When the Dickman arrived at San Francisco, I was transferred. Told to report to the C G Base , for further assignment. My next assignment was on a 56 ft Patrol Boat, working in San Francisco Bay.  We tied up at Fishermans Wharf, which is a Famous tourist attraction, then patrolled, from the Golden Gate Bridge, to Alcatraz, then to the Wharf. We had a three man crew and stayed on the boat for 24 hrs., then had 24 off. Were in Radio Contact with the Base and they would call us for special assignments. Like the day, a lady decided to jump from off the Golden Gate Bridge and we joined in a search party. One of the boats found her body, was a mess. We had two Jumpers while was on this tour, must be a Thing To Do. I read there have been 1558 Jumpers, since the bridge opened in 1937.

On another occasion had a call, that a prisoner had escaped from Alcatraz and to be on the Lookout. Seems the Army Post at the Presidio, sent clothes to be washed by the Prisoners on Alcatraz. A prisoner stole a uniform and mingled with the troops sent on a boat, to pick up the clothes. The Sergeant in charge noted he had a stranger in his detail and apprehended the prisoner.

Were on patrol one evening and had a call from the Base. Someone had reported an Oil Pot loose in the Bay, near Alcatraz, so we went on a search. . Ships use these large containers, to discharge their waste Oil, while in the harbor. We located it, floating near Alcatraz, it was loaded  and just about all of it was under water. We tied a line to it but could not handle all that weight, so we called for a Tug. The Pot was drifting towards Alcatraz and I didn’t feel comfortable running too close. because there were signs on the Island that read, ” Anyone Approaching This Reservation, Does So At Their Own Peril” . We turned on our lights to illuminate our Identification and waited for the Tug.

It was Aug.15, 1945 and I was downtown in Frisco, checking out Market St. Walked into a USO to listen to the news, because it was reported the war in the Pacific was about to end. Had a date that evening, with a student nurse and had time to kill, so went to a movie. When I exited the theater, all hell had broke loose on Market St. The War had ended and people were celebrating, if you call destroying property and looting stores Celebrating. Saw one group break in a Liquor Store window and clean it out within minutes. Saw people carrying all kinds of stuff out of stores. Never saw a policeman. Nothing was running on Market St. If a trolley started to move, someone would pull down that third rail. I found my way to a side street and a trolly that was running and made it to St. Francis Hospital. The girls heard what was going on down on Market St. and wanted to join the fun. but fortunately those in charge decreed a Lock Down and the ladies had to entertain their dates in the student lounge.

The Celebrating went on down on Market St. for a second day and according to the news, was about to go on for a third, when the Mayor called the District Navy Commandant for help.Damage was reported at 65 Million. Most of those doing damage were Military people.  He massed about 100 Shore Patrol and a dozen trucks and sent then down on one end of Market St. They all paraded up Market St and when they saw any Military Person, was told to Immediately return to their Ship or Base. and if they didn’t, they would be picked up bodily and thrown into the trucks. That ended the Celebration.

While out on patrol, saw the Dickman heading out to sea and we rode over and waved at the crew. I’m sure they were a happy bunch, because they were scheduled to participate in a landing on the Japanese mainland. I know there are many different opinions about dropping The Bomb. but one thing I am sure of, It Saved a Lot of Lives.

