11-14 2003 Posted By Gene Holtmeyer
This is an e-mail received
It is his latest recollections with dates and events during his time on PGM 31. Very well done.
Keep in mind in the beginning you are looking at this through the eyes of a 20 year old Seaman 2/c and you can’t get much lower than that.
Ships Officers
| Lt. Jack Glassford | The Skipper | |
| J.N. Cutler | Executive Office | |
| Randell Guyer | Communications Officer | |
| D.E. Priewe | Gunnery Officer | |
| Bill Bond | Engineering Oficer |
Ships Crew
| Asel, Ernest | Klein, Leonard J. |
| Benson, Jack | Korta, Gilbert |
| Blackwell, William | Kozlowski, Stan |
| Borough, Bill EM 3/c | Kramer, Frank A |
| Brady, George | Mahoney, Herbert |
| Broches, Howell "Red" | Maur, M.L |
| Brownell, Dick | Metelak, H.B. Chief BM |
| Brunsman, Joseph | Miller, C.L. Howard |
| Burrell, Ben | Moorhead. J.E. |
| Chartek, Louis | Nelson, Johnny |
| Costa, Lawrence A. RM 2/c | Nielsen, Alvin (Skip) |
| Cvarovsky, Joe cook | O’Connor, Tom |
| Depew, M.A. | O’Donnell, John |
| Davis, Green (the other Steward) | Owens, Charles HR |
| Dickey, Howard | Patrick, George W. |
| Dzroiwgo, Joseph | Powers, Richard T. Genes buddy |
| Espe, R. K. | Rode, L.C. or E. cook |
| Fisher, Ben GM 2/ | Thomas, Leo |
| Hance, Rual | Totten, John |
| Hawthorne, C.A. | Van Allen, William |
| Head, Alvin | Westberry, Pete |
| Holtmeyer, Gene | Williamson, Maxwell |
| Humphries, Jr , Calvin | Wilson, R. J. |
| Mc Artor, Jim B. | Woelfel, Robert |
| Mc Clellan, Roy |
The above is our crew when we started out.
1/4/45 upon arrival in New Orleans, they put us right to work at the Naval Repair Base. We spent 1/5 and 6 driving stakes for a fence. On the 7th which was Sunday we did not have to work but I had the 6-12 duty and I got soaking wet. On the 8th we went out for a stay at Shell beach for gunnery practice. I was taught how to take a 50 caliber apart and put it back together and then they made me a 20mm gunner. That’s the Navy for you. We would fire at planes flying on screens. I know I did extremely well on that because it was just like leading a receiver in football and I had thrown many a football. On the 9th -11th we fired at a sleeve being towed by a plane. We also fired the 3” today and I was one of the loaders. Those things get heavy and it is very noisy. I was put on mess cook duty for three days and then we boarded our ship at exactly 2pm on the 16th. On the 12th we fired the 3” and it is noisy and the shells are heavy. From the 13th to the 16th they put me on mess cook duty again. 1/17 to 1/21 we moved the ship to the Boling Dock on the New Orleans side of the Mississippi. We scraped the rust off the anchor chain and painted it on the forth. Then we started sewing provisions on the life rafts which took 3 days. On the 25th and 26th we were demagnetized and picked up fuel. 27th We picked up ammunition and stores today. We left New Orleans at 8:15am on the 28th and reached the Gulf of Mexico at 3:3 0 and by 6pm 5 men were seasick. In route we chased a sub for 2 hours but lost it.We arrived in Miami at 8:30am on 2/1. It was so rough we had to eat cafeteria style. 2/1/45 from the 2nd until the 16th we were firing guns at targets. One day they brought radio controlled small planes and Nelson shot one down. For three days we bombarded Woman Island with our 3”just for practice. The following is a picture of the 3”. Note there are wheels on each side one which allows you to raise of lower the barrel and the other to turn it.  