The Elsie Item

"The Elsie Item" orficial Newsletter or the USS LANDING CRAFT, INFANTRY, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, INC. MARCH, 2002
Newsletter #40
PACIFIC LCI VETS HAVE THEIR DAY IN NEW ORLEANS (See Story, Page 5)
From The Desk of Jim Talbert: "THE ELSIE ITEM" Number 40
March, 2002
Official Newsletter of the USS LCI National Association
a non-profit veterans organization.. Membership in the USS
LCI National Association is open to any U. S. Navy or U.S.
Coast Guard veteran who served aboard a Landing Craft
Infantry. Associate Membership, without voting privileges,
may be offered to others upon approval of the Board of
Directors. See Page 31 for a list of all officers and
directors.
Published quarterly by the USS LCI National Association
20 W. Lucerne Circle, #615, Orlando, FL 32801. John
Cummer, Editor.
P.
Wow! I'm writing this just as we have
returned from the dedication of the Pacific
Wing of the D-Day Museum in New Or­
leans and what an outstanding display of
what we really went through in WWIL I
was a bit disappointed that our LCIs were
not more prominent and were not shown
in actual landings, but, over all, it is a
"Must" see. I'm sure John is writing more
about it in this issue, so look for it.
As you know, members, we really don't have a very good way of
notifying you when dues are due. This is why I have been send­
ing out reminders all over the place. If you get one" please take
it for the right reason and not that you have done anything wrong.
If you are like I am, you can't remember your name half the time!
What's in this Issue
From the Desk of Jim Talbert ............................................... 2
A Note from the Editor ......................................................... 3
Welcome Aboard! ................................................................. 3
Fond Memories ofATB Solomons or
It Pays to have a Good Looking Girl Friend ..................... 4
Liberty in the "Big Apple"! .................................................. 4
Pacific Wing National D-Day Museum Opens:
LClers Join in the Celebration ........................................... 5 LCI Reunions ........................................................................ 7 Roy Galewski Receives our Bravo Zulu .............................. 8 Letters to the Editor .............................................................. 8 "Now It Can Be Told" - LCI(R) 765 Takes on A Jap Destroyer ............................................................... 12
Fog ...................................................................................... 14
Can You Top This for BRASS? .......................................... 16
Elmer Carmichael: German Paratrooper or
LCIer? ............................................................................. 17
Book Review, Mighty Midgets at War; The
Saga ofthe LSI(L) from Iwo Jima to
Viet Nam .......................................................................... 17
Admiral Sabin's Seasickness Story Gets to
Hank Henderson's Wife! ................................................. 18
F'or the Record: LCIs Sunk or Damaged on
D-Day, June 6, 1944 ........................................................ 20
Don Hawley and the Uniform of the Day! ......................... 20
The Greatest Battle that Never Was: The
Typhoon and the Kamikaze ............................................ 21 Pete Gagliardi Experiences the Great Typhoon .................. 23 The LCIer and the Keebler Elf ........................................... 24 Picture Gallery .................................................................... 25 In Memoriam ...................................................................... 27 Comings and Goings: LCIers on the Move ........................ 29 New E-Mail Addresses ....................................................... 30 Officers and Directors Contact Information ....................... 31 San Antonio Reunion Information and Registration Materials ................................................ 32-35 Hey, guys, I know that some of you have your own LCI reunions
and that's OK. And I know that some of your shipmates are not
:nembers of our National Organization. It would really be great
tfyou could get those who are not members to join and have your
reunions along with the National. Yes, it's great to meet with
your old shipmates every year, but wouldn't it be more fun not
only to meet with them but also with the fellows that were on
other LCIs that were in your group, made the same landings and
made liberty in the same ports? Just think ofthe "whoppers" you
could tell each other!
We are getting this issue of the "Elsie Item out early this time
because we want to get the forms and information about the San
Antonio Reunion to you one more time.
Just for your information, we have been pretty busy this year.
Vice President John Cummer, Treasurer Tiny Clarkson, Secre­
tary Bob McLain and I have done a lot oftraveling in the name of
the LCI National Association. We attended the annual get-to­
gether at the old Solomons ATB in Maryland, a model presenta­
tion at the ATB Little Creek, Virginia, the opening of the Pacific
Wing of the D-Day Museum in New Orleans, and a model pre­
sentation at the Amphibious Attack Boats Museum in Ft. Pierce,
Florida. And I might add, it was at our own expense. Yes, the
Association pays for any expense in making the models and dis­
play cases or any shipping charges, but that's all.
We are doing our best to put the LCI and the part we played in
WWII in front ofthe public by putting models, pictures and any­
thing that pertains to an LCI in every Naval Museum we can
find. We do it because we are very proud of what we did and we
don't want our children and grandchildren or the people of this
country to forget.
2
A Note from the Editor
Welcome Aboard!
In place of my regular mug shot, I thought for this issue I'd use this picture taken Novem­
ber 11, 2001, when we had the pleasure of presenting an LCI Model to the Amphibious At­
tack Boat Association at their memorial and museum in Ft. Pierce Fl. We're delighted to welcome aboard this fine list of new mem­
bers who have joined since our last newsletter came out. If you
spot a shipmate's or friend's name, give 'em a holler and start
telling sea stories!
Akar, Edward, LCI 79,152 Lanza Avenue, Garfield, NJ 07026 Arquit, Gordon J, LCI 437, 130 Christopher Circle, Ithaca, NY 14850 Avila, Robert B. LCI FF679, 435 Loring Avenue, Crockett, CA 94525 Brady, Donley L LCI
4,
35507 Beach Road, Capistrano Beach, CA 92624 Cone, Cecil E, LCI 396, P.O Box 35, Brush Prairie, WA 98606 Cook, Eugene T., LCI 1017, 12149 Trailways Drive, St. Louis, MO 63146-4828 Corti, Leonard J., LCI 417, 2876 East 777'h Road, Utica, IL 61373 Craft, Robert H., LCI 773, 1620 Meadow Lane, Glen Mills, PA 19342 Farmer, Raymond K., LCI 1063, 706 Tyler Court, Duncanville, TX 75137 Finestone, Leonard, LCI 961, 546, 633, 1203 N. K. Street. Apt. II, Lake Worth, FL, 33460 Fritts, Warren N., LCI 636, 35 East Kraft Avenue, Oaklyn, NJ 08107 Hall, Richard H LCI 40, 188, 21 Codfish Hill Ext. Bethel, CT 0680 I Hlebechuk, Walter, LCI 773, 12179 11 'h Street S. W., Fairfield, ND 58627 Kempton, L. Lavar, LCI 26, 1634 Sunrise Circle NW Salem, OR 97304-1117 Leaken, James N., LCI 409, 624 1st Street South Columbus, MS 39701 Levandowski, Eugene J., LCI 545, 277 Country Club Road, New Caanan, CT, 06840-3111 Lowe, Thomas c., (LCI not listed) Box 95, Venice, FL 34284 Maniscalco, Richard, LCI 582, 10 Twilight Trail, Belvidere, NJ 07823 Maragni, Galileo, LCI 5, 802 Autumn Lane, Brewster. NY 10509 Michaels, Bernard W. LCI 545, 5005 Hillside Lane, Valparaiso, IN 46383-1049 Niezgocki, Russell A., LCI 418,2313 East Maryland Avenue, Maplewood, MN 55119 Owens, Jack T., LCI 1093, 1275 Ohltown McDonald Road., Mineral Ridge, OH 44440-9322 Philipp, Alfred H. LCI 961, 2101 Highland Drive, Fernandina Beach, FL 32034 Reid, 1. Keith, LCI 59, 83 Northridge Drive, Bountiful, UT 840 I 0 Satterfield, Garel C., LCI 456, 1530 Hgwy. nw, Clinton, SC 29325 Here Ed Brisbois, their Presi­
dent, accepts the model.
But why put this picture here?
Because I ran out ofspace with
all the other good stories I had, but still wanted to share this
occasion with you!
You really did give me a lot of interesting things to sift through
for this issue and I'm grateful to you for that.
With this issue I want to introduce any of you who don't know
him already to an LCI writer that I know you'll enjoy. Way up
north in Warroad, Minnesota right on the Canadian Border,
Hank Henderson ofLCI(R) 765 has held forth for many years as
the kingpin in his ship's reunions. He is a great story teller and
I'm happy to share three of them with you.
The first, page 12, shares the remarkable story of the duel be­
tween the 765 and a Japanese destroyer. Then, Hank (page 18)
tells us the reaction of his salty wife to the story Admiral Sabin
told of seasickness while crossing the Atlantic (see Issue 39).
Finally, (page 34) he shares with us the real story ofthe Keebler
Elf. I think you'll enjoy all these stories.
Another aspiring writer who shows a good touch is Ralph
Langenheim, professor of Geology at the University of Illinois
who, on page 14, recalls the experience of dense fog on the En­
glish Channel. Ralph also writes our book review on page 17.
And we also include the information and registration materials
for our San Antonio reunion. We're now well into the planning
for this event and hope that your plans are well in place. It prom­
ises to be another outstanding event and we hope to see you
there. We look forward to another great time of fellowship and
sight-seeing.
Keep those stories and pictures coming! We love 'em and from
what we hear from our readers, so do lots of other people!
3
New Members (Continued)
each drawer contained another food course and drinks!
Sellers, Robert C., LCI 989, 844 Cascade Drive,
Riverside, OH 45431
Semmes, Allison (AI), LCI 992, 7104 Arrowwood Road,
Bethesda, MD 20817
Snider, Numa L., LCI (FF) 628, 315 Hillcrest Street,
Waveland, MS 39576
Thornburg, Joe M., LCI 438, 649 South 88 th East Place,
Tulsa, OK 74133
Toussaint, Herb, LCI 951, 953, 852 Black's Ferry Road,
Pocahontas, AR 72455
Wakeling, Robert w., LCI 742, 19 Cheshire Meadows,
Kennebunk, ME 04043
It pays to be a good looking, young, slim fiery redhead. She
remembers it well to this day.
P.S. She lost her hat (as you remember all girls wore them then)
in the channel. Cost of doing business!
-Dave Dorflinger
New Affiliate Member:
VanDerLinden, Carmilla, daughter of J. Stanley Dunn, LCI 372,
10857 Snow Cloud Trail, Littleton, CO, 8125
Liberty in the "Big Apple"!
New Members from Abroad:
Devlin, Terry D., (LCI number not listed), 920 Simpson St., Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada P7C 3K6 Williamson, Jack, LCI 131, 4 Roomsey News, Cambridge, England CB 1 3PB
Fond Memories of ATB Solomons or It Pays to Have a Good Looking Girl Friend! The folder for this picture says "The Place, It's the Heart of
Grenwich Village" and proclaims it to be "The Hottest Spot in
Town"
Don't go into shock, but, yes, there is someone who has fond
memories ofAmphibious Training Base, Solomons, MD! Last
issue we heard ofthe great work detail Jim Talbert pulled while
he was there. Now, Dave Dorflinger, LCl(L) 355, now a resi­
dent ofBerlin, NJ, shares another fond memory with us!
And here Calvin Anderson and buddies from LCI(G) 466 dem­
onstrate just how happy sailors can be on liberty!
We're indebted to Calvin's wife Wilma for this one. She writes,
I remember one Sunday in July, 1943, My fiance was coming to
see me. When I went to the boat [to get over to the village of
Solomons from the base] I sloshed through 5 inches of red mud.
It was raining hard when we reached the dock in Solomons. The
coxswain allowed Peg to go back to the base while I shed the
wet, red set of whites. The SPs. said she could not go on the
base so she went to the OOD's office. I left her there and went
to change.
"Checking into some ofour old files . .. 1 ran across this pic­
ture. 1 am including a listing of the Navy buddies that Calvin
was enjoying on an evening out while they were in training in
the New York area in preparation for going down through the
Panama Canal, into the Pacific Ocean and up to San Diego . ..
before heading for the Pacific. They may not be in the proper
order, but here s how Calvin listed them: (l to r) Bill Kovic, Frank
Charles Moranville (it could be Maranville), Morris Eugene
Thompson, James F Della Volpe, Calvin T (Andy) Anderson,
Orville Grooms, Harold Robert Frank, Mike Kenimore, and
Stanley Peter Kasperczyk"
When I got back she didn't care if! ever did - happy as a clam at
high tide, so to speak. There she was, sitting in the middle ofthe
office. The OD, the Chaplain, and about three other officers
surrounded her. A plate loaded with all sorts of good stuff be­
side cold chicken was on her lap. A file cabinet was opened and
Calvin and Wilma now live in Livingston, TX, and hope to be at
the San Antonio reunion.
