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My U.S. Navy Days 

Navy Boot Camp, Great Lakes, IL 

This is a chronology of my life while in the Navy. My active service days were  from July 31, 1959 to July 9, 1961. Some of the chronlology I had written down  in my personal log book but I wasn’t very good at keeping it up to date on a  regular basis. However, even after 60 years, at age 77, many of the events are  still very fresh in my mind, almost as though it was yesterday. To quickly sum it  up, my time in the U.S. Navy was an absolutely incredible and unforgettable  experience for which I will always be grateful. So many unique experiences  happened to me during that time. I will never know how I got to be lucky enough  to own all those experiences.  

The year was 1959. I was young, 17 and in my senior year of high school. My  best friend, Ed Fitzgerald joined the Marines for a two year stint about a year  earlier. I had always planned on being a Marine also. Just weeks before  graduation, the Marines changed their enlistment policy and upped their  minimum active duty requirement from 2 years to 4 years. Two years was OK  but four years was out of the question for me. At this time, the US had a  mandatory draft policy and any male of legal age and in good medical condition  could count on being drafted for two years into the Army unless they voluntarily  enlisted into another branch of the services. I never wanted anything to do with  the Army and I wasn't real keen on the Air Force. The Army had offered a "Six  Month Wanderer" program. That was 6 months of active duty, five and a half  years of weekly meetings in Dubuque plus two weeks every summer in Ft.  Leonard Wood, MO. That was very popular with many guys. My brothers Duane,  Phil and Chris each chose that option as did a number of my classmates.  

Within days after high school graduation and just having turned 18, I went to  the Navy Reserve Center in Dubuque and talked with the commanding officer  there. I told him I would agree to the Navy’s program of two years active duty to  be followed by two years active reserves and another two years of inactive  reserves. I also mentioned that I wanted to go on active duty ASAP. The  following week I went into Dubuque again during a reserve meeting where I was  sworn into the Navy and signed my paperwork. A few weeks later, I received  orders dated July 7, 1959 to report to the Great Lakes Naval Training Center at  Camp Barry (Gate #2) no later than 16:00 July 31, 1959. 

On July 31st, Dad, Mom, Chris and I left for the Great Lakes Naval Center north  of Chicago along Lake Michigan. There wasn't much to do once we got to the  main gate so we parted and they headed back to my home town of Dyersville,  Iowa where in 1989 they filmed the movie “Field of Dreams” starring Kevin  Kostner, Amy Maddigan, Burt Lancaster and James Earl Jones. 

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I had just a few personal things which I was to told to bring along to boot camp  and I was quickly ushered to the check in area of the Boot Camp Training  Center. Hundreds of others were there getting processed which included a  medical checkup, a buzz hair cut, signing papers, issued everything in the way  of clothes and toiletries that we would need and then we were grouped by our  assigned companies. I was assigned to Company 356, along with 75 other guys.  Our commanding Officer was CPO R. J. Simmons and we were marched to our  barracks. The barracks were only about 1 year old and were brick construction. The other barracks across the street were wooden, old and very heavily used. A  block away was a new Mess Hall and nearby was the drill field.  

Boot Camp primarily consisted of 3 months of indoctrination into a sailors life. The first thing was being thrown into the middle of 75 new guys which made  up our company. That was very different from my days in Dyersville. I think  most of us got along pretty well. After the first week we could see that our  days were going to be pretty routine. We were informed that each company  was entitled to have 2 men qualify for the Drum & Bugle Corps. Fortunately, I  played a coronet in the Xavier band from 7th grade thru my senior year of  high school, which included a lot of marching in parades. Just what they  wanted. The next day I tried out for the Drum & Bugle Corps and was accepted.  We practiced every morning and afternoon for 1 ½ hours. The rest of the time  was pretty much our own. 

After 3 or 4 weeks of practicing we started playing for special events and each  weekend a number of different companies would graduate from boot camp  training. The graduation ceremonies were held across the highway and  railroad tracks at the main base parade grounds and we in the Drum & Bugle  Corps always marched and played for the occasion. That was pretty cool.  

My time in boot camp ended up being quite different from the other guys, at  least during the day. There were only two exceptions to that. One day we all  went to a fire control area where we learned fire fighting techniques that could  be applied to a fire aboard a ship. One another day we had rifle practice with a  22 cal. rifle. While growing up in Iowa, I went hunting many times for squirrels,  rabbits and pheasants, so that wasn’t much of a test of skill. Around 3 PM  each day, we finished our drum and bugle practice and a bit later, training for  the rest of the company ceased and everyone went back to the barracks for  personal activities such as chow time, washing clothes, shining shoes,  inspections and chit-chat.  

After 8 weeks we finally got our first Saturday liberty. Some of us went to  Chicago and a number of guys got tattoos, but not me. We had to be back by  midnite. Two weeks later we had an actual overnite pass. This time I went to  Milwaukee and spent the weekend with Gerry Kintzle, my HS classmate who  was going to Marquette Univ. The Chicago Northwestern railroad went right  between the boot camp area and the parade grounds. It was simple just  hopping on the train to either Chicago or Milwaukee.  

Near the end of boot camp we were all given orders for our next assignment. I  received a letter from the Classification Interviewer at Great Lakes and I was 

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recommended as a Seaman Apprentice and would receive “on the job training  for Sonar” at a Naval school in Florida. However, just before our boot camp  graduation ceremonies, I received new orders to report to the Naval base at  Norfolk, VA where I would be assigned to the USS Hermitage, LSD-34. On  Saturday after our company's Boot Camp graduation, I headed home for 2  weeks of leave with my new orders in hand. The first time home in 3 months,  the longest I had ever been away. 

I spent my 2 weeks of leave around Dyersville seeing old frineds, time with  family and driving a car again. After my 2 weeks leave was up, on Oct 28,  1959, I hopped on the Land of Corn train in Dyersville for Chicago. Then  boarded New York Central and changed to the Chesapeake and Ohio in  Cincinnatti. The next night at 8 PM I arrived in Norfok, VA. I took a bus to the  Norfolk Naval Base and was directed to report to the receiving station. 

Boot Camp Graduation (Sept. 14, 1959)3 

Boot Camp Graduation at Great Lakes

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FORWARD to the USS HERMITAGE 

The US Dept. of Defense consists of the Army, Navy and Air Force. The  department of Navy includes the regular Navy, Marines and also Coast Guard.  The USS Hermitage was part of the Navy’s 2nd fleet on the east coast with our  home port being Little Creek, VA. 

Specifically, the Hermitage was designed for offensive amphibious operations,  primarily transporting marines with “all” their equipment and delivering them  to a specific landing beach. As long as we were in Little Creek, only assigned  Navy personnel were on board. Once we received orders to proceed to a  specific destination, we immediately proceeded to Morehead City, NC to load  Marines with all their equipment and vehicles.  

We had Marines on board with us most of my time that I was on the Hermitage.  Several of my best friends on board were Marines. Having mostly young sailors  and young marines together with their aggressive egos, you might think it  could lead to a very contenious situation. I’m sure there must have been some  disagreements but I can’t remember ever hearing of a serious disagreement or  a fight between one of our sailors and a marine. 

USS Hermitage Namesake in Nashville President Andrew Jackson Estate

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Aboard the USS Hermitage (LSD-34) Landing Ship Dock 

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Welcome Aboard !!! 

Welcome Aboard !!! 

