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I was a Carpenter’s Mate 1st Class aboard the 791. I live with my wife, Millie, in Keuka Park, New York. Millie and I were married on July 2, 1942. We have 2 sons and 4 grandchildren. Needless to say, we are doting grandparents.
I was born in Belmont, New York on March 11, 1919; my brother was 14 months older. My father was a machinist. My family moved to Wellsville in the 1920s. When the job there ran out, my father got a job with the Sinclair Oil Company in Olean as a pipefitter. After that was finished and he was unable to find other work in his field, my family decided to try a new venture.
In early 1931 we moved to Penn Yan on Keuka Lake, one of the Finger Lakes located in upstate New York. We lived on a small farm with a grape vineyard as income. My mother and father did whatever they could to make a living. There was always work to be had when the cottage people arrived for the summer. My mother did baking and cleaning for them and my father did whatever projects came his way. He was a jack of all trades.
Times were hard for everyone in those days, and we were all in the same boat. Kids who lived on farms always had plenty to eat. My parents would always have a big garden and my mother would can the excess produce for use in the winter. We also hunted, as small game was always plentiful. We made our own fun and entertainment. Because of the lake, we always had lots of friends come to swim, sail, and fish in the summer and to skate and ice boat in the winter. Those were good days and we never felt we were deprived. For spending money, my brother and I did odd jobs for the cottagers and helped local farmers at harvest time.
In 1936, my father was able to find work as a machinist at Eastman Kodak Co. in Rochester, where he stayed until his retirement. My brother and I attended Penn Yan Academy, and both played in the school band.
In 1937 we enlisted in the U.S. Navy. Following boot camp at Newport, Rhode Island, we boarded a transport, which took us through the Panama Canal to Long Beach, California where we reported for duty aboard the battleship Pennsylvania. I was in the deck force for about 2 years then transferred to the shipfitters’ shop.
In March 1939, the Pacific Fleet went through the Panama Canal—headed for New York City to help open the 1939 World’s Fair. When Hitler invaded France, the Pacific Fleet was sent back to the west coast. The fleet spent a lot of time in Pearl Harbor in 1940 and 1941.
I was paid off from the Navy in October of 1941 with a rate of Shipfitter 3rd Class. I got a job with Eastman Kodak, but that terminated after 2 weeks when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Had I not been discharged from the Navy ten days early, I would have been in Pearl Harbor on the Pennsylvania.
On December 16, my brother and I enlisted together again, this time in the U.S. Coast Guard. I spent the next 2 years as a Carpenters’ Mate 3rd Class in Buffalo, and my brother was sent to the west coast and remained in the Coast Guard until his retirement.
On July 4, 1944 I reported to Camp Bradford, Norfolk, Virginia for LST training. I was assigned to the LST 791with the rate of Carpenters’ Mate 1st Class. I departed for home and discharge from Manila in August of 1945.
After the Coast Guard, I worked as a carpenter and cabinetmaker. Using the GI Bill, I took courses in architectural drafting and blueprint reading. Two knee replacements forced an early retirement, but I have kept busy with remodeling our home, doing odd jobs for others, and remodeling our church kitchen and dining room. Millie and I have lived in our present home for 45 years and were married 58 years in July 2000.