4
PACIFIC WING, NATIONAL D-DAY MUSEUM OPENS; LCIers JOIN IN THE CELEBRATIONS! "The Big Easy" lived up to its reputation as a great party town where the people know how to celebrate again last
December 6-9 at the opening of the Pacific Wing of the National D-Day Museum. LCIers were present in force
and, although we may look like super-annuated "geezers" to some folks now, for a while there in N'Awlins we
were all salty young sailors having a ball in a great liberty town once again!
Things got off to a great start with a get-together at
Michal's Cajun Restaurant,just around the comer from
the D-Day Museum, with mouth-watering Cajun food
and toe-tapping music.
Joe and Alice Dumeningo may be from the frozen North
(Massachusetts, to be exact) but when they got on the
dance floor they were swinging with the best of them.
Joe served on LCI(G) 568.
In between eating and drinking there was a lot of
talking and sea stories to tell. Here, our local host,
Cal Galliano (LCI 344) shares stories with Tonya
Ashley, granddaughter of Pete "Jughaid" Holsing of
LCI442. Tonya came from Arkansas to make friends
with and get to know some of her granddaddy's ship­
mates. She was a doll and we all loved her.
Later that evening, the LCI National Officers attended
a major donor's reception at the Museum. Here, Dr.
Stephen Ambrose, noted historian and guiding light
behind the D-Day Museum stops for a picture .. (Left
to Right: Dr. Ambrose, Bob McLain, "Tiny" Clarkson,
Janet Clarkson, Jim Talbert, Jean Talbert and John
Cummer.
5
The Grand Parade on December 7th honored veterans
of the Pacific Campaigns. LClers filled one of the
trucks designated for Navy Vets. (See cover photo)
Here, Aggie Hurdle, with her son and Yvonne Mason,
cheers the LClers as they ride past.
Following the Parade, Celebrators gathered at the
Convention Center for the "Gathering of Eagles",
where LClers had the opportunity to take front and
center as President Jim Talbert presented our check
for support of the National D-Day Museum to Presi­
dent of the Board of Directors, Dr. Gordon H "Nick"
Mueller.
THE GRAND FINALE - THE USO SHOW AND DINNER DANCE!
The Ballroom of the New Orleans Marriott Ho­
tel was the setting for a gala usa Show and
Dance. With great big band music and superb
performances by a trio of girls doing great ren­
ditions ofAndrews Sisters music we all felt like
we were back in the •40s again.
Here's the whole gang - or at least all that we
could round up at the end of the evening. All
cleaned up and looking fairly respectable but
having a ball!.
6
LeI Reunions
Bailey, also of Gordo, who have become interested in their
grandfather's wartime service duties, and those of the LCI (G)
561 on which he served. They were thrilled to meet some of
Doyle's "way back" shipmates and made a point of having pic­
tures taken with each of us.
Michigan LCI Reunion
Reported by Sam Rizzo, LCI 687, Grosse Point, ML
Our memorial service, participated in by the North Charleston
High School ROTC, was held on the fantail ofthe USS Yorktown.
Our reunion started on a damper Tuesday, September 11 th. Some­
one ran into the registration room just as the news was about to
show the second plane crash into the World Trade Center. We
were stunned. We could not believe that we would see a "Kami­
kaze" attack in our own country 55 years after the war.
Florida LCIers Honor Don McGranahan
The whole reunion was subdued with many tears and we left
after two days instead of the three we had planned. However,
we were glad to be together again.
Reported by John Cummer, LCI(l) 502, Orlando, FL
Eighty five LCIers and their spouses gathered at the Surfside
Resort, Ormond Beach,
November 13-14, 200 I for a re­
sumption of their annual reunion.
Our Michigan Memorial Roll Call had 9 men plus Walter Kopaz
this year.
Highlight ofthe reunion was the presentation of a special plaque
to outgoing Florida State Director Don McGranahan, honoring
him for his many years of service.
We were fortunate enough to have as our main speaker a young
U. S. Navy Commander (USNR), Kurt Homburg. He was reas­
suring and inspirational for our group. He was also flattering to
the LCIers for our service in the War. He knew a lot about us!
LCI Flotilla 6, Group 16, Meets in South Carolina Reported by Connie Mulherin, LCI(G) 561, Titusville, FL
USS LCI(G) Flotilla 6, Group 16, held its tenth annual reunion
September 12-16,2001, at the Holiday Inn, Mt. Pleasant, SC.
National President Jim Talbert presents Don McGranahan with
a plaque honoring his long service to the USS LeI National
Association
The tragedy at the World Trade Center affected our gathering
greatly with many cancellations because of air travel problems.
The saddest news ofall was the cancellation by our Group Presi­
dent, Sal Caffiero (560) of Staten Island, NY, because his niece
was in one of the World Trade buildings when it fell. A truly
sorrowful period for him and his family.
Relaxed conversation on the patio overlooking the ocean (a bit
windy!) and an enjoyable banquet followed the informal pat­
tern of reunions of past years. In an informal discussion, it was
decided to try for a two day meeting next year with more planned
group activities.
In this same week we also lost Group 16 regular Thomas "Bernie"
McCarthy (568) of Brookville, FL, who succumbed to cancer.
The untimely deaths of the two men who planned this reunion
brought sadness to us all. Harry Gatanis, LCI(L) 435, who had
enthusiastically volunteered to take on planning for the reunion
succumbed to cancer on September 3, 200 I. His partner Earl
Minner, LCI(R) 342 of Daytona Beach, FL, stepped into the
breech to complete the planning. We were saddened to learn of
Except for travel hardships incurred by several ofthem men, the
reunion was a huge success.
Present at our reunion were two grandsons of our late shipmate,
Doyle Bailey, of Gordo, Alabama. They were Chris and Kirk
7
his unexpected death just two days after our reunion.
Guard and a piper who rendered an emotional version of"Amaz­
ing Grace".
We would like to report all reunions. If you are aware of any
group ofLCfers meeting. please let us know so that we can share
the news.
Guest speaker was Donald R. Presutti, brother-in-law of Roy
Galewski and a high school teacher. He lauded the contribution
of the Amphibious Forces and the price that they paid in the
defense of freedom. He noted that as a teacher he was appalled
John Cummer
at the lack of understanding by students of the meaning of the
Pledge ofAllegiance to our Flag and that he took every opportu­
nity to explain the true meaning of the Pledge and the price that
Galewski Receives our "Bravo Zulu" for Amphibious Veterans Memorial was paid for their freedom.
Roy Galewski, on previous visits to the veterans hospitals had
noted there were memorials commemorating the China-Burma­
India Veterans and Merchant Marines and asked himself, "Why
not a memorial to the Amphibs?" He approached the hospital
authorities and gained their approval for the idea. Normally at
this point we would form a committee, start raising funds, and
argue among ourselves as to the size and shape of the memorial
and the wording on it.
Not Roy! He is like that NIKE motto - "Just Do It"/ The only
time he went outside himself in this project was to ask "Tiny"
Clarkson for a red shoulder patch so that the Amphibious insig­
nia could be engraved on the bronze tablet mounted on the front
of the memorial stone. Roy, at his own expense, bought the
Amphibious Veterans Gather at the Dedication q(the Memorial Roy Galewski (r) in striped shirt; Tiny Clarkson in center. Barre, Vermont, marble, arranged for the casting of the bronze
tablet, and set up the entire dedication ceremony.
Watching our shipmate, Roy, in action carrying out this project,
The "Bravo Zulu" for this issue of Elsie Item deservedly goes to
this writer was reminded why it was that 60 years ago a bunch
Roy Galewski for his work in bringing about a memorial to Am­
of teen age kids were so successful in storming enemy beaches
phibious Veterans at the Castle Point (NY) Veterans Hospital.
from Normandy to Iwo Jima. We just plain didn't know that it
was almost impossible.
Tiny Clarkson, Treasurer of the USS LCI National Association,
nominated Roy for our recognition and wrote the following ac­
WELL DONE, ROY! BRAVO ZULU to you!
count of the occasion:
Castle Point, NY, Feb, 7, 2002 A beautiful and meaningful marble
memorial dedicated to Naval Amphibious Veterans ofWWII was
unveiled on February 7 in the Courtyard at the Castle Point Vet­
erans Hospital.
Letters to the Editor
This project was the brainchild of our own Roy Galewski, LCI
224, and a Life Member of the USS LCI National Association.
Well, shipmates, you've kept the mailman busy! We've got quite
a few letters - and e-mails to share with you. Nice to see that so
many ofyou read the "Elsie Item" so closely and call me on
mistakes! Hey, ifwe keep it up, we 'Il get it right in the end!
Under somber skies, Hospital Chaplain Robert Hershberger gave
the invocation and blessed the memorial as it was unveiled by
Roy Galewski.
Approximately 125 Amphibious veterans, friends and hospital
officials were in attendance including hospital Executive Direc­
tor Michael Sabo and Director of Volunteer Services Jerome
Vaughn. The ceremony was participated in by a Navy Color
We'll start offwith Dave Dorjlinger q(the 355. Dave e-mails us
frequently since he s involved in the project to get a model ofan
LCI aboard the USS New Jersey as she prepares jor the opening
8
And, a bit belated, here s a nice compliment sent to Sam Rizzo
concerning one ofour model placements:
to the public across the river from New York Cit}: This e-mail
has nothing to do with LCIs but it sa real stinker!! Dave was on
the internet looking for information about a Marine and came
on a website dealing with Sumay, on Guam. Sumay. Dave tells
us, was the location ofthe Pan Am Hotel and the Marine bar­
rack~ before WWII. Here s what Dave had to say about that
location:
July 2,2001
Dear Mr. Rizzo,
On behalf of the Grosse Pointe War Memorial I would like to
take this opportunity to thank you and the National USS LCI
Association for the donation of the 42" Landing Craft Infantry
model. It will be placed in a display case in the newly remod­
eled Veteran's Room of the historic Alger House.
January 27, 2002
"... I am sure they will not carry the story of the delivery of a
cargo net full ofcheese that got dumped near the old Fleet Land­
ing. It was rained on so often, where it lay, that they buried it.
Then, about nine months later, they dug up the whole area for a
new location for reefers. The pan-excavators spread the gook
over about four acres!
... The War Memorial is honored to display the Landing Craft
Infantry model and greatly appreciates your donation.
Sincerely,
"The stench was unbelievable! Probably smelled all the way
back to CinCPac!"
Mark R. Weber, President
Grosse Point War Memorial
Grosse Point Farms, MI
Dave.
And while we're on congratulatory notes, here s one from the
National D-Day Museum in New Orleans:
And we hear another fascinating story from the USS Gambier
Bay. Figure what the chances of hauling someone from your
home town aboard as a survivor!!
December 30, 200 I
Mr. James E. Talbert, President,
USS LCI National Association
H I.'I
Dear Mr. Talbert:
On behalf of the Board of Directors and the staff of The Na­
tional D-Day Museum, I would like to thank you and your orga­
nization for your recent pledge contribution of $5,000. Our
records show this as your second installment of a total contribu­
tion of $25,000, which brings you to the "Loyalty" level in the
Founders Society.
Ifyou can stand one more story on the USS Gambier Bay, I have
one for you. I was on the USS LCI(R) 340 at the time of the
rescue of the survivors. We were working 4 on and 4 off in the
engine room and then assisted the lookouts on deck when we
could. I was helping when the first survivors were spotted. We
lit up the night with our signal light to see the rafts. I was at the
ladder we had over the side to help them come aboard. The first
hand I grabbed to help aboard was a sailor I knew from my home
town of Two Rivers, Wisconsin. He was one of the lucky ones
and was not wounded.
Your generous gift has been applied to the capital campaign for
the design, fabrication and installation of Phase I and II of the
Museum's construction and exhibitions. Please know that we
are extremely grateful for your support of this Museum project
and we owe our continuing success to you and contributors like
the USS LCI National Association. We hope that you and ev­
eryone on the USS LCI National Association team enjoyed at­
tending the Grand Opening events. We certainly enjoyed the
presentation of your donation at the Convention Center, on the
Gathering of Eagles stage ....