The 17th – 21 we painted the sides of the ship. On the 21st we moved from dry dock to Pier 2. On the 22nd we picked up ammunition and at 20:05 we left for the Panama Canal. The weather was calm on the 23rd but as soon as we past Cuba it started to get rough. Going across the Caribbean turned out to be the roughest weather we would ever face. On the 26th we did a roll of 45 degrees which threw Williamson clean across the pilot house. Then a 40 degree roll got O’ Donnell. We had one roll that threw me off the helm against the Starboard bulkhead (wall) and as I went flying back by the helm I grabbed it and hung on for dear life rather than hit the bulkhead on the Port side. It felt like my arms were being pulled out of the sockets. My relief was seasick and laying on the pilot house deck my other relief was sitting at the radar with a bucket between his knees. About once an hour either Williamson or Jack Anderson would relieve me on the helm and I would go get a cup of coffee. We were the only three on our watch of 16 guys that did not get sick. I found that when I started feeling like I might get sick I would go get a piece of bread. It might have been psychological but it did the trick. The Skipper came up and I am at the helm smoking a cigar and he said “Why Holtmeyer I did not realize you were an old salt”. “Oh Yes Sir”. We arrived in Cristobel on the 27th and we went shore on liberty. Cristobel is on the Atlantic side of the Canal and Colon is on the Pacific side. We spent all day on 3/1 going through the canal - very beautiful and enjoyable. We would drive into the first lock they would close it behind us and fill it with water. Then they open the forward gate and we drive in. Again they would close it behind us and fill it with water. The same thing happened on the 3rd lot and then we were up to the rivers height. Unfortunately we had no time to get supplies at Cristobel and we had a lot of rice fixed in every way imaginable. It was years before I would try rice again. Even today I am not too fond of it. When we reached the Pacific it was the same height as the canal so we just kept going. The sea was smooth today off the coast of Nicaragua also the next day off the coast of El Salvador. Also smooth the next off of Guatemala. We saw several schools of porpoise with perhaps up to 1,000 in a school. It was fun to watch them dive back and forth just in front of the bow of the boat. 3/5 It started to get a little rough and we were having trouble with the Port engine. On 3/6 we found that we just missed two storms off the coast of Tiawanipec. 3/7 we pulled into Manarillo, Mexico for refueling. 3/8 Smooth sailing today. 3/9 we are off the coast of Southern California. 3/10 we pulled into the Naval Repair Base at San Diego. Speaking of that, there were a lot of signs that said “Dogs and Sailors keep off the grass.” I certainly gave me a warm feeling knowing we were going to risk our lives for a bunch of Jackass’s like that.” I could not believe anyone could be so stupid and every time I think of San Diego I think of that. Of course it was only 58 years ago. We shifted births to the end of Broadway. 3/13 we left for Hawaii on at 16:00 hours. 3/14 we had a rough night and we passed a huge transport with Marines all over it. 3/15 the waves were so high that when we were down in the hollow, we could not see the horizon for the wave. Things calmed down and the only thing we saw was an empty life raft. One thing I neglected to mention was that the Exec. Cutler missed Miami by 50 miles when we went there. We need not have worried as he hit all the islands on the nose. However he could use his sextet in case he got off course. Which reminds me, later on for one day the ocean was as smooth as glass. 3/21 we arrived at Pearl Harbor. I went downtown Honolulu one day and then out to Waikiki beach. It felt exactly like I was in Galveston, Texas. Other than that, we played softball against five other ships and won them all. Obviously coming into Pearl we saw the ships that were sunk by the 12/7/41 attack on Pearl. 3/27 - 3/28 Guess what, we painted over the side of the ship again. #$%^&. 