November 1942 - August 14, 1945

enlisted in the Navy in November 1942.  I decided I would rather be in the Navy than the Army.  If I were on a ship, I would have a dry bed to sleep in instead of marching in the mud and sleeping in a foxhole. 

I went to Faregut, Idaho, a Naval training center near Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. After I finished my basic training, I was sent to San Diego, California for gunner school. I was assigned to merchant ships as part of the gun crew. It was Navy personal on merchant ships.  I went to Seattle, Washington, and was assigned to a cargo ship and we went up to Alaska. While we were in the Gulf of Alaska, there was a very bad storm The waves were so high that the water came over the bow of the ship and the water crushed the gun tub. Another ship that was with us broke in half. Our crew rescued some of the sailors that got into lifeboats. One lifeboat came up along side the deck of our ship, but the waves were so high that they couldn't get them aboard. The lifeboat went down and we didn't see them again The men that stayed on the half of the ship that floated were rescued. 

I also went to the South Pacific on a troop transport ship.  We were the gun crew on that ship also. We would take a load of troops and then come back to the states for more troops.  I went to the Philippines and New Guinea. While we were anchored in the bay at New Guinea, there were several other ships there and a Japanese torpedo boat came to try to get a cargo ship that was loaded with ammunition. Our destroyer escort went out and sunk the Japanese boat.

When I went to the Philippines, I got to go ashore and visit my brother who was stationed there in the Navy.

What a glorious sight when we came back to the states and sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge.  Everyone on board cheered "hooray hooray hooray."  We docked in the San Francisco Harbor.

The peace treaty was signed August 14, 1945. What a happy day.  I was given shore duty and worked on Treasure Island as a file clerk until I was discharged.  I was discharged from the Navy on October 4, 1945 and was able to go home to my family.