DAD GOES TO WAR

My dad goes to war in the south pacific.
by Seajay

After boot camp and home leave my dad reported to the USS Gunston Hall LSD6. As I remember the ship was on the east coast somewhere because I remember dad talking about going thru the Panama canal as I remember. The ''Hall'' was a repair ship of sorts that was a ''repair vessel for small craft''. Dad was a Motor Machinist Mate, second class and he worked on the Gray Marine engines in the Higgins boats and other craft as repairs were necessary. He had many ''duties'' like most sailors back then. One of his duties was to man a 20 MM anti aircraft machine gun on the Hall during time of attack. He also assisted in driving the Higgins boats as necessary and did man a 30 caliber machine gun mounted on the Higgins boat. He and other sailors hauled the Marines ashore and the wounded ones out to the hospital ships as needed. He hauled in gasoline, food, ammo, medical supplies, and small vehicles to the beach as necessary and he saw a lot of good men die and many more get wounded in the defense of this great nation. He saw a lot and he never really talked about it much. Sometimes we would watch ''Victory at Sea'' on the television and he would get a very far away look in his eye.
My dad was a combat veteran in the South Pacific theater of war. He participated in five invasions of islands held by the Japanese and he saw a lot of action. He once told me that one of his worst frears was invasion. He said that the battle wagons would sit off shore and fire over their heads as they proceeded toward the beach with their boat load of Marines. The 12 and 16 inch shells would be passing overhead to soften up the beach for the Marines. Sometimes these shells would 'lose a turning band' as they went overhead. A turning band is a large bronze ring around the projectile to engage the rifling of the cannon and prevent wear to the boar when the cannon is fired. These ''turning bands'' are pressed on to the projectile and nothing is holding them on but determination so to speak. He said that sometime they would ''come lose'' and hit the water with such force that they would make a gyser over thirty feet high. He said if one of these things hit a boat or a man that they would be done for...... He said the most frightened he ever was in his service was when they had to haul gasoline into the beach at night on one of those little islands down there. He said that the enemy had ''rifles''( small boar cannon) hidden in caves dug in the side of the mountains and they could fire at you but you could not see them because the weapon was so deep in the cave that it made no ''flash'' when fired. You could hear the noise but you could not ''see'' anything. He said that they loved to take ''target practice'' at him and Otto Star as they would creep along in the Higgins boat, sneaking ashore in the dark of night with ten 55 gallon drums of gasoline in the ''well deck''. He said you could hear the ''pop'' but you had to wonder where the shell would hit...... One spark and BOOM ... Poppa told me that there are no atheist in fox holes in a war.
My dad was in for the duration and when he came home he was a changed man. He never in any way abused me or my mom but anyone else did not want to make him mad. His ''temper'' was short fused and if you made him mad you would live to regret it.
I very much love and respect my Dad. Like your dad, he was the greatest person in the world and I am honored to be his son. He was a combat Navy Veteran and he went where he was told and did what he had to do to help keep this nation free and, as a sailor myself, I would not come up to his shoe tops or make a good ''pimple on his ass'' as a sailor compared to him ....
I still think about him about every day and still miss him very much .........

Nuff Said

Seajay the sailor man