I heard my Ole Skipper was now in charge of the Philadelphia  C.G. District. so I wrote and asked if he could get me transferred back to the East Coast, since I planned to make the Coast Guard a career. In a very few days my transfer arrived and I was on my way back East, and by Pullman First Class. When I arrived at the Philadelphia Base, was assigned to an 83 Footer working out of Port Richmond. Was nice duty and nice guys in the crew. Had a Chief BM in charge and I was Second. We didn’t have a cook and the crew were all Lousy Cooks. Each night when we took the garbage can to the Dumpster on the Dock, it was full. Then one day a Filipino Mess Attendant showed up, asking for the Chief. The fellow had 30 years of service and was sent to us on Temporary Assignment . He came aboard and checked out the galley, then said I Cook, but wash no pots,pans or dishes. Was no problem for us, we would clean up if he cooked. Turned out the guy was like a Magician , we ate like Kings. If we had something one day, might have it again on the next but no one knew it. He baked bread, pies cookies and all with no effort. and when came time to take the trash to the Dock, was very little in the Garbage Can. Then the Sad Day arrived, his transfer came through and we had to return to eating what we cooked. Our assignments were varied, we had to Patrol the Schuylkill River and the Port of Philadelphia. Had an interesting assignment, was told to report to the Delaware Bay , to arrive at a certain buoy and wait for a Submarine to appear and do whatever they asked. We reported and waited, saw nothing till out of the water comes this Sub. and called us over. Gave us a paper which read , they were the SS 222, had on board 3 engineers and the regular crew. and were going to do some Test Dives and we were to keep boats out of that area. Also said in case of emergency a yellow flare would come up and we were to immediately inform Groton Conn Sub. Base, .that they were in trouble. A red flare would also come up. along with a box containing a phone, so we could talk to those below.  After an uneventful couple hours,  the sub came up and headed out to sea, all the while sending messages with the light. We followed and I kept repeating IMI , trying to get them to slow down. since we didn’t have a Signalman aboard. I could copy the light but not at the speed they were sending. Finally they slowed down and I read, that they were thanking us for our help, and dismissing us.. We then returned to Port Richmond.

Then April 15, 1946 arrived and was time for me to reenlist. Unfortunately my Dad became sick and Mother needed me at home, so that ended my career in the U.S. Coast Guard,

SEMPER PARATUS

Arrived at Boston and went into the yard for some repairs, then steamed South to the Panama Canal. Had to drop the boats that were in the outboard davits, because the Dickman could not pass through sections of the canal, with them in place. The boats had to follow the ship through the 51 miles ,till we reached Balboa, then taken back aboard, while the crews reported to Sick Bay, most were pretty well toasted from the sun. We then steamed to San Francisco, arriving Jan.14,1945. where we picked up troops , then were on our way to the Island of Espiritu Santos in the New Hebridies Group.

On Feb.5 ,the ship  passed the 180th Meridian and His Majesty Neptunus Rex came aboard.

According to Wikipedia; Crossing The Line, is an initiation rite that commemorates a Sailors first crossing of the Equator. Sailors who have already crossed the Equator are nicknamed Shellbacks, often referred as Sons of Neptune, those who have not, are nicknamed ( Slimy) Pollywogs. The  event is a ritual, in which previously indoctrinated crew members are organized into a Court of Neptune, to introduce the Slimy Pollywogs into the Mysteries of the Deep. After crossing the line, Pollywogs receive subpoenas, to appear before King Neptune and his court, to receive their sentence, which includes all members of the crew and passengers, no matter their rank.

Since I had never Crossed the Line, I was ordered to appear before King Neptune and there were two hefty members of his court with me, to make sure I didn’t get lost. I was sentenced to report to the Royal Barber and receive a haircut and a shampoo. Was seated in the Barbers Chair and he proceeded to run his clippers through the center of my hair. Then came the shampoo, which was with a large glob of Axel Grease. The barbers chair was hinged at the bottom and he gave me a push , so that I landed in a large tank of salt water. Those in the tank held me under  for what seemed to be hours, then I had to Run the Gauntlet, between a group of ten Sadists armed with paddles and they showed no mercy. I was found worthy and issued a Shellback card.

There were many Innovative sentences handed out that day. one pollywog had to stand watch in the crows nest with a pair of soda bottles for binoculars, the Ships Band had to perform in the Fire Room, Mess attendants had to serve with their clothes inside out,  while others had to crawl through a canvas tunnel filled with rotten garbage. Was a Fun Day but I must Give Thanks that I wasn’t a sailor back in the Old Sailing Days, when they would Keel Haul you for initiation.