When I arrived at the Navy receiving station, I told them I was to report to the  USS Hermitage, LSD-34. They informed me that the ship was not due in port  for several weeks yet while undergoing an extensive overhaul. I was directed  

to report to a temporary barracks where I was put on KP (mess) duty till my  ship arrived. It was a boring job in the mess hall doing dishes, cleaning tables,  swabbing decks, etc. The rest of the time which was very little, was my own.  As I was walking along the piers on my way to the PX one evening, 2 sailors  approached me coming in the opposite direction. As we got close I realized I  knew them. They were Gary Lammers and Jerry Ernster from Dyersville and we  went to school together ever since kindergarten. We stood and talked for quite  awhile, then parted and we never saw each other again. That was the one and  only time I ever saw anyone from my civilian past while in the Navy.  

My temporary mess duty lasted about a week until I was notified that the  Hermitage was back in port after taking a shakedown cruise to Cuba. I was to  report on board immediately. On 11/4/59, I took a Navy shuttle bus to the  pier area and reported to the Officer of the Deck on the Hermitage and was  told to go to X Division which was an interim berthing area below decks. With  some help I was able to find X Division. 

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The next day or two I spent roaming several areas of the ship learning  important stuff, terms like ladders, the head, the difference between port and  starboard, bow and stern, fore and aft, topside and below decks, etc.  

Early the next morning I heard an announcement over the PA system to  remove all lines in preparation to depart. A bit later they anounced that we  were underway and headed out into the Atlantic Ocean. I had no idea what our  destination was. After several hours we were out of sight of land where the  ocean waters started getting much rougher. That was the start of my first and  thankfully, my last episode of sea sickness. It was terrible. It lasted all of that  day and night and into the second day. I couldn’t eat and had trouble making  it to the head (bathroom).  

Multiple times during the first 2 days at sea, they had called my name over the  PA system to report to the OD (Officer on deck) but I was too seasick to get up.  Late on the second day I managed to get out of the bunk and was given directions to the OD. I climbed the ladder up a couple decks and I finally  reported to the OD. He wondered what took me more than a day to report, so I  explained and he understood. We processed some paper work, I was given  certain supplies and some general indication of what would lie ahead for me.  

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Seasickness is not fun and 2 days was more than enough for me. Fortunately, I  never got it again. We had a guy by the name of Karcher. Everytime he heard  the words “we are underway” he automatically became seasick. How he was  able to perform his duties, I don’t know, but whenever he was not on duty, he  was sick in his bunk or laying on the table that we used for playing cards and  folding laundry.  

All hands that had not been overseas lately or at all, which was a large number of the 350 sailors aboard had to receive shots. We were given a number of  different shots. Small pox, tetanus shots, typhoid shots, diptheria shots and  shots I had never heard of. Any time we went to a different part of the globe,  we were given additional dosages or different types of shots. 

Since my original orders for sonar school were changed, I had received no  advanced training prior to reporting on board ship. Therefore, I was assigned  to A division (or deck division) on the starboard side of the ship. We were  known as boatswain mates, the guys that swabbed the main decks, greased  the cables, painted whatever, all the lowly grunt work jobs. We reported to  either of 2 big burly old-timers who were First and Second Class Petty Officers.  Not really the kind of guys you wanted to work for and I was working with  guys that would not have been my choice. But that was my first assigned duty and I was bound and determined to move onto something better when it  became available. 

I was starting to meet some of the other shipmates and becoming familiar  with my way around parts of the ship. We were finally told that our eventual  destination was Karachi, Pakistan. On Nov 17, we spotted the southern tip of  Portugal. The next day we tied up to the pier at the U.S. Navy base in Rota,  Spain. We were given several hours where we could take our first steps ashore 

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foreign soil. Several of us walked around parts of the base, not time to do  much more. After the ship was refueled, we departed about 15:00 hours.  

The next morning we spotted the northern tip of Morroco, near Tangier. On  Nov. 20 we dropped anchor in the Bay of Naples, Italy where we took on 5  marine helicopters and additional provisions. By 16:00 we were underway  again and shortly after that, we went by the Isle of Capri. Later we went thru  the Straits of Sicily and past the bottom tip of Italy.  

On Nov. 25, 1959 we anchored outside Port Said, Egypt, a short distance to  the entrance of the Suez Canal. Other ships were anchored around us also. It  didn’t take long to figure out that we were in a group of approx. 30 ships  waiting for the go-ahead to enter the Suez Canal. 

Meanwhile, numerous small boats and canoes were crowding around us. They  were called ‘bum boats’. A fancy name for the bum boats would be “merchant  display vehicles”. The owners had their bum boats full of goods which they  were offering for sale. Goods ranged from clothing, trinkets, pictures, hats,  shoes, you name it. We were 20 to 40 feet above the water surface and they  were trying to do business with us. Goods were displayed and prices were  tough to negotiate while we spoke English and they spoke Arabic, but sales  were made. Prices might start at $20-$25 but in minutes the price could be  down to 3-5 dollars. Guys would send their cash down by rope to the  merchant and then they would haul their goods up by the same rope. In most  cases, business went with out a hitch. However, one sailor was very unhappy  with a merchant and they argued and fought. Finally the sailor grabbed a  heavy 5 lb. shackle, held it over the merchants bum boat and dropped it.  Immediately the boat was filling with water, the merchant was screaming and  all of his merchandise was floating away.  

I bought an intricately detailed inlaid jewelry music box. Probably paid $5-$10  for it. I still have it after all these years and it looks good but the mechanism  no longer works. 

About the time that we were entering the Suez Canal, the crew was informed  of more details about our trip to Pakistan. President Dwight D. Eisenhower  (IKE) was travelling to Karachi to meet with the new Pakistan President Ayub  Kahn. IKE was the first western Chief of State to visit the relativily new counrty  of Pakistan which was formed in 1947 by splitting India. Multiple meetings  were scheduled between the presidents as well as several public events. 

We had IKE’s personal ‘Marine One’ helicopter on board the Hermitage plus at  least 4 other Marine support helicopters. The term ‘Marine One’ refers to the  Presidents personal helicopter for short-mileage official government business. The term ‘Air Force One’ was a Boeing 707 jet, for usage on long-mileage  transportation of the President. 

The Suez Canal is approx. 120 miles long, stretching from Port Said on the  north end to Port Suez on the south end. A convoy of about 30 ships on each  end would leave at a scheduled time, one heading south, the other heading 

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north. About two thirds of the way down is a large body of water called The  Great Bitter Lake. The convoy leaving from the south end at Port Suez will arrive at the Great Bitter Lake first and they will spread out around the lake  and drop anchor, allowing the other convoy to proceed thru when it arrives.  We were the only Man-of-War ship in our 30 ship convoy. All other ships were  merchant ships. Each ship is required to have a pilot on board to help  manuveur through the canal. 

Approaching Entrance to the Suez Canal

This was a rather slow journey. It was a very narrow canal. Almost anywhere  you stood on the ship, you would see nothing but sand on either side. Egypt  to the west and Saudi Arabia to the east, with some mountains in the  background. In order to see the water, you had to walk up to either side of the  ship and look almost straight down. The canal was really that narrow.  

Relations between America and Egypt at this time were rather tense. As we  made our way thru the canal, we saw several Egyptian military outposts. Each  outpost had a couple sizable assault guns clearly visible. This was the first of  only two times during the 21 months that I was aboard the Hermitage that we  had live ammuntion stored next to our gun mounts. If anything had happened,  it would have been very close range shooting.  

The canal trip was interesting. We all heard about Egypt and other countries  while in grade school but seeing it was different. Once you left either Port Said  or Port Suez, there was almost no sign of any life. At several places along the  way, we would see laborers moving sand or rocks with a long pole over their  shoulders and bags on each end. They would dump it then come back for  more. We also saw the use of some camels hauling sand or rocks. At 19:00 we  reached Port Suez. Our canal venture lasted 18 hours with no incidents. We 

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were now sailing on the Red Sea onto the Arabian Sea and then the Indian  Ocean. The water was smooth as glass. 

