Chapter 2

A Troop Ship to Ulithi

I was transported aboard what was called a Liberty ship to Ulithi for my assignment to the USS LAWS. The name of the ship was USS GENERAL SD STURGES. I did not at that time even know what duty I was slated for. This Liberty ship was a large transport loaded with thousands of sailors and marines for overseas duty. It was a ship made by the Kisar shipbuilding yard. These were all welded seams and constructed by women who went to work to free men for war duty. This was of course the first time I had ever seen anything like this.

The sleeping quarters were several decks down from the main deck. The bunks were tiered 4 high to accommodate as many men as possible in the available space that was originally designed for cargo. There was very poor ventilation in these spaces. The passageways were dark and it seemed like the seasickness was at its worst for most of the men.

Fortunately I was not bothered too much with this problem. We left port from San Francisco and sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge into the open sea. The date was November 10, 1944. I did not think that the waves were too high and the ship movement was strange but not violent. I do not know the length of this vessel but it was larger than what was in store for me later.

The chow was served below deck and seemed to be in a limited supply as the portions were small. I did what some say was an unpardonable sin; I volunteered for "KP." This was mainly to satisfy the appetite of my 18-year-old body. The workers helping with these duties were fed all we could eat and I did eat. I must say that I sure de-eyed more potatoes than I have ever thought there were in the world. The spuds were run though a peeling machine but then they had to be cleaned up and de-eyed before they were cooked.

This voyage could be best described as routine until we reached The Hawaiian Islands. We were given a short liberty ashore, about 8 hours. I can remember the ruins of ships lying in the water with the oil slick all over. They said it was cleaned up a lot by this time but it sure looked like we were in a war zone to me.

I had made several friends by this time and we all went ashore. We were ferried ashore in a small boat called a whaleboat. The big attraction for most of the men was a beer garden. Each man was allowed two beers when you reached the end of a line that was several blocks long. I was talked into standing in line so that I could get the beer for the fellows who wanted more. I was not a beer drinker, but must confess I did drink one of them. They were served in open mugs, no closed containers.

The only other thing that we had time to do before our boat was to return us to the ship was to get our photos taken with a girl in a grass skirt. This was a ploy to get money from the sailors. There were very close rules in effect to make sure these sailors were not detained too long and all personnel were in good condition to return to the ship. We set sail for the wide blue pacific the day after. I am sure there was a replenishment of fuel and stores but I was not involved in that part of the operation.

One day on the westward journey the "scuttlebutt" went around that the Japanese had sunk a troop ship out of Hawaii, and we were supposed to be that ship. These types of stories were always being spread.

I did spend some of my free time on the main deck gazing out across the sea. It fascinated me that there was water as far as the eye could see. I remember the weather to be very pleasant and the sea relatively calm, even though I had never experienced it before. We finally crossed the International Date Line on November 30th. The coordinates were 180-00-E.

We had a special Thanksgiving dinner and were issued a mimeographed certificate to mark our crossing of the date line. The next day was also the 30th of November as we lost one day crossing the date line. We ony had one Thanksgiving dinner though.

Life aboard the ship continued to be very routine and monotonous. With mess duty it seemed like we just finished one meal and "turned-to" to get ready for the next. I do remember that we had to shower in salt water. Boy soap just will not work well in salt water, I did get wet and that is about it. Our hair had salt crust that had to be combed out the best you could. The laundry was a real disaster. Getting your clothes back or even some that fit you was a never-ending challenge.

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