Since he would be eligible for a survivor's leave, I asked him to
bring my girl friend and my parents up to date on me if he got
back home. He was able to do this for me and explain to them
why the ship was changed from and LCI(L) to an LCI(R). Our
trip was a bit difficult and we set the pace of the operation be­
cause we had lost our starboard shaft and screw the day before
the landing at Tac1oban, Leyte. I hope this helps some of the
people from the other ships who wondered why we went so slow.
The Board of Directors joins me in expressing our sincere ap­
preciation for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Gordon H. "Nick" Mueller, PhD.
President and CEO
Charles Savard, MoMM 1C, USS LCI(R)340
Two Rivers, WI.
9
We thank you, Dr. Mueller, and all the staffofthe Museum for a
wonderful opening celebration and for all the great work in put­
ting together such an impressive museum. We are proud to be a
part of it..
that you landed on Jig Green Beach. Following the publication
of Harry Moses' history of the 9th Battalion DLI [Durham Light
Infantry], "the Gateshead Gurkhas", we believe that 231 Bri­
gade landed on Jig Green Beach and 56 Brigade landed on Jig
Red Beach but, as yet, we don't know the make-up of231 Bri­
gade. We shall keep up with it.
From across the border in Canada comes this message: \
The other thing we have learned is that the 9 th DLI, my battalion,
was in the second wave and landed on King Green and Red Green
Beaches (so far unable to establish which of the two myparticu­
lar LCI landed on). I was in the "second" LCI of 3 transporting
the 9 th DLI, which consisted of Major Mogg with "C" Com­
pany and the remainderofHQ and Support Companies. We left
from King George V Dock, Southampton. As an active mem­
ber of the LCI Association, next time you meet, could you ask if
any ofyour colleagues remember transporting Major Mogg (later
General Sir John Mogg who died recently) of the 9th DLI as it
would be great to contact them too .... "
November 28, 2002
Dear Mr. Cummer,
... .I am and ex LCIer of the British Navy, World War Two and
a member of the British LST and Landing Craft Association ...
Our Flotilla were all built in New Jersey, New York area, I be­
lieve. During the war years, the crews for many types of ships
were sent to Asbury Park, New Jersey, staying in two hotels,
namely The Berkeley Carteret, and the Monterey. Britain did
not have the capacity to build the ships that were required.
Best Wishes,
Charles Eagles
East Herrington, Sunderland
England
I might add that the people in and around Asbury Park were
wonderful, their hospitality amazing, they just could not do
enough for us. I have many memories of those years, including
the USOs, The U. S. Defense Center, Park Avenue, New York,
the State Door Canteen, and so on.
Former Florida State Director Don McGranahan expressed his
thanks to Jim McCarthy for the great job on the LCI Calendar
and passed on some interesting reminiscences as he did so:
Sincerely,
February 1,2002
w.A. Smith
87 Cornwall Road, Brampton,
Ontario, Canada. L6WIN7
Hi Jim,
Just a note to let you know that the calendar I ordered for a
friend, John Hooper, who was a soldier attached to the 115th
Infantry arrived. One of our LCIs landed him on D-Day
Normandy, Omaha Beach. He didn't remember the number of
the LCI he was on when he landed in Normandy and he wrote to
me to see if we could find out. All he knew was that a shell hit
the LCI as he stepped into the water. After I wrote an article for
the Florida Newsletter and sent it to the Elsie Item Newsletter,
he received many letters and phone calls and it was decided he
was on the USS LCI(L) 553 which is on your calendar for the
month of June. My ship, the USS LCI(L) 412, was right beside
the 553 and we saw it destroyed after the troops were put ashore
and the crew had to abandon ship and go on the beach ....
P.S. The two hotels together, were known as HMS Asbury, but
the food and accommodations were by no means hotel standard,
just in case you thought we were all living it up.
Next, I want to share with you an e-mailfrom a "new old"friend
from across the waters. Charles Eagles was a member of the
Durham Light Infantry, the outfit that my ship, the 502, helped
to land on Gold Beach on June 6, 1944. His e-mail asks a ques­
tion which I pass on. Can anybody from LCIs who landed Brit­
ish troops on D-Day help in this one?
February 6, 2002
I thought what a great service you have done for the army and
navy by making your calendar available - But, knowing you Jim,
I am not surprised as you have done more for the USS LCI Na­
tional Association and the State ofCalifornia than any other LCI
Dear John,
We've been reading your e-mail of the log of the 502, and see
10 member in our organization.
credit. Best Regards, After April 1, 2002:
You certainly deserve a lot of 56 Woodhaven Drive
Jackson, TN 38301
901/668-5085
Don McGranahan.
And here are a couple more to make corrections. We got the
identifications on a ship pictured in the "Picture Galley" mixed
up and sharp eyes spotted it!
Right on, Don! We agree with you wholeheartedly.
Anthony Pelle, Utica, NY, lllho served as MoMM2c aboard USS
LCI(L) 495 comments on the book review ofEdwin Hoyt s "The
Invasion Before D-Day" about the disastrous attack by German
E-Boats on LSTs at Slapton Sands:
... The new format of our magazine looks great!
A correction: The caption on the picture of the 24 on page 25
states that it was taken on New Guinea. It was on New Georgia
in the Solomon Islands.
....Mr. Hoyt mentions the LCI(L) 495 and the possibility that
Gen. Eisenhower was aboard. Let me set the record straight.
The officers aboard were Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, Admiral John
Wilkes, Air Marshall Tedder (British), and I think Gen. Omar
Bradley. At the time I was bold enough to obtain their auto­
graphs, except for Gen. Bradley.
Best wishes,
Lou Plant, LCI 24
Livonia, MI
and William. Stark, Sr., ofPalmyra, WI, spots the same error
and writes a bit more interesting commentary:
I hope if any of my shipmates read this letter they will write and
refresh my memory.
December 30, 2001
Anthony Pelle, MoMM2C
9 Syloan Glen Road
Utica, NY 1350 I
Ph.: 3151735-8985
Dear John:
The wind is screaming through the pines, snow already covers
the drive I cleared only an hour ago. Nevertheless it's a beauti­
ful day here in the hills ofthe "Kettle Moraine" because the "U.
S. Mule" gotthrough and delivered "The Elsie Item #39". How­
ever, on page 25, there is an error that begs correction and elabo­
ration. The photo caption states that the ship at the left is the 25.
This is wrong. LCI 23 is at the far left, not 25.
From Venice, Florida, retired LCDR Carl Smith writes concern­
ing the actions ofthe LCIs at Iwo Jima and has a request::
I served aboard LST 224 during WWII. We made 6 D-Day land­
ings in the Pacific Theater, including Iwo Jima. During our time
there I was greatly impressed by the courage displayed by the
LCI crews.
I was with the stem 20mm gun crew when this photo was taken
on July 4, 1943.
One of those gallant ships was severely damaged and a number
ofthe officers and men were killed. As I recall, a BM was com­
manding officer because all the commissioned officers were
killed. We towed this LCI from Iwo to Saipan, March 3, 1945,.
I am writing a history of LST 224 and would like to write a
chapter on this LCI and its crew. Please publish my letter. If
there are any crew members remaining I'd like to talk with them.
Write me, giving ship number and details. Thank you.
We were informed that none of the 16 Betty's survived the wall
of fire that greeted them that day. The Japanese pilots did sur­
vive and some of their less fortunate ones were picked up and
brought ashore between ships 23 and 24. This was the first time
we had seen the enemy alive.
Also, of interest, we were told that the bombs were "Daisy Cut­
ters" and detonated prior to striking their targets. This was said
to explain the reason for our casualties and the fist-size holes in
the port side of the engine room area.
Sincerely,
Carl V. Smith
1300 N. River Road, EIOI
Venice., FL 34293
9411493-7901
SeaBees arrived with cutting torches and arc welder in a
"Higgins" boat and proceeded to cut up the hatch to the aft troop
compartment. This was done to obtain steel plates for the patches
11 There is quite a personal story on this clipping. When I was
growing up, Billy was one of my mentors - one of my favorites.
He was one of the oldest boys in my Dad's Boy Scout troop. All
the way through Billy was an outstanding person and like an
older brother to me.
and made LCI 23 seaworthy again. I was assigned to work with
the SeaBees on this job.
Also, Rendova, contrary to the photo caption, lies in the Solomon
chain of islands about 100 miles NW of Guadalcanal and not in
New Guinea.
When I received the letter from my Dad with that clipping in it, I
was the PhM on the USS LCI(R) 765. We were working out of
Okinawa. At the time we were hauling supplies to the Destroy­
ers and Destroyer Escorts on the picket line just south of Japan.
They were the most exposed people in the world - trying to keep
the Japanese Navy and Air Force off our backs or at least let us
know when they were coming. Those boys really took a beating.
Despite having had his "Gyro Compass: knocked out, our Skip­
per found his way back to Tulagi after dark without incident.
Respectfully submitted
w. C. Stark, Sr
Palmyra WI
We picked up a full load of groceries, ammo and mail and headed
north from Kerama Rhetto. We had also received a bag of mail
for our crew. We had been underway for quite some time - al­
most off the southern end of Japan - when we finally got time to
distribute the mail to our crew. The first letter I opened was the
one from Dad with the news of Billy's death over the "Hump".
He was flying a C-47 - the old Goonie Bird work horse - from
India to China over the Himalayan Mountains. That is one of
the worst flight paths in the world - or at least it was for the old
low and slow Goonies. Today, at 35,000 feet in ajet at 600 mph,
no problem. Billy's wing man followed him down and there
were no parachutes! No one knows why they rode her down
instead of jumping. Either way, there was little hope of rescue
when you went down in that part of the world.
Russ Hayden, Venice, FL, wants to make sure he 50 listed on the
right ship - and that we keep him in the Navy instead ofshifting
him over to the Coast Guard..
... It appears that the December issue of Elsie Item has made a
typo error and placed me on the 83, a Coast Guard LCI. I would
very much appreciate it if a correction could be made in your
next issue so that I can possibly get in touch with some old ship­
mates from the LCI (G) 82.
Russ Hayden, SMlc, USS LCI(G) 82
And, finally, John L. Dobreff, LCI 493, of Westland MI, tele­
phoned to make a correction on the caption under the photo,
page 8, Issue 39 (December, 2001) showing the presentation of
the model to the Calvert Marine Museum, Solomons, MD. The
ship was incorrectly identified as the 493 and should have been
the 497.
I read that and sort of blew my stack, I guess. I had lost many
friends during the war, but this was too close to home. With the
letter in my hand I went storming up to the bridge, faced the
Captain, and demanded to be transferred immediately to a for­
ward area. Right then I would have taken on the whole Japa­
nese nation bare handed.
Anyway, the Captain looked at me with a stunned expression on
his face.
"Now it Can be Told" ­
LCI (R) 765 Takes on a Jap Destroyer Finally he said,
"A forward area? You want I should drop you off at the Emperor's
palace? We have nothing more "forward" than we are right now!
There is nothing between us and Japan except the Japanese Navy
- or what is left of it! You surely don't want to transfer to the Jap
Navy!"
This is truly one of the most intriguing stories of LCIs I have
ever come across. We are indebted again to Hank Henderson,
LCI(R) 765 for this story which,for obvious reasons, never found
its way into the official records.
He noticed the letter in my hand. He took the letter, read it,
handed it back to me and said,
Going through one ofmy albums, I came across an original news
paper clipping reporting the death of W. E. "Billy" Carroll in
March of 1945.
"I understand, Doc. We are there, so just hang tight."
12 That night four Jap destroyers tried to break through the picket
efit, or if it was just another of the wild crazy stunts that he man­
line. Our destroyers sunk three but the fourth got through. We
picked him up on radar coming right down our throat at a clos­
ing speed of almost forty knots. We had radar and they did not.
It was a pitch black night.
aged to pull off. Until he died last year he refused to discuss it
with me!
Some of the crew of the LCI(G) 450 asked about firing a broad­
side with our rockets. Their launchers were welded to the ramp
platforms and deck. Ours were the six shot variety, three over
We figured our skipper would order a 90 degree tum and get the
heck out of the way. Our little 153 foot landing craft with one
40 mm and four 20 mm guns would be no match for the
No way! Bruce (Bruce B. Swegle, LTJG, USNR, our "Old Man"
and three under on rails. Some way the crew managed to swing
them straight outboard in the broadside position and lock them
in position with zero elevation. But no one would ever admit to
it and the incident was not mentioned again for forty years. The
and all of 26 years old) ordered us to load our rocket launchers
statute of limitations had run out by then!
destroyer's five inch guns.
and he held course.
