elsie item issue 69 - USS Landing Craft Infantry

Then a problem arose. Walt Whitlow couldn’t
swim and we had doubts about the ability
of skinny Joe McDermott to cover the distance.
We then attempted to hire a local outrigger
to carry us out, but to no avail. They
were all busy, so swimming was our only
option.
Scouring the beach, we found two very
large timbers, 12” x 12” square and about
eight feet long. We had no idea who owned
them or why they were there, but decided that
they were our only remaining mode of transportation
to carry Whitlow and our “question
mark” Joe McDermott, back to the 5561.
We took off our clothes and time them to
the beams, making certain Walt was secure on
his beam. We had hoped he could sit on it as
we pushed him and the beam ahead of us, but
it proved to be too unstable, so he had to hang
onto the side as we were doing. We made the
several mile swim by pushing the beam ahead,
swimming behind it to catch up, and then
hanging on for a rest. It was push some more,
rest some more, on and on.
Some of us were strong swimmers and had
no problem with the distance, but we decided
it was better that we stick together. That we
did for about three hours, until we finally
reached the 561. The crew, who had learned
of Mann’s edict to us, were cheering as we
arrived alongside. Mann rewarded our return
by placing us on a few days of mess cook duty.
The ship raised anchor only two hours after our
return, and we left Leyte Bay and the
Philippine Islands for the last time.
I sometimes wonder who those timbers
belonged to. I don’t wonder too deeply
though.
12
The Times,
Trials and
Tribulations of
USS LCI 455
By Bob Martin,
LCI(G) 455
Ormond Beach, FL
Bob Martin sent us several
incidents related to
him by his shipmates
that he felt were worthy
of being in our “Sea
Bob Martin, July,
1945, Age 19, after
19 months in the
South Pacific.
Yarns” Here are a couple that we’re sure you
will find of interest.
My First Encounter with Rockets
(recounted to Bob by Jim Mitchell, GM3C,
Houston, Texas)
Marshall Islands, January 31, 1944. We were
on our way to the invasion of the Roi-Namure
Islands (Kwajalein Atoll).
Cruisers and Destroyers had been softening
up the beaches before the LCIs lined up and
headed for the beach. We had rocket launchers
on each side of the ship, each launcher
containing 12 rockets for a total of 144 rockets.
All 144 rockets were launched in about
three seconds. With all the LCIs firing, you
can imagine how many rockets would be in the
air at one time.
Having never seen anything like this in my
life, it was very impressive to me. When the
rockets hit the beach they threw up so much
dirt, sand and debris that you could not see
the island.
Excited by this awesome display, I yelled
out:
“Holy Mackerel, we sunk the island!.
The Captain, LT William J. Harrison, yelled
back: “You damn fool! You can’t sink an
island!”
The old mustang was right – you can’t sink
an island!