Post By Gene Holtmeyer on Memorial Day 2007

Now I remember EXACTLY why I went into the Navy during WWII. I always had a bed (sort of) I always had food and I never had anyone shooting at only me only. At Palau we had to worry about them firing at the ship from shore. At Okinawa it was the Kamakazi pilots diving into our ships. One dove into the ship next to us one night so they came close. I had made up my mind that I was going to die there at age 20 or if not there when we hit Japan in September or October . We had 1,000 ships ships in the harbor for that purpose. Suddenly they found that the Air Craft Carriers, Battleships, Cruisers etc were at the other end of the harbor and went after them as they were the ones that was going.to cause them the big problems as we all would have sat offshore and bombarded them. Many bleeding heart thought it as terrible that we dropped the atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima which killed 200,000 a lot of which was women and chi ldren but I say to them Sorry but you are the ones who started the war when you bombed Pearle Harbor on 12/7/1941 when I was 16 years old. So I did not go into the service until 4/10/43 at 18. "Thank GOD for the bomb for the A bomb as not another Japanese or American service men was killed after that." What griped me was that nobody talks about the 200,000 men they lost on Okinawa obviously the men did not matter.We lost 50,000 there alone. I only lost one friend and that was at Iwo Jima a Marine. I thank GOD that my son did not have to go into the service. He turned 18 during a quite time.

It took me about 6 months to get thru my about 6 weeks of boot camp in San Diego. After a month I came down with Spinal Meningitus and was in the hospital 28 days. One beautiful young nurse took a liking to me and she would spend time talking with me and I was the only one she would give rub downs to. I am sure all the other guys hated me but who cares. One day she said "How old are you? I should have realize that was coming but how experieced is an 18 year old.I had to think quickly and I thought about saying 22 as I never had problems for passing for more than 18. I am still kicking myself that I did not say 22 as I would have loved to see where that relationship would have gone. I always had trouble lying however.When I said 18 she said "Oh I thought you were about 24." I never saw her again. I received a 38 day recuperation leave. So that alone accounted for 66 days of boot camp.

Then home on a 38 day leave. Went back and finished boot camp and was sent home on an 11 day leave. (I was schudled to go aborad a cargo ships as a 20mm gunner when I got back). On the last day I came down with Pneumonia and went into Ellington Field Air Force Hospital for 16 days. Word spread over the base that there was a ssick ailor there. So I became a side show exhibit so to speak (which I did not mind at all) and in fact seveal of them brought me boxes of candy. One reason was the the closest Naval base was in New Orleans and we were just outside of Houston. So many had never seen a sailor.

One day Mitse Gaynor who played the lead in the movie South Pacific came there to entiretain the troops. Woundn't you know she stopped at the end of my bed and sang a love song looking right into my eyes. I could feel my fact turning red but I stood it a long time and finally pulled the covers over my head. The doctor said "I am keeping you here at home for another 15 days of recuperation. Many people were saying "What - are you home again?"

I finally went back to San Diego and to Balboa Park, a shipping out place. They have my Pay records so I am getting paid but they could not find my other records ship so they could ship me out until they found them. So I was there for perhaps 6 months and was put incharge of the garbage locker. I did strictly supervisory work and I had two helpers. I went from 165 pounds to 190 as I had access to the food. So now they sent me to Miami where I went throught six weeks of training for small craft school but low and behold now that the have my personel records, they have lost my pay records. I had to write home for money as I was not getting paid. They did not know what to do with me so they sent be through the small craft school again for another 6 weeks. At Miami I was a catcher on the Station soft ball team and I had made the Station basketball team about the time I got shipped out.
They finally found them so it was then that I picked up my ship in New Orleans. If we stop to figure it out I went in on 4/10/43 and I picked up my ship on 1/2/45.

Half of us picked out ship up at New Orleans on 1/2/45 and I kept a diary of every day until I left the ship to go home on 11/23/45 and It is on the Internet but it is pretty boring since we saw very little action until toward the end of the war.

My first two years were a ball and "Yes I had a girl in every port which is expected. " Three of us were walking down the sidewalk in Miami Beach and three girls passed us going the other way. One was gorgeous and I just had to have a date with her. I was bashful but the other two were worse than me. So I said "Come on Guys" and we followed them into the icecream parlor. Turns out she worked for MGM and they were down there making "PT Boat" staring John Wayne. I had six dates with her and got shipped out to New Orleans.

At New Orleans we went down on Bourbon Street and there was drunken sailor giving a girl a hard time on the dance floor. I cut in and she thanked me profusely. We danced together for 2 or 3 hours when I had to be back to the ship by 10. She invited my out to her abode Sunday for a chicken dinner. We got shipped out Saturday on our way back to Maimi. In Miami I found another nice girl, had two dates, got shipped to the South Pacific.