When we fired the rockets in the normal position - straight ahead
at about 45 degrees elevation for the maximum 4,000 or so yard
range, the rocket motor scorched the paint on the freeboard of
As we skinned along side of the destroyer out of the dark, maybe
two hundred yards or less from them, we gave them a broadside
point blank barrage of 18 five inch concussion rockets. Did a
fast 180 and let loose with 18 more, then headed off into the
dark night. The last we saw of the Jap he was limping slowly
the ship. After those two broadsides the crew spent all of their
spare time for the next couple of days replacing the scorched
paint on the deck and sides of the deck house.
north toward home with his topsides almost cleaned off.
They were not really designed to operate that way, but during
Without the element ofsurprise and the luck of a very dark night
we would have been history long before we got within range.
Did Bruce, or any of us, know for sure that the Jap had no radar?
No way. But Bruce was the meanest, craziest, and most lucky
LTJG, USNR, in the Navy. Commander Coffin told me some
40 years later that was why he usually gave us such crazy as­
WWII lots of things were modified to do whatever job was re­
quired. The original rockets fired by LCIs so the story goes ­
came from a Marine mortar squad being carried to a beach head
by an LCI. They came under heavy fire from the shore. The
Marines set up their mortars on the deck and peppered the shore,
thus suppressing the shore batteries. The crew of the LCI man­
signments - and Clarence Coffin, Commander, USN, retired as
Rear Admiral, was one heck of a Navy Commander. He was
perhaps the Navy version of Marine Corps legend General
"Chesty" Puller. I had the good (or bad) fortune to serve under
both men - and Chesty in two wars. He was my CO again dur­
ing the Korean thing [Perhaps that is one of the reasons that I am
aged to draw some "midnight arms" - i.e. Marine mortars and
ammo, welded the mortars to the deck, and the LCI(R) was bom.
still alive - with Commanders like those two]
The battle between the LCI(R) 765 and a Japanese Destroyer is
one ofthe unrecorded stories ofWWII, except that I think it is in
my book, No Flagfor my Coffin.
Maybe some of you can come up with a different story for the
LCI(R) modification, but I have that from some of the guys who
were there on that first occasion.
The Captain ordered the Quartermaster to make no entry in the
log. He said that ifhe logged that we had attacked and beaten a
Jap destroyer, Commander Coffin (LCI Flotilla 16 Commander)
would send him home in a straightjacket. Later Clarence Cof­
-Hank Henderson
fin did send Bruce home almost in a straight jacket but pro­
tected by a Bronze Star. That got him a slot as the Executive
Office on a cruiser for the Korean thing - six months of bom­
barding the heck out of Korea.
LeI Model to be Presented to USS New Jersey After the action was over, Bruce called me up to the bridge an
asked,
Sam Rizzo, Chairman of Model Placements, has an­
nounced that a model of an LCI will be presented to the
USS New Jersey for display at her moorings across from
New York City. Arrangements have been made through
Dave Dorflinger, LeI 355, a resident of Berlin, NJ.
"Doc, do you feel better now?"
"Yes sir. Thank you, Captain!"
Plans for the presentation will be announced in a future
issue of The Elsie Item.
Since that night I have many times wondered if he made the
crazy impossible decision to attack that destroyer for my ben­
13 Fog
the pilot house; and two men at the engines - only seven men to
run the ship.
by Ralph Langenheim, LCI(L) 551, Urbana, IL.
We were so naive that it fell to me, a newly-graduated 21-year­
old, geology student, to suggest that, since we were in the En­
glish Channel with the Germans on the other side; who knew
Ralph, a Professor at the University ofIllinois with aspirations
toward creative writing, shares with us his experiences in the
English Channel as his LCI prepared for the Normandy Inva­
sion.
what we might meet and, perhaps, we should man a gun. So,
two men were sent to man number one gun on the bow. This
really was a pro forma move as our dinky little 20 mm machine
gun, manned by beginners, hardly could have done much had
we been attacked by veteran fighters in German planes, "E" boats
T. S. Eliot was right when he called April "the cruelest month."
We couldn't stop to see the "darling green buds forcing their
way out of their frozen cocoon." Instead, chilled to the bone by
a stiff breeze somewhere in the 40's we stood shivering on the
grey steel deck of our Landing Craft Infantry in dank, dingy,
(motor torpedo boats) or a submarine. It was then that it hit me;
we were truly at war.
embattled Falmouth Harbor, waiting to flow out in formation
against Hitler's glowering Atlantic Wall. Some may have ap­
preciated Pendennis Castle as an historic and literary monument
guarding the harbor entrance, but most of us were vaguely de­
Fog began settling around us shortly after we cleared the harbor
at 1230. A halfhour later, 13000, you could see only about 100
to 200 yards. We were befogged - another first time experience
- and it got worse. Soon we could see nothing, not the ship
ahead, not the ship behind, not the coast-line to port, nor any­
thing out to sea to starboard. We were alone and enveloped on a
pressed by the cold, the clouds, the worn grimy buildings, and
the strange lower class accents, the shabby and unhappy look of
the populace and the terminal body odor of the English.
gently heaving cold grey sea. Lacking PPI (Plan Position Indi­
cator) radar, the kind familiar to anybody who has watched "war"
Our officers and men had learned the rudiments of LCI opera­
tions at the Amphibious Training Base at Solomons, Maryland.
movies wherein a rotating ray oflight illuminates objects around
the ship, we resorted to the old-fashioned fog buoy to keep our
position in our column of ships.
We raised the flag and commissioned our newly-launched 155
foot long, flat-bottomed ship in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Af­
ter loading stores at Pier 45 in New York we then took a "shake
down" voyage down to Chesapeake Bay and Solomons. For
A fog buoy is a wooden spar fitted with a scoop that throws up a
jet of water as it is towed through the water. Each ship in the
column towed one of these on a line as long as the prescribed
interval between ships. Thus, each watch officer had to adjust
his ship's speed to keep that splashing buoy just ahead of his
ship's bow. In this way, the whole column was strung along like
more than one of our crew this was their first experience at sea;
they had better luck concealing their fears than in hiding their
"first time at sea" sea sickness. More training exercises, land­
ings, gunnery, maneuvering in formation, and just generally sail­
ing the ship followed. Then training ended and we set sail across
the Atlantic. Finally, glad to be in safe harbor after nineteen
days voyaging across the Atlantic, we had unloaded our deck
cargo oftwo spare engines, refueled, took on water and supplies
a string of beads. Every ship was dependent upon keeping that
buoy in sight, and, for that matter, was dependent upon all of the
ships ahead doing the same. Presumably the ship leading the
column knew where it was going; perhaps they had radar. As it
was, we were totally dependent upon eyes, ears, fog buoys and
and became part of the great invasion fleet destined to crash
through Hitler's Atlantic Wall.
prudent seamanship - the latter unlikely to be in strong supply
amongst a group of beginners.
At 0843, April 23, 1943, with orders in hand to proceed up the
channel to Dartmouth, LCI(L) 551 began "facing up" to hot com­
All went well - for a while - as we eased along; continuously
hearing the familiar sounds of our own and our convoy fellow's
bat. Setting special sea detail, we started the engines, cast off
from our mooring buoy, got underway and sailed out through
the submarine nets guarding Falmouth Harbor. At 0917 wejoined
fog horns. Occasionally other, generally deeper pitched signals,
emanating from other, probably larger, ships, navigational buoys,
a column of our sister ships, behind USS LCI(L) 526 and, ac­
companied by a small escort, started out. Shortly after the an­
chor was housed, Captain Fred Carideo, our 32 year old ex-Notre
Dame footballer, secured the special sea detail and set the regu­
or light houses, chimed in. As long as they remained distant
there was no alarm. The sea was calm, there was little wind, and
with the muffling effect of the fog, the effect was other-worldly.
lar underway watch - watch officer, signalman, and a messen­
ger on the bridge; helmsman and engine telegraph operator in
Then Alarm!, deep-toned bellowing close by and in a variety of
different, distinct tones. We were approaching, or being ap­
proached by, a sizeable group of apparently larger ships; maybe
14 in fact, being "run over" by another convoy. We couldn't see
them. Could they see us? Probably not if they were merchant
ships because these rarely were equipped with PPI radar. Escort
vessels, of course, had radar and could "see" everybody, but had
limited ability to communicate with the rest of us. Our LCls
had not been ordered to keep a radio watch. We sort of felt like
blind mice running around in an elephant cage. Our quiet ride
in the fog lost its charm.
had not run aground or hit a rock. Smooth, unblemished water
extended to the horizon; ahead, astern and out to sea to star­
board. The sun was shining, the water gleamed slightly blue,
the hills ashore were green. To our amazement, finally we had
found Spring in Britain. Fortunately there were no E- boats out
there, but, also, there was nobody else. No planes in the sky, no
ships on the sea; we were just one little ship astray on the edge
of the war with five puny 20 mm guns manned by greenhorns to
defend herself. Even so, spirits rose.
At 1430, after two hours in the fog, a minesweeper, presumably
British, as they had control in the channel, passed us close abeam
to port streaming paravanes. Their starboard paravane cleared
us by less than 10 feet; not very comforting, especially as we
never saw the minesweeper. Obviously this guy was clearing
the way for some really good-sized ships deserving of protec­
tion. A half-hour later we were overtaken and passed close abeam
to starboard, by an American merchant ship. Suddenly a high
wall of grey steel plates loomed close alongside. That ship's rail
and upper works were invisible in the mist, as were its bow and
stem. Don Buswell, our Executive Officer, another ninety-day
wonder fresh out of Brigham Young University, remembers hear­
ing American-accented voices above him before he could see
the ship. He also remembers that ship bumping our side. I do
not remember the bump, but I do remember looking up that cliff
of steel almost at arm's length. Up there a couple of guys were
looking down, but you couldn't see the expression on their faces.
Fortunately there was no damage, just terror. As quickly and
silently, excepting for the fog horn, the big merchantman glided
ahead and vanished.
Fortunately our British Admiralty Charts showed not only the
coastline, lighthouses and buoys, but included profile sketches
ofthe land as seen from the sea, complete with detailed sketches
of notable structures and prominent topographic features. Hav­
ing just finished a geology course in which I made topographic
maps and interpreted them, I pretty quickly identified landmarks
and hills ashore and plotted our position. I triumphantly re­
ported this to our Captain, Fred Carideo, and anybody else who
couldn't escape me; but none of them were willing to trust my
story or had confidence in their own ability to "read" those
sketches. Thus, when we finally encountered a fishing boat at
work we pulled over like the stereotypical "woman driver" and
askcd thcm where we were. Humiliating, and probably the
source of yet another British tale of how the U. S. Navy was
composed of a bunch of clowns. For the record, those fisher­
men confirmed my reading of our position and we successfully
sailed on alone to Dartmouth. The rest of the convoy dribbled in
by bits and pieces thus ending the first of several convoy de­
bacles that enlivened our ship's career.
Shortly thereafter, the fog buoy we were following also vanished,
cutting our tenuous contact with the rest of our convoy and our
"seeing eye" escort. Afterwards the ship ahead told us that a
merchantman had passed behind them and clipped off their fog
buoy. We didn't even see that ship! We were on our own, lost in
a fog shrouded packet a few hundred yards in diameter and feel­
ing mighty insecure. AT 1716 three freighters passed us going in
the opposite direction about 75 yards to port. This didn't help
our state of mind very much as now we knew that there was
heavy traffic both coming and going - all of it invisible.
R. L. Langenheim, Jr
LCI(L)551
Based on the memories of D. A. Buswell, John Cox, Vincent
McLees and on the ship:~ log.
Northwest LClers to Meet; USS LCI(L)
713 Sails Again!
Plans have just been announced for a meeting of the
Northwest LCI Association in Vancouver, WA,
September 10-12,2002. Walt James is bringing the 713 to
this meeting and LClers and their guests will be able to
board her. Walt will speak about the restoration at the
banquet. All LCIers and their guests are welcome but
registrations must be made at once. For registration
materials and further information, contact:
The fog began dissipating at 1900 and we heard a plane pass
overhead at 1933. Since we could neither see it or identify it,
we sounded general quarters and manned our guns. Nothing
happened so we secured at 1952; returning to our regular watch
assignments. During all of this we kept groping blindly up the
channel. We escaped collision, but, eventually, when the fog
cleared we found ourselves alone There was not a ship in sight,
neither from our convoy nor anybody else. We could see the
south coast of Britain a few miles away to port - fortunately we
Rod Scurlock
4445 Mustang Drive
Boise, Idaho 83709 (Ph. 208/362-4447)
15 Can You Top this ­
for BRASS?