3/31 we left Pearl Harbor at 0900 heading west. A Navy PBY pulled a target over and we were at GQ for 3 hours of firing practice. Started on the 12 to 4 watch this morning meaning we were on from 24:00 to 0400 and from 12:00 to 16:00 hours. Here are just a few tidbits. When we crossed the 180th meridian on 4/5 we all became members of the Golden Dragon. In addition time changed and it was the 5th of the month this morning from 2400 hours until 1200 hours and it was the 6th from 1200 hours to 2400 hours. That is how we gained a day. 4/10 we pulled into Eniwetok at 10:00 and we must have had about 300 ships at that island. It was nothing but a sandy atoll. Not one tree or bush except for a few palm trees. We picked up supplies and water. Later the US would use this to test the atomic bomb. April 17th we pulled into Ulithi in the Caroline Islands. On 4/13We heard that President Roosevelt had died three days before. We heard about two weeks later that Germany had surrendered. 4/18 we were allowed to go swimming over the side. We were in the harbor so protected from the sea. Two guys grabbed Asel and threw him in with his cloths on. He is floundering around hollering “Help I can’t swim.” The two guys dove in with their cloths on and Asel swam over and climbed up the ladder. So he had the last laugh. The next day we watched a shark swam right through the area where we had been swimming. At 10:00 hours some Jap planes tried to reach Ulithe but were shot down by the Air Force. We had gone to GQ. In fact, since we were now in what was called “the front area” we went to GQ every morning and evening. On the 19th we left for Pelilu and that night a bomber flew over and challenged us and the signalman who had just come on duty forgot the code name. We had to send someone down to wake the former signalman to get it. Finally the Skipper said “For Gods sake send him something. Send him anything.” I was on lookout so I heard everything that went on. Finally we got the signal and sent it to him. Since I had time on my hands I learned the flag signals and I got so I could read them just as well as the signalman. One day one particular word stumped him but I was able to read it right away. After he asked them to repeat it five times I finally told him what it was. I didn’t want to show him up but it was obvious that he was never going to be able to get it. On April 20, we arrived at Pelilu in the Palau Islands. We controlled 5% of the island at both the north and south and the Jap’s still held the other 90%. We controlled the air and the sea so they are not going anywhere nor are they getting anything in. On the 22nd a bloated dead body floated past our ship. The Skipper said not to touch it as it could be booby trapped. He had two grenades attached to his waist and something hanging from his neck by a rope We wiped out a Jap lookout post with Twin 40mm fire. Here are some more stupid things that happened. They put us on Air/Sea rescue. The islands are 200 miles long and we are at the farthest point north. A pilot was shot down about 100 miles south of us and they asked us to pick him up. At flank speed (meaning top speed) since we can only do 22 knots (a knot equals 1.15 miles per hour) it is going to take us almost 5 hours to reach him. After we had gone about 50 miles they radioed back to forget it. They had landed a PBY and picked him up which is obviously what they should have done in the first place.
Somewhere along the way we picked up a Jap boat about 40 feet long and almost submerged. Which reminds me that before we reached Pearl Harbor we spotted an empty life raft but then lost it. I would like to know the story on that one. By the way the harbor where we were anchored was called “Sing, Sing”. Most of us slept in the bow of the ship. One morning at breakfast we heard that the forward lookout, I am pretty sure it was Broaches, had spotted a mine floating dead ahead and relayed that fact to the bridge. I understand the Officer hollered “Left full rudder” and that mine went right along the right side of the ship. We then destroyed it. Because he saved the ship they promoted him to Seaman first class.
