Pacific ‘Gem’s’ Rescue Role
Commander Thomas “Duke” Wayne, U.S. Naval Reserve (Retired)
Please pass along to James M. Scott, author of “Terror & Triumph at Lingayen Gulf” (October, pp. 36–41), my appreciation for his enlightening article. It was heartening for me to read additional details of a battle in which my father was engaged while on board the light cruiser USS Columbia (CL-56), nicknamed “Gem of the Pacific.”
Of interest to me were the quotes from Chaplain Arthur Anderson, who had been rescued by the “Gem” from the sinking Ommaney Bay (CVE-79) on 4 January 1945. The description in the Columbia’s 1942–45 cruise book begins by recounting the arrival on board of 6 officers and 112 enlisted survivors (17 of them urgently in need of medical attention) from the Ommaney Bay. After reading Scott’s article and rereading my father’s cruise book, I was struck by just how intense the first ten days of January 1945 were for Task Groups 77.2 and 77.4.
I can remember very few of my father’s World War II stories. He shared very little with us before he died in 1985. However, I can recall complaining about not getting a second serving of food at a Christmas dinner when I was a young boy. He shared a description of his Christmas dinner in 1944 with us and the fact it was celebrated a day late to allow for the loading of ammunition. The crew was starving, but the loading of ammunition was deemed more important than food. His dinner on Christmas consisted of two apples.
Patrolling the DEW Line
Lieutenant (junior grade) David S. Graham, U.S. Naval Reserve (Retired)
I read with interest Norman Polmar’s article about the DEW Line in the October issue (“Armaments and Innovations,” pp. 6–7). I served on board the USS Newell (DER-322) from 1964 to 1967. I spent my first year on DEW Line patrols of 35-day rotations on either “AA” or “AB,” with the former being the most northerly patrol area in the North Pacific, approximately 1,000 miles south of the Aleutian Islands. We stayed in a 30-mile circle and often drifted from one side to the other, after which we would put one engine on line and return to the top of the circle. Between deployments we returned to Pearl Harbor for refresher training and maintenance for about three weeks and then deployed again to one location or the other.
I can vouch for the heavy seas, which often exceeded 30 feet, encountered on virtually every trip. The Newell had the honor of performing the last DEW Line patrol and participating in the decommissioning ceremony at Midway Island in April 1965. Subsequent to our time on the line, we scrambled to make the ship ready for deployment in May 1965 as part of Operation Market Time in Vietnam, where I served for two more years.
Hero’s Selflessness
Joseph Ponti
The June issue related an excellent account of Medal of Honor recipient Captain Thomas Kelley, U.S. Navy (Ret.) (“Acts of Valor,” pp. 54–57). His exploits in Vietnam clearly showed his selfless actions in combat. Naval History should be commended for its “Acts of Valor” articles, which depict events in a really memorable graphic format.
Tom’s military career naturally segued into a life of continued caring and giving of himself. One such personal account is his involvement with Boston’s homeless veterans. He volunteers regularly at Saint Anthony’s Shrine, near Boston’s Downtown Crossing, where full-course dinners are served to homeless vets each month. Copies of the article about Tom were given out to the vets and received with much enthusiasm. Numerous requests where extended to Tom to bring his Medal of Honor to an August luncheon, and after some prodding, he did so at the next event. It was a big hit with them and gave all of us who attended a moment to reflect deeply on Tom’s actions and sacrifice for all of us.
It’s Queen Mary
Bob Kohler
You’ve probably received mail about this error in the “Museum Report” (October, p. 60). The photo of the interior of the Southampton SeaCity Museum depicts a display case with a scale model of an ocean liner that is incorrectly listed as the Titanic in the caption. It’s the Queen Mary in the case (the Queen Mary has three stacks, the Titanic four).
Here in San Pedro, California, the Los Angeles Maritime Museum at one time had side-by-side 1/25-scale models of both the Titanic and the Queen Mary. (The Mary model was labeled the Poseidon evidently because it was used in The Poseidon Adventure movie). The Maritime Museum is a wonderful facility and is just yards from the museum ship USS Iowa (BB-61). San Pedro has a wealth of history and is a must visit for any and all naval and maritime enthusiasts.
Service in the Dauntless
Chief Warrant Officer 4 Peter M. Sikora, U.S. Coast Guard (Retired)
The article “End of the Line for the Night Train” (August, pp. 48–53) was spot on for the work of 210-foot WMECs—medium endurance cutters. I was fresh out of recruit training when I became a plank owner on board the USCGC Dauntless (WMEC-624) during her precommissioning and commissioning. I filled a fireman apprentice/fireman and damage controlman third class billet from 1968 thru 1970.
Captain Laliberte stated the Dauntless was fitted with FVBM-12 Cooper Bessemer main diesel engines. That is true for the 210s constructed in New Orleans (hulls 615–619). The 210s constructed at American Shipbuilding Co. in Lorain, Ohio (hulls 621–627), were fitted with a pair of V-16-251 ALCO diesel engines for main propulsion.