The following morning, at 0620, Colonel Woods, U. S. Army, Commander, 117'h Infantry, 29th Infantry Division came aboard. But that was only the preliminaries! At 0648 we welcomed: Lieutenant General Omar N. Bradley, Commander, I SI Army
Lieutenant General Cortney Hodges, Deputy Commander, 15\
Army
Major General R. O. Barton, Commanding General, 4th Division
Lieutenant General H. Lumader, British Army, identified in the
log as "Liaison Staff to General MacArthur"
Lieutenant General DeGmngand, British Army, Chief of Staff,
21 sl British Army Group
and
From the Editor:
I'm going to challenge all you LCIers out there with this asser­
tion::
Brigadier General [initials illegible] Belchem, British Army, BGS
Plans, 21 sl Army Group.
Can you top this?
At no time during WWII were there more top brass aboard one
LCIthan on board the USS LCI(L) 502 on March 1O-1l, 1944
Any takers? Anthony Pelle, of LCI(L) 495 might well want to challenge that (see Letters to the Editor) and he will certainly get bonus points for having General Eisenhower aboard, but let me give you my list and you can be the judge. My reference for this is the log of the 502 for the dates of this event. The stars fell on the 502 on March 10-11, 1944. The occasion was a practice landing exercise in Start Bay, De­
von, England in preparation for D-Day. The LCI 502 was, for some reason, selected to be an observation ship, carrying the brass who needed to see up close what was happening. When we heard who was coming, we tried to fi!:,'1lre out many side boys would be needed, where in the heck we could put them and, most impor­
tantly, who could blow a bosn's pipe! Fortunately the order came that "no honors will be rendered" which relieved us all - espe­
cially Walt Sellers, our Bos'n. Logistics that day were something else! I wish I had saved it as a
souvenir, but one of the things I remember was a sign posted on
the officer's head reading:
"This head is for the use of officers of the rank of Colonel or
above"
One of our brash young seamen had the gall to yell "Gangway,
ship's company" at a bunch of the star-wearers on the gun deck!
And my greatest moment came when General Bradley passed the
number two 20mm where I was on duty. He paused, looked at
the gun and said,
"That's the Mark 14 gunsight, isn't it?"
"Yessir", I quickly responded.
And that was the conversation that undoubtedly changed the course
of the whole war!
So here's the list: At 2130, 10 March 44, a Major General W. O. Butler, USAAF came aboard with his aide. At 2145 Rear Admiral D. P. Moon, USN, Task Force Commander, and Rear Admiral J. Wilkes, USN, Commander 11th Amphibious Force came aboard with a bunch of Captains, Majors and Lieu­
tenants as aides. 16 one time and he asked many questions about Chicago and we
could not answer any of them! They informed me that I even
looked like a German and I told them that I was one-half Ger­
man since my mother emigrated through Ellis Island just prior to
World War One.
Elmer Carmichael: German Paratrooper or LCIer? Here s a great story for you from our good friend Elmer
Carmichael, LCI85, now living in Crescent, Oklahoma.
After some time, I insisted that we be allowed to call the Shore
Patrol in Plymouth and they sent a jeep to pick us up around
midnight. The Shore Patrol had to sign for us and they took us
back to Plymouth where the Officer of the Day greeted us with.
You'd think those British Police would have more respect for a
combat vet who has just lost his ship!
"Out ofthe Fire and Into the Frying Pan - A True Story"
"You damn guys knew that you were not to leave the Plymouth
Area"
On D-Day in Normandy our ship was attempting to land over
200 American troops on bloody Omaha Beach when our ship
was shelled, caught on fire and sank. Several days after, all of
our surviving crew members, not wounded, were sent to a
survivor's camp in Plymouth, England. Due to the fact that we
lost everything except what we were wearing on D-Day, we were
issued a Red Cross Survivor's Kit which consisted of sneakers,
pin-striped trousers, slip-over sweaters. Then each of us were
issued battle jackets by the British Army. Our only identifica­
tion was our dog tags which we wore on a chain around our necks.
And my reply was,
"Aye, Aye, Sir"
I could not think of a single valid excuse to tel1 him.
We were allowed to go into the City of Plymouth; however, we
were warned that, due to our odd mixture of clothing, we were
not to leave the city as the Shore Patrol and Military Police would
not know who we were.
Book Review
Mighty Midgets at War; The Saga of the LCS(L)
Ships irom Iwo Jima to Vietnam
One of my shipmates had a girl friend who was stationed on a
farm some 65 miles from Plymouth and he told me that there
was a second girl also stationed at the same farm and that she
was very attractive. England drafted women into the Land Army
during World War II to do the farming since most of the men
were in the service. Since at that time I was young and single, it
was not too difficult for him to convince me to go with him to
visit these two English girls.
by Robin L. Reiley Hel1gate Press, P.O. Box 3727, Central Point, OR 07502-0032
ISBN 1-55571-5222-2
Paperback, $18.95
Reviewed by Ralph Langenheim, LCI(L) 551, Urbana,IL
We rode a bus as far as we could, then we caught rides with
civilians the rest ofthe way to the farm. Just after it got dark, the
two girls, the woman who owned the farm, and my shipmate and
I were at the table eating supper when suddenly many spotlights
shown on the farm house and several English Bobbies (Police)
came to the door.
Reilly's comprehensive account of LCI(L) 3's should interest
LCI veterans. LCS(L) 3's evolved from LCI(L)s, supplement­
ing and replacing LCI(G)'s, LCI(R)'s and LCI(M)'s which were
LCI(L) conversions designed for close-in fire support.
Though LCS(L)'s had the same hull, quad drive propulsion, fa­
miliar round conn, and stern anchor/winch as conventional LCI
types, these babies carried about three times as many crewmen
and packed a much more potent armament. Their main battery,
either a 3"/50, twin mount 40mm, or single mount 40mm gun,
was supplemented with a diverse array of 20mm, .50 caliber,
and .30 caliber machine guns plus rockets. Their function was
The police informed us that there had been reports of German
Paratroopers being in the area and, of course, they thought that
we were the German Paratroopers. We could not produce identi­
fication, so the police proceeded to take us to the local police
station where we underwent a very serious interrogation by the
English Bobbies. One of the Bobbies had lived in Chicago at
17 Adntiral Sabin's Seasickness Story Gets to Hank Henderson's Wife! to deliver a massive barrage on the beach and immediately in­
land about five minutes before the troops actually waded ashore
and, also, to supply fire support close in for as long as the troops
were on or near the beach.
Way up north - as far north as you can get in Minnesota - sits
Warroad, MN, on the shores ofLake ofthe Woods. It s the home
ofa great story-teller, Hank Henderson, ofLCI (R) 765. lfyou're
on the internet you just have to hook up with his great stories on
Hank shared with me the following:
Those of us who did our LCI sailing in the Atlantic may never
have heard ofLCS(L)'s as they only saw service late in the Pa­
cific war. The first of the 130 ships in the class, LCS(L) I, was
commissioned in June, 1944, and the last commissioned in
March,1945.
by Hank Henderson
Reiley begins with an extensive account ofwhy, where and how
LCS(L)'s were invented, constructed, manned and placed in ser­
vice. Those ofyou who trained at Solomons will enjoy his frank
stories about the place and its "notorious" commanding officer
who, by the way, went on to command LCS Flotilla 4 in his
same inimitable style. Appropriately, most ofthe book reviews
the combat history of the LCS(L)'s in the Philippines, Borneo,
Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Viet Nam.
I received the December Elsie Item in the mail today and, of
course, started reading it immediately. My wife, Virginia, was
across the office at her desk trying to "fix" her desk lamp. (It
took a second trip to the hardware store and about two hours to
get the job done)
Now, Virginia has heard much about LCIs as she was the main
instrument in locating almost all ofthe LCI(R) 765 crew in 1983
and inviting them to Warroad for their first ever reunion and to
celebrate the 40th anniversary of commissioning. She has at­
tended every reunion of the 765 since that first one in June of
1984 and has done much to help keep the crew in contact. This
past fall she and I made the reunion ofVaughn Hampton's LCI(G)
450. She also lived through scrounging for data for the two
volumes of LCI history.
Ship's action reports, other original documents, and eye witness
accounts supply the information. The last part of the text tells
the post-war story of LCS(L)'s serving in the French, Taiwan­
ese, Japanese, Viet Namese, Philippine, Italian, Greek, Korean
and Thai Navies and the Ryukyuan Coast Guard. One ship re­
mained in service in the Thai Navy at the time the book was
written; the fates of each of the others; lost in action, wrecked,
sunk as gunfire targets, blown up at Eniwetok, cannibalized for
parts, or scrapped,; are listed in the appendix, Nine ships were
sent to the French in Indo China and fought in the Red River
and Mekong deltas until South Vietnam collapsed. Then sev­
eral of them escaped to the Philippines.
Virginia edited and has read my book No Flag for My Coffin
which in its 554 pages includes a two year cruise on the 765. I
assumed that she had heard all ofthe BS possible about the ELSIE
ITEMS.
Deck logs from all 130 ships commissioned, numerous action
reports, interviews with nine veterans, many letters and mem­
oirs, five unpublished ship's histories and numerous published
works supplied information for the book.
However - that was not the case. As I read Admiral Sabin's
account ofhis first trip across the Atlantic Ocean on his flagship
LCI, I just had to read aloud for Ginny's benefit and to relieve
her stress of trying to repair her lamp.
LCI Association members will enjoy the many sea stories and
the new perspective on actions involving LCIs of diverse types.
The comprehensive review of action reports, though more de­
tailed and repetitive than most of us will appreciate, nonethe­
less is a valuable historic compilation. I was especially inter­
ested in the extensive reports describing combat on the Radar
Picket Stations during the Kamikaze attacks at Okinawa.
As I neared the end she more or less exploded with,
"I have enough stress with this damn lamp. Listening to that
Admiral's story I am just about to throw up. I don't need to hear
about people being sea sick all over the deck!"
Now this is from a gal whose best friends are wives ofLCI sail­
ors and who has been listening to and reading LCI sea stories of
battles, typhoons, Chinese fiascos, ad nauseam. She also holds
a Coast Guard Master Mariners license and has spent many
months on both sail and power commercial vessels as Officer in
Command and has ridden out her share of vicious sea storms.
18 around. Of course -after nearly two years aboard I hardly ever
noticed motion unless we were almost tumbling or if coming off
a swell she tried to knock me to my knees.
She has never known the feeling of mal de mer. In addition my
son and I have put an airplane through its paces with Virginia
sitting in the back seat (The baddest place in the world to be
during acrobatic exercises) and not a whimper - - but as I read
Admiral Sabin's very graphic account ofvomit all over the decks
for weeks at a time she started turning green and was ready to
At that though I looked around and did notice that she had some
slight roll (Like maybe only 20 degrees) plus a couple of other
weird motions.
throw me out of the office.
If an LCI story by an Admiral can make my sea going wife sick
- and an LCI at anchor can make my Dad sick for the only time
in his life - I have to agree with Dad's question that long ago day
off Saipan - "I don't see how you fellows live on this boat!"
I will have to admit that the Admiral painted one heck of a true
picture oflife aboard our little "Spitkits" as he called them. And
that reminds me of another "green around the gills" LCI tale.
Semper Fi!
At the end of the war I briefly ran into my father (an Army Lieu­
tenant) at Saipan. Dad was the Army cargo security officer on a
Liberty ship at war's end and his ship was anchored in the la­
goon at Saipan until the government could decide what to do
with the cargo. The USS LCI(R) 765 was en route to San Diego
from Chingwangtao, China. We spent Christmas, 1945, at an­
(Editor s note - Hank was a Pharmacist s Mate who also served
with the Marines)
Get Your Military Service Records, Military Medical Records, Military Medals and/or Awards chor in the Saipan lagoon.
