"The Elsie Item" - USS Landing Craft Infantry National Association

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 acopyofCTF 122IL11, United States Fleet TaskForce OneTwo Two, dated 17 June 1944, listing sunk and damagedships and craft "on the far shore" The report is over thesignature ofAdmiral A. G. Kirk.Thinking it might be of interest to LCI NationalAssociation members, I give you here the list ofLCIs inthis report.One note which might forestall some argument: Afootnoteindicates that the list ofoperational losses in Normandywas prepared prior to the strong storm which struck theinvasion beaches at midnight of18-19 June and abated 22June. There were many more losses, particularly ofsmallcraft, as a result ofthis storm.LCIStatus83 Damaged85 Lost87 Damaged88 Lost91 Lost92 Lost93 Lost209 Damaged212 Damaged219 Lost232 Lost416 Lost497 Damaged553 LostNope, we weren't Battleship Sailors!(Editor:~ Note: This "letter to the editor" had such a great pictureenclosed that llelt it deserved space as a separate article.You can use this one to show your grandkids what we reallylooked like in the Pacific!By Don Hawley, QM2C, USS LCI (G) 66Gladstone, OregonThe Editor asked for individual pictures, so I am enclosing oneshowing me as an intrepid sailor aboard the LCI(G) 66. I wasQuartermaster, Second Class, so was on the helm in critical situations- such as bringing the 66 down the Mindanao River inthe Philippines, and skirting the mine-swept area during the invasionof Balikpapan, Borneo.During ordinary skirmishes I was gunner on a 20 mm as picturedhere. I am wearing our normal uniform, consisting ofcutoffdungarees and cut-down boots - period. Well, occasionallywe 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 cansee my Fu Manchu mustache, and just barely visible is the anchortattoo on my left shoulder. Obviously, this beats the uniformof the day formality of a battlewagon!Just behind my head is the edge of our 3-inch gun tub, and behindme is the only black man aboard. Although he was a bigcut above many of the crew members that came to us right outof the brig, the only thing he was allowed to do was to serve theofficers. And he had to live by himself down in an empty troophold. Talk about the Dark Ages!20