As a side note, the Suez Canal has been greatly modernized since 1959. The  width of the canal now is more like a 15 lane highway. Two huge container  ships or oil tankers can easily pass side by side with much room to spare. Huge areas of sand are piled up along the way from the dredging. Population  growth has been dramatic with cities, recreation areas and irrigated farming  areas clearly visible now.  

On Nov. 28, 1959 we saw a large school of about 200 porpoises. While on the  Hermitage, it was not uncommon to see porpoises. Sometimes they may have  been dolphins, they are very similar and hard to tell apart. They swam with us  for close to an hour and then they disappeared. 

That afternoon we met up with the destroyer USS Douglas H. Fox. We had  picked up a load of mail for them when we were in Naples. It was the first mail  they had in 3 months. Transferring mail on the open seas can be a relatively  easy manuver using several lines between each ship. It was also easier for us  because the water was relatively smooth. The weather that day was hot but the  Douglas H. Fox had the right idea. Almost all of their topside surface was  covered with white tarpaulins. However, transferring fuel from an oiler to our  ship or transferring a person between ships is a much more risky and  dangerous undertaking. It is done with great care, at slower speeds and  hopefully smooth water. 

Dec. 2, 1959 we reached Karachi, Pakistan. Took us about 3 hours to get  moored to the pier. In the afternoon we unloaded some of the copters and  cleaned up the ship. The word was that IKE would be coming aboard ship  occassionally to board or depart his personal ‘Marine One’ helicopter. 

On Dec. 3 several of us hired a horse and cart to take us into town. Taxis were  few and far between. Karachi was a large city but appeared very old and poor.  The major means of transportation was by donkey or camel. Only the main  street in town was paved, all others were dirt and dust. Beer was only a quarter  a bottle and there were only 2 brands. We went over to check out a big crowd  on the corner. Turned out someones camel fell over dead from the heat. I  bought a pretty nice bull whip from a vendor for $3, I might still have it. The  guy wanted to be paid in American dollars and he wanted to make the  exchange in an alley. There must have been a black market on US money. 

There wasn’t anything appealing about downtown Karachi but we heard of the  American sector on the other side of town, so we went there. They had an  American Club with slot machines, other types of gambling and decent food and drinks. It was a very active club. I met a nice girl there several times, Fran  Selden. Her father was with the U.S. Diplomatic Corps. Since we were in a  foreign country, all we could get was “Cinderella Liberty” which meant that we  had to be back to the ship by midnite. 

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On Dec. 8, 1959 Pres. Eisenhower arrived in Karachi, Pakistan. That morning  he gave a speech on the front lawn of the U.S. Embassy which was the nicest  place in Karachi. Fortunately I was able to go see IKE’s speech that day. Capt.  

Anderson let as many sailors as possible go ashore for the speech. That  afternoon IKE came aboard the Hermitage, visited a bit then took off in his  copter for New Delhi, India.  

The next day the President of Pakistan hosted a horse show and a polo match  at the polo grounds in honor of IKE. I caught a ride over by donkey carriage  but I had to be back to the ship at noon for my scheduled watch. It turned out  to be a long show and I didn’t want to miss any of it but as soon as it was over,  I took off around the back of the bleachers in a fast walk with my head down,  not watching what was ahead. Near the entrance to the Polo Grounds, I  physically ran into someone. I looked up and I was really stunned. I had just  about knocked Pres. Eisenhower over. I quickly stepped back, saluted IKE,  apologized to him and took off again. I found the first mode of transport back  to the ship and I got back in time for my watch.  

President Dwight D. Eisenhower 

US Embassy in Karachi, Pakistan 

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Fast forward to 1963 when President John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas. I  thought about my incident with IKE and realized the irony. If my running into  IKE had occurred after JFK’s assisnation, I’m absolutely sure I would have been  stopped and thorougly questioned by the 2 secret service agents that were right there when I ran into IKE. But that was 1959 and the secret service  agents never intervened in any way. During that week I saw IKE three times,  one of the two times he came aboard ship, at the Embassy and I when bumped into him at the polo grounds. 

Life Magazine Coverage of Ike’s Trip

Tues. Dec. 15, 1959 we left Karachi. Karachi had a law that a ship could not  blow its stacks while in port. After 13 days of accumulating all our soot, once  we got underway and out of port, we blew stacks for over half an hour. The  rest of the day we spent swabbing decks of all the soot. 

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up while dangling from a cable, the winds became rather strong which gave  some guys an idea and they decided to rock the cable car even more. It was  pretty scary for some of us. We finally made it up to the top safe and sound.  

Once at Montserrat, the view was fantastic with very strange rock formations.  We could see France which was about 60 miles away. The monastery was huge,  beautiful and ornate. There were several churches, chapels, very large  residence buildings and much more. Our tour must have taken 3-4 hours.  After another exciting trip down in the cable car, we went to the old monastery  at the bottom of the mountain. We were served a delicious 6 course meal by  the monks. Each course included a different selection of wine. It was the first  time I experienced a really extraordinary dinner. On the way back to Barcelona, we passed a large monument commemorating Hannibal’s crossing of the  Pyrenees mountains with his elephants. It had to have been a very difficult feat.  It was a very memorable day which cost each of us only $8, but it seemed like  a lot of money back then. 

Jan. 5, 1960 at 10:00 we left Barcelona and headed to the Rock of Gibraltar.  The next day was the day I had been looking forward to since getting on the  ship. I was swabbing the main deck in the cold and wind when First Class  Signalman Robert Smith, Third Class Bob Hall and Jim Wallace walked up to me.  Smith asked me if I would be interested in leaving the deck division and  becoming a Signalman. I immediately said “yes”, without even thinking of what  it meant to be a Signalman. I have no idea why they decided to ask me, I don’t  remember talking with any of them concerning making such a move. The first  thing I did was move my gear to ‘C’ division (communications) with other  signal, radio, radar and yeoman personnel.  

Our signal bridge was the very top deck of the ship. That’s where our job was  located. From the signal bridge, we could see the entire top surface of the ship,  from the tip of the bow in front to the stern at the very back. We could also  see most activities taking place anywhere above deck. It was a strategically  advantageous location. 

We got to the Rock of Gibraltar on Jan. 7 and tied up to the pier for a few  hours and left again in the afternoon. I never knew what the purpose of our  stop was. I didn’t see anyone get on or off the ship but the Rock was an  impressive sight. It was said there were tunnels running everywhere thru the  rock along with ventilation, store rooms and more. You can only imagine what  an impressive fortress it was. 

As we were leaving the Rock of Gibraltar, we received a radio message warning  that we could expect 60-70 foot waves on our way back to the states. We were  taking a treacherous route across the North Atlantic in December with very  high winds. Not a good combination. The message also noted that an oil  tanker in the same area we were going, had broken in half and sunk with all  her oil. The reason it sank was that a wave about 60 feet high rolled under the  ship and with the weight of the oil, it cracked the keel. The keel is the main rib  structure that holds the ship together. We had never been in any weather  remotely close to those soon-to-be dangerous conditions.

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It was a very rough 10 day trip back to the states. Orders were issued for the  remainder of the trip home, that no personnel were allowed above decks or  anywhere outside. The only exception were the signalmen which now included  me. We had to be outside in order to perform our duties. The first thing we did  was go up to the signal bridge and we tied life-lines (ropes) everywhere  around the bridge. The expected rain and ocean spray would keep the decks  wet at all times and slippery, and in case we lost our footing and started  sliding, we needed something to grab onto so we wouldn’t go overboard and  drown in the icy water. We also grabbed extra gear and clothes because it was  going to be very difficult staying dry in the blustery wind and rainy conditions.  