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
(FAQ)
Now Dad had crossed the Atlantic twice in World War I on troop
transports. He had spent a lot of time in the Gulf of Mexico on
deep sea fishing vessels, and he had made a couple of transits of
the mighty Pacific on freighters loaded with combat gear. Here
he was at Saipan visiting on the USS SNAFU - a.k.a. LCI(R)
765. We were on the gun deck behind the conning tower when
the Skipper came out and invited the Army Lieutenant to come
to the Ward Room and have lunch with him.
Visit one of the listed sites and request your military service
records, military medical records, and any military medals
andJor awards to which you are entitled. Download the form
and complete all questions. Do not leave any lines blank if
possible.
All forms are in PDF format. You will use *Adobe
Acrobat Reader to read and print these files. If this program
is not on your computer, you may download it without charge
from http://www.adobe.com
Now I figured Dad would be happy to accept the invitation and
learn what an LCI officer's mess was like.
Mail the form to the address on the form and be prepared to
wait. This work is done by hand and has taken as long as
one year. The sooner your request is mailed, the sooner
your information will be retrieved and received by you.
Thanks, but no thanks!
"I think I will just stay up herc on deck and take in the fresh air"
This surprised me - but when I looked at Dad he was - for the
first time in his life - getting green around the gills!
NARA'S Military Personnel Records Military Medals and
Awards:
http://www.mara.gov/regionaUmpawr.html
First amazement - then honest concern.
NARA"S Regional Records Services Facilities: http://www. mara. gov/regional/mpr.html "Dad - are you all right?"
Form SF-ISO can be downloaded at the following locations: "I will be when I get ashore. I don't see how you guys manage
to live on this thing. I have never been the least bit queasy at sea
in my life - and I am sea sick on a ship lying at anchor!"
SF-ISO Request Pertaining to Military Records - DVA http://www.nara.gov/formslbenbfitslhtm Now, note that we were lying at anchor in the anchorage off
Saipan in a lagoon. There was a slight sea swell rolling into the
lagoon but so slight that I had not even noticed the ship moving
Forms used by VBA (Veterans Benefits Administration) http://www.vba.va.gov/pubs/formsl.htm GOOD LUCK! JIM TALBERT 19 For the Record: LeIs Sunk or Damaged on D-Day, June 6, 1944 Don Hawley and the Uniform of the Day! From the Editor:
From the Naval Historical Center Website
(www.history.navy.millfagsjag109-4.htm) , I obtained a
copyofCTF 122IL11, United States Fleet TaskForce One
Two Two, dated 17 June 1944, listing sunk and damaged
ships and craft "on the far shore" The report is over the
signature ofAdmiral A. G. Kirk.
Thinking it might be of interest to LCI National
Association members, I give you here the list ofLCIs in
this report.
One note which mightforestall some argument: Afootnote
indicates that the list ofoperational losses in Normandy
was prepared prior to the strong storm which struck the
invasion beaches at midnight of18-19 June and abated 22
June. There were many more losses, particularly ofsmall
craft, as a result ofthis storm.
LCI
Status
83
Damaged
85
Lost
87
Damaged
88
Lost
91
Lost
92
Lost
93
Lost
209
Damaged
212
Damaged
219
Lost
232
Lost
416
Lost
497
Damaged
553
Lost
Nope, we weren't Battleship Sailors!
(Editor:~ Note: This "letter to the editor" had such a great pic­
ture enclosed that llelt it deserved space as a separate article.
You can use this one to show your grandkids what we really
looked like in the Pacific!
By Don Hawley, QM2C, USS LCI (G) 66
Gladstone, Oregon
The Editor asked for individual pictures, so I am enclosing one
showing me as an intrepid sailor aboard the LCI(G) 66. I was
Quartermaster, Second Class, so was on the helm in critical situ­
ations - such as bringing the 66 down the Mindanao River in
the Philippines, and skirting the mine-swept area during the in­
vasion of Balikpapan, Borneo.
During ordinary skirmishes I was gunner on a 20 mm as pic­
tured here. I am wearing our normal uniform, consisting of cut
off dungarees and cut-down boots - period. Well, occasionally
we wore under shorts.
My brush cut isn't visible, nor is the star earring in my right ear
- we didn't know back then which side it should be on! You can
see my Fu Manchu mustache, and just barely visible is the an­
chor tattoo on my left shoulder. Obviously, this beats the uni­
form of the day formality of a battlewagon!
Just behind my head is the edge of our 3-inch gun tub, and be­
hind me is the only black man aboard. Although he was a big
cut above many of the crew members that came to us right out
of the brig, the only thing he was allowed to do was to serve the
officers. And he had to live by himself down in an empty troop
hold. Talk about the Dark Ages!
20 Our diet dictated the flat belly, now a distant memory. We were
never located where we could order up good supplies, so largely
lived on fresh whole wheat bread and peanut butter - fortunately
a very nutritional combination. Occasionally I would get on the
signal light and beg larger ships for a few goodies.
The Greatest Battle that Never Was; The Typhoon and the Kamikaze The recent Christmas season reminded me of a very unhappy
December at Espiritu Santo. A few of us were called in and told
we had just become part ofsomething called "amphibious." Our
present was a complete Marine outfitting, minus the dress uni­
form, but including rifle and bayonet. That was not what I had
joined the Navy for!
by Dr. Paul Nielsen
[Editor s Note: The following article was submitted by
Glen M Majors, CmoMM. USS LCI(M) 362, now a resident of
resident ofNorthern California. Glen has received Dr. Nielsen s
permission to re-print the article and we do so because we feel it
will be ofreal interest to LCIers who were in the Pacific.
I had trouble enough carrying a full sea bag, without adding a
whole Marine pack. Although I had been in the South Pacific
only a short time, I'd already figured out that no one knew what
they were doing. While traveling up the slot aboard a supply
ship, I gave away everything but the rifle. Of course, no one
ever questioned me about the missing material.
During WWII. Dr. Nielsen, after serving as a Chief Petty Of
fleer, was promoted to the rank ofLieutenant and served aboard
an LCM during the Normandy Invasion. Following that he served
in staffpositions in the Pacific Area during the occupation. In
civilian life he taught school in Montana, Colorado, Washing­
ton and California, retiring as Superintendent ofSouth San Fran­
cisco Public Schools.
After the invasion force was ashore at Borneo, our ship was sent
on a nightly special mission that made it eertain that eventually
we would hit a mine. When it happened, everything aboard was
knocked out of commission and our pumps couldn't keep ahead
of the flooding. We would have sunk had not a "Queen Mary"
come alongside to add their pumps. If they had minded their
own business, we might have been sent to Hawaii for reassign­
ment!
Glen tracked down D/: Nielsen in 1998 while attending the 5(Jh
reunion ofhis class at the University ofMichigan.
The name Kamikaze will never leave us. There is too much
coincidence that for some reason has gone unnoticed. Now we
are at war again, but 55 years ago we came very close to an
Armageddon. Perhaps the word is even too mild. Had events
gone ahead as planned, it would have been the greatest disaster
in American history.
After emergency repairs we were towed to Hollandia, New
Guinea, where we were being refitted for the invasion of Japan
when the atomic bomb was dropped. If you care for your life,
don't get in my face about how barbaric it was for the U. S. to
drop those bombs that stopped the war.
In June 1945 the battle of Okinawa had been wrapped up.
110,000 Japanese lay dead in Okinawa defending the last bas­
tion before the home islands 400 miles away. 12,000 Americans
had also met death in the battle that was to secure the main base
for the last battle for the home islands. Now, in the summer of
1945, the task of invading and conquering the home islands lay
before the American Armed Forces.
LeI Model to be Presented to WestPoint Museum Six and a half centuries before, in 1281 A.D., the Emperor Kublai
Khan had attempted to invade and conquer Japan. The Chinese
had put together a huge invasion force of 3,500 ships and more
than 100,000 soldiers. In addition, 900 ships containing 42,000
Mongol fighters were sailing from ports in Korea. The Mongol
force landed with superior numbers and equipment, but were
met at the beaches and fought for days before a smaller Japa­
nese force prevailed and the Chinese were forced to retreat to
their ships in Hagata Bay. The Mongol fleet sailed out to sea
where they joined the main force of the second fleet coming
from China in preparation for the second assault on the main­
land of Kyushu. During the summer of 1281, there were
Through the negotiations of Leroy Langer, LCI7 41,
of New Windsor, NY, approval has been granted for
the presentation of an LCI Model to the Museum at
the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, NY. At
their suggestion, it will be an LCI that was involved
in the landings of one of the American Beaches at
Normandy. Tentative plans have been made to
select USS LCI(L)553 which was lost to enemy
action on that occasion.
Watch for future announcement of
plans for this Presentation!
21 elaborate Shinto ceremonies all over Japan praying for divine
intervention and the defeat of these Mongol hordes that were
sailing off their shores. Millions of Japanese voices called upon
gods to save them.
were stationed at Okinawa in early October. The sea was grow­
ing into a stormy situation. In a few days, a typhoon came through
the Saipan area and into the Philippine Sea. By the morning of
the 8th of October, the waves were 60 feet high and winds of 80
miles per hour were coming north. It came so suddenly that
ships did not have enough warning to get underway and out to
sea. Twenty hours of torrential downpour wiped out the roads,
tore down the tent cities of the 150,000 troops stationed there.
The storm went out to sea, but came back. Aircraft were picked
up by the wind and catapulted into the air and demolished. When
the storm finally subsided countless aircraft had been destroyed.
There was no power. Rations had been completely lost and
emergency rations had to be flown in. Buckner Bay was use­
less. There were many bodies in the surf. Two hundred seventy
ships were sunk, grounded or damaged. Many were beyond
repair. Fifty three ships were in such bad shape that they had to
be decommissioned and abandoned. Ninety ships were in need
of major repairs, but the Navy decided only ten were worthy of
repair and scrapped the remaining eighty. Hundreds of Ameri­
cans were killed or injured. Okinawa, the island which was to
serve as the center of Operation Downfall, was in chaos.
Like a miracle ofold, a Kamikazi, or powerful divine wind, came
up the coast and struck the invasion fleet with such force that the
Mongol fleet was devastated. After the typhoon had passed,
4,000 invasion ships had been lost and over 100,000 people were
casualties.
The Japanese now held a nation-wide celebration in thankful­
ness for the Kamakazi that they now believed would forever
protect them. Now, in 1945, the question in the minds of the
Japanese was whether another divine wind would again save
them from invasion of the hated enemy.
The American plan was named Operation Downfall and it was
to come in two segments. One segment was named Operation
Olympic and the other was dubbed Operation Coronet.
In all, Operation Downfall was to include 14 combat divisions.
The 550,000 man force was to be brought to Kyushu in 3,000
ships including 66 carriers and 2,600 combat planes and craft of
every size necessary to invade. The Third Fleet ofAdmiral "Bull"
Halsey was to stand in the way ofreinforcements from the south.
The island of Okinawa was the giant aircraft carrier with 4,000
Army, Navy, and Marine aircraft to support the landing forces.
The coincidence ofthe storm and the invasion of Honshu seems
to have been forgotten and few paid attention to the events in the
Pacific. World War Two was over and some members of the
armed forces has already been discharged.
The atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Au­
gust 6th and 9th had resulted in surrender and a negotiated peace
that ended the war on September 2, 1945, on the Battleship USS
Missouri. Those bombs had, beyond a doubt, prevented the worst
defeat of the American armed forces in history. For the Japa­
nese, the Divine Wind came too late, but the idea of Japanese
preservation from invasion remains forever.
Operation Olympic was scheduled to proceed in October of 1945
to assault the beaches of southern Honshu with the Sixth Army
spearheading the landings. The force consisted of II Army and
3 Marine combat divisions. Rubber mats, complete with color
and with contoured relief 4 feet by 6 feet showing all the cliffs
and beaches were in the hands ofthe commanders. The Koshiki
islands of Tenega, Make, Take and 10, off the southern coast of
Kyushu were to be taken on October 27. The Alamo Scouts
were scheduled to land prior to the invasion and reconnoiter the
beaches and possibly capture prisoners for interrogation. The
task seemed monstrous and the Alamo Scouts were "all scared
to death".
The "Divine Wind" Typhoon that came through the area which
was to be the place of the final battle saved an estimated mil­
lions of lives as both the anned forces of Japan and the United
States plus millions ofJapanese civilians were scheduled to meet
in the greatest battle that fortunately did not happen.