5/3/45 we were anchored and suddenly started bouncing off of a reef. They had to send two landing craft out to push us off the reef. We had to head back to Ulithi to get the screws (propellers) repaired 5/4/45 three of us went ashore on “liberty” on an island called Hells Pocket. There were Jap shoes scattered all over the island also bones, guns, ammunition. On the top of Bloody Nose Ridge we sat by the monument that read “Lest We Forget Those Who Died” 323 Infantry 1944. I picked up one Jap helmet and a skull fell out. I decided I did not want it as a souvenir. 5/5/45 – 5/6/45 for some reason they sent us to Kossar (which is still in the Palau’s) and then back to Ulithi. Arrived in Ulithi on 5/8/45 5/9/45 spent the day tooling around the harbor and checking up on out screws. We missed the convoy to Okinawa. 5/10/45 today we tied up to the Ajax which was in turn tied to the battleship Tennessee. 5/11/45 we went ashore today on Mog Mog and played some basketball. We remained tied up alongside the Ajax through 5/16. 5/17/45 we went into dry-dock today and guess what – this offered us the opportunity to paint the bottom of the ship. The screws were either fixed and put back on or else we got new screws. 5/18/45 made a trial run today and everything is fine. 5/19/45 - picked up ammunition both days. 5/20/45- 3 of us painted the forward storage compartment. I went top side to get more paint. I said “Hi ya Boats” to Metelak and he said “What have you been drinking. Then he said “Good God have you guys been down in the hold all this time? Get the others up here right away. We were the same as drunk from the paint fumes. No wonder most of the painters I have ever met were alcoholics. 5/23/45 and 24 we are on our way to Okinawa at last along with a bunch of other smaller ships. We are going to GQ every sunrise and sunset. 5/25 another convoy passed us on the way to Okinawa. It was not as large as ours and did not have any slow moving LCI’s in it like we did which slowed us down. 5/26 we spotted two aircraft at GQ this morning and we found that Task Force 58 was about 5 miles from us. 5/27 we spotted a Jap Cruiser and three Destroyers. We only had small ships so we all split up and went off on our own. If looked like a Chinese fire drill. 5/28 sighted two of our destroyers about 20:00 hours. 5/29 we finally arrived at Karama Retto in the Okinawa Islands. On the way in we saw a PGM which had been beached for some reason but did not find out why. Also a Destroyer was towed in by a tugboat with a big hole in the fantail (back). The first night there we put our smoke pot over the bow of the ship instead of the fantail. We all inhaled a lot of smoke. The Japs hit an LST and two Destroyers tonight. 5/30 we heard they played hell at the other end of the channel. There were 1,000 of our ships here so we are all sitting ducks for Kamikaze Pilots. For the last two nights we have been at GQ most of the night in the rain. 5/31 we have to show our movies at 14:00 hours now. We received mail again today. The Kamikaze planes came from both sides just at dusk. Only three got through but one hit an LST and two hit destroyers. 6/1 we were at GQ from 0200 until 0345.It was raining all the while. We hear they played hell at the other end of the channel. We did not hear what go hit. 6/2 we had to stand at GQ in the rain again. A Jap bomber flew over tonight but we did not get any word that they caused havoc.
6/4-6/5 Typhoon is on the way so we moved into an area called Kantena Bay, Untenko. It missed us however. We got to go ashore and I gave one woman 5 cigarettes and she bowed. At 4 cents a pack, that cost me a penny. When they saw Britton (who is black) they ran. He is very mild mannered and nice person. We each had a 45 on our hip. I cut a piece of the sun from a Jap Francis which had been shot down. Have no idea what I did with it. 6/6 we received word that the typhoon missed so we returned to Karama Passage. 6/7 we went to GQ 5 times last night. Notice they usually always come at night and it sure screws up our sleep. We have not had anything happen since 6:30 and it is now 18:00 hours. They hit the south end of Karama Passage. I am so tired from lack of sleep that I took my helmet off, sat on it and leaned against the Twin 40 conning tower and went to sleep. I told my loader George Patrick, to wake me if they came over. Frankly I honestly don’t care if I live or die anymore. 6/8 we went to GQ 7 times today. 6/9 we went to GQ 5 times last night. They sank an LCM which was anchored next to us last night. It sank in about 5 minutes. Word is going around that our next invasion is a little island off Formosa. Why? That doesn’t make sense. Japan is the place we need to hit. 6/11- 12 another typhoon warning and we headed for Northern Okinawa again. The typhoon missed so we came back. 6/13 we picked up our orders today. We left tonight with 28 other ships, mostly mine sweepers, to go 120 miles SW to sweep a mine field. 