After the first day it became clear that even the “old salts” with 15 to 25 years  of ship duty were becoming so seasick that they just stayed in their bunks. It’s  a big physcological problem for some people to be cooped up and never be  able to go outside and get some fresh air. There was a positive spin to this  though, the 3 of us never once had to wait in the chow line. Lots of guys  weren’t showing up to eat. Even eating can be a chore in very rough seas. You  can’t keep coffee in your cup or soup in your bowl and your tray keeps shifting  from one side of the table to the other. There was one memorable time when I  was in the chow line right behind someone who wasn’t feeling too good. The  first thing in the chow line was always soup. As soon as he saw the gunboat of  soup sloshing from front to back, he lost it and threw up in the soup and  elsewhere. That was enough for that meal. 

When looking forward you see the pointed front or bow of the ship. As a large  wave would pass under the ship, the bow would rise high out of the water. As  the wave progressed toward the back of the ship the bow would come  crashing down against the back of the wave making a huge cracking noise which would vibrate throughout the whole ship. Everyone could hear it clearly.  It sounded like the keel breaking in half. As the bow would rise again, the  whole bow would be totally under water and the water would be thrown  halfway up the mast and all the way to the back of the ship.  

During this trip, most of the time there was not much of any official business  for us to do. We were desparate so the three of us created a simple game  called “beat the waves”. We would stand at the bulkhead overlooking the bow  and wait for the water to totally cover the bow. When the bow started to rise  out of the water, we would make a mad dash back to the signal shack before  we got totally drenched by the water. It was surprising how fast the bow would  come out of the water and the force that it would create. It was also a strange  sensation when the ship would list so much from side to side that we could  not walk against the direction of the list. It was probably a 35-40 degree list. 

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Talking on a 12 inch signal light

One of our jobs as a signalman, was to challenge any ship that we saw on the  high seas. We would get on a 12 inch light (day or night) and by using visual  Morse Code, we would ask them who they were, their country of origin and  their destination. I don’t remember anytime when they didn’t answer. A 12”  light could be seen on the horizon for approx. 10-15 miles, depending on  conditions. It would seem that the seas and oceans are a huge vast expanse of  emptiness. It was quite the opposite. I was amazed at how many merchant  ships we would encounter. I never kept track but I would guess we would meet  at least 4-10 ships every day out in the middle of nowhere. 

During the entire 10 day trip across the Atlantic was the one and only time we  never had any visual sight of another ship. Late one night the radar guys saw a  blip on their screen which was about 25-30 miles away. The OD told us to make contact with them. We called engineering and had them turn on the  large 36 inch light which was about half way up the mast. We climbed up to  the light which was scary due to the wind, rain, and heavy swaying of the ship.  Radar techs gave us approximate directions for the location of the ship. We  were too far away to point the light directly at them because of the arc of the  earth. So we started challenging them by bouncing our large light beam off  the clouds in their direction. It took a number of tries but we finally made  contact with them. That was a very memorable achievement.

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Gary on the big 36 inch search and signal light

Note: That was the first of only 2 times we ever used the 36” light during the  21 months I was aboard. It was controlled by engineering below decks where  they had to turn on the power. It had 2 large arcing electrodes and the large  36” magnified lens behind the electrodes. It was a very powerful light and we  

were told never to stand in front of it when on. The rumor was that it could  burn a hole through you. Whether this rumor was true or not, I don’t know. True or not, it would have been extremely painful. 

Jan. 17, 1960, we pulled into Little Creek following an event filled trip. After  being gone for 2 and a half months, we were rather happy to get back to the  states and familiar sights. Many of the sailors had their families waiting at the  pier when we tied up. It had to be a surprising sight to our visitors. The ship  had never looked that bad before. The entire ship was covered with a thick  layer of sea salt from top to bottom and bow to stern after 10 days of  continually receiving ocean spray. 

We stayed in Little Creek for over a month. I don’t have any notes from that  period so it must have been a rather uneventful time. I’m sure we spent a lot  of our time on board ship but there also had to be a few trips into downtown  Norfolk or Virginia Beach. On weekdays when the end of our duty time rolled  around at 4 o’clock, many of the guys, even the oldest ones, would hurry to  the mess hall where there was a TV. Everyone would sit there and watch Dick  Clark and his American Bandstand. It was a huge hit. 

On monday Mar. 7, 1960 we left Little Creek en route to Morehead City, NC. It  eventually became obvious that whenever we left Little Creek for amphibious 

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exercises or for a foreign port, that our first stop would always be Morehead  City, NC. Morehead City was adjacent to the largest U.S. Marine base on the  east coast and was 200 miles south of Little Creek. We would usually load a  contingent of approx. 300 Marines with all their personal gear as well as their  weapons and ammunition, a large LCM boat (landing craft mechanical), 6-8 smaller LCVP’s (landing craft vehicle-personnel, Higgins boats), multiple jeeps and a large fuel tanker truck. The Marines had regular sleeping quarters on  board the Hermitage but everything else went into our well deck area. 

On Mar. 8 we left Morehead City and on Thurs. we pulled into Ft. Lauderdale,  FL. That evening, Gale Friend and I went to Miami where we met up with my  hunting buddy, John Evers from Dyersville, Iowa. He took us to the dog races  at Gulfstream then on to see the horse races at Hialeah Park. We got back to  the ship about 02:00. On Sunday, John’s older brother, Clyde Evers, his wife  Mary and 2 kids picked me up at the ship. They showed me around Miami,  Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Seaquarium, etc. It was a nice weekend, meeting  up with some good Dyersville friends.  

Mon. Mar 14 we left Ft. Lauderdale and headed south for the Caribbean. We  got as far as Eleuthera Island by the 15th. The next morning we turned around  and headed for Mayport, Fla. The reason was unknown to us for classified  reasons. The next day we took on a few more copters and more Marines. By  17:00 we were underway again, this time headed for the US Naval Base at  Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Mar. 20 we arrived at GTMO navy base and anchored  in the bay. Several guys went ashore but they couldn’t get beyond the base.  We heard news about several native Cubans taking pot shots at anyone getting  close to the fence around the base. The copters and some of the Mairnes were  unloaded at Gtmo. The USS Providence, a light guided missle cruiser, 3  destroyers and a sub were also anchored in the bay with us. At 20:00 we left  again for Eluthera Is. Our next task was to help the USS Aeolus lay some  underwater communications cable. Mar. 24 we finished laying cable and  headed to San Juan, Puerto Rico. 

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El Morro Castle at entrance to San Juan, Puerto Rico  

This was the first of 4 or 5 different visits to San Juan while I was on board. It  almost started to feel like home. Mar. 26, 1960 we tied up at the Pan American  pier which was right next to the San Juan airstrip. Frequently we would see the new and impressive Boeing 707 jets take off and land. We spent the next 13  days in San Juan and it was a good liberty port. San Juan is split into new San  Juan and old San Juan. Many of us spent our time in the old part because it  was more fun and a lot less expensive. One day we toured the Castillo de San  Marcos which is strategically located at the tip of the channel coming into San  Juan. Another day we went swimming at the popular Army/Navy beach. An  hour later we had to vacate the beach because a large school of dangerous  Barracuda was sighted nearby. Everyplace we went, little kids followed us  around begging for money. At first it was cute and we gave them some money  but after 2 or 3 days we started chasing them away. The standard drink in  Puerto Rico is Rum and Coke and it was cheap enough in the old city that we  had plenty of them.  