After debarking troops at Espiritu Santos we steamed to Guadalcanal. I was assigned to an LCM. The Dickman carried 4 LCM barges  They were 56 ft. long, with a 14 ft beam and powered by two 250 HP Gray Marine diesel engines. While at Guadalcanal had to do a lot of running to an Island named  Tulagi, hauling Seabees, vehicles and stores. The water is much different than most areas we worked. In the S. Pacific the water is crystal clear and as you ride around, you can see to the bottom, the beautiful white coral and the sea life swimming around. One evening I had the Midnight watch at the gangway. We were anchored out and the ship was dark, except for one light at the gangway and we had one LCVP tied up alongside. While leaning at the rail, about half asleep, I saw swimming by,  an enormous eel or maybe it was a snake but was nearly as long as the 36 ft. LCVP. I called the Officer of the Deck to come over and look,  who agreed that was the biggest Creature he ever saw. The following morning had to haul some Seabees to Tulagi and after dropping them off, had to wait till they finished and return them to Guadalcanal. We ran the boat off shore and dropped the ramp, so the crew could swim. I usually was one of the first in the water but not that day. One of the crew called and asked why I didn’t join in. My answer was, after what I saw last night, I was not about to go in the water

A large Amphibious Force was assembled and our next landing was to be at the South West corner of Okinawa. It was decided to land at Okinawa because it was only 340 miles from the Japanese mainland and it was planned to use it for a Base of Operation, for the planned Invasion of Japan. Carrier aircraft and surface ships pounded the island for nine days, prior to the landing.

On April 1,1945 our Amphibious Group arrived off Okinawa and at 0540 we were headed to the beaches. To every ones surprise, there was only sporatic mortar and shell fire, as the troops landed. Seems the Japanese decided to do their fighting inland and that they did. Four Divisions of the U.S. Tenth Army, fought on the island and the fighting was fierce. The battle for the island resulted in the highest number of casualties, of the Pacific Theater. Japanese lost over 100000 soldiers, who were either killed, captured or committed suicide and the allies suffered more than 65000 casualties. Similarly, the number of civilians that died, was staggering.

We encountered problems with with our landings on the beaches. Had to time our arrivals to make landings at high water, because at low tide the coral was exposed and could damage the boat bottoms. We had additional planks bolted to the bottoms of our barges,  to protect them. The fleet took a beating from the Kamikaze and suicide boat attacks. During this operation, 6 ships were sunk, 7 were heavily damaged and 4 slightly damaged. We would work during the day, then at dusk the ships would move out to sea , then return at daylight. The Kamikaze attacks usually came at dusk, while the suicide boats were active during the night. While the ships were out to sea, the barges had to find a place to hole up. There was a stream alongside the beaches and during our first evening we followed it up to a town named Naha. Wasn’t much left of it, but we strolled the area. Learned that the Okinawans place their dead in caves, then after the body decays, the bones are stored in urns, that occupy a place of honor, in the home. Seems were a few from Boat crews, that entered the caves and brought out the skulls, which they mounted on boat hooks and paraded them around the harbor. On the following Sunday , during his sermon,  Chaplain Day ( An Episcopalian Priest ) was not very kind, to those that participated. Fortunately none were from the Dickman.  On our second evening we rode up the stream again and found a place to tie up, then settled back hoping to get some sleep. As we looked up, we saw an American Hellcat Fighter Plane. He was flying low and slow, following the stream, apparently lost. He tipped his wings to show his markings but to no avail., Those trigger happy guys in those anti-aircraft gun emplacements, blew him out of the sky and he crashed about a mile from us. Was a sad thing to see.

The Dickman worked in the area for 6 days. landed 1368 troops, 79 vehicles and over 83000 cu. ft. of cargo.and without a casualty.. After a successful operation the Dickman left the area and steamed to Saipan, then on to Pearl Harbor. before returning to San Fancisco. I was transferred when we arrived to Frisco, while the Dickman went into the yard to have some conversion , in preparation for landing on the Japanese Mainland.

In between Landings, we had Troop Transport assignments. One of those was a trip to Glasgow , Scotland. to deliver 2000 troops. We were steaming up the Clyde River and was a nice weather day. The Clyde is a narrow river and the banks were lined with people waving at the troops. We arrived at a sparsely inhabited area and there was one small bungalow and standing alongside was a young lady and she waved. Then for whatever reason she lifted up her skirt. The troops responded and somehow those on the Starboard side heard about the show and rushed over to Port This resulted in the ship listing to Port.  The Captain was heard on the PA System. Said,OK men, the show is over,lets trim ship.