6/14 to 16 we swept mines approximately 20 miles off the coast off the Japanese island of Sackashima Gunto. We had great air cover from Corsairs and F6Fs. 6/18 the Destroyer ahead of us shot down the only two Jap planes to bother us today. It is not much fun watching for both mines and planes at the same time. 6/19 we are still destroying mines today and shrapnel flew all over the ship. A big piece nailed Depew in the shoulder. He is the twin 40 gunner and it right behind my gun. Another piece got Woelfel in the back on the Bridge. 6/21 – 6/22 we had 24 air attacks last night so were at GQ most of the night. They let us sack in today. They sank an LSM, APD and damaged an SV and two others last night. Don’t ask me what those were as I don’t remember anymore. 6/23- 6/24 we headed back out to the mine field today. 6/25 Back at Karama Passage again today. The air attacks have slowed a lot. They are not sinking as many as they were. 6/26 went ashore on liberty for the first time in about 45 days. We climbed to the top of a hill and sat there awhile. We then kicked the football around for awhile. 6/27 I have not mentioned anything about my Yeoman work. I had to keep up with the logs but usually I only did one or two at a time. This time we had been busy and I did not have time to do them. Today I typed 12 pages (days). Remember I said I could not have an erasure I finished one and I had typed the area for the signature of the officer which was J.N. Cutler and then his title Lt. JG. The ship rolled and the typewriter carriage stayed in the same place so I had to do it all over. 6/28 we got paid today for the first time since Palau. Powers and I got money orders for our crew from the crew of the PA214. I sent $40.00 home. My entire pay was $55.00 per month however I gave my folks a dependents check of about $44.00 a month so I was risking my neck for $11.00 a month. Think about that the next time you bitch about the salary you receive today. One thing I will say however was that cigarettes were 40 cents a carton. Time Out for a couple of things that happened that for some reason I don’t know the dates. Speaking of Typhoons, we got caught in the tail end of one once at sea. There was water all over the ship. I went down to get breakfast and it was so rough we served cafeteria style. The floor of the mess hall was wet. The guy in front of me tried to make it to the table on the other side of the ship and didn’t. He landed on his butt and slid clean across the ship holding coffee up in one hand and his tray in the other. I timed it and slammed my tray down on the table and grabbed the table and held on until we started to roll the other way and then I sat down. That reminds me I spotted a Jap bomber coming in just above the water. I was near my 20mm so I hooked up in a flash. By that time had I fired I would have strafed all of our ships between it and us. Would you believe that ship flew completely through the harbor and out the other side? 6/30, 6/31, 7/1, 2nd we remained anchored all time except we picked up stores on the 2nd. It gave me a chance to bring the ships Logs up to date. 7/3 thru 7/10 we went out with minesweepers for two days to practice formation for the invasion of Japan. We also worked on a minefield after that. 7/11 we helped deliver the mail to the smaller ships in the harbor. We would go directly at a ship from the side and someone would 7/12 -7/14 mine sweeping. 7/15 I took a picture from the conning tower showing the bow throwing water about 30 feet in the air. We finally arrived back at Buckner Bay.
7/17 another Typhoon on the way so we pulled out for Typhoon Anchorage about 1600 but we stayed underway all night for some reason. I received a box of cookies from my Aunt Hanna as I recall I did not get to eat a lot of them. 7/18- 7/19 we finally pulled into Typhoon Anchorage in Northern Okinawa. We also got to go swimming again –both days 7/20 -7/21 I had taken my test for Seaman 1st class and passed early on so then I started working toward Yeoman 3rd class except my typing test which I was surprised that I had to take because of my work on the Logs. We came back to Buckner Bay. 7/22 heading out to sweep mines again. 7/23 Jim McArtor had been shot in the chest and while underway we transferred him via a basket to a ship that had a doctor. He was sent back to Buckner Bay. I happened to be on the helm at the time so everybody forgot about me. This was my first time to try anything like this. It was my job to keep us going straight. The closer I got to the other ship the more the pressure built up between the two until at the end I was at right full rudder. Both ships were going the same way of course. We never saw Jim again nor did we ever hear if he made it OK. If any of his relatives read this we would appreciate knowing. Bill’s email is bill@boroweb.com and mine is g.holtmeyer@comcast.net. 7/24 we went mine sweeping today. 7/25 we delivered mail to 21 ships today. 7/26 – 7/30 sweeping mines and we are finally done with this field. 7/31 we arrived in Buckner Bay only to find we had to go to Typhoon Anchorage again. 8/1 while there I got a lot more done on the logs. Except for 8/3 when I slept all day. 8/4 – 8/6 the storm scare is over and on the 6th we started back to Buckner Bay. 8/7 went ashore to church but missed it. Found some Japanese writing but later found it was not important. I would have sent it to a person had it been a letter.