Everyday like clock work, it was sunny and warm and between 13:00 & 14:00 it  would rain. After every shower, our deck had to be swabbed and we had to  shine any brass fixtures on our signal bridge. Fri. Apr. 8, we left San Juan for  St. Johns, Antiqua. While backing out of the channel we barely missed hitting a  merchant ship by a few feet. The next day we anchored 1.5 miles from St.  James Point, near St. Johns, Antiqua. The USS Penobscot followed us in and  they were supposed to sail with us for awhile. The Penobscot was a towing  vessel and also conducted torpedo and navy mine recovery operations.  

For the first time since I was on board we had “swim call”. The procedure is to  lower the stern gate, allow water into the ballast tanks so the ship would set  lower in the water, remove any landing craft, ballast up and close the stern  gate. The water fills up to about 12 feet deep. The first thing we did was wait  several minutes to check the water to make sure there were no sharks in it. 

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There was one time we had a shark and we had to reverse the entire procedure.  Sharks are also the reason we can’t swim alongside the ship.  

Apr. 10, 1960 we anchored near Viegues Is. along with other ships of Phibron 10 (Amphibious Squadron) including the carrier USS Boxer, LSD’s Spiegel  Grove and Ft. Snelling and LST DeSoto county. Viegues is a relatively large  island with civilian population on one half. The other half of the island was  desolate and belonged to the US Navy for the purpose of gunnery exercises  and training of amphibious landings. We had a full compliment of at least 300  Marines on board with all their gear and landing craft. They would practice  simulated invasion landings. The other form of training was for our gunnery  personnel that manned the large 20 mm A/A guns and the smaller 3 inch/50  caliber guns on board. Planes would fly overhead pulling drones about 10 foot  long as a target. The drones were at the end of a very long line to avoid  accidentally shooting the plane. We would return to Viegues multiple times for  additional gunnery practices. 

King Neptune & wife Amphitrite during Shellback initiation 

The evening of Dec. 21 the Polywogs (approx. 75% of the crew and Marines)  assembled for a meeting in the well deck. After we agreed on our plan of  attack, we disbursed and went into action. The door of the electrical shop was  welded shut with Bakelar (Underwater Demolition Team-shellback) still inside. Bakelar was the biggest, most muscular guy on the whole ship. Bane (the other  UDT-shellback) was chained to the safe in the disbursing office. Shellback  Officers were pulled out of their staterooms and all but 4 were locked up or  tied. The mighty Polywogs had gained control of the ship and were about to  broadcast it over the PA system when the Executive Officer, Cornetta called  everyone to quarters and we were told that the ‘gig’ was over. Tuesday  morning the Polywog flag was hauled up the mast and guarded till noon when  my boss, Shellback Smitty ran it down. The Shellbacks also made a Jolly Roger  flag but the unshakeable Polywogs ditched it over the side.  

Wed. morning Dec. 22, lookouts were stationed around the ship to watch for  Davy Jones to emerge from his deep sea locker. The uniform of the day was  wool watch caps, heavy foul weather jackets, skivy shorts turned backwards  and shoes. At 09:34 we crossed the equator and we were honored by a visit  from Davy Jones and his guards. The noon meal was served by Polywog First  

Class and Chief Petty Officers who also cleaned the tables, swabbed the mess  hall and worked in the deep sink and scullery while in dress uniform. The  more fortunate Polywog officers formed a choir and sang for the Shellbacks.  Marines ate in their fatigues turned inside out while we were in blue trousers  and jerseys. Anyone that had the watch wore white jumpers backwards, swim  suits and sneakers. 

That afternoon the flight deck was filled with various activites. The band gave  a concert to start things off and the Marine and Navy Honor guards were  mustered and inspected. The soccer team played an exhibtion game with their  legs tied, plus a parachute jump was staged along with some helo operations

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and also the band had another concert but this time with Chaplain Young  posing as an exotic island belly dancer.  

Thurs. Dec 23 was proclaimed as initiation day for all Polywogs. There were  only about 50 Shellbacks aboard to carry out the initiation activities which was  hardly enough to keep everything in line, so the first few Polywogs that finished their initiation got to help dish it out to the other Polywogs. That day  King Neptunes’ roar was heard throughout the ship and his wrath fell upon  many a Polywog. 

Time for a real “professional haircut” 

At 09:30 on this day we crossed the equator, (the first time for most of us),  and the ceremonies began. Some of the initiation activities that transpired  were: 

1) we had to kiss the knee of King Neptunes Queen at which time we got a  good squirt of quinine in the eyes and then had to rinse our mouths with  quinine water. 

2) we were smeared with tar. 

3) we had to crawl into a pine coffin with holes all around the sides and be  squirted with high pressure fire hoses which was rather painful. 

4) kiss the baby’s belly while he rubbed grease in our hair. 

5) be locked in the stockade while mighty big Bakelaar whipped us with a  heavy rubber hose. 

6) given a variety of gross haircut types. 

7) dumped backwards into a large tank of dirty, oil bilge water.

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8) and the most painful was to walk the gauntlet line while 30 Shellbacks  wacked us with heavy rubber fire hoses. They didn’t hold back either and if someone went thru too fast, they had to make the journey a second time. 

Your turn in the bilge water 

All in all, it was a pretty rough initiation, one I don’t want to go through again  but I wouldn’t want to miss it either. A few Polywogs refused to go thru with it.  A couple others claimed physical abuse and never finished.  

The Shellbacks did a great job of preparing everything and added a lot of color  to it with the ceremonial dress costumes. Now, almost the entire crew were  Shellbacks except a few. The last several days were a lot of fun and very much  outside of the normal Navy routine. Around 12:00 the initiation was over and  we left the company of the Graham County and steamed alone. All new  Shellbacks received a wallet sized certification card and a very large colored  diploma.  

Since Solant Amity was going to be an extended trip and with over 300  Marines onboard, we had to find something for them to do. Most were given  assignments with various divisions of the crew. 4 Marines had some form of  communications experience, including Gary S. Yauger, Bob Moehler, Mike  Stellato and Rich Heitman and they were assigned to work with us on the  signal bridge. They helped however possible and we became good friends. 

Years later on Sept. 5, 1975, I was watching NBC news when they announced  that Squeaky Fromme tried to assisnate Pres. Gerald Ford on the streets of San  Francisco. The Secret Service agent who arrested Squeaky was my good marine  friend from the Hermitage, Gary S. Yauger. A year or so later I tried to contact  Yauger by calling the Secret Service in D.C. After numerous tries, finally I was  able to talk wtih him. I was making a business trip to D.C. in the near future  and we agreed to meet at Reagan Airport. We had a very interesting visit and 

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he talked about some of his experiences in the Secret Service. He died at a  young age of 59 on Dec. 17, 1998.  

Sat. Dec 24, 1960 (Christmas eve day) we moored in Recife, Brazil. That night several of us went downtown to the Moulin Rouge. It was pretty wild with all  the Sailors, Marines and regular customers. We thought things were getting  way out of hand so we headed back to the ship through some dark streets.  One of the girls from the bar and several of her local guy friends followed behind us. None of us wanted any part of trouble, so Stellato volunteered to  calm any waves and give us a chance to get back to the ship safely.  Surprisingly, a week or so later, Stellato came down with a case of VD. 

Sunday Dec. 25, 1960 was Christmas. We had a large dinner with a X’mas tree  in the mess hall and decorations below decks. My claim to fame is that I ate  Brazil nuts in Brazil on Christmas day. Some of us went to the Sumbura and  then to the House on Stilts and made it back to the ship by curfew time. 

