Collection (1944-1945) including memoir, history of USS LSM-9, off loading of tanks, etc.
Donald J. Martin (b. 1 June 1925), a native of the Bronx, N.Y., enlisted in the Navy (August 1943) and trained in Sampson, N.Y., and Little Creek, Va. Martin served on medium landing ship USS LSM-9 in the Pacific Theatre (1944-1945) and was discharged after World War II (April 1946). He worked for the U.S. Post Office for thirty-five years and retired with the position of Station Manager (1984).
The collection consists of an eleven-page memoir concerning the actions of USS LSM-9 while assigned to convoy duty out of Hawaii. The ship was involved in routine rear area convoy duty and made trips to Eniwetok, Guam, Ulithi, Saipan, the Russell Islands, Tulagi, Hollandia, New Britain, the Admiralties, and Leyte (10 September 1944 - 4 August 1945, pp. 3-8). Information concerning the invasion of Okinawa includes the off-loading of tanks and equipment over a reef on Purple Beach (April 1945, pp. 6-7). Other items of interest pertain to the gathering of fish by Hawaiians from a dry dock and a description of the destruction by Japanese forces in Pearl Harbor (10 September 1944, pp. 3-4); a typhoon near Ulithi (4 November 1944, p. 4); and the technical specifications of LSM-9. The LSM-9 was decommissioned on 20 December 1945. Martin's biographical information is also included.
Gift of Donald J. Martin
Processed by M. Burdette, August 1994
Encoded by Apex Data Services
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