 8/9 we heard that Russia had declared war on Japan. They would not need to fly too far to bomb Japan. 8/10 we got liberty ashore today but our ride back to the ship did not come for us or we missed it. We spent the night on the fantail (back part) of a mine sweeper with life jackets for a pillow. One of the guys said “My God it looks like you are sitting right on top of those mines when you blow them up.” I told him we were about 40 to 50 yards away.” That is why we were having shrapnel hit the deck of the ship as we were obviously too close, Jack Glassford. When were first started destroying mines we would fire the 20mm with short bursts. As we became braver we moved closer and fired the 50 caliber machine guns and finally we handed anyone on duty a rifle. In fact that night we were awakened at 2200 hours to every ship in the harbor firing their smaller guns which had tracer bullets into the air, also pyrotechnics and searchlights. Somebody hollered the war is over. That was the most beautiful spectacle I have ever seen. It makes present fireworks display look like child’s play in comparison. Most of the 1,000 ships were firing. 8/11 we heard it was not officially over but we knew it would be shortly. 8/12 If you recall early on I made up my mind that I was going to die, if not at Okinawa from a Kamikaze pilot or when we hit Japan which would have been next. After I reconciled myself to that fact, I was at peace and I never worried about getting killed again. That is until the bombs were dropped and we found out we were going on that mine sweep to the North. We were told that we expected to lose 25 ships but I don't know if that was common knowledge. Then my demeanor changed and I thought "Oh my God it will be my luck to get killed on one of the last days of the war." Now I am back to acting normal again. Here is perhaps the most stupid of all the things that we ever had to do. August 12th, it is obvious that the war is going to be over so what the Hell are we doing going on a mission where we expected to lose 25 ships? Fortunately the Japs were a little more intelligent and did not come after us. I don't remember the Destroyer Escorts being along with us but it makes sense that they were. I do remember we had a number of Corsairs (planes) flying cover. 8/13 today is my birthday here but it won’t be until tomorrow in the States. One of the minesweepers was damaged and it had to turn back. It must have hit a mine. We kept the water tight doors closed so it evidently just had water in one compartment. 8/25 we swept mines from the 13th until today and we arrived back in Buckner Bay. In the meantime the war had officially ended somewhere around the 15th over there as I recall. The 14th in the States. 8/28 - we left for another sweep of Area x-ray just off the coast of Korea. We swept for about 7 days. We thought we were going back to Buckner Bay but instead we went to the Jap Naval Base at Sasebo, Japan. We had to sweep our way into the harbor. I remember seeing all those big Jap Navel Vessels. It was impressive. A few days later a typhoon hit us, I was in the mess hall when another ship banged into us. I climbed to the top of the ladder and I could see one of our ships with both anchors out and they were going fast backwards. I thought for certain we were going to find it on the rocks in the morning but we didn't.Later we went ashore at Sasebo all the guys wanted to go drinking which I could never understand. I knew I would never be back here so I wanted to see how they lived. I took off on my own and the first thing I did was visit a Catholic Church. I left my shoes outside in a rack. The alter looked like any American alter. The big difference was that there were two large straw mats that took up the entire area where we would have pews. There was an aisle down each side and one down the middle. You have heard the saying that there are no atheists in fox holes. That certainly is true. I said the rosary every night when I was in the war zone.
As I said Richard T. Powers was my buddy and I tried to reach him about 10 or so years ago. There are 153 Richard Powers in the NE. He owned a small town newspaper in a small town in New York at one time. I did not know the T. part at the time. These are the various ships we saw: CARRIERS – Shangri-La, Ranger, Enterprise, Yorktown, Wake Island, and Midway. BATTLESHIPS – Mississippi, New Jersey, Iowa, Tennessee, New Mexico, Idaho, Nevada, California, Wisconsin. CRUISERS – Quincy, Alaska, Guam, San Diego and Tuscaloosa |
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