I am currently in touch with two men from my ship who are also still alive and one of them put my diary, which I had typed out, on the Intenet. I am not sure how to reach it but I am sure it is under PGM-31.

02-09-2007 Post By Ginger Haywood

02-09-2007-Post By Ginger Haywood

Hi Bill,

I wanted to thank you so much for putting my email and pictures on your site. It's wonderful thing that you have done, thank you so much, it has given me an avenue for questions that I had with no answers, and that is a great thing. And Gene has been a wonderful help, telling me stories of things that happened aboard ship.

I am including another picture. Click for enlargement It's another puzzle, maybe you can help. Here is a picture I found with my Dad's stuff. I know which one he is in the picture, as you look at the picture, he is the one with hat on on left side down in front of the railing, hat a little tilted. Some of the other guys look familiar from other pictures but I thought that maybe you could tell me approx when and where this was taken, and some other names. " It looks like a day off. " I have tried to clean this up as much as possible but it was really in bad shape. I have left it pretty big so that you can see it, I hope that it comes through that way. I sent a copy of this to Gene and I am going to print out one and send to Frank Kamer also. I am also sending Frank a copy of the picture of you and he in Hawaii.
Again thank you,

Gin

03-06-2007 Post By Gene Holymeyer

I don't know if you were topside or not when we pulled into Okinawa but there was a PGM that had gone aground. I searching it a little further I found that it said the 10 had gone aground there. They later got it unstuck and I am sure it was with us when we were following the Minesweepers.

Speaking of which three of us had gone ashore on leave on one of the islands and either we missed the boat to take us back to the 31 or it never came. So we rode out with one from one of the minesweepers. They said "My GOD it looks like you are sitting right on top of the mines when you explode them. I said we are and thus far two guys have taken shrapnel on the bridge, and another one was hit. And a half a mine lit on our deck heading straight at me and I do mean straight. I just had time enough to jump big time behind the tower of the Twin 40s. I thought for sure I was a goner.

They gave us each a life jacket to use for a pillow and we slept on the fantail. About 10PM (in case you have forgotten that is 2200 hours) all hell broke loose, 20 mm, pyrotecnics, searchlights etc. celebrating the news that the war was over however that was not quite right. Would you believe it, I don't remember how we got back to the ship.

02/20/2007 Post By Ryan Galentine

e-Mail to Gene Holtmeyer on 2/20/2007

Hi Gene: I got this in my mail box this morning!! Another member found. I remember him and nelson too.

Hello, may name is Ryan Galentine and I am currently enlisted as an Electricians Mate Third class in the US Navy. While researching my grandfathers former ship, I ran across your web site. He has been very eager to speak with some of his old shipmates and asked me to send you these pictures. His Name is Frank Kamer 2239 Suncrest DR. Columbus Ohio 43223. Phone # 614-274-6872. If you have any questions or need to contact me please fell free. Ryan Galentine Ph# 614-354-6892 rgalentine@yahoo.com thank you an dwe both look foreward to hearing from you.

Ryan sent pictures. Here is one of them. I will post the rest on the PGM 31 site;

02-20-2007 Post By Bill Borough

Hi Mike: I got your e-mail. It was good to hear from you. On the PGM 31 site we have a ships blog and is where we add all e-mails and stuff that we receive. Gene Holtmeyer an other crew member has you dad listed there as a crew member. you have to scroll down a way to get to it. Till us about your father. What did he do? Where did he live? Any sea stories? Do you have a pictures you could sent to us to put up on the site.

Bill Borough

www.keywestwatercolors.com

www.billborough.com

http://www.billborough.com/PGM-31.html

02-19-2007 Post By Michael Dziovgo

Hi Bill....my father married my Mom Helen Solar from W.Va April 12,1947.....they met in night school in the Bronx......kids as follows...Joe Jr. 03/02/47 (USMC Vietnam Vet),Elizabeth 09/03/49,Me 01/10/54, Edward 09/14/61..........we lived in Somerville NJ in our first house from 1961-1986....Dad was a draftsman (furniture) which he loved to do....he got colon cancer in 1984, retired to a brand new house with my mother in Fountain Hills, Arizona in 1986...The cancer came back and spread to his liver...sadly my father passed away in Somerville NJ at the young age of 61 on 10/13/88........he was buried in the Bronx but about 10 yrs ago my Mom had him moved to Piscataway NJ where I live........ my Mom will be 79 in 2 wks and she lives in a nice retirement village about an hour from me.......my father and the rest of our family were so proud of what he and the rest of you servicemen and women did........you truly were THE GREATEST GENERATION...I'll send you some real good pictures this weekend.........God bless Michael