I often wondered if any of the wives of the married guys
in the picture every saw this book and became aware of the fact
that their husbands were entertaining other women while they
were suppose to be out fighting a war. Actually it was just a
chance encounter, not planned by anyone.
Japanese landing craft found on Guam |
Another nutty thing that Wells and I pulled was to take
all the duplicate phonograph records that were issued to the
squadron to an army camp nearby and trade them for two carbines,
a 30 caliber rifle and a bit of ammunition. This was on the "QT"
and no one ever found out. I don't know if Wells ever got his
rifle home or not but I had traded my carbine off for some thing
that escaped my memory long before we got back to the states. |
One thing about our housing was that it was Quonset huts again.
They sit on the bare ground that was a fine red dust. At night
while trying to sleep in the heat we would sweat and the sheets
that we slept on became a red mud mat. Only had to sleep on them
for a week before getting another set. We did wash them ourselves
occasionally.
Bud Foster and the author |
For the first couple of nights that we were in these huts
one of the other ensigns would wake up in the middle of the night
having a night mare and screaming that the Japs were slitting
his throat. The stories going around were that there had been
a few instances of that happening before we got there and there
were still occasional times when a Japanese soldier would get
into a chow line because he was hungry. |
The second of two USO shows that I was to see was at Agana. This
was a daytime show that featured two well known light-heavy weight
boxers. One was George Abrams, this I remember because my Uncle's
name was Abram. The other's name, I don't remember. They were
to put on an exhibition of boxing and the referee was Commander
Gene Tunney, a former world heavy-weight champion. After sitting
and waiting for about an hour with a throng of sailors for the
show to start, here comes a delegation of senior officers escorting
the locally stationed nurses and Red Cross women to take their
seats at ringside. This "exhibition" wasn't too well
received by the throng.
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The demonstration was the poorest example of boxing you
could ever imagine. The two boxers hung on each other and it's
doubtful if they threw a punch. Tunney just stood to the side,
leaning on the ropes and did nothing. The hoots and the boos
became a crescendo. Some sailor yelled out: " You wouldn't
be standing there like a dummy if Dempsey were in there, Tunney!"
Not too much respect for the uniform. Even less for the man. |
Members of VC 93 at Guam rest camp |
The boos got so bad the commanding Admiral stood up and told
the crowd that if they didn't shut up and stop the noise he would
have the whole bunch marched out in double file. Things quieted
down but the fight didn't get any better.
The last couple of days that we were on Guam we were sent to
the harbor to wait for the Petrof Bay to come in from Iwo Jima.
The evening before we were to shove off we went to the officers
club there at the harbor. This club was right next to Admiral
Nimitz's quarters and his swimming pool. Everything was going
along fine until Al Godfrey had to empty his bladder and went
into the bushes by the pool and cut loose. He was observed by
the Shore Patrol and arrested. Since we were leaving the next
morning he was released to the custody of the skipper. Once we
were out to sea the captain of the ship received a message from
Nimitz's office wanting to know what punishment the skipper had
given to Godfrey. The skipper was forced to confine him to quarters
for three days which didn't bother Godfrey because we would be
at sea for those three days. Thank God, he didn't use the Admiral's
swimming pool.
Incidentally, the sand used in the construction of Nimitz's swimming
pool was imported from the Gulf of Mexico to Guam because of
it's pure white color. This is hear-say but probably true. After
seeing the snow white sand on the beach in Cancun years later,
while on vacation, I now believe the story.
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