Our next landing was to be at the French Rivira.. This landing was originally planned to coincide with the Normandy Invasion but had to be postponed because it was found, there were not enough landing craft to do both. Have read much about the debates among those in charge , as to where the next landing should take place Churchill was against the Southern France landing, arguing it would divert military resources from Italy but Gen. Eisenhower overruled the British and set the date for Aug.15. The invasion began with a parachute drop by the First Airborne Task Force.Followed by an amphibious assault by elements of the U.S. Seventh Army.  Followed a day later by a force made up primarily of the French First Army Conditions turned out to be much better for  this operation and we landed 1079 troops,136 officers,80 vehicles and 10 tons of stores, without damage or casualty. Only 11 action casualties were treated on the ship ,2 were French civilians, 2 were Army and the rest were enemy prisoners. They were treated and turned over to the Army at Naples.

Despite being a large and complex operation, the Southern France invasion is not well known, it came in at the later part of the war and  was overshadowed, by the earlier, larger Normandy operation.

We loaded for a follow up trip to the beach head , this time to Marseilles delivering members of the French Army, men and women. The Top French General that came aboard had a lady companion and requested accommodations, so they could be together but the Captain turned him down and his friend had to stay with the rest of the female passengers. Marseilles was a mess. When the Germans left, they scuttled just about every ship in the harbor.

I was assigned to the Captains Gig. Was God Duty. The Motor Mac and I spent every day looking after the Gig. It had to be ready to go, to wherever .he wanted to go. One morning was called and told to have the Gig at the gangway in half an hour, to transport the Captain. Wasn’t told where he was going, so told the Motor Mac to see to the Gig, while I went to the bridge. I visited the Quartermasters, to find where the ships were located, that he might want to visit. I checked for the Flagship and where his friends ships were. I then returned to the Gig and then the Captain arrived, said he wanted to go to the Flagship. I felt good, knew where the Flagship was berthed. I drove to inside the harbor and with all the scuttled ships, I got confused. I was just about to tell the Captain I was lost, when I saw the Flagship and ran over to the gangway, The Captain said to wait, so we had to find a place to tie up. The Admirals Barge was at the Boat Boom, and it’s a no-no to tie up alongside. With all the scuttled ships I could find no place to tie up and I had to stay where I could watch the gangway. Was nothing to do but run around in circles and we did just that for 8 hours. Wad to break into the Emergency rations for something to eat. Even broke into the Emergency Water keg and the water tasted awful. Finally the Captain showed at the gangway and we returned to the Dickman. After delivering the Captain, we called to have the Gig pulled up in No. 1 Davit. When we arrived on deck the Master at Arms was waiting for us and told us to report to the Mess Deck. When we arrived, we learned the Captain had ordered Steak for the Gig’s crew.. We ate like Kings.

Our European Theater involvement ended with liberty at Naples.A group decided to visit Pompeii and with us was shipmate Phil Patania, who was well versed in Italian. Had to go by train and was a 20 mile trip. The train was crowded and Phil noticed there was a fellow with a guitar, and asked if he could play . He began playing those old Italian songs, that everyone knew and all joined in. Soon everyone in that car was singing and Phil was conducting. When we arrived at Pompeii we hired a guide and he was worth the price, spoke very good English Were told the town was partially destroyed and buried in 12 to 20 ft. of ash, in 79 AD,  from the eruption of Mt.Vesuvius.. The guide told us to note that some of the buildings in the town had deep ruts in the cobblestone out front. This was where the Brothels were located.

We returned to Norfolk, it was New Years Day 1944 and I was granted leave. Was able to get home and enjoy mothers Great Cooking. While on leave, ran into Les Saunderlin , a fellow I knew who lived in Quinton and we swapped  Sea Stories.Learned he was on the Destroyer Rowan, when it took a hit by a German Sub and sank. Said was then assigned to the USS Henrico, APA 45, which was in our Fleet. Found out we were traveling together and did not know it.

When I returned to the Dickman, we took on cargo and returned to England, at Slapton Sands,  where we began preparing  for the Normandy Invasion. We practiced small scale landings on the British coast and made five full scale landings at Slapton Sands, where the beaches were similar to those at Normandy.