Hall, Mohler, Barber and Gary in Recife, Brazil  

I had my Zippo Navy cigarette lighter engraved in Recife Christmas eve, 1960.

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Monday, the Helga Schroeder, a merchant ship from Bremenhaven, Germany, tied up next to us. One of their crew was Harry and he spoke pretty good  English. Moehler, one of our marines had immigrated to the U.S. from  Germany in 1952 and could speak German fluently. Their talents helped us all  bond very well together. Eight of their crew came over to our ship and we  eventually went ashore together several times which was fun.  

At midnite, Dec. 31 we departed Recife. Getting out of port was no easy task  with our new Captain Rood. He had no past ship experience. We almost  backed into the ship behind us, we were so close that we hit his anchor chain  which was hanging straight up and down. Next we almost hit a ship broadside,  missing by a few yards and nearly hit another as we backed down. When we  finally got out of the channel we almost ran aground on the shoals. We were  hoping that something would happen which would mean a month of  investigation and Recife was a nice port. At 02:30 it was determined that one  of the marines was missing. A copter was sent to find him at the House on  Stilts. They found him alright but the wind velocity from the helicopter tore the  roof off one of the nearby houses. At 03:00. Dec. 31, we were finally out of  danger to ourselves or anyone else and on our way to Monrovia, Liberia, Africa.  Nothing else happened that day or night which was New Years eve. 

Jan. 1, 1961, Admiral Reed gave a pep talk over the PA system about the value  of our upcoming trip to Africa. At 07:00 Jan. 2 we caught up with the Graham  County which left Recife 14 hrs. before we did.  

That afternoon we got emergency orders to chase and pursue a ship called the  “Santa Maria”. It was a large Portuguese cruise ship, full of passengers which  had been hijacked by Henrique Galvao and a team of 24 Portuguese and  Spanish rebels to protest dictatorships of Franco in Spain and Salazar in  Portugal. The Santa Maria was heading east toward Africa as were we. We and  every other ship in the area chased her for several days. One evening we  thought we were rather close on her tail. We went up the mast to the big 36 inch search light. We spotted a ship and with the help of binoculars and the  big 36” light pointed at her, we could read “Santa Maria” on her stern. We  pursued her but unfortuantely, they were able to out-manuveur us and they  slipped away in the dark. One of the ships in our group, the USS Gearing, a  destroyer, located the Santa Maria and was able to come up alongside and  board her. Galvao finally surrendered to the USS Gearing and ended the  mayhem. After that we continued on our course for Monrovia. 

Wednesday we were scheduled to meet the USS Rigel AF-58, a refrigerated ship to take on supplies. For 2 hours we searched on radar but couldn’t find  her so we sent a marine copter out to search and finally located her. It took 7  straight hours using 400 men helping to take stores aboard while the band  played.  

Jan. 5 we tied up at the pier in Monrovia, Liberia. We fired a 21 gun salute in  honor of the country. There were about 500 people waiting at the pier for us.  After docking, the signalmen started dressing the ship, draping flags over the  sides, the gang plank and from bow to mast and mast to stern. In the 

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afternoon some of the local dignitaries came aboard and met with the Admiral  and his staff.  

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Gary overlooking Capetown from Table Mountain 

The next day we were back on the high seas and all we saw were seals. On  March 20, the Graham County left our squadron for Pointe Noire to pick up a  few supplies from the USS Eltinge AP-154. That morning we saw an amazingly  large school of about 3,000 dolphins. In the afternoon we saw several whales  that stayed alongside us for a couple hours. They were very playful, sticking  around and once in a while they would come at us broadside, then suddenly  slip underneath the ship and appear on the other side. Seeing whales was not  a common sight but every once in a while we might see one or two. We never  knew what kind they were. The exciting show was when they would breath and  blow a very large stream of air and water up thru their blowhole. In the  evening we met up with a Russian ship which we tailed for awhile and then  quit tracking him.  

Mar. 21, 1961 we received a message from the President of Ghana requesting  us to pay a visit to his country. After we got clearance, I assume from  Secretary of State Dean Rusk, we headed for the port city and capital, Accra.  Mar. 25 at 07:30 we arrived and Capt. Rood didn’t let us down. He made 4  unsuccessful attempts for the pier and hit 1 crane, knocking it over in the  process before we got moored. We stayed there for 2 days and it was a full  schedule with high-level meetings aboard and ashore. We never heard what  was accomplished during the visit but according to the stories or rumors, it  was sold as being a very successful visit. Once again there were lots of visitors touring the ship.  

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Welcoming crowd at Accra, Ghana 

Before we left Accra, the President of Ghana gave Captain Rood a small alligator about 22 inches long. Capt. put it under our personal care on the  signal briidge. We had a cage made for him and kept him on the bridge during  the days for sunning. We weren’t trained as alligator tenders but he survived our care techniques. We nicknamed him “Hermy” and he became the ships’  mascot. We would tease him frequently with sticks and you could see that he  would become a vicious fighter as he grew. Monday at 06:30 we left Accra. On  that day, 37 different crewmates went to Mast, including 7 Chief Petty officers  and 1 officer. Going to the Mast is receiving a reprimand by the Captain. We  never heard any reason for the extremely unusal event but it must have been  substantial. On Mar. 27 at 07:00 we left Accra, Ghana. 

Mar. 31 we replenished supplies from the Rigel and refueled from the  Nespelen. When completed, they and the Gearing and Vogelsang left for  stateside. April 2 we met with the USS New DD-818 and USS Jonas Ingram DD 938 who were our early replacement arrivals for Solant Amity 2. The next few days we spent most of the time talking with the new ships by signal light and  semaphore flags. It was mostly chit-chat, trying to find out what was  happening back in the states. We also let the new crews know what they were  in for during their Solant Amity 2 cruise. 

On Apr. 4 the ships split up. On April 5 at 08:00, the Hermitage and the USS  New arrived at Las Palmas, Canary Island and the Graham Cty. and USS Ingram  left for Santa Cruz. Las Palmas was quite interesting but no match for  Capetown. We stayed for 2 days while doing some touring of the island. Apr. 

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10 at 09:00 we left the Canary Islands without even seeing any canaries and  took off for Cadiz, Spain. April 13 we tied up at the Cadiz pier. The Graham  Cty tied up alongside us shortly after that and the 2 destroyers went on to  Rota, Spain.  

Cadiz was a very old city. Most of the streets were cobblestone and not nearly  wide enough for cars to travel. The shops were old and small and during the  evening they were locked with large black iron gates in the front. April 16 was  a Sunday and the most popular pastime on Sunday is bullfighting. A number  of us went to a very large round coliseum which held many thousands of  people. Bullfighting is a very old, colorful and formal event. It’s also very cruel  and seemingly an unecessary sport. Each Sunday, 6 bulls are chosen with a  very slim chance that any of them will survive the day. The bulls certainly have  the advantage in terms of physical size but not the intelligence to compete.  The matador is very capable and he slowly wears the bull out by successfully  inflicting wounds and avoiding contact. Usually in each pass, the matador is  able to inflict damage to the bull with a long sword. 

Eventually the bull is so worn out and in pain that it can barely defend itself  and the matador rams his sword down the bulls back and spine. At that point  the bull is about dead but just to be sure, a colorful crew comes out and drives  a spike into the bulls forehead. Then they attach ropes to the bull and with  their horses, they drag the bull out of the ring. During the fight the crowd gets  very excited and noisy but it’s all about death.  

