943/46 |
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