On one occasion, a group of our barges had delivered troops to  the beach and were returning to the ship. In the area, were four British Spitfire Fighter Planes and they decided it was Fun Time. They would dive down over the barges and came so close, we could see the pilots faces, as they laughed. On one of the passes, one of the planes flew too close and when he banked, his wing tipped the ramp of one of the barges. He lost control and dove into the water, resulting in a big ball of fire.The rest of the group disappeared. We drove over to where the plane went down but a couple of British Crash Boats arrived and shooed us away. I have often wondered, what kind of report was made on that incident.

General Dwight Eisenhower was appointed Supreme Commander for the Normandy Invasion and he set a date for June 5,1944. The landing was code named Neptune, which included five assault areas,named Sword assigned to the British troops, Juno to Canadian Infantry, Gold was also British, Omaha was American ,as was Utah. While the Allies were preparing an assault on the French coast, the Germans were preparing to push them back into the sea. The Germans knew there was to be a landing but did not know where or when. The French coast was well fortified. On the beach they planted obstacles, consisting of sharpened wooden poles and three steel bars welded together called hedgehogs. Behind the beaches they planted mines and built concrete reinforced pill boxes, to house their artillery. Allied Intelligence kept a pretty close watch on the German preparation and noted a couple of errors. First they planned their defences to repel a landing at High Tide, so that they lay exposed at Low Water. It was decided the first waves would land at low tide, with Army Engineers,whose task it was to clear the obstacles and mark  paths, so that the in coming barges would have a clear run to the beach. The other error was their defences were concentrated in the Pas de Calais area, which was only 24 miles from the British coast, while Normandy was 80 miles across.

On May 24 we reported to Falmouth , England, which was our base of operations. On June 2, 130 officers and 1800 enlisted men, were embarked for the coming operation. Falmouth was a small port and had no room for the many ships, loading for this operation. The Dickman had to load troops using barges. We would pick up the troops, then they would climb aboard, via the nets.

Preparations continued. The Army Intelligence group came aboard and gave a last minute report on what was on Utah Beach. They had Charts. Photo’s and Models of the beach. and we received a detailed briefing. After they left, all ships were placed on Lock Down. No one was permitted to leave. Security was tight.

Turned out weather was a big factor, was stormy with rough seas in the channel and Gen Eisenhower decided to delay the landing until June 6, since conditions were predicted to improve. At 4:00 AM on June 6 all boats went in the water. Those in the Davits were loaded, then dropped in the water, while the rest were loaded via the debarkation nets. No easy task in rough seas. All barges ran over to their assigned areas, then ran around in circles, waiting till all boats were loaded. The troops in the boats were taking a beating, were not used to bobbing around in heavy seas and most were sick, along with getting soaked by the seas coming over the bow. At 0500 the signal was given and we headed to the beach, had 12 miles to go. The ships were anchored off shore, out of he range of the guns on the beach. We passed the Battleship Nevada, on our route and they were firing their 16 inch guns. Could see the projectiles, as they left the muzzle and sailed over our heads. As we got closer, saw more Navy Ships firing their big guns. Rockets from the Rocket Firing Barges were Swishing overhead. and we prayed we didn’t get hit, by those falling short. The sky was covered with bombers heading to the beaches. I read one reporters description, said it was,” the Greatest Fireworks Display Ever ” and I totally agree. Was hard to believe there was anything left on beach, after that pounding but there was fire coming from those pill boxes and boats were getting hit.  We passed troops clinging to wreckage  but could not stop to pick them up. At  1000 yards off the beach, our Wave got the signal from the Control Boat and it was full speed to the beach. Fortunately we were able to to give our troops a good landing but other boats were not so lucky, landed at spots with giant holes, caused by the bombing, resulting in troops having to wade through deep water.

After debarking the troops we backed down and headed to the Dickman. On our way we picked up four troops out of the water. All but seven of our boats made it back, were either swamped or damaged by gunfire. The ship took on thee dead and 154 casualties that were treated in our Sick Bay. We left Utah Beach and returned to Falmouth, where we unloaded the casulties and took on cargo, to return to Utah. This time conditions were much improved .

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