California LCIers to Meet in Eureka, June 5 - 8, 2002 The 2nd , 3rd and 5th Marine divisions were to invade Kushikino
and split into two segments. At the same time the 25'\ 33 rd , and
41 st infantry divisions would land on the southeast coast and
capture Miyasaki and its airfield. Three days later the 71 st, 77'11,
and 98'h infantry divisions would assault the southern coast. The
11 th Airborne Division was to stand in reserve, and, ifnot needed,
would link up with the Marines at Kagoshima.
Plans have just been announced for the California LClers
to meet in Eureka, CA June 5 - 8,2002. Highlight of the
meetings will be the opportunity to visit LCI 1091, which
owner/skipper Doc Davis will bring to the meeting.
For further information and registration materials,
contact
Operation Coronet
Jim McCarthy 349 Idlewild Lane Oceanside, CA 92054 Telephone: 760/439-5418 The ships and landing craft that were to be part of the operation
22 the sea took on the characteristics of a human being and seemed
angry at all mankind. Perhaps this in a way made it seem more
frightening. To add to the genera) discomfort, the wind brought
with it sheets upon sheets of biting rain; rain that cut like so
many pebbles.
Pete Gagliardi Experiences the Great Typhoon [Editor s Note: Almost immediately after surviving the great ty­
phoon of October, 1945, Pete Gagliardi, Electrician:~ Mate,
and Radioman Jim Webster, of uss LCI (L) 617, sat down to­
gether and composed the following account ofthose experiences.
Recently, Pete dug it out ofhis files, re-typed it and sent it in to
share with other LCIers.
When I came up for watch at midnight, I nearly fainted. They
told me that it was raging outside and that we were caught in the
midst of a storm but I was prepared for nothing like this. The
waves were like thirty to forty feet high; the winds were blow­
ing at a force of about fifty knots, and the rain and salt spray
breaking over the ship in thick sheets. To say that you would
see nothing would be exaggerating. We would go over the top
of a large wave and down into a deep valley until we would be
lifted into the air by another wave. We were riding the waves;
our only chance of survival. Had we ever gotten caught in a
trough, our goose would have been cooked and the helmsman
knew this as well as did anyone and, taking every possible pre­
caution, kept the ship's heading.
it san impressive account that gives immediacy to what it meant
to be caught up in that great "Kamikaze" or "Divine Wind"
that Dr. Nielsen writes ofabove and we thought it would be a
good companion piece to nm alongside it.
There is actually no need to write this for the memory of what
happened will always be so deeply instilled in my mind that
even a lapse of memory would fail to remove it. Maybe seeing
it in print will help in some way to remove a part of it from my
mind.
About 2 A.M. it got worse, if that was possible, and I thought
surely this was it. What a hopeless feeling! I had experienced
no such feeling upon the knowledge of an invasion coming or of
being fired upon; that was something that two could play at and
stand a chance. This was something that we were powerless to
fight against. I thought: I don't want to die. I haven't really
lived yet and it is much too soon to die. Also rapidly running
through my mind were all the misdemeanors and a recollection
of things left undone that should have been accomplished. Also
I remembered those fellows on the destroyers that were sunk in
the typhoon near here and thought what it must have felt like for
them before it was all over. Even now we didn't know what
ship might be near and where the rest were.
We were underway in a convoy from Leyte to Okinawa. Had
been underway for about ten days. En route we stopped in a
deserted bay along the coast of Luzon for some of the smaller
ships to refuel. Here it was that we received storm warnings and
the escort vessels refused to leave until the storm had played
out, three days later. When we left Luzon, where the ships had
refueled, there was no visible indication of bad weather for the
skies were perfectly clear and the moon at night kept the skies
up almost like daylight. The only indication of any story was
that it was unusually hot and still. There was hardly the slightest
movement of air.
To my mind came the thought of what the Ruler of the seas once
said under a like circumstance: "Peace, Be Still!" I thought of
saying this and only the thought that it might be blasphemy pre­
vented me, so instead I prayed. Immediately it came to me how
very weak was my faith. Surely God cannot be pleased with a
generation that must be in dire distress before they need Him.
How unworthy we are to ask God to spare our lives when we
have done so little to deserve life.
We were within a scant 300 miles of Okinawa when the barom­
eter began dropping rapidly and we commenced receiving storm
warnings by radio. It rapidly got rougher and the seas were
soon foaming and running. The LeTs that were with us soon
began taking on water over their bow doors. I think possibly
had it not been for them, we would have turned back and reached
Okinawa safely the first time. As it happened, we received or­
ders by radio to tum in the opposite direction and head back in
order that the LeTs could weather the storm. Even at this time
the sea was not unduly rough or frightening.
I know the rest were afraid, though some tried to hide it. Most
admitted it, and those that did not were fooling themselves. Even
the old salts broke down and admitted that in all their vast sea
experiences they had seen nothing to equal this and didn't think
it possible that a lonely LeI would be able to weather it. I don't
know what the thoughts ofthe rest were ... some of them did not
even go topside during the entire period of the storm.
So, only a short distance from our destination, we were forced
to tum back and ride with the waves until the storm abated. The
main force of the typhoon was reported to be ahead of us. For
the remainder of the day and night we continued on this course.
It did not appear to be getting any rougher and we were hoping
that we would soon be able to return to our original course. Late
the following afternoon it began getting more violent by leaps
and bounds. By night the wind was a shrieking demon and the
sea was like something alive. I was impressed by the fact that
All the following day and night the storm raged. It was not until
the third day that it began to wear itself out. We had been car­
ried along with it for three days and were hundreds of miles off
23 course. We even thought of heading for Guam at one time for it
seemed that we would be blown almost there.
at Okinawa tomorrow, we will have traveled better than two thou­
sand miles a round about route to Okinawa from Leyte.
During the course of the storm, the fantail was often completely
covered with water running over the edge and the bow dipped
into the water. Water was constantly pouring across the decks
and it was very dangerous to be topside. For three days I was
unable to sleep; instead I spent most of my time in the Conn
where I could see for myself what was happening. This was
better that staying below and imagining conditions that were
even more terrifYing. I didn't like the idea of being trapped
below if the ship capsized, either, although the results would
have been the same either place. We all felt pity for the LCTs,
for it seemed impossible that they would be able to come through
safely. Our DE escort promptly shoved off, perhaps for calmer
waters. Maybe they were ordered to do so, but we felt even
more forsaken.
Several times in the course of this typhoon the advantages of
shore duty have occurred to me and I resolved to waste no time
in applying for same upon reaching land; but now that the sea is
calm and Japan is nearing, the idea is beginning to fade. The
words of commendation and praise which we received for stay­
ing alive and battling the storm helped some too. Now my stron­
gest desire is to witness the rapid downfall of Japan and find
myself once more a civilian. I am left with a strong distaste for
typhoons and tropical storms.
The LeIer and the Keebler Elf
On the fourth day, with the aid of radar on the Flagship and the
radios aboard ship, the convoy began to assemble once more
and a count was made of the ships. On the fifth day half of the
LCTs and two LCIs were not with us. They were contacted by
radio and now contact was established with all ships except one
LCT. That night we fired rockets and flares in order to show the
other ships our position. It was dangerous, for the Japs still had
few ships and plenty of subs in those waters, but it was also
dangerous for the ships to be separated. The following day all
the ships were back in position with the exception of the one
LCT and it was generally believed to be lost. That afternoon the
lone LCT crept inconspicuously into position. This made the
convoy complete. Relieved and dazed. Yes, dazed that we were
all alive.
by Hank Henderson, USS LCI(R) 765
At 8 A.M. on January 6, 2002, Stanley Walter Mastalski,
CmoMM on the LCI(R) 765 died in a nursing home in Chicago,
IL. Stanley, also known as "Murph", had been in poor health
for a number of years.
Stan was working for a small two-man bakery in Chicago when
he joined the navy in 1942. After the war he returned to the con­
siderably larger bakery. It had prospered during thc war. The
small bakery, through acquisitions, eventually became known
as Keebler's Inc., a world-wide producer of many types ofsnack
food. As the company grew, Stan grcw with it and retircd as
Vice President in 1983.
The LCTs were short on fuel, water and food for the trip from
Luzon to Okinawa had been expected to take only eight days
and now we had been underway almost twice that time. Our
convoy, joined once more by the escort vessels, headed for Luzon
after dispatching a radio message to Leyte for a fuel ship and
another to Okinawa to let them know we were still alive.
Stan was always interested in the welfare of children. At some
point he instituted the "Keebler Ell' program. The Elf visited
children's hospitals, schools and orphan homes all over the U.S.
Stan was short in stature and, in keeping with his love of chil­
dren, took on the volunteer role of the "Keebler Ell' in addition
to his other duties and responsibilities as Vice President of an
ever-growing multinational corporation.
We held rendezvous with a fast tanker the following day and all
the LCTs received fuel, water and food. We took on water. The
seas were still rough enough to make this a hazardous undertak­
ing. By late afternoon we had completed fueling and had re­
lieved the "Mercy Ship" of most of her food and water. We
proceeded on course for Okinawa.
In 1984 when the USS LCI(L) 765 crew gathered in Warroad,
Minnesota, for their first ever reunion on the occasion ofthe 40 th
almiversary ofcommissioning the ship, Keeblers sent a UPS truck
load of Keebler's snacks for the crew to enjoy. As long as the
crew was able to continue holding reunions, Keeblers stayed
with them. There was always far more snack cookies the crew
could use. The Keebler's Elf, even in retirement, always tried to
find a suitable group of children to entertain with their snacks.
[Writing immediately after the storm, Jim and Peter concluded
their account as follows.}
It is now five days later and we should reach Okinawa
tomorrow afternoon, nothing preventing. Upon arriving
24 PICTURE GALLERY This one is just to bring back memories ofliberties you pulled with your buddies!
I'll bet lots of you guys had pictures just like this taken. Cocky! Young! Ready for
a good time!
We're indebted to Lester Humphrey ofIndianapolis, IN, who served on LCI(L)
598 for sending this one along with several others which, unfortunately, were not
clear enough for printing.
Lester writes:
"This picture was printed by our Engineering Officer, Mr. Newman who was the
only one on board who had a camera. He did the developing on cardboard paper
(believe it!) The picture with the three sailors in Hawaii was taken August 7,
1944, left to right, Hiler, Pappy and me ".
We haven't seen many pictures of the landings on the south
coast of France, Here's one sent in by Ben Chiancola of
Gloucester, MA, taken from the conn ofhis ship, USS LCl(L)
583. Ben says:
"This was taken in St. Tropez Bay, France, maneuveringfor
position to land troops
H
Snuggling up for warmth?
Robert M. Norris of Santa Barbara, CA, who served on USS LCI(L)
631, sent this picture ofUSS LCI(l) 632 moored next to USS Kinzer
in the ice at Chingwangtao, China, February, 1946
25 Alex Bosmony, of Soddy Daisy, TN, who served on USS
LCI(L) 87, the Flagship for Flotilla 35, sent a great set
of pictures and writes:
"These photos were taken by me or my camera which
was an ICA-A 9x12 CM. which was the only camera on
the LCl(L) 87. These were taken 57 years ago and were
not developed and printed until a few years later when I
could get a darkroom and an enlarger"
Alex worked as a high speed photographer for 34 years
at the Space Center, Cape Canaveral, FL.
Alex Bosmeny on the beach at Guam with LCI 87 in the background
May, 1945
The crew of the 87 somewhere in the Pacific. May, 1945.
''Names were too many to be remembered", writes Alex
"Running inteiference for UDTswimmers at Iwo
Jima, 17 February 1945, LClOG) 469 comes
under heavy fire"
Submitted by Bob Norris, Santa Barbara, CA,
who served on USS LCI(M) 631
26 ~n ~£moriam The bell has tolled for more of our shipmates. Again, we remember the bonds of friendship forged in our youth when we shared
danger and purpose. We remember, too, their enduring friendship through the years. Our prayers and sympathies go out to the
families and friends of each of these, our departed shipmates. (N.B. Our treasurer, Tiny Clarkson, recently suffered the loss of
his brother who served on an AKA Out of our love and respect for Tiny, we are including his name in this list.)
LCI
LCI
23
23
23
23
23
40
68
80
86
88
192
212
213
214
216
221
Snook, Vaughn L.
Tichenor, Le Roy C.
Mayer, Witt
Curtis, Edward
Wells, Mackie
Wanzer, William G.
Jackson, Thomas E.
Revheim, Palmer
Rollins, Murray J.
