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Six months after Pearl Harbor, I turned 17 and I tried to join the Navy. They just laughed at me because I was too small and low weight. I was 4-foot 10-inches and only weighed 105 pounds. My parents had allowed me to try and get in and there were not surprised that I was rejected.
I had a friend whose father was a Navy doctor over in N.Y.C. He arranged for me to get another physical and sure enough I was accepted and 2 weeks later was on my way to boot camp at Newport, R.I.
Boot camp only lasted 3 weeks and it was tough for me because I only wore a size 5½ shoes; it took a week before I received them so I had to use my civilian shoes until then. Near the end of boot camp, I was invited to join the Bugle Chore as I had learned to play the bugle when I went to scout camp four years before. After I returned from boot leave, I was assigned to the Bugle Squad. It lasted only 4 more months as the Enlisted Man’s Training Center was made an Officer’s Training Center and they wanted a full band. So, we were transferred to various ships and locations.
I was transferred to the USS Schorder and it was put in commission Jan. 1, 1943, the day I went aboard. We soon went to Portland, Maine, for our shakedown and the temperature up there was 30 degrees below zero. It was a very tough time for all of us. We returned to New York and then escorted a new aircraft carrier, USS Lexington, to Trinidad for its shakedown. What a great change for all of us. We then joined a large convoy of supply ships going to Casablanca, where the first landings were made by the Invasion Force. We returned to Norfolk, Va., and escorted another new carrier, USS Yorktown, to Trinidad for its shakedown.
We then went through the Panama Canal to the Pacific and up to San Francisco and had more anti-aircraft guns installed at Mare Island Shipyard. This took a couple of weeks, and we all got 5 days leave, so we got to see some of California.
We then left the states and joined the fleet at Pearl Harbor. We traveled to many islands and bombarded and bombed the Japanese at the places they had taken from us in the first few months after Pearl Harbor.
After a couple of months of this, we were reassigned to a landing force of Marines that was getting ready to retake the Gilbert Islands. We were to enter the Tarawa Lagoon near the landing area, so we could be close and give them support, but the pilot who was supposed to know the area, ran us aground astern, so our screws were damaged and we stayed in the lagoon for the rest of the invasion. We fired all of our 5-inch guns until we ran out of shells and our 40 mm aircraft guns also ran out.
While the battle continued for 3-4 days, the landing officer on one of the transport ships got permission to try and recover the wounded Marines. He would pick them up and bring them to any ship in the lagoon that had a doctor. We had a doctor, so we took on over 30 wounded Marines. We only lost a few and the rest stayed aboard until we returned to Hawaii.
Thank goodness that the Battle of Tarawa was over.
After returning to Pearl Harbor, the ship was put in dry dock and repaired. I was one of about 15 men who were transferred back to the states to serve aboard new ships. I was ordered to Bremerton, Wash., where there were forming crews and we were sent to Astoria, Ore., to serve on the USS Rudyard Bay CVE 8, a small aircraft carrier that was built by Kaiser.
I remained aboard until the end of WWII. I became the only bugle master on board. I had 4 assistants and spent general quarters on the bridge. I had my own room on the hangar deck so I would be available at all times if needed. We were at many more locations that were taken over again including the Philippines and then Iwo Jima and Okinawa. We returned to the states and I started playing in parades in N.Y.C. as head of a bugle choir for returning honorees.
I never knew that the officer aboard the transport ship that picked up wounded Marines at Tarawa was a movie star … Eddie Albert … and he received the Navy Cross for his heroism, and for many years, attended the USS Schroeder’s ship reunions as a special honorary member. I earned 11 battle stars for my service in WWII.
I had a friend whose father was a Navy doctor over in N.Y.C. He arranged for me to get another physical and sure enough I was accepted and 2 weeks later was on my way to boot camp at Newport, R.I.
Boot camp only lasted 3 weeks and it was tough for me because I only wore a size 5½ shoes; it took a week before I received them so I had to use my civilian shoes until then. Near the end of boot camp, I was invited to join the Bugle Chore as I had learned to play the bugle when I went to scout camp four years before. After I returned from boot leave, I was assigned to the Bugle Squad. It lasted only 4 more months as the Enlisted Man’s Training Center was made an Officer’s Training Center and they wanted a full band. So, we were transferred to various ships and locations.
I was transferred to the USS Schorder and it was put in commission Jan. 1, 1943, the day I went aboard. We soon went to Portland, Maine, for our shakedown and the temperature up there was 30 degrees below zero. It was a very tough time for all of us. We returned to New York and then escorted a new aircraft carrier, USS Lexington, to Trinidad for its shakedown. What a great change for all of us. We then joined a large convoy of supply ships going to Casablanca, where the first landings were made by the Invasion Force. We returned to Norfolk, Va., and escorted another new carrier, USS Yorktown, to Trinidad for its shakedown.
We then went through the Panama Canal to the Pacific and up to San Francisco and had more anti-aircraft guns installed at Mare Island Shipyard. This took a couple of weeks, and we all got 5 days leave, so we got to see some of California.
We then left the states and joined the fleet at Pearl Harbor. We traveled to many islands and bombarded and bombed the Japanese at the places they had taken from us in the first few months after Pearl Harbor.
After a couple of months of this, we were reassigned to a landing force of Marines that was getting ready to retake the Gilbert Islands. We were to enter the Tarawa Lagoon near the landing area, so we could be close and give them support, but the pilot who was supposed to know the area, ran us aground astern, so our screws were damaged and we stayed in the lagoon for the rest of the invasion. We fired all of our 5-inch guns until we ran out of shells and our 40 mm aircraft guns also ran out.
While the battle continued for 3-4 days, the landing officer on one of the transport ships got permission to try and recover the wounded Marines. He would pick them up and bring them to any ship in the lagoon that had a doctor. We had a doctor, so we took on over 30 wounded Marines. We only lost a few and the rest stayed aboard until we returned to Hawaii.
Thank goodness that the Battle of Tarawa was over.
After returning to Pearl Harbor, the ship was put in dry dock and repaired. I was one of about 15 men who were transferred back to the states to serve aboard new ships. I was ordered to Bremerton, Wash., where there were forming crews and we were sent to Astoria, Ore., to serve on the USS Rudyard Bay CVE 8, a small aircraft carrier that was built by Kaiser.
I remained aboard until the end of WWII. I became the only bugle master on board. I had 4 assistants and spent general quarters on the bridge. I had my own room on the hangar deck so I would be available at all times if needed. We were at many more locations that were taken over again including the Philippines and then Iwo Jima and Okinawa. We returned to the states and I started playing in parades in N.Y.C. as head of a bugle choir for returning honorees.
I never knew that the officer aboard the transport ship that picked up wounded Marines at Tarawa was a movie star … Eddie Albert … and he received the Navy Cross for his heroism, and for many years, attended the USS Schroeder’s ship reunions as a special honorary member. I earned 11 battle stars for my service in WWII.
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