Bullfights in Cadiz, Spain 

Apr. 17, 1961 at 09:00 we left Cadiz and went on into Rota, Spain once again,  where we picked up observers for our Operation Readiness Inspection. Soon as  they were aboard we pulled out and we went to General Quarters and drills all  day long. After we finished we headed back to Rota at flank speed. Once the  observers left the ship we were on our way back to Freetown, Sierra Leone, 

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once again. The Graham Cty stayed behind at Rota for repairs and the New  and Ingram went into Cadiz. 

Talking with semaphore flags 

Sunday Apr. 23, at 11:00 we arrived at Freetown, Sierra Leone once again and  tied up to the fuel pier. The next afternoon after refueling, we left the pier and  anchored at King Tom’s Point. With us were the British ships HMS Bermuda  CLG-52, HMS Leopard F-14, HMS Lynx F-27, HMCS Algonquin DDE-214,  HMNS Nigeria MSO-389 and HMGS Afadzato. We were very busy sending and  receiving messages with the other ships, some were official messages but  many were just shooting the breeze. Depending on the distance between us,  we would use either the 12 inch lights or semaphore flags.  

The harbor was just full of small boats, yachts, a cruise ship and more than 10  U.S. and British warships. We were all here to observe April 27, the day the  country of Sierra Leone gained it’s independence from Britain. On the 28th, Captain Rood was given a python snake about 7-8 ft. long as a gift. He wasn’t  afraid of the python and kept him in his shower stall. Later that day, his  steward unknowingly opened the door to clean the shower and was in for a  big surprise.  

Apr. 29, 1961 at 06:00 we departed Freetown with all the ceremonies  concluded and went off for Bathurst, Gambia. Apr. 30 at 09:30 we arrived at  Bathurst. Around 12:00 we caught the first glimpse of the USS Spiegel Grove,  York County and the fuel tanker USS Chewaucan coming over the horizon.  These were more of the relief task force for Solant Amity 2 to be headed up by  Rear Admiral Eugene B. Fluckey on board the Spiegel Grove. He received the  Medal of Honor and 4 Navy Crosses in his career. May 1, the ships New, Jonas,  Ingram and Nigeria came in to complete the relief task force. The next several  days we kept busy around the clock with an average of 39 messages per day. 

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Anytime we would receive an official message, one person was busy reading  the lights or semaphore flags while the other person wrote down the actual  wording for delivery to the OD. Communicating was much easier if it was un official and we were just chit chatting with the other ship. Then we could just  form the entire sentence in our mind without any assistance and there was no  record.  

On May 3 at 16:00 we left Bathurst and Africa for the last time and headed out  for Trinidad once again and then the states. May 9 we had a “SOLONG SOLANT  AMITY” party. There was entertainment by the COMDESFLOT 4 band and a few  talented individuals. Bobby JO presented Adm. Reed with a very fine colored  portrait. The morning of May 10 we arrived at Trinidad. As usual with Capt.  Rood it took us 3 separate tries to successfully tie up at the pier. That  afternoon there was a beer party ashore and we had liberty that night. We  headed back to the Teahouse of the August Moon. Adm. Reed and his entire  staff had left the ship by the time we got back from liberty and it was sort of a  relief to be rid of them and all the formalities.  

Gary and friend in Port of Spain, Trinidad 

May 11, 1961 at 08:00 we left Trinidad and headed out for Morehead City, NC.  Along the way we happened to catch our one and only sighting of a large  school of flying fish. It was rather exciting. On May 15 we tied up at Morehead  City, NC and in 5 hours the Marines and all their gear was gone. By 16:00 we  were on our way again. May 16 we anchored in Lynnhaven, VA and discharged  all the boats and also the African Queen III.  

May 16, 1961 at 13:30 we tied up to the quay wall in Little Creek. Solant Amity  1 was over and it had lasted 5 months and 18 days. The reception on the pier  was the largest we had ever seen. Many of the crews families and friends were 

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there, bands and several news teams also. Activities on the ship were at a  frenzy. It was an open house all over. Newsmen were interviewing some of the  crew members and I became one of those being interviewed. They recorded a  tape of my interview and sent it to WDBQ in Dubuque. I was rather nervous  and I don’t think I came over very well. WDBQ informed mom and dad  beforehand and then publicly played it on the air.  

A third class radioman by the name of Peavy was in our division. He was a  really nice guy from Texas and a lot of fun and he was also the most habitual  complainer of life in the Navy. He was always waiting for the day he could walk  off the ship for the last time. He swore up and down that he would never re enlist for another 6 years. A week or two after we returned from Solant Amity  1, he went into town by the standard way of taking a bus. Later that day he  drove up in a beautiful brand new 1961 Cadillac convetible, all white and with  the top down and radio on and the very large Cadillac tail fins. He used his  signing bonus as the down payment. I often thought about how much actual  use he got out of that car. Assuming he stayed on a ship, for the next 6 years,  whenever his ship left, his car had to sit in storage.  

On Jun 1, 1961 Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina, president of the Dominican  Republic was assasinated. That night, all leave and liberty were cancelled and  at 20:00 Capt. Rood returned from a meeting. Throughout the night the crew  was loading the mezzanine deck with supplies and ammo. On June 2 at 14:00 we received a message giving us 4 hours to get underway. At 20:00 we left our home port. None of the crew knew what was ahead. Everyone was pretty  low in spirits after just getting back from Africa. A lot of guys were still waiting  for their chance at getting leave to go home. 

June 8, 1961 we were back at Morehead City, NC. Started loading Marines and  their gear throughout the night till the next morning. After that we left for the  Dominican Republic. On June 8 we joined up with PHIBRON 10 and 3  destroyers only 50 miles from Ciudad Trujillo. For the next 10 days we just  steamed in circles over the same general area not knowing what might be  coming up. There were 60 other ships in the general area around us waiting  for further orders. In the task force there were 4 carriers, 3 cruisers, 13  destroyers and about 40 amphibious ships. There was no mail coming or  going during this time and no word on what was happening or when we might  be going home.  

June 15, 1961 I was put on mess duty for a 2 week stretch. This was  punishment after going to the mast by Lt. Lyons for sleeping on duty the day  before pulling into Morehead City from our Solant Amity 1 cruise. That was the  only reprimand I ever had. The real kicker was that there were 2 other  signalmen besides me on the bridge at the same time. I guess I really didn’t  care much because my time was getting short. Looking back on that incident, I  wasn’t sure if our boss, first class Smith was even aware of it. He was an easy  going guy but rarely ever showed up on our signal bridge. He spent most of  his time hanging around with the officers. 

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USS Hermitage, USS Graham County, USS Nespelen  (Top) (Middle) (bottom)  In Bathurst, Gambia 

On June 17 we received permission to depart the Dominican Republic and  head home to Little Creek and wtihin the hour we were underway. On June 21  we arrived at Morehead City and once again, unloaded Marines and their  equipment and left. On June 22 we pulled into Little Creek for my last time.  

Looking ahead a bit, July 31 was going to be the end of my 2nd year in the  Navy. Two years since I reported to Great Lakes Navy Boot Camp. It just so  happened that Dad was in the process of scheduling a meeting in Washington,  DC with Iowa Senator, Len Wolf. The timing was rather coincidental and we  talked about the possibility of them driving to Little Creek to pick me up  around the same time. It was all contingent upon me being able to get an early  discharge. I submitted the request for an early discharge date of July 9, 1961,  22 days early. The request was processed thru the normal chain of command  and it was approved. Now I’m really a short-timer. 