Lechich, Harold
Pimental, Manuel T.
Butor, Frank J.
Mc Coy, John E.
Lind, Joseph G.
Fraker, Richard L.
Ropier, Harold
487
511
511
527
542
556
558
565
568
578
601
631
642
644
644
652
Ct"'O
Fisher, James Trimble, Joseph J. Hose, Edward J. Waldron, Lawrence R. Roberts, John W. Caputo, Francis Sherer, Robert L Mac Dougall, Ernest J. McCarthy, Thomas B. Williams, Henry R. Stafford, Richard L. Newsom, Warren R. O'Malley, Michael J. Erngren, James Roseberry, William B. Micklich, John R. HAVE YOU ORDERED YOlJR LCI CALENDAR YET? The LCI Calendar consists of 28 pages measuring 11 by 17 inches. There are back and front
illustrations and an 8 by 10 illustration mostly of WWII LCI pictures for each month. Dates of all
landings, major naval sea battles, and dates important to LCI veterans are printed by year on the
calendar dates on which they occur or occurred. There are two pages dedicated to the restoration of
the 1091 and 713. The calendar will remind you of the day and year you made the Attu Landing, the
Zamboango Landing, the Sant' Agate Landing, the Peleliu Landing, etc. Essentially, it's an amphibi­
ous history ofWWII.
The calendars sell for $5.00 each including tax and shipping.
Here's what some LCIers are saying:
"Sure appreciate your efforts. Jim and Leroy Olson have done a wonderful job producing this
calendar" (from LCI 64)
"Please send Tom a calendar. After 58 years we met on the web site and I wanted to make sure he
had a copy" (from LCI 655)
"Thank you for your service and the calendar. I'm ordering four additional copies, two for crew
members and to for my sons." (from LCI 365)
"My son, 52 years ofage, is always asking me for pictures ofLCIs. These are excellent"
(from LCI 424)
"I'm putting together a package ofLCI memorabilia for the offspring. Send me four more. "
(from LCI 804)
"I'm ordering ten more copies ofthe LCI Calendarfor my crew mates andfriends. " (From LCI 707)
Comings and Goings: LClers on the Move Gordon Carlson, Chicago,IL, who served in USS LCI(G) 455
had a special reason for visiting the USS Missouri in Hawaii ­
he wanted to see the model of his ship that was placed there by
the USS LCI National Association.
It took some doing, but he finally found it! Had to get down
on his hands and knees to see it in the display case, but there it
was!
(Maybe we should say something to those people on the Mis­
souri!)
USS LCI National Association Director Sam Rizzo and
his wife Shirley recently enjoyed a Pacific cruise - and
the LCI Cap came in for some attention! Sam writes:
"At China Beach [Viet Nam] there were several "stalls"
with vendors, where one could shop for souvenirs. Sev­
eral ofthe men came up to me and asked if they could
buy my hat . •. offering as much as $25.00, and before
we left to return to our bus, the offer was up to $50.00
US. If Tiny was there, he could have sold a hundred
for that price!"
Tiny, get on that boat!!
Ernie Williams, who served on USS LST 510 and is
President of the Missouri Amphibious Navy, poses in
front of a VFW monument in Centennial Plaza, Kan­
sas City, MO, entitled "Citizen Soldier" which was
dedicated October 5, 2001. Ernie poses here with
sculptor Jim Brothers.. Ernie writes:
"A large number of LeI crew members living in Mis­
souri belong to the Missouri Amphibious Navy group.
Our objective is to bring shipmates together. ,.
29
NEW E-MAIL ADDRESSES LCI
4
26
59
67
70
79
87
88
196
223
209
223
231
235
330
332
340
348
348
360
372
372
407
419
420
436
437
438
450
450
455
455
455
455
455
456
492
467
497
516
541
545
554
561
561
598
606
612
628
NAME/e-maiJ ADDRESS
Brady, Donley L., [email protected]
Kempton, L. Lavar, [email protected]
Reid, J. Keith, [email protected]
Higgens, Jack, [email protected]
Ortiz, Gilbert V., [email protected]
Oglesby, Gayle A., [email protected]
Bosmeny, Alex, [email protected]
Davey, Kenneth c., [email protected]
Swaim, Chester, [email protected]
Baxter, John R. , [email protected]
Grover, Arvid, [email protected]
Cardwell, Barney B., [email protected]
Johnson, Christopher, [email protected]
Daniels, Dudley G., [email protected]
Savary, Charles E., [email protected]
Hogan, Harold, [email protected]
Savard, Charles E., [email protected]
Wayman, Elwin, elwin w [email protected]
Gaunt, Bob, [email protected]
Martin, Jim F., [email protected]
Giessler, Mrs Patrica, [email protected]
VanDerLinden, Camilla. [email protected]
Mason, Lewis (Chick), [email protected]
Gardner, Herman, [email protected]
Besse, Steve, [email protected]
McLain, Robert, [email protected]
Arquit, Gordon J., I,[email protected]
Thornburg, Joe M., [email protected]
Hampton, Vaughn, [email protected]
Ripka, Mrs Trudy, trudy [email protected]
Armstrong, William, [email protected]
Baker, James F., [email protected]
Cooper, Ken, [email protected]
Martin, Robert J., [email protected]
Turley, Joe, [email protected]
Satterfield, Garel C., [email protected]
Claiborne, Jack B., [email protected]
Leverone, Joseph, [email protected]
Lockert, Norman A., [email protected]
Smith, William c., [email protected]
Berg, Walter, [email protected]
Levandoski, Eugene J., [email protected]
May, Derek, [email protected]
Barmann, Gerald W., [email protected]
Mulherin, Connie, [email protected]
Rifenburgh, Donald, [email protected]
Levine, Hank, [email protected]
Lees, Lewis W., [email protected]
Snider, Numa L., [email protected]
LCI
654
679
684
704
710
742
754
763
773
801
805
808
813
870
950
992
1020
1001
1026
1032
1053
1056
1063
NAME/e-mail ADDRESS
DiGirolamo, Joseph, [email protected]
Avila, Robert B., [email protected]
Kinney, Hollis F., [email protected]
Griesemer, Walter A., waI,[email protected]
Ruxlow, Frank, [email protected]
Tomaschko, Frank, atlci742@smil,!.net
Sanchez, George, [email protected]
Spencer, Edward, [email protected]
Hlebechuk, Walter, [email protected]
Allen, Max J., [email protected]
Bowen, James F., [email protected]
Roath, Paul, [email protected]
Rice, Patrick F., [email protected]
Yuellig, Donald, [email protected]
Meeler, Jesse A., jam@,halijax.com
Semmes, Allison, [email protected]
Laut, Bernard R., [email protected]
Haxall, Jerry D., [email protected]
Giarrusso, John, mh:@aol.com
Williams, Richard, [email protected]
Norvell, John, [email protected]
Rogers, John M., [email protected]
Farmer, Raymond K., [email protected]
If you were a "kid" in the
military ­
you might enjoy hooking up with
VETERANS OF UNDERAGE MILITARY SERVICE This organization is looking for those
few men and women who served in the
U.S. Military before reaching legal
enlistment age.
For information call, toll free
1-888-0LD VUMS (1-888-653-8867)
OR VISIT THEIR WEBSITE:
www.oldvums.com
Information courtesy of B. W. "Jack" Lawson (LeI 355), Dallas, GA 30 THE OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS OF THE USS LCI NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Need help or information? Call on us!
Board of Directors
Officers:
Robert V. Weisser, (456)
Chairman of the Board
134 Lancaster Ave.
Columbia, PA 17512
(717) 684-4785
[email protected]
Shelby Smith (464)
2009 N. Winthrop
Muncie, IN 47304
(765) 289-3762
[email protected]
Sam Rizzo (687)
1700 Vernier Road
Grosse Pointe Wood, MI 48236
(313) 886-5374
[email protected]
James McCarthy (685)
349 Idlewild Lane
Oceanside, CA 92054-5418
(760) 439-5598
[email protected]
William E. Hedger (614)
227 San Juan Drive
Sequim, WA 98382
(360) 681-3821
[email protected]
James E. Talbert, President (618)
147 Colburn Drive
Debary, FL 32713
(386) 775-1521 [email protected] John Cummer, Vice President (502) 20 Lucerne Circle Apt. 615 Orlando, FL 32801 (407) 843-3675 [email protected] Robert Mc Lain (436) 1829 Hemlock Road Lancaster,PA 17603-4437 (717) 392-4558 maxeyusn@juno,com Howard B. Clarkson, Treasurer (537) 73 Grange Road Troy, NY 12180-6662 (518) 279-3846 [email protected] Earl Henshaw, Chaplain (537) POBox781 Bainbridge, GA 31718-0781 (912) 246-3350 Da,,1d Cox, Chaplain (633) 413 Tupilo Way NW Birmingham, AL 35215 (205) 854-6229 Overseer:
Roy E. Age (802)
412 Silver Streak Lane
Valrico, FL 33594
(813) 689-5102
[email protected]
DUES NOTICE
Your 2002 Dues are Due June 1st Please Send Your $10.00 Annual Or $75.00 Life Member Payment to Howard "Tiny" Clarkson, Treasurer 73 Grange Road Troy, NY 12180·6662 31 USS Lei NATIONAL ASSN. REUNION APRIL 17-21, 2002 FOUR POINTS RIVERWALK NORTH HOTEL, SAN ANTONIO Wednesday. April 17
12:00pm 12:00pm -
6:00pm
Reunion Registration open
Hospitality Room open throughout the reunion (cash bar available)
Thursday, April 18
7:30am
8:15am
9:00am
3:00pm
6:30pm
8:30am
5:00pm
3:00pm
5:00pm
- 11:oopm
8:00am
8:15am
9:00am
4:00pm
-
Reunion Registration open
FREDERICKSBURG TOUR (description follows)
CITY TOUR (description follows)
Reunion Registration open
CASA RIO RESTAURANT (description follows)
Friday, April 19
8:30am
5:15pm
3:00pm
5:00pm
Reunion Registration open
FREDERICKSBURG TOUR (description follows)
CITY TOUR (description follows)
Reunion Registration open. Additional hours will be posted at
the reunion, if necessary.
5:45pm - 10:00pm DIAMOND W RANCH (description follows)
Saturday, April 20
9:00am
9:00am
5:00pm
6:30pm
Business Meeting for the men
- 12:00pm LADIES TOUR (description follows)
Pictures & Cash Bar
Banquet, followed by entertainment
Sunday, April 21
Farewells & Departures
TOUR DESCRIPTIONS
FREDERICKSBURG Thursday, April 18 and Friday, April 19 Board bus for a daytrip to Fredericksburg. Upon arrival at the Lyndon B. Johnson State and National Historic Park, browse through the Visitors Center before boarding the park service tram for a guided tour of the ranch. The tour includes the Old Junction School, the Texas White House, and LBJ Ranchlands, with stops at the Birthplace and the Johnson Family cemetery. After a short ride to Fredericksburg, erijoy lunch at one of several restaurants or delis located on Fredericksburg's downtown Main Street. After lunch, tour the Admiral
Nimitz Museum, dedicated to everyone who served in the Pacific under Admiral Nimitz. Walk through the
Garden of Peace, a gift from the people of Japan, and stroll down the History Walk of Tanks. The Museum
has just completed a 3.5 acre expansion featuring a Pacific Combat Zone with a PT boat and more! There is
shopping nearby on Main Street for those interested. Note: Due to space restrictions, this tour is limited to 100
people on Thursday and 200 people on Friday. Reservations will be accepted on a first come, first serve basis.
Thursday: 8:15am board bus, 5:00pm back at hotel
Friday: 8:15am board bus, 5:15pm back at hotel
$43/Person includes bus, guide, and admissions. Lunch on your own.
32
USS LeI NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
lVIElVIBERSHIP INFORlVlATION FORl\1
If you are not a member of the USS LCI National Association and would like to join, please complete this form and mail it
with your first year's dues as indicated below:
Served
'_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ RanklRate:_ _ _ _ _ __
Address: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Zip Code: _ _ __
Date of
.__________ Telephone: _ _ _._______ E-Mail Address: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
OccupationIFormer
Wife's
Dues are $10.00 per year, June 1 through May 31. Life Membership: $75.00
Make Check payable to:
Send to:
LSS LCI NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Howard Clarbol1.
n Gr;mge Road
Trn\. NY I ') 1XO
Trca~urer