Jun 23, 1961 we left Little Creek once again for NOB and we tied up at pier 5  in Norfolk alongside the USS Rigel and USS Amphion AR-13. Both ships were  tender and repair ships. We were scheduled to be there for a couple weeks of  normal maintenance and repairs. Upon completion of the scheduled  maintenance to the ship, it was a short trip back to Little Creek. 

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On Sunday July 9, 1961 Mom, Dad and Chris showed up at Little Creek. I  looked around the ship for a qualified Yeoman to sign my discharge papers  but they were all ashore. I got directions to the Chief Yeoman’s home address  and we drove over and had him sign my discharge papers (the DD-214  papers). We went back to the ship, I had my duffle bag already packed along  with a nice pair of binoculars. The OD also had to sign my papers and then we  left the USS Hermitage LSD-34 for the very last time.  At USS HERMITAGE (LSD-34), we are passionate about capturing the precious moments of life through photography. From weddings to family portraits, we strive to create stunning images that will make you smile for years to come. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, we have the knowledge and expertise to deliver exceptional results every time.

My discharge papers, finally! 

We stayed around Norfolk for a day or two then drove up to DC where we  checked into a Marriott motel which was overlooking the Potomac River and  the Pentagon. Dad always watched the NBC evening news. As we were sitting  in the motel watching the news, they interrupted the broadcast for a special  emergency announcement by President John F. Kennedy. JFK stated a dire  warning concerning our relations with Cuba, having recently gone thru the Bay  of Bigs invasion of Cuba and the soon-to-be Cuban missile crisis. He also said  that effective immediately, he was “freezing all military personnel” of each  branch of service for the next year. There were to be no discharges!  

That moment was breath-taking! I escaped having another year of service tacked onto my commitment by a mere several days. I often wondered how  different my adult life might have turned out. 

A couple weeks after I got back home to Dyersville, I reported to the Navy  reserve center in Dubuque. I was expecting to be informed all about the  required weekly reserve meetings for 2 years and the 2 week summer camps. I  met with Commander Johnson and we had a nice lengthy conversation. He  asked all about my active duty, what I did and where we went. He ended up by  asking me if I wanted to go to the required 2 years of weekly reserve 

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meetings. It didn’t take me long to say ‘NO, not if I don’t have to’. We shook  hands and he said “Have a good life.” And I did..............................

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Gary D. Goedken #528-93-62 

CONTINENTS VISITED 

1. NORTH AMERICA 

2. EUROPE 

3. ASIA 

4. SOUTH AMERICA 

5. AFRICA 

NOTABLE BODIES OF WATER NAVIGATED 

1. NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN 

2. MEDITERRANEAN SEA 

3. SUEZ CANAL 

4. RED SEA 

5. GULF OF ADEN 

6. ARABIAN SEA 

7. INDIAN OCEAN 

8. CARIBBEAN SEA 

9. SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN 

PORTS VISITED WHILE ON THE USS HERMITAGE (LSD-34) NOV. 1959 THRU JULY 1961 

1. LITTLE CREEK, VA (Our Home Base) 

2. MOREHEAD CITY, NORTH CAROLINA (East coast U.S. Marine base) 3. ROTA, SPAIN (My first foreign port, refueling) 

4. PORT SAID, EGYPT (Northern entrance to Suez Canal) 5. PORT SUEZ, EGYPT (Southern entrance to Suez Canal) 6. KARACHI, PAKISTAN (Support for President Eisenhower’s trip) 7. NAPLES, ITALY (1 day stop, no liberty) 

8. BARCELONA, SPAIN (Montserrat monastery in Pyrenees, Mtn.) 9. CADIZ, SPAIN (Bullfights on Sunday) 

10. ROCK OF GIBRALTAR, UK (A very impressive rock) 

11. SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO (Made 4-5 visits here) 

12. PONCE, PUERTO RICO (Famous historic fire station) 

13. CHARLOTTE AMALIE, ST. THOMAS (Catholic Church Easter parade)  14. CHRISTIANSTED, ST CROIX (Protestant Cay Beach) 

15. CIUDAD TRUJILLO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (Christopher Columbus grave) 16. CHARLESTON, SC (Acquired landing craft) 

17. GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA (U.S. Naval Base - GTMO) 

18. MAYPORT, FLA (Jacksonville beach)

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19. PORT OF SPAIN, TRINIDAD (Teahouse of the August Moon) 20. RECIFE, BRAZIL (Brazil nuts in Brazil on X’mas day) 21. ACCRA, GHANA (First African stop for SOLANT AMITY 1) 22. BATHURST, GAMBIA (Opened ship to foreign dignitaries) 23. MONROVIA, LIBERIA (Firestone rubber plantation tour) 24. FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE (Independence day from Britain) 25. LAS PALMAS, CANARY ISLAND (Nice but no canaries to be found) 26. POINTE NOIRE, CONGO (Great beaches and cheap ivory) 27. LOME, TOGO (Loaded 500 tons of grain for US troops) 28. MATADI, CONGO (2 separate trips, 85 miles up Congo River) 29. CONAKRY, GUINEA (Russian party conference underway) 30. LUANDA, ANGOLA (Russian sponsored country) 31. CAPETOWN, SOUTH AFRICA (Our best liberty port) 32. PORT ROYAL, JAMAICA (Loaded more Marines) 

USS HERMITAGE EQUATOR CROSSINGS 

Date Time Longitude 

Dec. 22, 1960 09:34 043 D. 34’ W Jan. 1, 1961 15:15 026 D. 54’ W Jan. 17, 1961 07:03 000 D. 00’  Jan. 18, 1961 03:30 003 D. 05’ E Jan. 24, 1961 00:30 006 D. 18’ E Feb. 5, 1961 02:00 000 D. 00’  Feb. 14, 1961 20:21 005 D. 15’ E Feb. 15. 1961 05:55 006 D. 56’ E Feb. 15, 1961 15:35 007 D. 10’ E Mar. 24, 1961 08:13 001 D. 10’ E 

USS HERMITAGE HISTORY 

Named for Pres. Andrew Jackson’s estate in Nashville Contract Awarded Oct. 14, 1954 

Built 1955 at Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, MS 

Launched June 12, 1956 

Commissioned Dec. 14, 1956 

Decommissioned Oct. 2, 1989 

Leased to Brazil Oct. 2, 1989, renamed Ceara G-30 

Sold to Brazil Jan 24, 2001 

DeCommissioned Apr. 29, 1916 

Service life: 60 years

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USS HERMITAGE SPECS 

Displacement 8,899 t  

Length 510 ft 

Beam 84 ft 

Draft 19 ft 

Speed 20 kts 

Complement: 18 Officers 

330 Enlisted 

Marine accommodations: 325 

Armament: 4 x twin 3”/50 caliber guns 

6 x twin 20mm AA gun mounts 

Marine equipment capacity: 4-8 Helicopters, 1 LCM, 6-8 LCVP’s, jeeps, etc. 

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STERNGATE DOWN 

Filling the ballast tanks with water will lower the ship in the water  in preparation to load or unload amphibious vehicles.  

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GOLDEN SHELLBACK CERTIFICATE CROSSING THE EQUATOR AT 000’ LATITUDE AND 000’ LONGITUDE ON JANUARY 17, 1961 

Total of 10 equator crossings, 2 at 000’ Latitude and 000’ Longitude

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SOLANT AMITY CRUISE 1 

South Atlantic Friendship Cruise 

1960-1961

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SOLANT AMITY 1 CRUISE BOOK

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My Navy Patches

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Form DD-214 

“Active Duty” discharge from Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines or Coast Guard. Issued Nov. 7, 1961

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Honorable Discharge 

Satisfactory completion of total military obligation  

Issued June 21, 1965

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